Finally home!

Yesterday was a very special day for our family.  Finally after 7 weeks and 6 days Addison, Spencer and Hudson were finally able to join us at home. 

Addison ended up having her nasal gastric tube taken out on Tuesday and basically we were just hoping for the best and that we could get her feeding so we could go home.  So after Mr TAN and I spending a day and night at the hospital with them we were able to leave.  Addison has to have some special fortifier added to her milk to help boost her calorie intake and weight gain.  I am still managing (just) to provide them all with expressed breast milk but already feel my time and energy levels are sapped and Addison and Hudson are not so great at breast feeding as otherwise I would try twin feeding.  Currently we are racing through about 1.8 litres of milk a day for them and that need is continually increasing so really don't feel that confident. 

So we have now been home for about 36 hours and so far so good.  They are all waking to feed every 3-4 hours and it takes the two of us just over an hour to get them all fed, changed and back to bed.  In between I am busy expressing, sterilising, washing and of course entertaining Oliver.  Mr TAN has been fantastic with helping with the feeding of everyone and we have even both managed a rest today thanks to some helpful visitors. 

Starting on Monday I do have someone coming to help for 8 hours a day 3 times a week while Mr TAN is at work.  I am so grateful for this help that will be provided for the next 13 weeks just to help with all the feeding and to get adjusted with this huge lack of sleep.

Keeping this short as they are just starting to wake for feeds again so here is a few happy snaps.

Addison

Hudson

Spencer

When will they be home?

The plan had originally been to aim for today, but, and I kind of expected it we have been delayed.  Spencer and Hudson have been on full sucking feeds since Friday and are doing well.  They are on demand feeds with a 4 hourly limit and are ready to come home.  Spencer is a really good feeder at the breast, but Hudson not so much.  Where Hudson lacks with his breast feeding he more than makes up for by the way he chugs down his bottles.  The little greedy guts gulps down his bottles so fast he is gasping for air, where Spencer keeps more of a steady pace. 

Young Addison seems to be all that is holding us up from coming now.  She feeds really slowly and is struggling to finish her bottles on her 4 suck feeds.  The other 2 feeds she is still having by a nasal gastric tube.  They do prefer that they are on all sucking feeds for 48 hours before they come so if we are aiming for Friday we are running out of time.  So it is only a matter of waiting for it all to click together for her.

We are not prepared to bring them home separately as we would not be able to get in to visit Addison as the hospital is just that bit too far away, and the hospital is supportive of us in this decision.   

In the last few days we have noticed that all 3 of them are starting to get much better head control and they are also starting to wake up a bit more.  While they are looking around they have also started to give us some lovely eye contact too. 

We are as ready as ever for our trio to join us at home and everything is as ready as I ever in visage it to be.  So now we wait....

How Will I Do It?

Well I must be on a roll tonight but this is something I have been asking myself pretty much for the past few months.  How will I do it?  How will I feed all 3 babies at the same time, so I am not constantly feeding?  How will I settle all these babies, again hopefully at the same time?  How will I continue to give Oliver the attention and time that he is accustomed to?

Let's start with the first one.  I really have no idea! I love the benefits and lets not forget the convenience of breast feeding, after all there is no washing up but I am missing one boob.  Do I twin feed two and somehow prop feed the third with expressed breast milk or formula?  Do I just breast feed a different baby every feed and prop feed two babies?  The benefit of this is I could still help Oliver read books etc and move about easily if needed.  I am hoping I won't need to do too many feeds by myself but the reality also is sometimes I will need to.  So really I don't know the answer to this question and will not know until we are living it.  So far I am still feeding all three expressed milk but from what i have heard a lot of mothers with triplets are fine while the bubs are in hospital and it falls apart once everyone is home, and that's okay and will not be disappointed if this happens to me as let's be honest I am not Super Woman. 

As for settling them, I am not going to have the time or the energy to pat, rock or wear these babies, so yes there is likely to be some screaming from everybody and we will do what we need to do to (hopefully) get everyone for a sleep at the same time.  Mr TAN with his work situation is not able to take any extended period of time off of work so although he works from home I will be unable to rely on him for a lot. 

Lastly for now Oliver who has our undivided attention for nearly 3 years now.  I am hoping that his easy going and loving nature will make this change easy for him and I hope that we still get some of that lovely one on one time that I have been so enjoying these past few months as he has growing into a little boy.  Oliver has already told me that Spencer is his favourite and would like to sit next to him in "mum's big bus".  He was also quite concerned when we changed Addison's nappy.  He looked at me quite complexed and said "Addie's willy gone" after I explained that Addie was a girl like mummy he was quite happy.  Then we went on to change Spencer's nappy.  Oliver then told me that Spence has a little willy, this soon followed with him telling me that he had a big willy, this followed with "Daddy has a big, big, big willy" needless to say this left my mum, the nurse and I in hysterics.  Out of the mouths of babes.....

