Triplets Second Week in NICU

On Saturday, Mar. 3, Harper's IV needed to be replaced but after four attempts, the nurses could not replace the IV so Harper's feeding was increased to 20 ML to compensate. The nurses were not very concerned as the girls' IV were expected to be removed by Monday anyway. Addison's feeding was at 18 ML and Emery's was at 20 ML.
On Sunday, March 4, it was Addison's turn to give us a scare and she stopped breathing and her nurse had to breath for her using CPR. We are thankful for the NICU nurses and doctors watching over our girls and saving their lives. They moved Addison to her own isolette so they can get to her easier if there is another emergency. She is being given a little caffeine and 2 liters of room air through a cannula in her nose to stimulate her breathing. Emery and Harper are both off their IV, but Addison's is still in her head.
On Tuesday, March 6 they took out the IV in Addison's head, took out the cannula, and decreased the amount of caffeine since she is doing so well. All three girls are just above their birth weight. Addison is 3 lb. 5 oz., Emery is 3 lb. 10 oz. and Harper is 3 lb. 2 oz. When we went to hold them after dinner they were all together in one isolette again and wearing their first clothes!
On Wednesday the doctors gave the okay to try and start nursing once a day although they may not be ready yet. By Friday, March 9 the girls all continued to gain weight with Addison at 3lb. 7 oz., Emery 3 lb. 13 oz. and Harper 3 lb. 4 oz.

The Triplets First Week

The triplets are now one week old. The last week has been very educational as we watch our girls take small incremental steps that get them closer and closer to coming home.
After their birth, each baby was placed in their own bed that had a heat lamp with a wire that was taped on the babies' skin to monitor their temperature. The lamp would adjust its temperature to keep the babies warm so that they were not burning calories to stay warm.
When Caden first saw his sisters, he said he wanted to touch them. We said that would have to wait a little while. Caden then saw Emery and, while almost laughing, said, "I want to tickle her."
The girls were given IV's to provide them with fluids. Initially, the girls were only given saline solution. By Saturday, the saline solution was replaced with a TPN solution (multi-vitamins) and lipids (fats).
While Emery never required any breathing assistance, Addison and Harper were on a small amount of oxygen for about one or two hours after birth (41 percent at 2 liters per minute). The airflow to Addison and Harper continued, but the oxygen percentage was reduced to the amount that we all breathe in a normal environment (21 percent). The airflow kept Addison and Harper's lungs inflated so that they didn't have to work hard to breathe.
On Saturday, the girls' also began to receive their first feedings through a feeding tube. Initially, Addison and Emery were given 4 ML each feeding (every 3 hours) and Harper was given 3 ML each feeding. As the quantity of the feedings increases, the quantity of the IV fluids will be reduced until eventually the girls will no longer require IV's. Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to this accomplishment as the IV's are frequently moved which requires the girls' to be stuck (not a happy event for anybody involved). The IV's have been in various locations including the hand, arm, foot and head (everybody's least favorite).
On Sunday morning, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed holding the girls for the first time. What a feeling! When we hold the girls, we are able to hold them skin-to-skin (called Kangaroo Care). Mommy and Daddy sit in a chair and the nurse places one of the girls on each of our chests. At first, Daddy could feel the heat of Addison's body on his chest but after several minutes noticed that Addison's body temperature was the same as Daddy's. After another 30 minutes, Daddy commented that Addison felt cold on his chest. The nurse informed us that this was Daddy's body cooling off to regulate Addison's temperature. How amazing!
For babies born at a gestational age of 32 weeks or less, an ultrasound is performed on their brains to check on an internal bleeding. While Emery and Harper's results were fine, Addison's results showed that she has a small amount of bleeding on the right side of her brain. We were told that this is common and most often heals itself within 30 days of birth. The nurses did not seem to be too concerned as they are not going to retest until right before Addison is discharged.
On Tuesday, Feb. 27, Addison weighed 2 lb. 15.6 oz, Emery weighed 3 lb 4.6 oz, and Harper weighed 2 lb. 12.3 oz.
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Addison and Harper's feedings increased to 7 ML and Emery's feedings increased to 8 ML. On Friday, Mar. 2, the feedings doubled to 14 ML for Addison and Harper and to 16 ML for Emery.

