You wait all year for a birthday

....and then three come at once.


Today Daria, Aurelia and Isobel are six days old and looking beautiful. 


Last Sunday I went to visit Natalie, in hospital, thinking we might go out to the cinema. Natalie was not feeling especially well in the morning, so we thought we might go to a later screening. She began to have pains in her tummy which she said weren't that bad. However when one of the midwives, also called Natalie, examined her, she thought that Natalie was having contractions. 
Natalie was not convinced!
The Doctor examined her, the first time the Dr did not notice any particular change in Natalie's cervix, but the contractions continued and they decided to send Natalie upstairs to the delivery unit as a precautionary measure. 


They did some further traces (CTG scans) which showed that Natalie was indeed having contractions, and the nurses advised me that "now might be a good time to get something to eat, just in case"


I rather unwisely chose to eat the last portion left of the Beef Madras in the Hospital canteen, whilst wondering whether anything was going to happen this afternoon or tonight. I phoned my parents to let them know that Natalie had been taken upstairs, but I wasn't sure whether she wouldn't be back downstairs again later in the evening. 


When I returned to the delivery unit, Natalie asked me to sit down, and then told me that I might be a daddy again in an hour or two. Which all seemed very quick, but very exciting. 


There was lots of activity, with Nurses and Drs all preparing to give Natalie a C-Section; and I had to go and change into a green outfit and pink hat ready to go in to the operating theatre. 


I went back in to the room and shortly afterwards, Natalie and I walked to the operating theatre. 


The operating theatre was quite a large room, and parked along one wall were three "Panda" delivery stations, each with a team of three or four, Drs and Nurses. 
There were numerous other Drs and Nurses in the room. Natalie sat on the edge of the operating table while a nice Anesthetist, spoke to us, before she jabbed, what Natalie reports to be a "F******* large needle" into her spine. 
I think Natalie found this the most painful part of the whole procedure, because she squeezed my hand quite hard, quite a few times. 


Natalie lay down and I was very disappointed that they asked me to move from her feet to her head, as I had been hoping to see all of the operation and births in great detail (Not!)
So I moved around next to Natalie's head and held her hand. 
Natalie reported feeling, tingling, pins and needles in her legs which was particularly distressing to her, if somebody touched her feet, knees or other parts of her legs; in fact this seemed to bother her far more than having her tummy sliced open and giving birth.


The Drs put up a small screen on her tummy, smaller than I had expected, or hoped, and had I looked sideways, I might have seen more than I wanted to see.


Within a minute or two, the Consultant Shazia Batthi, had located the first baby (Daria 17:48) and I caught a glimpse of arms and legs and a very dark shape  being lifted out and placed on a towel in the arms of one of the nurses. 
There were two other nurses queuing behind each holding a towel or sheet waiting to catch her sisters. 
Within two minutes it was Aurelia's turn to be delivered, she arrived at 17:50, having a small pooh on her way out, she was taken to the Panda next to her sister. And finally 1 minute later Isobel was born at 17:51 and as she was taken to her Panda I could hear some faint crying coming from one of the girls.


I sat with Natalie for a couple of minutes while they began to stitch her up, she still found the worst thing about the whole experience, having her legs moved or touched by the doctors.
I couldn't wait to go and see our girls so I took my camera with me over to the Pandas.
Daria looked tiny but I was so delighted when she opened her left eye to have a look at me. Her eye looked almost black, which surprised me because I thought all babies had blue eyes. 


It was lovely hearing faint cries from our daughters as the Drs and Nurses checked them out on the Panda beds. 


I took some photos of Daria and then moved on to see Aurelia, who was much bigger, they looked so lovely lying on their beds. The Doctors moved the oxygen mask away so I could take some photos of Aurelia. 
And then they were ready for me to go and see Isobel.
Isobel was wriggling and crying. 
And I was so delighted to see our three beautiful, and they really were beautiful babies lying on their Panda's.
Natalie had always wanted a baby panda, and now she has 3!


As Natalie had not seen any of the babies yet, I took the camera back to show her some of the photos while she was still being stitched up. 
Natalie was delighted to see their pictures.
A few minutes later, Daria had been placed in a transport incubator,which they wheeled round to show Natalie. 
Followed a few minutes later by Aurelia and Isobel, before they were taken off to the Neo Natal Intensive Care (NICU).
Although Natalie didn't have a brilliant view, she was delighted to see our little daughters. 


I left to change back out of my scrubs, and went to tell Pam that she was a granny. And that she had three lovely grand daughters, at which point she beamed from ear to ear. 
Then I went with Pam to see Natalie in the recovery room, who was still telling off nurses who tried to touch her legs or toes. 


I phoned my parents, who were over the moon at the news, and congratulated us. I phoned Laura and Andrew too, they were surprised that the babies had come so soon, but were asking lots of questions about how big they were and were very interested to know what they looked like.


Then a couple of hours later manouvered Natalie's bed into the NICU, where we saw Daria and Isobel in one room and Aurelia in another room. 


