Daddy's Little Girl

Lots of good changes over the last two days!! Charlotte was taken off the paralyzing drug the other day and she seemed quite calm and rested afterwards. They started feeding her breast-milk again - 1cc every 3 hours, and that amount should start to increase soon. And the best one of all - they took her off the ventilator yesterday and she's breathing on her own! Fingers-crossed that she's able to stay off this time!

Right after they took the ventilator tube out and before they put the oxygen tube up her nose I was able to get a pic of what our little peanut looks like tube-less. Man, was she ever pissed off that she had been woken up for this! It appears as though she has my nose, but beyond that I'm not very good at picking out similar body features. (And see that guy holding Charlotte's head? That's Ed, my acupuncturist. He doubles as a Respiratory Therapist at Loyola. Seems quite fitting that he helped us to have Charlotte and now he's helping her get better.)

We were going to wait until today to hold her, so as to not overstimulate her, but the night nurse saw no need to wait. So, last night Brian got to hold his little girl for the first time. I can tell that she's already got him wrapped around her little, itty-bitty finger. Look at her - she's already trying to figure out how she can get daddy to buy her a plasma TV for her crib.

Yesterday was a very good day! I'm looking forward to many more days like that.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Not too much has changed since my last post. Charlotte appears to be over the pneumonia infection, but her lungs are going to take awhile to heal. On Sunday she was switched back to the normal ventilator, but all her settings have remained pretty high and they're trying to wean her settings down VERY, VERY slowly.
She was off of the paralyzing drug for almost 24 hours, but again she was too fidgety and feisty and they had to put her back on. But I did get a photo of her taking a quick little snooze in between kicking and waving her arms about (more like passed out from exhaustion). She reminds me of her mother after a few too many glasses of wine.
For the next few days she will be undergoing some steroid therapy and we're all hoping that opens and clears her lungs so they can try and wean her off the ventilator again. Hopefully by next week her daddy will be able to hold her. Maybe they can even kangaroo and she can pull out some of his chest hair:-)
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though Brian and I have had a very difficult year we still have a lot to be thankful for - our time with our sons, our beautiful daughter, each other, our family and friends. Going through this has really changed my perspective on life and put my priorities in order - life is way too short.

We've Got a Two Pounder

As of yesterday Charlotte is officially two pounds! That may not sound like a lot to most people, but to us that's a huge milestone. Granted some of that weight may be from waterweight that accumulated while she was immobile this past week, but it's still two pounds!
One of the tests sent earlier this week checking for infection came back positive today and the doctors seem pretty sure that Charlotte had pneumonia. Thankfully, from the start they have been treating her with the antibiotics that target pneumonia , so the infection should be on its way out. The infection has taken quite a toll on her lungs and she will probably have to be on the ventilator for awhile longer. At the moment she's on the "new" ventilator they have, which gives her 600 breaths/minute. Supposedly this ventilator does less damage to the lungs than a traditional ventilator, but because it delivers so many breaths per minute she usually needs to be paralyzed to help her relax. I hate to see her paralyzed because she can still hear what's going on and feel people touch her, but she can't move or respond. I'm hoping that by tomorrow they'll be able to take her off that drug and she'll be back to doing her hourly aerobic routines.
Several people have asked me what she's eating. At the moment just fats and other nutrients delivered via IV, but she has been able to get breast-milk off and on, depending on how stable she is (1cc every 6 hrs - mice eat more than that). There's talk of starting her back on the milk tomorrow and I really hope so because a) she needs to get some meat on those bones, and b) I'm running out of room in our freezer for the milk.

Ups and Downs

When they told me at the NICU that it would be a roller coaster ride I didn't realize the ups and downs would be so dramatic. I expected a few dips in the road, but not like this past weekend. The middle of last week was great for Charlotte. On Wednesday Charlotte was having some difficulty with her breathing tube - either there was a leak or it wasn't in place correctly, no one could tell exactly - so the doctor decided to take it out and see how she did breathing on her own. With a very nervous mommy standing by they took out the breathing tube, turned off the ventilator and my little girl was breathing on her own! We were warned that it's very rare for babies this tiny to be able to stay off for a prolonged period of time, but every day that she can be off the ventilator means less damage to her lungs. Charlotte was able to stay off until Friday afternoon. Just long enough to be held twice by her mom.

