ONE WEEK OLD!

Another big milestone!  As of 9:30 Saturday the triplets have made it through their first week of life!  This is fantastic news and we keep reminding ourselves this is a long haul and everyday they are here and progressing is really the main focus.

Lots of updates from the last 2 days:

ELSIE GETS HER OWN ROOM- On Thursday night they moved Elsie into her own room.       The first 5 days all 3 were together and it was challenging to move in the room it was so crowded.  The doctors suggested moving her directly across the hall so each baby would have adequate space needed for emergency or procedural equipment should they need it.  At first this was a little scary, because I want them to be with each other, but now that it is done, it is wonderful.  It appears the nurses have more space to do their jobs  and it is easier for Miguel and I to be at each isolette without feeling we are in the way or preventing the nurses from doing what they need to do.  Also, I now feel confident that if there were an emergency that they would have enough room to get in quickly.   Miguel has made sure that all of Elsie's decorations moved with her to her room so that she feels cozy in her own space (He is such an awesome Dad!).  The doctors have said that in a few weeks when they start coming off machines they can be reunited.

NEW VENTILATORS - each baby has moved off of their original ventilator onto new ones. This is not really an improvement, just a new mode of delivery to break the cycle of the same ventilator from day 1.  Being on a ventilator causes inflammation and eventually leads to damage in the lungs.  Also, many babies adjust to the ventilator settings and they are less effective.  This is the case for Sam, who has figured out in order to eat and sleep more to his own schedule, he can 'ride his ventilator'.  He does this by allowing the machine to do the most of the work, and then taking a breath every now and then to keep the alarms at bay.  Miguel told the nurse he is going to give him a kick in the ass to make him stop being lazy (did I mention how much I love my husband?).  Miguel has been watching all the settings on the ventilators and talking to the doctors and nurses to understand all the details involved in ventilator breathing.  The next step is no ventilator, and even though there is no timeline for when that will happen, we are looking forward to having them remove the tube in the mouth and being able to hear our babies cry for the first time.

ELSIE THE PIRATE - ARRRRG!  One fantastic highlight on Friday was when Elsie opened one eye and looked right at her Mommy!  Her other eye started to crack open slightly today for Daddy, but she is still looking very much like a pirate with one eye squinting and one eye opened.  We were over the moon ecstatic to see that little one eye looking back at us this early, as the eyes don't normally open till into week 26.

PICC LINES - another major hurdle is converting all the babies over to PICC lines.  At birth the doctors use the umbilical cord as an entrance to delivering all the IVs.  They take 3 veins from the cord and insert 3 IVs that can deliver fluids, nutrition as well as draw blood without constantly sticking them.  This is great as it is non-intrusive.  However, this method only lasts 7-10 days before the cord starts to break down as a natural process after childbirth.  Now the babies must have a surgical procedure to insert an IV into a main artery.  A needle is inserted in the arm, and then a tube is placed through the needle and fished up the arm, takes the turn at the armpit and moves toward the heart into a main artery.  These PICC lines will also not last forever as the placement of the tube moves as they grow, but is a semi-permanent solution to getting poked with needles multiple times a day.  Danny was up first, and had a successful procedure on Wednesday.  Elsie Mae was next and had a failed attempt on Thursday night as they could not get the tiny tube to round her right shoulder.  They tried again yesterday in the other arm and were successful.  Sammy is up tomorrow or Monday for his.

FEEDINGS - all the babies are moving up in their milk intake and frequency.  This is great because it will add much needed calories to their diet and help them grow and be able to be stronger for any complications.  Mom is working hard pumping around the clock to make a large enough supply to grow 3 hungry babies.

We are starting to see some minor setbacks with the babies, which makes for an exhausting day emotionally, but Miguel and I are keeping each other together and strong.  The doctors thought Elsie could come off her ventilator and we agreed to let her be challenged to breathe on her own.  Then she waited until all 4 doctors came in the room to start the procedure and SHE FLIPPED OUT.  Set all of her alarms off, her oxygen level dropped, unsteady breathing and apnea, flailing her arms and legs, for a seemed-like-eternity-but-was-really-only-5-minutes episode.  One of the doctors turned to us and said 'So the great thing about babies is that they don't need to be able to speak to tell us what they want, and she DOES NOT want this'.  She made it clear she was not ready to breathe on her own and I'm glad she voiced her concerns because the next 24 hours were overwhelming to her body with the failed PICC line procedure.  She is rather opinionated I must say. :)

                                                             PIRATE ELSIE

                                                  SAMMY AND DANNY'S ROOM

                        DANNY FLEXING HIS MUSCLE SHOWING OFF HIS NEW PICC LINE

                                                    SAMMY PLAYING PEEK A BOO

                                             ELSIE HOLDING HER BREATHING TUBE

              MOMMY GOT TO HOLD DANNY WHILE THEY CHANGED HIS BEDDING

                                          SAMMY NAPPING WITH HIS BLANKET