Two steps forward, one step back

A neonatologist described the progress of preemies as two steps forward, one step back, and that's exactly how it's been. The open air crib for two has been put aside for now and Braddock is back in an isolette. He had a small setback this Saturday because the nurses found blood in his stool. They immediately think infection, so they didn't want him right next to Julia. We were on our way in Saturday when the phone rang from the doctor explaining to us what was going on. Just to be cautious, they stopped feeding Braddock and gave him an IV, tested his blood, x-rayed his abdomen... things like that. The blood tests showed no sign of infection -- total relief -- and he isn't acting sick in any way. They think it could be an allergy to milk protein, so the doctor asked that I limit my dairy intake for the time being. The breast milk I give them is fortified with extra calories, and there is some traces of milk protein in there, so that could be it. They also said that because he had gone to an open air crib -- and to you and I that would be no big deal -- he had to work really hard just to regulate his body temperature and that stress may have been the culprit as well. It made us sad to see him with his IV and the little splint that holds the IV on his arm. The good thing was his color was fine and he was still smiling and stick his tongue out. They should resume his feeds very soon and we'll see how it goes.

Julia and Griffin are doing just fine. Julia was put into a smaller open air bassinet. She is still in the same room with the boys but I can't imagine it will be much longer. Yesterday there was a tiny little baby born that came into the spot right next to us. There is a lot of chaos as they bring in the new babies. we couldn't even get to Griff's isolette for a while because they were doing some kind of procedure. I know they were expecting twins later yesterday afternoon, so I'm sure they are considering moving Julia and perhaps Braddock to make room. We'll see what happens there.

So for now we had a little hiccup but everybody is fine. Braddock reached 4 pounds 1 oz on Saturday morning before they stopped the feeds. We can't believe how HUGE he looks to us. Hopefully he is eating again and keeps up the rapid growth! Griffin and Julia are 3 lbs 8 oz. Such big babies now -- well, relatively speaking. When the full termers come into the NICU, they look like giants to us.

I'll keep the updates coming and get some of the latest photos/videos up. I held both Julia and Braddock together for the first time on Friday. It was the first time I realized how badly I need one more hand!

Some still pics of the crib full o' DiMasis

Here they are enjoying being close together again!

Two out of three ain't bad!

Today was a big day because I walked into the NICU about the same time I do every morning and the place was all abuzz... the doctors were doing their rounds and it seemed like there were twice as many babies as there were when I left last night. One of the nurses said it was as if someone sprinkled pixie dust and babies just appeared. So I weave my way in and out of traffic to get to our little corner and I only see Griffin's isolette. I worried immediately, but as I turned the corner, I saw an open air crib and two of my three little chickens all swaddled neatly laying right next to each other. It was such a beautiful sight. There's a touch of sadness because I want Griffin to be in that crib, too, but we'll take what we can get! Griffin will get there. He is on his own schedule for now and that is just fine, too. He's been alert lately and we've had fun holding his hands and watching him smile and stretch his little legs. As he has an easier time with his breathing, he will be more alert. Right now it takes all his energy to keep those lungs working, so he tends to sleep more.

Julia and Braddock may end up moving to the step down room any minute now -- the room where the babies go on their way to going home. Griffin will have to stay where he is for now. That is upsetting to Bill and I, but I'm sure it will be just fine. What is happening now is that we're taking up more space on the critical side than we actually need, so as more babies come in, we'll get bumped. The nurses this morning set up the crib and put Braddock and Julia in it to save space in an effort to keep our three together. It was a smart move but throughout the day a set of twins came in and they were expecting another baby this evening.

In other news, Julia is learning to breastfeed now. It's going pretty well. They don't expect them to start this before 33 weeks and that is tomorrow for us, so we decided to try it. Braddock will start this soon, too. I'm learning how to hold them so I could feed two babies at once. Pretty exciting stuff.

There is probably much more to update but I'll post this now and let you see the latest video of Griffin. Enjoy and I will update again soon! well, just enjoy the video of Griffin.... I can't seem to get the video of the crib to load and I'm too tired to keep trying.

Four weeks tomorrow

A quick update just to say that all is well at the NICU and all three DiMasi babies are growing bigger and stronger every day. I have been taking video and will post some more very soon. We have had our first poop explosion -- well, Dad did -- and he even captured it on film. I will post it, but I'll put a warning up before the post just in case you don't want to see it. We know now to have the diaper in place because anything can happen. At least we know that Braddock is digesting the breast milk REALLY well.

