You Tube....

So I'm still learning about all this blogging stuff - I just reloaded the video of Zoe, please leave a comment if you are still having trouble viewing the video.

Thanks!!

Gooooooo Dawgs!!!!!

Georgia 42 ... Florida 30 that's all there really is to say!

The book I made

To any curious folks or hospital staff who have seen the book I made for Drs. Kupke and Manar, and Zoe's primary nurses Susan and Pat - email me and I'll send you the link to order a copy for yourself from Shutterfly.

klsorrells@yahoo.com

Grandpa's visit

Grandpa Jerry came for a wonderful visit this last week. Not only do the girls absolutely adore their farmer-grandpa, but he is a fabulous chef! Richard and I enjoyed a healthy, delicious, gourmet meal EVERY night last week. What a novel concept to be able to sit down and enjoy a warm, homecooked meal and all the veggies came from his garden! Yum, yum, yum!! We always put Grandpa to work when he's here - odd jobs that just don't get taken care of in all the craziness that is our life these days. He likes to feel that he's contributing and I honestly think that these girls wear him out so he needs a baby-break every now and then :)

We had a busy week - follow up appointments started for Zoe - we saw GI on Monday, Pulmanology on Tuesday, Pediatrician on Wednesday, Lekotek came on Thursday, and PT and our EI service coordinator came on Friday. The pediatrician was an adventure as it was the first time we took all three girls out at the same time! It took all four adults (me, Richard, Grandpa, and Zoe's nurse) a good 30-45 minutes to get organized and packed into the van for the drive. I love our pediatrician, but she's an hour away - people think I'm crazy to drive so far for a doctor but when all our specialists are an hour away anyway it doesn't bother me, plus Dr. Roberts is so worth the drive! Avery, Lily, and Zoe did great, A and L had to get a weight check and flu shot and Z was getting her new patient exam, weight check, and flu shot. We were there for almost two hours and A&L started getting antsy towards the end but all in all everyone did wonderfully. I really felt like a triplet mom - Commander in Chief - all organized, discharge papers, immunization records, bottles, diapers, change of clothes, medications, nebulizer, you should see the size of my diaper bag! I love my diaper bag by the way, if there are any mothers of multiples in search of a good looking, very well organized, will hold everything diaper bag I would recommend the Skip Hop Double Duo - you can carry it or clip it onto the handles of your stroller and it will hold the following (changing pad, 10-12 size 3 diapers, 40 wipe travel pack, normal size tube of diaper cream, 3 burp clothes, 6 bottles, 6 onsies, 6 shorts, 2 canisters crushed rice cereal, bottle of sterile water, baggie of assorted sized syringes, bulb syringes, two jars of baby food, 2 packs of teething biscuits, canvas bag with extra pacis, bottle nipples, baby spoons, and medicine cups, 3 bottles of gas drops, tylenol, orajel, inhaler, bottle of Purell, my keys, my wallet, my file folder with discharge papers, insurance cards, small notebook, pens, lip gloss) and believe it or not you will be able to see and find every item in the bag!

Anyway...all involved did a great job, the girls, the adults, it was a team effort and a very successful one! Zoe's other appointments went well too - no real changes at this point, both GI and pulmanology just want Zoe to get adjusted to home and settle in before we try to make any changes to her meds or feeding. In terms of her oxygen requirements she's been pretty consistant on 3/4 of a liter during the day and 1/2 a liter at night. She does have very bad reflux and so she spits (projectile) 2-4 or 5 times a day. Sometimes it's just a little, sometimes it's a lot. Sometimes she gets good and mad about it, and sometimes not. The thing that is potentially worrisome about this is if any of that vomit is trickling into her lungs when it comes up - this would be quite hazardous to the development of her lungs which is our primary goal for her at this point. We have to keep her healthy and keep her growing so her lungs will grow so she can breath on her own and continue to develop.

Her typical day goes something like this:

meds and breathing treatment at 6 am

back to sleep

meds and turn off tube feed at 7am

breathing treatment at 8 am

awake, bath, dress

9 am meds and bottle

nap and play time

12pm breathing treatment

1pm bottle, naps, PT, play time

5pm bottle

6pm breathing treatment and meds

6:30 bath

7pm bed, turn on feed

9pm meds

12am breathing treatment, add milk to tube feeding, and then we do it all over again.

