We'd Like to Introduce...

Originally, these 3 angels were scheduled to be born on July 29th. However, they had other ideas. On the morning of July 23rd, during our routine biophysical US, the technician discovered that Baby boy C's (Grant) SD ratio was not only high but on many occasions the flow through his umbilical cord stopped entirely when his heart was at rest. We'd discussed with the OB that if this happened we would proceed with the c-section. So I was prepped for a 1pm c-section, Shawn and our families were notified, and the staff at the U of M prepared for the arrival of our triplets at 35 weeks gestation.

The first to arrive, butt first, was our precious second baby girl, Ella Rae. She was born at 1:33pm, weighed 4lbs, 2oz and was 17.5 inches long. She has dark hair and looks a lot like her big sister, Evelyn. One of the first things we noticed about her was her inquisitive eyes. No matter what you are doing she is always looking around with great curiosity. Her eye color, though lighter now, was more black then blue. She is a sweetheart. She had no breathing problems but like her brothers required assistance in maintaining her temperatures and developing the ability to eat (read she had a feeding tube and IV inserted). She required one day under the bili lights for jaundice. The funniest thing about her is that she gained a bit of a reputation for being a pooping machine. She makes us laugh as we change her diapers as it is a challenge for her to see how many diapers she can use up in one changing. Today she weighed 4lbs, 15.9oz.


Our "first" boy, Henry Carl, arrived second, legs first. He was born at 1:34pm, weighed 5lbs, 2oz and was 18.5 in long. He is the "big" man. He was my belly hog, the boob hog, and if all three are together he will even shove them aside to get comfortable. He also has dark hair, and his face is nice and chubby. He looks a little like Evelyn as well. He has been a little further ahead in his activities meaning he was the first to leave the hospital, the first to get breastfeeding, and the first to maintain his temperatures. He is our "quieter" baby and most of the time is easygoing. He makes lots of grunting noises and we look forward to those noises turning into words. He is NOT quiet, however, when he gets hungry. I love to cuddle him, especially after he nurses, because he wraps his arms around me and we spend precious minutes together. He weighed 5lbs, 15.8oz today.


Our "second" son, Grant James, was the last to arrive. He also was delivered feet first, and I'm told it was quite the sight to deliver him. He was the furthest up in the uterus and Shawn said that the delivering resident had to reach up to her elbows to get him. He is our "troublemaker" in terms of the pregnancy and the reason we delivered earlier then planned. He is, however, VERY worth it. He was born at 1:36pm, weighed 3lbs, 9oz and was 17 in long. He is my "little" man. He had the most difficulty at birth requiring a CPAP machine and nasal cannula to help with breathing. We were lucky that this was only for a few hours, but the CPAP caused a double pneumothorax (collapsed lungs) which resolved in a few days. Like Ella, he required one day of bili lights for jaundice. He has lighter hair then his siblings and is distinguished not only by his smallness but also because he looks like me more then Shawn and Evie. He is the face-maker in the family (Shawn call's him the "Jim Carey" of the family). He makes the most adorable faces including a perfect upside down frown when upset. He likes to be held often and is most often the reason we are losing sleep at night. He weighed 4lbs, 13oz today.


With Grant's release from the hospital on August 12th, they are all home. None of them have any existing health problems, which we are very thankful for. We are currently working to establish a "schedule," which right now means eating, changing and burping. I figure that it will take us a few weeks and then we will get "used" to this triplet thing. Evelyn, it seems, is having the hardest transition as we have about 15 meltdowns a day from telling her "no." Nights are not as bad as one imagines, unless Grant decides not to go back to sleep. We have it worked out to get up twice (once around 1:30 and again at 4:30) with about 2 hours in between. I'll be back "soon" to give you an idea of their first days and a typical day in the life of the A family.