No Creative Titles Tonight...

This has been an exciting weekend for our family! Our kids no longer need Level 3 care at Mac, so they were transferred to Level 2 at St. Joe's. St. Joe's is a much different hospital and the whole NICU functions differently. I suppose that is to be expected - different hospital, different level of care, etc., but it still threw us off a little.

It does put a little pressure on us to be a little more "hand's on", which is really good for me - I learn best when I'm put in situations where I have to do it on my own. 3 days in, I'm feeling very comfortable - I've got pretty good bundling, bathing, burping and diapering skills. I anticipate it getting a little more challenging as they grow - at least in some respects - but I'm getting a good handle on things, and Kristin has been very encouraging!

Yesterday, both sets of Grandparents got to finally meet and snuggle the new additions! Everyone was very excited, and it was an emotional time for all of us, I think. Pictures to come! Hopefully some of the Great-Grandparents will be able to visit soon!

Teddy, Joshua and Emma continue to do very well - they had the heat turned off in their isolette's today, and are holding their body temperatures well. If they can maintain good body heat for another day or two, they'll be transferred into little cots - another step closer to coming home!

Another big milestone was the introduction of bottle and breast feeding today! For most parents this happens almost immediately, but because our little one's are so little, we weren't sure they would be able to master the suck/swallow/breathe technique. Our nurses told us that premature babies don't usually get that skill until 34/35 weeks (gestational age). Our trips hit 34 weeks today, and the charge nurse was immediately encouraging us to give it a shot - and wouldn't you know it - our babies went right for it! All 3 took pretty well - we'll see how they manage over the next few days - sometimes there is a little regression because it takes a lot of effort for a 4lb baby to drink all that fluid so many times a day - but so far they're doing wonderfully!

There are only a few more hurdles before we'll be able to bring our family home, and we're sooooo excited! They're still so little - each have gained about 4oz or so above their birth weight (babies tend to lose some weight after birth, and then begin to gain again) - but they are steadily climbing. How blessed we are; God is SO GOOD!

I'll try to update again tomorrow with some new pictures! We're busy getting the nursery ready, so it's back to work!

Thanks for checking in (by the way, is the comment function working again?)

Update!

Hi Everyone,

I was just informed that the comment function was not working! SO SORRY!

... I was wondering where all my comments were ...

Anyway, I've changed the background again - can't find a Christmas template that I can be sure the comments will work on, so I'll use this as a default, for now.

As a quick update - our kids are doing sooooo well! So well, in fact, that they have been moved from Level 3 at Mac, to Level 2 at St. Joe's. We much prefer the surrounding of Mac (and the staff!), but it's nice to know that we don't need that intensive care at this point.

At St. Joe's, we'll have a little more freedom, and we're one step closer to our babies coming home! That'll still be a few weeks, to be sure, but it's encouraging!

More cute pictures to come - it's late, so I'll be brief... (story of my life these days...)

The Dreaded "A" Word...

"...we're going to have to admit you today..." Sigh. We didn't want to hear that a-word...

That was the bottom line at today's appointments; Kristin's cervix continues to shorten, and they would like to monitor her more closely at the hospital. I think Kristin and I would agree that we expected it at some point, but we always hope for the best, trying hard to be optimistic...

Nevertheless, in the hospital she goes, on strict bed rest - she can walk to the washroom and shower, that's it. Poor woman is going to go stir crazy with all that boredom!

We would also agree that it's comforting to have such a thorough medical system so close to home - we're fortunate that one of the leading children's hospitals is so close to home. They take good care of us, and we're confident in their judgment and recommendations.

We also got some news about gestational diabetes; Kristin's sugars are high, which happens to most mothers of multiples (or so we were told). They'll modify her diet and consider using insulin if necessary.

So the house is quiet as I type... I can hear the cat pawing at his food and the dog is snoring on the couch beside me. The house won't be quiet for long...

I've chatted with a few people today who asked for things they can pray for, so I'll leave you with a few of our prayers that you can add to your list if you'd like.

First, pray for Kristin and the babies' health - hospitals are good places to be, but it's also where sick people go, and H1N1 is the talk of the town these days. Pray for good health, and pray that those babies keep 'baking' for another 6-7 weeks!

