Life with triplets in the NICU

River in the open crib
Liam in the open crib
Brielle in the open crib
I am holding Brielle and Liam

The babies have been in the NICU for ten days. I must say it is very hard. One of the most difficult things I have ever done. It is so unnatural to have children separated from their parents.

I feel sad when we leave our older boys because I know they miss us so much and I really miss them. I feel so sad when we leave the babies because we miss them so much.

With that being said the babies are beautiful. I am tremendously in love with them. They each are still small and so young, but already developing their own little personalities. Liam is the smallest and still having some respiratory issues. He is doing much better now. He is starting to cry a robust cry and getting stronger every day. The babies were all moved to a large crib yesterday. They are finally together again. They can smell each other and touch each other. They even have clothes on which makes them look less clinical and more like babies ready to come home.

Brielle is the front runner and may be the first to come home. She is still having some oxygen saturation issues but just periodically. Once she learns how to feed from a nipple fully and without issue she will come home! River is right behind her and still having a few cardiac episodes, they too will hopefully fade and once she can feed she will come home. Liam may be a week behind his sisters. His air flow is going down and now only at 1. I have had him to the breast a few times and am waiting for him to feed. The girls can feed, but my supply is so low they tire quickly. I am really looking forward to seeing them.

The babies are so lucky to have some really great nurses and doctors caring for them. The lactation consultants (some are also the babies nurses so they can help while we visit too) are great too and are helping as my supply comes in.

I am determined to exclusively breastfeed these sweet little ones. It is really going poorly though. We have invested a lot of money in donor milk because mine has not come in yet. I sit here pumping and each time eagerly look at the amount and hope for more. I am only getting 5-10ml from one and 25-40ml from the other. It is not enough to feed even one baby. I am not sure what the issue is this time. I breastfed Kai and Kian for over 2.5 years without issue. This time even with pumping every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 at night. I am still not getting milk in. We will have to start supplementing with some formula today. I cry every time I think of it. I want our little ones to be able to grow on my milk. I will keep going it is so important to me. I was getting only 3-5 hours of sleep a night. The last 3 nights I got 7-10 hours and I am hoping the extra sleep will help.

The pain has been gone for many days and I have been off all pain medicine since. I have been up doing all normal activities and going to see the babies every day. Everyday I heel a bit more and feel better. As a family we are getting back to normal, a new degree of normal. Kai and Kian still need more time with us. We are working at it and hope to find some balance soon.

Birth Story

Brielle in their room after birth

Liam right after birth
Uncle Kevin aka photographer.
River in the OR
Brielle at the breast a few minutes after birth.

We were scheduled for August 19, 2011 at 11am. Sidney and I woke up early and played with the boys and gave them a few gifts from their new baby sisters and brother. Grandma and Uncle Shawn were at the house to keep them company and to have fun.

We got admitted on the same floor as the NICU and the babies were monitored. Our nurse Cindy was amazing. She truly made the experience better. I have a tendency to get very nervous and she helped make the transition to surgery a better one.

Walking down to surgery was a bit scary and I was so excited. I was nervous about the surgery and the health of the babies. I held my belly the entire time, telling our little ones all will be well and we will meet you soon. We were greeted by our fantastic perinatologist. I felt better once I saw her. She is a really smart doctor. I knew she would do everything possible to ensure the babies and I were healthy. Sidney stayed with me while they place the spinal. The anesthesiologist was freindly and funny and helped make it light and ease my nerves.

Once the spinal was placed things went very fast. I wanted to babies to stay attached to their cords until the pulsing of the umbilical cord stopped. My brother Kevin was their ready to take pictures. Baby A Brielle was the first to be born, the doctors placed her on my legs to let the cord pulse then her sister Baby B, River came out they laid next to each other as their cords finished. They were crying and were taken over to the waiting neonatology team. I was able to look over and see them. The two girls had apgars of 9. Our Baby C, Liam was harder to get to. He was laying transverse under my ribs, tucked way up high. My brother said the our doctor had her entire arm inside my abdomen as she worked to get Liam out. It took several minutes. She had to find a leg and pull on it to guide him out. When he came out he started to cry. He was much smaller than his sisters.