6 Weeks Old Tomorrow

Well tomorrow our precious miracles will be 6 weeks old.  Where has the time gone?  The time has been spent racing out of the house by 8am every morning to get to the hospital in time for the 10 and 11am feeds, racing back home again with Oliver in tow, expressing, getting him down for a nap and then spending the afternoon preparing for the trio to come home, expressing, doing all the evening stuff (dinner, bath, books and bed) for Oliver on my own while Mr TAN is at the hospital, expressing, and in between trying to make sure I am well rested and energised for when they come home.
Our trio are 36+3 corrected today and are doing amazingly well.  They are now on 4 hourly/ demand feeds and are still being fed exclusively on expressed breast milk.  At the moment they are on 3-4 suck feeds per day either at the breast or by bottle, the remaining feeds are gavaged (through the nasal gastric tube).  About a week ago they did have a minor setback as they caught a mystery virus which gave them a slight temperature and lots of snot.  Spencer went back into an isolette and into the higher care nursery but was reunited with his brother and sister within 24 hours.  Hudson came down with it about a day or two after Addison and Spencer but is almost fully recovered now. 

Addison is growing well and as of today weighs 2540grams, she is a little bit slower with her bottle feeds and tires easily, but is otherwise doing well.  Spencer now weighs 2780 grams and much prefers breast feeds than bottle feeds.  Lastly, Hudson who has always been the porkier one today hit the 3kilo mark.  So all are now starting to get that chubby look about them.

So when are they coming home?  Two days ago I got told it would be a maximum of 2 weeks until Addison, Spencer and Hudson will join us at home.  So for the past few days we have been madly preparing all the last minute things and starting to work out our helpers.  For the first 12 weeks we will be getting 9 hours of help during the week thanks to the local multiple birth association.  Which is a fantastic help, although I have heard that a study shows that it takes 197 hours a week to care for new born triplets when there are only 168 hours in a week.  Sadly this doesn't take into account me showering, eating or caring for other children.  So the next few months we expect to be hard and we don't know how we will do it but what I do know is we have lots of wonderful family, friends and community and support around us and that we will get through it. 

Sorry no pics today but will try and post some soon...

3 weeks old

It is hard to believe how much has changed in these past few weeks.  From being very large and uncomfortable to now being relatively mobile and comfortable considering I have recently had a fairly major surgical procedure.  We have also gone from being a cosy family of 3 to a much larger family of 6.  It is also incredible the changes that we have seen in Addison, Spencer and Hudson.  To see them all on oxygen in isolettes and at times on CPAP and under lights and looking so skinny after they lost 10ish% of their birth weights - Hudson was a bit more than this.  To now seeing them all breathing on their own and now having the ability to regulate their own body temperature. 

When I arrived at the hospital I was very pleased to see all three in an open cot, Spencer and Hudson had been in an open cot for a few days, but Addison has now joined her brothers.  All that has been holding her back is she was that bit smaller from the start. 

Addison now weighs 1740 grams
Spencer now weighs 1935 grams
Hudson now weighs 2020 grams

The two boys (again because they are a bit bigger) have been graded on to 3 hourly feeds, and Addison is still on 2 hourly but I imagine hers will change this week.  They are tolerating their feeds really well and are not spilling at all.  Now that they are beginning to get the sensation of being hungry they are starting to wake up when they are due for a feed so we are lucky enough to see them with their eyes open more often.  Now when I go into the hospital I spend most of my time trying to teach the babies to breast feed.  I manage to get them to attach and depending on how awake and hungry they are they do manage to have a bit of a feed but do tire quickly.  So considering they are not meant to be born yet and are still only 33 weeks gestation they are doing really well.  They had their  routine follow up brain scans this week which didn't show up anything, thankfully.  They were checking for bleeding on the brain which is quite common in premature babies. 

We are still exclusively breastfeeding and are keeping up just fine. The hospital has enough for at least 24 hours in case we are not able to make it one day for whatever reason.   The time I am spending expressing at home gives me a chance to sit quietly and read, 50 Shades of Grey is on the list currently and who knows when I will get a chance to start and finish a book again.  I also read recently how many calories are burnt by breastfeeding and based on that it worked out to a huge 800+ calories per day. 

