Big Babies

Today the babies had a pediatrician appointment and were weighed. Piper weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces, Henry weighs 7 pounds 4 ounces, and Rosemary weighs 4 pounds 11.5 ounces! That's really good, especially considering where they started -- and that they aren't even supposed to be born for another 9 days or so. . . .

So, you're probably wondering how I could have the nerve to make a post on the blog without including pictures. You know I wouldn't do that! This past Thursday, an awesome photographer, Heather Swanner, took some newborn photos of the babies. Heather was highly recommended by Cathy Moore -- and after seeing Heather in action, Gary has been calling her the "baby whisperer" because she had such a calming effect on the babies. The results are amazing and you can see a few of the shots on the photographer's blog. I hope you enjoy them!

She's Touching Me!!

Aunt Cindy gave the babies this great playmat that has lights and sounds and bright colors. They love it and will lay there and be entertained for as long as you can expect a newborn to be entertained. It's great. Yesterday, as the babies were all laying on the playmat, I saw a glimpse into my future. . . .

We started out with all three babies lined up next to each other. Piper very quickly managed to get sideways. Then, while watching Henry, she slowly put a foot on his tummy. My immediate reaction was that it was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Then Henry completely lost it and started screaming, kicking, and flailing his arms about. Piper seemed to enjoy Henry's fit but eventually moved her foot.

A few seconds later, as she was watching Henry, Piper slowly picked her foot up and put it on Henry's tummy again. After a few seconds, Henry realized that Piper was indeed touching him again, and Henry had another meltdown and did his best to push Piper's foot off of him, eventually resulting in Piper moving her foot.

This happened repeatedly -- over and over again. I suppose I should have rescued Henry from Piper, but instead I grabbed the camera to fully document this first fight. I swear I can almost hear Henry yelling, "Mom -- she's touching me!!" As always, the photo progression follows.

Piper watching Henry as she prepares to place her foot on his tummy:

Piper's foot on Henry's tummy before he realizes what's going on:

Henry having his breakdowns:

And eventually Henry's breakdowns led to Rosemary's breakdown as well (notice Piper's smile):

We're definitely going to have to keep our eye on Piper. . . .

Home Sweet Home

That's right! Home sweet home, with three precious babies! And, since we did it for Piper and Henry, here is the photo progression. . . .

Rosemary came home weighing 4 pounds 4 ounces. So far she seems to really like being at home and playing with her brother and sister. Here is a group shot (from left to right, Henry, Rosemary, Piper):

And here they are practicing their kung fu moves (from left to right, Piper, Henry, Rosemary):

Now the fun begins!!!

Rosemary is Wearing Clothes

This past Sunday, little Rosemary made it to a crib, which means she was finally able to put on clothes. She seems to really love having on some cute pink clothes!

As of yesterday, Rosemary weighed 4 pounds 2 ounces! She is really plumping up, as you can tell from the pictures. Rosemary has now more than doubled her birthweight! She does great with a bottle and quickly downs all of her feeds by bottle. The best news is that Rosemary is on her FOURTH day of the brady countdown. If she doesn't have another brady, then we can expect to bring Rosemary home on Saturday!! However, of all of the kids, I most expect Rosemary to wait until the last possible moment to have a brady and foil our attempts to bring her home! But, we have our fingers crossed that this weekend we'll have all three precious babies home with us.

Piper and Henry are both doing great. At our pediatrician appointment this past Tuesday, Piper weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and Henry weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces! When we were at the pediatrician's office, people kept seeing us with the babies and commenting on what small babies we had. What?!! I was quite irritated that everyone kept on saying that the babies are small. These babies are HUGE to us and we are so proud that they are growing so big and strong, and I can't believe that anyone can look at them and think that they are small. But, I guess it's all perspective. No one seeing them could know that they really aren't even supposed to be born yet.

