NICU Nurses & News

THANK YOU.

I just wanted to let you all know how awesome the nurses have been in the NICU. These gals know their stuff. It is amazing how they can take such a stressful situation and put the parents at ease. They never blow you off or blow smoke, they just give you the straightforward answer. There truly are no dumb questions in there.

The only thing that I have yet to achieve is not watching the monitors. From day one they have said "don't watch the monitors, watch the babies." For some reason I cannot take my eye off the monitor when it beeps.

Everything else is going great with the critters.

Current Weights:
Carson: 4 lb 3 oz
Reese: 3 lb 12 oz
Hadley: 4 lb 12 oz

The BIG NEWS is that Hadley is coming home tomorrow (Friday)! She has a little reflux issue but the nurses said with some meds it shouldn't be a big deal.

Pictures of the big homecoming to follow.

Chris

Quick Update Post

Nothing fancy about this post.  All the little critters are doing very well, the folks in the NICU are amazed at their progress.  They all think that there is a good possibility that Hadley will be coming home this week.  She is doing well with her feedings and had her bellybutton IV taken out yesterday.

Carson will most likely be the next critter to come home.  She is responding well to her caffine "Starbucks" treatment for her little bout of bradycardia.

Reese is doing very well, he just needs to keep on packing on the lbs.  He is surpassing all of the goals that the nurses have set, he is just on the light side.

Current Weights:

Hadley:  4lb 8oz

Carson:  4lb 3.5oz

Reese:  3lb 5.5oz

Hadley confirming that I need to shave

Bath Time

Holy hell, if anyone doubted that our children had trouble getting air into their lungs you might want to come around bath time. Our nurse Stacy warned us that babies do not enjoy bath time, pretty much the understatement of the year. First up was Hadley, the screams soon followed. These screams soon woke up the other children who decided to keep a close eye on what was going on.

Hadley finished up her bath and it was on to Carson. We soon found out who had the power voice in the crew. She can not only reach notes that will shatter glass she can maintain it for a good amount of time. During Carson's bath Reese's attention was peeked. He observed closely what was going on. He almost seemed to slink down into his bedding, like a jungle cat into the weeds, in hopes that we would forget about him. Unfortunately for him, his large bird cage (incubator) made it hard for anyone to forget he is there. So on to Reese's bath which wasn't quite as eventful as the girls. But make no mistake, he did not enjoy it one bit.

Reese keeping a watchful eye on his sisters bath time.

Now on the obligatory embarrassment shots to be brought out later in life (a wedding sounds like a perfect time.)

How to incorrectly use a Binky:

Chris

Happy Aniversary (sp) - 5/17/03

Six years.  Six wonderful years together and now we have three wonderful babies.  One outstanding anniversary if you ask me.

We had a great day with the babies and then headed off to the Macaroni Grill for lunch before Grandma Barbara left to go home.  It is here that I learned that I cannot spell "Anniversary." Then we went to the fine dining of Arby's before we headed back to the hospital for the evening.  Nothing screams six wonderful years like an Arby's Roast Burger.  Although it was pretty damn good.

Chris

Nursery (Still Unfinished)

Disclaimer:  We will be removing pillows and stuffed animals before placing babies in cribs.

Linens:  Handmade by Grandma Barbara (Rian's Mother in Law)

Pillows:  Lovingly given by Kathie, Holly, Sally Kate, and Mary Caroline

Stuffed Animals:  Lovingly Given by Grandma Kate

Carson Jane's Crib (w/o sheet)

Carson and Hadley's Cribs

Glider, Table, and Reese's Crib

Hadley Ann's Crib (w/o sheet)

Reese David's Crib (w/o sheet)

Reese's Crib (Front Shot)

Hadley's Crib (Front Shot)

Floating Shelf

Super Cool Futuristic Light

Striped Wall behind Carson and Hadley's Cribs

Friday, May 15th

     Rian is now upstairs in Postpartum recovery room.  She had a shaky day yesterday, but is now feeling much better.  

     Reese and Carson had now been moved to a different ward of the NICU.  This is good news, it is a step up from where they were.  This puts them closer to coming home, but we still don't have an exact date.  The people in the NICU are wonderful and are taking great care of them.            Rian and I were able to go down late last night to hold them.  We got to have about an hour and a half with all of them.

     Rian will be heading home tomorrow so she can recoup.  Unfortunately we don't have an ETA on when the babies will be coming home, but we will keep you all posted.

Chris

Rian, Chris, and Carson

Rian and Hadley

Chris, Reese, Rian, and Hadley

Reese lounging in his crib

We Have Babies! Part Two

....Continued

Reese David

Carson Jane

Rian and Carson

Chris, Rian, and Carson

to be continued....

