March already?!

Since our last post, there's been some sickness.
Sofia had some stomach bug with a fever that is pretty much gone....sadly, she lost a pound.
Everyone avoided it except for me.  Everyone knows things are rough when mom is sick...luckily, it got me on a weekend and dad took over.

We also had ANOTHER eval for Marcos by another speech pathologist who also watched him eat.  The not so great speech eval in February raised some concerns with the way he ate. Luckily, this mom was right.  He eats just fine. This time, we got, what I feel, a more accurate evaluation.  He isn't THAT behind after all, but he still qualifies for speech therapy.  Carlos was also evaluated the same day.  Thankfully it was an in home evaluation.   He is right on track for his adjusted age.

The kiddos are into Elmo and Woody.  The boys are repeating 2 word phrases more and more, and Sofia's first 3 word phrase:  "Move on back", from Wheels on the Bus.  She also tries to push the boys out of her way and says "Go, go go" as in get out of my way!

There's been lots and lots of playing...

Lots of unzipping of the pj's...

Lots and lots of reading...

More and more TV, we are up to 20 minutes at a time, just enough time to watch Elmo's World.
 Woooo Hoooo!!!!

Big sis had wacky hair day at school....our first science fair and parent teacher conferences, which truly deserve their own post.

Lots and lots and lots of nose wiping!  Still cute even with mocos on his face.  

And finally today... their noses are much better, and coughing last night was better than the previous night.  The kiddos had their Synagis shot, there might be one more.  The rest of preemieland is telling me no but we'll wait and see what our doc says.  Next week, spring break for Big Sis and Marcos is getting his 2nd set of tubes (ears) and will go under general anesthesia again.  I should be a pro at this but still scary.  We hope we can get him out of the house without eating or drinking anything without too many tears.  'Til next time....

High Risk Visit

February 27, 2013 was a big day! Finally we made it to our 2nd follow up visit with the high risk nursery clinic. The first time it was scheduled we had to cancel the morning of because one of the three kept us up all night with a fever/cold.... The 2nd time, it was the stomach flu... Again we canceled the morning of due to no sleep and lots and lots of throw up but last week... We made it!

The six of us were out of the house by 7:45 a.m.! That in itself is a major accomplishment! And...can I just say that the clinic is soo far! About an hour or so away from us...How, really, how did that I make that commute almost every single day for 3 1/2 months?!

So what is the high risk nursery follow up? Well let's face it, when a baby is born at 25 weeks gestation, there are no guarantees that everything is going to be okay. None whatsoever. When we brought the trio home, I knew in some ways our journey was just beginning.  Many things could have interfered with their growth and development, and still can.  The high risk clinic is made up of a team of specialists that assesses their progress.  And if necessary will track them for FIVE years.

Most importantly they have experience working with preemies and know that most likely a 25 weeker will not be caught up entirely by the age of two. They do not stop adjusting age until the kiddos are three.  And another cool thing, one of the doctors we saw that day was in our delivery room and the first to hold Sofia.  He saved Sofia's life. And today she is right on track. At 21 months she is exceeding some milestones for her adjusted age of 17 months.  She refused to do almost everything that was asked of her because she was too busy saying hi and interacting with everyone. Sofia's speech has really taken off this month. She is now saying 2 word phrases like bye milk, night mama, bye dada, more peas, and bye poo poo, and yes Dr. G sees potty training in our near future! She is almost running, and the only concern her physical therapist has is her inability to sometimes stop.

Preemies (and some full term babies) don't always follow the order of things, it's called sprinting. In her case, she walked before she learned to stand still in one place and now has a hard time stopping especially when she is moving too fast.  She works on this everyday and our therapist is predicting she will be released from PT when she turns two in May!

They boys are not too far behind and actually performed quite well.  They scribbled, said a couple of words, pointed to some body parts and were quite social.  There are a couple of minor gross motor concerns we need to keep our eyes on:
Carlos favors his left side and tilts his head to the left while Marcos prefers his right side.  Marcos has some stability issues but he has not been walking as long as his siblings.  He'll get it figured out.  This may allow the boys to get PT for an additional six months, we hope.

High risk is not too concerned with their speech delay.  Though the speech evaluation Marcos had in early February gave him the diagnosis as severely delayed.  The doctors are certain our trio will catch up, it will just take a long time.  For now Marcos will start getting more services (speech therapy) and his hearing loss is the main concern.   He is scheduled to get his 2nd set of tubes on March 19, immediately followed by yet another hearing test that same week.  Now if this doesn't work, we will start  looking at other options like a hearing aid.  As always we are praying and leaving it in God's hands.

