The Little Things

Andy... I am dedicating this blog entry to you.. not because of the content but more because I think it is funny/cute that you text Rhett almost every day letting him know he has been slacking on his blog entries :) And I would hate for you to be disappointed again today...

The little things that we love the most are clearly Larkin, Maggie and Kade. When they came into this world almost 3 weeks ago they seemed so tiny.. and they are still little but they have grown so much. As of today Larkin is 4lb 14oz, Maggie is 4lb 8oz and Kade is 4lb 9oz. Rhett asks everyday how much they have gained and it is usually around 2 oz a day.. that is so little but it means so much to us. I never thought I would get excited about 2 oz but as parents of preemies everything they do, milestone they reach no matter how little is amazing. The little things that used to never think twice about now mean so much when our kiddos do them.. like sneezing or the hiccups or the little smiles or when they wrap their hands around our fingers.. each of those little things make me smile. We look at their little preemie outfits and love the fact that they actually fit in them!! In fact, Larkin will soon start to move to the newborn size. Right now, I even love doing their laundry which gets sent home from the NICU. Now in about 2-3 months that probably wont be so cute. But right now, It makes me feel like a "mom".
They say that life in the NICU can be 1 step forward and 2 steps back and that parents should prepare themselves for that... so we take nothing forgranted. Knowing that has made me "cautiously optimistic".. I keep waiting for the 2 steps back but as of now our babies keeping marching forward and we are so proud. In the last week all of them have moved to open cribs.. meaning they are regulating their body temperatures without the assistance of the incubator. They have also been started on oral feedings. So they get one feeding a day that is either by breast or bottle. The rest of the feeding goes in their feeding tubes. In the next day or so we will increase that to 2 feedings a day and continue from there. There are several criteria they have to meet before they can come come. 1. Regulate body temp.. check 2. Take all feedings by mouth.. working our way up on this 3. no "spells" for 5 consecutive days.. we are also working on this. A spell is a drop in heart rate plus a drop in their oxygen saturation. All of the babies have had dips in their heart rates but usually their oxygen stays normal. This can sometimes be the tough one to overcome since they could go 4 days without a "spell" and then have one which would put them back at square 1 .. meaning 5 more days. People often ask "when will they come home?" well it is really hard to say.. They must meet all 3 criteria. And it is very possible that 1or 2 baby/babies may come home before the other(s). The nurses and docs usually say to prepare for them coming home around their due date which would be the end of September.. but that is the more conservative estimation. Many babies will coordinate their breathing, oxygen and feeding around the 35-37 week mark. The trio will be 34 weeks on Monday. So it could be in a week or it could be a month. But we promise to keep everyone posted as to when they "graduate". Until then, we will keep being proud of all the "little things" they do.
Okay..now I need dad to help with the recent pics....

Much love to all our friends and family who have been so supportive

KT