Tag: hospital

Linus’s turn!

Well, I guess he just didn’t want to be the odd man out. On Sunday, Linus started showing the same symptoms that earned Miles and Oliver a trip to the ER two weeks prior. I was in touch with his ped all day, doing everything we could to avoid the trip, but in the end, he needed to go. But this time, the lucky duck got admitted! So we spent the night in the luxurious digs of the Children’s Hospital.

Really, it wasn’t too bad. I slept on a “bed” (glorified window seat, really) that was approximately 2 inches longer than me. Next to a window on a freezing night. With a couple of thin blankets. But it could have been so much worse. I know this.

He’s fine now, just needed to get some breathing treatments and they wanted to monitor him. It’s funny, really. The three boys had pretty much identical symptoms, but got three different doctors at the ER. It just goes to show how doctors all have their different ways of treating the same illness. I have my own little experiment group here.

The doctor thinks he’ll be fine to travel with me to Los Angeles on Thursday. Fingers crossed! If not, I may have to make a substitution. Not that any of them know/care/will remember in 20 years. Tomorrow we have a follow-up visit with the ped, so we’ll see what she says.

Before the hospital visit, we had a really fun weekend. On Saturday, I took the boys to the zoo and met up with my friends Mandy and Mike and their 17 month old, Annabel. I’m just glad we went on Saturday! I just hope Annabel doesn’t end up sick. Linus was fine on Saturday, he only started acting sick on Sunday. At least it was only a cold, nothing major.

Linus and Miles are walking a lot more now. I will have to get a video of it…

Well, THAT was fun.

Another day, another trip to the ER with Miles. Fun times. Let me just say that he’s fine and home and sleeping now. šŸ™‚

This morning, he woke up sounding wheezy, but acting very normal. No fever, was playful, just like always. So I brought him (and of course Linus and Oliver) to daycare. At around noon, daycare called and said he was wheezing badly, hadn’t eaten all day, and couldn’t nap. It’s very unlike Miles not to eat, so I immediately called the ped for an appointment and headed to pick Miles up.

Went home, and gave him a breathing treatment. He seemed to perk up after that and ate a bit, even though he was still wheezy. We headed to the ped, and he was very cranky in the car – he just couldn’t fall asleep. After looking at him for a bit, his doctor told me to bring him to the ER. She said his chest felt very tight, and he was pulling a lot when trying to breathe.

So over to the ER we headed, and thank goodness, we were seen immediately by the triage nurse. Within a few minutes, we had a bed in the ER (the same one as the last time we were there, as it happens). George arrived, and Miles was given another breathing treatment by the super-awesome hospital nebulizer (only took about 5 minutes vs 20 minutes at home) and as before, perked up a lot. He got a shot and some prednisone and a chest x-ray, and as is usual in the ER, we waited around a lot. Miles was able to nap on the bed for most of the time.

Finally, we found out he does not have RSV or the flu or pneumonia. Probably just a virus that caused his lungs to get really tight. Reactive Airway Disease, I think they called it. And we were discharged with some prescriptions. Yay for trying to get home from the hospital during Mardi Gras time. Ugh. As much as I love Mardi Gras, it’s a royal pain in the rear to try to get around the city on parade nights. But we made it, and I was able to get to Target to get his prescriptions filled.

And I have to say I am eternally grateful to George’s parents for picking up Oliver and Linus from daycare and bringing them to their house for the weekend. Man, this having one baby thing is EASY! Heh. Now let’s all just cross our fingers that Linus and Oliver don’t get whatever Miles had.

Ear tubes recap

And now, a detailed recap of the day…

4:30 am – woke up, ate breakfast, took a shower.
5:10 am – woke up Miles, changed his diaper. Put him in the car, drove to the hospital. George’s parents had Oliver and Linus, so I imagine they were doing similar things on their side of town. (I had to work this week and daycare was closed, which is why they had L & O. I had Miles because he had a doctor’s appt yesterday. Just to clear that up.)

5:50 am – arrive at hospital. Look at the fish.

