Happy Birthday Luke! (and Happy New Year!)

Happy Birthday Luke!  He has been such a blessing in our lives and in the lives of all who know him!  He is a sweet boy (most of the time), we love him so much!  I realized (really realized) that we are going to have a very busy last week of every year for the rest of our lives!  I know I have said it on here before how crazy it is going to be, but I think that it finally really hit me today as we were celebrating Luke's birthday.  We went to Chick-fil-A to celebrate, and unbeknownst to us, it was family night.  They had everyone in the dining room sing Happy Birthday to him.  It was really neat!  Oh yeah, I almost forgot that today is yet another day of celebration, the first day of 2013!  Happy New Year!  Here are some pics of the birthday boy today (and one from the other night):

He tucked all of his animals in (Luke has the orange and black pants on)

Birthday Boy!

Birthday Boys' Pancakes!

Chick-fil-A party!

Minute to Win It Contestant

Update on the babies.  It is official that they will not be coming home for at least 5 days.  Our sweet little baby Taya decided to have a Brady Episode today.  Her first one!  Silly little girl!  Oh well, better that she gets healthy and ready to come home, because we don't have any heart monitors here at the house that sound off an alarm whenever their heart beats drop.  Not only did she have one, but the boys had a couple each today.  It will be at least 5 days for them too (though I am pretty sure it will be more like 1-2 weeks for them). 

Taya's Pictures:

Up an ounce since yesterday!

No Tubes on the Face!

This morning I was able to go all by myself and be with them, which was actually a lot of fun.  I got to hold them and feed them.  It is getting more real now that we can actually take part in their care!  Emily was able to attempt breastfeeding all of them today!  They did OK, they are still having trouble, but they will get it!  Bennett was the only one that didn't scream his head off, he just kinda sat there and looked at Emily which was really precious to her.  There was not a whole lot of changes today with them.  Bennett and Anderson are still on oxygen, and still have their feeding tubes (which they don't really need, but just in case).  Taya actually decided to take her feeding tube out this morning by herself!  The nurse helped her take the last little bit out, she (the nurse) told me that it was ok because she drinks everything from her bottle now (so do the boys) and that they would just keep watching the feeding aspect.

Bennett's Pictures:

Also today, the tech that does the hearing tests came in to evaluate the babies.  She started with Anderson.  I was there for most of it and she said that the test usually takes about 20 minutes sometimes a lot longer.  I asked what the fastest time in theory a baby could pass the test.  She replied that it rarely happens, but if it does that quickly it would take about 2 minutes.  Anderson passed his right ear with flying colors, but his left ear only got to 90%, which is not passing, it has to get to 100%.  Luckily he will get another try before he leaves the hospital.  Anyway, because he didn't pass she wasn't going to try the other two, just because they only get 2 tries while in the hospital, so she just wanted to give them a couple more days.  The babies nurse said that she needed to go test Taya because she was more advanced than the boys, so she did.  A couple of minutes later the hearing tech poked her head back in the boys' room and said, "well, she was a 2-minuter!"  I am almost surprised that Taya hasn't walked home yet!  It is absolutely amazing to me how well she is doing.

Anderson's Pictures:

The Hearing Test

Now look at all of their ears.

Overall, everything is still going really well.  This evening both Anderson and Taya have gained an ounce each since yesterday, and Bennett had not been weighed by the time we left tonight.  It was fun to see them tonight because they were so alert and reactive.  We haven't seen Ander with his eyes open much yet, so it was great to see him alert tonight.  One thing that we have noticed is that all of their ears are the same, the same shape and folds.

Happy New Year's Eve!

Day 5 with having living triplets!  They are still doing awesome!  They are still progressing well and things are looking good!  Plus it snowed this morning, I don't know what that means, but it still snowed.  Now remember this is Albuquerque, not UT/CO/ID, or anywhere else north of here, but it still gets us excited to see some white on the ground.

Today was the day that Mommy Hutchings got released from the hospital!  Yay!  She was SO ready to get out of there, though her room was very nice (like a nice hotel room), she referred to her room as a "torture chamber".  She was there for 4 nights by herself, nurses coming in and out of her room on an hourly basis, she couldn't get any sleep, she was definitely ready!  I will say it again, she has just been a rock star throughout this whole pregnancy, delivery, and recovery.  Truly an inspiration, and like her doctor, I say that Emily is my hero!

