My Rock Band

Okay, for those of you who don't believe my babies cry I have proof!! Here are my rock stars :) The girls were given onesies that read: "Shining Star", "Pop Star" and "Super Star". I'm still not sure who they are from as there was no card but they came home from school with Kaitlyn and I think they're adorable :)

I only wish they were singing!



And it looks like Rachel is winning...



My Super Star! (Behind her head is a Valentine's card from big brother, Caleb)



My Shining Star!



My Pop Star!

Something To Come Home To...

For most people and usually for me we want to come home to our families. I want to come home most when it's quiet and the girls aren't screaming. Yea, that's never. But, on Monday when I had enough help to go to the grocery store I had a wonderful delivery on my doorstep...



Oh yea, you know it's a sad life when the sight of diapers just makes your day!! A special thanks to John and his family to sending us more diapers. I do have to laugh - as I look at the diaper count I realize that we will go through one box every 10 days. A single baby would go through 4 boxes in approximately 4 months. What a difference!!

The girls seem to be doing pretty well. Alyssa is acting happier lately and is even smiling more so the formula must be helping. Of course, you know it's a great feeding when Alyssa and Julianna down their bottles in just minutes and promptly begin screaming while mom is alone and trying to feed Rachel. After driving me completely crazy I put the two screamers down for a nap, came down to feed Rachel and promptly got vomited on. Oh yea, these are the days...

We're Doing Great!

We had a quick doctor's visit for Alyssa today. She is healthy but she has had some trouble eating - screaming while eating and very shortly after. While this is greatly annoyinng to mom and dad this is a sign that she is in pain and suffering from reflux. So, the doctor has switched her formula to an easier to digest one with less lactose and increased her Zantac dose. Hopefully this will make everyone more comfortable!

Anyway, while I was there I had everyone weighed and they are doing great and growing so big! I'm surprised at how quickly these girls are growing :)

Julianna 10.7 lbs
Rachel 9.2 lbs (still our peanut)
Alyssa 10 lbs even

They are still sleeping well at night though Rachel seems to get hungrier earlier than all the rest so we are often up at 4 AM for a feeding. Oh well, some day we'll get some more sleep!

Some more pictures of our 5 babies :)

Rachel:


Alyssa:


Julianna:


Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa:



And their studious big sister and big brother:

Sleeping Beauties...

Sleeping Beauties...




Bathing Beauties...



Alyssa



Rachel



Julianna

Now we're ready for our date. Play date that is. Today was our first outing and we went to the mall to meet some new friends. They are triplet boys just 3 days older than us and their names are Tommy, Jack and Christian.

Triplet Gear

Okay, we just thought this was funny - we need so much stuff for these girls it's just unbelieveable. We go through at least 18 bottles a day. We go through at least 18 diapers a day and that's if no one messes in their diaper after they've been changed before a feeding - yea right! So, the number is more like 24. We also go through somewhere around 15 burp cloths because of all the spit up. These girls are not so lady-like at times!!

A big thank-you to Grace church for my baby shower yesterday. I need all that gear! I now believe I have enough diapers in sizes 1 and 2 until the girls grow out of them but we are still collecting size 3 and above. The diaper need won't end for another few years.

We were also handed down our 3rd Ocean Wonders swing yesterday and the girls are just loving them. I think it's great to see all of them swinging in a row :)

Just a note - in the Bumbo seats they are from L to R: Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa. While they are self-feeding in the bouncy seats they are from L to R: Rachel, Alyssa and Julianna - because I know lots of you are still learning to tell them apart.

Goodbye Pictures

Not goodbye to pictures but some pictures of my parents while they were here. We've survived our first weekend alone - just barely :) The girls are doing great at night and almost always sleeping through the night - of course, writing this means they will do horribly tonight! My biggest chore is what to do with 3 screaming, needy babies and their big brother most of the day. When Kaitlyn comes home from school she and Caleb play very well together.

So, here are a few recent family pictures. Second most surprising thing after having triplets - getting them all to sit quietly at this age while we take a pictures. Be amazed at these pictures - they take forever to get right!!