All three are over three pounds now. Julia is 3 lbs 1 oz. Braddock is 3 lbs 9 oz and Griffin is 3 lbs 5 oz. They are all getting big... or at least they look big to us until we compare them with full termers.

I'll have more to say soon and more video for you to enjoy.

More video, please....

Everybody seems to want more video, so we are going to add some tonight! Last night I got a chance to bathe little Miss Julia and get her all dressed and ready to eat and sleep. She didn't like me very much throughout the process, and even though I'm a hair dresser, I didn't do a great job with the combout after I washed her hair!!! She didn't have too much to work with -- or at least that is the excuse I'm using. She was happy as could be after she was all dressed up and swaddled and ready to eat. While I was doing the bathing, Bill was holding Braddock, who was wearing clothes for the first time!! He also is off his CPAP now and doing very well with his new, more comfortable breathing apparatus. We'll post video of him next. Now if only Griffin will follow suit-- soon enough, I know. He is requiring less and less oxygen and doing much better the past couple of days, too. His weight keeps going up and his lungs will start to get stronger very soon.

Here is Griffin, too. Unfortunately, he was fast asleep so this video isn't very exciting, but he is so cute!

Enjoy the videos. We'll have more time this weekend to get more moments on film.

Three weeks and one day and counting...

Just a very quick update -- and I know these updates aren't much fun without some video or pictures and I apologize for that -- to say everything is going fine. All three are doing well and growing every day. I'm heading over there now and I will take some pictures to post tonight. I've started working a little bit again and life is starting to get back to normal -- whatever that is with three kids in the NICU. I'm able to walk my dog and make dinner. Well, I have yet to make dinner but I plan on it every day; I just run out of time. Yesterday I held both Julia and Braddock. Griffin is looking much better and slowly starting to maintain his breathing a bit better so we'll be holding him more consistently soon. They aren't pushing him so as to not set him back. Being as impatient as I am known to be, I want him breathing better now! I want the all home already for that matter, but we are seeing improvement every day which is all we can ask for. I'm getting much more calm when I'm holding one of the kids and they forget to breath or their neck isn't positioned well and they cut off their airway. Now I know just to move their head a bit or close their mouth.... it doesn't make me nearly as uneasy as it did. The respiratory therapist sat with me yesterday as I held Braddock and showed me how to move him into a better position should he start to struggle. Luckily it doesn't happen too much, but I know the worst thing to do is to panic. I just can't say enough about all of the staff we are blessed to have working for our babies. Everyone is so genuinely kind and caring, always willing to answer our questions or offer an encouraging word. It takes a special kind of doctor or nurse or therapist to work with the weakest and tiniest among us, and we just couldn't be more assured that we've got all the right people taking care of our kids.

Off to see the babies... Have a great Wednesday!

A sneak peek at Griffin

Finn is getting a shameless plug here. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his sister and brothers. He tried to help us put the second of three cribs together today. Or at least he thought he helped....really we had to keep telling him to move out of the way. He's done a great job sniffing the blankets we bring home with the babies' scent on them.

This video is actually old but it is of Griffin and I when he kangaroo'd with me. They have us put the kids inside our shirts so that there is skin-to-skin contact. It helps their development and also helps the Mom's milk production. The neat things for Moms is that when the baby's temperature drops, my body knows instinctively to heat them up. I didn't know I had such capabilities! I just wanted to post some video of him. This is the one day they took him off the CPAP. It didn't work so well for him so he went right back on it but at least we could see his whole face for a little while.

As for what is going on, we have a three-pounder in Braddock! He looks pretty big but the shocker is that Griffin is just about three pounds, too. He was 2 lbs 15 oz yesterday. Julia is now the peanut of the crew at 2 lbs 10.6 oz. She is wearing clothes now and we are allowed to take her out of her crib as we feel like it without the nurses there. We attempted it ourselves this morning for the first time but decided to wait for someone to oversee just in case. We did, however, put her back in all by ourselves. Her nurse last night took pictures of her in her little outfit and left them hanging in her incubator for us when we came in this morning. She now has laundry that I take home and bring back to her. And so begins the never-ending laundry that comes with three babies! When she puts on her preemie clothes, everything has to be rolled up in the arms and is ridiculously baggy, but soon enough she will fit into them. The doctor, again this morning, commented on just how incredible she is for such a premature baby. The boys are starting to turn the corner, too. Braddock should be off his CPAP soon and Griffin's PICC line (long-term IV) should come out any day now. He will have his CPAP longer to help his lungs along, but I'm sure he isn't too far behind Braddock anymore.

