Status update...

Hey everyone! Just thought I would say that I wrote this last night but didn't post it, so keep that in mind when reading it!

Wow! What an amazing five days we have had. I honestly don't even know where to begin. I have always had such an easy time writing these blog entries but my mind is so overwhelmed these days (in a totally good way!), that this may take a while. I apologize if I leave anything out, but so much has happened that I can't possibly remember it all.

Let's start with the girls...since they are the stars of this blog! All three are doing amazingly well. Charlie came off the CPAP (breathing apparatus) after about 12 hours. She has done really well and we are thrilled that she only needed help for such a short period of time. She and her sisters are on room air and should remain that way. The only issues that they have had respiratory-wise is that they all have "spells" of apnea (stop breathing). This is VERY common with premies. Maizie was having them often enough that was put on caffeine, which helps to stimulate the breathing and decrease the number of spells. She has done really well on that and only had one episode in the last 24 hours. Because of this, they will likely take her off

the caffeine tomorrow. Reese has the spells every once in a while, but they are very mild and not frequent enough to warrant any treatment. Charlie does not need treatment for hers either, but when she does have them, they are a little bit more significant in that she needs some mild stimulation (touching/contact) in order to come out of it. For babies of their gestational age and the fact that they didn't get steroids to mature the lungs... the doctors say

they are doing great!

In terms of feeding, they are all doing wonderfully. They get fed through tubes that go up their nose and down into their stomaches (NG tube). Reese has had no issues from the start and is on full feeds every 3 hours. Due to the CPAP, Charlie was a little

behind on the feeding, but is catching up and should be up to full feeds by tomorrow. Maizie was also just a little bit behind. Not sure why, but her tummy did not take to the formula very well in the beginning. For the first two days

she really didn't keep any food down. That was kind of scary, but then at the end of the second day, she made a turn around and hasn't vomited since. Who knows!

As for breast milk...I produced a small amount of colostrum and took every drop of it down to

the NICU where they split it three ways and added it to the girls formula. Three days ago my milk started to come in! Very exciting. It has been slow to come in, but that is totally normal

considering I only carried them 33 weeks and I had a c-section. My body just wasn't ready for

me to need the milk so fast! I am getting 1.5-2 oz per pumping session. The best part is today I

finally got to try breast feeding!! Maizie was the lucky first girl to try the boob. It was pretty entertaining to watch. She wasn't too successful, but seemed pretty happy to sit there and give it a go! I can say that it definitely stimulated me to let down more milk for that round of pumping! This evening, I gave Reese a go at breast feeding. She did really well... until she fell asleep! They will get the hang of it soon enough... in the meantime, the pump and I are getting very close. I think Nathan might be a little jealous. :) Just kidding.

Now to the good news report of the day... the girls were all moved out of the NICU!!! Yippee!!

They are now across the hall in the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN). There really isn't much difference in the two places, it's just that the babies in the CCN are healthier and closer to going home. I think the nurse/patient ratio might be little less since there are less complications with these babies. The nice thing is that the rooms are bigger and there are couches to sleep on if you so choose.

I am getting discharged today, after 5 days in the hospital. It has been so nice to be right here

and so close to the girls, but I have to say I am excited to get home to my own bed. The plan for the first few days is to rest at home in the morning, then come to the hospital before lunch and stay until Nathan gets out of work. It's a great time to have babies in the hospital, because

Nathan has so much time off with Christmas and New Year's falling during the week. It's really hard to leave them there, but I know that I have to get rest at home and I trust every nurse and doctor at Maine Med. They are all so wonderful and have taken incredible care of our daughters.

So, that's about all I can think of at this time. I am sure I missed a bunch, but I need to pump and then hit the hay. Thanks to everyone who has come to visit and brought up meals, gifts, flowers, etc. You are all so special to us and we can't wait for the girls to come home and get to know everyone.

Lots of love, Nellie & Nathan