Trying something new for crafting. The girls have inspired me especially since they have some hair to work with now :) I think having something to do that is just your own in motherhood is important no matter what that is. It doesn't have to be huge, but preferably something that can be relaxing for you. I'm having so much fun coming up with new ideas for hair accesories and hoping to expand in the types of hair stuffs I do. I'm thinking I may even open a new Etsy shop. What do you all think?? These are just a few I've started with. Hoping to do felts and head bands soon too. Molly and Oswyn are modeling a couple. 

"How do you do it?"

People always ask me "How do you do it?" among many other things :) LOL Most of the time I say "this is me doing it!" But I do think on a few things.

Mainly, I am reminded multiple times a day at how blessed I have been in this last year: that my babies are here and are healthy. I am one of the lucky ones who had babies born as early as 27 weeks with virtually no problems. Nothing that can not or has not been overcome anyways. I don't know if its just my journey that makes me have a different attitude about parenting triplets or my personality, but one thing i know for sure is that God's grace has been gifted to me everyday and without that I don't think I could do anything. But I also think that all the moms out there that don't have multiples may be short changing themselves when they say they don't know how i do it. Because i think the truth is that as moms we have a certain strength that God gives us to do anything for our babies and if you had more than one at once, you could do it too. it may be hard to imagine, but don't sell yourself short as a mom.

Of course I have bad days, but thankfully I don't have those often. You get through it though. Each day is a new beginning and I just remember that in those bad moments. The days go by so fast and I know that I will get through those bad days and the next day won't be the same, and most likely will not be as bad. The only thing that is difficult about having 3 babies for me, is not being able to comfort them all at the same time when they are all upset at once. But again, thankfully that doesn't happen that often. i also am very blessed to have an extremely supportive and helpful husband.

I try to live in the moment and treasure every second of baby hugs, smiles, kisses and laughs.

What have we overcome?

-Two babies had brain bleeds-Molly and Oswyn. Completly resolved.

-Molly had an infection her first week and needed a blood transfusion.

-All babies of course were on oxygen. Oswyn was on the longest. It was a miracle that none had to come home with it. Oswyn is still considered to have chronic lung disease, but it is something she will grow out of in time.

-All babies were at risk for ROP-retinopathy of prematurity-eye prematurity that can cause blindness. Fiona was checked for this for a while because she was the smallest and most at risk. All babies eyes are fine now.

-Oswyn's delay of learning to nipple caused her to need surgery for a g button so she could come home.  No sooner did she come home from the hospital that we had to go right back for a week because her incision got infected. I was told to not expect her to ever breastfeed but she is now. She also does not need the button to feed anymore because she is breastfeeding well and taking bottles.

-I almost exclusivly pumped milk for 4 months and am still going strong-breastfeeding Oswyn and pumping at night for Fiona and Molly who no longer want to breastfeed but that's okay. Total of pumping breastfeeding for 7 months now.

-We spent a total of 4 months in the the NICU. 5 months plus one week in the hospital total including my antepartum stay and Oswyn's week in Pediactrics.

There will be many checks along the way for their development. The journey is never over. We never want to forget the miracles God shows us day to day. Our doctors, nurses, and developmental specialists are constantly amazed at how well they are doing for being born at 27 weeks and for all the things they girls have overcome.

I am grateful everyday for my girls, their health and growth. I love seeing what new things they do everyweek. I love seeing them smile and laugh. Its the best thing in the world. That's all I would ever need for the rest of my life. I am grateful for our amazing and supportive doctors, nurses and all our specialists. I am grateful for an amazing loving husband who is so supportive and helpful and an amazing dad. I am grateful to God for His amazing miracles and creation. I am grateful for His amazing grace and mercy. I am grateful He remembered me.
What do i mean by "God remembered"?

Left to right: Molly, Oswyn, Me, and Fiona. Taken on my birthday-best birthday ever

Surgery set for Saturday

So we decided to have the surgery for Oswyn. She will be getting what is called a G button on Saturday morning. She is just still very inconsistent with her eating and lacking in energy. We are confident that in time she will overcome this, it is just that the time she needs is longer than anyone would like to see her stay in the hospital. Also based on how old she is, she is getting too big for the NICU and they would have to move her up to pediactrics if she stays much longer. Talking to the nurses and doctors this week, they are in support of our decision and feel its in her best interest to get her home as soon as possible.