This has also seen the first full week of me driving to the hospital and back every day.  Luckily Ollie hasn't had to come with me this week as his beautiful Grandma Jen and Poppy have been able to help out and keep him entertained.  But he will be coming down with me most days from now on and playing in the creche at the hospital.  So far I have been going down every day and limiting myself to 2 hours as I am really tired from both still recovering and expressing during the night. 

Oliver has made the transition out into his new bedroom and his 'big boy bed' very easily since I have been home and has been asking to go to the hospital to see "Huds, Spence and Addie" but due to his illness he hasn't been in the past week but will come in for a visit this week with me.  I have also really enjoyed spending some one on one time with him this past week as I really feel like I have missed out on some beautiful time with him these past few months and he is at such a beautiful age.

Lastly here are some photos in order of Addison, Spencer and Hudson

Two weeks old - Better late than never

It is hard to believe that a while two weeks ago since Addison, Spencer and Hudson entered our lives in such a hurry.  The last week has been fairly drama free for the beautiful trio. 

Each had regained their birth weight by Wednesday and have continued to gain weight steadily since generally averaging about 30 grams per day.  Originally that had been fed expressed breast milk through a nasal gastric tube continually, but now have all been upgraded to two hourly bolus feeds.  This feed is allows gravity to feed it through the tube.  Spencer ended up with the same mystery virus that Hudson had last week so ended up with an iv again for his course of antibiotics. 

The past week I have been staying in a motel close to the hospital to be near our babies and have been spending most days at the hospital.  Unfortunately Mr TAN and Oliver have both been sick this week so from Tuesday on I had no contact with either of them.  Thankfully they are both much better now.  I am finally back at home which is so nice to be back with my boys.  So now the daily commute will start...

A week and a bit on...

Well it has been just over 1 week since we became parents of 4 overnight.  The shock has finally settled and we are all slowly recovering.

I am still a little sore from the ceaseraen, but slowly improving each day.  I personally wouldn't choose to have one again (haha).  Initially the day after birth I had a good 8cm+ of abdominal seperation, which for a few days was quite when I was up moving around.  Today after a quick visit to the hospital physio that has now gone down to only about 3cm, phew!  Since being discharged from the hospital I have been staying in a motel nearby to the hospital to rest up and recover a bit more before heading home.  This has been really nice as I am still extremely tired and I have also wanted to make sure breast feeding is well established. 

I am a big fan of the benefits and the pracicalities of breast feeding and at the moment I am just managing to keep up woth my trio's needs.  Nine days in and between them we are going through 33ml of breast milk per hour and this is increasing almost daily.  Initially my goal is to at least ensure they are exclusively breast fed while they are still in hospital.  I would love to continue this once I get home but I am also a realist, and realise that trying to twin feed 2 babies, and chasing a toddler with one more hungry mouth to feed might not work and be more trouble than it's worth.  At the very least I will endeavour to feed a different baby each feed so they are at least getting 2 one on one cuddles and feed with mummy per day. 

As for the magnificent trio all are generally doing really well.  They were all of the CPAP within a few days, and moved from the NICU to SCBU (special care baby unit).  All have been under lights at least twice but at the moment they are okay.  Again all three are breathing on their own and are not on any oxygen, all are being fed by a continuos syringe through a nasal gastric tube.  Hudson has generally been a few days behind the others as he did not get any surfactant when he was born, but in hindsight probably would have benefited from it.  He also had an umbi line(?) in for a few days so was initially grumpy as he started his food a little later.  All 3 are about 50ish grams off of their birth weight so doing well in that respect.  Poor little Hudson had a little swelling under his chin this morning so had to go back on an iv and have some tests done but all appears to be nothing thankfully. 

Tomorrow they will be 32 weeks gestation and we are hoping to have them all home between 37-40 weeks gestation so sometime in mid to late August.  Mr TAN and I have been overwhelmed with all the love and support people have shown us.  As for their big brother Ollie he is missing not having his mum at home but has still been having some visits with us all and loves patting his sister and brother's heads and holding their hands.  I am looking forward to being home with him next weekend.  I can also see many similarities between all 3 and their big brother including their dad's worry lines that Ollie was also born with, just 3 much smaller versions.

I have had lots of cuddles with all three including lots of skin to skin and including some double cuddles which was the most amazing feeling and I didn't know who to look at.  It will probably be another 2 weeks or so until they are all of their monitors when I can have triplet cuddles. 

Lastly I will leave you with some pics from the last week.

Addison 1 week old

Hudson 1 week old

                               Hudson on left and Spencer on the right Mum's first double cuddle

Spencer 1 week old

                                                 Double cuddle with Spencer (L) and Addison (R).  Lucky Spencer gets all the double cuddles as his cot is in the middle