interesting week and a half

In the past week and a half we had the girls' first peds visit (which went awesome) and Michelle and I have both been very sick with the flu. By the grace of God the girls have stayed healthy by Grandma VW and VH taking over large portions of their care and by everyone wearing surgical masks. Michelle is finally feeling better and is able to take care of the girls, hopefully by tomorrow I will be back on my feet again.

The girls' peds visit was encouraging as doctor was very impressed by the girls' health and weight gain. Keegan was 6 lbs. 6 oz., Samantha was 5 lbs., and Maggie was 4 lbs. 10 oz. Michelle and I had fun taking the girls out for the first time, but we realized how much energy and time it takes to get the girls packed up and somewhere on time. I don't think we will be making any unnecessary trips any time soon.

Maggie & Samantha

Bottle Time

Keegan @ 3:30 a.m.

First Time All 3 Ride in the Jeep

At the Doctor's Office

Am I back at the hospital?

hhhhmmmmm......................

..........it has been awhile since we have published a post, which is due to the fact that ALL the girls are now at HOME!!! Keegan and Samantha came home on Monday night (July 16th) and Maggie couldn't stand being away from her sisters so decided to kick it in high gear and came home Wednesday afternoon (July 18th). We are sssoooo very happy to have them under our roof and they are getting lots of loving, pampering, and music lessons. We are having fun learning all their little noises and adorable traits.

Thank you for everyone who has offered help with feedings, meals, and other tasks. We have felt so very blessed with all the offers. Michelle's sister, Lynnette (aka Big Sis), will be scheduling help in the coming weeks and months. However, until we figure out a schedule and normal routine, Lynnette will not be scheduling help with feedings. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we will develop a good rhythm and Lynnette will contact everyone who has offered to help.

Thank you everyone for keeping our family in your prayers. Michelle and I have felt everyone's prayers on a daily basis.

Finally, before getting to the part everyone is waiting for, new PICTURES, a few words about visitors. There are a number of guidelines that we have been given by the doctors at the hospital and by a seasoned mother of triplets:

1. We will not be answering the door for unannounced visitors. Please make arrangements before visiting as the girls are on a strict schedule for the next couple of months. If you do arrive unannounced and we see you at the door we will kindly ask you to come back another time.

2. If you or anyone in your family has been sick in the past week PLEASE reschedule.

3. When making a scheduled visit please use the back door. If the gate is closed please check that Moby (our dog) is not outside. If he is outside, please be very careful that you don't let him out.

4. When entering the house feel free to greet/pet Moby as he loves people.

5. Please wash your hands and arms up to your elbows at the kitchen sink with the light green soap before entering the rest of the house. It is crucial that we keep the girls as healthy as possible over the next six months.

6. Unfortunately, we have been given strict orders by the doctors that only immediate family are to hold the girls for the first two weeks. After that necessary helpers are to hold the girls for the next four weeks. So, if you are coming on a planned visit we ask that you please don't touch or ask the hold the girls until after this time period.

7. Finally, as the girls are on an every three hour schedule for approximately six weeks we ask that any scheduled visit be kept short.

I know, I know those are a lot of rules but we are trying to keep our little bundles of joy healthy as the are still pipsqueaks ranging in weights from around 4 lbs. 2 oz. to 5 lbs. 7 oz. and are very prone to illness. As the girls are still many weeks away from full term their immune is weakened and we are trying very hard to protect them. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward for all of you to meet them once we get the okay from the doctors. Okay, enough with the rules, here are some pictures from the last week:

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family update

on tuesday of this week, i was experiencing a great deal of pain and called the doctor's office. they saw me and ended up admitting me back in the hospital with an infection in my uterus. they say it can be common with c-sections and the treatment is IV antibiotics. i was discharged from the hospital thursday night with oral antibiotics to continue to fight the infection. the pain is getting better but we would continue to ask for your prayers as i recover from the surgery. it has been a little more of a struggle than i thought it would be. i have high blood pressure from the preeclampsia, which the doctors are working on trying to control with medication. i lost a lot of blood during the surgery and my hemoglobin was low. they did not end up giving me a blood transfusion in hopes my body would just readjust and get back to normal. i am taking iron pills to help. i am pretty weak still and trying to recover while also wanting to make the trip to the hospital to see the girls. please pray for continued strength and recovery. and also, pray for Thad that he continues to feel strength from the Lord to handle all that has been going on. he is such a trooper and visits our girls before work, at lunch and then after work. it has helped knowing that he is at least there checking on them when i cannot. please pray for continued energy and health for him.

the great news is the girls are doing so well. keegan is most likely going to be coming home early this week sometime! they think samantha may not be far behind! and once maggie hears about her big sisters, we are sure she is going to be working on coming home too. she seems to be our little overachiever. we are so thankful for the girls and that they are doing well.

~ here are some recent pictures ~

we taught keegan to pray before her meals!

samantha weighed 4 pounds last night, which means she has graduated to an open crib!

maggie, sleeping peacefully!

more news...

the babies are continuing to do well, praise the Lord! we feel so completely blessed to have three precious daughters. they have graduated off of having IVs, which is one less cord to maneuver when holding them. plus the IVs had a tendency to go bad so they were always having to relocate them (Samantha at one point had one in her precious little head, which was not fun for me!). anyway, they are gaining back some of the weight they lost and Keegan has even graduated to an open crib because of her weight. the doctors are projecting another two weeks in the hospital. Keegan needs to feed from a bottle more than she is right now and Samantha and Maggie need to gain more weight before being able to come home. We appreciate every one's prayers as this back and forth stuff is already getting old fast. But the nurses have been wonderful to the girls and we are so thankful for that.

A highlight for me so far was getting to hold all three girls yesterday. It was incredible. As they were laying on my stomach, we could not get over the thought that all three of them were inside of me a week ago and actually fit in there. I feel so relieved to have them here and not still inside.

Here is a picture of Thad holding Keegan and Samantha tonight. What a Daddy!!! He is so good with his girls.

update

Keegan, Samantha & Maggie

are doing wonderful! They are all nippling and have already had their food increased twice! We praise God for strong and healthy girls. Today will be a hard day for us as Michelle will be discharged and we will have to leave the hospital without the girls. We ask for your prayers today and in the coming days/weeks as we await their arrival. Fortunately we are able to visit our girls anytime we like; however, it will be difficult for Michelle to make it to the hospital more than once or twice a day as she continues to recover from delivery. Thank you so much for all the words of encouragement and love we have received via the blog comments and email.

oh, and by the way the girls' big brother can't wait to introduce them to their new room.

we are proud to announce...

Keegan Joy (Baby A formerly known as Baby B)

born: 10:19 p.m.

weight: 5lbs. 8oz.

length: 18 inches

Samantha Rose (Baby B formerly known as Baby A)

born: 10:20 p.m.

weight: 3lbs. 15oz.

length: 16 1/2 inches

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Maggie Susanne (Baby C)
born: 10:21 p.m.

weight: 3lbs. 9oz.

length: 16 inches

Keegan, Samantha, & Maggie

the girls have arrived!!!

we are proud to announce that the triplets van van arrived last night at 10:19, 10:20, and 10:21. the Lord has blessed us with three amazing and healthy baby girls. we are so thankful for all of the prayers and support over the past months, and ask for special prayers for a speedy recovery for Michelle and continued strength for the girls. we currently are trying to catch up on our rest and ask for no visitors at this time. however, please check back tomorrow evening as we will try to put together a full report with all the vital details (i.e. weights, lengths, NAMES, and pictures).

love,

Thad & Michelle