4 Lil Turkeys and a Developmental Update

A few days before Christmas and here are some Thanksgiving pictures....

 For the first time, we brought in the trio's table to the dining room! The kiddos were excited.  The trio were not big fans of the turkey, I think most of it got thrown on the ground (happy dogs) but they ate everything else and especially loved the stuffing.  Isabella, on the other hand continues to stick to what she knows.  This year though we convinced her to try some of the sweet potatoes...oh the joys of a very picky 6 year old!

The kiddos are sporting mommy made turkey shirts! I am not that crafty so very proud!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.   In the ten years we have been married, it was our very first one with just our family.  Though we missed seeing the rest of our families, I will admit that it was very relaxed and quiet...well as quiet as our household can be.  And I loved how we didn't  have to rush anywhere.We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, homemade mac n cheese and pumpkin pie. 

The trio continue to meet more and more milestones... all three are walking! Yes six more little feet walking around and they are getting better and better each day.  I am so bad at keeping track of dates for this stuff.  I do know Sofia has been walking for awhile now, she was followed by Carlos and Marcos was barely beginning to take step on November 30, the day of their 18 month check up.  Our pediatrician, physical therapist, and staff from Early Intervention are quite pleased with their developmental progress. These past 2 weeks have been a bit tough, the kiddos haven't gone anywhere, they've been sick with a cold...lots of yucky noses and a little bit of coughing. I am so thankful they are receiving another year of Synagis.  Though definitely not fun at all, now that they are bigger and smarter.

We are still having issues with Marcos's ears, his ear drums to be more specific.  He has tubes in but for some reason they are not doing what they are supposed to do.  We are going back to the ENT and a speech evaluation is currently in the works.  Carlos and Sofia have both passed their last hearing test.

Isabella is becoming even more and more helpful. She can play with them more and even help carry one upstairs.  She can take them out of exersuacers and pack n plays...of course we find this out after its done.  She can entertain them so much and their faces light up when she walks into the playroom.  She loves that all of them walk now. She continues to be in the highest reading level in her class and I am making an effort to dedicate a bit more time to her writing.  My big girl did awesome during the Holiday singing performance and is super excited to be off from school for 16 days!

Thankfully all noses cleared up just in time for Christmas!  And we are ready as we are going to be, the tree has been up since December 1, our stockings are hung, Christmas cards are out and we have family in town!
The countdown is on....Happy Holidays

World Prematurity Day 2012

It's World Prematurity Day!

Here is our post from last year:

   Prematurity Day 2011

I'm working on one but this triplet mama never has enough time...I'll post it soon though.

After all, prematurity is something I think about on a daily basis.

For now here is the only video footage we took in the beginning.

 Our video

Hug your miracles extra tight today!

Crayons!

 I've been wanting to do this for a few weeks now.  Thankfully last weekend while Daddy was home, I remembered. and put the crayons in front of them.  Our activity lasted, uuummm, maybe a whole 5 minutes, definitely no more than 10.  Baby steps, baby steps...
The trio is about to turn 18 months old but we are not quite ready for coloring yet.  Opportunity alone and scribbles plus cause and effect will continue to be our focus.

Every six months, the three go through a developmental evaluation to see where they are at in all areas.  Marcos had his last Thursday and here's what is written on his report:

Cognitive & Fine Motor: 12-14 months
Receptive Language: 12-14 months
Expressive Language: 11-13 months
Gross Motor 9-11 months
Fine Motor 10-12 months

At the time of the assessment, his actual age was 17 months (adjusted age = 14 months) so he is doing great in a couple of areas.  His biggest challenges are gross motor (he is not walking yet) and language.  He has always been the least vocal out of the three.  Colds (runny noses) have gotten in the way each time a hearing test is scheduled.  The test after he got ear tubes put in did not show a significant improvement, and the doctor really didn't have an explanation.  The good thing is that usually gross motor usually takes over the brain so once he figures that out, we are hoping for a language explosion.  This is the trend that Sofia (our walker) followed and we are praying that the boys will get there soon.

I would be lying if I said that these numbers don't get to to me.  But only because all this stuff is a reminder of what they have all been through.  I allow myself moments of sadness, worry and concern but then I move on knowing that these three beat the odds.   In the mean time, the waiting game continues. Patience, patience, patience...and everything on their own time.

