First hour at the park

On Saturday, Isabella had a school field trip to a Rocky Seashore. Mommy stayed behind and took care of the three.  While I was home with them, I got a little bit sad at the fact that we can't all enjoy many outings together just yet.  So on Sunday I was determined to get everyone out of the house for a quick trip out.
We grabbed some lunch, went to the park, and grabbed some ice cream and Starbucks before heading home! We were only gone for 2 hours at the most, but those 2 hours are such a big step and bring so much normalcy to our lives!
After swallowing our food, Sofia goes in the swing for the first time.  Yes, I cleaned it with wipes and I got some funny looks but I wasn't about to let her touch that very gross seat!!

She didn't seem to like it too much and didn't look very comfortable sitting in it.  Maybe in a few weeks.
And now more pictures...

Sofia, Carlos and Marcos

Today also marks the one year anniversary of our blog.  My first entry on Sanchez, Party of Six happened exactly one year ago. I still remember sitting at the computer after a long day at the hospital feeling helpless and alone.  So much has changed.  From three tiny, sick and fragile babies in their isolettes to three happy babies at the park.  God is good.


Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Flashback Friday~Sofia

This is Sofia on May 26, 2011.

She was the first out of the three to be extubated, 9 days after she was born.

 She was my smallest, weighing 1 lb 2.3 oz.
Everyone called her a rock star. 

If my memory is correct...she lasted about 3 days 2 1/2 weeks before the tube had to go back in.  

That was hard, oh those ups and downs of the NICU.

She was intubated for approximately 6 weeks. 

Once she had her PDA surgery, she didn't look back and her breathing progressed quickly.

Wordless Wednesday~Beautiful eyes

Carlos

 Marcos

 Sofia

Flasback Friday~Birthday edition

We had a great day yesterday! I must have sang happy birthday a million times.  I think I spent all day taking pictures and video! Hopefully soon I can upload.  

It has been an emotional week...but in a good way. I thought I would have a harder time on their first birthday but I am feeling at peace with everything we have gone through. I have shed a few tears, especially when I look at this.  But a lot of times, they are happy tears.  Tears of joy, especially when I take a few seconds and just stare at my babies. They are so big and so long. They once fit on my chest, in between my breasts. They were so tiny and now when their heads are on my shoulders, their cute little feet touch my lap!

 

At times I am speechless, in complete amazement of how far they have come. 

I've been asking big sis if she remembers the day they were born and when she first saw them. Her responses include "They were tiny, their heads were as big as my fist, they were slimy and shiny but they were cute..."

I also asked my mom if she remembered what she thought when my water broke.  Luckily my parents were visiting from AZ.  When we left for the hospital around midnight my mom was also hopeful.  She thought I would stay in the hospital for sure but no one really thought that they would come so early.  When she got the call about my emergency C-section she tells me that her and my dad got on their knees and prayed.  

It was good that they were born while they were here...I don't even want to picture what we would have done if we would have been alone.  Can you imagine Isabella coming with us or me taking an ambulance by myself! Yikes. 

Here is Grandma meeting Carlitos for the first time

And now lots to do for our birthday party on Sunday!

One year ago...

A year ago tonight, I came home from the hospital after a 4 night stay for pre term labor. I was 25 weeks pregnant with three. I was feeling pretty happy that the contractions had only dialated my cervix to 1 cm.  I was ready to be on bed rest and make it to 28 weeks.
I came home, had dinner, watched TV and went to bed

Less than 2 hours later, I woke up to soaked sheets. My water had broke and the babies were born just a few hours later. I've never been so scared in my entire life. Their birth was traumatic to say the least. All three had to be intubated right away. It took hours for me to see them. And when I did, I stared at three different isolettes, each with a tiny baby inside covered in wires and tubes. Our babies were sick and medically fragile for weeks. The thought of losing one, two or all three babies was real. But here we are. One year later. Lots of prayers and faith in God's plan, patience and a whole lot of fighting on their part; we made it. Happy birthday babies!

One post way overdue

In April before illness number who knows what began, the hubby and I got a much needed break!  We had amazing babysitters, three of our NICU nurses came to visit and watched the babies, while Isabella went to the city with my sister who was visiting from Arizona.  It felt like a real date! A nice, quiet and relaxing lunch, some good wine later followed by a good cup of joe.  Thank you nurse Jacqui, Jen and Monica!!

We loved our team of nurses. One of the many blessings since the babies were born. We often felt like the trio had their own dream team who took care of them.  We started with three different teams of primary nurses and as the trio got bigger, healthier, started co-bedding and closer to discharge our teams merged.
This always kept me guessing who would take care of the three.  I even heard rumors that the nurses would try to sign up for them, and they would take turns.  It was the greatest feeling knowing that our babies were well cared for and loved.  And now we are so lucky to have quite a few of them visit once in awhile.  I love it!
As happy as I was to have all three babies home, it was weird not seeing our nurses and visiting the hospital every day.  I think well into month 2 of our NICU stay, we had a pretty good routine, I knew what my day would look like everyday starting with the long commute. Visiting our babies in the hospital became our norm.  It makes me so happy to still see our nurses.  We love the entire ICN staff at Kaiser San Francisco and our babies would not be here without them. I can't believe this micro preemie triplet journey began exactly one year ago (tomorrow).

Some pics of their day:

Previous visit with Nurse Jacqui and Nurse Monica back in November:

 I think Sofia was sleeping...

And our most recent visit..thank you ladies! My massage was wonderful.

Family Outing~Cornerstone Sonoma

We did it! Our second family outing since the trio was born almost a year ago! You can read about our first one here.  It did require a lot of planning but we did it.  It was a wonderful Mother's Day! We even sat down and had lunch. Yes, lunch including a glass of wine for me! Hopefully I can post more details later.  Lots to do on a Monday morning.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?