Julianna's Update

We went back to the doctor today for hopefully the last time for 2 months to make sure that Julianna is doing okay. Fortunately, she was able to get her shots today (probably not fortunate for her though) and not only has she gained back the 5 ounces that she lost she put back on 2 more :) So, she now weights 9.3 lbs. For thsoe of you at Grace Church you may remember that this is what CJ weighed at birth! The girls are not yet on the curve as far as height and weight percentages go but we're almost touching it. I think that's pretty good for triplets.

As for me, my parents headed home on Wednesday and I have been on my own in one sense but have had good help this week and I am greatly appreciative. Of course, all the volunteers are allowed to leave whereas my mom had no where else to go while she was here :) The 24/7 help was wonderful! I will post a number of pictures over the weekend of my parents with the babies. Grandpa did a lot of carrying and calming screaming babies. If I hadn't gotten a smile tonight from Alyssa, I'd swear she only smiled for him!

Grandma worked very hard, constantly willing to take care of the house, me and all 5 kids. What a blessing and we are sooo grateful for the time we had with her and just pray that she will be able to return soon to help. In the mean time, thank you to all those have come over to help feed and hold babies. Someday they'll be happy to sit still and play but right now they'd rather be held and for some reason I didn't grow a third arm while pregnant with 3 babies. I think that should happen :)

2 Month Check-Up

We have survived 2 months! I have no idea how. Well, I do - the grace of God as well as my mom's help. What a blessing. My parents head back to Florida tomorrow so if you have wanted to come over to hold and feed a baby now is the time. We are now in need of a great deal of help!

The girls went to the doctor today and their weights are as follows:

Julianna 8.12 lbs (she has lost 5 ounces since last week because she hasn't been eating well and has been throwing up quite a bit)
Rachel 7.13 lbs (still our peanut)
Alyssa 8.12 lbs (yep, she and Julianna now weigh the exact same)

The amazing thing is that Alyssa weighed 4.12 lbs at birth so in the past 2 months she has put on 4 pounds. That is incredible to me. How fast they go and how frustrating setbacks are. Please pray that the girls all return to health. No one had any lung congestion today nor a fever so it appears they are all healthy at the moment. So, if only we could get Julianna to eat and grow things would be better.

Rachel and Alyssa got their shots today - a total of 8 for the two - talk about tears. Julianna will be getting hers on Friday when she goes in for a weight check to make sure that she is going in the positive direction for weight and no longer the negative.

Please, please pray for me as my 24 hour help leaves and I will be often alone with all 5 kids. Even when Kirk is home things will still be crazy so all your thoughts and prayers are welcome. Thank you!

Update on Rachel and Some Pictures

Before


After

Before

After

Rachel did regain her 3 lost ounces today and is back up to 7.5 lbs - this is good news for our peanut! Now we just have to work on keeping those feedings in her tiny body. She is still on all her meds and we are trying to feed her upright because the other suggestion the doctor gave us was to feed her smaller meals more often. Yea, right - how will that work with the 3 of them??

But for those of you who are wishing for triplets we must share the joys of screaming and spitting up. The other night Alyssa spit up all over Julianna's face - that was fun. Last night all 3 of them spit up in succession. It's truly rare for the girls to make it all the way through the night in the same sleepers. Speaking of nights the girls are generally eating around 10 and sleeping till about 3:30 on the best of nights. The worst of nights and there have been plenty we're up at 1:30 and then 5:30 - we really don't like those nights! As for the screaming - Alyssa does it about all evening long and tonight we even got to hear them all at once. It's great fun. If you don't like the sound of a baby screaming plese come over and hold one!

Just a note from Kaitlyn - she has posted on her door:
"Baby's R Fun - I hav 3"

And Caleb is still doing well with his sisters though he does LOVE to have attention from anyone who will give it to him. Hopefully the girls will become more interactive soon and he will enjoy entertaining them.

Here are the before and after pictures I promised.

A Little Drama and a Big Change

Rachel has decided that Alyssa cannot have all the attention and has once again become difficult. She already has reflux but the past few days it has been much worse and has been more like vomiting. So, yesterday we took Alyssa for her post-hospital check-up and we took Rachel to find out if she has RSV. Alyssa is doing great and other then a bit of minor congestion she is over the RSV and very healthy. Julianna also is the picture of health even though she has a slight cough. The doctor heard nothing in her chest.