You can also pray for me, if I may humbly ask... I work with lots of kids and families, and the flu is going around in many schools in the area. I've been feeling well until this evening - just within the last hour I've been fighting the urge to cough. I've been taking every precaution I can (and am getting quite paranoid as I do so); I take my temperature at obsessive-compulsive frequency, a bottle of hand sanitizer is never more than 10 feet away, I'm poppin' Vitamin C like nobody's business and even using a Neti Pot (it's a weird idea, but I'm told it's effective... google it if you're so inclined...). I also gargle Listerine several times a day... all these measures to try to keep the germs at bay. I started hockey last week (which is a story unto itself), so I'm hoping my urge to cough has more to do with all the exercise at the rink (breathing in all that cold air) than the swine flu.. time will tell, but so far no fever or other symptoms... pray please!

Pray that Kristin's doesn't lose her marbles in the hospital; while it's a good place to be medically, it's also a boring place to be. Her new roommate has been very amiable today and is helping by sharing magazines and letting Kristin know what the routines are, where to get juice, and so on. It can also be a noisy place because, after all, it is a maternity ward; we're told it can be hard to get good sleep because of crying babies...

One more (I'm alternating here, if you've noticed the pattern...), pray for stamina - I need to balance time between hospital, work and home - I need to be with Kristin, but have to earn my paycheck and save my vacation and sick time for when the babies' are born; we also have pets that need attending, and keeping poor Gus caged up all day and all evening is hard... pray that I can find a good balance and that I can get good sleep and eat well (which is increasingly hard to do when there are so many places to be...)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support, prayers, phone calls, and encouragements. You have all been so helpful and supportive, and this experience would be soooo much more difficult if it weren't for friends and family.... we can't express how truly blessed we are.

We enjoy the comments, so please keep 'em coming! Goodnight....

Elevators and "I Felt it!"

A small crowd had gathered around the elevators in the yellow section. There's a distinct odor about the hospital; having spent a lot of time at Mac, I'd recognize it in an instant. I'm hungry, it's about 10:30am and we've been up for several hours.

Just a quick trip to the car in the parking garage, then I'll meet Kristin at the cafe for a bite.

I evaluate my potential elevator companions. Who looks like they're waiting for the 'down' elevator....

Hospitals have a weird effect on me. If I'm just walking around, I'm always wondering about the people around me. It's not hard to discern who works at the hospital, who's visiting and who's a patient; at least, it's not hard for me.

I look over my left shoulder. Two beefy looking guards from the local jail sandwich a smaller guy in an orange jumpsuit. His hands are in front of his chest; a padlock between his wrists. Weird.

It's not weird to see someone from jail at the hospital; I've seen that several times. Weird because he's keeping his hands up by his chest, instead of letting them fall in front of his waist. I wonder if he's been instructed to keep 'em up, or if he's just ... weird.

I try not to stare - people in orange jumpsuits tend to not like that very much.

I look back at the elevators. The white arrow finally lights up and the doors open. Turns out, more people are waiting to go up, so I enter with two other people. Just before the doors close, the guards and my orangejumpsuit friend walk on.

I'm not the least bit scared or intimidated. Orangejumpsuit isn't a big guy - significantly smaller than I am. He does look significantly crazier though. Seriously. Unkempt shoulder length black hair, thin face... he looks wily. Probably been in more than a few scraps behind bars.

I wonder what he's in for. Why he's locked up, why he's in the hospital...

It's a quiet ride downstairs. No one says a word. No one looks at each other.

Orangejumpsuit and his entourage step off at the first floor. The rest of us are going to the garage. As the doors close, I sense the female rider let out a deep breath. She looks relieved. She turns to me, "I thought that only happened in the movies...", she lets out a nervous laugh. I'm not sure how to respond, I laugh and make a comment about how it happens all the time. The doors open before I can say anything else, and we make our way into the garage.

Hospitals are weird places - you never know who you're going to see...

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Anyway, Kristin is scheduled to have a stitch put in tomorrow. Her cervix is 'dynamic', which means it opens and closes. They don't want to risk it opening further (which would bring on early labor), so they're going to put a stitch in. It's a common procedure, but with any procedure there are risks. So, we ask again for prayer, that everything will go as planned and that her visit will be short. They will keep her in at least 24 hours, hopefully not much longer than that.

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Last night I felt the babies for the first time! WooHoo! Kristin has been feeling them move with some regularity now, but last night was the first time I was able to feel them! What an exciting experience that is... it makes everything even more real....

Here are the picture from Friday's ultrasound. Thanks to DS for letting me scan them during Monday Night Football and for feeding me snacks!


Okay, so I have no idea why 2 of the ultrasounds turned sideways. When I pull them up on my computer they are fine, and I've tried re-sizing and re-saving no to avail. I guess you'll just have to tilt your head. Or your monitor... whichever...

I'll update when I can - I expect to be at the hospital for the next few days, but I'll try to leave a short late-night update tomorrow about the procedure.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!