6:00 am – take Miles to the Short Stay unit to sign in.

6:15 am –Ā  Over the next 45 minutes, we get checked in, the boys get weighed and measured, and we are shown to our room with three hospital cribs.

7:15 am – Linus gets his dose of Versed (a sedative to relax the baby before surgery.) He is druuuuuunk! It’s hilarious. Also, babies are v cute in hospital gowns.

Apparently, the cribs are yum:

I swear I didn’t doctor this photo. This is Linus after the sedative. He looks hammered!

7:45 am – George and I bring Linus downstairs to the pre-surgery area and wait for him to be wheeled back.

8:00 am – He’s wheeled back. The doctor says it won’t be more than 30 minutes. I go upstairs to see how Oliver’s doing. He has been given his dose of Versed, so I wait for the nurse to come get him to bring him down to the OR. George is in the surgery waiting area at this point, so when we are bringing Oliver to the pre-surgery area, we swing by and get George. So now we’re back in the pre-surgery area with a baby who looks just like the one who was just wheeled back into surgery. There are confused looks on the faces of the other families in the area.

8:45 am – We’re starting to panic, wondering what’s taking Linus’s surgery so long. The doctor finally comes out and says they didn’t get to go back to the OR immediately because of another patient, but that Linus did well. His adenoids were covered in pus (mmm, thanks) and his ears were full of thick fluid. Yum.

Finally, we see Linus get wheeled back into recovery. We have to wait 30 minutes after he’s wheeled back before we can see him, but while we’re waiting, Oliver gets taken back into surgery. We go back up to the room to wait for Miles to be brought down for his surgery, and enjoy his baby drunkenness.

(I’m getting a bit confused about the timeline, as I’m sure you are. So bear with me.)

Linus gets released from recovery. He’s v cranky and has an IV. I carry him upstairs to the room. George’s dad holds him and gives him the juice he has to keep down. Linus sleeps the rest of the time in Grandpa’s arms.

We go down with Miles to the pre-surgery area, where a nurse finally inquires why this one baby keeps being taken into surgery. Hee hee!

Oliver is wheeled out of surgery. Like Linus, he had pus-y adenoids and thick fluid in his ears. Miles is taken back. It’s about 9:50 at this point, and we’re starving, so we go grab something to eat. The hospital cafeteria, though, is closed from 9:30 – 11! Ugh. So we get some crap out of the vending machines and sit outside in the cold. Nice.

When we get back, we only have to wait a bit before Oliver is released to go upstairs. I go bring him upstairs and George holds him while he sleeps. It’s v v cute, the way he manages to suck his thumb in spite of the IV.

I go downstairs to wait for Miles to be released from recovery. This is all beginning to feel very much like Groundhog Day. I bring him upstairs, give him his bottle, and he sleeps a bit. Then we wait and wait and wait (he has to stay for an hour after he finishes his bottle of juice) and finally, at around 1 pm, we get released.

Hurrah! Only 7 hours total. Only. I’m exhausted!

The boys have slept most of the day. We gave them some yogurt and applesauce for lunch, then some scrambled eggs and string cheese and yogurt for dinner. They don’t seem too hungry. Their cries are so hoarse! It’s sad. Oliver was pretty much completely recovered by the time we left the hospital. He was in good spirits, just like normal. Linus and Miles were a bit groggy and sleepy and cranky, though.

Fingers crossed they sleep all night tonight and feel much better in the morning. And that their days of ear infections are behind them!

Our Christmas

Well, it’s not Christmas with three boys without a visit to the Emergency Room, is it? I suppose this is my future, eh?

Let me give away the ending first…everyone is FINE.

Okay, now for the story…

Woke up early, put the Monkey Bread I’d assembled last night in the oven. Went to see the boys (they were awake and chattering.) Changed diapers, went and woke up George.

