1 day at a time...girls' update

So another busy week comes to a close!  Here is an update on the girls!

Alyx and Luci-  So these girls have gone from being the big sisters at birth to almost the little sisters (Dorothy Jo almost took her over).  They got their 4 month shots and check up at the end of May.  They did great and there were no effects after the shots, other than Luci being a little cranky that night.  They took it like champs!  We did notice that they hadn't gained much weight since the last weight check up last month (less than a pound gained).  This wasn't surprising.  The past month they had been extremely crabby and spitting like crazy.  I am not talking normal baby spit either. I am talking puking half their bottles.  No matter what we tried, burping more frequently, feeding upright, keeping upright after feeds, etc. Nothing seemed to help.  This reflux was winning and it was so frustrating to see my babies in pain and not being able to help.  So our pediatrician referred us to see a GI specialist.  While waiting for the GI appointment we decided to make a few changes on our own.  I gave up dairy in my diet to see if that was causing spit ups (I MISS MY ICE CREAM!!!), we changed nipple sizes on their bottle, and we started feeding oatmeal.  The changing of the nipple and dairy seemed to help, but still waiting to see if the dairy helps but seems to be good so far.  Jury is still out on the feeding oatmeal.  At first the girls seemed to be interested but after a few days they just were not interested in eating oatmeal anymore. Went to the GI specialist and now we are on a new medication (that they can't spit up like the last one), we are thickening bottles with oatmeal, and will be going for an x-ray next week to make sure nothing is wrong with their upper GI tract. We also found out that the changes we have made have been doing some good, because in less than 3 weeks the girls had gained almost a whole pound! Alyx weighs 10.2 pounds and Luci weighed 10 pounds even.

Other than trouble with feeding, the girls seemed to be doing great!  They are rolling all over the place and are so active it's hard to keep them still.  They are full of smiles and giggles, and it has been so fun watching them grown and learn.  Mark has decided to teach the girls some signs in hopes that we can teach the girls to communicate with us before they are talking.  It is really sweet to watch him.  He is fully committed to teaching the girls these signs.  We have started with Mom, Dad, and eat.  The girls have also developed a love for lights and music.  They love the light up turtle that plays music.  We play with it almost everyday.  They also love cartoons! I try to limit the amount of time, but we do watch this youtube channel they love called Baby Bum!  It has some very cute songs and nursery rhymes.  I can't believe my summer vacation is almost halfway over!


Dorothy- So big changes coming for my little squirrel! WIth her oxygen needs coming down, she has been working on eating from a bottle. This has been a slow and tough process for her.  She is having trouble getting the concept of swallowing while still being able to breathe.  She gets very worked up thinking she can't breathe and then chokes on the bottle.  Some days she will take a little bit other days she won't even let the bottle near her mouth.  Because feeding is her last and large hurdle we had to decide on a more long term solution.  After discussing out options we decided the best path for Dot is to have a G-tube or G-button put in.  So on Tuesday Dot will have a small operation to insert a more permanent tube in her stomach so that she can eat from a pump while still learning to eat at home with a therapist.  It is scary to think about my 5 month old baby undergoing surgery, but I know this will be a way for her to be home with all of us.  The doctors assured us that this is a very routine and safe procedure so we will just hope and pray that all goes well.  As a parent you just want the best for your baby and want to know that you are making the best decision.
 
So other than the big news of the surgery Dot is coming along great! She had an MRI yesterday and everything is normal. No abnormalities from being born premature.   I even got a picture of my little eskimo baby before she went to the MRI. She was not happy about being swaddled up so tight.  She is getting stronger with her head control and can sit up with support.  She has also become such a happy baby and a social butterfly!  She will coo at the nurses and giggle.  My favorite time is when we sing together.  Music is Dot's favorite, so when I visit I will put on music and we will sing together.  Her favorite music?  The oldies! Especially the beach boys.  She calms and gets immediately happy when her cd is turned on.

So even with this scary time coming up, we know this means she is close to coming home.  We can't wait to have us all together and hopefully within a few weeks we will be all together.

Alyx eating oatmeal.

Luci and Alyx enjoying blanket time.