Gary and I took Piper and Henry to an eye appointment this morning. Very often, preemies have eye problems that show up prior to the babies' due date. Thankfully, so far, all three babies have normal eyes. We have one more eye appointment in two or three weeks and then we'll be released. Anyway, while we were at the appointment, people were staring and pointing and saying, "Look -- it's twins!" Seriously, people were acting as if they had never even heard of twins, much less seen them. I can't even imagine what people are going to do when they see us with three babies. I guess we're going to have to get used to drawing attention.

Also while at the eye appointment, one older "gentleman" in the waiting room was talking about the babies to his wife, and very loudly said, "And look at her -- she's pregnant again." I'm not. So not funny. At all. I'll definitely never wear that outfit again. I wish I would have told Gary to go punch the guy. . . .

Two Down, One to Go

Henry came home last night! We are so happy to have two of our babies at home and cannot wait for Rosemary to join us. Following is a baby by baby update. . . .

PIPER: When Piper was discharged last Saturday (when I would have been 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant), she weighed 4 pounds and 15 ounces. Today she had her first pediatrician appointment, and she weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces and was 18.5 inches long! So, it looks like we're doing okay feeding her.

HENRY: Henry was discharged yesterday (when I would have been 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant) and, upon discharge, weighed 6 pounds (well, technically he weighed 5 pounds and 15.8 ounces, but we're calling that 6 pounds). His first pediatrician appointment is on Tuesday morning.

ROSEMARY: As of yesterday afternoon, Rosemary weighed a whopping 3 pounds and 11 ounces! She is only one ounce away from doubling her birthweight, which Piper and Henry are not close to doing yet. This just leads us to think even more that she will catch up with her brother and sister now that she is out and eating the good stuff. Rosemary takes all of her feeds by bottle now, and may be going to a crib in the next few days. Like Henry, she has an issue with "bradies" and will have to be in a crib and brady-free for 5 days before she can come home. Her last brady was this morning, so it will be a while.

We are very lucky that the NICU put the babies on a good schedule before they came home, so eating times are already established. Every three hours, Piper then Henry have diapers changed, eat about 2 ounces, and then lay back down to sleep. So, for right now, it's not that hard to take care of the babies -- but it definitely is going to lead to some sleep deprivation!

One Down, Two To Go

That's right, we have a baby at home! Yesterday evening, we were very happy and pleased to bring Piper home. So far, she seems to like her new home.

Henry has not had a brady since Friday morning, so this is his second day on the brady countdown. If he does not have a brady over the next few days, the earliest that he could come home is Thursday.

Rosemary weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces, so she just needs to gain a little bit more before she can try to go to a crib. And then before she comes home, she has to take all of her feeds by bottle, and is right now taking every other feed by bottle. Her nurse today said that she is wanting to take more of her feeds by bottle, so they are letting her try to take a bottle whenever she wants it, and not just every other feed.

Hopefully we'll have everyone home soon!

Piper's First Outfit

Piper is wearing clothes -- and you know what that means. . . . Piper made it to a crib yesterday morning! I think she really likes her little pink outfits. This outfit is a preemie size, but I was surprised at how big it looks on her -- I even had to roll her little sleeves up.


Yesterday, Piper and Henry's feeding tubes were pulled because they are eating so well from the bottle. We love being able to see their little faces without the feeding tubes.

Because Piper has been brady-free for more than 5 days, there is a chance that she will come home this weekend since she's also taking all her feeds by bottle and in a crib (the babies usually have to be in a crib for two days before they can go home). There was also a chance that Henry could come home this weekend, and this morning the little guy was on his fourth day brady-free, but he had a brady this morning, so today is day zero again. . . . Of course, anything could happen to keep Piper in the NICU, too, so we're trying not to get our hopes up too high.

We are really excited about possibly bringing a baby home, but then we really wish that all of them could be home together. I'm not sure how we're going to manage with one or two at home and one or two at the hospital, but hopefully it won't be for very long.