Did you know that early intervention and medical professionals stop adjusting age at TWO?
That's in six months! I'm thinking it may take much longer for my little ones to catch up and hopefully they will qualify for more services to speed this process up.
And so the journey continues....

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Flashback Friday~our identical boys

Here is a special Flashback! 

I haven't posted one in awhile...this doesn't mean that we don't have them.  

Everyday I think of just how tiny our three once were.    

Carlos and Marcos are identical twins, they shared a placenta, while Ms. Sofie had her very own and an individual sac.

Sharing a placenta put them at a very high risk for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome.

Very early in the pregnancy, I underwent a procedure called Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) to rule out chromosomal abnormalities.  At the time, ultrasounds showed a concern for Baby B's (Marcos) bladder, it was enlarged.  We were so worried at the time and had no idea that the test will also confirm their sex.

I remember being asked on the phone if I wanted to know their sex and of course I said yes!

...my first thought? What will I do if there is three boys?!

So here they are...

First of many pics together...

The pics were taken by a special someone who wanted to make mama smile once she got home from the NICU.

What do I see in these pictures?
The NG-tube...Carlos's (left) thru his mouth and Marcos's thru his nose.
This allowed them to drink mama's milk every 3 hours.  Carlitos was our sickest of the three and was on TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) the longest.  He took what seemed forever to work his way up to full feeds. He patiently waited to receive breast milk, nurse and drink from a bottle. Perhaps that is why our identical boys have always had a weight difference.

What else do I see? Nothing on their face!! Our wonderful nurses were allowing them a little break from oxygen support.  This photo shoot took about 20 seconds and required a team of four, including RT (respiratory therapist)
And they are wearing clothes! A huge NICU milestone...

The pictures were taken on July 22, 2011.

They came home about a month later.

Happy Friday!
And Happy 10 years to us!
TEN years ago I married the most wonderful man, husband and father.
We just wanted one more...
and God blessed us with three and after getting through a high risk pregnancy, an almost 3 1/2 month NICU stay, sleep deprivation and exhaustion, we are stronger than ever!

A very late Halloween post!

Its been hard to keep up with this blog...in between the three littles and big sister, the ridiculous amount of laundry, cooking, school pick ups, play dates, teething and sickness, I've had very little down time. I can't even remember whom it started with but the trio has managed to take turns being sick almost the entire month of October. We have had fevers, runny noses, and one ear infection. Luckily the colds have not hit their lungs and we are managing just fine. Sofia even finished a round of antibiotics without getting a nasty rash. She is the only one who has begun taking albuterol but only once a day. I'm praying it stays that way. Most of the trio's first winter was spent doing nebulizer treatments every 4 hours...if you do the math, that's a good chunk of the day, something we'd like to avoid.

Luckily we made it out on Halloween. Our day was busy, and the trio and I made it to sissy's parade at school before 9 am that morning. Our lil dinos got lots of attention.  I even agreed to let people take pics! Reality is, I may be around these people for years...so I try my hardest to put on a smile and ignore all the comments we get. After all,  the attention is just part of what comes along with triplet land...and besides it was Halloween and the trio was looking adorable!

Here they are watching big sister's parade.

3 lil dinos + 1 candy corn witch

After our busy morning, lunch, nap and snack, we headed out to the Petaluma Outlets to do some Trick or Treating.  Mommy was so happy daddy left work a few hours early.  We even had time to grab Starbucks! It was perfect for us.  Very slow paced.  Not too, too many people and we were happy to be out as a family.  

 Guess which lil rascal managed to turn herself around even with the strap on?

Not too sure what we are going to do about that...

Once we got home, it was time for daddy day care.  Big sis had a party at 5:30 so I warmed up the trio's dinner and ran out the door.  She did lots of trick or treating.  It was a cold and wet Halloween but it didn't stop us one bit. I can now say I've trick or treated in the pouring rain, with rain boots and an umbrella!

 Will the trio get in on some of the goods next year?  Hmmmnnnnn.....

I'm predicting....YES! Hope your Halloween was as much fun as ours.

Let's hope November is a better blogging month.  After all, it is Prematurity Awareness month and we have a lot to be thankful for!

Our pumpkins

Our house is a bit of a disaster this week, but our photo book is now completed!!
 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Mommy and Me Monday

This past week I ran across an article  The Mom Stays in the Picture and it reminded me that I have become that mom, the one who purposely avoids the camera.  

