DECEMBER 31 UPDATE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2017 (7 weeks)
34 WEEKS

The Miracle Babies are progressing well.  Fortunately Mckayla did not end up having to have her breathing tube reinserted.  She was given a blood transfusion after all the tests they did to determine why she was having so many bradys  (to stop breathing which then causes the heart rate to go under 80 beats per minute and continue to lower until breathing restarts). It is thought she had a reaction to the eye drops that were given to her for her eye test.   Her blood gases were low and her skin color not quite as pink as her sisters, so they gave her another blood transfusion.  She has endured several of these since her birth.  Her pneumonia collapsed a lung and she now has scar tissue in her lungs which is making it more difficult to get her breathing smoothly.   Mckayla now weighs three pounds, four ounces. She will probably be the last to go home as she struggles the most with all the milestones she needs to reach.

Madilynn is now on CPAP which is a wonderful progression towards breathing on her own.  She was very wide eyed and alert yesterday.  Her little eyes were bright and looking all over.  She and Mackenzie got to wear clothes today since they are both on CPAP.   Madilynn steadily improved every day this week.  Madilynn now weighs three pounds, fourteen ounces.

Mackenzie is being weaned off her CPAP in progression to breathe entirely on her own.  She is the calmest baby of the trio.  It is amazing to already be able to see their individual personalities emerging at such a young age.  Mackenzie rarely has alarms now.  She may be the first to be able to go home in six more weeks or so.    Mackenzie now weighs three pounds, seven ounces. 

Mommy has been able to hold Madilynn and Mackenzie together several times since their isolottes are close to each other and can accommodate all the wires the babies are attached to.  Michael held Madilynn and Mackenzie together for the first time yesterday.  

Mommy has been told that it is quite likely that the babies will not all come home together.  It will depend on when each of them  meet the necessary requirements.  Their due date of February 9 is six weeks away.  They have been in the hospital seven weeks.  We have less time to their due date than they have been in the hospital!!!

Please continue to pray that the babies' lungs will continue to mature and they will all be able to breathe on their own soon.  Pray that the twins' bradys will decrease in number.  Pray that the babies' will learn not to gag but to suck so they will be able to take a bottle once they are each breathing on their own.

Thank you for your prayers and have a wonderful and blessed New Year! 

    

DECEMBER 27 UPDATE

Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.  His faithful love endures forever.  

Psalm 136:4

 DECEMBER 27, 2017 (six weeks, three days)

33 WEEKS

The verses that I have posted on each update were the verses we read when we prayed for Baby A to survive and thrive.  This is the last one in the group.  God graciously gave us Baby A.  We do not know what is ahead for the triplets health wise.  Being born so very early comes with its own set of potential health complications, but we are so grateful that God has blessed us with three miracle babies.  Miracles in conception, miracles in development,  and miracles in keeping Baby A alive and Baby B not being comprised, miracles that they passed the five point test repeatedly in the womb with flying colors and miracles  that each one was able to breathe at birth. They are so very tiny and just an amazing miracle to watch and see how perfectly formed these babies were at just 27 weeks from conception. 

  

McKayla had a rough night and morning.  She had 28 bradys just this morning.  The doctor thinks she is having a reaction to the eye drops they used in testing her eyes yesterday since all her blood work came back fine.  They may need to reintubate her with a breathing tube.  She is growing and staying up with her sisters.    Her alarms still go off often.  The scariest one is for when she stops breathing.  Michael was able to hold her for about a half hour yesterday but then she had an episode of not breathing and her heart rate went down to 9.  Unfortunately, they had to put her back in her isolette to stabilize her.  On Christmas Eve she was three pounds one ounce.  Christmas Eve was milestone day as all babies have reached three pounds!!

Madilynn had her breathing tube removed.  She is on the cannula, being weaned to be ready for the CPAP.  She too has alarms go off frequently.  The breathing issue is the most often sounded alarm.  Breathing is centered in the brain and they just are not at the development age yet where breathing occurs naturally.  She is the feistiest one of the three and moves and stretches a lot. Mommy held her and Mackenzie together and the girls held hands!   She weighed three pounds, seven ounces on Christmas Eve.

Mackenzie is doing  well on CPAP.  They are slowly weaning her off that little by little.  She will be transitioned to a crib soon if all continues well.  Her alarms still go off frequently.  Her mommy got  to hold her Christmas Eve but it takes about half hour to get her from the isolette to her mommy, adjusting wires and getting her comfortable on mommy.  Finally she was able rest comfortably on mommy.  Mommy gave her pacifier to her and dripped breast milk in her mouth with a syringe while she sucked to equate sucking with nursing.  Mackenzie put her thumb in her pacifier and it looked like she was sucking her thumb.  Her sucking reflex is amazing and we could hear her sucking and watch her pacifier moving with the suction.  She is the most laid back of the three babies.  She has her daddy's personality!   Her weight on Christmas Eve was three pounds, one ounce also.  She is the most mature with development. 

We thank you for your prayers and wish a Blessed and Bountiful New Year! 

DECEMBER 22 UPDATE

Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise, his faith grew stronger and in this he brought glory to God.  Romans 4:20

When we were told that Baby A (McKayla) would not survive without a miracle and doctors had very little hope for her survival and the subsequent negative impact it would have on Baby B (Madilynn) we prayed for a miracle and asked that it would be for the Glory of God.  It is only through God's amazing gracious mercy that we have three beautiful little girls who are doing well despite daily setbacks. 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017 ( 5 weeks, 5 days)
33 WEEKS

Mckayla is doing well. She is breathing with the nose prongs in her nose now instead of with a breathing tube.  She is a feisty little girl and moves around and lifts her little hiney up.  She opens her eyes more often.  She seems to know when her twin is in distress because her heart rate increases and makes her alarm go off too, but once her twin is calmed down she also calms down.  Mommy got to hold her and Madilynn at the same time. It was the first time Christine was able to hold more than one baby at a time.  Mckayla weighs two pounds, twelve ounces.

