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!!!

Audrey rushed to the ER

A picture of our happy girl taken last week

Last night at about 8:30pm Audrey stopped breathing, turned blue, and went completely limp. I had just fed her and was administering her evening breathing treatment when her eyes started to close and she started getting really dusky. In a matter of seconds she was nearly incoherent and very blue so I yanked her out of her highchair and handed her to Robert. He promptly began CPR (which we had thankfully learned at the NICU) and got her breathing again while I called 911. Audrey was blue and limp for about 4 minutes until the paramedics arrived and began giving her oxygen. The oxygen helped significantly but she remained very pale and when the oxygen was removed her O2 saturation levels dropped again. So after getting her stabilized I carried her out to the ambulance and rode with her to the ER while Robert followed behind in our car. Thankfully, our cousins were in town from Arizona and my Dad and Terri were over for dinner so we were able to leave the other two babies with them while we accompanied Audrey to St. Charles. Once we got in the ambulance Audrey seemed to improve considerably and was being her usual happy, smiley self (I caught her flirting with several of the paramedics:)) and by the time we got to the ER she was as chipper as ever - and extremely curious about her bright, new surroundings. Robert met us in the ER where we stayed with her under observation for about an hour. Chest and neck x-rays were taken but everything looked normal. The on-call pediatrician (who happened to be present at the babies' birth) evaluated her and decided to keep her over night for continued observation. Audrey has been having difficulty breathing ever since October (when she was first hospitalized for her wheezing and strider) but even though every breath seems to take so much effort and energy, she has never lost her pink rosy coloring or stopped breathing (and happens to be the most active and energetic of the three babies). The doctors wanted to put her under anesthesia and scope her airway back in October but decided it was okay to delay the procedure as long as she was eating well and wasn't having any other complications. Last night's events, however, have changed the situation and now the doctors feel it necessary to have her scoped. The procedure is very risky and may only confirm what they already think it is (a narrowing in her airway that will hopefully grow as she grows), but may reveal some other problem that may have caused her to stop breathing. Her wonderful NICU doctor came by and talked with Robert and may be present during the procedures tomorrow (which is extremely comforting to us). The plan is to do a CT scan first (which will probably require anesthesia to keep her still) and if they can see what they need to see, a scope may not be necessary; if they are unable to see anything they will take her to the OR and do the surgery while she is already under anesthesia. Unfortunately, intubation and anesthesia in premature babies with breathing problems is extremely risky and may require an extended recovery time to wean her back off of oxygen. Please pray for protection over our little girl and that these risky procedures will at least give us some answers as to why she has been struggling so hard to breathe.

8 months old...and a trip to Portland!

8 months old!!!

Beautiful Grace

Oliver likes to hold his hand out and stare at it...
until he gets distracted by something else!

Our strong little girl!

Our big bubba!

Gracie relaxing on her hotel bed

Grace is still working on her neck muscles:)

Daddy and the crew

Mama and her girls

Oliver looks a little cold and miserable in this one...

Grace had a rough night and the only thing that
seemed to help was taking a bath with Mommy!

"Hey, Mom! Get this hat out of my eyes!"

That's better!

We're now one of "those" families
that takes up an entire huge booth at Red Robin!

Our hotel room at the Hotel Monaco
there's little Oliver peeking out of the backpack!

Yep, they're "twins"! (Oliver and Audrey)

Oliver took a nap like this for 4 hours on the hotel bed...isn't he darling?

Daddy made the couch into a "crib" for Oliver and Grace
(they don't roll as much as Audrey)

They were very interested in the television...

Daddy and his boys downtown

Daddy and Gracie in her "Amelia Earhart" hat

The babies got to spend the first 8 days of 2010 on vacation in Portland! And Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy getting out of Bend for the first time since last March right before I ended up on bedrest! We packed up the car on New Year's Day, loaded up our pup and three babes and headed over the mountain to P-town! Our original plan was to spend 4 nights there, but the babies were doing so well (and we were having so much fun!) that we found another hotel downtown and extended our stay 3 more nights! We spent the first half of our trip in Tualatin (where Robert grew up) and spent our days shopping at Bridgeport, Pioneer Place, and Washington Square, as well as enjoying some time relaxing in our hotel room and watching T.V. (which we don't have at home...man, I've missed Jeopardy!) What we learned, however, is that loading and unloading three babies in and out of a car over and over and over again is the most exhausting part of getting out and doing things which is why we "smartened up" and moved to a hotel right smack in the heart of downtown Portland for the second half of our trip so we could just walk out the door of the hotel lobby and be in walking distance of all the shopping and eating we could handle! For the most part strangers did really well at keeping their distance and admiring the babies from afar, but we most certainly did get lots of stares, questions, and sideways glances! Pretty hard to be inconspicuous when you're marching through shopping centers with a double stroller, backpack, frontpack, and 80lb dog - we felt a little bit like modern day Clampetts. Most people thought Audrey and Oliver were twins and that Grace was their baby sister (I don't think they did the math on that one...), a few people thought Audrey was a boy (I guess that's what happens when Mommy dresses her in a green sweater and blue socks - hey, I'm not used to dressing them for public yet!), and pretty much every single person that got within a 10 foot radius of us felt the need to let us know that we had our "hands full". I think we ended up more exhausted after our vacation than before (which is saying a lot), but it was definitely worth it. Trying to find public places to feed and change three babies made for some great family memories (think back corner of Qdoba restaurant, all 5 of us packed in the men's restroom at WestMarine, a bench in the middle of the mall...), and it just felt so wonderful to be out of the house and out in the real world! Robert and I were starting to feel like nobody believed we were really parents since we never have any babies with us, but the attention we got on this 7 day trip more than made up for the 7 months we've been hiding the babies at home:)

And today the babies are 8 months old...incredible! Grace is still gaining weight rather slowly, but she's just a petite little thing and is eating really well so we try not to worry about it. Audrey is so incredibly strong and just days away from crawling (that will add a whole new dimension of fun to having triplets!), and Oliver is eating solid foods like a champ and weighed in at a whopping 20lbs at his doctor's appointment yesterday! Just to give you some perspective, 20lbs is the weight of an average one year old and Mr. O is 8 months and should really only be 5 months! His doctor even advised me to start giving him more water and try cutting back on the amount of formula he gets each day. With where our babies started, who would have ever thought we would be worrying about our babies being too big??? What a blessing; we sure have come a long way!

Audrey is cuddled up with her blankie on our bed next to me right now wheezing her way through dreamland. Gracie and Oliver are alseep in their cribs and will be needing their bedtime bottles soon. Time to wash some dishes, make some bottles, fold some laundry, feed some babies...and get ready to do it all over again tomorrow:) Here's to a successful first 8 months... I can only imagine what the next 8 will bring!