Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Some random pics!

1- mom and Addison 2 - mom, dad, uncle kyle and auntie kara after putting up the Christmas tree! 3 - Soon to be Auntie Jody and Uncle Shane with A - H - E 4 - Dad and Emily 5 - The alphabet (triplet style) :)





Tuesday, November 27, 2007

THANK YOU!

What an exceptionally GREAT Thanksgiving we had this year. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful Ryan and I feel right now. We thank God EVERY day for choosing to share Addison, Emily, and Hailey with us. We're so thankful for so many things this year that it really is overwhelming! We cannot believe the generosity and love and prayers that we have felt through this whole journey and we just wanted to thank all of YOU for all that you have done for us. We feel so incredibly blessed and our prayer is that somehow, in some way, we can be a blessing to all of you some day. We hope to raise our girls to be a blessing to tons of people just like YOU have all been to us. THANK YOU so much for all the prayers, cards, gift cards, cute baby clothes, hugs, meals, cookies, visits, calls, emails, and help that you've already given to us. We really don't even know how to express how thankful we are. We would not be doing as well as we all are if it weren't for the love and prayers that you have given to us. We praise God for you all of the time!
We had a great week last week since my brother and sister came out for a visit. And again, we have so much to be thankful for! On Friday, we took all 3 girls in to the pediatrician because Addison had thrush, Hailey had puked, and Emily had her eye exam done. We are thankful that Addison's thrush is just a mild case and that it hasn't spread to the other girls. Hailey hasn't thrown up again...and her poop came back negative (no blood!) for the first time in a month! Yay! :) We still need to keep an eye on it but we were so pumped about that! And Emily's eye exam came back normal so they are all good to go on their eye exams for another year. WOOHOO! :) What else - the girls are all gaining weight. As of last Friday, Addison weighed in at a whoppin' 5 lbs 15 oz!!! Emily - 4 lbs 14 oz!!! And Hailey - 4 lbs 11 oz! They are getting so big!
Ryan is off of work this week and then my mom comes for the month of December on Saturday. We can't wait! :) We're still getting about 4 - 6 hours of sleep depending on the night but I think this lack of sleep is making Ryan a little whacky. :) Last night, he woke up, stood by the side of our bed and was flipping the covers and sheets all around for some reason. I asked him what he was doing and he said he couldn't find Emily under the sheets. What??!!! He got back into bed cuz she was in her crib. Then, at 2 a.m., all babies were sound asleep but for some reason, Ryan jumped out of bed and started walking to their room. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to feed Hailey even though she was sound asleep and they weren't due to eat until 4 a.m. Oh man.. :)
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The pics below are Uncle Kyle and Auntie Kara with the girls....and then the first 4 generation picture with Great Grandpa Kuiper, Grandma Kathy, and Dad and the girls. :) And the last one is a picture of how we had to fit everyone in the "mini." :)


Monday, November 19, 2007

Say CHEESE!

Oh my goodness. I don't think we're ever going to be able to get a picture with all 3 girls smiling at the same time. :) The picture above (H-A-E) pretty much sums up our day yesterday. :) We had someone come over to take pictures of the girls and OHHH man did they hate having their picture taken. For about 2 hours straight it was constant screaming! They did NOT like being stuffed in Christmas stockings or having naked baby pictures taken - but who would, right? :) It was pretty funny actually trying to get them to all look in one direction AND not cry at the same time. We would put the nuks in their mouths to calm them down and then at the count of 3, yank them out in hopes that we could get one shot with them not crying. Oh boy. :) I hope some of them turn out though! :)
Ryan went back to work today so my mother in law is helping out today and then tomorrow Uncle Kyle and Auntie Kara come so they're very excited for that. Ryan's so funny - he keeps trying to come up with different theories on how to get them to sleep through the night. First he thought we needed to wrap them tighter in their blankets and keep their hands away from their faces. Then he thought they needed the ocean waves music on for background noise...and then last night was the best. He was putting them to bed and I went upstairs to find their bouncy seats actually IN their cribs. But, crazy thing is - it worked! The girls slept AMAZING last night in their bouncy seats in their cribs. :) I don't want them to get in the habit of that but what do you do when it works?! :)
This weekend I hit my wall. I was officially TIRED. I think I had been going on adrenaline for the past 2 weeks and then all of the sudden I just HAD to take a nap - lots of naps. :) I feel better now since they slept so great last night but I know I'll just need to start taking naps more often.
Well, it's about that time for the feeding to begin again. Have a great day!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

All is calm...