So they celebrated their first Labor Day today. I'm not sure they were really aware of it, but one day it will be the Labor Day before they start school....such a hard concept to grasp when I look at their tiny little faces. For now I won't get ahead of myself. We'll just push towards four enormous pounds for each!

Julia winks at her Daddy

Okay, maybe it isn't on purpose but it sure is cute. She is breathing now completely on her own. The only tube attached to her is the one you see in her nose that goes right into her stomach. That is how she gets my milk every three hours. She was so alert today the whole time I was holding her. Bill held Braddock -- we'll post that video, too -- and Griffin is almost there. He has tolerated his feedings so they are slowly increasing them. When the feedings are consistently tolerated, he will get his IV line out just like Julia and Braddock did. The big surprise of the day was that Julia had a shirt on when we arrived! We are washing up the little preemie clothes we have and taking them in for tomorrow. As she gets a little bigger, they'll fit better, but she looked might comfortable and warm today. It's such progress and we're so thrilled.

Here is video of Bill and Braddock. He was so calm that he fell right asleep.

Finally some more video!

I really do intend to get the video out every day but it just doesn't happen. There is no good excuse except that I just don't leave myself enough time to get it uploaded when I am ready to write a post.... wah wah wah, right? I'd better get real used to running out of time

Speaking of things, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and Thing 3 are all doing well. Julia is now completely off of any air flowing through her nose! At first we looked at her and didn't realize that the little tubes were missing. She just looked so cute and comfortable and then I recognized what was different. Her monitor shows her keeping her heart rate and oxygen levels right where they need to be so she should stay tube free for now. The doctor told us it could change but if she can do it on her own, they'll let her. One of the doctors called her a rock star and another said if she could talk, they'd have her teach the class on how to be a micro preemie.

The boys are doing well, too. Griffin is getting a little stronger every day and slowly starting to catch up to Braddock. In fact, he may weigh more than Braddock now or at least they are just about the same weight. Their weights are always given to us in grams so I need to figure out the conversion to know what they weigh. If only the metric system caught on here!?!

This first video is of Braddock when I held him a couple days ago. He loves to be held and does well maintaining his levels when he's out of the incubator.

Here is one of Julia

It's not that we have no video of Griffin; it just needs to be edited so that it will upload faster. We'll work on that this weekend.

"Time is every baby's best friend in the NICU."

...or so I was told yesterday by one of Griffin's nurses. For his little lungs to get stronger, he needs more time to grow. Patience has never been my strong suit so enduring the NICU is just one of the countless challenges we'll face as parents of multiples. Facing a challenge -- opposite from patience -- is one of my strengths, so we're in luck there. All three little DiMasi's are doing quite well. (I should mention that this picture is of me holding Braddock yesterday. He held my finger the whole time I held him. He was very alert when I first got him in my arms, smiling and sticking his tongue out. We have video I will put on tonight)

Back to the trio.... Julia is still sailing through this whole I'm a premature baby thing. She is now looking very feminine compared to her brothers. Her features are just so dainty. She is alert much more often than the boys. When she hears our voices, she always opens her eyes. Bill held her last night and changed her diaper. I wasn't there but I heard it was a funny scene when she had to tinkle after he took the dirty diaper off. She's captured her daddy's heart so quickly. He told me last night how she is the most beautiful girl in the world. I was only jealous for a nanosecond I swear!

Braddock is starting to grow now and he will probably be off the CPAP (the blue tubes in the picture) very soon because all his levels are staying very consistent. He is tolerating all his feeds and he has no iv's or lines. He has a funny personality. He really is smiling most of the time (even when he's sleeping) but when he cries, everyone around him hears it. His lungs are getting stronger because he really belts it out. For now I love the sound because it used to be so weak and barely audible. I'm sure once they are home and someone is always crying, I might not love it quite as much.

Griffin is holding his own. His level of oxygen is very low but he does have it. They seem to "chase" him all day trying to get the level just right. He needs a little more time than Braddock and Julia, but he will get there, too. He is looking more comfortable but he hates his tubes. He pulls at them a lot. I can't say I blame him. He's done the best with his weight gain. He's now 2 lbs 11 oz, so he has caught up to Braddock. Some of it is water retention but I can see he looks bigger and stronger every day.

so that is the update. Not much is changing but everything is stable and moving forward. That is all we can hope for at this stage. I will be heading over there very shortly and when I get back, I'll put some video on.

I should add that I'm feeling much better overall lately. I will be driving myself by this weekend and I'm moving around pretty well. I still have a long way to go before I'm jogging but the muscles are starting to strengthen now. One day at a time!