How we survive the night

I feel like we are on Lost, but instead of punching numbers into a computer every 108 minutes we are doing our own event and sequence of tasks to avoid destruction. We call what happens every 3 hours an event, which includes feeding, burping, diapering, changing, wrapping, and putting them back to sleep. Since it's more than just a feeding we call it an event. We each have our parts to play and in our sleepless daze have even named some of the positions.

Bottle Maker, wakes up and makes the bottles, caps them, and marks them for the babies. When it comes time to feed, we rotate just like we do with the positions, one person will feed 2 babies, burp 2, and then process one, the other will feed and burp one and process 2. This usually has us finishing in about 20 minutes most events. The bottle maker gets to sleep soundly because the other person that didn't make the bottles are "on call". The "on call" person handles any issues between feedings (lost passy, arms free of wrapping, or just a need to do a quick rock and drop).

This is our grand plan and it works, we have our high maintenance child (Harper) that thinks she needs to eat 30 minutes early, but she has to wait. Everyone eats together if they want it or not so everyone stays on target. Sophia eats like a champ and sucks it down, and Emma thinks that she should get to take an hour to eat.

2 week check up-
Harper 6.65 18in
Sophia 7.3 19in
Emma 6.11 19in

Birth Part 2

After we had pictures of Danielle, Emma, and I done, I was told to get up and go to the nursery with the babies. I carried Emma from the OR to the nursery, Dr. Lipscomb walking with me telling me that this is how it’s suppose to be (walking the baby to the nursery). I walked into the nursery all eyes on me as I walk with the last of the Vereze triplets and I place her into the warmer. There was so much activity swirling around in that room. I just stood there and watched, not knowing where to look since there was more than just one to pay attention too. Each of the doctors were busy working, nurses were writing down orders and stats, respiratory was standing by each baby, and alarms were flashing and going off. It’s very overwhelming for one baby to go though that, but multiply that by three and it’s almost unbearable, and there is nothing you can do but stand back and trust the team that you have put together. It was scary to even touch them, they are so small and a room full of people are watching you and you don’t want to make a mistake. I took a deep breath and went from baby to baby checking in, getting reports, asking questions, giving them a quick pat on the back, taking a quick picture for the family and moving on to the next one. In the nursery I was told that Harper had a true knot in her cord, Sophia was in distress and her placenta was starting to come apart, and Emma was perfect. I was told by all the doctors that if it wasn't set up for them to be delivered today, they would have came anyways. The babies were all doing so well, Sophia needed some oxygen, all the babies were on monitors and IV fluids, but doing fantastic.

About 30 minutes after they were born and they were doing good, I left to update the family. When I saw them I just broke down, I couldn't hold it in we just had three babies and they were all perfect. After showing off pictures I went back to the nursery and soon after they opened the windows and the viewing area was open for the public. After the doctors were finished working on the babies I was allowed to bring in a grandparent so we brought in my mom and then Danielle’s. I think they fell in love instantly. It’s pretty hard not too since they are so cute. About an hour after birth Dr. Cutler and Dr. Alexander walked in heads held high, and all smiles, Danielle had done a great job during surgery and they were able to save her uterus. After that report it was like there was a collective sigh of relief from the hospital. I was then led out of the nursery to ring the bell three times (TMC has a button you push when a baby is born, it plays music throughout the hospital) we were officially the talk of the hospital. (I really wish I would have gotten a picture of video of Captain Cutler's A Team swagger walking in).

Emma 

Harper

Harper

Sophia

Your passport to the nursery

I left to check in on Danielle, who was finally awake in recovery and doing well, in high spirits and ready to see the babies. I showed her all the pictures I could and then went back to face time and show them off to their momma. Shortly after we were transported back to her room, our home away from home 318. On the way we went by the nursery viewing area, kicking out, what was the start of the constant crowd of people looking at awe of our babies and what we were able to accomplish. After Danielle was settled back in, the hospital’s PR person came to ask me some questions about the triplets, take some pictures, and see if it was ok if they do a press release and me do an interview with the media. I was really in shock, I didn't think that this would be something they would put on the news. Danielle refused to be on camera, so she left it to me.

It was so strange walking around the hospital and everyone knowing and saying  “there is that triplet dad” from the cafeteria, people waiting in the lobby, and other people working at the hospital. It all was surreal  and again strange that so many people would care. Around 1am the next day we were able to get Danielle up out of bed and into a wheel chair to see the triplets for the 1st time. You could see the joy and love on Danielle’s face with a slight hint of greed. I say greed because I know she was thinking in her head “OMG these are all MINE!”. If you know Danielle then you know of her great love of all things baby. She was in heaven. Her dream of four daughters at last accomplished.

