3 months old! (1 week old adjusted)

Today Allie, Norah and Olivia are 3 months old. You will start hearing us talk about their "adjusted age" going forward. They were full term on their due date (Nov. 16th) so even though they were born 3 months ago...their adjusted age now is only 1 week old due to being premature. For example, when they turn 1 yr. they will be 9 months adjusted. Make sense?

So over the weekend the nurse practitioner was talking about Allie and Olivia coming home tomorrow (Tues). Unfortunately, Allie had a brady on Saturday which bought her another 5 days (at least). We are waiting to hear back from the NICU today to see what the plan is for Olivia. We were hoping we'd all be together for Thanksgiving and say good-bye to our Community North daily runs. It's so much harder making that part of my daily routine now that Norah is home. I always have to arrange for a sitter (someone who is comfortable with an infant). But I always want to see Olivia and Allie and nurse them. It's harder than I expected.

Norah has been home for 2 weeks today! She is doing great! Ryan is absolutely fantastic with her. He's best at keeping her pacifier in so he doesn't have to listen to her high pitch cry.

All are 7 1/2 lbs.! All of them are still breastfeeding but getting formula supplements. We have changed them from Similac NeoSure to Similac Sensitive R. S. formula to help with their reflux and make it easier to suck down. All have responded so well to this change. We are still watching Norah closely for a milk intolerance. She's the most spitty and seems uncomfortable often. We finally have the night time schedule down w/ her and she is FINALLY sleeping between feedings at night. (Yes, we had several nights of no sleep when she fed at 2:30 am and stayed awake crying until 5 am! It was awful!) We feed her at 8:30 pm, 11:30 pm, 2:30 am, 5:30 am and 8:30 am...and on and on... Hopefully we'll be adjusting to every 4 hrs. soon (please, please, please)!

Keep us in your prayers as Allie and Olivia come home and we adjust yet again!
Stacie

Welcome Home Norah!

At 11 weeks and 1 day old, Norah Joann came home on 11/09/09 weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. She has accomplished so much since she entered the world at 2 lbs. 9 oz. It has been a great week spending so much time with her. Ryan was also very excited to hold his sister for the first time and play with her. He is great at giving her a pacifier when she cries and telling mom "she's mad at you" whenever I leave her alone for a minute and she fusses. Too cute! We hope and pray that Allie and Olivia will be able to join us soon. They were originally due on 11/16/09.

Saying "good-bye" to Olivia Rose...

Saying "good-bye" to Allie Rae...

HOPE TO SEE YOU SISTERS REAL SOON!!! XOXO, Norah

"Let The Waters Rise" by Mike's Chair

"Let The Waters Rise" by Mike's Chair very much describes how we are feeling right now. (Link below so you can listen to the song too!) Be blessed...XOXO, Nick and Stacie

Lyrics:

Don't know where to begin

Its like my world's caving in

And I try but I can't control my fear

Where do I go from here?

Sometimes its so hard to pray

When You feel so far away

But I am willing to go

Where you want me to

God, I trust You

There's a raging sea

Right in front of me

Wants to pull me in

Bring me to my knees

So let the waters rise

If You want them to

I will follow You

I will follow You

I will follow You

I will swim in the deep

'Cuz You'll be next to me

You're in the eye of the storm

And the calm of the sea

You'll never out of reach

God, You know where I've been

You were there with me then

You were faithful before

You'll be faithful again

I'm holding Your hand

There's a raging sea

Right in front of me

Wants to pull me in

Bring me to my knees

So let the waters rise

If You want them to

I will follow You

I will follow You

I will follow You

God Your love is enough

You will pull me through

I'm holding onto You

God Your love is enough

I will follow You

I will follow You

Ohhh

There's a raging sea

Right in front of me

Wants to pull me in

Bring me to my knees

So let the waters rise

If You want them to

I will follow You

I will follow You

I will follow You

Ohhh

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzV_O927Vi0

A Vetor Halloween to remember!

The best Vetor Halloween yet...

Muscle Man "Ryan"

Ryan's 1st Halloween Party at Miss Mandy's

(Norah, Grace and Ryan)
MUSCLE MAN

Our Princess Skeletons

(outfits courtesy of Nurse Jess)

Allie, Norah and Olivia's 1st Halloween

SO MUCH FUN!