She is having some GI testing done tomorrow -partially as a precaution to the surgery to make sure nothing else is going on, but also to determine if she needs more extensive surgery to treat her reflux. this surgery is more invasive and we really don't want her to need this. we think she is doing just fine on her prilosec anyways.

The surgery to place the button is a minor laproscopic procedure and the doctor was very nice to fit us in asap for this so we could get her home asap. We are hoping that being at home where things are more consistent, less stressful, and with family will help her to thrive better as well. This surgery gives us the ability to take her home, still work on her bottles, but still be able to feed her if she cannot finish one. From saturday we have to wait 7 to 10 days for recovery before we take her home.

So please pray that tomorrows testing goes well so that she doesn't need anything else done. Pray that the surgery on saturday goes well and she recovers quickly. and please continue to pray for her continued growth and strength to get this eating stuff down. 

In other news, the girls are 4 months old/ 1 month old adjusted. Molly and Fiona have been rolling over for about three weeks now and love their tummy time. They are also quite cuddling and love being held. Oswyn loves to look at faces and will follow objects. This has also been going on for at least a few weeks. We also give her tummy time when we can at the hospital and she is just as strong as her sisters. All are beginning to smile for real and not just for gas :) Molly and Fiona are going 4 hours in between feedings at night, almost 5 hours even!

oswyn update

you got to let it go and go with the flow sometimes and be grateful for the unexpected journey. I had dreams of adorable newborn photo sessions and outfits picked out complete with little headbands. But without all 3 babies home I just can't do that. I feel its only right to be all or nothing on these sort of things. I know that when the time comes when Oswyn is home, I will just be so happy that it won't matter that we didn't get a newborn photo session. It will just be nice to have a reunion photo session.

I don't remember what i've said or writtten before but everyday i'm reminded of the details of Oswyn's journey so far in this life and what a miracle she is. All 3 girls are incredible miracles, but she especialyl has had a bit of a harder go. From the begining of my hospital stay back in March, the doctors were worried the most about her, thinking that she may come too early, before her sisters even. When she finally did come, it was because her water broke due to stress brought on by her placenta detaching. They had a hard time stablizing her. Her first APGAR was a 2, followed by a 7 once they got her stable. She was on high flow oxygen for a long time and because of that, had a late start in beginning to learn to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time. this is one of the hardest tasks a preemie must learn to do and when you are struggling to breathe, it really is tough and often not enjoyable. The doctors said its like trying to run a marathon and eat at the same time. so its a miracle she is here and that she is doing as well as she is, even though she is still in the hospital.

Even though she is only on a little bit of air now she still needs it to give her enough energy to try to eat anything. It is a chore for her to take a bottle which is sad because most babies love this. She doesn't even really like her pacifier. She isn't oral averted, thankfully, but it is a fine line we walk. Its like learning to do anything physical that you've never done before-you need time to get it right and build up your endurance to do so. i'm grateful that that is all and that there isn't anything wrong with her, but at the same time its frustrating because all we can do is wait. i've had to learn all to early, i think, that it is painful to watch your child struggle to do something knowing that you can't do anything to help them out because they need to do it themselves. for now the best i can do is be there when i can for her. this is also painful because i wish i could be with her all the time but i am just as needed at home. i wish there was a way i could encourage her to do better and communicate to her that if she did she could be home and be with me all the time.

i can tell that she is a sensative child, more so than her sisters. this is hard too because you can see that any little thing that goes on in the nicu like another baby crying, stresses her out and she won't eat. so its like you want to take her out of the stressful environment in hopes that she would do better, but without a gurantee you don't want her to leave because the worst thing would be having to take her back to the hospital if she didn't do well. but as a mother, i know she isn't quite ready to just come home. and that's hard for me to see and admit as well.

