Happy 1 month my angels!

I cannot believe my babies are one month old!!  They are all home and happy as ever.  Right now we're on a 3 hour feeding schedule.  I get up to pump 30 mins before they eat.  Unfortunately since they're premies they don't latch very well for breastfeeding.  So they're bottle fed my milk until we get breastfeeding down.  To be honest, I'm not 100% positive that I want to exclusively breastfeed. Yeah sure pumping isn't the greatest thing in the whole wide world, but at least people can help bottle feed them!  So we'll see what we end up doing long term.  My goal is to pump/breastfeed for 1 year... So far I'm one month down!  Wooohoo! Haha.

Can I just say that my mom is a SAINT!  Oh my goodness, we are so so lucky to have her here helping us.  She's a HUGE help!  Right now the routine is I do all of the night feedings while she sleeps, then I wake her up at 8am while I sleep for a few hours.  I'm so so lucky that she's going to be here until mid August. Hopefully we can get them on a little longer sleeping schedule by then.  Because eating every 3 hours only leaves about an hour - an hour and a half of sleep/down time in between... Especially with me pumping 30 mins prior.  I'll tell you what though, it's totally worth it.  Yes, you can survive on pure adrenaline.  I did for 5 days before my mom got here!  Maybe got 3 hours of sleep total per day.  Motherhood is the greatest thing in the whole wide world.

One month stats... Aurora weighs 5 pounds 4 ounces (born at 3 pounds 12 ounces)!!  Gavin weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces (born at 4 pounds 6 ounces)!!  Madelyn weighs 5 pounds 2 ounces (born at 4 pounds 2 ounces)!!

These are the photos I took on their actually 1 month.  I thought before the feeding would be best that way they're awake.  HA - think again.  Three hungry fussy babies is what I got.

Gavin trying to eat Aurora's head

HA - it just makes me laugh

 The next day I tried again.  This time it was after the feeding.  Much happier babies!

Aurora

Gavin

 Madelyn

We're HOME!!!

I am such a happy momma!  Everyone is home and happy!  Gavin and Aurora got to come home on Saturday.  Madelyn came home Monday.  So my babies that were born at 31 weeks spent 25, 25, and 27 days in the NICU.  I find this quite incredible.  They all came home before they were 36 weeks.  I can attest to you that prayers were answered.  My whole entire pregnancy I prayed for healthy babies with a short NICU stay.   I couldn't have asked for healthier babies.

Last group picture all together before we took Gavin and Aurora home!

(Madelyn, Gavin, Aurora)

 Aurora giving Madelyn a pep-talk to get her home soon!

Gavin & Aurora... Ps these two were head to head in my belly.  

I think it's quite funny they're coming home together!

We're all home and HAPPY!!!

Week 2 and 3 baby stats!

Week 2 

Gavin weighs 4.14 and is in an open crib!  This means that he's able to regulate his own body temperature on his own without losing weight.  You burn more calories when you're cold so it's very important for babies to keep gaining weight while trying to stay warm.  He's doing a fantastic job!

My handsome little man!

Madelyn weighs 4.5 and is doing wonderful.  They are weaning her to an open crib by slowly turning down the heat in her bed.  So far she's doing a great job.  Hopefully within the next couple days she'll join her brother in a big girl crib!

Sweet little Madelyn!

Aurora weighs 4.2 and is trying to catch up to her brother and sister.  She's our tiny one who was smashed underneath her brother and sister while they took all the food.  So she needs to gain some weight before she can try to regulate her own temperature.  She's doing amazing though!

Adorable little Aurora!

All three babies are completely off oxygen and just have their feeding tubes.  They're getting the breast milk that I pump in their tubes and love it. :)  We also started bottle feeds this week.  Bottle feeds start out super slow.  Babies don't know how to coordinate breath, suck, and swallow until 34 weeks.  The day they turned 34 weeks we hit the ground running.  They start out at one bottle a day that they have to finish in 30 mins.  Once they finish one bottle a day they move to two bottles a day... etc. None of the babies finished their bottles the first couple days, but they have the technique down.  It just wears them out and they end up falling asleep. Everyday they're getting a little stronger and drinking a little more!

So proud of our little ones.  They're doing so great!  We couldn't have dreamed of more healthy, happy babies.

Week 3

Everyone is in an open crib!! Happy day!

Gavin weighs 5.5, Madelyn weighs 4.10, and Aurora weighs 4.8!

Little Miss Aurora has surprised us all and is taking her bottle feeds like a CHAMP!  She's up to all bottle feeds now.  So exciting!  Gavin is up to 6 bottles a day and is right behind her.  Our little Madelyn is struggling and isn't as coordinated as her brother and sister.  (Sorry girl, you probably got that from me!)  She is still at one bottle a day because she isn't finishing them.  Hopefully she'll start improving.

What's next?  Aurora just needs to keep gaining weight as she's on all bottles.  Again, it takes a lot of work out of them so they can't be burning too many calories.  After she proves she can handle it then she gets to come home.  Before they come home they need to pass the car seat test.  Their heart rate and oxygen cannot drop while in the car seat... We'll see if they can do it.  Hopefully Aurora and Gavin will be coming home in just a week or so!

Their first bottles...

Aurora

Gavin

Madelyn