I
know I'm a day late but I still want to wish all my mummy readers the
most amazing mothers day, I hope you all had a lovely time with your
families. I also want to wish all absent mummies who like mine are sadly
not with us today a wonderful day too! Mum’s are such special people,
and for my mum in particular; thank you for being such an incredible
human being, we didn’t always see eye to eye but your strength and
courage has stuck with me over the last 14 years and made me the person I
am today. I LOVE YOU MUM! I felt
super special being mum to my darling Luke and my four stars yesterday. I was even lucky enough to receive a card from each of my boys!
I'm embarrassed to say another week has gone by and I still haven’t found the time to update you properly on the difficult week I had physically following the birth of my stars or of their day by day progress since being in NICU. Every day I have woken up with the best intentions to write a post but by the time I have made it home from hospital the only thing I can think about is food and sleep (in between constant expressing!). I’ve decided that I’m a bit behind now so instead of trying to play catch up I am going to carry on from where we are now. If I ever do find the time I’ll fill you in on the bits that we’ve missed.
So what are the boys up to now, well...
They are all now out of Intensive Care and have been moved up to High Dependency which is amazing! All the arterial lines, ventilation and Cpap have been removed and all that is left are their feeding tubes. Reu is still on a little Cpap which he should hopefully come off soon. I can at last see their little faces and look into their eyes properly. To be very honest I found it difficult to bond with them in the first week or so when they were hooked up to so many machines and wires, but that’s definitely not the case now! My love for all four of them is coming out in gallons every time I look at them, hold them or touch their tiny little hands and feet. Zac and Josh are most certainly identical (Josh luckily has a small birth mark on the side of his head), Reu looks uncannily similar to Josh and Zac and I almost wonder if he could also be an identical to them (only time will tell) However Sam looks completely different with very dark hair and a different shape face altogether.
I have been an expressing machine since their birth and have managed to keep up with the demand of their supply to date with some left over too! Sam and Josh are now on 30mls every 3 hrs and Reu and Zac are on 20mls every 2 hrs, they’ll soon move up to the 30mls. They are all back to their birth weights (for those of you who don’t know babies loose weight when their born) and putting on a decent amount of weight every day. They are all showing signs of sucking so we have decided to start introducing some time on the breast. At first it will just be giving them an idea of what supposed to happen, then gradually they may be interested in actually latching on for a suckle (this will be just after I have expressed so as not to shock them with the flow of milk) and finally when they are ready we can try it for real, a while off yet, but very exciting none the less.
I'm embarrassed to say another week has gone by and I still haven’t found the time to update you properly on the difficult week I had physically following the birth of my stars or of their day by day progress since being in NICU. Every day I have woken up with the best intentions to write a post but by the time I have made it home from hospital the only thing I can think about is food and sleep (in between constant expressing!). I’ve decided that I’m a bit behind now so instead of trying to play catch up I am going to carry on from where we are now. If I ever do find the time I’ll fill you in on the bits that we’ve missed.
So what are the boys up to now, well...
They are all now out of Intensive Care and have been moved up to High Dependency which is amazing! All the arterial lines, ventilation and Cpap have been removed and all that is left are their feeding tubes. Reu is still on a little Cpap which he should hopefully come off soon. I can at last see their little faces and look into their eyes properly. To be very honest I found it difficult to bond with them in the first week or so when they were hooked up to so many machines and wires, but that’s definitely not the case now! My love for all four of them is coming out in gallons every time I look at them, hold them or touch their tiny little hands and feet. Zac and Josh are most certainly identical (Josh luckily has a small birth mark on the side of his head), Reu looks uncannily similar to Josh and Zac and I almost wonder if he could also be an identical to them (only time will tell) However Sam looks completely different with very dark hair and a different shape face altogether.
I have been an expressing machine since their birth and have managed to keep up with the demand of their supply to date with some left over too! Sam and Josh are now on 30mls every 3 hrs and Reu and Zac are on 20mls every 2 hrs, they’ll soon move up to the 30mls. They are all back to their birth weights (for those of you who don’t know babies loose weight when their born) and putting on a decent amount of weight every day. They are all showing signs of sucking so we have decided to start introducing some time on the breast. At first it will just be giving them an idea of what supposed to happen, then gradually they may be interested in actually latching on for a suckle (this will be just after I have expressed so as not to shock them with the flow of milk) and finally when they are ready we can try it for real, a while off yet, but very exciting none the less.
It’s
completely amazing to think that they would only be 32 weeks today if they
were still inside me! especially when I can really see that they are
starting to take notice of whats happening around them when they are
awake. When I sing and talk to them their eyes are definitely trying to
focus in in the direction the sounds are coming from. Their little
personalities are very apparent too! Sam although being the youngest is
definitely the most boisterous, he is very strong and is constantly
moving around his incubator, even trying to escape on occasions (see pic
below)
Here are some recent pics
Here are some recent pics
Reu
Zac
Josh
Sam
Sam having done a full 360, trying to escape from his incubator
Josh & Zac together again, sharing an incubator
Sam & Reu sharing an incubator which didn't last long as Sam was being a bully
My first cuddle with Sam days after they'd been born
Hi Emma...so glad to read your updates...i was wondering how you were after the birth of your four gorgeous little stars.They are looking great and also you look amazing too.
ReplyDeleteAs I said before, my prayers are always with you..may God gives you and your family a lot of strength in order to get through this tough time.
take care sweety and keep us updated
WOW. Just Amazing! I think i type that everytime i comment:) Your Stars are doing so well. You must be the proudest Mummy ever. Well done Emma xxx
ReplyDeleteHi,I have been keeping up with your posts over the past few weeks and caught up on your full blog initially when I heard about your amazing story. It has been inspirational to read as I am expecting triplets and now in my 29 week!!! Like you it was a spontaneous conception and with 2 girls already who are just 3 & 5 my mind is a mixture of feelings & emotions! Your boys are do gorgeous and it has made me so excited to meet our new family members,we don't know what sexes they are. Reading your blog is amazing as how you have felt at times is like your describing me! I had my youngest at st michaels due to anticipated problem but all was well, but I have to say the staff were amazing and very supportive. I'm sorry for waffling, just wanted to say congratulations to you all,I live in Somerset do really not far from you! Take care and I can't wait to read more of your wonderful story. Georgie,x
ReplyDeleteStop making me cry!! They are such little smashers and you're doing just so amazingly well, so appreciative of your updates as I can't imagine where you find the strength. You're a remarkable lady indeed. So very interesting about Sam being so different and their personalities shining through already! I tell everyone to read your blog as it's so fascinating and emotional. Please please make sure you look after yourself and will be thinking of you. Elbo x
DeleteCongrats Emma, on the birth of your quads, how amazingly well they are all doing. My little girl was born at 1lb 7oz 15 months ago and stayed in bristol and three other hospitals too! Even when your own children are doing well, bristol NICU is a tough place to be so sending you huge hugs xx
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your amazing quads Emma! I am from Australia and am 11 weeks with spontaneous triplets - a big surprise!
ReplyDeleteI have just gone back and read your entire blog. Wow. Your honesty throughout was beautiful and your detail of your journey super helpful!
I completely get what you mean about no contact from the hospital - my doctor will not even refer me until I'm 12 weeks. I feel stuck and alone and am doing loads of research into nutrition.
Can't wait to follow your boys' journey and watch them grow.
Chenoa