last week we asked the doctor if there would be any long term effects on her for needing oxygen this long. He said that she wouldn't be an athlete. we don't accepet this. another thing you never want to have to do is limit our child. if she wants to do something i'm not going to tell her "no because you physically can't". no one knows what she can do till she tries. and i'm not going to hinder her aspirations by even telling her "hey you might not be able to do that". i just want to let her go and let her shine. i bet she will over come a lot because she already has. She continualy surprises the doctors and nurses at what she can accomplish even though it may not look like it to the rest of the world. don't let her fool you just because she is still in the hospital.

i know only parents could begin to understand the pain of having your child in the hosptial and unable to come home and you unable to stay. i often cry when i leave feeling incredibly guilty and sad that she isn't coming home with me. on the other hand it gives me the most incredible joy to see her face light up whenever she sees me. the positive side is that she gets me all to herself when we are together which she would not get if she were home. so i'm taking this bonding time as a gift. so far everything has worked out to be perfect timing, so i'm sure when she does come home, we will say it was perfect timing again.

Fiona and Molly are home!

Wow what day is it and what time is it? I'll tell you what time it is. Its always time to feed the babies :) We are loving being parents. And I hate to tell you this but one baby is boring, and two is totally managable. Not sure what it will look like with 3 though HA! 

Wednesday we brought home Fiona and Molly. The first night they were a little fussy but we realized it was because it was too quiet for babies from a noisey hospital setting. So since then we've been leaving the radio on and no problems! 

When it was time to leave the hospital we did not make it out of there without hearing a "you've got your hands full!" and a "Did you have twins?!?!". Imagine the shock when i said no triplets!! and the hands full is ridiculous. Multiples moms hear it at least 90 times a day depending on how many people you encounter. 

The animals reacted how i expected. Zoey is obsessed with the babies and would love to constantly lick and cuddle them if we let her. Gavin is concerned enough to check on them but then does his own thing and Larry is avoiding them.

We are keeping to our feeding and changing schedule and it is working good. I was shocked to learn that my milk really did come in more once we got babies home. still not enough to feed three but that's alright. the doctors want them on special formula at least twice a day for the first 6months. I'm still working on figuring out when to breastfeed who and when to pump and how to divide it up between three especially with Oswyn still in the hospital. 

Oswyn has decided she doesn't like formula which has made it difficult for her to finish bottles. She is still being tube fed part of the time. She needs to be able to take bottles for all feeding times and finish the bottles. She is taking 2 out of 3 feeds on bottles, but doesn't always finish them yet. She is still on a bit of oxygen too-almost room air though. So we are hoping that in the next couple weeks(our guess of how much longer she will be) she can get off the oxygen completely before she comes home. its so hard to have her still in the hospital. i have been able to go once a day since wed. corey has not been able to go. i don't think we will get a chance for both of us to go in one day. we were advised to keep the girls away from the hospital and any public places til they at least have their next vaccines. even though they are home they were still preemies and are more sensitive. i feel guilty when i'm not with Oswyn and i feel guilty when i'm with her and not at home helping with Fiona and Molly. the nicu nurses said that's totally normal and how everyone feels with multiples. i made it through most of the nicu stay being strong but now is the hardest part. i cry when i leave now. hoping and praying Oswyn can click with everything really soon. the days and weeks go by fast but i don't know if i could go longer than a couple weeks. 

so today we went for our first walk before it got too hot. we walked to the coffee shop. so fun! i love our stroller. its super light and easy to maneuver. we also got these cool covers from brica for the car seats that keep bugs and sun away. 

so blessed to have team stisser! corey and i have always worked well together, but now we've got a whole new adventure to step up to :) and we are doing really good so far. i do the midnight feeding while he sleeps and then he wakes up for the 3am and the 6am!! he lets me sleep through 2 feedings :) :) i don't do well staying up late, but he can do stuff anytime of day or night no problem and still be fine during the day. amazing! 

 Leaving the hospital!!

 look at that sweet daddy daughter moment!

 tummy time

 "what is a baby anyway?"-lady and the tramp

 Oswyn

 Going on our first walk!

 made it to the coffee shop :)

 walk and tummy time makes for passed out babies

Fiona to Win, Molly to Place, Oswyn to Show!