All three babies were crying as they were assessed. It was beautiful to hear them.

All the babies measured very close to each other a few weeks ago at our last growth scan. It looks like Liam only gained a few ounces in the last month. He was smaller and having some respiratory issues.

Within a few minutes I had Brielle on my chest and she was latched on trying to nurse, it was fantastic to have her in my arms, next was Liam I was able to hold him with my other arm. I missed River, but she was being assessed. It was a beautiful experience to be able to hold my sweet babies. They were so warm and beautiful.

All three babies were brought to the Nicu, Sidney went up with them and my brother Kevin stayed with me.

I went back to the room and a nurse helped me start pumping so I could start getting milk and colostrum.

I missed the babies so much and worked at getting my legs to move so I could see the babies. Within 3 and 1/2 hours I was in my wheelchair and up with the babies. It was amazing. I was able to put them to the breast and initiate breastfeeding. They were all in their warming beds and I fell in love with them immediately.

Babies

Here are some pics of the babies. I will write more later. The babies are still in the NICU. They are beautiful and doing well. We love them so much.

BABIES ARE HERE!!!!!!!!

Report from Kari's older brother:

Kari and Sidney are doing fantastic. The trips are amazing. Baby A is named Brielle and 5 pounds 8 ounces, Baby B is named River and 5 pounds 6 ounces, and Baby C is named Liam and 4 pounds 10 ounces. Babies are in the NICU and will likely stay for 10 days to 3 weeks. More pics and news forthcoming :)

Today is the day...

Hello,

Today is the day we meet out three little ones. We are so excited. I am nervous and eagerly anticipating their arrival. I will absolutely miss my two little ones at home while I have and recover from surgery. We have a good folks watching them and Sidney will come home to help ease the newness of us being gone. We also have some new toys to keep them busy.

My brother should be able to update with some photos later today or tomorrow.

If you are local please remember the NICU does not allow any visitors. You are more than welcome to visit Sidney and I in the hospital. It may be awhile until the babies are able to meet you.

Thankyou

Yikes, I am so uncomfortable

Before I complain, here are two happy swimming boys that really make me smile...

Here I am at 34 weeks and 2 Days. The pain I have heard of is here. Wow, I woke up Monday morning and have been having a ton of very painful contractions. On top of that my hips, back and stomach hurt so bad. I can't stop the tears. I am usually so stoic and have an "everything is okay" personality. Well now things have changed. I hope I can hold up until Friday. I called the nurse today and she said probably just pain from the weight of the babies. Was told to call if water breaks or any bleeding. My ears are plugged as is my nose. Wow, I am really complaining here.

I never had any of this with my previous two pregnancies. When I was in labor with my last I never used medication and was in labor for 17 hours. I know our memories of labor pain leave us, but I am sure this hurts more.

The plan was to have a special week with the boys. Well now they keep asking "Why is Mommy crying". I guess my high pain tolerance inherited from the Morgan side is doing nothing to help. It helps with other things so I am thankful.

Here I am wish me luck. I will try a bath and hope it helps. I do want these little ones to stay in until Friday. We have everything set up and we are really looking forward to meeting them.

We will update once they arrive.

34 Weeks

Here we are at 34 weeks. I am excited and still nervous. Each time I speak to our doctor and learn more about the birth and the fact that they will work hard to follow the birth plan and the baby care plan I feel more comfortable. As long as we can go until Friday we will have a great doctor who will work with our for surgery. He also was the surgeon who worked on our previous 2 cesareans.

I am still nervous about the anesthesia. The last time the spinal went a bit high and I had to lie flat for many hours and it was so tricky to breastfeed. I am hoping with prior consultation this will not happen.

I have also been in contact with the lovely lactation consultant and we are so happy she will be there on the day we deliver. I have never had any children separated at birth and I really don't know how I will be able to deal with it. I have always slept with the babies and nursed them and cuddled them during our hospital stay. I am not sure how to deal with having them in a separate room. We will see how things go. I want Sidney to go home on the day they are born and be with the boys and put them down for bed. That way they will have a sense of normalcy, but it will be so hard to be left at the hospital in a room away from my babies. I will hope they are breathing room air and can come to our room.

