The Great Baby Heist....

This photo shows Ginger's favorite ice in the whole world: crunchy hospital ice. She took a large cup of it with her as her final souvenir of her sojourn there.

After 116 days of the hospital we are home! Starting early in the morning on Thursday, July 9th, Ginger started telling all the NICU staff that her babies were going home that day. Her justification was that they had all taken their feedings orally for over 24 hours, and were otherwise doing well. Every time she saw anyone, she just happily announced that "today was the day." Essentially, she managed everyone's expectations to meet her requirements. And, sure enough, at about 1:00 PM, Grace, Joel, and Ella were all discharged... AT THE SAME TIME ON THE SAME DAY. This is a rare and improbable occurence for multiples to be similar enough in their development to be able to be discharged simultaneously. A true testament to the power of prayer! I had left work early in anticipation of the jail break, and was at home when Ginger pulled into our driveway honking and smiling.

This photo shows Grace and Ella safely ensconced in their car seats...they really tolerated the ride home quite well.

To acknowledge his Baby-B-hood, Joel was the privileged baby who got to ride home in the 2nd row captain's chair. Our van has L.A.T.C.H. in the second and third row seats, which makes car seat installation and removal a breeze.

We extricated our children from the minivan and lined them up for a group photo. From left-to-right: Joel, Grace, and Ella.


Our celebration lasted...oh...about 2 minutes. Then, the babies had to be fed...and changed...and put to bed...and everything unpacked...and then repeat...

The first two days and 1/2 days were very difficult. Ginger and I had only intermittent sleep because the babies were not feeding well. They are on a schedule which includes 8 feedings per day (which is normal for infants their age). This equates to feedings once every 3 hours. During those first two days, many of the feeding windows extended close to 2 hours...one can easily calculate that this meant that there was only 1 hour of down time before the cycle repeated. Along with that, Ginger was going on almost 48 hours of no sleep...in order to instigate the escape from the NICU, she made herself available at all hours for the two days previous to ensure that the babies got as many oral feedings as possible. She was so tired.

The cats decided to commemorate the babies' homecoming by strategically depositing hairballs on the carpet upstairs...insult to injury. The kitten almost got put on E-Bay.

I eventually became so exhausted and stressed that I was physically ill and hardly able to stand. Ginger was so kind and took care of me, even when she was in a state of walking sleep.

The Happy Conclusion

Fortunately, things did get better. The members of our church congregation had heard through the Facebook grapevine that our little ones had arrived home, and members of the Relief Society (the womens' organization in each congregation) worked together to arrange to bring us dinner. The first evening, Ginger and I were simply so grateful for the gesture and for the delicious food, that we cried tears of gratitude. My brother and my parents have come over to assist with feedings (which go more than twice as quickly with two persons present), so that either Ginger or I could get a nap or take care of ourselves. We know that many of you have said prayers on our behalf and have expressed support...please know that we deeply appreciate this. And that it is WORKING.

Our babies will hit 0 days adjusted age on their original due date of August 2nd (I call them my "imaginary babies", because they shouldn't even really exist right now :o) My mom has submitted the paperwork and been preliminarily approved for 6 weeks of FMLA beginning this Sunday (the 19th). She has accrued enough sick leave so that she can supplement the time off and still collect a regular paycheck. This will allow me to return to work and to still be certain that Ginger has help and relief during the days.

My dad is great with the children and has been present for 3 feedings now (with more planned) and supervised the babies during an hour of tummy-time...Grace is actually able to lift her head for brief periods of time and shows an excellent energy level!

We are hoping that--as their due date comes and goes--they will become stronger feeders...this will allow us to shorten the feeding windows and eventually begin to transition them to sleeping through the night. Today (Monday) we had our first pediatrician appointment in Elk River. Our doctor told us that babies fed with breast milk generally hit the "sleep through the night" mark at between 2 and 6 months of age, with 4 months being the midpoint. Honestly, we are just excited to be able to eliminate even one feeding from the overnight schedule...and we are hopeful that we may be able to do this within 2 months. That, coupled with better feeding, will really allow us to have a good rhythm.

This photo represents the good side of having our little ones home: they're all together again, wireless, healthy, and sleeping peacefully. One final thank you to all of you for being so wonderful and cheering us on during our continuing journey of parenthood.

Flashback to the NICU

This picture is too cute not to post: Grace having a bath in the NICU. The little blue bin she's in measures about 11 x 18 inches.