Opened presents. The boys got, from us, Wall-E, a big rubber ball, and a touch and feel board book (they’re really into photos in books right now.) I also put sippy cups, pacifiers, puffs, and socks in their stockings. šŸ™‚

Went downstairs to retrieve the burning Monkey Bread. Damn! Fed the boys breakfast, went upstairs to play before their morning nap. Miles was sleepy (nothing sinister here, it was just naptime, that’s all.) I was laying on the playroom floor on my back, and Miles was laying on my tummy. As I stroked his head, I felt a weird squishy spot. It felt like his soft spot, you know, as big as it was when he was a newborn, but it was on the side of his head, a few inches above his ear. It was very strange. I checked to see if the other boys had a similar spot, nope. I looked at it to see if it was a bruise. Nope. Just a raised area, about 3-4″ in diameter, with a bony ridge around the edges. Weird.

George asked me to call the ped about it, and even though I was sort of reluctant to, I did. I felt awful calling her on Christmas morning, but she didn’t mind. After I described it, she said she’d feel bettter if we took him to the ER at Children’s Hospital to get it looked at. I guess if offices had been open, I would have just taken him there, but seeing as it was Christmas…

We get to the hospital. Thank God it’s not crowded. We get in fairly quickly, but you know how it is. We wait for the doctor. We wait for Radiology. We wait for another doctor to look at the x-rays. We wait for the phlebotomist to take his blood (which he loooooved, let me tell you!) and finally we waited for-everrrrr to get the lab results back on his blood. They wanted to make sure he didn’t have any clotting disorders or anything blood related. That was definitely the hardest wait, since it brought up these whole new scary things to think about…blood disorders? Yikes. Fortunately, all was well with his blood, and it just seems to be a hematoma. A bruise. Of some sort.

Looking back at the pictures I took this morning, you can see the lump, so I don’t know if he knocked his head on his (iron) crib in the middle of the night, or if it happened yesterday, or what. Hmm. Weird. I guess with three little boys, these things are just going to happen more and more. Of course, considering how my sister and I fought growing up, I don’t think it’d be any different if I’d had three little girls. Hmm.

So the boys went and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and George and I went to our friends’ house to eat Christmas dinner and play their Wii. Now George wants one. Woo hoo! Hee hee! I want one baaaaad, so I can get the Wii Fit and then um exercise a lot.

Tonight I’m taking the boys to Baton Rouge to see Grandee and Larry. We haven’t stayed overnight at their new house. Should be fun!

Here’s Lumpy-head: You can see the lump on the right side of his head, above his ear. It’s pretty big!

The boys with their stockings last year:

And this year:


Oliver’s home!

Well, Oliver’s home and well, sleeping like a baby. Heh. That is to say, sleeping well. Last night went well, rooming in at the hospital. Turns out we only had Oliver last night, not all three. Oh well. It’s okay. Soon enough we’ll have all three – like by Tuesday! Miles is coming home on Monday and Linus on Tuesday. Yay!

Getting the hospital pictures taken was an adventure. The photographer was determined to get all three in one shot. Not so easy. We have friends who want to take pictures of all three, which will be really fun – at home. Not at the hospital. And with decent cameras. So I can’t wait for that.

I must say the NICU nurses are awesome. And I love them especially for putting the boys on a schedule. It’s so easy – just change and feed every three hours! Okay, easy with one. Possibly more challenging with three. Heh. But seriously, these boys eat like champs. Earlier, I had Oliver changed and fed within seven minutes. No wonder he’s gained 10 oz since birth!

Triplet update

Well, things are moving along…tomorrow night we’re spending the night at the hospital in a room with all three boys. Yikes! And then on Saturday, we’ll be able to bring Oliver home. Yay! Linus and Miles have been having a few issues (nothing major, completely normal for their age – Oliver is just being an overachiever) so they’ll stay a few more days.

It’ll be interesting to experience life with one baby, just for a few days. But I can’t wait to have all of them at home with us.

They got weighed again, they’re gaining lots!

Linus – 4 lbs, 14 oz
Oliver – 5 lbs, 2 oz – woah!
Miles – 4 lbs, 7 oz

Yay for the boys getting bigger!

