A Well Deserved update to an update (by Meghan)

As many posts go these days, I wrote this one weeks ago.  So, now I'm re-reading and updating our update. Such is life in the DeBauche household these days! :)

They are growing every day! We just went to the doctor's last Friday.  Izzy weighed 8 lb 4 oz, Maddy weighed 10 lb 15 oz, and Sophie weighed 12 lb 2 oz.  They are all making progress on the growth charts for weight and height.  Sophia just crossed the line to get into the bottom section (between 3% and 10%).  Maddy and Izzy are moving closer and closer with each check in, but they're not on the chart yet.

Our biggest obstacle right now is Maddy's reflux.  We started what seemed to be a wonder drug for her: Reglan.  We had a different baby for a few days.  One who wasn't in torture after every feeding.  Unfortunately, it seems we just traded one problem for another because now her constipation is so extreme she cries all the time and spits up over and over again because she's pushing so hard.  We decided to see if maybe she had a milk allergy so we decided to put her on Izzy's formula (hypoallergenic) for a bit.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be much better. We're going to take her to a GI doc soon so maybe we can get that happy baby back sooner than if we just wait for her to grow out of the reflux. Our pediatrician said she could grow out of it as early as six months adjusted (3.5 months from now), or it could last as long as a year.  She is so tortured by it, I'm really hoping it goes away sooner rather than later.  Even that three and a half months seems unbearable.

All of the girls are smiling more and more every day although Sophie's the smiley-est by far. Izzy and Sophia are starting to bat at their toys. And, on Saturday, Sophia surprised us all.  She rolled over!  We were just hanging out like any other day and all of a sudden she was on her back.  We didn't really see it the first time, but we caught most of the second time on video.  The PT told us they need 60 minutes/day of tummy time.  I'm not sure how that's going to happen if she knows how to get out of it as soon as we get her onto the mat!  Maddy doesn't have much alert time that's not crying, but if she did I think she'd be smiling more and doing some of the things the other two are doing.  For now, we just have to hold her and give her lots of love.  Jeremy took some video of them hanging out together on the mat while Maddy was feeling well and somehow I caught her smiling.  Check it out!

Meghan




Maddy, trying the win the "Who can nap the longest competition?"



Sophia, being Sophia


Is this Sophia or Isabelle?


Sophia, being quite the little narcissist.  She thoroughly enjoys looking at herself in the mirror.  She's been doing this a lot lately and just loves the face she sees looking back at her.




Sophia on Christmas morning.  She was exhausted from staying up late to catch a peek at Santa.


Sophie


Sophie


Maddy




We just got about eight inches of snow late last week.  The day before it snowed, it was 55 degrees.  I packed up the girls and took them for a walk.  It was the first time we did it all together and the first time we got to fill up the Peg Perego Triplette SW.  They were all cuddled in with their Wubbanubs and enjoyed getting out of the family room.

Izzy


Maddy


Sophie



Maddy's been fighting severe constipation and reflux, but lately, she's been smiling a ton more!

Everything Smells Like Spit-Up

I've always thought that babies had a very particular smell to them.  Having given a few baths now, the smell I had stored in my mind was baby shampoo.  Over the last month or so, all I can smell now is spit-up.  Whether it's spit-up, breast milk, or formula, they're all pretty much smell the same to me.  It seems to be everywhere.  You can find it on the girls' clothes, in their cribs, on the sides of their bouncy chairs, or on any one of a hundred burp cloths that litter our floor each day.  Let's not forget my clothes and skin.  The smell has taken over!  All right, so I'm probably being a little over the top, but it's top of mind today.

Meg and Jo Anne went to visit Izzy in the hospital today and I stayed home with Sophia and Madelyn.  If you've been reading for any length of time, you probably know that Maddy's been battling with reflux since she started eating.  Well, today was just one of those days.  Maddy was inconsolable.