Alyx and Luci

Alyx napping

Alyx napping

Luci after bathtime

Luci after food time

Mommy and Dot time

Getting ready to go to MRI..we are NOT happy

Happy that MRI is over!

Really mom?? Do my pants need to be this high?

I think I can... I think I can... One day at a time Mommy's Story

So what a crazy couple of weeks!  You'd think since school has been out my life would have gotten a little easier, but then again I do have triplet GIRLS! I should know life will always be an adventure.  So for the update I am going to write about each person individually.  For the sake and understanding of the week I am going to begin with me.

Mommy-  I had started noticing a few weeks ago with all of the stress of going back to work, ending the school year, reflux woes (I will explain in the girls' section), insurance dealings (explanation below), and schedule of going back and forth to the nicu all while still trying to be a mommy and wife; I was beginning to feel a little rundown and tired.  Well...it all came to a head this week.  Ending the school year went pretty well, thanks to the support of family and my husband, I felt pretty confident the whole way through.
      Since giving birth to the girls I have been using a hospital grade breast pump to help feed the girls, and I have been able to exclusively breastfeed all 3 these past 4 1/2 months with no supplementation.  I am extremely proud and want to keep going until they are 1 year at least at this point!  However this hospital grade pump has to come from a medical supply company- no problem- my lactation consultant from the hospital help set it up with insurance and the medical supply company.  Received my pump and all is great! Fast forward to May, medical supply company is mad because the insurance will not pay for all the months and is demanding that I return the pump or pay the rental fee.  Umm..hello? How do I feed my babies without this pump?  Man from the medical supply company does not care and wants the pump returned anyway. After 2 weeks of talking and mediating between the insurance, medical supply company (who is not a very nice man to speak with), and my lactation consultant, we were able to reapprove the pump through August.  Until last week, the nasty man from the medical supply company calls back to demand that I return the pump immediately as the insurance is denying my claim.  Again he is almost screaming at me, as I am pretty much begging for some time to solve this so that I can continue to pump enough milk to feed the girls.  Anyway it got so bad I ended up with my very first stress headache.  It was so bad I couldn't see straight.  We are still in the process of figuring this mess out so pray that it works out in our favor!  So Monday night I start noticing pain in my chest and that I might have some clogs. It happens when feeding multiple babies and I can usually work them out.  Late Monday night I woke up shivering and running a fever with extreme pain everywhere, especially the right side of my chest.  It got so bad I couldn't give the girls their first bottle that morning.  For the next 2 days I ran fevers up to 104 degrees.  I was taking ibprophen, tylenol, and an antibiotic prescribed by my doctor.  Yep...for those of you who have knowledge of nursing/pumping...I had gotten a severe case of mastitis.  I had 2 minor cases before but cleared up within 24 hours with no problem and no antibiotic needed.  Not this time!  I got so sick we even took a little trip to the ER to see if IV antibiotics would help.  Thankfully they doubled the dosage of antibiotic and increased pain meds and said give it 24 more hours.  By Thursday morning I started to feed my temperature coming down, and feel more normal.  I felt like I could actually get out of bed without passing out.  And maybe I could eat some food too.  By late morning my fever was normal.  For those who don't know about mastitis, it is one of the most painful things that can happen to a nursing mom.  It is when the milk ducts clogs and then cause an infection which can spread to your blood if not treated or unclogged immediately.  Many times mastitis causes a drop in milk supply too.  The other 2 times I got mastitis I was able to clear the clogs and recover my supply within a day or two.  This time my supply has drastically dropped.  I went from making 9-14 oz each pump to now make 5-6 oz.  It can really be frustrating and discouraging to see after being able to pump so well before, and now not knowing if you can recover your supply back.  I am staying positive and will do what I can to help get back to where I was before.  Thankfully, I do have a supply built up in my freezer that will help up get through..although there is a pitfall to that as well (explain later haha).  So being down for 2 days what happened to the babies???? Ta-da! Family to the rescue! Hubby stepped up and did morning feeds and stayed with my in the morning until my parents came. My parents helped take care of the girls during the day and into the evening both days. I cannot ever thank them enough for all the help that they have given to us.  Without them I would be lost for sure!  They do so much for us and I will always continue to thank them and let them know how grateful we are for their help and support!  We also had help from our other grandparents in the evening to watch the girls and from their uncle who watched Alyx and Luci by himself for an hour! He was and should be proud! That is a big undertaking for anyone!
     So on top of the all of this we have been dealing with the dreaded reflux with the girls.  We have tried a couple different meds with no success among other interventions that we are trying from home.  We finally have a GI appointment but while we are waiting to go, it was suggested by others that I try to remove dairy from my diet to see if that makes a difference.  So for the past week and a half I have stayed away from all dairy.  We have been feeding the girls purely dairy free milk to see if this will help with their massive spit ups.  We have definitely seen a reduction in spits so I will keep it up for now.  This is not easy when ice cream is a daily food group for you!! But for my babies I will do with a smile on my face.  Now... this has been a problem the last few days because of the mastitis. With my supply down I am not producing enough to feed the girls so we are having to use the frozen supply...which has MILK in it!!! So frustrating.
    Anywho hopefully now life will get back on track.  Exciting weekend planned..first zoo trip, first birthday party outing, and visiting sissy at the hospital.  I will update on the girls soon as well!

