Ups and Downs in the NICU

This past week has been such a struggle for me. So many things needed to be done at home... I'm still trying to recover from a major surgery, be a mom to my older boys, and be a mom in the NICU to my babies. It started REALLY taking a tole on me. I am very sore and completely exhausted. There is really no point in trying to sleep more than a few hours... I feel TOO guilty... I miss my babies when Im home and I miss my boys and nothing gets done when I'm at the hospital! I have tried to not spend TOO much time sitting in the NICU watching and waiting for monitors to beep and waiting for no news or bad news... Good news is always welcome! Unfortunatley, there hasn't been too much of that for Logan the last few days! :(

 I got a phone call Saturday morning at 6am from the hospital and I immmediately knew something was wrong. Logan had a few very low de-sats that required stimulation and oxygen for him to recover... They put his nasal canula back on him after that. His belly is very big again, even though he was pooping and otherwise tolerating his feedings.... so they had to stop his feedings and put a hose in his mouth down to his belly to try and suction some of the air out. They have been doing belly xrays every 12 hours to check h\the progress... No air outside the bowels or intestines... very good sign. So far his last film looked a bit better. Also, his white blood cell count was high... indicating some kind of infection. They had to do a lumbar puncture and bloodwork to try and figure out what it was. LP came back negative intitally. Cultures take a few days so we wont know until tomorrow for sure what it is... but they think it's his picc line! The picc line is the only nutrition source he has right now since he can't be fed! His bloodwork also showed low hematocrit levels and low platelets... So yesterday they put a peripheral IV in his arm and had to give him a blood transfusion. I was so sad yesterday. All they did was mess with my baby! I left during the transfusion.. I just couldnt be there... but went back later with the hubby. He was exhausted but doing better when we left last night... and he looked better this morning! Hopefully everything is working and he will be feeling better and getting his feedings again soon!

Levi sleeping on Daddy~

Meanwhile, Matison and Levi are doing great! Matison is up to 1 oz per feeding and her picc line came out on Thursday! She is showing everyone how it's done! She now weighs 3 lbs 5 oz! LOL Levi is also getting up there! He weighs 3 lbs now and his picc line is coming out tomorrow! He will be at an oz per feeding tomorrow too! I am very happy they are doing SO well!!! I just wish my happiness for them wasn't overshadowed by Logans setbacks... :( I feel so bad for him... He is the littlest one and has to fight so hard!

                                                   

Babies are all doing GREAT!

I know it's been a minute again since I have posted, but it has been a crazy time since the birth of the babies! They are all doing great at this point! Had a few infection scares, some low blood sugars, and Levi's PDA vessel in his heart came open, causing a murmur. Levi and Logan had to have Lumbar Punctures last week to check for infections because their bloodwork came back a little funny. That was scary! As of now, NO infections to be spoken of, Levi's PDA closed on it's own after 3 rounds of Indomethison, and ALL babies are now breathing room air on their own as of now!! YAY for healthy babies! Blood sugars have regulated on their own also. My lil ones are doing amazing for being almost 29 weekers!! We love them ALL soo much! I am one happy Momma!!

Matison is the strongest and biggest for sure. She has had ZERO scares and is getting the most formula at her feedings as of now. They MAY even let me start trying to bottle feed her as early as next week! She was actually SUCKING on a binki yesterday, which is supposed to be something they dont do until they hit 32 weeks or so! :) Here are a few pics of her...

Levi is also doing great! Besides his PDA that opened up causing them to stop his feedings, he hasnt had any problems at all either. The normal Brady's every now and then, but he's gaining weight FASTER than his sister and brother for sure... he is already up 7 oz from his lowest weight! :) He's my big boy!

Logan is the tiniest one and he's had the most difficulty staying on his feedings regularly. He is doing much better now. He was spitting up green stuff after his feedings so they had to keep holding them until they figured out what was going on. Turns out he probably has reflux so they are just watching him closely and doing belly x-rays to make sure his tummy and bowels are ok. I guess preemies can have bad problems from their bowels and intestines getting infected. Lets hope thats is not the case! 