Hi! Thought I'd take a few seconds to update you all since the girls are sound asleep. :) We woke them all up and wanted them to "play" together for a while this afternoon but that was a bad idea. They all started screaming bloody murder AT THE SAME TIME and Ryan and I just looked at each other and laughed. We even got the video camera out since it felt like absolute chaos. :) But....they really don't do that that often. For the most part, they are great girls! They sleep a TON right now...and then they're each up for about a half an hour every 3-4 hours to eat. Hailey is still the peanut and needs to gain more weight. (She's supposed to gain an ounce a day but right now she's gaining 1/2 an ounce a day). But they all do very well bottle and breastfeeding. Addison still LOVESSSS her sleep. She could sleep for days...and she grunts all the time like she just wants to be heard. She's so patient when she has to wait to eat. Emily and Hailey are in a constant state of competition - first fighting for who was going to be the smallest...and now who can be the loudest when they cry. I'm sure they are going to be the outgoing/spunky ones. :) Emily and Hailey act like they don't want to miss out on anything. It takes them longer to fall asleep. Anyways - things are going great here at home. Ryan's been off of work all week which has been so nice.... We're having tons of fun just being with the girls at home and getting into the swing of things. I'm actually getting more sleep than I thought I would so far....but I'm sure that could change. :) Overall, we just LOVE being able to cuddle with them at home. Here's a couple pics!

All 3 Dooyema girls snug as a bug AT HOME! (Emily - Addison - Hailey)

Wrapping..

Here we have Hailey in a Q'doba burrito wrap...

and then we have Addison in an "amateur" attempt at a wrap.... :)

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Rocking Chair?

Morning! Just wondering if any of you who live around here happen to have a comfy rocking chair that you don't use very often. Ryan and I are wondering if we could borrow a chair from someone for a couple months. We have one rocking chair upstairs but with both of us feeding the girls in the middle of the night, Ryan ends up sitting on the floor. Just let me know if you wouldn't miss a chair for a couple months! Thanks a bunch!

- Thank you to everyone who offered us their rocking chair! We are all set now! Thanks so much!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

1st night!

Well, we made it through our first night with all 3 girls home! It was GREAT to have them all here....even IF it meant we were up all night! :) No - really they just woke up every 3 - 4 hours.. if one woke up, we woke them all up to keep them on the same schedule. I would feed one, then another, while Ryan would bottle feed the other one. I'm a little more worried about Ryan as he's not so sure how he's going to handle all of this "no sleeping" business. :)
So last night we went to pick up Hailey and we put all the girls in their fancy stroller and then we got to experience for the first time what it feels like to be in a parade. :) We walked out and TONS of people were looking at us and the girls and asking questions and you name it. We felt like we should have been waving and throwing candy out or something. :) I know our stroller is a definite stranger magnet! It was so great though to drive home with all of them. I'm not going to promise that I'll be updating this thing as often anymore as things are going to be a little crazy for a while. Seriously though - thanks to ALL of you for caring so much about their progress. We feel so incredibly blessed!
Pics below: 1 - The girls in their racecar stroller! :) 2 - Hailey in her carseat ready to go home. She barely fits in there. 3 - me snoozing with Emily and Addison :)



Friday, November 9, 2007

Full House!

Hailey is coming HOME today!!!! We are so excited! So now we got to experience 2 days of having one baby at home, 2 days with two babies...and now tonight will be the real challenge! It seems so unreal that we won't need to be going to the hospital every day and night any more. Our van just goes there on auto pilot. We actually will miss hanging out with the nurses though and all the help that they give. We will be getting a home health care nurse though to come and check their weights and possibly give them their monthly shots. So that'll be nice. We're still waiting to hear if Hailey needs to come home on a monitor or not ...but at least she's coming home! So, the girls were in the hosptial for 33 days, 35 days and 37 days. That's not too bad! We're so thankful that they're doing so well and that the "Dooyema 5" can be together again. :) And now that all 3 will be home, Ryan will take some time off of work...and then my brother and sister (the twins!) will come for Thanksgiving...and then my mom will come the month of December to help...and then my WHOLE family is coming the weeks around Christmas! Can't wait! I still shake my head some days and I can't believe we actually have TRIPLETS - 3 babies...crazy! It makes it more real to see them at home together and to know that Ryan and I are now completely in charge of them. Ahh! :) Addison and Emily did much better last night. ...they woke up "on cue" right before my alarm would go off so that's awesome. I'm usually up for an hour and a half each time I get up...but I feel more rested today! Well - better get in the shower while the little ones are sleeping. Have a GREAT weekend everyone! :) I know we will! :)

