10 weeks old

Our little guys are growing so fast! About a week ago I had to pack up all their preemie clothes and while this is a good thing I was so sad to put them all in boxes! Reese is now weighing 9.6 pounds, Andrew is 8.14, and Caden is 8.4. They are starting to have meaningful smiles and they love to look at our faces and hear our voices, it is the neatest thing watching them learn. The pictures on the slide show were taken from our great friends Brandy and Ray Adamson, hope you enjoy!!

Mother's Day

Today was the most amazing day ever. Although I was working hard on our class reunion invitations I was so excited to officially be a part of Mothers day! These boys are such a sweet and beautiful addition to life that I can't imagine what it was like without them. Reese has become our best sleeper, last Friday he actually slept through the night and didn't get up until 6:30 in the morning. Hopefully this will become a more consistant trend. Andrew is our sweet calm spirit. He is the most alert and wide eyed baby I have ever seen. He definately has his daddy in him because he doesn't require that much sleep! Caden is and has always been our little wiggle worm, he doesn't even sit still when he is sleeping. He is our fastest eater and loves to snuggle!

Our First Play Date

We had so much fun today, our first friends came over to play.  Sarah and Josh brought over Bret and Grant for a couple of hours this afternoon and we took some pictures of all of them together.  We will have to make it a tradition so we can see how all the boys change and grow!

6 weeks Old

The boys have reached there official due date of April 16th and are now considered "0" adjusted age and are actually 6 weeks old. They are all doing so well, at our last doctors visit Reese was 5.11, Andrew was 5.1 and Caden was 4.9. They are just the sweetest little guys and even though we are all UP ALL NIGHT, we are loving every minute of it!

Andrew

Caden




Reese

Delirious

We have all become a little delirious from our LATE nights! Had to post this one Popa Zoe!(For those that don't know... this is a wig!!!)

Going Home!!!

We can't say enough about the Lubbock NICU, everyone was so incredible and made our long stay such a positive experience!  Our boys were there a total of three weeks and we got to come home on March 24th.



Jaime was one of our favorite NICU nurses. She taught us so much about taking care of our preemie babies and became such a great friend to me. She will always be special to me and the boys!

Lindsay was one of my favorite Antepartum nurses and she came down to NICU to help get Caden ready to go home. She made my days on bed rest fun and I always looked forward to her being my nurse... plus she was always the best at finding our little wiggle worm Caden!

The Nursery

I was so excited to come home to a beautiful nursery for our boys.  While I was in the hospital our great friends at Divine Inspiration finished the nursery.  Thank you so much Melinda, Mindee, Celeste and Kristen! Here it is...

The Day You Were Born

Happy Birthday

They are here!! Our sweet and precious boys were born on March 4th, 2008... what an exciting day it was! Reese Edward "Baby A" weighed in at 4 lbs 1 oz and was born at 9:10 am, Andrew Brooks "Baby B" was 3 lbs. 7 oz. and was also born at 9:10 am, and Caden James "Baby C" was 3 lbs and was born at 9:11 am. Everyone is doing so great, thank you all for your prayers and support!

Could I get any bigger?

This is the day before I delivered the triplets. We made it to 33 weeks and 6 days, just one day shy of our goal of 34 weeks! Our doctor was absolutely the best and we are so thankful that we were in Lubbock. I did end up getting pre-eclampsia and took a turn for the worse on March 3rd so the doctor decided to deliver on March 4th. God was in control the whole time, our sweet Caden really needed to be delivered as he was getting the short end of the stick on the nutrition so it worked out for the best!

Still Going!!!

We made it past one of our biggest goals which was 32 weeks, it was a VERY exciting day! We are now at 33 weeks and feeling blessed for every day that passes with the boys still inside and still growing strong! I started setting mini goals so that it didn't seem so long to get from one to the next so our next mini goal is Saturday, because it is FINALLY March! I didn't know if it would ever get here. Our next goal will be that we make it to 34 weeks which will be this coming Wednesday.

My doctor is still watching closely for pre-eclampsia. This condition is pregnancy induced and is diagnosed when blood pressure, protein, and other liver enzymes measure high. I do have some signs of it but right now they are very minimal. My blood pressure is fairly high on and off, but not consistently high and I am experiencing swelling in my hands and feet. I am wearing SCD compression leg pumps to help with the swelling and to prevent blood clotting and doing blood work often to make sure all of this is still in the safe range.

My contractions have remained about the same, I think I might actually be getting use to them! No, not really... some days they are better than others (which is actually really good)at least they aren't getting any closer or harder!

I have mentioned all this about pre-eclampsia and pre-term contractions but I haven't mentioned yet that we have actually reached the average gestation age for triplets! The national average is 33 weeks so we are so excited that we have gotten this far and we are STILL GOING! I never could have imagined what it would feel like and I am so glad that my body is allowing these boys to continue to grow!


Monday Lori got to come visit and we had a lot of fun hanging out, or at least I did... she was probably bored to death, ha! It is so exciting to get visitors, I know it is hard because I am far away but everyones calls, cards, flowers and emails are so encouraging, thank you so much!

