Out of the ICU

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Yesterday around 4pm Claire turned a corner. She perked up and started breathing a little better on her own. She was released from the ICU and we're enjoying the comfort and privacy of a normal room in the pediatric unit now. She still has a long way to go, but now I know she'll be ok. 24 hours ago I didn't feel so confident. Now my worries are focusing on Lia. She's taking steroids in anticipation that she will be dealing with this at the same level her sisters have. I feel like I'm looking out the window waiting for the third round of a hurricane to hit.

One thing I know for sure... I will NEVER take my children's health for granted.

Some Sick Little Bugs

I deserve a "Most Drama Imaginable" award. We've had quite an eventful 10 days. Two weeks ago all the kids were finally well, and then Brynn started to have a little cough. She coughed for a couple days and then from Friday night to Saturday morning she went from occasionally coughing to struggling to breath. She was admitted to the hospital were she stayed for 6 days on oxygen, IV antibiotics and steroids to strengthen her lungs. She came home Thursday. That was the day I noticed Claire had a slight cough. Yesterday (Sunday) she woke up in the morning struggling to breath. I took her to the ER. Sure enough her oxygen saturation level was in the 70's. "Here we go again." I thought. Derek came in the late afternoon and said he was going to stay the night with her, and told me to go home, take care of the other 3 kids and come back in the morning. I was exhausted, but I had a strange uneasy feeling. I couldn't sleep, just drifted in and out. I couldn't figure out where the feeling was coming from. Claire was fine. Her situation mimicked Brynn's exactly. Claire is the one who has always had the strongest lungs. She was the only one who never had to be on a ventilator when she was a preemie. I kept telling myself everything was OK. I thought I was just dreading another week like the one I'd just had. Finally at 3:20 I went downstairs and wrote Derek an email. I didn't want to call and disturb him. I wrote "How is my Claire? I feel so much stress in my mind and in my heart. I'm worried about so many things right now. I wish I had you here, I want a big hug from you." I didn't expect to hear back from him because I assumed he was sleeping. He wasn't sleeping. As I was writing that, the life flight helicopter landed at the hospital at 3:30 and took Claire to Primarys. Whenever I see the Life Flight heading to where ever, I always say a prayer for whoever is in there and whoever is worried about and loves the person in there. I hope there were lots of people praying for my baby. At 4am when I heard the garage door open I was so confused. I went running downstairs and yelled "WHERE'S CLAIRE!?" Derek explained to me that she had taken a turn for the worse. She had been on 4 L of Oxygen (During Brynn's 6 day stay, she never required more that a little over 1 L) and they couldn't keep her oxygen saturation level up and she was working so hard to breath. Her heart rate and respiration rate was incredibly high. The doctor told Derek that this was over his head and called Life Flight. Five minutes after Derek got home, his mom showed up and Derek and I drove to the hospital. So, here we sit. Claire is in the ICU. Not much has changed. She's not in good shape, but hasn't gotten any worse. I think that the Pediatric ICU is the saddest place in the world. Little kids shouldn't have to go through these things.

I'm really trying to be as strong as I can right now. I usually can hold it together pretty well in the midst of a crisis. It's after that I fall to pieces. I don't have any good reason to think that Claire will not be OK.

I called my mother in law awhile ago to check on my other kids. Lia has started coughing this morning. I'm most concerned about her. She has always had the weakest lungs by far.

Thank you for all of your kind words and prayers. I really feel it. I'll keep this updated.

Catching Up

What a lazy blogger I've become. I'll start with the most recent and work my way back. Last week Derek, Miri and I went to The Happiest Place on Earth. I think I love Disneyland more now that I have kids than I did when I was a kid. We celebrated Derek's 30th birthday there and I can't even explain how much I savored every second of my vacation. Things like having my hotel room cleaned when I got back at night and eating food that I didn't make and sleeping in until 7:30 just felt like heaven. We left the triplets home with my sister (Jenette- how can I ever re-pay you? You are the best. Love you Nettie.) Here are some pics from our fun vacation:

And now on to Halloween. Here's Snow White (with her right hand man, cousin Jake) and the Three Bugs:

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch:

And now, never mind that these pictures were taken 2 1/2 months ago. Tiffany Erickson was our photographer and she was amazing. When I asked her to do these, I gave her a disclaimer and warned her that my little family can be a little lout of control. She was totally up for it and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Here are just a few of my favorites.

LiaBrynn
Claire

Miriam

Whew. All Caught up.

Put in My Place

Last week I was driving Miriam and her cute little BFF Reagan to their dance class. This was the conversation they had in the back seat:

Miriam: I'm going to be Snow White for Halloween.
Reagan: Ohhhhh!!! I'm going to be Cinderella! Is your mommy going to be Sleeping Beauty?
Miriam: No. She's going to be the Wicked Witch. And my daddy is going to be my Prince Charming.

I guess I know my standing in the family. Oh well. There is always next year. Maybe Miriam will promote me to something like the Wicked Step Mother.

Three Little Birthday Chicks

First there was Lia...

Then came Brynn...Last but not least was little Claire...

And then there were three...

And Miriam has enjoyed every minute of it.
And so have we.

Happy Birthday Babies!

What a Difference a Year Can Make

It was exactly one year ago from right now... I was lying in my hospital bed and had just been told hours before that my triplets were coming the next morning - 8 weeks premature and a month earlier than I was anticipating even the day before. I remember like it was yesterday the fears that were tormenting my mind... what kind of physical challenges will my babies have to face? Will their lungs function ok? How will it be having babies in the hospital and not being able to have them with me? How in the world am I going to give these babies what they need?
Fast forward one year. What's on my mind tonight? Wondering if I made enough potato salad for the babies birthday BBQ tomorrow. Yes, things have definitely changed in a year.