The NICU is an intense environment, full of high tech machinery and displays with lots of beeping and wave forms and tubes and wires. 
And although I had been worried about visiting the NICU before our girls were born, it was very reassuring seeing all the care they were getting.
And they all looked very peaceful in their incubators. 
And after a long eventful day, Natalie returned to Lady Mary Ward where she was given a side room. And we said good night and, I went home very tired but unable to sleep because I was so excited. 


Happy Birthday Daria, Aurelia and Isobel. 

The triplets have landed

The triplets have arrived.
Daria was 1lb and 13oz





Aurelia was 2lb and 14oz






Isobel was 2lb and 13oz






They are all getting by and making progress although they have lost a little bit of weight this week as expected with newborns.
The birth was interesting as I had been promised a few hours out of the hospital where I had been resident for the best part of 2010 for various complications; and was completely "sure I was going to the cinema with my husband to see Valentines Day" even when I was up in the delivery suite. Someone had the bright idea to do a CTG before I went. (Natalie the midwife - and how grateful am I now) So apparently my slight tummy pains were palpable contractions 3 mins apart.
:-) I was laughing as they told me that I probably wouldn't need to have the babies just yet but was being introduced to a big team of nurses, drs and baby catchers. I thought it was comical, because I was going back downstairs shortly to go to the cinema. and commented that a dry run for my wedding would have cost a fortune and how lucky I was to get a dry run for free on the NHS for child birth.
To convince me further of my imminent escape, I burped for the first time in months and the tummy pain went away and I knew I was wasting everyones time. Then the speculum happened and I had to get over my denial and prepare myself for being a mummy in a couple of hours.
Still haven't seen the film but I have watched the little ladies for the last 6 days with my heart in my mouth. They came at 29weeks+2days so have a way to go.
I was devastated yesterday when 2 of the girls got moved from Addenbrooks to West Suffolk to make space for 2 sicker babies but consoled myself that Aurelia and Isobel were considered to have made enough progress to move to level 2 Nicu care.
I know the Govt has recently said twins and triplets shouldn't be split but the grim reality of the situation seems to be that there is not enough Govt money and there are not enough trained staff to keep the cots open.
So given the stark choice of my babies being split up or my babies being kept together in level 3 Nicu care when Aurelia and Isobel need only level 2 Nicu care and someone elses lovely baby/babies would be unable to access level 3 care and could potentially die as a consequence, the "choice" becomes very much easier.
We are massively inconvenienced and devastated that the girls are split, but don't feel that the hospital has a choice.
The government clearly needs to put their money where their policy is!

Every day is a little miracle and I thank my lucky stars for each moment with each of the girls.


Natalie
X

You know you're carrying multiples because...

~You've been pregnant for three days and you're already eating at least twice your weight in food.

~By week 12 you're as big as a house and folk ask, "When are you due?"

~The NHS panics and writes in bold letters, HIGH RISK PREGNANCY!! (And thus the fun begins...)

~"Morning Sickness" is a distant dream. You would give anything to only be feeling so wretched in the mornings...

~Everyone feels that it is their civic duty to cheerfully inform you that you're going to be really miserable once the babies arrive. "More then ONE newborn! Imagine it! You'll never get any sleep or rest or peace!"

~You are asked, over and over again by the same people, "Are they identical or no?" (Seriously folks WRITE IT DOWN!)

~You find yourself stuck and struggling to try and come up with a fourth name...

~Everyone under the sun sends you matching outfits. "Isn't it going to be soooo funnnn to dress them alike?"

~You suddenly realize that you only have one pram...

...and one cot and one moses basket and one car seat and... oh lordy, how the bank account begins to shrink!!

But at least you have two boobs!!

~You find yourself bursting out of your maternity clothes!! Suddenly trash bags begin to look like a plausable fashion statement.

~ By the fourth month you discover that getting in and out of the bath tub is a study in indignity.

~You begin to call yourself, "The Beached Whale." And you're serious!


~By month 6 you begin to knock down old ladies and small children with your massive belly.

~Also, by month 6 you notice that your bum suddenly begins to look small.

~Rolling over in bed requires the use of a bar supplied by Occupational Therapy + a well-orchastrated six-point turn.

~You find that you cannot get on or off of the toilet without grunting like a wildebeest.

~One small cough or sneeze and you pee yourself.

~One small move and you rip a massive belch that so totally comes out of nowhere that you have absolutely no time to cover your mouth. (This happens especially in public.)

~You are starving half to death because you can only eat two or maybe three bites of food at a time. Then, the sweet babes within begin to hammer your stomach and make you want to curl up and die.

~Bedtime becomes living hell. You end up with fist-sized knots in your thighs, your calves ball up, your toes go into spasm, the ligaments that hold your womb in place begin to scream, your kidneys ache, your eyes feel like they are being popped out of your head, you can't breathe, and... you have to pee every 30 minutes which requires the 6-point turn, the mighty grunting heave, and the agonized waddle down the hall...

~And so... for the first time in your life you are happy to hear the alarm go off!!