I know I left some things out, but it was an overwhelming day with so many things going on at once it is hard to remember everything. I know that every doctor I spoke with and nurse had one thing they kept saying to me “this wasn't suppose to happen”. They were in shock and so happy that everything went off without a hitch. They couldn't believe that they were doing so well. It was a miracle!

This never would have happened without the nurses and doctors at Texoma Medical Center. I can’t sing their praises enough. They supported us, encouraged us, pushed us, and cared for us like family. We really felt like these people were invested personally into the care and well being of our children. We couldn't be happier  and more impressed with the care we received and so happy with our choice to have our triplets there. Four days later Danielle was discharged, babies had to stay, and it really felt like we were leaving family. All of our doctors, were fantastic and really went along with the hospital and nurses above and beyond, we are forever indebted to this group of people.

More to come from life from the nursery, and homecoming.

http://heralddemocrat.com/sections/news/local/blog-birth-denison-couple-welcomes-three-babies.html

Harper Ann Vereze

Emma Claire Vereze

Sophia Jane Vereze

Georgia looking at her sisters

Danielle's Drive By

Danielle's 1st View of the Babies

Harper and Emma (1st time we got to hold them (3 days later)

Harper and Emma (1st time we got to hold them (3 days later)

Complete Family (holding Sophia for the 1st time, a week later)

3 Days Post Triplets

What you collect staying in the hospital for 2 weeks

Sophia

Birth Story Part 1

I have been replaying the birth story over and over in my head so I don’t forget it and now when I try to start writing this I’m drawing a blank! Well let’s start the night before, Georgia went to my mom’s house to spend the night, everyone was given 6:30 show up time and we tried to go to sleep. The nurses aids were given a do not disturb order until 5am when they would move us over to labor and delivery. So there we lie Danielle and I in the room trying to sleep but way to nervous, not saying anything, just both pretending to sleep and checking Facebook for entertainment. At 5 or 5:30 there was a knock on the door and a team of happy nurses came in asked if she was ready to go, and she was gone. My task was to get ready, dressed, and my thoughts together and go over to 324 and wait with Danielle. I just sat there, shaking, trying to pull it all together so I could be there for Danielle. It took me 30 minutes before I was able to move. I got ready and went off to labor and delivery to see Danielle already hooked up and doing one last non-stress test on the babies, 3 IV started and a room full of people. Everyone that was going to be in the OR or nursery came by to introduce themselves and tell us that it was all going to be ok and how excited and ready everyone was. Georgia came with my mom to visit Danielle before she went back, she gave her a kiss and then she was off. Georgia has really had a very hard time with all of this and really hates being at the hospital, so mom and Georgia went to wait in the waiting room with the rest of the family, Danielle’s mom wanted to wait in the room and greet Danielle when she came out of surgery. Dr. Lipscomb popped in to ask how we were doing and check on us before we went back, also letting us know that they were ready and excited. Anesthesia was coming in and out getting her ready to go, one of Danielle’s blood tests showed her blood count was low so before surgery even started she would need a least one bag of blood. Dr. Cutler came in and stayed for awhile talking to us and trying to put us at ease. This surgery wasn’t going to be easy and we were told there was a 75% chance that Danielle would have to have a  hysterectomy, just another concern on mind. I got dressed in my snug paper scrubs (I’m talking very snug, it looked like I was painted blue) took a few last minute pictures and then they came to take Danielle. I kissed her goodbye and started the what I thought was the longest wait of my life. There was a huge knot in my throat the whole time, I just stared at the ground and prayed that everything would be ok. Danielle’s mom and granny were talking to me trying to make me take my mind off of things but I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of my heart pumping. A few minutes later the nursing director came and told me it was time, so I walked back to the OR my face got hot it seemed like I was floating down to the room, as I turned the corner I see 5-7 people standing outside the OR, I walk in and the room is packed with people. They were already started when I walked in, seeing some familiar nurses and doctors, I took my chair. In the movies it seems like it’s just a few minutes before babies are out, but it took about 15-20 minutes before the babies came. (My times may be off I really had no concept of time that day). Danielle was very nervous and scared, but she did a fantastic job staying calm and focusing on other things.