10 Signs You Have Spent Time At A NICU

1. The secretaries know you by your voice.

I call up to the nicu on the parent line a few times each day and night to check on Dot. One night I called and the Secretary, whom I really enjoy having a nighttime conversation with says to me "How you doin' Mrs. Mitchell, I recognized your voice before you even said the room number. I told you I would learn your voice eventually." Oh Lord I need my discharge papers...STAT!

2. You have celebrated multiple holidays within the 4 walls and florescent lighting of a hospital.

So we have now seen Valentine's day, Easter, Mother's day, Memorial day, and are getting ready to see Father's day and 4th of July. 

3. You know terms like Apnea, NBP, CPAP, KCAL, input/output, desat, leads, CBC, etc.

Letters of the alphabet combine to form what seems like nonsense but is really common nicu lingo and I no longer need my nicu dictionary to understand them (and yes I have one that they gave us).

4. Eating out/running through a drive through used to be like YEAH no cooking and now you just long for a home cooked meal at your HOME!

I used to love Friday and Saturday nights cause it meant no cooking...now that's pretty much an every night occurance that we visit the nicu. After so many times fast food really begins to suck.

5. The top Wi-Fi network on your phone is the hospital network.

Yes I want to sign in... Yes I will accept your terms of agreement...

6. The wires and tubes become no big deal.

We used to be so nervous we would pull or misplace a tube or wire, but now I think I might just be able to have a jumpstart if I ever decided to go to nursing school. You know you're good when someone asks you how long you have worked there..ummm.

7. Your child has "earned" some cool baby equipment.

We now have a mobile, a light up fish toy, a CD player, a swing, and a mamaroo. We are living the good life...ha ha!

8. You have seen too many neighbors come and go and your child is the "queen bee" of her area.

So our nicu is divided into gardens. We are in Spring garden. There are 12 rooms. Our family has been in 5 of them. I think we should get an award! But really she is the social butterfly of the garden saying hello to everyone from her swing as they pass by her door. We will see a new nametag with a new baby and then after a little while, no more baby just a "clean" sign on the door cause the baby went home. And then by the next day, at the latest...new nametag and new baby. The names I can remember- Hannah (our nicu buddy), Greyson, Asher, Clark, Jordan, Faith, Hope, Remington, Emma, Ethan, and more I could add if I could remember.

9. Your child has reached the top weight on the weight conversion chart.

We started on one end and now we are to the other. She has gained almost 8 pounds since birth while in the nicu. Makes you realize how far my little fighter has come!

10. You are bringing up the next size in clothing cause she outgrew the last size.

We started with preemie when she was a couple months old (she wasn't even big enough for clothes until that point). Then she went to newborn, and just this week I brought up 0-3 months for my chunky monkey.

The pictures below are Alyx, Luci, and myself from day 1 until the present. It's amazing to see the progress of my babies in photos!