On a side note, I'm constantly fighting this internal battle between deciding how much to hold her and how much to let her try and get comfortable.  I'm not going to make it sound easy, because I struggle with it daily.  I know you're not supposed to be able to spoil your baby for the first three months by holding her too much, but it feels like she's training us to pick her up.  Though, choosing not to is just as tough because I literally have a physiological reaction to her crying--she makes me sweat.

Well, I let her cry for a while today.  I put her in the room next to Sophia so she wouldn't wake her up.  After a while, it was apparent that she wasn't going to stop and calm herself down.  It was about feeding time, so I went ahead and gave her a bottle.  She seemed to take it just fine, but during the delicate burping process--more like extremely light rubbing on her back--she projectile vomited all over herself, my arm, and the chair.  I changed her clothes, washed my arm, and wiped down the chair.  I can still smell the spit-up and I don't think that's going to be changing any time soon.

It was a very difficult day for Maddy and me.  I felt bad.  Like I let her down.  She was just so upset and I couldn't find a way to make it better without holding her non-stop.  If she were our only child, it might be easier, but Sophia needs attention too.  In the end, we survived.  Tomorrow, is another day.



Right now, Meg is going with the "I'll hold them whenever I can" approach, as evidenced by the photo below.  Yes, those are little baby footprints from snuggling with mom for a very long time :)  Take a look at that hot belly from a mother who delivered triplets!



The girls are all growing, but Sophia is definitely jumping ahead a little.  As of Friday, Sophia weighed 7 lbs 2 oz, Madelyn weighed 6 lbs 6 oz, and Isabelle weighed 5 lbs 4 oz.  We're feeding Maddy a little bit less than Sophia at each feeding because that's all that she seems to be able to keep down.  When we feed her more, she seems to spit up more, so we're really just trying to find the perfect volume.  She's still growing, just not at the same pace as Sophie.  I'm hoping that as she matures, the reflux will get better and she'll be able to eat and keep down more food.

Isabelle is still progressing very well.  The doctors want to have a meeting with us to talk about when, and in what condition, she might come home.  There's a pretty high probability that she may come home with an NG tube.  She's only taking 11 ml at each feeding and they're only increasing it one ml per day.  She needs to be up in to the upper 30s before they'll take her off of the TPN.  So, coming home with the TPN is also an option.  Lastly, she may come home with oxygen, but she's on the micro-flow at .04 L and it seems like they'll be able to ween her off of that last bit before she would come home.  Other than that, her incision is looking better each day and she's making really good eye contact.  On Friday, she had a follow-up visit with Dr. Davis, her opthamologist, and her ROP doesn't seem to be progressing.  She's in stage 1 in one eye and in stage 1/2 in the other eye.  Both are in zone 2.

The only area where she really needs to improve is her eating.  With all of the surgeries and not being able to eat milk, she seems to be struggling with her sucking and swallowing.  Meg tried to bottle feed her the 11 oz of milk today and it didn't really go that well.  The speech therapist will be working with her to help her get better, she's just a little behind the other girls.  The one area where she's not behind is in the holding department.  Boy, does this little girl love to be held.  Even though we can't be with her all of the time in the NICU, the nurses ensure us they're cuddling with her as much as they possibly can.  NICU nurses, thank you for that.




I thought I'd give you a little preview of my first attempt at taking baby Christmas pictures.  I'll be sure to share the finished products later, but here are a few outtakes.

It's amazing to think this is the same quiet girl asleep in the first photo, above.  Though, I would say it's par for the course when you try to move her at all.

Maddy


Meg had to stand right out of the frame so she could pull out the pacifier when I was ready to take the shot.  I had microseconds before that innocent face turned sad.

Sophie


Sophia had been planning her getaway ever since she heard I was going to be posing her with her butt up in the air.  I have no idea how all of these baby photographers get the kids to "pass out" for the pictures.  If the wind blows in China, my girls wake up.



I know this has been a pretty long post, but it seems like I'm only able to take time about once a week right now to put something together.  About a week and a half ago, I captured a priceless moment when both girls were on Meg's chest.  It's priceless because they're very cute, but also because they're almost too big already to both lay on her chest comfortably any longer.  Enjoy!

Snoring Like Grandpa