He is so little even compared to his brother and sister... they both out weigh him by over 10 oz! He's my little Logan! He is practicing sucking his binki too!! :)

The babies arrived @ 28 weeks and 5 days!

Im sorry it has taken so long for an update but they are here! The last 4 days have been absolutely crazy! What I thought was a false alarm on the 17th of August turned out to be labor!! Started having pressure in my butt at around 7 am that morning... No contractions that I could feel... JUST pressure and a BIT of swelling in my face and hands. Had my mom take me to L&D to be checked out just to be safe. She just dropped me off and I went in alone! LOL When I got there and was first checked, cervix was long and closed. They hooked me up to the monitors and found that I was having contractions every 2-3 mins! Checked my cervix again an hour later... Still closed but softer and shorter. They decided to give me the steriod shots for the babies lungs, a muscle relaxer, and admit me for 48 hours for observation since my cervix was still closed. I called the hubby and had him come to the hospital since he was already in Ann Arbor working.
I got moved to my room and got comfy. By this time I had only been at the hospital for 2 hours. Then the resident Doc came in to check me one more time.... She didn't understand how my contractions were so regular and werent subsiding, but I had no dilation... She went in with her fingers and her face dropped!! She IMMEDIATELY told the nurses to get ready because baby A's foot could be felt inside of me!! WELL, after that it is all a blurr!!! C-section was coming and the babies were on their way! They were here an hour later!! At 7:00 pm Babies A & B entered the world and C came a minute later at 7:01pm on August 17, 2011!
                                 

A-Matison Lee Higgins - 2lbs 12 oz 15.5 inches

B-Levi Mason Higgins - 2lbs 7oz 14.5 inches

                                    

C-Logan Jacob Higgins - 2lbs 2 oz 14 inches

~26 weeks~

Well, we made it another week! Appt. went great on Weds. All babies are growing right on schedule and Im up to 162 lbs. Cervix is still 3.8 cm with no change when pressure is applied. Babies weights are BABY A- 2 lbs BABY B- 1 lb 11 oz BABY C- 1 lb 11 oz. Next milestone is 28 weeks! Hoping these next 2 weeks fly by! I am still getting pretty good sleep at night, with the help of my Benadryl, and I feel pretty good most days. The babies have been getting more active by the day. Baby C is my most calm these days, with baby B not far behind. Baby A is my mover! She is the biggest and most active by far! Her and Baby C are both breech... While Baby B is head down. I'm getting VERY VERY anxious!!! O.... and VERY very BIG! ;)

25.1 weeks!

No big changes this week. Still feeling pretty good! Have my next growth ultrasound on Weds. Can't wait to see them wiggling around again and see how big they have gotten! :)

~Daddy holding the babies~

24 Week Milestone!

Well we made it to 24 weeks! First big milestone of the pregnancy! I'm so happy to have made it this far problem free. (minus the sickness) My MFM appt. went great on Weds. My cervix is holding strong at 3.8 cm and all the babies are now in a transverse position... Like a baby sandwich in my belly. LOL All of them are moving so much now... I can rarely tell which boy is which anymore... but I know when the girl is moving because she is SO LOW. Woo hoo for 24 weeks!

23 weeks down!

23 weeks along today and feeling a bit more human again! I'm starting to feel some relief, just this past week, from my all day sickness and constant fatigue. I have been able to eat pretty much whatever I want and haven't been getting sick in the mornings as much either! Thank God! My next appt. with my MFM is Weds and I'm pretty sure they are going to schedule my c-section that day! Hoping to make it whatever day that is! Also looking forward to signing my tubal ligation consent! LOL

The babies have been moving like CRAZY lately too! They have been keeping me up some nights with all their dancing around! Baby A (girl) gets the hiccups A LOT and she is so far down that everytime she moves, my bladder gets a beating!! Baby B is the calmest by far... he usually only moves during the day while I'm up and moving around. Baby C is the crazy STRONG one... he's always moving and it already almost hurts when he kicks me! His feet are closest to my ribs so I'm very sore on my left side most of the time! So worth it to me at this point... I love to feel them moving around in there... I know that they are all ok. I took this video today!