11 Weeks

Yesterday, Monday, October 3, 2011, we have been out of the NICU for eleven weeks!  We have  been out of the NICU now longer than we were in it!  The boys are 21 weeks old and growing like weeds!  Next Monday they will be 5 months old.

About two weeks ago we went to see the pediatrician for our 4-month check up.  The visit went really good.  The boys are really growing.  The doctor told us that we could start giving them rice cereal at least once a day.  Brayson at this appointment weighed 14lbs 3oz; Emerson weighed 12lbs 13oz; and the Coopster weighed 12lbs 6oz.  Like I said. they are growing like  weeds!  After two weeks of feeding them the cereal once a day, we have now started feeding them cereal twice a day.  Once in the morning and once in the evening.  It took me a while to get use to feeding them through a bottle; now I have to feed them with a spoon.  This is very difficult for me, but Jill is doing it like a pro!  Actually tonight was my first full feeding.  I fed Cooper and managed not to get it all over the place.  We now have all of our high chairs. and the boys eat their cereal sittingin them.  Another good thing about the doctor's appointment is they have been on apnea monitors since we got home to tell us if one quits breathing.  These things are a nightmare like I mentioned in our last post.  Well, Dr. Siddiqui told us that we could take them off of them if we felt comfortable with it!  So we have been taking them off during the day.

Since I last made a post we have now hired a nanny to come to take care of them when Jill goes back to work.  Well, after a thorough search, we finally found one that we felt comfortable with.  Guess what her name is?  That's right: Jill!  We have two Jills.  We have a Mommy Jill and a Nanny Jill.  I asked her if it would be all right if we called her "Nanny Jill," and she kind of smiled and said that would be okay!  One downfall is that she is from Georgia.  So that means that she is a Georgia Bulldog fan.  A couple of weeks ago when Ole Miss was playing Georgia I approached her and told her that since her paycheck was coming from Ole Miss people that she would have to pull for Ole Miss when we played.  That didn't go over so well!  She just kind of laughed!  She is really good with the boys and does an excellent job.

The boys have had a really adventurous couple of weeks.  They have been to Oxford for a week!  They got to go to Hattiesburg for a weekend and went back to the hospital to see all of their nurses that took care of them for their time in the NICU.  This past weekend we went back to the Ronald McDonald House where we stayed while the boys were in the NICU.  The Rotary Club of Ocean Springs went over there to serve the house guests pancakes.  Every spring the Rotary club has our annual pancake day that we raise money for scholarships for our local high schools.  Well, since we are so good at what we do, we decided to go help some families that are like Jill and I were at one time and serve them some pancakes.  I am so happy that our Rotary Club went and served this fantastic charity.  We had about 20 Rotarians participate.  It was a very successful event. 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Check out these pictures of the boys!

Emerson

Brayson

Cooper

My Grandmother with all three

Emerson in his Bumbo Seat

Brayson loving his puppy dog

Aunt Glo managing Emerson & Brayson

Jill and Amon

6 Weeks

I know it has been a while since our last post.  At the NICU you leave the babies and then come home and have plenty of time to do the post.  Well its not like that at home, home meaning our house in Ocean Springs.  Jill and I have really been busy.  The boys have been at our home for 6 weeks now!  And they are growing like a weeds!  We do not get weights everyday like we did in the NICU so  I started weighing myself without a baby then adding a baby and taking the difference and thats their weight.  Probably not the most accurate way but it gives us an estimate.  Last Sunday Emerson weighed 10lbs 8ozs, Brayson weighed 11lbs 8ozs, and Cooper weighed 10lbs 2ozs.  Yes they are all over 10lbs.  Quite an accomplishment from just weighing 3lbs at birth. 

When we left the NICU the boys were eating at least every three hours on the hours of 2, 5, 8, and 11.  Now they are eating every four hours.  They go to sleep around 9pm every night and then they sleep for six hours.  Yes six hours!  Then when they wake up we feed them around 2ish and put them back down for another 4 to 5 hours.  So they usually wake up around 8ish and we feed them every four hours throughout the day.  As far as how much they are eating.  When we left the NICU they were eating around 2ozs per feeding.  I remember how excited I got when Brayson started eating 3 ozs in the NICU.  The nurse called him a hog instead of a pig.  Well all three of them are now eating almost six ounces at every feeding!

Jill, Gran, and I have not been getting much sleep since coming home.  Mostly because of the monitors the boys came home with not the babies.  Yes these monitors that tell us when the boys are having a heart rate drop go off quite frequently.  Not because the boys are having a heart rate drop but mostly because a lead is loose!  Saturday night we were up a lot because of Cooper's monitor was going crazy!  Jill would get up, I would get up, we both would get up!  These things are LOUDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!  However first thing Sunday morning we called and got Cooper a new monitor!   The monitor was the problem!