Today the babies have done very well.  I went in to see them today at about 10 a.m. and the first thing that I noticed was that they were all in their cribs!  They don't need their heater beds anymore which is a huge step in their recovery.  Also, no more tanning beds either, well at least until Taya gets older and thinks she needs to have a darker skin hue.  One more HUGE step that happened today is that they ALL got their IV's taken out!  That means that they have been doing really well with the bottle feedings, they are now getting all of their necessary nutrients through the bottle and also the gavoge (the tube through their nose into their bellies).  They are definitely making progress and it is awesome to see those little guys improving.

Gotta Scrub-In to see Them!

Lots of bands!

The Boys' Room (Bennett on Left and Anderson on Right)

We did meet with the doctor today, and he said that we still have some time before they get to come home.  One thing that needs to happen is that they need to be taking 50 mL from a bottle 6 times in a 24 hour period.  They also need to have no "Brady Episodes" for 5 days.  A "Brady Episode" is when the heartrate drops rapidly below about 80, apparently this is a very common thing for preemies and they go away.  The boys both have had those the last 2 days, I don't think that Taya has had any.  Bennett had one yesterday, and has had 3 today.  He has been able to self-recover every time, except for the last one that he had this evening at about 7.  They say that this is nothing to really worry about, mainly because they have been self-recovering.  Anderson has had one or two, and he has self-recovered every time.  This all means that it is at least 5 more days before the boys can come home.  This is about the only "issue" that it going on right now.  The boys are still on oxygen, and they may have to up Bennett's oxygen level based on his little Brady Episodes.  

Taya

Anderson

Bennett

Also today, Emily attempted to breastfeed Taya.  She did really well, she latched on and sucked a little, but because it is not instant gratification for her, she kept falling asleep.  We are still hopeful that they will all breastfeed eventually, but they still need a little more time.  We will continue to try though every day.  I believe that is about it, it has been a great day for them!  Thank you to everyone out there that has prayed for these little miracles, and if you continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers we would appreciate it greatly!  

Anderson

Anderson and Daddy

Bennett

Bennett and Daddy

Taya

Taya and Daddy

Emily said that there were not enough pictures with me and the babies on here so that is why my face is on here so much today.  Oh, I almost forgot.  The nurses told us a story about Taya today.  They said that when they took the billi-lights off of Taya she was on her belly not wrapped or dressed, just kinda there.  Anyway, apparently she wanted out of her crib because she had crawled up to the top of her crib and luckily there was plastic at the top or else she probably would have fallen out!  Crazy girl.  Then they wrapped her up and put her on her back, and she did the same thing just on her back pushing up with her feet.  We are going to have to keep our eye on that one!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Escape Artist!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Today is Ethan's Birthday, officially we can no longer call him "Baby", though he will always be "Baby".  Up until sometime this year when you asked him what his name was, he would reply, "Baby".  Classic little Ethan.  Today he turns 4 years old.  There are days when I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital, and there are other days where I feel like he has been here forever!  What a great, fun, very literal, joy he has been to our family!  He will be an awesome older brother.  We have designated the older boys to be in charge of one of the triplets, and Ethan is in charge of Anderson.  Ethan will tell you that he is in charge of "Ander Boba Fett".

We were able to somewhat celebrate his birthday today.  Emily is still in the hospital, and the boys can't go back to her room, so we improvised and took the party to waiting lobby area in front of the NICU.  I made him some yummy cupcakes that we took with us, and took all of his presents there too.  He was so excited, and all the boys were thrilled to see Emily.  They haven't seen her since Wednesday night!  It was such fun because it was in a very different place than home.

Party Time!

Ethan had to have a "Soldier Party", his cupcake has the soldier on it!

Playing with his Loot!