The first time I held her in my arms and I got to really experience how tiny she is, but she cooed at me and had her eyes open most of the time. I have to say that was probably the happiest moment of my life and one of the few times during this experience that I really felt like a mom. The second time I held Charlotte was on Friday and they stuffed her down the front of my shirt so that she could "kangaroo". I don't know how well known "kangarooing" is, but it's a method developed in South America as a way of keeping premature babies warm through skin-to-skin contact. Supposedly it's very effective in keeping their heartrate and breathing stable. It was kind of an odd sensation for me because I couldn't really see her and it felt like someone had put a hamster down my shirt.

Shortly after I held her for the second time she started to show signs of distress, so the staff put her breathing tube back in and put her back on the ventilator. Basically all weekend long she's been fighting a pretty nasty infection and she's been very sick. All of her cultures have come back negative, which sounds like a good thing, but it would be easier for them to treat her if they knew exactly what they're up against. The last 24 hours have been better and while it's going to take her awhile to recooperate from this episode we're happy to finally see signs of improvement.

So, as we have been, we just take things day by day. Actually, more like hour by hour.

Brian and my father have made quite a bit of headway on our family room (formerly the attached garage). Almost all of the insulation is up and they've started drywalling the ceiling. Hopefully by the end of this weekend all of the drywall will be up and Brian can start taping.

Little Kisses

There is a nurse in the NICU who makes Halloween costumes for all the babies on Halloween and then the other nurses take pics for the parents. It's pretty funny to see some of these kids dressed up. My favorite (after my own children, of course) was this little baby girl that was dressed up as a "little wench". It was hilarious! I hope her parents weren't pissed off. Charlotte, Gus and Jake were all Hershey's kisses.

Two Months Later

For those that are checking here for updates on the babies, I apologize for taking so long to post something. It's been pretty hectic around here and I haven't had the opportunity, nor the energy to sit down and type. As most people probably know our son Jake passed away last Thursday on November 2nd. Our other son, Gus, passed away on Monday night (Nov. 6). Both of our sons died due to complications from being premature. We are so lucky to have been able to spend the time we had with both of them and we are comforted by the fact that they are now together in a safe and loving place.

Thank you to everyone who has offered their help and support. Brian and I don't really need anything at this point - we're remembering to eat and sleep - and we are putting all of our energy and focus on Charlotte. If anyone would like to make any memorials please send your donations to March of Dimes at www.marchofdimes.com. The March of Dimes donates a lot to the NICUs. Every hat and blanket you see in the pictures has been donated by them.

I'll back up a bit for those who haven't heard what happened over the past few weeks. I went to the doctor on Oct. 10th when I was 24 wks pregnant only to find out that I was 1 cm dilated and having regular contractions. After pumping me full of meds to stop the contractions I stayed at the hospital for four days just to remain under observation and make sure that I didn't start going into labor again. Shortly after midnight on Oct. 23rd Brian and I went to Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions again. At this point they realized that my water had broken, which meant I would have to be hospitalized for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was hoping that the remainder of my pregnancy would be longer than 12 hours, but it didn't turn out that way.

At 9am I was feeling fine, the contractions had stopped, and I hadn't dilated any further. The nurses were even trying to sort out which room to put me in for my "long" stay. At 2pm I was fully dilated and the doctor told me my daughter had black hair. It's amazing how quickly things can change! It's also amazing how quickly the staff moves at L&D. At 2:02pm I was on the phone telling Brian to get his ass over there as fast as possible and at 2:14pm I was out cold and the triplets had been welcomed to this world.




First out was Charlotte Martina, weighing in at 1 lb. 6 ounces. Charlotte always seems to want her hands waving above her head and she just never stops moving around! I think I'm really going to have my hands full with her! :)










Next was Gus Philip at 1 lb. 13 ounces. He was the biggest of the three. However you can see how small he actually was next to Brian's hand.














And rounding out the trio was Jake Lachlan, who weighed
1 pound 9 ounces. Jake had such long limbs. We have no idea whose side that came from.



Life in the NICU is pretty much a roller coaster ride. One minute you've taken a step forward and something good has happened and the next minute you've taken two steps back. But I'm constantly amazed at how wonderful the staff are there. I don't how they do it, but they've created such an open, warm and caring environment.

Of course, I'll still be glad to get out of there when Charlotte comes home!

Speaking of Charlotte, she is doing well today. She had a rough weekend and her lungs were having some problems, but they gave her a few rounds of steroids and she seems to be doing much better!

Tomorrow I'll try and post some pics from Halloween (oh yes, we had costumes) and I'll show you Charlotte's new home (no more saran wrap roof - which for those who might be wondering is actually a good thing because it contains the humidity to moisten their skin).