But... when she listened to Rachel, Rachel sounded junky so at our 3 PM appt. we were sent to the lab with an nasal swab to test for RSV as well as a blood draw order and also one for a chest X-ray. At the lab the blood clotted so we wasted our time there. The chest X-ray did show a bit of junk in her chest but nothing serious - whatever that means.

So, because the blood clotted and something was wrong with the nasal swab I spent today redoing everything except the X-ray. It turns out she does not have RSV and does not need to be in the hospital - thank God!

However, I need to bring her back to the doctor for a weight check tomorrow because all this vomiting has actually caused her lose 3 ounces from last week and that is a very bad thing. The other girls have gained quite well and they weight:

Julianna 9.1 lbs
Rachel 7.2 lbs (down from her 7.5 lbs last week)
Alyssa 8.3 lbs (a gain of almost a pound from last week which is great!)

That was our drama. For a bit of a change - I look different :) After 2 years I have finally gotten my braces off! I do have a retainer in which for all of you who have had braces know is awful to get used to. But, I have also been warned that if I don't wear it I will ruin all the work that has been done on my teeth and I really don't want to do that! And speaking of teeth, Kaitlyn lost one of her top front teeth this week. I think by Valentine's Day all of my girls will just be gums :)

I will post some before and after photos tomorrow for some fun as well as an update on Rachel and whether or not she has gained weight. Thank you for your prayers nad continued support - my parents head back to Florida next week and we will need lots of extra help then!

And We're Home Again...

These last three days have been very long and overwhelming. Alyssa was diagnosed with RSV on Tuesday and admitted to the hospital immediately from the doctor's office. We were sent over to the hospital to find our way to pediatrics for her to be taken care of. Fighting our way through the crowds - yes, we are a spectacle wherever we go with the stroller and even with a sick baby people are fascinated and must stop to look and ask a dozen questions (at least, so far, most people have been very kind) - we made it back to the room where Alyssa was to be treated.

I ended up staying with Alyssa for all 3 nights she was there. The first night she essentially decided not to sleep till somewhere around 4 in the morning so we got about 3 hours. That was miserable! For 3 days she was on oxygen and had fluids through her IV. She continued to sound horrible when the doctor or nurse listened to her lungs but she was eating well and doing fine for the most part - she was just very hard to hold with all those wires!

Last night she was fussy again and not going to sleep so the nurses were kind to me and let me sleep in another room undisturbed. I got 7 hours in a row - that hasn't happened for somewhere around 6 months! It was great and I can't wait to do it again :) I have to admit the hospital was miserable and after coming home last night for a brief time to shower I dreaded the return trip. Any desires I had to go back on hospital bed rest and "relax" are long gone. I officially hate hospital stays (again).

While I was sleeping the nurses cared for Alyssa and took her off oxygen so at 2:30 this morning she once again began breathing room air and doing well. Prior to this either her oxygen levels would drop or her heart rate would sky rocket to over 200 beats a minute!! Poor thing was working so hard to breathe. Of course, she hated the oxygen and that could have been part of her discomfort. At one point she ripped it out of her nose while feeding.

Praise God the doctor came in this morning and said she sounded good and then when she returned in the afternoon said we were able to go home. As soon as Kirk arrived to get me, we were out the door without a look back. Now we are all home again and back to feeding 3 (all of us agree that feeding 2 at a time is much, much easier). My mom was once again a huge help caring for Caleb, Julianna and Rachel while I stayed at the hospital and Kirk worked from home. She even was my relief last night so I could come home for a bit (our room had no shower - yuck!).

Julianna is still doing great while Rachel seems to have a bit of a cold but she is not breathing poorly so unless something changes we should not be returning to the hospital until Caleb breaks a bone or something... Just kidding!

Back at the Hospital

It seems that the Nelsons just can't stay out of the hospital! We've all been home and doing fine for six weeks but Alyssa decided she needed to go back in :) Kidding. Over the weekend she just seemed to get sicker and sicker and was having a lot of trouble breathing and eating. We could just see her chest sucking in as she tried to breathe - it was pretty bad. Last night she also started vomiting after meals so today we took her to the doctor and they quickly admitted her to Prince William Hospital.

