10 Months Old

Holy Moly!  The boys are 10 months old!  I say it every month, but seriously where has the time gone?!? They're going to be a year old in two months!  That's just crazy!

Their personalities are really starting to come out and it's just fun.  Here's a brief description of each of them:

Oliver - "Ollie" is our loud one.  He's always screeching or squawking or babbling.  His new favorite thing is to jabber while he's eating.  Honestly, it's pretty cute until he spits mashed up sweet potatoes all over himself.  He is super smiley and loves to show off his mouth full of teeth.  While he only has 6 teeth and the other two boys have 8, his just look like "big boy teeth".  He's been helmet-free now for a couple months.  We're glad he doesn't have to wear it in the heat of the summer.  And of course, I love kissing his big beautiful round head!  Of the 3, Ollie is the most interested in our dog, Kahlua.

Nolan - Nolan is our little engineer.  He's always looking at things from every angle and analyzing them.  I could see him being the one down the road who takes things apart and then puts them back together.  He's very curious about everything around him and is obsessed with any type of technology (cell phones, remotes, baby monitors).  All three boys can army crawl, but he's the fastest.  He is very smart and will clap on command.  He always lights up with a big smile whenever he does it.  He recently has fallen in love with rubber duckies.  He'll cuddle them in his sleep.  It's adorable.  Nolan will likely be our first walker.  He will take a few steps if you're holding both his hands.

Lucas - Lucas is our baby.  Of the three, he has the most separation anxiety.  More often than not, he will cry when I leave his sight.  He is skeptical around strangers, and it often takes him a while to warm up to people he doesn't know (total opposite of Ollie who doesn't know a stranger).  He'll randomly shake his head "no" at things which can be really humorous when you ask him things like, "Do you like Sam Brownback?" or "Are you going to go to KU?"  While he likes to "say no", he does not like being told no.  He'll cry if we tell him or his brothers "NO!"  Mr. Sensitivity.

Things we all like right now:

• Being on the move!  We are pros at the army crawl!
• Feeding ourselves our own bottles.  Nolan and Lucas have been doing this for months but now Ollie has gotten the hang of it too!
• The TV show "Pocoyo"
• Being snuggled
• Watching Mommy or Daddy cook or clean in the kitchen
• Going on walks and/or just being outside

Things we don't like:

• Avocados 
• When Mommy leaves the room
• Nap time (mostly Nolan)
• Taking medicine (mostly Lucas)
• Getting our face washed (mostly Lucas)

March for Babies

As you all know, our three boys were born 7 weeks premature.  They each spent between five and six weeks in the NICU before getting to come home.  It seems like a lifetime ago that we were traveling back and forth to the hospital everyday.  It was our normal back then to spend more waking hours there than at home.  It was our normal to not eat dinner until 9:00 each night because we wanted to stick around for one more feed.  The NICU was a very big part of our lives but at the end of it all, when we finally were lucky enough to have our whole family under one roof, they were all healthy.  None of our boys came home on oxygen or a feeding tube.  They were...normal.  Tiny.  But as healthy as any other baby who comes home from the hospital.

We are beyond grateful for the care our boys received in the NICU.  March for Babies had a big part of this.  Their mission is "to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality."  March for Babies donations support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives.  And they bring comfort and information to families with a baby in the newborn intensive care.

I recently discovered that March for Babies funded the research that developed surfactant therapy.  Surfactant is a liquid that helps coat the insides of your lungs.  It helps keep them open so that infants can breathe in air once they're born.  Both Nolan and Lucas had to have two rounds of surfactant shortly after they were born to help them breathe.  Knowing that March for Babies was responsible for this medical advance makes me that much more supportive and thankful for this organization.

Over the course of the last several weeks, I've been raising money for March for Babies.  I raised $440 which was added to our group (Multiples of KC) for a total of $1595.  I can't say enough Thank Yous to everyone who donated.

The March for Babies walk was this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful day.  We got up bright and early and (after feeding and dressing babies) headed downtown for the walk.  Our Multiples of KC group had a tent so we met the rest of our group there.  We got a few group photos and just kind of hung out until the walk began.

During the walk, there was a bridge that everyone had to pass over.  On that bridge were posters honoring babies.  They had white ones that said "Look at me now!" and pictured a baby picture and then a current picture.  Then they also had yellow posters that were "In Memory of..." posters. There were a lot of these and it was very emotional walking past all of them.  It just made me feel that much more blessed that my story had a happy ending.  Sadly not everyone gets that.