Next parts are a little graphic-

I could hear some chatter from the OB’s, and as I look up I see blood splatter on Dr. Alexander’s face, and an instant I was screaming in my head “nope, stop what you are doing, we are just going to wait and do this later in Dallas” but I was frozen and trying not to let Danielle see the expression on my face. Half of it may have been hid by my mask but this women knows my expressions with or without so I had to calm down and get back to my happy place. I took a video and according to the chatter, at 8:01am the “uterus was open” and 8:02 “A is out”, I stopped breathing scared that I wouldn’t be able to hear her scream, a few seconds later she was screaming and I was crying. He didn’t hold up the babies for us to see them the doctors and nurses grabbed her and started working on her right away. Normally this would be when the dad would leave to be with babies and when you can breathe easy, but we weren’t close to being done. Officially B was out at 8:02 as well, I think it was closer to the 8:03 mark but the official time was 8:02. Sophia wasn’t crying , however the doctors didn’t seem to be concerned they were calmly working on her and giving her a little oxygen and cleaning her up. 8:03 “3rd one is out” and she was screaming so finally I was able to breathe. Though this the nurses were giving us updates about how small they were, how cute, bald, and that they were doing good. Now came the important part for the OB getting Danielle’s uterus to go back to normal. They started working very quickly and the mood changed, they had me get up to see Emma and as I was getting up to walk over to where the warmer was I looked over and saw something I wasn’t suppose to. Seeing Danielle open on the table was more than I could handle and I just started to walk back when they put small, beautiful, and sweet Emma in my arms. My sprits lifted instantly as I was able to take her over to Danielle for her 1st kiss and picture. After that I was taken out of the OR and walked with Emma in my arms to the nursery. As babies were being born, bracelets were being added to my arm and put on Danielle. “Triplet A Female 0802” “Triplet B Female 0802” and “Triplet C Female 0803”.

Part 2 will be posted later!  

Last Small Family Picture

Dr. Lipscomb coming to check in

TIGHT

Danielle going back

Waiting

C-Section

Few Seconds Old

Emma and I 

1st Kiss with Emma

Emma, Mom, and Dad

Quick Update

Just a quick note on what's going on since I'm still working on writing the birth story (very long)! Danielle was sent home Monday, babies they are thinking will stay until the 37 week mark. Sophia was on oxygen for about 12 hours and both Harper and Emma have been on room air the whole time. All IVs are out and Harper and Emma are in cribs and Sophia is about a day behind. Feeding tubes were put in today because sometimes they get too tried eating to the point that they need to. They have had to use it once and the rest of the feedings have been without.

Sorry if there are typos writing this on my phone isn't very easy! Birth story will be more detailed.

Josh and Danielle

Happy Birthday!

Danielle, Georgia, and I are so excited to announce the birth of our newest members of our family!
Harper 8:02am 5Lb. 8oz
Sophia 8:03 am 6Lb. 0oz
Emma. 8:04am 5 Lb. 9oz
All the babies are perfect and on room air! Danielle is doing amazing!

It's show time!

Today is the day wish us luck!

The Final Compromise

Wow what a day! It's really been a whirlwind of ultimatums, deadlines, statistics, threats, and compromise. So much has happened today that I don't even want to rehash it all over again, so I will just talk about the final outcome.

Our C-Section that was on the books for the 19th is now moved up to the 14th which is 35 weeks on the day if we agree to continue to take the terbutaline to stop contractions until then. See folks compromise, the hospital and doctors can rest assured that we will make it to the recommend mark, and we get to shave off 4 days of misery. Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital is on standby just in case something happens and the babies need to go, all equipment is here, and all the senior nurses will be back from training so we are good to go!

Last update full update before we send out the birth story!

Take the shots or take a trip!

This morning Danielle woke up in pain, and overall discomfort, so the charge nurse gave her a massage to try and help ease some of the tension. During and after she was having light contractions pretty frequently so they started doing a non-stress test to watch everything. About that time the contractions started getting regular and strong, strong enough that she wanted pain medication to help with the pain. Doctor was called medication ordered, extra fluids ordered and a cervix check ordered. When they had to lay Danielle down to check her cervix she was in so much pain and having such a hard time breathing that they had to give her oxygen and pain medication. Doctor was told to come in since they were not able to check and because of her pain level and oxygen. Cutler checked and the Harpers head is right there but the cervix is still closed. Danielle is finished, done, at the end of her rope, and nothing is going to make that any better. Cutler said if it were up to him he would have delivered the babies today, however Lipscomb said that if we need to deliver before 35 weeks we needed to be sent to Dallas.

