6 Months!!

Exactly one year ago today, Paul and I received the biggest surprise of our lives. I will never forget that day. We went in for an early ultrasound because I thought I was having symptoms indicative of a miscarriage. We met with a doctor and he performed the ultrasound. The monitor was turned so I couldn't see it. The doctor was very quiet for what seemed like forever. He finally spoke and said "I see one baby"....."I see two babies".

And then he paused. Paul and I looked at each other and smiled so big!! We had always talked about wanting twins. 

And then the doctor dropped the bomb and said "I see a third baby." We just stared at each other looking dumbfounded. 

The doctor proceeded to take our breath away saying "And I think I might see a 4th sac". I remember thinking "just please let him stop counting,". Paul, who had been standing for all of this, said " I think I need to sit down."  The nice doctor finally said "no, I think it was just a shadow."  

He printed us off an image of our 3 babies and off we went looking like deer caught in headlights. 

I had many ultrasounds throughout my pregnancy, but for the first 3 or 4 ultrasounds after that initial one, I always asked the ultrasound tech to double check that there were only 3 babies. 

Looking back on that day and this past year, I see God's hand clearly in our lives. We experienced a roller coaster of a ride with many highs and lows, but God was with us the entire way, revealing new truths to us. He is the Giver of Life and words cannot express how thankful and humbled we are that He chose us to be the parents of Sophie, Hope, William, and Caleb. 

Fast forward a year, and those 3 tiny little blobs on the ultrasound are 3 beautiful, healthy babies.  I cannot believe my 3 sweet peas are 6 months old now!! Time is flying by! The babies are growing and changing so much. It truly is incredible to watch the miracle of a new baby grow and learn...times that by 3 and I'm amazed all the time. 

These past 6 months have been filled with feeding babies, changing diapers, juggling life with a toddler and three preemies, and a whole lot of snuggles, hugs, and kisses. We are so in love with our babies and we can't imagine life without them. We thank God everyday for the honor and privilege of getting to be the parents of our 4 precious kiddos. 

Since the babies have been home, we have changed approximately 2400 diapers and spent over 800 hours feeding babies!!!

Here are some pics over the past 4.5 months since the babies have been home:

Caleb and Hope came home on October 19th after 6 weeks in the NICU. We originally thought we would just be bringing home Caleb, but the day before, Hope shocked us all and finished all of her feedings by bottle and got her feeding tube removed. She did not want to be left behind!

Sophie took on her new role seriously as a big sister. She loves the babies and has been a huge help with "helping" me change their diaper, putting heir pacis back in, keeping them warm with blankets, and showering them with hugs and kisses. We have had a few difficult moments, but overall, Sophie has done really well with the adjustment of 3 new babies to our home. 

Sophie got her first haircut!

For Halloween, we stayed home and passed out candy with our little princess, ballerina, and pumpkin. 

On November 6th, William came home after 9 weeks in the NICU. 

Our first photo as a family of 6. 

Reunited at last.

I still can't believe this happened.....

Sophie celebrated her 3rd birthday in November! 

This is what happens when all of the babies need mommy at the same time...

Our first family walk. 

Sweet Mr. William ready for Christmas. 

Sweet sisters

The boys started off about a foot a part and inched over to snuggle together...so sweet! And notice that Sophie covered them with a blanket. 

They all started rolling over from tummy to back right before Christmas. 

We had a wonderful Christmas with our 4 precious kiddos this year. This was the first year we spent Christmas at our house just the 6 of us. It was very simple and nice...Sophie opened a few presents and we fed babies.

Caleb and Hope scheming up something during tummy time. 

William and Caleb

Baths don't happen too often around here because let's be honest, baths are a bit overrated and who has time to bathe 3 babies! But they are pretty cute when they do get bathed. 

Sibling bonding on the playmat. 

This winter has brought croup for Caleb, ear infections for all, and lots of congestion, runny noses, and breathing treatments. Hope is the only one who doesn't seem to mind the nebulizer. 

Tummy time turned into nap time. 

Caleb is Mr. Personality.   He laughs the most, cries the loudest, and typically does everything first. He works hard, plays hard, and sleeps hard. He is definitely the most active and was that way in the womb. This sweet boy is definitely going to keep us on our toes. Paul and I often joke that Caleb will be the troublemaker, climbing and jumping off of things. 