Thursday, November 8, 2007

2 down, 1 to go! :)

Emily is home now too!!! Addison only had 2 short days to herself with all of the attention....because Emily came home last night as well! Emily however, wasn't so sure of her new surroundings as she kept mom (and even dad!) awake most of the night. She has quite the lungs for being so little. :) I know I need to just get used to having 4 hours of sleep or less. Ahh! :) Addison came home weighing 5 lb 2 oz and Emily came home weighing 4 lb 2 oz!
Yesterday, all the girls had their eyes examined and Addison and Hailey's eyes look great but Emily's are still "immature" and need to be checked out again in 2 - 3 weeks. I guess it makes sense she since was the smallest at birth. It's funny that the girls are already demonstrating their uniqueness. Addison came home on a monitor - Emily didn't need to but Emily has a delay with her eyes. Then Hailey has the blood in her stool. :) And, we can definitely tell a difference in their cries already. :)
This morning I got to take Addison and Emily out to the pediatrician for their first appointment. I could carry the both of them in with no problem but it will get interesting once Hailey comes home! The pediatrician said they look great though! Hailey is hanging in there at the hospital. It was so hard to leave her there all by herself. But, she should be coming home this weekend sometime! Woohoo! :) Then the fun will REALLY begin! :)
The pics below: 1 - Our absolutely AMAZING primary NICU nurses Renee and Cathy with Hailey - Emily - and Addison. They are the BEST and the girls will for sure miss them!!!!! 2 & 3- Addison & Emily all strapped up in their carseats ready to go. 4 - Trying out their new bouncy seats...AT HOME! :)




Yay! I'm home!



Yay! I'm home! :) Addison was very excited to come home on Monday night. She did great too! Up every 3 -4 hours...not too bad! :)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Addison is HOME!

Morning! Just wanted to let you all know that our little Addison made it home last night around 8pm! It's so fun having a baby in our house! :) She looks so cute in her little bouncy seat and I love just being able to hold her in OUR home! :) We gave her a tour last night...and I think she's going to like her new surroundings. :) She eats every 3 to 4 hours and did great last night! She did however, have to come home on a monitor. For those who don't know, the monitor "monitors" her heart rate and her breathing and anytime her heart goes too fast or too slow or if she holds her breath longer than 20 seconds, then the loudest alarm in the world will sound. We wish she didn't have to come home on one because you have to have her "plugged in" anytime she's not being held...like even in the car and stuff...but at the same time, it's nice knowing that she's okay when she's down the hall in her crib and everything. So, now it's back to the hospital to visit her sisters! :) Emily is just about ready to come home as well - she's on the trend event right now to see if she needs a monitor. They'll download that info on Wed. and then she can either come home Wed or Thursday! AHH! :) Everything is going fast now! :) Hailey is still catching up in weight and her stools STILL need to clear up. Please pray for her that her stools stop showing signs of blood! It will be hard to have 2 girls home and leave poor Hailey all alone in the hospital!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Happy 1 month Birthday to Addison, Emily and Hailey!

Has it already been 1 month since we became parents? Wow - can't believe how the month of October FLEW by. The girls have already changed so much! No more breathing help, no feeding tubes, we can hold them...chubbier cheeks, etc. Amazing how much can change in 1 month. Our big news over here now is that Emily is no longer our little peanut! She won the race against Hailey and is now 4 lbs! She is in a big girl crib like her older sister Addison! Yea Emily! Hailey's not far behind though...as she only needs to gain 25 grams before getting in a big girl crib as well! :)
And, Miss Addison is now pretty much scheduled to come home on MONDAY!!!!! Woohoo! Last week, she was taken off of her Zantac that helps her spits and then was put on the trend event that checks to see if she needs to go home on a monitor or not. Well, once off the Zantac, she started spitting again which makes her hold her breath and then sets off alarms. So, the trend event came back saying she needed to go home on a monitor even though she hasn't had alarms in FOREVER. So, the Docs want to do a 're -run.' We'll find out how she does on Monday and then she'll come home with or without a monitor! We're so excited for her to BE HERE!!! So, Ryan and I are trying to enjoy our last weekend EVER without little kiddos at home. :)
Nothing is new with Hailey - we're just still waiting for her stools to completely clear up. Hopefully the next pics we put on here will be pics of Addison COMING HOME! :)