We Have Babies! Part One

Well the wait is over, at 10:42-10:43AM Hadley, Carson, and Reese were born, in that order.  Rian was prepped early this morning and she was taken into the operating room.  I followed soon after, taking care to look up just in case Rian was sliced open.  After I noticed that Rian's innards were still on the inside I was escorted through the circus of people.  I think that there were probably 15-20 people in the O.R.  

On to what everyone wants to see, pictures:

Rian and I pre-surgery

Rian and her vomit bag

Hadley Ann

to be continued...

Non-baby related

Hey everyone,

I just needed to tell you to go check out this blog. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Chris

Blog Issue

Hey folks,

I had an issue with signing in to the old blog address, so I have had to create a new blog with new address. If you find your way here you obviously have the new address, but if you could share this with others I would appreciate it.

Chris

Comformation

Everybody please put away your tray tables and bring your seats to the full and upright position. We have conformation that the babies will be here at 9AMish on Wednesday, May 13th.

Rian is still in good spirits and a good amount of pain, but I can tell you she is relieved that the procedure will be completed on Wednesday. It appears that all babies are over 4lbs, so that is one check mark for the NICU nurses. Now we just need to check off that lung functions box.I apologize about the lack of pictures but the computer has been living in Room 363 of the Women's Pavilion.

I will take some pictures of the nursery and post them tomorrow night.

Short entry today, off to get my last pre-dad beer tonight at Finnegan's.

Chris

Four Percent

There was a four percent chance of Rian and I having triplets from the embryos that were implanted. Thats a long shot if I have ever heard of one. Well you all know how this story ends.

I can think of another thing that has maybe a four percent chance of happening - me finishing all of the stuff that I need to at home. Things seem to be coming along, but there is still quite a bit to do, like painting the doors and putting them back on the hinges.Rian update -She is resting comfortably at the hospital, still plotting her escape. I can think of nothing better than hospital food, naps, Ellen, Maury, and Judge Joe Brown.

We are still on for May 13th for the c-section. I think that Rian will remove these babies herself if the doctor tells her that he wants her to go longer. Carson has decided that wedging herself up under Rian's ribcage was not the most comfortable place and has moved over to Rian's right side. This is strange because the doctor said that there little chance that the babies would reposition themselves. Funny we are back to things that happen that have a low percentage of occurring.

Nursery Bedding update -Grandma Barbara is now done with the crib bumpers. Any illusion Rian had of my mother starting her own handy craft business are now gone. I do not think that my mother will be sowing any time in the near future. Hundreds of dollars and God knows how many man hours later the last bumper was completed at 2:30AM, and later sent to the upholsterer to have the ties sewn on.

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I am going to post pictures of the nursery this weekend.Lastly Abbey may be making her second trip to the hospital to play her new role of "therapy dog" on Friday. I will be sure to take pictures of that.

Chris

One Week

One week , seven days, 10,080 minutes, 604,800 seconds until go time. I like the larger numbers in that grouping due to the sheer amount of stuff that I still need to do.

-Rian cover your eyes- I repeat do not read any further.

Our house currently resembles a squatter's crack den right now. I currently have two doors off of their hinges and leaning against the wall in the hallway, with the hardware strewn here and there. The nursery which was looking good earlier, now resembles a home in Oklahoma after an F5 roared through. So as of right now there will be no pictures until I have pieced it back together. But don't fret, I will give you guys a taste of some of the elements that Rian and I used.

My new mantra.

The infamous elephant hamper (which is still on back order).

What nursery is complete without a shag rug from Urban Outfitters.

Fancy light from the future.

Well there are a few of the elements in the old nursery. I promise that I will post pictures from the actual nursery as soon as I tidy up.

Thats about all I have right now.

Chris

Welcome

Well everybody, we appear to be mere days away from the beginning of the circus, no not the kind with the scary clowns and cool animals, but they kind with three little poop machines, er tax deductions.
Rian is still doing well on bed rest, albeit she is plotting her escape everyday. Is it really that far of a climb out of the window to the parking garage below? While the room is a nice size the sleeping arraignments leave something to be desired. The "bed" that I get to sleep on has a mattress that is about an inch thick, with a wonderful bar that seems to run across the lower part of my back. Needless to say it isn't restful and I am already tired.
The nursery is almost complete although currently it looks like a war zone. I am just finishing up the baseboards and crown-molding. We are also waiting on the glider, which I have to pick up in GA on Friday.

Poor quality photo of the striped wall behind

Carson and Hadley's cribs.

That is the only picture that I have as of right now, but don't fret I will upload a nursery bonanza tomorrow night from the hospital.