April Babies

Mommy and Gracie at Lydia's 1st birthday party!

Gracie wasn't too sure about the party hats...

And Lydia wasn't too sure about the cake!

Luke couldn't keep his hands off of A&O's bottles!

What a smart boy!

There are some incredibly large plants in Sacramento!

Holly and Mary, 2010

Adorable babies (Audrey, Oliver, Luke)

Some of our friends at the March of Dimes Walk

(Robert, "Auntie Lu", Robert, Milena)

Grandpa Gene and Tutu came to cheer us on!

Playing with Grandpa at Red Robin

Gracie loves her Grandpa Scott!

Grandma Terri and Gracie girl

Playing with spoons in the bathtub

(maybe I should give them toothbrushes to "play" with!)

Grandma Marsha and Grace

Grandma Marsha and Oliver

Audrey was very interested in the Sea Lions

Grace took quite a few naps at the zoo:)

Mommy and Audrey pet the goats!

"Buds"

At the zoo!

This monkey was very interested in US!

Self-portrait of Daddy and Audrey in front of the Columbia River

My mom and I look like twins!

Grandma and Audrey

Oliver's so funny:)

Playin' in the park on our last day in Portland

April was a month full of activities! Baby Lydia turned 1 on April 14th, so I took Gracie to her first birthday party! On the 12th, Audrey, Oliver, and I went on a 400-mile drive down to Sacramento to see the Giudices (Ben, Mary, and Luke), while Daddy spent some one-on-one time with Grace. We spent 5 beautiful days in warm, sunny California, but unfortunately, the babies ended up getting their very first cold! We knew it would happen sooner or later, and thankfully we made it to 11 months! We were pretty worried about how the virus would affect Audrey's airway, but amazingly, she ended up tolerating the cold better than the other two babies, and poor Oliver was sick, had a rash, and was cutting several teeth:(

The following week a speech therapist and physical therapist from Early Intervention came to our home to evaluate the babies. Because the babies were born so very early, they are considered "high risk" and a priority for "early intervention". The babies put on quite a show and kept the ladies very entertained with their smiles, giggles, and other funny antics! Audrey was determined to be functioning at her chronological age (as if she had never been a preemie at all!), Oliver is right around his adjusted age of 8 months (what the babies would be if they had been born when they were supposed to be!), and little Gracie is a little behind. So EI is going to do some monthly physical therapy with Grace to try to work some of her little muscles and help her "catch up". But even though she isn't moving around as much as her big brother and sister, she scored very well in "social interaction": Gracie is one smiley, talkative little munchkin!

A few days later was the March of Dimes Walk for Babies! We were very excited to get out and walk for a cause that is now so dear to our hearts. The March of Dimes has done a lot of the research and has created much of the technology that helps keep micropreemies like ours alive! We were also very excited to see some of the babies' nurses from the NICU and other multiples families. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a lovely walk.

And finally, we spent the last weekend of April in Portland with Grandma Marsha! We thought Portland would be a fun place to meet for a visit since there is so much to do there! Grandma hadn't seen the babies for quite a while, so it was a very special time for everyone. We took the babies to the Portland Zoo, to Saturday Market, walked along the waterfront, played on blankets in the park, and did a LOT of walking around the city! Although our 4 days together went by really fast, they were filled to the brim with laughter, hugs, kisses, and baby drool:)

As I go through these photos from April, I feel so very thankful for each and every one of our parents. Our babies are so blessed to have 5 grandparents who adore them and love them to pieces. That makes my heart happy.

March Moments

St. Patty's Day

Yep, my good luck charm

Grace is such a doll

Daddy feeding Audrey strawberries at the babies' first picnic

Lindsey and I always seem to wear the same thing...

Self-portrait of mommy and Oliver

My little twin

Gracie in the grass

The Bennington girls with their friend Lydia

Cuddling in bed at the Goodman's house

They don't seem to all fit in the pack 'n play anymore...

Audrey's nurse was in loooove with Oliver

Our little bunkin right after surgery

Audrey and Oliver in the double stroller at Saturday Market

Mommy and Grace on the Max

Triplets? I think so!

