Welcome to the World Jack, Luke and Wendy!

Wow. We have been caught up in a whirlwind of babyhood! Life has done a complete 180, but we have found out an amazing thing. Life is pretty great on this side too. :) There is so much to share about the birth and consequent life after the birth of these triplets. I'm sure to leave something out, but I'd like to document the events and thoughts that have really stuck out to me. So, let's start at the very beginning shall we? I hear it's a very good place to start. :)

The morning of my scheduled c-section (September 6th), Mom picked me up and took me to Dr. Melillo's to have my cerclage removed in preparation for the surgery that was supposed to start at 3:30 that afternoon. The plan had been for us to come back to the house so I could finish packing and say bye to Charlie and Liv before Eli and I had to leave to go to the hospital. But as things typically go with my pregnancies, this was bound to change. My blood pressure was a little high, and my feet were a lovely sausage shape, so Melillo sent me over to Riverside right away to have some blood drawn. Should the tests have come back showing that I had Preeclampsia, an IV of magnesium would need to be started before the surgery. Thankfully, it was just a case of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure. In an effort to keep it from turning into Preeclampsia, they pushed the section up to 2:30 and Eli was able to make it with about 40 minutes to spare.

In the meantime, I sat there contracting every 3 to 7 minutes, and feeling them a bit. Definitely can't claim to have felt TRUE labor pain, but at least I was able to have a small taste of it. After all, I have 5 children now! I should be able to say I experienced something. :)

The c-section went well, and the whole event might have even been a dream. It was so surreal. And so "been there, done that" for such a major surgery. The partition between Eli and me and the surgical plane was much lower than at OSU, so Eli was able to see a LOT more than last time. One very neat thing about this delivery was that Dr. Melillo coached and aided another Resident through the surgery. As it turned out, that Resident was Dr. Brian Palmer...a friend of ours from the Hilliard Ward! He was the one who actual brought Luke, Jack and Wendy into the world. It was so neat to have people you care about involved in such a special event.

So the stats. (Because that's really what everyone cares about!)

The babies did SO well! They were able to come with me to recovery, and Luke and I had some special skin-to-skin time as he was making little grunting noises that indicated he might need a little extra help breathing. Initially, all babies were sent to the Well Baby Nursery, but it was later determined that Luke should go to NICU for some help from the CPAP. He was there the first night, a day and a night and then rejoined his siblings in Well Baby. The time in the hospital was so priceless for me. Without it, I wouldn't have had such a wonderful bonding experience with my youngest children. Eli brought the kids to hospital to meet their new siblings...

But the next day Eli came down with a stomach virus and they weren't able to visit for the last couple days. I missed them terribly, but it gave me the opportunity to bond with the babies and get a feeding schedule started. Jack was our all-star breast feeder, picking it up right away. Wendy and Luke still have times when things don't go so smoothly, but for the most part, they are doing a wonderful job too. Especially considering that Luke was a day behind the other two in getting started.

As was my hope from the beginning, all of my babies came home with me from the hospital! The transition could not have gone better. We kept them on the schedule I established in the hospital, and so far they eat and then immediately fall asleep until we wake them up to eat again. Not too tricky really.

We took J,L &W to the pediatrician on Monday and they are looking great. Luke has actually gained weight since he was born, and Wendy and Luke are looking good too. Dr. Patty gave us the go ahead to let the babies sleep at night, making sure to feed them at least once. So far, we've awakened them before they've awakened us. That makes for happy parents! :)

As I write this, the triplets are sound asleep for designated "nap time" in the crib, and the twins are having a picnic snack and watching Wipe Out with their Dad. (High quality programming right there.) I suppose we're making this work as a family. :) Charlie and Liv are so loving and tender with their new siblings. They are always checking on them and kissing them. They touch them so gently. Charlie, being the independent, capable guy that he is, needs to be reminded that even though he's strong enough to pick the babies up, it's something that only adults can do right now. :) Our family feels complete and filled with love. It's wonderful to be in my own home with my own "little" family. It's been a long road, but we've arrived!

Finally, at around 8:30 the night before I was discharged from Riverside, I walked down to the cafeteria by myself (sans phone), and ate some pizza, a salad with blue cheese dressing, and two whole cups of caffeinated soda! :) I sat there and finally had a moment to feel the significance of the last few days and months. I wish I could put that feeling into words, but I simply can't. I just hope that I will remember it in the future, when things are hectic and stressful, and life just feels too fast. I sat there pondering for a while, then I went up to the 4th floor to say good-bye to the nurses that were working that night. It was the first time in my life that I actually walked down that hallway ...... and into my new life. :)

(a bit of business! If you would like to visit the triplets, make a meal, or schedule a play date with Charlie and Liv, I have set up a calendar at CareCalendar.org to help schedule these things. Simply go to the website and enter these codes to gain access to the calendar. CALENDAR ID : 86903 SECURITY CODE : 6046 Then sign up for the date and time that works for you! If you are interested in signing up for a play date, email me at abbybowman@yahoo.com for the special code to use. )