I have posted a little video of Zoe - shown especially for her hospital rehab team and nurses - notice her incredible neck control! She could not pull up and keep her head from flopping backwards just last week and then all of a sudden, here she is. She was so proud of herself too. She had her first day at the Speech School this week which went really, really well. I am so thankful to have such a top notch school available to her and she seemed to really enjoy herself. We will trade off going to the school and having the teacher come to us as she continues to get stronger.

On the Avery and Lily front - I think Avery is getting super close to crawling - we're still working on the transitions (laying to sitting, sitting to kneeling, etc) but when she gets on all fours she looks so determined. She can totally sit independently now and can just play and play all day long. She has also turned over so that she sleeps on her stomach now - of course sometimes she wakes up crying because she's rolled herself into the corner of her crib and gets stuck. Lily is trying to clap, is sitting really well, and tries to go from side-lying to sitting by herself. They change so much and so quickly. They are so full of energy and I just love to see Zoe watching them - she vocalizes so much more now that she's home and hears the constant chatter, babble, and outcries of her sisters. It is a beautiful thing! But wow - you should see the mountain of laundry!!! It never ends, EVER! I told Richard we could employ someone full time whose sole purpose at our house would be laundry and they'd never be sitting around doing nothing. Anyway, all in all everyone is doing great - just Richard and I have SEVERE lack of sleep...but I guess that's our life for the forseeable future.

Avery at the doctor

Our "team" going to the doctor

Zoe laughing at her daddy in the bath
Lily laughing at her mommy after eating

Avery drinking her sweet potatoes

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

One day I'll figure out how to post a slide show...for now just scroll down and enjoy our photos! It is SOOOOO great having Zoe home, she is doing wonderfully! Sleeping well and her two bottom teeth have just broken the surface of her gums. Avery is STILL ng-tube free and Lily has gone 48 hours without hers so far.....We have several follow up appts next week for Zoe so we'll see how they go, we'll see the GI doc, pulmanologist, and pediatrician. She has already had her Early Intervention evaluation and intake and one session of PT so far, which she tolerated beautifully. We are simply overjoyed to have all three girls at home.

And just for fun...look to the right and cast your vote! Hammer no rigging the system to automatically place one htousand votes each day for Furman...and Stephanie, Tony, Laura, John, and Ryan I'm expecting nothing but honest, and FAIR voting :)

Triple strolling in the driveway

Zoe was up front, but she had to take a little break

Lily-Blue Eyes

Laughing Avery


Zoe at the head of the pack

All three girls in their room

Hip-hop Avery

Lily loving her banana yogurt

Great-grandma (Mema) with her 13th great-grandchild

Party-time Zoe with a lei that Dr. Manar brought

We finally got that wheelchair ride!!!

Mom, Zoe, and Z's primary nurse Susan

Zoe with Mary from the developmental teamZoe with Brandt her audiologist

Zoe with Connie "the picture lady"

Nurse Kellie, Mom, Nurse Suzanne and Zoe

Anne from OTPT, Connie, and Zoe on her last day!!!!

Zoe

Well, we made it...ZOE IS HOME!!!! 291 days in the NICU and she's finally here! I think we are both still pinching ourselves! The day was great, Richard and I drove to the hospital on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. When we got to the hospital Zoe was lying in her crib trying to take a little nap - many, many people had been coming by to say their goodbyes and she had gone on "parade" the night before to see all her friends. There was a HUGE sign made by "the picture lady, Connie" that said "We Love You Zoe" and the nurses had compiled these two frames with various photos of Zoe. The mat boards of the frames had been signed with messages from all the nurses and the RT's. It was so touching. Dr. Manar brought Hawaiian leis, little noisemakers and ice cream and cake, there was a real air of celebration in the NICU and Richard and I were just smiling from ear to ear!

I had buttons made for all the nurses, RTs and staff with a photo of Zoe and the words "Zoe was here, Dec '06 - Oct'07" written around the photo. I gave these out and we declared October 7, 2007 as Zoe Rose Sorrells day. It was so great to see everyone eagerly putting their buttons on, giving us hugs, I wish I had had time to tell each and every one of them how much they mean to us. So...I think I'll do it now and hopefully they're checking in on us and will read what I wish I had been able to say.