William is our sensitive baby and the most pitiful when he cries. If all of the babies are crying at the same time, I usually pick up William because he quivers his chin and bottom lip. It breaks my heart! He is still the smallest, but he is surprisingly strong for his size. Tiny but mighty William. He has become the most talkative, and I love to hear his sweet voice/noises. He also has the most beautiful skin like that of a little porcelain doll. 

Miss Hope.  She used to be our easiest baby and slept all of the time. Now, if she is not eating, sleeping, or being held, then she is probably crying. She is quite the little diva and thinks she should be held all of the time. But she is super sweet and loves her big sister. She has one dimple on her right cheek like Sophie and Caleb, and she has the cutest little silent laugh. Her whole face lights up and she opens her mouth real wide, but usually no sound comes out. It's pretty cute and funny. She is also our best eater and the chunkiest baby now.  If Caleb doesn't finish his bottle, she usually will. 

My little rockstars!

Happy 6 Months to our precious trio!! They are growing and getting so big!! Hope is 12 lb 11 oz, Caleb is 12lbs, and William is 10 lb 3 oz. They are all on track developmentally for their adjusted age of 4 months! Thank you, God, for these precious miracles!!!

Grace upon Grace

"Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." John 1:16

Our sweet trio arrived on Friday, September 5th, and we are so in love with them!!! God is so good!! We are humbled by His graciousness and love towards our family. 

Friday started off like any other typical day on hospital bedrest: meds, breakfast, ultrasound, and discuss how the babies and I were doing with my doctors. I pretty much felt "normal" that morning. I had some back pain and cramping the day before and it had carried over a little bit to Friday as well. I mentioned these things to my doctors and none of them were surprised because I was 30 weeks pregnant with triplets. 

After eating lunch and ordering curtains for the babies nursery, Hallie and her mom took me for a wheelchair ride outside for some fresh air. We didn't stay gone too long. After I returned back to my bed, my back pain and crampiness picked up a little. I didn't really think too much about it but went ahead and mentioned it to my nurse. She decided to hook me up to the contraction monitor. Forty-five minutes later, she came in and said I had 7 contractions. I felt them, but they felt like the same "normal" contractions I had been having...tightness, but no pain, other than the back pain I had been experiencing the past 2 days. The charge nurse then checked to see if I had dilated. I had dilated to 3-4 cm.  Tears came streaming down my face upon hearing this news. I quickly called Paul and he headed down to the hospital.  The IV team came in my room and I was put on magnesium sulfate for the third time.  I also received a steroid shot to help the babies lung development in case they were born.  I was a bit in denial that the babies were coming. I thought surely the mag sulfate would slow down my contractions like it had the past 2 times.  I had Paul call our parents but told him to tell them that I didn't think they needed to come to the hospital because I just knew the babies were not coming. I kept telling everyone, I thought I could stay pregnant for a couple more weeks. 

After the mag was started, the nurses sent me down to a high risk labor and delivery room.  This room felt like a dungeon. It was so tiny with no windows.  The babies heartbeats and my contractions were being monitored.  My OB kept checking in on me and was joking around with me that these babies were not coming tonight. I agreed, too. My contractions had slowed down a tiny bit since starting the mag. 

An hour or so later, I was Facetiming with Sophie and noticed my contractions were coming more frequently. I got off the phone with her to concentrate on what my body was doing. My back pain and crampiness started getting worse and my contractions were coming every 2-4 mins. Paul tracked down the nurse. She checked my cervix again and I had dilated to 5cm.  She told us the babies were coming that night. Paul and I were both shocked. Paul asked the nurse how sure she was that the babies were coming and she said "the babies ARE coming tonight."  Paul called our parents and told them the news. I began crying again....gotta love pregnancy hormones. I was just baffled that this had all happened so quickly. I thought for sure we could make it another couple of weeks. 

Last pregnant photo before being wheeled to OR.

Proud Daddy about to meet his little trio.