Triplets

Okay, another post! This time I have more to say, and pictures to post.

We’ve had some great improvements since my last post. All three have been in one crib since Sunday, and last night they were moved to the step-down unit. That’s the last stop on the way home! At this point, even the nurses aren’t sure why they’re not at home, but I guess they just want to keep an eye on them a bit longer.

They’re taking all of their feedings by bottle. Linus and Oliver are eating 40 ccs per feeding (don’t ask how much that is, I think an ounce is 30 ccs) and little Miles is eating 35. Today we tried out breastfeeding, and it went pretty well, considering that gestationally, they’re really not old enough to know how. So we’ll just keep practicing until they get it.

We have a tentative take-home date of this weekend, but who knows? George is hoping for later rather than sooner, as our stairs still aren’t done yet – and they really HAVE to be done by the time the boys come home. So let’s hope it will all work out. George took today off to paint and varnish, and he is just exhausted now. Poor guy. But he did get to hold and feed Linus and Oliver last night. Still hasn’t changed a diaper, though. Soon. Sooooon!

Pictures!

Miles smiles! (or, has gas)

Oh yeah. George said he found some blog where people were debating our baby names! And someone else said they heard a radio show with them being discussed! As you can imagine, Linus got the worst of it. Hmmph. Ah well, such is the price of fame. šŸ˜›

Update

Sorry I haven’t been updating a lot, but I will try to do so more now, before the boys come home. I imagine after that, it’ll be very hard. And no, we don’t know when they’re coming home. I don’t think it’ll be too too long – I imagine they’ll be home by Christmas.

And they’re doing very well, thank you. Linus got moved to an open crib yesterday, and I hope that the other two will follow shortly. Once they’re all in the open cribs (and able to regulate their own body temps) they’ll be put in one big crib, all together. So cute!

They’re eating well, out of bottles. Not sure what proportion of their nutrition is coming from bottles vs IV fluids, but I think it’s pretty high.

Anyway, now that I’m at home, my biggest challenge will be how to get to the hospital since I can’t drive, and George is still a bit sick. And really, that’s only today. During the week, I will ride to the hospital with a friend who works there, and then George will come after work to see them and bring me home.

Famous!

Just so you know, from here on out, if you want to talk to me, you’re going to have to have your people call my people.

Hee hee, just kidding. Today was pretty nutty. The highlight being, of course this moment:

Not that we were on national news, but that I got to hold all three boys at once. It was so amazing. Amazing too because they were heavy! I can’t believe they were in my tummy just two days ago!

Sadly, George still hasn’t held them or seen them in person since they were first born. He’s had a cold and I really, really, really hope that he’s better by tomorrow. I want nothing more than that. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to see him hold our babies?

If you want to see the clip from ABC news, it’s here.

Yesterday was a really bad day for me, pain-wise. Boy, c-sections are awfully painful. Ugh. I’m sure not helped by the fact that I was bed-ridden all day on Tuesday. Anyway, today was MUCH better. Except when some ice went down the wrong way and I had to cough. More pain, and feelings like my insides were going to explode out of my body. Hee. And I have a bad rash but I got some steroid cream today that I hope will help.

And you know what I’m going to do now? See if I can’t find some Christmas stockings for my boys. šŸ™‚

Oh yeah…want to see LOTS of pics? Here!

Edited to add: Thanks Aunt Kristina for the boys’ first Christmas stockings! They are so cute!

Names

Oh, so you want to know names? Not A, B, and C?

Okay…

A is Linus
B is Oliver
C is Miles

Their middle names are the maiden names of me, my mom, and my mother-in-law.

Tomorrow we’re going to be interviewed by the news people (WDSU) along with the quad moms who delivered 12 hours after us, yesterday evening. They had all girls, which is fun. I wonder if they’ll trade us a boy for a girl. That’d be fun.

Ha ha, don’t worry, I’m kidding!

Pictures!

Here are pics of our nameless boys!

Baby A
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Baby B
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Baby C
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