Friday, February 29, 2008

The babies are here!

Shelley got to hold Rylie today.

Reese is still intubated.
Ryan on his CPAP.
Rylie last night. He has a pink hat because that was the only one they could find that would fit.

Reese last night.

Ryan last night.


Shelley started having more bleeding yesterday, to the point that she needed blood transfusion. For the sake of her health, the decision was made to go ahead and do the C-section and deliver the babies. We have 2 boys and one girl; their information is as follows:

Rylie Mark Barron was born at 6:32 PM; he weighs 3 pounds and 2 ounces, and is 16 inches long.

Reese Mackenzie was born at 6:34 PM; she weighs 2 pounds and 11 ounces, and is 15 inches long.

Ryan Matthew was born at 6:35 PM; he weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces, and is 14½ inches long.

Rylie is doing the best. He was crying in the delivery room. He is on CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which helps him breath. He is on 21% oxygen content, which is the same as room air oxygen concentration. He is getting nutrition through his IV, and they are going to start feeding him through a tube today.

Reese aspirated blood during the delivery and was unable to breath on her own. She was intubated in the delivery room. She remains intubated today. When she is resting, she only needs 28% oxygen; but, anytime she gets active, or the nurse has to change her diaper, or perform any other care, her oxygen levels start to fall, and she needs to have her oxygen increased to 40% in order to keep her oxygen saturation levels in the 90's. She is getting nutrition through her IV and she is going to start getting feedings today, as well. Reese has had 2 doses of surfactant (the surfactant is what the lungs need to work properly).

Ryan is also on CPAP, but he needs 27% oxygen. He started on CPAP last night, after the delivery. However, during the night, his oxygen levels started to fall and he had to be intubated. He was given a dose of surfactant, and a short time later, they were able to remove the breathing tube and put him back on CPAP. He is getting IV nutrition and will start feedings today, also.

Shelley got to hold Rylie for about 10 minutes today. We did not get to hold Reese or Ryan, because they were not stable enough. The nurses tell us that each baby has quite a personality, so we are likely to have our hands full.

Shelley is doing well. She able to control her pain with oral medication, and no longer needs IV pain medication. She is eating a full liquid diet without problems. She is able to get to the Neonatal ICU (NICU) in a wheelchair. She is able to walk around in the room with minimal assistance. She still gets very tired very easily. We appreciate all of your concerns, but please keep the telephone calls to a minimum.

I want to repeat a prior request. It is stressing to not be able to be near the babies all the time. We would like for everyone to pray for angels to hold and protect the babies when we are not there.

I had a little trouble loading the images so they are out of order. The bottom set of images are from last night, and the upper images are from today.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

In the hospital

I woke up around 3 this morning & was leaking fluid. We threw things in bags since I was waiting until after the shower this Saturday to finish packing & put it into the van. Thank you so much to Christy Meinecke for coming over & staying with Racheal until Meema could get there. You are a life saver!!! We went to Stephenville hospital & they said it was amniotic fluid & I was having contractions. They did a sono & the babies all still looked good & had fluid around them. So then we headed for Ft Worth. They said the fluid was coming from Baby A which is on the bottom. They gave me a Toradol injection & that stopped the contractions. I am on IV antibiotics. So looks like I am now a resident of Ft Worth for a while. Hopefully the fluid will stop leaking. As long as there is enough fluid they are staying put. The dr said our goal is to make it to 32 weeks (Iam 29 today), then if we make it that far, then we will shoot for 34 weeks. Please pray for us that I can keep them in there as long as possible. Also please pray for Racheal during this time. She is confused because this was not the plan.

Also for those of you in Comanche, the shower is still on. Racheal is going to open the presents & they are working on setting up a web cam so I can watch.

Thanks for your prayers!!

Monday, February 18, 2008

We have a date!!

I had another dr's appointment today. The babies are getting big & crowded. Baby A weighed 2 lb 14 oz, B 2 lb 9 oz, C 2 lb 12 oz. The dr was amazed that I am still able to walk. I am carrying almost 9 lbs of baby & about 10 lbs of fluid & 3 placentas. It feels like a lot more. The c-section is scheduled for April 14th (2 days after Racheal's birthday). I have gained 40 lbs now. They did all the 28 week labs (I don't know exactly what that is), I also did the glucose test again & I got my Rhogam injection yesterday. That is because my blood type is negative. I go back to the dr March 3 & they will check my cervix to see if anything is happening yet. Only 8 more weeks!
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