I was prepped for the Csection and the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. I was then wheeled in the OR. The epidural made me feel like my chest was collapsing....not a good feeling at all, especially when you want to concentrate on your babies coming into the world. The whole time I was in the OR, I kept telling the nurse anesthetist that I couldn't breathe and I felt like I was going to die....and my husband says I'm dramatic but I don't know where he gets that idea from!  Right after Paul was allowed in the OR, Baby A made her debut at 10:41pm. Paul didn't even get a chance to take her picture. Baby B and Baby C were quickly born at 10:42pm. There were 3 NICU teams in the room, one taking care of each baby. As they wheeled them out of the room, they brought them by the operating table so I could see each one of them. It was such a special and overwhelming moment to finally see my babies. They are so beautiful!!

Baby A:  Hope Elizabeth, 3 lb 11 oz, 15 7/8 in long

"May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

"The Lord is my portion...therefore I HOPE in Him." Lamentations 3:24,26

"My only HOPE is in You." Psalm 39:7

Hope received her name from these and several other Bible verses. Paul and I held on to hope throughout our struggle with infertility and then through my pregnancy and felt this was a great name for our sweet girl. Her middle name is from Elizabeth in the Bible, who was a great woman of faith and the mother of John the Baptist. 

Baby B: William Shepherd, 2 lb 13 oz, 15 in long

Seeing William for the first time as he is wheeled out of the OR. 

"The Lord is my SHEPHERD." Psalm 23:1

William is Paul's middle name. We loved the name Shepherd after the verse above. The Lord has faithfully led and guided us through this journey. 

Baby C: Caleb Timothy, 3 lb 2 oz, 15 1/2 in long

"Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness." 1 TIMOTHY 6:11

Caleb Timothy was named after 2 men of strong faith in the Bible. Timothy is also my dad and brother's name. 

After the babies were born, they were intubated for a couple of hours and then quickly improved and switched to cpap to help with their breathing. A few hours after that, they were upgraded again and were all put on high flow nasal cannulas. Our sweet trio has been improving ever since and they are continuing to do well. Praise God for these special gifts!! They truly are little miracles!!

I had to wait 12 hours before I could go see my babies in the NICU. 12 hours seemed like forever! I was finally allowed to hold Hope. Our trio were all initially placed in separate rooms in the NICU. Sophie was able to meet Hope on Saturday (siblings of babies in NICU are supposed to be over 3 yrs old, but Hope's nurse let Sophie come in  anyways since she is close to turning 3).  Sophie's first comment was how tiny Hope's eyes were. She also asked if the other 2 babies were still in Mommy's tummy. We thought that was actually a pretty smart question to ask because she did subtraction and knew there should be 2 more babies somewhere.  

On Sunday, I was able to hold Caleb and William skin to skin. Being able to hold my babies is such a sweet and special feeling!!! 

William 

William

Caleb

Hope (I think) ;)

Monday, our trio was reunited in the same room. Also, all the babies were placed under phototherapy lights for jaundice. Tuesday, Caleb and Hope came off phototherapy but William had to continue under the lights for one more day. 

Caleb

Hope

William 

On Wednesday, our trio moved up to a different floor in the NICU where they were not considered as critical. They moved up to this floor earlier than expected because an influx of babies were born who needed the higher level of care nursery. They all has their nasal cannulas removed and had their feeding tubes switched from mouth to nose in order to start practicing breastfeeding skills.  By Wednesday, Hope, William, and Caleb all started gaining weight again. Hope had lost the most weight and dropped to 3 lb 3 oz.  William dropped to 2 lb 9.5 oz, and Caleb had dropped to 2 lb 14 oz.  William is having a harder time digesting his food so he is just a little behind his siblings in how much he can take in through his tube feedings. I have been pumping around the clock to try and keep up with my growing trio. 

Caleb

Sweet sisters

William

On September 15th, when they turned 10 days old, I was finally able to hold all 3 sweet peas!!! This was such a special moment for me and one I will always remember!!

L-R: William, Caleb, Hope

On Sept 16th, Hope and Caleb moved to open air cribs and William moved to his open air crib yesterday, Sept 22nd.  All are doing well and growing!!! Praise The Lord!!! 

Hope

William

Caleb

Thank you all for the continued prayers!! We have truly been blessed and are so in love with our sweet babies!! We can't wait to bring them home!!