The Triplets Have Arrived

On Friday, February 23, 2007, the Mathews triplets arrived. We went to Misty's doctor on Thursday and decided to give Misty her steroid shots for the babies' lung develop in case they decided to make an appearance. After the first steroid shot, a second needs to be given within 24 hours. So Misty received her first shot on Thursday morning and received her second on Friday morning.
Since Misty was having a lot of contractions from the time she woke up on Friday morning, her doctor decided to admit her to the hospital to monitor her contractions. Misty was not dialated significantly on Thursday morning, but was 3 cm on Friday morning.
It should be noted that Greg had been to every single doctor's appointment prior to the Friday morning. Caden had a dentist appointment on Friday and since Misty was just going in to get her second steroid shot, we decided that Greg would take Caden and Misty would go alone. Misty believed that she would be going home on Friday and that the contractions could be stopped. Greg called Misty after the dentist appointment and said he would be on his way, but Misty said that Greg should take Caden to lunch with Gran and Pop, can go home to get the camera just in case and then could come to the hospital.
During lunch, Misty called and said that the nurses didn't expect the contractions to stop and that she should expect to meet her girls today. Misty passed this information on to Greg and still believed that the process was still multiple hours away. Greg was again instructed to go home and get the camera. After finding the camera (but not new batteries), Greg started driving to the hospital which is about 15 minutes away from our home.
Misty called about 5-10 minutes later and asked how much longer it would take to arrive and said that she had told the nurses that it would be about 15 minutes. Greg asked why the 15 minutes was important and Misty said that the C-Section would begin when Greg arrived. Yikes! Greg learned that you can drive 70 mph on Woodlands Parkway safely (typically 45 mph).
Upon arrival, the nurses gave Greg some scrubs to dress in and were in the process of moving Misty's bed to the operating room. While Misty was getting her spinal injection, the nurses showed Greg the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds that the babies would be placed in upon arrival. Two babies would be placed next to each other, but the third would have to be across the hallway due to the arrangement at the time.
The nurses invited Greg to join Misty in the operating room, where her C-Section was just beginning. Greg sat down by Misty's head and started taking pictures. Since new batteries weren't found, the camera instructed us that no more pictures could be taken (babies are still inside Misty). We had a backup plan for just such a contingency and pulled out our disposable camera. But we wouldn't be able to take any videos. Just then, a nurse came in the operating room and handed Greg a DVD-camcorder. What a coincidence! We noted that it looked just like Gran and Pop's camcorder but we did not know how to use it. We had about 5 seconds to learn and right when it said, "Recording," the first baby was arriving.
Addison Hope Mathews was born at 1:00 PM, weighed 3 lb 4 oz and was 15 3/4 inches long. She was taken to a little bed and showed us that she already knew how to cry. We were impressed with her volume. She had an APGAR score of 6/9.
Very soon after, the second baby was arriving and Misty told Greg to record her arrival. Greg turned to film and didn't see the second baby and noticed that she had already been taken to the bed next to her sister.
Emery Grace Mathews was born at 1:01 PM, weighed 3 lb 9 oz and was also 15 3/4 inches long. From the beginning, Emery seemed very comfortable with the whole environment. She had an APGAR score of 7/9.
Greg didn't want to miss the arrival of the third baby and panned the camera back to Misty just in time to record the arrival of the final triplet.
Harper Faith Mathews was born at 1:01 PM, weighed 3 lb 1 oz and was our tallest at 16 1/2 inches long. She was very skinney just like her big brother Caden. She had an APGAR score of 7/8.
The girls were taken to the NICU and Greg quickly followed. Addison and Emery were next to each other and Harper was in the room across the hallway.
More to come. . .Misty and Greg are going to see the girls again!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

We can hardly believe it is 32 weeks today and we are thrilled! We expect to deliver the babies in the next couple of weeks- any day now but we find out the results of the fetal fibernectin test tomorrow. Addison weighs 3 pounds 13 oz., Emery weighs 3 pounds 12 oz., and Harper weighs 3 pounds 6 oz. Harper was the most active today and we saw her knees moving back and forth. All three of their heads are near eachother in the middle. I got a steroid injection today and will get another one tomorrow that will help develop the babies lungs faster. Our doctor is very positive that we've made it this far without any trips to the hospital or without too many complications. Now we are just waiting for either my water to break or for the terbutaline pump (this needle with a tube that goes in my leg and stops contractions) to stop working. We look forward to some exciting times in the Mathews family!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

We FINALLY decided on first names for the girls. Baby A is Addison, baby B is Emery and baby C is Harper. We are still working on middle names. The color PINK is slowly entering our home more each day as we attempt to finish the nursery. It is pretty amazing looking at three cribs in one room and trying to imagine what it will be like when we bring them home.
Today we had our 26 week doctor appointment and the girls look beautiful and healthy. We have two good 3D pictures of Addison and Emery, but Harper had her leg in front of her face doing a pike move so she didn't want her picture taken today. All three girls were actually in the pike position at some time during the ultrasound. Addison and Emery are both in the breech position and Harper is in the oblong transverse position. I had a fetal fibronectin test today which will indicate a possible risk of preterm labor within the next two weeks. I'll start home monitoring Monday. The doctor said we need to keep the girls in there at least four more weeks to have healthy babies without too much worry. Our goal right now is to make it 34 weeks, so we will have less time in the NICU. We are so touched by your prayers for our sweet girls and growing family.

Girl Power!

Photos- top left:Baby C
top right: Baby B (waving to us)
bottom left: Baby A
It is amazing how you can see the details in their spine, fingers, mouth and nose!

We met with our perinatologist in downtown Houston yesterday and had a very detailed ultrasound. All our girls are growing beautifully and they all look healthy and active. Baby A is 10 oz., baby B is 11 oz. and baby C is 11 oz. Baby A was making us laugh because she is very limber and kept moving her feet up by her head and was laying on her back. Baby B's head is next to Baby A but she is laying on her tummy. Baby C was named "queen of the mountain" because she is stretched out at the very top and seems to have the most room. I can feel them moving and it is just amazing to think there are 30 toes in there! Caden is telling everyone that he has three baby sisters, so we know he is going to be an awesome big brother. We meet with our doctor Dec. 11, so hopefully we can keep our plans to go to Disney World and see our family for Christmas in Orlando and Dallas. Yes- we planned the trip before we knew we were expecting triplets! Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

It's a.... It's another... no way! It's another....

Nothing should surprise us anymore after hearing the news we are expecting triplets, but we were surprised again today. These funny babies just want to give us a big surprise party at every doctor visit. So far, it looks like we will be doing lots of pink laundry because we are having 3 girls! All three babies are doing well and are very active according to our doctor. Please remember to keep us in your prayers. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are three times more thankful this year as God continues to bless our growing family!