A Big Day

Lex

It's been a bit of a day - in a good way.

Lex has put on another ounce and is now 3 pound 7.

He's been amazingly alert and focusing really well on faces. Andrea, Ted and Hannah came to visit on Saturday and he rewarded them with lots of eye contact. Photographic evidence to follow when Hannah emails it through.

Here's a pic of him with his Daddy showing not only his alertness but also how he now associates being picked up with food. I also love the muppet waving in the background.

Beth and Granny Coleman

Beth has put on 3 ounces up to 3 pound 6 so she's doing extremely well.

This meant that she was above the magic 1.5kg so guess what happened today....yes she was moved into her very own cot.

We can now pick her up whenever we like and don't have to wait for nurses to help. So today she got her first cuddle with Granny Coleman - just in time for Granny Cunnington to return from Australia and get her cuddles too - Hurrah!  Sorry to everyone else, especially Andrea as she is chomping at the bit, but I checked with the nurses and it's just cuddles with Grannys at the moment.

Apparently, and she will hate me for this when she is older, she's joined the exclusive Cunnington baby club by shooting poo across the room. Turns out not all babies do this, just all 3 of ours! Lucky us.

Charlie

Charlie is now 2 pound 10, up 1 ounce, and is doing really well on low flow.

He's looking more and more like Lex, or like himself (!), as he puts on weight.

Today he had a great day as he has figured out the whole breastfeeding thing. He was also amazingly alert afterwards. I just love watching him because you can tell there's a little mind behind those eyes. I can't wait to find out what he's thinking.

The big news with him is that (hopefully) tonight he's being moved down to room 7 - to be with his brother and sister. We shall see tomorrow but we're getting closer to reuniting them in cuddles.

And oh yes there will be pictures of that!

Babies, Parents and Rabbits

Today was weigh in day and all the babies are doing well. Neil (I think) asked for objects for scale so all the baby pictures in this post have added objects/parents.

Charlie

Charlie and Mummy

Charlie is now 2 pound 9, very nearly 2 pound 10 (up 1 ounce). He's on 3 hourly feeds and has even started breastfeeding - although he is a little unsure what to do! Bit like his mummy.

His breathing is going very well and they are going to try him on low flow tomorrow (whatever that is - all I know is it is less support than high flow). If he is ok with that for a few days then he will be ok to move into Special Care and we could have all our babies in the same room. Crazy!





Lex

Lex and Daddy

Lex is now 3 pound 6, very nearly 3 pound 7 (up 3 ounces). He's started breastfeeding too and has been extremely alert this week. He is working on the whole focussing thing and seems to be seeing much better.

He also managed to poo so dramatically this week, when his Daddy was changing him, that he required a whole new incubator! Look how happy he is!






Beth

Beth and her rabbit

Beth is now 3 pound 3 (up 3 ounces). She's breastfeeding too and taking to it very well.

She's still happy just breathing air and now is very close to the 1.5 kilo's magic number that means she will move into a cot...which means we can pick her up whenever we like and Granny's (just Grannys - sorry everyone else!) can cuddle her too. Won't be long now...

Sunday weigh in

Charlie

Just a quick Sunday update. The babies are weighed every Thursday and Sunday. Today Lex was just a smidge under 3 pound 2, Beth 3 pounds and Charlie had put on weight too. He's now 2 pound 8. He's gained an ounce in only a few days. Hurrah! We are very glad he is gaining again.

One nurse who's looked after all the babies on various days was saying today that she's now off for the next 12 days. 'When I get back I want to see Charlie in the same room as his brother and sister,' she said. Me too!

4 Weeks Old

The babies are 4 weeks old today. We're starting to get a routine going so I thought I'd run through it below. There's also some updates mixed in too.

A typical day

12am - Claire gets up to express. Generally takes 30-50 minutes. By express I do not mean some kind of acting class.
12.30-1am - back to bed.
3am - Claire gets up to express.
3.30-4am - back to bed.
6.10am - Matt gets up for work.
6.45am - Claire up to express, have breakfast, put washing on, feed piggies.

Beth

9am - Claire at Hospital. Run around checking on each baby. Text report to Matt.
9.30am - Express
10am - Cuddles with Beth.
Beth is doing really well. She's now 2 pound 14 and has started trying to breastfeed - she's much better at it than her mummy.

She does, however, have a habit of forgetting what she is doing and falling asleep. Don't worry the picture is PG rated. Also her ear is sticking out because she was laid on it folded over. It did flatten out afterwards.

11am - Cares with Lex. Cares is what the nurses call it when you change the babies nappy, moisten their mouths and sometimes tube feed them. Cares are usually followed by cuddles.

Lex is also doing really well. He's now 3 pounds! He was going to try breastfeeding too but was too sleepy today. I did get you a picture of him with his eyes open though.

12pm - Express/Cares with Beth - yes I have a clash here so I choose the baby. Who wouldn't?
1pm - Express.
1.45pm - Eat...Quickly!

Charlie

2pm - Cares with Charlie then cuddles. He's doing well too. No sign of infection coming back (yay!). He hasn't put on any weight since last weigh in so his food is going up. Hopefully this'll work. He has been a lot more alert this week and just as wriggly.

Just looking at this picture of Charlie and the above one of Lex - They are identical aren't they? Funny because they look very different to me normally.

Earlier this week we were having a cuddle and he did this advanced yoga move. The nurse was as shocked as me! Shouldn't be able to even lift his head yet! NB This isn't actually Charlie!
3.30-4pm - Matt at hospital.
5pm - Cares with Lex
5.30pm - Drive home.
6pm - Express.
6.30pm - Food!
7-9pm - Sort stuff out, fill in forms, watch tv, write blog.
9pm - Express - Yes again!
9.30pm - Bed!

It's a busy day but its good that we are getting some kind of routine that means each baby gets individual attention. It does mean though that if you want to visit please arrange beforehand - you can see how a lost 30 minutes can mean everything goes to pot!

No reason for this pic but Beth looks cute

Still no news on when the babies will come home. They say it'll be around their due date (5th June) but could be a few weeks either way. The nurses will get the babies in a 3/4 hour feeding routine then all we have to do is keep that going. Simple hey?

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.