Where does the time go?

This title is fitting in so many, many different ways. When I left the hospital today, it was raining. I thought to myself how odd, since it was sunny when I was last outside. Then I realized it had been almost seven hours since I was outside, so of course the weather had changed. Then I thought about how unbelievable it is that August is almost over. Seems like just yesterday I couldn't believe July was almost over. Now I see that it's been an entire week since I updated this blog. That's outrageous! How could I leave all my dedicated followers stranded for so long with no new information? Now I've got lots of catching up to do.

Which leads me to the main reason I logged on to post tonight, which also ties in to the title. I have new pictures because the triplets will be ONE MONTH OLD tomorrow. CRAZY. How has it only been a month since they got here? My surgery and all that time laying in the hospital like a beached whale seems so long ago. Yet somehow I can't believe they are already a month old. It's bittersweet, I always pictured myself taking a baby to get professional pictures on their one month birthday. And here I am with babies that haven't ever left the walls of the hospital. Part of me wants them to be home right now so we can start our lives, but part of me is still terrified to be in charge of three human beings. Totally, totally crazy.

The past week had several exciting milestones, but the days were never long enough for me to get online to provide updates. Everyone is out of their incubator now, they went into regular old newborn bassinets briefly, but have now moved on to cribs. Plain vanilla good old fashioned drop side cribs. That is pretty exciting, and the cribs have an adjustable incline so they can be propped up to help with digestion.

And speaking of digestion, even though my babies have absolutely NO PROBLEMS with potty related functions, they are all dealing with some acid reflux. This is a common preemie problem, and there isn't a whole lot they can do for it, but it can be very uncomfortable for the babies so I hate it. Michael is actually on Prevacid (no idea on that spelling) because his is pretty severe, poor guy cries almost nonstop, so we'll see if it helps or not. Ben and Delia are showing signs of it too but seem to suffer in silence, so they aren't being medicated. They should outgrow it but I'm not sure how long that will take.

Feeding continues to be a challenge although everyone seems to be making good progress. Delia is taking a quarter to a third of a bottle several times a day, depending on how awake her highness decides to be. Ben is allowed to try a bottle up to twice a day and usually does about a third, and Michael is still working on it a couple times a day as well. Slow but steady progress.

Ben is working hard to get off his oxygen but for some reason he can't quite kick the habit. As of this evening, he's off it for two hours at a time, then gets it back while he is eating. Poor kid can't multi task for nothing. We'll have to work on that.

The other big change is that we've been moved off the NICU floor, even though we are still NICU patients. They are overcrowded right now, so the healthiest kids get bumped down to the pediatric unit. We still have the same rules about visitors, hand washing, and we have our own NICU nurse, but we're in a regular room. Actually the room where I stayed for a few weeks :) It's easier to come and go because we don't have to go through the entrance that requires someone on the inside to grant access, but it's a little lonely because we only see our nurse all day. No pop in visits from our other nursing friends. It's a good sign that everyone is doing well enough to be considered healthy enough to be bumped. Hopefully we've just got a few weeks ahead of us now before we can come home.

And the ever exciting weight updates:

Ben 4 lb 13 oz
Delia 5lb 6 oz (FIVE POUND CLUB!!!!!)
Michael 4 lb 12 oz....he's gaining on Ben!!