After some mucous test and a chest X-ray it was confirmed that Alyssa has RSV - a very contagious and dangerous (in this age baby) virus of the respiratory system. There is no cure or drug to help so she will be monitored in the hospital for a few days until she is breathing better. Right now she is on Oxygen and has an IV in her arm - after 4 attempts they finally got an IV in without blowing her vein - I think she got a little nervous when they were examinging the veins in her head for a port - mom got nervous at that point too.

Right now our biggest prayer is that the other 2 girls do not catch it or they will be in the hospital as well.

On a good note, all the girls got weighed today and they are:

Julianna 8.11 lbs - wow, she has grown in just 2 weeks she's put on well over a lb!
Rachel 7.5 lbs
Alyssa 7.8 lbs (looks like Rachel is catching up)

Happy New Year 2007!

As 2006 comes to a close I am struck by how much our lives have changed in the past year. I'm sure one of my New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the year was to get pregnant and have another baby. I had no idea at the time how much that would come true. If I did, would I have gone through with it? Of course I would even though right now I'm wishing I could rewind the year a little bit as I still feel completely unprepared to care for 3 small babies! I know the Lord will not give me more than I can handle and for some reason He has chosen for me to care for these 3 beautiful girls but some days I wonder what He was thinking!

I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year. Our prayer for all of you is the same as for us that the Lord will bless you and watch over you.

Happy 2007 :)

Merry Christmas from the Nelsons

Merry Christmas to all of you (a day late I know but I was sick yesterday). The girls had a wonderful first Christmas even though they slept through it :) Their big sister and brother made out quite well and had a great day!

I had my six-week check-up today and things look good. I have been officially discharged as an OB patient. I guess my wonderful pregnancy is over... Kidding, although as hard as it was to be pregnant with the girls it was easier than having them out! Seriously, the doctor was once again impressed at how far I was able to go in the pregnancy. I attribute it only to the grace of God.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Kaitlyn, Caleb and the girls in their Christmas best! (You'll get one of them as Christmas cards someday - whenever I finally get around to it...) Sorry about the crying girls in the family picture but it's hard to keep them all happy at once.

Alyssa's Car Seat Challenge

Well, it wasn't much of a challenge. Alyssa won fair and square :) We took the girls to the pulmonologist this morning and Alyssa sat in her car seat for 30 minutes hooked up to lots of monitors. During that time they watched her oxygen saturation, her respiration rate and her heart rate. She did great and passed with flying colors. She is now allowed to be in a car seat just like her sisters! Yea! Julianna and Rachel were oblivious to the test and slept through the challenge in their own car seats. All of them also slept through the admiration of strangers. Wonder how long it will take them to notice that and take advantage? Hmmm... we have a lot to look forward to! At least no one asked annoying questions this time :)

Soon we will post pictures of so many who have come over to help and have held the babies. Should be good fun. We also have the babies first Christmas to look forward to! Yikes, Christmas - no, we're not ready :) But it will be great fun to enjoy our first Christmas as a family of 7!

1-Month Check Up

Wow! The girls could not be doing better. It is amazing how well they are doing and how fast they are growing. The doctor was very impressed by the girls progress and weight gain. This was our first visit with this particular doctor and she was just shocked at how well the girls have done and that they didn't need any extra care in the hospital and that they don't need any now. Praise God for His goodness. It is only by His blessing that they are doing so well and we couldn't be happier about it!

The big news:

Julianna weighs 7.6 lbs
Rachel weighs 6.4 lbs
Alyssa weighs 6.14 lbs

None of them are big enough to really be on the charts. Julianna is about 10th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight but we're getting there. They are all good full-term weights. My actual due date was this past Friday and believe it or not much of their lives is still based around that date. Essentially their current weights are really good singleton birth weights and since I was due a few days ago that means great things for the girls.