I'm always feeling like I never really get ready these days.  

Sometimes a shower is a big deal and all that there is time for 

unless I want to lose 20 minutes (or more) of sleep.

I looked at some pics from last month and here I am...about the only ones I found.

This must have been one of the few "let's put some make up on" kind of day.

This was the same day the boys got their first haircut.  

Since we were already downtown with the big limo, we headed to Lala's Creamery for some ice cream. 

Well, the trio didn't actually have ice cream, they had whole milk yogurt and fruit instead.

I can't wait until all of us can enjoy it, so far they don't like the coldness.

Join in on the fun!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Hiiiii, Bye-Bye, Clap and Arms Up!

Yesterday we went to story time! Our 3rd time! Huge accomplishment.  Not too long ago I would have never thought this to be possible with the three.

Now that we are out and about a bit more, we often get asked how old they are.

I think this month, we have gotten...

Are they 6 months? 9 months?  Last week, someone asked if they were 4 months!!

We've gotten quite a few looks of confusion when people are surprised by my answer.

The trio is 16 months.  And no they are not walking yet.

During introductions at the library, I went back and forth a bit...

Do I say their actual age? their adjusted age?

I went with the actual age but it's still a struggle within me.  I'm surrounded by babies who are half their age and sometimes bigger than them.  Kiddos who are their age and are twice as big as them.  It's hard not to wonder what people think.  Strangers don't know our story or what they have been through.  It's natural to wonder.  I am sure if I had not walked this micro-preemie journey, I would do the same.

I don't mind sharing their history but one big disadvantage of being out with three is that there is no down time, no breathing time and little room for conversation with others.  They are left wondering.  Instead of allowing myself to worry about what others think, we'll focus on the positive...

We've had huge development and growth these past few weeks.

 I really do wish I could write down every little thing!

The kids are playing, I mean really playing with toys, with each other, it's wonderful.  

They are curious about everything around them.  They are figuring out how toys work and playing with them correctly.  They are taking in the world.  What I am enjoying the most is their level of understanding, language development is slowly picking up.

All three are waving at the right times, when we (or strangers) say hi and hello, and of course bye-bye.

Marcos is the most social while we are out.  I think he waves at everyone in sight.  Then Carlos does not let his brother show off, he often follows.  Sofie is her own person and glares at strangers with her serious look. If she really likes you and finds you good enough to smile at, then her smile is huge.
She may even say a quick "Hiiii"!  

They are all clapping when we say "clap", kissing mama (or doll) often when we say "kiss" and lifting their arms up when we say "arms up!".  This week my heart melted when Sofia kissed her brothers after I said "kiss your brother", then she proudly smiled and giggled.

Sofia is (as always) showing off her verbal skills these days.  She repeats many sounds.  I am not sure if I am making it up or my ears are playing tricks on me but I believe I have heard her attempt and say a few words such as "hi, bye, book, hat, cup, sleep, ball, up, peas, cake, duck, and car" in a very cute way.  Of course she often yells our "ELLA" for Bella.  The boys are repeating A LOT especially up, cup, ball, car and bye, and a lot more sounds that my brain can't remember at the moment.  Sofie pants has mastered pointing to her nose when asked and all three are working on touching their head when mama asks.  All of my singing is also paying off.  They are bouncing and dancing and recognizing songs.  They are starting to mimic some motions of Itsy Bitsy Spider and Open Shut Them and they all clap for me when the song is over as if asking for more.  

Every parent celebrates milestones.  We know we celebrated plenty with Isabella but with these three, all of this is big! Big can't even describe it.  It's a bit different this time around and times three.  Things are happening, they are slowly catching up and we are so thankful and blessed. 

The day they all raised their little hands up in the air, I almost shed some tears!

Now since we are talking about development and growth...I must share that we are quite proud that Isabella has found herself in the highest reading level of first grade.  I guess all those hours of reading for six years has really paid off!  She is enjoying the popular Junie B. Jones series and scoring 100% on math and spelling tests! She is also enjoying her siblings a lot more and celebrating their milestones with us.

What milestones are your celebrating this week?  

Picture time!

First haircuts

Here we go...it's haircut time! 

September 8, 2012

Before picture~Marcos

After picture

It's Carlos's turn!

After picture

Daddy did a great job!

These pictures really show just how different these identical boys are!