So at this point it feels like we are backed Into a corner: Terbutaline or go to Plano! We never wanted to have any shots at this point to stop labor, if Danielle's body is saying to go then we feel like it's time to go! We didn't want to deliver in Plano/Dallas it's again not part of our birth plan, but with us being 4 days away from 35 weeks we chose the lessor of the 2 plans we had to pick from and took 2 rounds of terbutaline. Danielle did well, but now feels horrible. Tomorrow Cutler is going to talk to Lipscomb about trying to move the date to Wednesday, but we have already been told that he more than likely will not go for that since a lot of the nurses will be out of town and it's 1-2 days before the 35 magical week. We fully understand each day is important but you have to at some point weigh the mom's well being with what's going to be the best outcome.

So hopefully we can get some flexibly tomorrow otherwise there is a good chance Danielle will just walk out and wait at home until her water breaks on it's own!

34 Weeks

34 Weeks!

Go on Bed Rest, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00!

On Monday we were officially grounded by Dr. Cutler, I frankly was surprised that we made it to this point, but with Danielle’s cervix of steal and Cutler’s un-willingness to move up the C-Section we are making it…for now. Monday morning as I was on my way out of town to visit family that we don’t get to see enough, Danielle called to say that she told Cutler that it was time, and so Monday started our 21 day journey to doubling our family. 16 days of bed rest, followed by 5 days post c-section recovery, so three weeks in the hospital! So far during this week there have been a few issues pop up, Tuesday Danielle was having contractions, so they were watching those very closely however, it wasn’t “progressing” anything so it was fine.

Yesterday, Danielle had an ultrasound and the babies have all each gained 10 oz in 10 days, these kids are going to be big! Emma is 1 oz away from being 6 pounds, and the tech said it looked like Sophia had hair and was waving her hands though it! Harper is going to be our mystery, we haven’t seen her in months and she is really hard to get any stats on since she is so low. Emma has also changed positions from being head down to across the other babies some how, I don’t know how any of them have any room to move at all! Hospital has been getting everything ready for us and ordering equipment and putting the finishing touches on the war plan with all the doctors and nurses. Everyone is on call just in-case Danielle goes into labor before our 9/19 deadline.

Today, Danielle got her 1^st round of steroid shots to help develop the babies’ lungs just in case they want to come earlier than our D Day. The cut off is 34 weeks, which is tomorrow but it can’t hurt to get them and be ready for anything!  

The excitement is in the air people!

Oh and thank you to everyone for visiting and praying for our family, we really do appreciate it more than we will ever be able to show!

32 Weeks

Went to Dr. Zaretsky’s appointment today, found out that this would be the last time that we would be seeing him since we are now in the “delivery zone”, as usual everything is perfect with the babies; all are growing very, very well. Dr. Zarestsky said that he would see us next time we are having triplets and sent us on our way! He is releasing us to Cutler for the rest of the pregnancy and at this point if he were needed then it would just make more sense to take the babies. Dr. Zarestsky didn’t recommend any bed rest or hospitalization to us, however we are seeing Dr. Cutler tomorrow, so that may change.

On Monday we saw Cutler, we talked about our C-Section date on 9/19, I finally told him how uncomfortable and how much pain she was in so he was aware (which he wasn’t). He basically said that whenever we wanted to go and stay in the hospital he would put us there. She is miserable and I really don’t know how much longer she can hold out. Her blood pressure seems to be doing better, but she has developed cholestasis(http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/cholestasispregnancy.html), which is driving her crazy. After the appointment today we text Cutler and begged for him to move up the C-Section a week, so we will see what he says tomorrow. I'm pretty sure Danielle is going to beg to be delivered I think she has earned her multiples badge and she has done a great job getting these babies to weight. Besides if we wait until the 19^th these will be 6 pounders, and she is already is major pain with 15+ pounds of baby and 15 pounds of baby “stuff”; I have to literally have to pick up Danielle's belly to help her turn over in bed, it's crazy!

There was a really good 3D picture of Sophia but it didn't print and it appears that the recording started after they did the picture, but here are the weights of our VERY BIG TRIPLET GIRLS-

Harper- 4lb15oz (She was impossible to get she is so low, so this number is off)

Sophia- 5lb3oz

Emma- 5lb5oz

On Average Triplets are born at 32 weeks and 3 pounds, so we are already ahead of both!

31 Weeks Picture and Monitoring

Danielle had her non-stress test and BP monitoring yesterday and an ultrasound on her legs to check for clots. While Danielle was doing that I took Georgia “I can’t sit still for 2 seconds” Vereze to Chucky Cheese for some running around fun and pizza. They said everything was fine, BP was a little high but I think with us gone Danielle can relax so it goes down! Waiting for some results to come in tomorrow and then we are set for our 32 week appointment with Dr. C on Monday.

31 Weeks!