~And everyone says to you, "Gee you look so tired!" and you want to slap them upside the head. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!"

~You can no longer reach the kitchen sink to do the dishes.

~You stopped being able to bend about six months ago. So who knows what's on the floor!

~As if your life is not exciting enough, your feet and legs begin to swell like sausages. Thus you begin to putter around in your husband's (or friend's?? Partner's??) smelly old slippers... and even they don't fit right.

~People continue to insist that, ha ha ha! Soon the misery will being! Ha ha ha, soon you won't get any sleep! Ha ha ha! Won't you be wishing they were back inside, eh? Ho, ho, ho! Poor you!

~You know you have feet. You must have feet. But you haven't seen them in ages!!

~You start needing help getting dressed and putting on your shoes. For those feet you are sure you must still have...

~If you try and dress yourself you end up doing this funky Multiples Waddle Two Step around the room because you can't lift your legs like a normal person.

~Socks. Don't even tell me about socks!!!

~You realize you need to trim your toenails because you start to shred the sheets. Ooops. That's what happens if you can't see your feet!

~If you make it to month 8 you start to jump up and down in a mad attempt at evicting the little Body Snatchers so you can finally, after all this time, BREATHE!!
_________________
Sleep... how I love you. How I miss you! COME BACK !!

by Farm Mom

Tamba premie post

Just saw this posted on a message board and was very moved by it even though I'm not religious in the the conventional British sense

" Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation.

As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter. Patron Saint Celia. Rutledge, Carrie, twins. patron Saint...better give her Gerard. He's used to profanity."

Finally he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie." The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby to a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel."

"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and necessary in a mother. you see, the child I'm going to give her lives in a world of it's own. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."

"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you." God smiles
"No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just the right amount of selfishness."

The angel gasps, "Selfishness!? Is that a virtue?"
God nods.
"If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't know it yet but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says momma for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work."

"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.
God smiles.
"A mirror will suffice."
_________________
Proud Mummy of Ewan and Fraser, born 21/8/07 at 29+2. 2lb 15oz. TTTS and AEDF survivors. Our little miracles!

29 weeks today

Couldn't be happier!

I will survive :-)

Completed weeks of gestation at birth
Survival
21 weeks and less 0%

22 weeks <<1%

23 weeks 5-25%

24 weeks 40-60%

25 weeks 50-80%

26 weeks 80-90%

27 weeks >90%

30 weeks >95%

34 weeks >98%

A baby’s chances for survival increases 3-4% per day between 23 and 24 weeks of gestation and about 2-3% per day between 24 and 26 weeks of gestation. After 26 weeks the rate of survival increase at a much slower rate because survival is high already.

Scan today

Little one hasn't deteriorated and is still moving, everyone is cooking nicely.

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh

What to do with a loud mouth chatter box in the bed next to me, would it be too much to throw a cup of water over her cubicle?
Does she think no one can hear because she is speaking another language?

28 week bump pics

Of triplet pregnancies, 98% of all babies born after 28 weeks gestation survive! Of course sadly, this is not the case for every pregnancy, triplet or otherwise, and unexplained losses can occur at any time in the pregnancy

mostonline.com

Stress

Our littlest lady has stopped growing and only has enough blood going in to keep the brain and the heart going. Her diastolic end flow has stopped and she has IUGR, interuterine growth restriction. The other two wee mees who all the consultants were worried would get twin twin transfusion syndrome are all well and good and developing nicely. But the little one is struggling.

None of the babies are completely without hope even if they came today but they will struggle at 28 weeks especially D who is 2 weeks smaller than she should be and would need a lot of help breathing.

The neonatal consultant came to see me and Richard to discuss worst case scenarios if they survive on Friday and Richard found it very hard because he'd got in his head that when they were born all the worry would be over and of course being so prem that is the start of it.

So I have fingers toes and legs crossed to keep them all in for I hope a couple more weeks if D doesn't deteriorate further, and they dont try to escape (they have been spotted on scan turning their little heads to make a bid for freedom, Im only surprised they have rooom to move) otherwise it'll be an emergency C section.

I am very hopeful for them all :-)
I am just about managing gestational diabetes, and lying around doing very little back in bed 11c since Wednesday night, so they shouldn't feel compelled to make an early entrance. :-)

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh

16st 8lb 4oz

Dreaming of three

At the moment I am not sleeping very well, but I am dreaming like a trooper. Last night I dreamed I could feel the contours of one of the triplets faces through my tummy, earlier in the week my skin was like elastic and I was holding through my tummy a little foot to show my mum and Richard.
:-)
Work has been ok this week, going in late and coming home later, but getting stuff done.

Maternity leave looks set to start on March 1st. As I will be in hospital then. So may work from hospital for a short time just to pay the mortgage, still can't get over how bad teacher maternity pay is! We are really going to struggle.

Sweet dreams, little baby! Some experts believe that babies begin to dream by the week 27. What do they dream about? No one knows for certain but the brain is active this week as well. The characteristic grooves on the brain's surface start to appear and more brain tissue develops.