All in all, it was a good day.  I'm glad we went and we'll definitely be making it an annual family tradition.

Spring Day at Deanna Rose

Friday was a beautiful day - high of 78.  I had looked at the forecast earlier in the week and when I saw how nice it was going to be, I decided to take the boys to Deanna Rose that day.  I had plans to meet my sister-in-law Jen and niece Dakota there around noon.  When I got there, I got Oliver and Lucas loaded up in the double stroller and strapped Nolan to my chest.  I was walking up to the front gate to meet Jen when a woman walked by me.  I was waiting to hear the usual "OMG are those triplets?!?" or "Wow, you sure have your hands full!" comment.  But instead she just smiled at me and said, "They're beautiful."  And then she kept walking.  It seriously made my day.  I wish more people were like this.

Our afternoon was nice.  We walked around for a couple hours.  I think the boys and Dakota really enjoyed being outside.  At one point, we stopped at a large gazebo.  Bluegrass music was playing and I took Nolan and danced around like a total fool.  And in that moment, dancing with my son, his sparkling blues eyes smiling up at me, I felt pure joy.  Such a perfect moment.  Such a great day.  We'll have to do it again soon!

Nolan Does Not Have Hydrocephalus

Last week at the boys' 9 month appointment, our pediatrician suggested we get a head ultrasound for Nolan since his head had grown so rapidly in such a short time.  She wanted to make sure he didn't have hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain).  So we scheduled an appointment for him at Children's Mercy. Fortunately, it's not very hard to get into radiology and we were able to be seen on Tuesday.

James came home early to watch the other two boys while I took Nolan to his appointment.  I have to say, one thing I miss a little about Ollie's helmet, was that we always had that one-on-one time whenever I would take him to his helmet appointments.  This appointment for Nolan was the first time he and I have ever gone anywhere just the two of us.  And honestly, that part of it all, was kind of nice.

The ultrasound went just fine.  I had debated on taking him into the hospital in his stroller or in his infant carrier. I ended up going with the infant carrier only because we were running a little bit late and I didn't really have time to get the stroller out of the back of the van.  It ended up being a good choice, because the ultrasound tech just had him stay in his car seat while she did the scans.  My job was to try to keep him relatively still.  So of course I sang to him.  What can I say, the kid loves The Sound of Music.  They ended up getting about 50 pictures of his beautiful brain and he did a fabulous job.  When she was done she told me, "Okay, we got what we needed.  You're free to go!"  I was like, "Um...does my kid have hydrocephalus?"  She told me they would send the results to my doctors office who would then call me the next day.

So then the next day rolls around and, of course, all I can think of all day is his head scan.  Every time my phone would ring, I would grab it quickly, only to be disappointed that a friend or family member was calling. Finally around 3:30, I called my doctors office to find out why I hadn't yet heard from them.  They said they hadn't received the results, so I then called Children's Mercy.  The woman I talked to said results are sent within 24 hours.  Since my appointment was at 5:00 the day before, it was possible my results wouldn't be sent until 5:00.  This made me want to cry, as my doctors office closes at 5:00 and I really didn't want to have to wait another day to find out what was going on.

Fast forward to the following day (Thursday).  I still hadn't heard from anyone by 11:00 AM, so I called my doctors office and asked if the results had been received.  They left a message with the nurses who then called me back and told me they didn't have them.  Ugh!  At this point, I was beyond frustrated.  I called Children's Mercy and they said they would be sent within the next 30 minutes.  So then finally around 2:30 my doctor called.  She wasn't even in the office that day, but because she's awesome and knows how much of a worry-wart mama I am, she made some phone calls to let me know his results.  This just reaffirms how much I love her.

Anyway, this is what our doctor told us.  It's going to sound a little scientific.  Nolan does not have hydrocephalus, though he does have excess fluid on the brain causing the enlargement in his head.  She defined it as macrocephalus, which literally translates to "large head".  The difference is that with hydrocephalus, the build up of fluid is located in the ventricles (innermost section) of the brain.  This can be harmful and cause developmental delays.  Treatment generally includes having a shunt surgically inserted into the head to drain the fluid.  In Nolan's situation, the fluid is located on the outer subarachnoid space and is completely benign.  No shunt is needed.  Rather, the issue should resolve itself by the time he's two.  So basically, he's going to be just fine...which is exactly what this anxious mama needed to hear!