Today was a work day, I insisted on having all the boxes of the boys toys brought upstairs so I could sort through them and get them organized. My Mom worked so hard too. I started at noon and we just finished. Of course, we had a few breaks. It all got done and the boys were so excited to find new (old) toys. Kian went to bed with a "new for him" doll I made years ago and Kai went to bed with a Kimodo dragon he got at the zoo many years ago. It was so sweet to see. I love those beautiful boys so much.

We have 5 days until we meet our little trio. Sidney will take Tuesday off to get some extra rest. He has been working so hard, I am so happy he will take a day off. We plan to take the boys somewhere special and I plan on taking each of them by themselves somewhere. Being away from them will be so hard.

Almost 34 weeks

Here we are almost 34 weeks. Sunday will mark 34. I am so nervous and excited. I am so very happy that there was no bedrest. I would have missed my little boys so much. I feel good. We had a non-stress test on Monday, it lasted 3 hours. It was a bit tiring. The one on Thursday was much better. Our great doctor suggested we do the non-stress test in the ultrasound room. The ultrasonographers were able to find the babies and the fantastic nurse was able to hook everyone up. We were done in under an hour! I think we are finished with appointments until Thursday of next week. Just a quick OB visit, get a type and cross for blood and then Friday is the surgery.

I hope we can make it to 34 weeks and 5 days. I have been having a lot of contractions. I hope we can make it to that day. There are a lot of great people who are working that day and we want them to work with me and the babies.

We may use breastmilk from a human breastmilk bank. The great nurses and doctors are trying to figure out how much we need until my milk comes in. It is wonderful that a milk bank exists. For those of us who want to exclusively breastfeed, it is a wonderful resource.

We had a fun day today. The boys have been very interested in fishing lately. My brother Shawn and I took the boys to a local trout farm. The boys each caught a fish. They were so excited. It took a bit longer to catch the fish than I had thought. They had so much fun. Now Kai is so excited about cooking his fish for dinner in a few minutes.

We think we have decided on names. Baby A: Brielle Lyra Frazier, Baby B: I like Kira, Sidney likes River. Baby C: Liam Easton Frazier.

Almost 33 weeks

Hello,

Here is an early morning photo of Kian and I. My belly button is many inches lower than normal, the boys think it is so funny.

Breathing is so much easier now that the babies are head down. I am able to sleep better.

My mom has been here for several days and has been helping and working so hard. Sidney asked if she was nesting. She has shampooed all carpets in the house and the couches. She is helping to organize the house. We still do not know what to expect, we are unsure when the babies will come and what we will do once they are here. I have been thinking that staying in the bedroom with them for the first few weeks might be better. That way they could be next to the bed and nurse on demand. I think I will miss the boys too much and end up shuttling the babies to the living room. We have been gifted and bought many contraptions to help keep the little ones comfortable. We have swings, bouncers and boppies. We never used these with the boys, but I believe it will be necessary once we have three little ones in the house.

We are very excited and looking forward to meeting the trio. We are still working on names. I have several options that I love, but Sidney likes others. We will find names for each of them hopefully before the 19th.

32 week update

Today we went to the perinatologist for a long appointment. We were there for 5 hours. Wow, I am tired. Today I am 32weeks and 4 days. The cesarean is scheduled for August 19th, we are very excited and very nervous about meeting our three new little ones in the next two weeks.

The non stress test went well, they were able to get tracings on all of the babies. The growth ultrasound was great too. It is always fun to see our little ones. All of the babies are head down. I was wondering why my hips were so sore. Baby A is right above the cervix, baby B's head is next to my left hip and baby c's head is above his sisters. It is amazing how much they can still move.

The weights:

Baby A: 4lb 6oz

Baby B: 4lb 10oz

Baby C: 4lb 10 oz.

My cervix is holding and is 3.5cm in length. We hope to make it this additional two weeks. I am still taking nifedipine for contractions. It seems to help a lot, though it wears off at 5.5 hours. I start getting contractions again.

We met with a couple post partum doulas who will be able to volunteer their time to help our family once the babies are born. I want Kai and Kian to feel loved and happy. I am so thankful for the great women we have met who will help us.

That is all for now, I must sleep...