For now all lungs are clear and we will continue daily pulmacort and albuterol on an as needed basis.  We hope to take a break again this summer but compared to all the drugs they had in the NICU, it's really no biggie.  They were very happy with their weight and especially their height!  They are still small (Carlos, 21 lb 4 oz, Marcos, 22 lb 1 oz and Sofia, 21 lb. 6 oz); but, as long as they each follow their own growth curve, and continue to stay healthy, I have to be ok with the fact that they may not be on the "regular" chart for awhile.

What else has happened this month?  The trio has said good bye to their bottles!! That's right!  The boys had no trouble, while Sofie kept her morning bottle for a couple more weeks but she hasn't had her morning bottle since last Friday! Finally this house is bottle free!!!!!!! My babies are full blown toddlers!

Scribbles!

Our coloring is still lasting a whole five minutes before they start eating the crayons or markers!

We are trying so hard to make it part of our everyday routine but frustration sometimes gets the best of me.

You see the babies are going to be TWO in May! And though they are doing great, they still are lagging behind in some areas.  It could be the preemie thing...(25 weekers) lacking interest and fine motor skills...or the triplet thing...lacking one on one time, or also knows as only ONE mommy and four kids.  

Maybe their personality ...who knows!?!

But look at these scribbles! (The pink ones!)

Marcos did those all by himself!!

And this mama is proud!  

One of the four might just follow in daddy's footsteps!

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

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?

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!

A very belated Birthday Post

Finally...The babies turned one on May 17, 2012.  It's already been a month! I will admit that I went back and forth on my decision to have a party for them.  It was a tough thing to decide.  I was really scared of all the emotions that come along with the first birthday.  Reality is the day they were born (at 25 weeks) was not exactly a joyous day.  It was terrifying to say the least.  Luckily I had started skimming the big preemie book.  I knew our odds but here we are, a year later.  I am so happy that we did.  I've come to accept everything we have been through with them and their birthday party turned out to be quite a celebration!  We had a few friends, a few kiddos and their teams of nurses were for sure represented.  

The party was planned for 11:30am and it worked out perfectly.  The babies napped from 9 to almost 11 that morning.  Here is Marcos.  Breathing treatments just part of the daily routine.

Sofia ready for the party and playing with Nurse Monica.

Carlos hanging out with Nurse Jacqui.

One worry about every party is being able to keep kids (and adults) entertained.  I knew I had no energy to do any games so after some brainstorming and a few calls I found someone who teaches drumming classes for kids.  And what do you know... she does birthday parties as well.   She was a hit and the our whole family enjoyed it.  The babies had a blast! 

A few of my favorites...

Soon after our drumming session, the boys had their lunch....

Sofia did not miss it. A month ago, she was just fine with her bottles. 

Almost nap time...I swear sometimes these babies are my clock.

We hurried and sang Happy Birthday!

The boys went for the cake.  Sofia does not like to get dirty! Oh the little princess!

Right before nap time...

I had to bring out their very special name tags from the hospital.  

They went perfectly with our ZOO theme!

Thank you Nurse Isabel, we will keep them forever!

After everyone left, my friend whom I met in the NICU, stayed and visited.  It was so nice.  Look at these precious babies.  Josie is a 26 weeker and doing exceptionally well!

As for their progress, the babies are now 13 months.  We finally have 3 sitters. Carlitos was the last one to do it and we are so happy he reached this milestone. I am feeling like the babies are much happier sitting up. They had a big developmental assessment at the end of May and case workers, home visitors, and our physical therapist are all very pleased with where they are at. Sofia is very close to crawling!! And she gets into everything!  Marcos has one HUGE tooth on top.  And the bottom ones are coming in.  Everyone is teething.  This often messes with our nap schedule.  As far as foods, all three are eating well 3 x a day,s till taking 3-4 bottles, most nights they sleep 6:45pm to about 6am, and they are all working on their pincer grasp.  They love puff, yogurt melts and mum mums.  Today they tried shredded cheese and like it. All very exciting.

Their doctor is also happy with their weight gain.  For their one year check up on May 24, their weights were:
Carlos 15.11
Marcos 17.6
Sofia  15.8

Now that this is done! I hope to get back to blogging a bit more.  Wish me luck!
Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?