Inside of the NICU, the triplets are doing fantastically!  All 3 of them took a bottle multiple times today!  They are progressing so well.  They are all still under the billirubin lights getting a nice little billi-tan.  The boys are still on oxygen.  Bennett and Taya are still on their heating tables, and Ander is still in his crib so he is still able to self-heat.  Bennett is on about 1.5 L of oxygen, so he is down a little from yesterday, and Ander is at 1/4 to 1/8 L, so he will most likely be off sometime tomorrow.  The nurses and doctors are still very pleased with their progress and the doctor told us tonight that she thinks they might be able to come home by next weekend!  That is about the news for today with them.  They are still rockstars, and they are doing awesome!

Me and Bennett

Bennett catching a few rays

Emily is doing awesome and will be coming home tomorrow!  She has passed all of her "tests" that she needed to pass in order to qualify to come home, she did all of that as of yesterday, but she wants to stay one more night to be close to the babies, because from here on out it will be a lot of driving back and forth to the hospital, but I think that she is ready to come home.  It gets very lonely by yourself in a hospital room.

Day 3

Here we are, Day 3!  Today was a good day.  We realized today that each of the kids is a rockstar at something...Taya doesn't need oxygen, Bennett is a good bottle feeder (today anyway), and Anderson doesn't need a heater (he "self" heats).  They are all just doing so amazing!

Again, I will start with Taya.  I failed to mention that yesterday right before she did skin to skin with Emily, she had her first little sponge bath, she didn't like it too well.  So, today (12/29) at about 6 a.m. the nurses decided that all of the babies needed to go under the blue lights for jaundice, they will stay under those for about 24 hours, none of them are particularly fond of being under those lights, especially Ander!  Back to Taya.  They put her in the little portable crib that most babies are in after birth, she was able to maintain her body temp just fine...for a few hours anyway.  About mid-day they had to put her back on the heater bed to keep her temp up.  At around 9 a.m. the speech pathologist came in to try a bottle feeding.  They put about 12 mL of milk/formula in a bottle and tested her for her suck/swallow/breathing motion, she couldn't quite grasp it, she got about 1 mL through the bottle and they had to put the rest through the NG tube.  Overall, it was kind of a "lazy" day for Taya, just laying under the tanning bed lights...what a diva--already!!!  Here are some pictures of her from yesterday and today:

Watch out boys, she's here!

Sponge Bath

In Heaven with Mommy

Diva!

Next up the totem pole, Bennett.  He made some great progress today, and then decided to go back to the old ways, but it is progress!  They took him down from 2 L of oxygen to 1/4 L, he was doing great on that for about 2 hours, and then he started to need more, so they put him back on the hi-flow oxygen.  He stayed in his heater bed today since they didn't want him to use up all of his nutrients and energy heating himself, he still has to build up those lungs!  However, this monster decided he wanted the bottle!  The speech pathologist was amazed at how well he did.  It took a few minutes for him to figure out what he was doing, but when he figured it out, he went to town and downed all 13 mL of his bottle!  We were able to hold him for quite awhile this afternoon to give him a break from the billirubin lights, it was great!  Emily got to do some skin to skin with him and Anderson today.  They, like Taya, loved every second of it!

Daddy and Bennett

Blondie downing that bottle!

Momma's Boy!

Relaxation Time

Mr. Anderson.  Ander.  The chunker.  He today was not a happy camper under the lights.  We all believe it is because he was trapped in utero in the pelvis area, and he had his brother and sister right on top of him.  We guess that he didn't move a whole lot while he was in there, in other words, he just sat there and got chunky!  So now that he is out, he doesn't know what to do with all of his freedom, he has to be wrapped tight and he's happy, otherwise his arms just kinda flail everywhere and he doesn't like it!  He did great on oxygen today, he stayed at the 1/4 L all day, and tomorrow they will probably take him off of the oxygen!  Also, they put him in the portable crib, and he is continuing to maintain his body temp, so he is staying in the crib!  One step down and about 50 to go!  He is such a cute little chunky monkey!

Enjoying the tanning bed

Very content!

All covered up! 

Sweet Little Guy!

I will say, it is getting a little overwhelming (and difficult) trying to figure out who is who when looking back at all of the pictures.  If you will notice, there is a little "A" or "B" yellow sticky note on their cribs.  Taya is still easy because she doesn't have the nose tubes like the boys.  We need to figure out a way to keep it all straight!  Give us some ideas if you have any.  Till tomorrow!

Taya (12/28)

Anderson (12/28)

Bennett (12/28)