9 Month Checkup

This past Friday, the boys went in for their 9 month checkup.  I always get excited to see how much they've grown.  Here are their stats:

Ollie now weighs 20 lb 5.5 oz.  This puts him between the 75-95% on the preemie chart and right around the 50% on the regular growth chart.  He is 28 inches long which is in the 75% on the preemie chart and the 25% on the regular growth chart.  He has a giant head (as does his brothers) which measures at 18.5 inches around (95% on the preemie chart and 90% on the regular growth chart).  He's such a big boy!

Nolan weighs 16 lb 7 oz which puts him in the 25% on the preemie chart and the 5% on the regular growth chart.  This was the first time his weight was even on the regular growth chart, so even though it was only the 5%, we were just happy to see him on the chart!  He's 27.75 inches long which is in the 75% on the preemie growth chart and the 20% on the regular growth chart.  He has the biggest head of the three boys, measuring 19.5 inches around.  This puts him above the 95% on the preemie chart and right at the 95% on the regular chart.  More on that later.

Lucas is still our little guy, weighing 15 lb 8.5 oz.  This puts him at the 25% on the preemie chart and the 2% on the regular chart.  Again, we're just happy he's on there!  His length is 27.25 inches which is in the 50% for preemies and the 10% for term babies.  His head circumference was shockingly the same size as Ollie's measuring at 18.5 inches.

We discussed Nolan and Lucas' milk protein allergy and she encouraged us to slowly start reintroducing dairy to them. So we've started giving them a little bit of yogurt everyday to see how they tolerate it.  So far so good.  We also asked her about seasonal allergies.  Unfortunately, I think they got this from me.  The poor boys get watery eyes and runny noses every time they're outside.  So I think we're going to start giving them Children's Zyrtec.

They didn't have to get any shots, which was nice...but they did have to have a heal stick to check for anemia.  Poor boys.  This brought back some not-so-great memories of when they were in the NICU.  The lab is suppose to call us sometime this week if they're iron levels aren't what they're supposed to be.

Overall the appointment went well, until she brought up her concern about Nolan's rapid head growth.  The kid has a huge head.  This wasn't news to us.  We've even joked about dressing him up as Mega Mind for Halloween.  What we didn't realize, is that this could be more than just a big head.  She recommended we get a head ultrasound to make sure he doesn't have hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain).  If this is the case, he will likely need to get a shunt surgically inserted into his head to drain the fluid.  We go in to Children's Mercy tomorrow to do the head ultrasound.  Please pray for our sweet Nolan!

9 Months Old

My babies are 9 months old!?!  How is this possible???  I feel like just yesterday we were nervous first time parents learning from a nurse how to take care of our 3 tiny babies in the NICU.

They've grown and changed so much since those days.  They:

• Currently have teeth (Ollie - 6, Nolan - 7, Lucas - 5).  
• Hold their own bottles but only if they're really hungry.  
• Can sit up (though Lucas is still a little wobbly).
• Nolan and Lucas are definitely categorized as movers now!  They both have their own version of the army crawl that is just adorable.  Ollie prefers to roll all over the place to get from Point A to Point B. It works for him.  He's also been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking lately, so I think he'll probably be crawling soon.  
• Nolan and Lucas have both started babbling and Nolan has even thrown out a couple ma-ma-ma's which just makes this mama melt.  
• Nolan has learned how to clap too, which is just as cute as can be.

I love the stage they're at right now.  They're just so curious and love to explore.  They learn something new everyday, and it's been so much fun watching them figure things out.

Here are some of our 9 month photos.  While we weren't really able to get a one good one, I feel the pictures as a set properly depict the chaos that is our life.

Lucas contemplating life

I love how they're all making the same "duh" face

This just makes me laugh

Ollie trying to eat Nolan

Ollie stole Nolan's sticker...Lucas is being a good boy

Finally we decided to confine them to their high chairs (and take away the stickers)

Update on Ollie's Helmet

Ollie has had his helmet off for over three weeks now.  While he looked absolutely adorable with it on, I love that I can now kiss his sweet (not-so) little bald head!

He had one final scan two weeks after having it off just to make sure everything looked good and it did.  We're very pleased with the results.

Here is the before and after pictures from Hanger.  It is remarkable how much improvement was made in a such a short time!

And here is his graduation certificate from Hanger!  So exciting!

And of course, a Mommy/Ollie selfie.  Ollie was being silly.