Madilynn had her breathing tube removed this week.   She also has the oxygen assisted prongs in the nose.  She has an issue with her throat which the doctors think may be irritation and rawness from the breathing tube.  They are waiting to see if it clears up on its own before taking an x-ray to see what it going on.  Suctioning is not helping the rattle when she breathes.  She is also an active little girl. She weighs three pounds, two ounces.

After holding Mackenzie and Madilynn for about twenty minutes, Madilynn's alarm went off and she had six bradys in a row.  Her eyes closed, she turned white.  The nurse vigorously rubbed her and pulled the feeding tube out to get her to breathe again.  As you can imagine it was a very distressing time for Mommy and baby.  Finally her color returned and her feeding tube was replaced.  When Madilynn was in distress, Mckayla's heart rate increased to 210.  The nurses think it is the twin syndrome when one twin knows what is going on with the other twin.    After all was resolved with the babies, Mommy was able to hold them for an hour and a half.

Mackenzie is on the CPAP which means she is breathing on her own and only has pressure  to keep her lungs from collapsing since they are so immature.  She is as low as she can go on that.  If she continues to do well with the CPAP they will wean her off that and she will be breathing entirely on her own.  At 34 weeks they will transition Mackenzie to a crib if all continues well with her.  She only had one vomit in a 24 hour time frame so that is also a great improvement.  Mackenzie weighs  two pounds, fourteen ounces. 

MIRACLE BABIES CHRISTMAS PICTURES

Jackson and his three sisters :)

 

         Three precious little miracles from heaven!

 








THE MIRACLE BABIES ONE MONTH PICTURES



Mckayla Grace, two pounds,  eight ounces, 13.6 inches



Madilynn Elizabeth, two pounds eleven ounces, 14.7 inches



Mackenzie Karen, two pounds, three ounces, 14.2 inches

DECEMBER 17 UPDATE

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.  James 1:12

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17 (5 weeks old)
32 WEEKS

I apologize for having such a long delay in updating.  Life has been a bit crazy.  The miracle babies are doing wondrously well.  They have each had two blood transfusions now. 

Mckayla is doing quite well. Today she weighed two pounds, eight ounces.    She is no longer intubated and is actually learning to use a pacifier.  This will help her learn to suck.  She is breathing on her own and she is opening her eyes more often. They keep increasing her dosage  of mother's milk every twelve hours.  Her pneumonia is clear. 

Madilynn is still having help with her breathing and is not yet able to use the pacifier.  Today she weighed three pounds.   A milestone to have made it to three pounds.  She has passed up her sisters.   She has had a few strawberry birthmarks pop out on her back.  So they will be able to identify which twin is which!  She too opens her eyes more often.   She was on an IV since she had a respiratory infection and was taking antibiotics.  Now she will be getting her mother's milk that will also be increased every twelve hours. 

MACKENZIE KAREN

Mackenzie has FINALLY gained weight!!  Today she weighed two pounds, nine ounces.  Truly an answer to prayer.  They did keep her on her mother's milk.  They are supplementing her with a high  caloric IV.  The doctors were hoping Mackenzie would be able to build her blood back up on her own, but she wasn't quite able to, so she had a transfusion on Thursday. She  too is no longer intubated and is also using a pacifier.  She has had a good sucking reflex for a few weeks already. 

 I had not seen one of the babies stop breathing until Thursday.  They get so sound asleep that they forget to breathe.  The alarm sounded and the nurse rushed in.  She only got one glove on and picked up Mackenzie and moved her arms and legs and rubbed her and set her up and down.  Her heart rate dropped right off and it was quite a frightening half a minute or so.  Mackenzie then settled back into her breathing again and the nurse apologized for not putting her other glove on, but we sure understood time is of the essence! 

Friday was the last day that they let visitors in under the age of 18.  Flu season has officially started.  The NICU also has the rule that if you have been ill you are not to enter the NICU for seven days.  Michael has a sore throat, sneezing, runny nose so he will not be able to see the babies for several days.  Jackson can no longer go in and see his sisters.  He probably will not see them again until they come home sometime in February. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for our miracle babies.  It is hard to believe that they are already five weeks old, yet still should be in the womb another several weeks.  Your prayers are much appreciated! 

DECEMBER 12 UPDATE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 UPDATE (4 weeks, two days old)
31 WEEKS

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.  Remember the great reward it brings you.  Patient endurance is what you need now...  Hebrews 10:35-36

Today is the miracle babies' one month birthday!

Mckayla weighs 2 pounds, 5 ounces.  She is responding well to the antibiotics to clear her pneumonia. 

Madilynn weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces.  She is on on antibiotics for her respiratory infection.  She has not had much of a change. 

Mackenzie weighs 2 pounds, 3 ounces.  She had 50 *bradys through the night and may need to be **intubated again. Unfortunately she is still vomiting.  This week's doctor does not want to take her off her mother's milk.  They are going to remove the tube going all the way to her intestine and just let it go to her stomach and cut back on the amount of mother's milk.

Christine got to hold all three girls!! 

*bradycardia-a pause in breathing that causes a drop in oxygen levels
**intubated-place the breathing tube back in to give her oxygen

Thank you for your faithful intercession on the miracle babies' behalf.   We appreciate you all very much!