Gifts

We're really grateful for the cards and gifts people have sent/delivered. Thanks so much to everyone - we've really enjoyed opening the post for a change! People have been extremely generous. For both of us our work colleagues deserve special mention.

This week we got a visit and a nappy cake from the Whalley family (handmade!) and some cuddly toys from my cousin Debby (the exact ones a nurse was advising us to buy so very well chosen). Julie is continuing to knit blankets and Charlie has a new one. The babies Great Uncle Myles and Great Aunt Margaret came today and I think they were quite impressed by their cuteness.

The babies are continuing to do well. They were weighed on Sunday and (we think) the new weights are as below.

Lex - read the baby-gro

Lex is now 2 pound 12. He's still very alert and looks around all the time. He's still on low flow oxygen but it is being turned down every day so he's not far off from just doing the whole breathing thing himself. He's on lots of mummy milk and is digesting it well.

Beth giving me two fingers

Beth is now 2 pound 11. She's still just in air, no help for her in the whole breathing thing. She's moving towards coming out of the incubator and just into a cot - no idea how long that'll be though. She's on lots of mummy milk too but has a habit of seeing it again so she's on a bit of gaviscon to help her keep it down.

Charlie - note the blanket and big boy clothes

Charlie is now 2 pound 7. He's on high flow oxygen and doing really well. He's just finished another course of antibiotics and we're hoping that the infection is gone. Fingers crossed because it has been that every time he finished antibiotics it came back again. He was especially alert today and watched his Great Aunt and Uncle avidly.

Now we can see him properly I'm truly smitten with his cutey face.

The more time I spend with them and getting to know their personalities the more I can't wait to get them home. I really miss them when I'm at home and am just so pleased to see them when I get to the hospital. I don't think I'm the only one.

Mummy Cam and Daddy Can too!

I'm getting to cuddle the babies every day now so I decided to take some 'mummy's eye' view pictures.

Charlie on Mummy Cam.

Lex on Mummy Cam

Charlie is back on sipap (which I think might actually be called CPAP) and looked like he'd got another infection. They've taken the long line out of his leg because they think that might be causing the trouble.

Hopefully this'll sort it out. Fingers crossed.








Lex is still doing very well. His eyes are open quite a lot but I'm not sure that they focus on anything. We discovered the weights we were told for him and Beth were wrong - they are both around 2 pound 10.

Beth on Mummy Cam

Beth...well Beth is just beautiful isn't she?

This was going to be my post for today but at lunchtime we got some big news. The matron said they would move Beth next to Lex so we could hold them both at the same time!

Matt didn't get a chance to hold all his babies yesterday so he was given the first hug. Pictures below.

Double Cuddles

Matt didn't have a shirt that unbuttoned so he just took his t-shirt off. He's not nudey I promise. He is, however, very happy with two of his babies.

Hello again!

Lex and Beth held hands (well sleeves). They haven't seen/felt each other for nearly 3 weeks now. It was all going swimmingly then Beth poked Lex in the eye. Not for the last time I'm sure.

I'm hoping to get my double cuddles tomorrow.

He has a face!

Lex

All the babies are growing well.

Lex was 2 pound 6 at birth and he's now 2 pound 15. A day or two and he'll be 3 pounds. Good boy!

He's the most alert of the triplets and we get to see his rather unfocused eyes quite often. Not in this photo mind you.

Beth

Beth was 2 pound 3 at birth and is now 2 pound 10. She is very chilled out, a talent she will no doubt need over the next decade or so.

Both Lex and Beth are now just concentrating on eating, sleeping, pooing and growing. The evidence from today's nappies is that they are both putting in a lot of effort. We are very proud.

Charlie

Charlie was 2 pound 1 at birth and is now 2 pound 5 (but has only just started on mummy milk). The big news about him is that he is out of intensive care, hopefully getting the long line out of his leg tomorrow and, most importantly, he has a FACE! They tried him off sipap today and he did really well. They will take him off sipap for a few hours each day and give him a chance to get used to the whole breathing thing. The evidence so far is that he'll be good at it.

He is competing with his siblings on the dirty nappy front and won the gold star today.

Room 2 Again!

Beth

We're getting used to having two babies in one room now. It means we can both cuddle a baby in view of the other. It's a bit like being normal parents - a bit like.

What's weird is how quiet the other people are when they are holding their babies. We seem to be the only parents in the room that actually speak to their children. Maybe they think we are odd.

We're also learning how to tube feed the babies. They are still too premature to feed themselves. Apparently they only develop a suck reflex at 34 weeks. It all seems a bit complex at the moment but that's just because we're nervous new parents not wanting to get anything wrong.

Lex

And don't even get me started on dressing them! Really, REALLY hard when they are in an incubator, with lots of tubes, and you just have two little doorways to put your hands through. Plus the clothes, even the tiny baby ones, are far too big. You will see lots of pictures of them with their hands lost in clothing. See Lex as an example. You can see that he is not impressed.

