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!