Sweet sisters

Gracie getting acquainted with the spoon (and some residual carrots)

March has been a busy month! We've seen sun, snow, more sun, and more snow. The babies had their first picnic down by the river at the Old Mill, Audrey learned how to crawl, sit, and feed herself her bottle, Oliver now has FOUR teeth (two completely in and two more poking through), Grace has become the vocal one of the group and talks all the time, we made another trip to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland for Audrey's follow-up procedure and got to stay with our good friends Nate and Kelly (who are expecting their own little bundle of joy in 2 weeks!) And it must be the sporadic good weather that is causing the babies to grow like weeds! While they were weighing Audrey for her procedure, we slipped Oliver and Grace on the scale for a quick weigh-in - and we know one little boy who will definitely NOT be this year's Biggest Loser! Oliver William is up to a whopping 24.5 lbs ... at only 10 months - and really should be only 7 months old!!! Nothing about that boy says preemie. Audrey isn't too far behind; she was nearly 21 lbs, and little Grace has been working hard and is up to 14!

Thankfully, our time at Doernbecher went very smoothly this trip. Audrey had outpatient surgery this time, which meant no over-nighters at the hospital. Her nurse (Julius) was fantastic and was so crazy about the babies he was carrying them around and paging doctors to come peek at them:) At first he asked if Audrey would need some medication to prevent "stranger anxiety" on her way to the operating room, but we just laughed and said not to worry; they'd be best friends before they got down the hall! They took her back and gave her some gas before starting her IV (which is always the hardest part for her), and less than an hour later she was in recovery. The good news is her cysts did not grow back. The bad news is with the cysts gone, the doctor was able to get a clearer picture of her airway and could see scar tissue that is blocking her airway 50%. Fixing her airway would require major reconstructive surgery. Part of her rib tissue would be removed to rebuild the portion of her airway that is restricted. The doctor would like to avoid this for as long as possible, in hopes that as she grows and her airway gets bigger, the ratio of open airway to blocked airway will increase in her favor. The scary part is if she gets sick: because her airway is so small, she doesn't have much "wiggle room" for any mucus or inflammation. He said it is likely that any sickness will land us in the hospital or emergency room. So, like we've been doing, we'll just keep a really close eye on her and do our best to keep her happy and healthy while her little body (and airway!) gets bigger and stronger. Her ENT wants to see her again in the Fall, and we're praying we can avoid the hospital until then.

February Snapshots

Eating is messy business

Poor bubba after his shots

Still working out the details...

"I can crawl!"

Audrey in her pretty sweater from Grandma Marsha

Mommy and Gracie

"9 months old?! That's funny, Mom!"

Tummy time!

The "twins" and their baby sister
(we get that a lot from strangers)

"Uh-oh, Mommy, why do I have boobies?"

Holding hands with Daddy

Snuggles with Daddy

Got yogurt?

My church twin, Lindsey, and our babies, Oliver and Lydia

"Mom, why are your homemade peas neon green?"

Taking a stroll at the Old Mill

Our first few weeks home from Portland were rough. Audrey seemed a bit traumatized from everything that happened to her, and our time in the hospital really threw the babies off schedule which left them waking up throughout the night, pretty much every hour on the hour. I found myself in tears one morning around 7 a.m. after waking up with the babies at 1:00, 2:00, 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00. I think it was later that very same day that Robert and I decided we had to make some changes and get the babies not only back on schedule, but on a new and improved version. This past week has been a lot better; they are consistently napping from 12:00 - 2:00, and are going to bed at 8:00 p.m. We are trying to wean them from their middle of the night feeds, but that is taking some work and restraint (it's hard to let three babies cry it out!).

We've had a few really nice, warm days this week, which we have taken advantage of by hauling the triple stroller over to the Old Mill District and taking a few long walks along the Deschutes River. Our "wide load" gets quite a bit of attention, so we like to keep score of how many "Wow, you've got your hands full!" comments we get from strangers:) The babies seem to really enjoy getting out in the fresh air - and so do Mom and Dad! And this afternoon we were brave enough to take all three with us to Costco! I pushed Oliver in a stroller while Dad carried Audrey in a frontpack and pushed Gracie in her carseat in the shopping cart. We actually felt pretty incognito doing it that way - having them split up like that is a lot less inconspicuous than in a bright red triple stroller!

And now it's March, and in less than 2 weeks the babies will be 10 months old... incredible!

Audrey's stay at St. Charles and Doernbecher

All geared up for her procedures!

Cuddles from Mommy before CT scan / bronchoscopy

I may have a needle in my head...
but I'm still going to play!

