Emily
Emily was the first out. She was 5 pounds 4 ounces and came out screaming. It was such a relief. I didn't know if they would be screaming since they were only 34 weeks. They took her into a side room to clean her up and start an iv because there wasn't enough room for all of the doctors and 3 NICU teams in my delivery room. I got to see her and touch her right before they took her to the NICU. She was perfect! She was done whining, and looked very peaceful swaddled up in her blanket. At the beginning she was taking regular bottles but on the second day they all had feeding tubes put in because they weren't finishing the bottles. About half way through each feed Emily would fall asleep and you just couldn't wake her up to finish, so they would give her the rest through the tube. It's very common for preemies to tire themselves out sucking on a bottle. She is doing a lot better now and finishing most of her bottles. She has the worst temper. When she is mad, she makes sure that you and everyone in the hallway is aware that she's mad. We thought that she would be the calm one because she was so calm in the womb, but she fooled us! The babies are fed at 12, 3, 6 and 9, but Emily tends to wake up about 30 minutes before it's time to eat and just screams. She has got a powerful set of lungs! She doesn't calm down until you hold her or feed her. After she eats, she goes to sleep and doesn't wake up again until she's hungry. I think she looks the most like Mark out of all of the babies. She definitely has had his weird toes!
Ella
Ella pushed her brother out of the way and came out 2nd. She was C the whole time she was inside me, but now she is officially baby B. She was also 5 pounds 4 ounces and came out screaming. I got to look at her and touch her face right before they took her to the NICU and she, too, was perfect! We have noticed that she is the most laid back. She takes all of her feedings and then is still looking for more. After she is done eating she stays awake for about 30 minutes and just smiles and stretches. When she's sleeping she usually has this smirk on her face like she knows something that we don't know. She smiles all the time! She moves around constantly, which wasn't a surprise to me since she did the same thing in the womb. On the 3rd day her body temperature was dropping so they put her into a warmer and she looked like she loved it! She didn't have her swaddle anymore so she would move around constantly while she was sleeping and stretch her arms and legs everywhere. She doesn't cry much and when she does it's a very quiet whimper and she stops when you hold a pacifier in her mouth. We were told that the babies need to be left alone between feeds so that they can sleep and gain weight. Not Ella. She moves around so much in her sleep that she was losing weight at first. They have increased the babies' feeding amounts so her weight is a lot better now.
Mark
Mark was the last one out. He was born 2 minutes after his sisters because the doctors couldn't find him since he was under my ribs. He was the biggest, weighing 5 pounds 6 ounces. When they showed him to me before they took him to the NICU I couldn't believe how big he was. He is a cutie! He is very calm. He doesn't finish all of his feedings, because he gets tired, but he is still the biggest. He sleeps a lot and then wakes up to eat and that's about all he does. He is a very quiet, peaceful baby. His was the first diaper I changed and it was a disaster. While I was wiping him he peed all over himself and soaked his shirt. That same night they showed me how to bathe him and it was a traumatic experience for both of us. He hated it, so I hated it because he was screaming. As soon as he was swaddled back up he was quiet and went straight to sleep. He is such a sweet baby.
Mark has been amazing since the babies were born. He jumped right in to feeding and changing diapers. While I was still in the hospital I was in quite a bit of pain and couldn't go down to see the babies as much as I would have liked. Mark was there for every feeding. He had an alarm set on his phone for 15 minutes before each feeding started and went down there, changed diapers, and fed a baby. All this while still helping to take care of me. He helped me in and out of the bed and cleaned all of the breast pump parts every time I pumped. I could not have asked for anything else. By the time I was discharged and we finally went home I think he was more exhausted than I was! When we got home his alarm went off for feeding time and we just looked at each other and got really sad.
Mark took video of everything, including the c-section. I watched all of the videos later to see what all happened after the babies left me. I saw Mark holding them for the first time and it was the sweetest thing ever. I also saw the first time I was wheeled into the room to see them and wow, I was looking rough! I still looked like I was out of it and just totally overwhelmed with everything going on in there. I went around to each of their beds and put their security blankets that we had bought them into their isolettes. They were so tiny, but so big at the same time. I was not expecting to have 3 babies over 5 pounds, so it was weird to see how big they really were. But again, they were perfect!
I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning but Mark and I stayed at the hospital for the rest of the day and hung out in the NICU with the babies. On the walk down to the NICU that morning I started crying, knowing that I was going to have to leave them that night. Once I got into their room I walked around to all of their beds and cried for about 20 minutes. The nurse in the room didn't say anything, but I figured it wasn't her first time seeing a hormonal mother crying in the NICU. I know they're in really great hands there, but it was still so sad knowing I would be leaving them. I got used to it and just enjoyed the day with them.
On Friday morning they were put on phototherapy. They looked like they were in tanning beds. It was really cute. Ella and Mark didn't seem to mind theirs. They looked very comfortable. Emily on the other had a really rough time with it . She hated the eye shield so she kept pulling it off and she didn't like that she could only be held for 30 minutes at a time because after 30 minutes they have to be put back under the lights. They were taken off of phototherapy Saturday morning. When I called at 2 am to check on them the nurse said that Emily was doing a lot better and actually resting. She also said that all 3 babies gained weight on Friday, so that was very encouraging! To be discharged they have to be tolerating all of their feeds, gaining weight, and maintaining their body temps. One doctor told us it could be as early as the beginning of next week. We don't know that they'll all be discharged together, but we will figure it out when it happens. We are very anxious to have them home!
Right now we are trying to catch up on sleep while going to the med center every day to be with the babies. People said that the sleep deprivation would be tough, but I don't think there was any way to prepare ourselves for this. I wake up every 3 hours at night to pump and at the hospital I nap in their room but wake up to every little whimper, so I'm not getting very much sleep. I asked a lactation consultant and she did say that I could have a cup of coffee a day, so I am going to have to start doing that. It's getting very hard, but somehow we are managing!
I will update soon. For now I'm going to lay down!
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