The Holidays!

Reminder...if you click on the pictures, they will get bigger.

The babies are doing great. Sorry there haven't been many pictures lately. Jimmy and Jenna tried their first bottle on Thurs (12/20) and did very well. Cassie had her first bottle on 12/26. Since then, they have been doing about every other feeding from the bottle. Jimmy was the first to move out of his incubator on Thursday (12/27), and the girls followed the next day. So far, they are keeping their body temps up. They want me to bring in more clothes for them to wear, so now they are going to get some use out of all of their new stuff :) They just keep growing and growing....hopefully they will be home in the next few weeks. As of last night, Jenna weighs 3lbs 150z, Jimmy - 4lbs 7oz, and Cassie - 3lbs 140z. I just can't believe how well they are all doing. Makes me so happy--all of our prayers are working! Oh, and they had a vision exam also and they all came back fine. And they are all off the caffeine now also since Christmas. Jenna is finally off her nasal cannula.....lets see how long she can last this time--hopefully she doesn't go back on, although, its not a huge deal if she has to.

Bottle feeding them our first time (Jenna, Jimmy, Cassie)

Jimmy in his new open crib
Cassie giving everyone a smile :)

Our Christmas was wonderful like always! We had so much to celebrate this year. It was also hectic like usual, but throw in two trips to the hospital that day and it was even more hectic. Alli was very into it this year (Santa Claus, gifts, etc), so that made it a lot of fun too.

We were a little late getting our tree this year, but we managed to get one. And Jim pulled the triplet card and we got it for half price! haha! I was taking pics of Alli putting the ornaments on the tree and then she thought I had to take one EVERY time she put one on :)
The babies first Christmas! We celebrated with Jim's family on Sun (12/23). First we went to the hospital for Nana & Papa to be able to hold them for the first time.

In order, these are Lynn holding Jenna, Jimmy, & then Cassie

Jim's Dad holding Jenna
We also got to hold all 3 of them together for the first time. It was so great, although we wish Alli could have been in the picture too :(
We went home to eat and exchange gifts. I didn't get many great shots because we were all busy, but I thought I would show Amy (Jim's little sister) some love. I like this picture of her and Jim.

Christmas morning

Alli in her usual attire...diaper and a few extras! She loved her new puppy (about as close as we will get to having a puppy for a LONG time!)--and her MOUSE slippers and Dorda hat too :) The camera went dead, so I have to post pics of the babies from Christmas day later...they are on my moms camera.
My dad got to see the babies for the first time on Christmas Day also. He came in from Texas to spend Christmas here. Here he is holding Jenna.
I'll end this post with Little Miss Hollywood!!!!

(and look above--my kitchen was painted this weekend!! yeah!!!)

Christmas Pictures

Alli loved Santa this year! No crying at all.

This is the first picture of all three of the babies together! Isn't it awesome?! Our favorite nurse, Heather, surprised us with this scrapbook page when we came in one night. It was a great Christmas present.

Visit from the BIG sister!

UPDATE....Added a few new pictures. I was trying to add these earlier and I think I fried the other computer....thank goodness we bought the laptop.

The babies were 3 weeks on Wednesday! I can't believe they are already 3 weeks, yet it seems so long ago that I was in the hospital. I guess just being home with Alli and all of the Christmas shopping, I'm getting back to normal life. Except its hard going back and forth to the hospital everyday.....can't wait until they come home.

We took Alli up to see her brother and sisters on Wednesday. She was pretty excited---I can't wait for her to meet them!

Alli trying to touch Jenna

Alli and her baby saying hi to Jimmy

Alli and Cassie (think my flash was a little bright? Even Cassie is covering her eyes!)
Alli helped mom with the Christmas cards too

And Grandma finally got to hold Cassie

Tuesday night 12/18/07

Don't have much to update....babies are doing well and growing like weeds! I'm on my way up to the hospital now. The nurse today said the dr. didn't give orders yet, but Jenna and Jimmy may start to try 'nippling' or bottle feeding in the next day or two. They said they usually don't start this until 34 weeks because the babies have no interest, but said they are showing signs they may be ready. They will be 33 weeks tomorrow. Well, or 3 weeks :) So, hopefully they do well with it. Still waiting for Cassie to get off the nose cannula. She hasn't had many heart rate drops, but has had a few oxygen desaturations (whatever that means!). The nurses put them in some clothes, but they made messes in them. I was able to get a picture of Cassie in hers before she spit up all over it. This is her preemie sleeper....she is growing into it nicely :)

Recent Pics

Sorry I haven't had much time to post. The 6 week hospital stay and no driving for two weeks really put a damper on my Christmas shopping and getting prepared for the holidays. No tree yet, not done shopping, no cookies, no Christmas decorations up, no lights on house, cards aren't out, etc. But, Jackie and Court want to see new pictures! So, if you don't get a Christmas gift this year, you know who to blame...I was too busy updating the blog ;)

The babies are 2 1/2 weeks now. I can't believe how fast the time is going--getting closer to the day we get to bring them home (which is still unknown). Jenna and Jimmy came off their nose cannula yesterday....hopefully they will do good and not have to go back on it. That is a few less wires and tubes connected to them. They are all doing great on weights and feedings. So good on the feedings that they are having to supplement with formula sometimes because I can't keep up with the breast milk. Jimmy is up to 3lbs 9oz, Jenna is 3lbs 3oz, and Cassie is 3lbs 1oz.