Audrey's Daddy never left her side
the entire time she was in the hospital

Mommy and Dr. Evered with Audrey at her CT scan

Audrey was her usual active self
and kept rolling over in her crib!

Big brother

Baby sister

Audrey really wanted to touch Oliver
(so I put him in her crib the day after surgery!)

She was so happy to see him!

Cuddling with "rammy"
(The nurses kept giving her new toys to keep her
entertained so we came home with about 3 bags full...)

After 3 nights at St. Charles and 3 more nights at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, we were able to bring our sweet little Audrey home yesterday afternoon. We had been preparing ourselves for a long stay but feel as if we witnessed a miracle firsthand! The CT scan and first bronchoscopy performed at St. Charles revealed a narrowing of Audrey's airway so severe that she was flown via AirLink to Portland early Tuesday morning for a second bronchoscopy and probable major surgery. However, while the pediatric ENT was performing her second bronchoscopy late Wednesday afternoon to get a better look at her airway, rather than finding a structural problem that would have to be completely reconstructed, he found two cysts that had grown so large they were nearly blocking her airway completely. He called us from the operating room to tell us what he had found and asked for our permission to remove the cysts while Audrey was still under anesthesia for the bronchoscopy. About 30 minutes later Audrey was waking up, the cysts were out, and we were able to go see our little bunkin'. Audrey was pretty out of it and a little on the grumpy side, but it was nothing a bottle, or EIGHT, couldn't fix! After not getting to eat for over 10 hours, a bottle in the mouth brought immediate relief. She started with two little bottles of glucose water (to make sure her tummy could handle fluids post-op) and then proceeded to suck down SIX more little bottles of formula - all while half asleep! She was taken back to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) for observation until Thursday. She continued a cycle of ravenous hunger and sleep for about 12 hours and by Thursday morning was back to her happy little self, peeking over the railing of her crib and trying to crawl right out! Daddy spent every single night in her room with her while I stayed at the Ronald McDonald house with my cousin Kellie (who, along with Grandma and Grandpa Bennington, helped us out immensely with the babies so we could talk to doctors and spend time with Audrey), her baby Taleah, Oliver, and Grace. The last two nights Robert took Grace too (so I could have a little break) and had her sleep in the DRAWER under his bed! (Yes, she is still that tiny). The nurses got a kick out of that and Grace actually seemed to really enjoy her little makeshift cradle! Late Thursday afternoon Audrey was finally moved out of the PICU and into her own room which meant we could finally all be together (her room in the PICU was tiny and could only hold 1 or 2 visitors at a time). She stayed there for one more night and Friday morning was released to go home!

The improvement in Audrey's breathing is incredible! Her little tummy, which used to expand dramatically with every strained breath, is now calm and still, and the deep "holes" she used to get in her throat and chest when she would suck in deeply for air are completely gone! She is still a little noisy when she breathes, most likely due to the irritation from two bronchoscopies and inflammation from the surgical removal of both cysts. There is a chance that the cysts will grow back (and rather rapidly), so the ENT has scheduled for her to be seen by him again March 18th. He will do another bronchoscopy to see if there is any regrowth and if so, we will discuss our options at that time. So, although we are rejoicing in Audrey's currently open airway, we will continue to pray that it will stay open and cyst free!

Robert and I feel so blessed and thankful for how everything fell into place during this stressful, emotional time. It truly feels like a miracle that our cousins were here to help out with the other babies, that we were able to respond quickly when Audrey stopped breathing, that help arrived promptly, that Dr. John Evered (who took care of the babies during their first 3 months of life) was able to accompany us through her procedures at St. Charles and arrange for her recovery in the NICU and transfer to Doernbecher (even though none of those things are his responsibility at all!), that Molly at Baby Phases was willing to meet us at her store at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning so we could grab a carseat and stroller for our trip over the mountain, that Audrey was able to see an expert pediatric ENT in Portland, and that her diagnosis was something that could be remedied so easily and without major surgery. So many people gave of their time and talents to help us through this scary situation and to take care of our little Audrey, and we are so very grateful to all of them. And we know that hundreds of people (many of whom we have never met!) were lifting Audrey up in prayer this past week and praying faithfully for her comfort, protection, and recovery. We can truly see how the Lord worked through the entire situation to preserve and heal our little girl. Thank you all!!!