Happy Halloween from The Vetor's

10 weeks old today ~ Nov. 1, 2009

Again, I am sorry it has been some time since my last update. It's only because I am so much busier now that the girls are nursing so well. (Imagine our 11 am feeding, take temp on Allie, change her diaper, nurse her & cuddle...start the same on Norah by 11:30 and then Olivia at noon. That's just one feeding of the day and they are fed 8 times each day. Now I'm not there for all of them but several a day.)

Identical twin sisters Norah and Allie

Sweet Olivia cuddling w/ daddy

We originally had hoped Norah would be home on Sat. (Halloween) but she had a brady on Wed night and then another on Friday night. SO ~ it will be at least another 5 days if not longer. I am not holding my breath because she could have another brady. I don't want to rush her home but I am so ready. I feel like we have been very patient with this experience knowing that it would be several months before they were home. However, the running is catching up w/ me and Nick and we are just very ready to have all of our family under one roof.

Allie was seen by a Riley pulmonologist on Friday. They are doing a scope on Wed. at 2pm (please say a prayer for her) to determine whether her stridor is caused by her underdeveloped/floppy airway OR scar tissue from being intubated 6 different times. Honestly I hope it is scar tissue b/c they can fix that with a simple laser procedure. The floppy airway will just have to outgrow itself which could take until she is 2 yrs old. They are also doing a swallow study on her later this week to make sure she is not aspirating any of her milk (when bottle or breastfeeding). I will get more information from the speech therapist on this tomorrow (hopefully). She was removed from the VapoTherm and put on a nasal cannula this week. She is doing well with it. She has taken several bottles from daddy too!
Mommy giving Allie a bath!

Daddy giving Allie her 1st bottle

Olivia looks more and more like Ryan every day. (Oh my goodness!) She is also doing well. She could potentially catch up with Norah and come home very close behind her. She has no respiratory assistance. She is taking some bottles from daddy and nurses and nursing from me when she feels like it. She's a very relaxed & content little girl. (Gotta have one who isn't too demanding, right?)

These 3 little girls have such precious personalities and we are loving getting to know each of them individually. I cannot wait to add Ryan to that mix and see how he responds to them. He misses his sisters. So, that is the latest...they still need lots of prayers. They all are experiencing different levels of reflux (Olivia's is the worst). They just have to continue to grow and develop. Their due date is just another 2 weeks away so they would be considered "full term" by the 16th.

2 months old and HUGE accomplishments!

On 10/23/09 Allie, Norah and Olivia turned 2 months old. We believe that day was a huge turning point for each of our girls...

Norah was removed from all respiratory care! (A huge step towards coming home.) Just Tuesday they took her off the VapoTherm and put her on the nasal cannula. She did so well on the nasal cannula that they weaned her again today. She is now on NOTHING! Today was officially the first day a nurse has made mention about her potentially soon homecoming. She said she better get her snuggle time in before Norah goes home. Norah also started taking a bottle on Tuesday. Daddy fed her first! So when I am not there to nurse and she is awake, she is allowed to be bottle fed. She nursed twice today and took 2 full bottles at other feedings. (5lbs. 10oz.)

Olivia was weaned off her VapoTherm and put on the nasal cannula today. She seemed to be handling that really well. She's been nursing much better these past two days. Olivia is now allowed to start trying a bottle. Daddy plans to give her her first bottle tomorrow over lunch. I hope that goes well. Miss Olivia is very curious about her surroundings. It's very cute to watch her look all around the room. That's why nursing has been a little slow with her. She has a hard time focusing when there is so much more to see. (5lbs. 5oz.)

Allie has come SO far! She has the biggest cheeks right now. She is still on the VapoTherm but weaned down to 2 liters. She is having some bradys still and desats but surely will outgrow them just like her sisters have. She's become a great nurser. Daddy has named her our "spark plug"! That is a great description of her personality. (5lbs. 3oz.)

Each of them is so precious. We miss them when we are away. It's getting harder and harder to leave them behind. I get anxious each morning just to get back to the hospital and hold them in my arms. Nursing is a great way for me to have one on one time with each of them. We have done some serious bonding through these past 2 months. We will feel complete when all 3 are in our home. Please pray for strength for me and Nick. It is tiring running back and forth. We hope to keep healthy during this cold & flu season so we can keep up with all the needs of the girls and Ryan. Thanks for your prayers! I can't believe they have come so far in 2 months. They don't seem tiny to us anymore even though they are still just 5 lb babies.

Love you all!!!
Stacie