Anyway today the big news is all about Charlie. He's breathing better so it looks like, soon, he'll move onto high flow - which means he'll only have a tiny tube under his nose (just like Lex) and we will actually see his face properly. It will also make cuddles much easier.

He's also tolerating milk better. He's up to 75ml a day. Once he gets up to 150ml he comes off extra fluids, can lose the long line in his leg and gets to wear big boy clothes.

Charlie

Even better than that though Charlie is doing so well they are planning to move him out of Intensive Care into High Dependency. He's moving into Room 2 - the tiny corridor Beth has just left but never mind - it means he's improving a lot. Hopefully he'll be there when we go in tomorrow.

Matt has just cooked me a lovely garlic and rosemary roast lamb for tea. Now to start on that box of chocs. Happy Easter!

Two Weeks Old

Mummy and Lex

Today the babies were two weeks old and we had a very good day. I'm finally over my mini cold so it was 'Operation Cuddle your Children' day. First was Lex.

His hair is so silky and he is so easy to cuddle now he has lost most of his tubes and lines. He seemed quite content being cuddled and just zonked out.

Mummys first cuddle with Charlie

Next was Charlie, who has been a bit up and down lately. They think he has an infection and he's on antibiotics but they can't actually culture anything - so they don't know what he has. His temperature was up and down yesterday and he wasn't digesting his milk very well.

Today, however, he's much better. His temperature is lower and he is digesting milk better. He's breathing really well too. Plus I got my very first cuddle with him. He just snuggled in.

Beth in her big girl clothes

Finally Beth had a very exciting day. Because she is doing so well they removed the long line from her leg, which meant she could wear big girl clothes.

It also meant that she was moved from High Dependency into Special Care, just one incubator down from Lex! We have two babies in one room. It's fantastic!

Mummy and Beth

So I had to celebrate with a cuddle.

Today was a very good day.

Poo!

Charlie

We have spent the past few days hoping for poo and now our children are supplying the goods.

Thanks in part to the dye test he had Charlie has started having a good clear out. We now check every day how well he has done overnight. Poo has become fascinating.

Also Charlie is now off the ventilator and breathing on his own, with a little sipap help. He's also started on mummy milk which has me doing lots of maths to try to keep ahead of demand for my three feeders.


Beth

The big news for Charlie is that he's booked in for his very first, ever in his life, cuddle this afternoon. I'm still a bit snotty so the honour goes to daddy. Not that I'm jealous at all. Oh no. Not me. I am the very picture of motherly generosity.

Beth is still in her tiny room and, as a result, does get a bit less attention than the other two. You are just always in someone's way. Luckily she has basically been asleep all day except for this brief moment.

Lex is still in the big boys room and is even wearing clothes! A big step forward. He's breathing normal air and seems quite alert. 

Lex

He apparently produced the most amazing quantity of poo today and even got the nurse with it. Good lad!






Rollercoaster

Once we knew we were having triplets it was obvious that they'd be born early (or I would explode!) and would spend time in special baby care. Everything I read about it warned us that the time they spent there would be one of highs and lows. The past two days perfectly illustrate this.

Charlie

Charlie has been causing everyone a bit of concern as on x rays it looked like his intestines were swollen. Earlier in the week the consultant had told us that he might have a blockage which would require surgery. We changed his nappy and were delighted to find a poo! The doctor was pleased too and we, wrongly, assumed that was that.

Yesterday we were told Charlie still had a problem. He would have to be taken to the Childrens Hospital, just down the road, for a dye test to see if there was a blockage. If there was they would operate immediately.

Charlie is in there somewhere!

So today we got to the hospital early to see Charlie before he went. We watched as he was carefully loaded into a portable incubator and about 10am waved him off.

After an hour we were phoned and told he had not got a blockage and did not need surgery. Phew! The doctor talked to us later and explained that they think he's probably just having problems because he is premature and little. They are going to test for other conditions but they think its probably just that.

He's now back in his incubator and they are hoping the dye they used will help things along. Poo Charlie Poo!

A very crowded room

 
Beth

Daddy and Beth

Beth is still happy in the High Dependency room (one step down from Intensive Care where Charlie is). Yesterday we were wanting a cuddle but it was so busy in the room we didn't get a chance. The room she is in is so small you are constantly in someones way. It was very frustrating. Here's a picture of the room, with Aunty Anna looking at Beth.

Today I woke up with a very slightly runny nose. I rang the unit for advice and they said as long as I wasn't coughing or had a sore throat I was fine to come in. They said I was ok to touch the babies but I decided to go in but not to touch.

So Daddy came in for lots of cuddles today. Beth was very settled on Daddy's chest.










Lex

Lex

I think that Lex has decided Beth has been pulling too far ahead. When we went in today he had no sipap tube and we could see his face. He also surprised us by opening his eyes.

Daddy and Lex

Daddy had to have a cuddle with him too. Lex seemed to be searching for food. He was to be disappointed.


Later we were told Lex was being moved out of intensive care into special care (two steps down). He's now settled in a new room and looking great.

So all in all its been an up and down kind of a weekend. Luckily it has ended up on a high.



Lex in his new room