Cassie--wide awake after Dad gave her a bath
Cassie 2 weeks old--wearing a t-shirt for the first time

Grandma got to hold Jenna and Jimmy for the first time last week. Next she will hold Cassie...we seem to get there at bath or feeding time, so she hasn't got to hold Cassie yet.
Jenna in her new wardrobe (2 weeks)

Jenna with her big yawn

Jenna's tiny little fingers
Jimmy in his first t-shirt (2 weeks). My tiny little big boy!

Santa Claus is coming to town.....

Santa stopped at the NICU this morning to take pictures with the babies. I took Alli to a breakfast with Santa yesterday and she wanted nothing to do with him and today she saw him through the window and was fine until he came close and waved to her. She loves the idea of Santa Claus, but isn't too hip when he gets near. So, two chances for Alli and still no picture. Next week we are taking her to Breakfast with Santa at our church, so there will be a picture posted, smiling or crying! Oh, and they all got new hats for the pictures :)

Cassie & Santa
Jenna & Santa
Jimmy & Santa

Busy, busy, busy, and the babies aren't even home yet....

I've actually made it outside a few times this week. Wed. my mom and Jane took me to the hospital for a bit, then my mom and I ate lunch and then made it to Target. I was really having withdrawls without my Target. I would say I used to average 2-3 times a week there! Then on Thursday, my friends from work called and they were having their offsite. I wasn't going to go at first because I didn't know if I should go two days in a row all day, but when they told me they were going to Crown Candy Kitchen, I had to give in. So, Dilla picked me up, we all went to lunch, then to take a tour of the AB Brewery. I didn't take the tour though because I can't walk that far, so I just sat and chatted. I skipped on the free beer....still think it might be a bit early, but I really did want one.

On Thurs, we got the head ultrasounds back. They all came back negative for bleeding on the brain (which is awesome!), but Jenna's did show she has some cysts (they think) on her brain. They are going to do another ultrasound at 34 weeks (they are 31 now) and hopefully they will have disappeared. The scary thing is that it could be very serious, but it could also mean nothing. So, I'm trying not to sit and worry, even though I tear up every time I think about it, but hopefully its nothing serious. Some things it could indicate though are cerebral palsy, retardation, blindness, etc. But, there is nothing we can do really anyway and of course we love her so much, but we just want her to be healthy. She seems like everything is fine--she acts just like the other babies :) They need to do an MRI, but they can't until she gets older, but not sure when. Hopefully it is nothing, but we could use a few extra prayers.

Last night, my mom watched Alli and we were able to spend almost 3 hrs at the NICU. They moved to the South, which is a step up from the North. So, we are very excited about that. Its calmer over there, roomier, and we have prime window seating, so at least our visitors can see them closer up. Jim gave Jenna and Jimmy a bath and we held all of them while they were eating. Their feedings have increased and they are all back up to their birth weight (actually, all about an ounce more). Still having a few heart rate drops, so they are all back on their nose cannulas. They were back on the phototherapy lights for two days, but they came off today. So, all in all, they are doing well, just growing and growing! No major hiccups so far, so we are very, very thankful!

The nurse told me that I have been NICU-ized because I was saying how they don't seem to be that tiny to me anymore. She said that happens from spending so much time there and it takes seeing a full-term baby to see the difference again, or to put some preemie clothes on them and see how them swim in them, then it will bring me back to reality!

There is also another site from the hospital that you can check out. They take the babies pictures once a week and update their weights daily. I did notice that the PCA weeks column is off by a week, but not sure if they will fix it or not. They were actually born at 3o weeks, and this shows them as being born at 31 weeks, so everything is off by one week.

The site is www.babyicu.com
user name: CClauser
password: clausertrips
Please make sure to check the box that says sign in as a guest. Once you are there, you can also leave messages :)

Picture time!!! I'll start with my naked girly! Can't keep her dressed for 5 mins, but she loves our shoes and socks!

You think I'm cute???? (and for anyone that follows, notice the kitchen walls are still not painted and the blue tape is still on them from April!!!---just giving you crap, Jim:)
What about now??? I get my mad matching skills from my Dad ;)
Dad taking Jenna's temperature
Our first time getting to give them a bath. Daddy & Jenna
Jenna, nice and clean after her bath, Mommy holding her while she is eating (drinking her milk) and I notice she has her pinky up....I think she'll be prissy like her mom ;)
Jimmy-nice and clean after his bath from Daddy

Baby Cassie---she is such a little peanut!