Marcos, can you hear me?

We have been healthy for a few days now and hoping we stay that way.
Marcos was able to make his appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor last Friday and I was not thrilled with the outcome.  One of the tubes seems to be clogged with either fluid or ear wax, while the other one is not in place.  We've been dealing with hearing issues since the beginning. He did not pass his newborn hearing screening when he was discharged from the NICU.  He has been retested several times with very little change.  I have been told that the hearing loss is in the middle part of the ear, therefore not permanent, also known as conductive hearing loss.  Up until now, the doctors have assured me it was fluid in the ears.  In June of 2012, Marcos had his ear tubes put in to see if they would help.  The test (tympanometry) afterwards did not show much difference.  The doctor was a little bit puzzled and decided to wait and retest.  I've lost count of how many times we have visited the audiologist.  In December, he was tested again with no significant change.  So now, the doctor would like to put him under general anesthesia again so he can see what is going on and insert new tubes if necessary.  We were also given another explanation as to what could be going on.  He may have an abnormality in one of his ear bones resulting in hearing loss due to lack of contact between the conduction bones in the middle ear.  This type of hearing loss is easily fixed with a hearing aid.

This will be the fifth time that Marcos undergoes general anesthesia.  Though I am glad it is not permanent hearing loss, I was a little bit shocked because this has not been mentioned before. 

But here are the positives.  The bone abnormality will only be explored if the 2nd set of tubes have no significant impact on the next hearing test.  He is scheduled to have a speech evaluation that will hopefully give the doctor valuable information to help solve this puzzle.  Lastly, I know he hears me.  He loves "Old McDonald had a Farm..." and tries to say E-I-E-I-O at the right time!  He also says bye, ball, wa-wa for water, ca ker for cracker, car and a few other words/sounds.  

And so this journey continues....Please pray for us and our doctors to help figure this out.

I'll share a couple of pictures taken during the doctors visit.   Look how big he is!!

With my assistant Isabella

I can't believe my tiny little boy who weighed 1 lb and 4.8 oz and measured ONLY 11 1/2 inches (the length of a barbie doll) is a full blown walking toddler!!! 

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

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?

This past week

Oh lil blog how I miss you.
Life has been keeping us busy.
I am down to pumping three times a day and usually while the babies are awake meaning very little computer time. 

A recap of our week....our week got off to a great start...

On Monday, FOUR NICU nurses came for a visit while I went and got an hour massage! I was in heaven and so grateful of their time and love for the trio. I even got a cup of coffee all by myself, this meant, I actually sat down and enjoyed SILENCE.  Tuesday, Carlos had his hearing test which showed fluid in one ear. Since this is the first time it has shown this, his pedi is requesting another test in a month or two hoping it resolves itself. It also looks like the doctors would like to move forward with tubes for Marcos and I'm hoping the ENT doctor and I stop playing phone tag this week. Carlitos also got his blood drawn and I hated every minute of it. I am not looking forward to taking the other two. I put it off as much as I could. Our doctor has been asking since before our 9 month check up.  This is the real thing.  I had to hold my little Carlos on my lap.  I was so nervous.  Of course I had to ask if the tech person had experience drawing blood on little guys.  "I am from the hospital.  I do this all the time."  I warned him that my little kiddo had very little veins.  Not happy to say that he did NOT seem to know what he was doing.  Carlos screamed the whole time.  I had to hold his little arms.  He needed to get 2 other techs to help.   They seemed so surprised at his strength.  I should have warned them.  They had to use both arms and then they say, "Not sure we got enough blood but we'll send it off and let you know if we need more."  Umm, no thank you!!
Wednesday, the babies and I ventured out and did some walking at the outlets. We met another mom there who also has triplets. It's so nice to have a friend nearby who gets the craziness we go through! Thursday-our home visitors from the early learning institute continue to be impressed with the trios progress. They walked in to find Sofia sitting unassisted. Her and Marcos are lasting a long time, and I couldn't be more proud. Carlos is also progressing. Isabella  had a dentist appointment that afternoon. The trio stayed behind while we took care of business and did some speedy Target shopping.  We were ecstatic to know she (again) has no cavities!!! Yay, Daddy!!!  We were a bit shocked to be honest.  In between caring for the trio and many sleepless nights, teeth brushing is the last thing on our minds.  I was also happy to talk to our dentist about the babies' teeth.  She seemed very knowledgeable on preemie teeth and all the problems they can have.  Our plan is to take them in as soon as the first tooth comes in.
Friday was physical therapy morning.  I love the individual sessions they each get but I do have to adjust one or 2 of the babies' schedule resulting in a little bit more work.  But I know it is so worth it.   We also had a very nice visit from a mom I recently met who is expecting three little ones.  We are so excited to have so many triplets near us and praying that she has a very long pregnancy.

And here we are today, Saturday...usual baby stuff.  We were successfully able to go down to four bottles a day, three solid meals and two naps.  Babies are still coughing, and Sofia's wheezing is back.  I was so bummed but praying that we will outgrow this soon.  She went 10 days symptom free.  We are spending about 2 1/2 hours per day doing nebulizer treatments of albuterol and pulmacort.  Not fun but I've become to accept this as part of our daily routine.  We have an even busier week ahead of us, lots to do for the party.  Yes, we are a week away from the big birthday bash.  Not really sure what I was thinking and when and how things will get done, but we are celebrating the crazy year we have had.  We are so excited.  Emotional days for sure.  A year ago today, I was hospitalized for preterm labor. Lots of painless contractions.  Medicines and steroids for the babies' lungs...Thanking God for the five additional days the babies had in mommy's belly.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Marcos's Hearing

Since the babies are turning one this month, there are many appointments to take them to.
Last week, Marcos went to see an audiologist for his fourth, maybe fifth hearing test.
It didn't go as I had hoped.
He still has fluid in his ears, now they are saying in both ears. 
Marcos's right ear failed his newborn hearing screening back in August 2011.
It's now May and the problem has not resolved itself.  Back in the Fall,  he also had an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test done which measures the hearing nerve's responses to sounds.   Luckily it did not show permanent hearing loss.  He has temporary hearing loss that will eventually resolve itself.  They've been talking about tubes since day one but for some reason doctors wanted to give him more time.  Feeling kinda bummed but only because as I was leaving the appointment.  I innocently asked, "...but he can hear me, right?" And the answer was..."not really.  He hears something but it sounds more like noise to him."  I didn't let it get to me that day but it's been on the back of my mind.  She suggested we talk a little bit louder to him and make sure he has good eye contact when we are talking to him.   Now that his first birthday is around the corner, we are being sent to the ENT doctor once again. He will make the call. It's really so hard to believe that he can't hear us that well.  The audiologist noticed that he is very visual, and that sometimes that makes up for it. Our pediatrician is having me pay close attention to the sounds he is making because now they are worried about language and speech development. I don't know if this happens to other moms of multiples, but its so hard for me to remember who is doing what unless it's really obvious. We are hearing a lot of ...da da da and ah ah ah and some g sounds and paying close attention.

Praying this resolves itself soon so we can avoid tubes, a pretty common procedure but I wouldn't mind skipping it.