My wonderful husband sends flowers for us for each week that passes, aren't they beautiful. They brighten up my room so much but more importantly they make me smile everytime I see them!

31 Weeks!

I am 31 weeks this week and starting to feel every bit of it. It is amazing how much you can grow in a week! The babies and I are still doing well, we are getting so close to that 32 week mark which is a big goal for us. Some days it seems like it will be here before you know it and then some days it seems like a little bit of a little bit of a struggle. I am still having contractions all through out the day. They are usually about 8 to 10 minutes apart and grow with intensity in the evening and any other time that I am tired. I am still on the terbutaline pump which is continuously pumped into my leg to relax the uterine muscles and help lesson my contractions. We still have magnesium sulfate which can be used if the terbutaline stops helping the contractions so it is nice to know that we still have options left!

Our big concern right now is my blood pressure and the threat of pre-eclampsia. My blood pressure has been creeping up the last few days and I have been experiencing some swelling. It is something we will be watching closely in the next few days and the remainder of the pregnancy.

30 Weeks and Counting!!

This week was a big milestone for us, we are finally at 30 weeks! At 30 weeks many of the risks associated with premature birth go down significantly so that is very comforting news. We are still doing well and holding out and our doctor feels confident that we will make it at least to 32 weeks if not longer. We are still hopeful that our boys will be born sometime in March which would mean I would make it to at least 34 weeks but we know that God is in control and our baby boys will be born on His time, not ours.

We had a sonogram on Thursday and the boys are continuing to grow, grow, grow (as am I)! Baby A is 3.1 pounds, Baby B is 3.1 pounds, and Baby C is 2.12 pounds. This is the first time that they have ever had different weights but our doctor assured us that this is fine and it has actually been uncommon (he actually said a miracle ;)) for them to weigh the same every time.

I have been trying to eat more protein to help fatten up the babies and hopefully in the end it will really pay off. Eating and monitoring actually consumes most of my day. I think the conception of being in the hospital on bed rest makes people think you are bored out of your mind but actually the days go by really fast. My typical day consists of 3 monitoring sessions at an hour a piece (sometimes 2 depending on my contractions and how well the babies cooperate while getting their heart rates), nurses coming in every couple of hours for vital signs, nurses coming in 3 times a day for meds, eating 3 meals a day, 2 snacks and 2 ensure ice cream shakes (yes, this seems excessive and it feels that way too... but believe me these boys are taking every bit of it!), showering and changing into some fresh lounge clothes, and of course talking on the phone, texting, and checking my email. OH and if I am fortunate enough, visiting with people who stop in. Fit that all into a 14 hour day and it becomes pretty full. My favorite time though is when we get to get our ultrasounds and see our little miracles which is about every 3 days. It is amazing how all three are fitting inside my tummy!

These are actually picts that were taken at 27 weeks, two days before I went into the hospital but I wanted to share them!




Aunt Mandy and Reagan hugging her cousins!


Aunt Mandy with Reagan and Kenzie, they sure can't wait to meet their cousins!

Showered with Love

We had a wonderful shower on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to all our friends and family for making it such a special day...

Our Journey

As most of you know Bryan and I found out in August that we are expecting triplets. It was the most incredible news we have ever heard. We feel so blessed that I just wanted to share in the excitement of our story and give you our testimony of how great our God is.

Three and a half years ago Bryan and I began, like most couples our age, trying to start a family. This was at first an exciting time…the idea of being pregnant, of what our children might look like or who they might be like. But unfortunately for us the road of conceiving was long, what seemed like forever, and hard. Like many couples, we faced the challenges of infertility.

After two years and a few doctors later we found ourselves consulting with a reproductive endocrinologist that would change our lives. After several procedures and attempts with less invasive technology we decided to do invitro fertilization. Our doctor told us that the possibilities of it working were high, after all, we were both very healthy and all of our previous attempts were “text book perfect” but just had not taken. Our family and friends were such an amazing support group, they prayed for us constantly. Fortunately our IVF cycle produced many healthy eggs and we decided to transfer 2 embryo's hoping that one would implant and we would become pregnant. Praise God, in early August we got the news that we were pregnant, just two days before our 6th Anniversary, what an incredible gift!

The absolute miracle of this story came a little later. When I was seven weeks pregnant we were told that there was not 1, not 2, but 3 heart beats!!! We were shocked and overjoyed... words cannot even describe how we both felt… what an amazing plan God had in store for us to bless us with triplets. The most shocking news came a few weeks later when we began seeing our maternal/fetal specialist who found that not only were we expecting three baby boys but that they are all identical. (the technical word is monochorionic triamniotic). This happened from one embryo splitting twice causing identical triplets, this, he said, was extremely rare.

It began to sink in then, this was our plan, God had waited for the perfect time for us, He knew that these were our baby boys the whole time. For years I have prayed for us to have a child, I cried out with sometimes what seemed to be a hopeless heart. But I was constantly encouraged by my husband, family and friends and I thank God for them every day. God has answered my prayers in ways that I didn’t even pray for… our journey has taught me patients, that things aren’t always in our control (as they usually aren’t) and sometimes God has bigger plans for us than we could ever imagine!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" Psalm 37:4