Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Thursday, April 29, 2010

3 weeks old

Yesterday the girls were 3 weeks old and making good progress. Chloe now weighs 4*3, Payton is 3*10 and Jillian is 3*8. Jillian is still our best eater. They have bumped her up to eating from a bottle 3 times a day. She is still taking the entire feeding and sometimes she takes more. Payton and Chloe are doing better with the bottle but they are still only allowed to try 2 times a day. Since Chloe is now over 4 lbs, they turned off her isolette last night and tested her to see if she could hold her temperature on her own. She did really well so at about 5 am they moved her to an open air crib. This is a huge step toward being able to come home. She now just needs to start eating from a bottle better. Here are some pictures...


Jillian finally getting some meat on those bones

Payton eyes wide open

Just the girls (how did they all fit in my belly???)


Chloe in her crib :) No more isolette!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

No news is good news

I don't have a lot of new news tonight, but I will share their weights. Chloe is up to 3*11, Payton is 3*8 and Jillian is 3*6. Chloe has a little eye infection which they are treating with eye drops. Her eye was looking much better today. Jillian took her entire feeding by bottle today which is a huge milestone. The Nurse Practitioner decided to bump all the girls up to 2 feedings a day by bottle. Payton and Chloe have good and bad days with feedings, it just depends on how tired they are. Overall they are all making steps in the right direction. Please keep them in your prayers. Here are some more pictures.


Payton

Payton wide awake

Jillian taking her bottle

Chloe (she wiggled herself right up next to Mommy and Daddy's picture)


Chloe sleeping comfortably

Jillian...this is how she was sleeping...I guess she is glad to finally have some space

Thursday, April 22, 2010

2 weeks old

Yesterday the girls were exactly 2 weeks old. They are doing really well. Chloe weighs 3*8, Payton weighs 3*5, and Jillian is up to 3*2. Chloe is still having a little trouble with her oxygen. She needs a little stimulation because she forgets to breath. So, she had to go back on just a little oxygen yesterday and they took her off today. She is doing much better. The girls are still bottle feeding once a day and doing well. Chloe's nurse told us last night that she thought Chloe might be released is about 2 more weeks as long as she doesn't have any more issues. We hope Payton and Jillian won't be far behind. Here are some new pictures...
Payton all buckled in

Jillian all buckled in...our girls are little Houdini's

The Royer Hospital Wall

Payton in one of her new outfits
Payton and her pacifier

Jillian

Jillian in one of her new outfits

Daddy and Chloe
Chloe

Mommy and Daddy with Payton and Chloe

Chloe and Payton...can you tell us apart?

Monday, April 19, 2010

3lbs and growing!!!

It was a tough weekend with a few bumps, but the good news is, as of last night the girls weighed: Chloe: 3*7, Payton: 3*1, and Jillian: 3*0. All three girls are up past their birth weight. They are each taking close to an ounce per feeding and eating 8 times a day. On Saturday the doctor gave orders to allow them to try to take milk from a bottle once per day. It takes a lot out of them so we only get to try for about 10 minutes and just see how they do. As of today, Chloe is the only one who has tried a bottle. On Saturday she took 5 ml, Sunday 5ml, and Monday she took 12 ml!!! Way to go Chloe! Payton and Jillian had a rough weekend so we have not been able to try them on a bottle yet. On Saturday, Payton's old IV site got infected. The doctor had to cut it open and drain all the fluid out. They are doing a culture on the fluid to make sure nothing else is wrong. Then she started having some tummy troubles. They had to stop giving her milk for the day and put her back on sugar water. To do this, they had to put her IV back in, which was another issue. They couldn't get the IV in so they did some kind of special IV in her leg that is supposed to last longer. Not long after, Jillian started having tummy troubles too. They did a tummy x-ray and said she had some gas in her tummy. She still was given milk, but they just kept a close eye on her. The doctor thinks the issue was related to the fortifier they were putting in the milk. The fortifier adds two more calories to the milk to help them gain weight faster. So Payton and Jillian were taken off the fortifier and they are doing much better. I hope tonight we might be able to try them on a bottle. Payton really loves her pacifier so I have high hopes that she will do really well on the bottle. Enjoy more pictures...



Payton's bath (mommy's first time)


Payton and Jillian side by side compare


Jillian sleeping in Mommy's arms


Family Picture (reality sets in :))


Chloe's first bottle

Friday, April 16, 2010

9 days old

The girls are all doing extremely well. They had their brain scans today and all came back normal!!!! :) The nurse said they will have another one when they are 1 month old or when they are discharged from the hospital, which ever comes first. Their weights today are: Chloe 3lbs 3oz (back to her birth weight), Jillian-2lbs 11oz, and Payton-2lbs 15oz. Payton is fluctuating back and forth between 2lbs 15 oz and 3lbs even. They will be weighed again tonight and we are hoping they all gain. Jillian lost her umbilical cord today (mini milestone). The nurse saved it for us to take home. (do people really save that?!?!) All the girls are finally off their IV's and are only hooked up to feeding tubes now. The doctors are going to try to give them a feeding by mouth next week and see how they do. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful day at the hospital. Enjoy the 9 day pictures and a picture of Mark holding Payton. ** Pictures from top to bottom: Chloe, Jillian, Payton***













Thursday, April 15, 2010

First Week of Life







From top to bottom: Chloe, Payton, and Jillian
The girls are 8 days old today and doing well. All of the girls went on oxygen this week and as of yesterday all of currently off oxygen. Payton is getting some caffeine injections to help stimulate her brain and keep her off the oxygen. All of the girls lost some weight this week, but currently Payton is back to her birth weight (3lbs 0oz), Jillian is 2lbs 11 oz and Chloe is 3lbs 1oz. Jillian went off of her IV's yesterday and only has her feeding tube. Payton and Chloe are expected to go off their IV's today around 3:00 and will only have their feeding tubes left. Tomorrow the girls are scheduled for a brain scan. The scan will help us to see if we can expect any long term effects of them being born so prematurely. The nurses are telling us that behavior is a good first indicator of a problem and that they are not showing any signs of behaviors that would indicate a problem.

The doctors are telling us to expect them to be in the hospital for close to another month. In order for them to come home, they need to each weigh at least 4 1/2 lbs, take all their feedings from a bottle, and maintain their body temperature. Next week they will start to give one of their feedings to them by bottle and see how they do.

I am doing well and starting to feel better physically. The hardest part is having to leave them in the hospital. I really underestimated how difficult it would be to watch your babies hooked up to machines and not be able to "take care of them". We will keep praying that they will be home sooner rather than later.



Earlier than Expected

On Tuesday, April 6th, Mark and I were sent to the hospital with possible signs on preterm labor. We were hoping that it would just be a matter of taking some medicine and going back home. When we got to the hospital we were admitted, and on Wednesday morning the doctors decided I had preeclampsia and we had to deliver the babies that day. So at 32 weeks and 4 days...Baby A: Payton Elizabeth was born at 11:19 a.m. on April 7th and weighed 3lbs 0oz, Baby B: Jillian Paige was born also at 11:19 and weighed 2lbs 15oz, and baby C Chloe Blair was born at 11:20 and weighed 3lbs 3oz. The doctors really tried to get them all out at 11:19, but with 3 babies it just didn't work out. All 3 babies were sent to the NICU and Chloe was thankfully the only baby who needed help breathing. She was put on a CPAP to help her with breathing. Payton and Jillian did extremely well during their first day of life. Chloe

Jillian

Payton