It also means that Julianna will come off the preemie formula completely. Good and bad for us since we got 9 cases free from the formula company!! The other 2 will stay on it for another month so we will try to use up those cases with them :) The girls are eating well. All of them about 3 ounces every 3 hours and going 4-5 hours at night which is good for us as we are now getting about 3 to 3 1/2 in a row of sleep. Yea! Julianna will also be getting about 4 ounces from now on as she drains her 3 ounce bottles very quickly.

I'm finally recovering and feeling better. I wouldn't say 100% which is very frustrating to me but Lord willing by the time my mom goes home (if we let her!) I will be back to "normal" and be able to care for the girls better by myself. Yikes, don't want to think about that!

Tomorrow Alyssa will go for her car seat challenge and hopefully after that she will be cleared to also ride in a car seat and not just a car bed. This will make life for us a lot easier as we will finally be able to use the stroller that holds the infant car seats and fits through doors. (Our other stroller does not fit through the church doors!) However, the doctor did confirm today that the girls should be flat more often then they are in carseats or swings as this can cause problems for their breathing. Fun.

It's always something and we're always busy but praise God it's nothing major!

Farewell Faithful Friend

Yesterday my beloved canine reached the end of his time on this world.

The dog that once leaped fences without hesitation could no longer climb a single step.

The animal that could once snap leashes and drag picnic tables could hardly stand.

The companion that used to chase deer up steep mountain trails, couldn’t even cross the floor for a bit of steak.

The animal that once took a car fender to the face and shrugged it off now had to drag himself to the water bowl.

Once the very image of canine regalia, now couldn’t even control his basic body functions.

He was but a shadow of the proud, noble creature he once was.

X-rays revealed a spinal disease that was eroding the cartilage and nerve endings in his lumbar region. In an attempt to regain stability his vertebrae were beginning to fuse together. Even with surgery and extensive therapy it was unlikely he’d ever do more than hobble.


I made the decision to end his suffering and he breathed his last in my arms.

Rest In Peace Duke Von Eldey, noble guardian of Nelson Manor.

You served us well.

Another Good Bye...

We just wanted to share with everyone that today we lost our dog, Duke. We have had him since he was a puppy and he was 8 1/2 years old. He contracted a spinal disease that left him essentially unable to use his back legs. When the vet did the X-ray she found that some cartilage between his vertebrae was gone and his body was growing bone in its place causing him to be unable to walk. Apparantly this is a rare but deadly disease that is very aggressive. The vet stated he only lasted as long as he did because he was lean and in good shape. He will be missed.

Please pray for our family. I know Duke wasn't human but the kids were very attached to him and this is hard for them. It will be a hard adjustment to us all - Duke has been around a while.

Just a quick note about Rachel - we saw the doctor again today and she added another medication to Rachel's Zantac to try and control her reflux. Please pray this works - we can tell that she's in a lot of pain when she eats. The good news is that she now weighs 5.11 lbs!! Yea, go Rachel! The girls go back to the doctor next Monday and we will see how they have all grown but according to our home scale Alyssa is around 6 lbs and Julianna is around 6.8 lbs so they are all doing very well.

Finally, Some Pictures From Home...

Tired Mommy!

Life At Home

The girls are continuing to do well at home which is great. They are an exhausting group. We have them on a schedule and they eat every 3 hours during the day. They all seem to be really good eaters though Julianna probably packs it in the most :) They do pretty well at night. We make them every 3 1/2 hours if they don't wake us first. We do this partly because it's hard to hear them from their room (we turn the monitor off if someone's awake after a feeding - yes, they do have to cry a little at night - I'd go insane otherwise!) and partly because they can't go a whole lot longer without being fed. I really want them to grow!

Kaitlyn and Caleb are still doing well. Caleb said yesterday he only wants sisters. That's a good thing! But he also thinks he's going to turn into a girl at some point. I can understand the sentiment given the number of females in our house but thankfully that will never be the case. I try to assure him of this but he is not convinced.

We also want to say thank you to everyone who has brought diapers and gifts. We are truly grateful. I promise individual notes are forthcoming as are birth announcements/Christmas cards. They may be a bit late - I hope you can forgive me that! I'm still feeling very sore and having a very long recovery. When I feel better I plan to do more so thank you for your patience.

More pictures soon...