"To the doctors, nurses, RT's, techs, picture ladies, lactation, OTPT, nutrition, and staff who work in the Special Care Nurseries at Northside Hospital: It is because of YOU that my three daughters are alive. It is because YOU took the time to not just take care of their basic needs, but you took the time to get to know them and to get to know us. The NICU experience is such a deeply personal and emotional time and YOU have the perfect mix of compassion and knowledge to help and support us. We stand by our babies bedsides, unable to touch them, unable to hold them to our hearts, unsure if the the next breath they take will be their last, unsure if they do make it through if they will be medically fragile forever and YOU are the one we speak to, YOU are the one who tells us what's going on in a way that we can understand and process, YOU put a cute little hat or booties on our tiny 1 pound children to make them look like babies and not just sick fetuses, YOU take the time to sit with us and yet you also know just when we need to be alone. YOU know not to just look at the monitor, but to look at the baby...every second of every minute of your shift you are attentive, responsive, and compassionate. YOU make this experience bearable because you hold the future of our babies in your hands, you are charged with an incredible task, a job full of responsibility and you love what you do. Even when we stand there with our baby on the oscillator, on 100% oxygen, desating in the 50s...you tell us to put our hands in the isolette, hold her head and her feet - you give us this opportunity because you know it might be our last. And as our babies improve you help us hold them, you help us get over our fear of having children so small, you help us nurse them and massage them...you help us become a part of their lives and their care. What you did for us and for our babies will never be forgotten...you are an amazing group of people and we are blessed to know you!

Okay...so the details of our homecoming...I finally got that wheelchair ride out the front doors with Zoe in my lap and it felt so good! She was looking all around, wondering where we were. I thought she might take a nap in the car, but no, she just stared out the window watching the cars, trucks, trees, and clouds go by. We got home, and I walked in holding her and Avery gave me this look that said "Oh no, another one? I have to share you some more?" So, got Zoe changed, and got her settled on the sofa with me. It was so incredible to be sitting in our family room with ALL three of our daughters. And when they were all asleep that night we just went from crib to crib and just reveled in our joy to have them all under one roof - OUR roof!

Now, caring for Zoe is not easy. We do have a nurse who will be with us for the next 6 weeks during the day, but nighttime we're solo. Since Zoe had such an eventful and stimulating day she hardly napped and so was asleep for the night at 5pm. She slept really well until about 1:30 am when she was wheezing and needed her breathing treatment. I had gotten in bed around midnight and Richard was on Avery and Lily midnight feeding duty so I gave her her treatment which she thoroughly appreciated. But then she wasn't really sleepy since she had been asleep for the last 8 hours. Eventually she did go back to sleep, only to awaken due to reflux around 3:30 or so, so she had a spit, I suctioned her, turned up her O2 and the recovered nicely. I held her and rocked her and she fell asleep again only to have the same thing happen at around 5:30am. Then she was due for her "puffs" (another breathing treatment) at 6am, some meds at 7am, and another breathing treatment at 8am. She never did go back to sleep. Avery woke up at 5:45 so I took her to Richard's mom who entertained her for a few hours. Lily woke up at 7:30m and when I brought her into our room with Zoe, it was like she did a double-take and looked at her like, ok I was expecting another little person like me, but you're a different little person than I'm used to seeing, it was pretty cute.

Zoe, just seems like she knows she's home. She hasn't really had any problem adjusting. We can credit this to her primary nurse at Northside, who had her on a very nice schedule which we are continuing. We have a great primary nurse at home who is wonderful with doing what she needs to do but also allowing us to take care of Zoe...she knows we have waited a LONG time to be the primary caregivers of our child but she is there to support us and step in when we need her. Zoe seems to like her too and has given her a few of those winning grins. Richard has been able to take this week off which is wonderful - and we have my mom and his mom this week and then my dad will come next week. So, I think we'll be okay. It'll take a little bit to adjust and I'm pretty amazed at how adding one more little girl really turns things upside down! I'm of course worried about splitting my time fairly between all three girls, but also know that Zoe will need extra time for a while yet, she is still very medically fragile, but every day she is getting stronger and stronger.

Richard and I can not begin to express to you all how much we appreciate your love, your support, and your prayers. Were it not for YOU we would not be sitting at home this evening with ALL THREE of our daughters, alive and well. We ask for your continued prayers, that we can keep them illness free to avoid setbacks and that they will continue to grow and develop and blossom into the incredible little girls they are destined to be.

(Photos coming soon......)

ZOE'S COMING HOME SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Need I say more???????????

Stay tuned....................................
(now picture me in my younger years doing backflips & cartwheels)

Thank you Kara!

