Baby Love
We have had the triplets in our lives for 10 days now and we couldn't be happier or more proud of these babies. We love them so much that sometimes when we are home without them Chris and I get tears in our eyes thinking about them. Although their personalities are hard to determine when they sleep 95% of the day, this is what I have learned from Elsa, Violet and Preston.
Elsa Marin - beautiful girl with black hair that we are sure is going to fall out and turn another color. I have no idea who Elsa looks like but the nurses swear she looks like me. She is very sweet and easy going so far. She is not as alert as her brother and sister and spends more time sleeping than they do. Yet, today she woke up when Chris and I got to the hospital and was wide awake sucking furiously on her binkie for about an hour. I don't think I have ever heard Elsa cry yet.
Violet June - beautiful girl that looks completely different from her sister Elsa. When Violet was first born she looked like Chris to me. Now that I have stared at her face every day for 10 days I think she is looking more like a Traub. She has beautiful red hair but probably not as red as Ava's. She is as delicate as a Violet. She is petite and full of personality. She is consistently more alert and opens her big eyes to check out the new world she has entered.
Preston James - our little man. He has such a boy look. The nurses laugh and tell us that it is so obvious who the girls are and who the boy is in the group. Preston looks a lot like Chris. He has strawberry blonde hair and seems like he is just a gentle good natured boy. He loves to stretch his limbs out and so I swaddle him with his arms out. He likes to sleep with each arm stretched out by his ears. We hope Preston is easy-going with all those sisters around him. I am sure he will be very spoiled by them.
Ava Rose - I couldn't not mention my beloved first-born. The proud big sister who loves her sisters and brother. Ava who has been so forgiving of my absense, so flexible, so good for her daddy while I was gone. For that I love her even more. We have learned that the NICU is not necessarily condusive to preschool children. . . or at least our preschool child. Ava does understand that the babies will be coming home soon. For awhile I was afraid that she thought the babies were going to live at the hospital forever. We have had a lot of discussions about being a brother and a sister and that they all live together in the same house. Ava is so much fun and the things that come out of her mouth make us laugh every day.
The babies got moved to the F NICU unit which stands for final destination. This is the section of the NICU that the babies go before they get to go home. Chris and I were so happy when we learned they had been moved over there last night. Today all three babies were so much fun with their open eyes and new awakening to the world. We are working on getting them to take all their milk by the bottle right now. They cannot go home until they take every feeding from the bottle. Right now I feel there is a long way to go but I am told babies pick up on this pretty fast and they have only just started to learn this skill. The have the suck, swallow, breath technique down perfectly. The challenge we have is getting them to take all of their bottle within 30 minutes without them falling asleep. If they take longer than 30 minutes to finish a bottle then they end up burning more calories than they are taking in from the bottle, therefore not gaining the weight they need to.
My favorite thing to do with the babies is Kangaroo Care. This is skin to skin contact. I take the babies clothes off, leaving the diaper on of course. Then I put them under my shirt and the babies get to listen to my heartbeat and feel my warmth. It is also good for my milk production which is an added benefit. When I do this with the babies, each one of them has the same reaction. They lay very still on my chest with the most peaceful look on their faces. Their eyes are wide in the beginning and then they slowly close and fall asleep. It is a really wonderful time with them.
We hope they will come home within a couple of weeks but it all depends on them taking their bottles each feeding.
Today is the first day my belly doesn't hurt like someone pulled my guts out -- oh, someone did pull my guts out! No wonder it hurts so much. I have been able to reduce my pain pills significantly and should be pain free and medicine free by the end of the week I hope. It is so very nice having my body back. I was recently able to shave my legs for the first time in a very long time. I actually enjoy being able to do little things like bend down to pick something off the ground, or just walk across the room without extreme discomfort. It is a great feeling!
We will post new pictures soon.
The mothership - I suppose I will always be a mothership -- is signing off.
Elsa Marin - beautiful girl with black hair that we are sure is going to fall out and turn another color. I have no idea who Elsa looks like but the nurses swear she looks like me. She is very sweet and easy going so far. She is not as alert as her brother and sister and spends more time sleeping than they do. Yet, today she woke up when Chris and I got to the hospital and was wide awake sucking furiously on her binkie for about an hour. I don't think I have ever heard Elsa cry yet.
Violet June - beautiful girl that looks completely different from her sister Elsa. When Violet was first born she looked like Chris to me. Now that I have stared at her face every day for 10 days I think she is looking more like a Traub. She has beautiful red hair but probably not as red as Ava's. She is as delicate as a Violet. She is petite and full of personality. She is consistently more alert and opens her big eyes to check out the new world she has entered.
Preston James - our little man. He has such a boy look. The nurses laugh and tell us that it is so obvious who the girls are and who the boy is in the group. Preston looks a lot like Chris. He has strawberry blonde hair and seems like he is just a gentle good natured boy. He loves to stretch his limbs out and so I swaddle him with his arms out. He likes to sleep with each arm stretched out by his ears. We hope Preston is easy-going with all those sisters around him. I am sure he will be very spoiled by them.
Ava Rose - I couldn't not mention my beloved first-born. The proud big sister who loves her sisters and brother. Ava who has been so forgiving of my absense, so flexible, so good for her daddy while I was gone. For that I love her even more. We have learned that the NICU is not necessarily condusive to preschool children. . . or at least our preschool child. Ava does understand that the babies will be coming home soon. For awhile I was afraid that she thought the babies were going to live at the hospital forever. We have had a lot of discussions about being a brother and a sister and that they all live together in the same house. Ava is so much fun and the things that come out of her mouth make us laugh every day.
The babies got moved to the F NICU unit which stands for final destination. This is the section of the NICU that the babies go before they get to go home. Chris and I were so happy when we learned they had been moved over there last night. Today all three babies were so much fun with their open eyes and new awakening to the world. We are working on getting them to take all their milk by the bottle right now. They cannot go home until they take every feeding from the bottle. Right now I feel there is a long way to go but I am told babies pick up on this pretty fast and they have only just started to learn this skill. The have the suck, swallow, breath technique down perfectly. The challenge we have is getting them to take all of their bottle within 30 minutes without them falling asleep. If they take longer than 30 minutes to finish a bottle then they end up burning more calories than they are taking in from the bottle, therefore not gaining the weight they need to.
My favorite thing to do with the babies is Kangaroo Care. This is skin to skin contact. I take the babies clothes off, leaving the diaper on of course. Then I put them under my shirt and the babies get to listen to my heartbeat and feel my warmth. It is also good for my milk production which is an added benefit. When I do this with the babies, each one of them has the same reaction. They lay very still on my chest with the most peaceful look on their faces. Their eyes are wide in the beginning and then they slowly close and fall asleep. It is a really wonderful time with them.
We hope they will come home within a couple of weeks but it all depends on them taking their bottles each feeding.
Today is the first day my belly doesn't hurt like someone pulled my guts out -- oh, someone did pull my guts out! No wonder it hurts so much. I have been able to reduce my pain pills significantly and should be pain free and medicine free by the end of the week I hope. It is so very nice having my body back. I was recently able to shave my legs for the first time in a very long time. I actually enjoy being able to do little things like bend down to pick something off the ground, or just walk across the room without extreme discomfort. It is a great feeling!
We will post new pictures soon.
The mothership - I suppose I will always be a mothership -- is signing off.
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