They're Home!

After 18 days in the NICU, they all came home last Thursday. McKay was still a little bit behind, but it was easier to have them all home than 2 home and one still there. We had to do 2 -24 hours at the hospital. The first night they stayed in the NICU and we had to go do their feedings and the 2nd night they were in our room. It really takes 2 people through the night and you only get an hour and a half of sleep. McKay and Brooke had to come home on oxygen and apnea monitors so we'll be really glad to get rid of all the wires. They went to the Dr. a week later and are all gaining and doing well. Caleb is 6 lbs 6 oz, McKay is 6 lbs 3 oz. and Brooke is 5 lbs. 7 oz.

Nicole's reaction to the babies feet: "Holy cow, I'm a giant!"

Caleb & Brooke

McKay

McKay & Caleb

Meet the Triplets

They're here!
Picture: Brooke, Caleb, McKay

Caleb Jason Clements

5 lbs. 7 oz 18 inches

9:53 AM

McKay Dallin Clements

5 lbs. 8 oz. 17 inches

9:54 AM

Brooke Clements

4 lbs. 9 oz. 17 inches
9:55 AM

I haven't posted for awhile, but I'm sure you all know we decided to wait and give them one more week. It was a very hard week, but the babies are doing very well. They were born at exactly 35 weeks on June 29th. They were all in respiratory distress so we were really glad for that extra week. The boys were on ventilators (breathing for them) the first day and Brooke was on a CPAP (just keeps the lungs open). The boys moved up to the CPAP that night and Caleb and Brooke were off by the next day with just supplemental oxygen. McKay has struggled the most and was on CPAP for 4 days and is still on oxygen. They were all under the bili-lights for several days and McKay has to go back under the lights again tonight. Other than that we're just working on feedings. They can nurse 2 of their 8 feedings each day and are now getting almost a third orally. The rest is given through a feeding tube in their nose as well as their other 6 feedings. They all have their IV's out and got moved into the same crib today. They're exactly a week old today and they expect they should be ready to come home in another 2 weeks.

Caleb

McKay

Brooke

C-Section Scheduled

It feels like they're going to fall out anytime they move, but we have a c-section scheduled for Monday, June 22nd at 7:30 am. We can't wait to see your perfect round little faces! (no coneheads this time). I moved rooms in the hospital last night. I was the last one left and they were having a transfer so they said I could pick any room if I wanted a change of scenery. So I'm now in room 502. Jason's enjoying the more comfortable recliner chair and I can now adjust the volume to the TV with the remote. Who knew that was so technical, but it was really annoying to change the channel and not be able to hear or be scary loud.

Jason took some pictures of Nicole pushing me in the wheelchair (Oops! I just wrote willchair and had to backspace-Dr. Oz says your brain shrinks 8% when you're pregnant, so I've essentially lost a quarter of my brain-I hope it comes back) which was my biggest adventure yet with walls and rollaway beds coming out of nowhere. The last 3 days I've been able to go on a wheelchair ride outside-you never know unless you ask. It was great as I hadn't been outside at all for 4 weeks. I'll post some once he emails them to me. Dinner should be here soon...I hope. It's 6:45 and the nurse always neglects me while it sits in the hall because I wait patiently and never say anything while she assists more needy patients. Why can't I be more demanding? Lesson learned-don't always feed the baby that cries first.

Nicole's Summer Vacation

Nicole got to go with Grandma and Grandpa Hurst on vacation to the Grand Canyon. She had tons of fun. Here's some pictures they sent.

Surviving in the Hospital

We went for an ultrasound and to see the specialist on Wednesday, the 13th. The babies were growing well, but through an internal ultrasound could see that the contractions were progressing labor. Baby A had already dropped and my cervix had shortened. So he did another Fetal Fibronectin test and sent us straight to Labor & Delivery where I've been ever since. The test was negative, but he said I was still at risk for delivering before the typical 32 weeks for triplets. So I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks and have 3 1/2 weeks left until the Dr. wants to deliver, unless problems arise with me or the babies before then.

I'm on Nifedipine for contractions every 4 hours even at night and still have several contractions every hour. The other night I was having contractions every 4 minutes right after they gave me Nifedipine that continued for two hours so they gave me an injection of Turbutaline. It eventually slowed the contractions, but made me really shaky and raised my heart rate over 120 bpm. It feels weird to be laying in bed and have your heart beat so fast.

28 Week Ultrasound

Baby A: 2 lbs, 12 oz

Baby B: 2 lbs, 14 oz

Baby C: 2 lbs, 10 oz

30 Week Ultrasound
Baby A: 3 lbs, 4 oz

Baby B: 3 lbs, 10 oz
Baby C: 3 lbs, 1 oz

Nicole likes coming to the hospital and playing in the wheelchair, getting a can of pop, and eating my dessert! She got to have a sleepover at the hospital on Sunday night. Jason had to stay with her and I think she enjoyed it more than he did on the rollaway bed. She had fun watching a movie and eating breakfast with me.

I don't leave my room except to get weighed every Saturday morning and for ultrasound/perinatologist appointments and they won't even let me walk down the hall to get there; I have to ride in the wheelchair.

People say they can't tell how big I am when laying in bed so Jason took a picture on my way back from the bathroom. Here's 30 weeks with 10 lbs of baby and 12 lbs of amniotic fluid and placentas. It feels like I'm going to pop, but keep getting bigger. Ouch. Now we're counting down to June 22nd, 34 weeks.

Our First Scare

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was having a lot of contractions even on the Nifedipine. I would take it and within an hour I was already having contractions. By Wednesday morning I was having them every three to five minutes and I did everything they told me to do-lay on my left side for an hour and drink lots of water, but they kept coming regularly. I called Labor & Delivery and they said even if I was having 3 or more an hour on the medication I definately needed to come in. I got hooked up to the contraction monitor and was having constant contractions. They did some tests and found that I had an infection that could be causing the contractions so gave me an antibiotic for that. They also did a Fetal Fibronectin that came back negative which predicts pretty accurately that I won't go into labor in the next two weeks. They increased my Nifedipine to every 4 hours, the most you can take, so hopefully we'll have an uneventful next few weeks. Because the fetal fibronectin came back negative, they sent me home. I realized how much better it is to be home than in the hospital. It's no easy task trying to hold completely still for hours with three heart beat monitors and a contraction monitor. If I moved at all we'd lose at least one baby's heart beat. So I'm now resting "comfortably" at home.

No new pictures or much exciting going on. Nicole's vacationing at Grandma Hurst's and says she's staying forever. We miss her, but are glad she's still enjoying where she's at while I can't take care of her. And I continue to lay around helpless everyday with people bringing my meals to me on the couch and everything else. The medication is helping a lot to ease the contractions as long as I take it every 4-6 hours. That's a relief. I was having 6 or more per hour and today I only had 5 all day. Now I just need to hold onto these babies for at least another 5-7 weeks. Thanks for all the help with people coming over to feed me and get me settled for the night. It's still hard to believe, but I definately feel like I have three babies in here.