Thank you so much Kara - my fellow-triplet-mom-blogger who has awarded me the "Nice Matters Award". Per Kara's blog "This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to others who you feel are deserving of this award." The reason for my receipt of the award? Kara wrote:

I would also like to award the "Nice Matters" award to Keira. While we've never met in person and haven't "known" each other long - I feel we have *so* connected. Her upbeat attitude, her thoughts on raising her triplet girls born VERY early, her love and admiration of her preemies - is certainly to be commended. I hope she knows how much talking with her has helped ME. And her very pink blog makes me smile!

As the award states I must pass this on to another blogger and I would like to award the "Nice Matters Award" to Stefanie - triplet-mom-blogger and the creator of my blog's lovely "pink" personality. Her blog is very entertaining, a great mix of updates on her three, fun stuff she finds and does in her life and is always written with an upbeat and positive attitude. She somehow finds time to be a photographer, create blog banners, run after her kiddos, and I can only imagine what else! I hope our "trips" will meet one day - we'll have to have a triplet-mom-blogger convention somehow! So...pass it on Stef :)

FYI - check out their blogs - the McTriplets http://themctriplets.blogspot.com and Triple Take http://triple-take.blogspot.com

Gotta send the girls to college

I think I shouldn't have had that Coke Zero at 7pm tonight, I'm a little wired hence the multiple postings this evening. So I think I've figured out how I'm going to make a few extra $$ to send the girls to college. You see last week my clients came into town for the day which meant I left Avery and Lily at home with their grandmothers, Namo and Mimi. While the grandmothers are very competent and take excellent care of the girls, I, being the stubborn, control-freak that I am, worry that if others take care of them without me they'll get off their schedule. You see I believe that having a predictable, regular schedule is key to a baby's happiness and well-being, not o tmention the only possible way for me to survive as a mom of triplets. That being said, I kind of had the girls on a good schedule, but then they decided to change it up on me, they decided they no longer need to eat 5 times a day that 4 times with more volume works just fine. Knowing that Namo is with us for a day or two each week, and that the girls do a lot of changing and growing in between the times she is here I decided I would make a "Care Manual" to be used as an ever-changing guide on how to care for the babies.

Richard thinks I'm nuts - he called me The General, and he was just a lowly Colonel (although I'm sure he feels more like a Cadet sometimes because I can be, shall we say staunch?). Anyway, I think this just may be my ticket to making extra money. I made several very specific sections - there was the introduction to the care plan explaining my intentions, there are two sample daily schedules all based on my observations and notes of the babies eating and napping over a two week period (schedule "a" is if they take a bottle at 6 am, schedule "b" comes in to play if they sleep through the 6 am bottle), there are feeding guidelines for each girl because Lily's feeding needs and strategies are different from Avery's, there is a page on solid foods (which foods they like, which to stay away from, when to give just the food and when to mix it with formula), there is a page on theirs meds including dosage, how to administer, and when to give, there is a page on naptime, developmental play (which highlights the things we are working on with our PT), there is a section on language building (which stands to reinforce all that we will be doing with Zoe to help make it second nature with all three girls) and in the back of the book I have included each week's lesson plan from Zoe's teacher which can be continually referenced. I think I need to include a general section on infection control (especially since it's RSV season).

So...I made the pages look all nice using Publisher, placed them in sheet protectors and put them in a beautiful recycled paper binder only to change it out two days later for a non-eco-friendly plastic one that can be wiped down and sanitized. I think this could be it, I could market it to moms of multiples or any other control-freak moms (like myself, there is no shame in being a little OCD) in some format that is easy to get them started and then easy to make changes...I need to think about it some more, but I think I'm almost there. Once Zoe comes home it will be easy enough to write out her meds, feeding, etc. and I think I'll include a weekly calendar too that shows all pertinent appointments...hmmmmmmmmmmm anyone want to place an advance order?

It's much easier if you use your foot

This is my first attempt at uploading a movie. It's short

and you have to turn your head sideways to watch it.

What you really want!

I know...what you really want are pictures so here are few recent ones...can't wait to post our "homecoming" pics soon!

Happy baby Z, smiling while playing peek-a-boo with mom



Mimi and Lily - obviously the source for Lily's blue eyes!

Mom and Z

Mimi's activity center - how else do you entertain 2 nine month old babies at the same time all day long???????????????

Sparkly clean... L and A fresh out of the bath

I hate that the nurse put tape on top of tape on Z's canula, but she still looks mighty cute with her dress over her pants!

A and Daddy on Sunday

I can't believe I have babies old enough to eat teething biscuits

all by themselves!