Day 3 Update

Today was a big day. For the 1st time, we got to hold the babies. I held Madison and then later Joe got to hold Ryan and then Caitlin! They are all doing well for preemies. Madison is causing the most concern right now, but hopefully she will grow stronger each day as well. Here's updates on all.

Ryan:
He appears to be the laid back one and is doing the best. Yesterday, they actually started him a bottle every other feeding vs. a feeding tube and he seems to love it. They even increased his feeding amounts today as he acted like he wanted more. Joe says he is definitely a Crist! Most people that see him, including me, think he looks like Joe. He just went under the billirubin lights today and shouldn't have to stay there long. He is still in a heated isolette, but doing great!

Caitlin:
The nurses call her the feisty one. If she's not happy about something, she'll let everyone know. She has been under the billirubin lights for the past few days and it looks like she'll have to stay under it a few more. We call them movie stars under the lights because they wear these little masks over their eyes that the nurses have drawn eyes with long lashes on. They think she is ready to go to a feeding tube vs. IV nourishment, but want to wait a few days on both her and Maddi because of the TTTS problems they have had. They want to make sure their other systems are working well before they start their digestive system working on milk. Other than that, she is doing well also.

Maddi:
Our little princess. She has overcome quite a few obstacles, but still has a few more things to deal with. After her rough birth, she was showing she had an enlarged liver and heart. They did an ultrasound and called a cardiologist. He looked at it and said everything appears to be OK. Her heart is anatomically correct and the enlargement could have been somewhat related to her stressful birth. He said that no follow up should be required. As of today, her heart and liver are both doing fine. Our biggest concern right now is her dropping platelet count. It kept steadily dropping and on Friday night she had to have a blood transfusion. It looked as if it was getting better, but then again today the platelets have begun dropping. They think they may have to call a hematologist to look at her. The neonatologist said her neurological development seems to be the same as her siblings, so that is good. She is also under the billirubin lights and hopefully will start with a feeding tube in the next few days.

We haven't taken many pictures since Thursday, but will hopefully get some more soon. I should be discharged tomorrow and then will have to start setting up schedules to visit daily. The initial high of the morphine definitely wore off by Friday morning, but I am getting a little better each day. Thank you to everyone for their congratulations and continued prayers. I have heard the comments section is not easy for people, but we appreciate the emails and well wishes from everyone!