Our Family Story

I recently realized that many of you who are reading our blog may not know the story of how everything began and the things we endured leading up to the birth of the babies, including the fight for life each baby gave everyday while they were in the NICU for 4 ½ months. Initially I was sending out e-mails and only started the blog once all the babies were home. To view pictures from my pregnancy, when the babies were born, and their time in the NICU, please look at the Picasa Web Gallery link on the right.

Our story began almost five years ago when we were married on November 8, 2003. In January of 2004 we decided to start “trying” for a family. After three years with no success, we finally became pregnant in January 2007! I took the pregnancy test on Valentine’s Day and we were ecstatic! My initial blood work was very high so we knew there were multiples, that and because I was in maternity pants at 5 weeks! We found out in week 7 that we were having triplets! At this time fetal reduction was mentioned to us but with no hesitation we decided to proceed with all three babies. Things went very well initially, I was gaining weight very nicely (I ended up gaining 40+ lbs by the time I delivered at 26 weeks). We found out we were having 2 girls (Annabel and Madelyn) and a boy (Johnathan)! I went on disability in week 16 and by week 20 was on bed rest. I was hospitalized week 22 for incompetent cervix and after monitoring for 5 days my cervix had calmed down and lengthened so I was sent home to continue my bed rest. I was re-hospitalized again at the end of week 23 for my cervix and ended up getting a cerclage before being released again. I was then re-hospitalized at the end of week 25 because baby C (Madelyn) wasn’t growing as well and had reversal blood flow to the placenta – this was a Thursday. We had to decide at that time if we would continue the pregnancy with all three babies or if baby C were to show distress if we would let it pass and again, we decided we were delivering all three babies, giving them all a chance at life. I received the steroids for lung development and then on Saturday morning baby A (Annabel - who had been against my cervix for a long time) broke her water so then I was taken off the Indocine. In a way this was a relief because now their delivery time was out of our hands and they would all be delivered together no matter what. On Monday morning we had another ultrasound and it showed no blood reversal for baby C, she had corrected herself, however, Tuesday morning I started with full contractions so it was decided that it was delivery day (7/17/2007).

The delivery went well and we even got to see Johnathan for a quick second and hear him cry – I held on to that moment forever because he was on the vent over two months so we didn’t get to hear his cry again for a long time! Annabel Louisa was born first at 1 pound 12ozs, Madelyn Marie second at 1 pound 8ozs, and Johnathan Robert last at 1 pound 15ozs. All three babies were doing quite well initially until day 5 when their brain ultrasounds showed that all three had IVH. Annabel’s was the worst with grade 4/grade 3, Mady with grade 3 on both sides, and Johnathan with grade 1/grade 2. At this time the doctors didn’t want us to continue care on the girls saying that they would have no quality of life and again, we decided that we would not give up on our girl’s, if God didn’t intend for them to be in this world then he would decide to take them, not us. Shortly after this Johnathan and Mady needed a PDA ligation and it seemed that after this surgery was when they had tough times because they kept getting infections, yeast and staff. At some points they were maxed out on all meds (Johnathan even had a special med – 5FC from Canada) and it was up to them if they’d fight it or not and thru lots and lots of prayers they did. There were quite a few nights of phone calls where they didn’t know if one or two of them would make it to the morning. Overall Annabel faired the best with not getting so sick and ended up off the vent after three weeks! She did end up needing a VP shunt for her hydrocephalus but thus far the shunt is working well! She came home on day of life 100. Johnathan stayed on the vent awhile and it looked like he was going to come home on oxygen but he decided about two weeks before discharge that he didn’t need it! He and Mady ended up needing laser surgery for their ROP and Johnathan actually had to be transported to a different hospital for victrectomies which, thankfully, were a success! He now has hearing aids but it appears that he will be able to fully hear with them! Johnathan came home on our anniversary, November 8th. Mady was fighting along and doing better than Johnathan for quite awhile (only on nasal cannula) but then at 2 months old she decided to give us a scare and came down with another yeast infection that she was actually fighting pretty well until one day when she took a nose-dive and we didn’t think she’d pull thru but after lots and lots of prayers she pulled thru again! She also ended up with NEC but didn’t perforate so luckily everything has resolved itself and she’s eating and growing well! She came home just before Christmas on day of life 140.

The babies are 12 months old (adjusted to 9 months) and it has been so much fun having them home and finally starting to live a “normal” life! Their interactions together and developments are so exciting to see! The babies are doing well, Johnathan does have the hearing aids, glasses for near-sightedness and needed a harness for hip dysplasia but he’s done with it, Annabel and Madelyn have glasses for far-sightedness and in Annabel’s case for crossing of the eyes but this will hopefully be a short-term thing, and Mady and Johnathan have a helmet for cosmetic head shaping, which they will need for a couple more months. Annabel was recently diagnosed with hemiplegia CP, left side, mild but we are getting her enrolled in a constraint therapy course that has been proven to significantly help children in her case where she has some usage of the hand but does tighten it at times. She has been continuously doing more and more with it from just us working with her so I am excited to see what this therapy can do for her!

So that is our family story. For anyone who is willing, any extra prayers you can say for our babies would be appreciated! Prayers of thanks for where they are today and prayers for their future that they will be able to walk and talk, and do all the “normal” things in life. Thanks for reading our story and we pray that all is well with your family!