This past week was a little up and down, but overall we all came out ahead! Monday Oswyn was taken off her high flow oxygen-this was probably the best news. She has not only stayed off of it but has gotten pretty close to room air levels on the low flow. Now she just has to catch up on her bottle feeding. She will probably be another couple weeks in the nicu unless she really surprises us.

Fiona started off strong with her feedings then had a dip in them but then by thursday she hit the ground running and hasn't stopped. She is taking all her bottle feedings and then some and has continued to gain weight. If she can continue to do this AND pass her car seat challenge tomorrow, we will be rooming in the hospital monday night with her and taking her home tuesday!! Rooming in at the hospital is something our nicu offers. You can spend a night at the hospital before you go home, virtually on your own as a trial run for what it will be like, but have the nicu nurses just down the hall in case you need someone that first night. Fiona also came off her oxygen two days ago.

Molly, not to be totally outdone by Fiona, has been close behind in handling her feedings as well and still gaining weight. If she continues this and passes the car seat challenge tomorrow as well, she may came home a day or two after Fiona. She also was taken off oxygen 24 hours ago.

We are so grateful everyday for the miracle of these babies and how strong and healthy they are. They are doing so well and continue to amaze us each day with their accomplishments. We thank God for everything He has given us along this journey, and pray He continues to amaze us. Praying that the girls can stay off their oxygen and pass car seat challenges so they can come home very soon. There is a good possibility that Oswyn will also come off oxygen now before she comes home too. This would be a huge answer to prayer as well!

We are so thankful for everyone's support and sharing in our excitement to bring home healthy and strong babies. One thing we hope everyone can understand though is that even though they are well enough to come home, it is not the same as bringing home a term baby. Therefore, we have been advised not to bring them into contact with a lot of people or places that are enclosed. So for other reasons than just being sleep deprived new parents, we will be hiding at home for at least a couple months once everyone is home, and not having many visitors. Basically the only visitors we will allow will be grandparents, unless people are dropping off food :) We hope that everyone can understand and respect this. Thank you so much :)

All I Really Want is GIRLS!

oh man have i mentioned how much i love having three girls!? its awesome and i had no idea i would love it so much. i mean i knew i would love being a mommy but i didn't know when we were wondering what we would have that i would enjoy 3 girls as apposed to other combos as much as i do :) that's why God knows best i guess.

i just got back from an excellent Carter's sale. i got sleepers for $5 each!! i had almost no 3mth clothes so that was super helpful. now we are set for the 3mth mark :) i really don't want them to be matchy matchy but i do like coodinating outfits. i find myself not wanting to get outfits if there are only two color varieties, which seems just as silly to me in a way. i mean why do they even have to have similar outfits at all? but i can't help it! anyways...

the girls are such troppers! All are over 6lbs! Fiona is at 20ccs of oxygen today which is practically room air, so the nurse said she will try her off oxygen today and see how she does. She is also taking 3 out of 4 feedings on a bottle and finishing them like a champ. Molly is not far behind. She is also doing 3 out of 4 bottle feeds and finishing most of them. She is on about 50cc of oxygen i believe. Oswyn is still on the high flow at 2 liters. Its better than 3liters, which is what she was on last week. Once she is on 1 liter they can try her on low flow oxygen like her sisters. She is allowed one bottle a shift-this is still a challenge for her with her high oxygen so she hasn't finished a bottle yet. but today the nurse said she got pretty close. She seems better than yesterday on oxygen too as the doctor ordered some doses of this stuff called lasix that helps get rid of extra fluid that can make it harder to breathe.

so proud of my miracle babies-making strides every day. we are now in june-my due date was june 30th-this is when doctors said they should be home by. we fully expect them to be able to do this. we think Fiona or Molly will be home soon. They are neck and neck it seems. Oswyn will be a little longer, but we think as soon as she can get on low flow oxygen she should be able to catch up quickly with the feedings. again, in order to come home babies must be at least on low flow oxygen, able to take all feedings by bottle and finish them, and pass a car seat test(they put baby in car seat for an hour and baby can not have any breathing issues in order to pass).

 Fiona snuggles

 Molly after bottle

 Oswyn in bouncy chair