The boys are so excited!  They are going on their first road trip this weekend.  They are getting to go to Oxford to see their first Ole Miss football game!  Not only that they are getting to stay with Gran and Da Da for a little more than a week!  Gran is excited to see them because she had to go home last week and go back to work. The boys are not to excited that dad has to come back and go to work for a few days though.  We are leaving to go to Oxford first thing Thursday morning for our first road trip!  Hotty Toddy!

Our family, friends and church family have been awesome through these first six weeks as well.  Our church has set up a website for our members to go to to bring us a meal twice a week!  I think I have put on a lot of LBS with all this fantastic cooking!  Not only have they been bringing us good food but they also have brought us diapers and books for the boys. It has been great and we really appreciate it!  The Rotary Club of Ocean Springs gave us almost one thousand diapers and twenty one hundred wipes!   Thank you all for your support and prayers during this wonderful time in our lives.

Check out these pictures of our growing boys!

Emerson, Cooper and Brayson

Emerson sporting his Ole Miss outfit

Dad and boys waiting on mom to warm up baby bottles

Brayson

Brayson and the Coopster

One Week and Counting

Well for all of you that might not have known, Cooper checked out of the NICU last Monday, July 18th.  When Coopster got out of the hospital it was off to Disney World aka home.  Jill and I were so excited to finally be home!  It has been an adventurous week for us.  All three home!!  Wow!!!  Logan was so excited to see us but he is wondering when the babies will be leaving.  He's not really used to them quite yet!!  I think he is really going to enjoy them when they get older.

Emerson has been out of the hospital for almost three weeks as well as Brayson.  All three are still gaining weight.  Emerson now weighs around 8lbs.  Brayson on the other hand is our big boy.  He is tipping the scales around 9lbs while the Coopster is weighing in at 7lbs 10ozs.  When the boys were in the NICU they were getting weighed every day now they get weighed only when they go to see the pediatrician.  Which we hope that will not be again until September.  Jill and I took all three boys to the pediatrician last week what an adventure this was.  To get all three boys out of our extra extra long vehicle was quite a challenge.  On the way to the doctors office I had to jump out of the passenger seat to the back because one of the boys monitors was going off while driving 75mph down the interstate.  When we made it into the doctors office we had to take all their clothes off to get an accurate weight and that's when the fun began.  All three were screaming bloody murder and they continued this until the visit was over. 

At home all the boys sleep in their own cribs in their Curious George Room.  Yes our nursery is covered with this favorite little monkey.  Its cute!  They eat every three to four hours and are on a really good schedule.  Check out some of these pictures.

Emerson on his way home

Brayson on his way home

Cooper going home

Emerson in his going home outfit

Brayson & Cooper hanging in the Nicu

Together again at last

Emerson with Mom and Dad

Gran, Aunt Jennifer, Cousins Hailee & Ella with Emerson (Spencer Turner in background)

Ready to go to Ocean Springs(Brayson, Emerson and Cooper)

Jill, Hailee, Amon and Triplets

Cousins Caroline and Hunter with Brayson

Brayson says "I need my bed back"

Coopster getting a bath

Four Generations (Granny Holcomb, Amon, Aunt Sue, Emerson, Cooper and Brayson)

Brotherly Love (Brayson treating himself to Emerson's head)

Check back for some more good times with the Holcomb Triplets!

Thanks for all your prayers!  We could not have made it home without y'all!

Jill and Amon

Disney World?

Disney World is the place that the nurses refer to as home!  Well we are pretty close to Disney World!  I have not posted since we got the second baby out of the NICU last Saturday.  Yes Brayson has checked out!  He checked out on July 9th around 3pm.  He  and Emerson have been in our care for a little more than a week.  Now we just have to wait on Cooper.   Cooper is almost ready!  We are patiently waiting and it has been really hard!  Cooper has accomplished everything he needs to but the heart rate drop.  His last heart rate drop was on Thursday July 14th.   So we have one week from that date which would be Thursday the 21st of July.  However after talking with the doctors this morning it looks like it could be earlier than expected.  We could be going home tomorrow!  Yes if the Coopster doesnt have another heart rate drop we will probably be home tomorrow, Monday July 18.  July 18 was Jill's original due date.  

It has been a fun week with Emerson and Brayson at the Ronald McDonald House.  On Monday we took them to their first doctors appointment over in Ocean Springs.  This was their first unofficial visit home.  It will not be official until we have all three of them.  But anyway they got to meet their big brother Logan.  Logan was so excited to see us!  He really did not know what to think about the babies besides wanting to lick them.  The babies are taking a bottle every three hours on the hours of 5, 8, 11, and 2.  The 2am feeding and 5am feeding have been really challenging.  I only try to do the 2am feedings on weekends.  However I wake up for the 5am feeding every morning except on weekends.  Jill's mom is batting a thousand or 100% .  She sleeps out in the living room with the boys and has participated in every feeding since the babies arrival here at the Ronald McDonald House.  We could not have made it through the week without her.  Its going to be fun when we do really get home with all three!  

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts.   Please continue to pray for our family that we will be going home soon. 

Thanks
Jill & Amon

Emerson has checked out!!

Emerson is out of the NICU.  He checked out around 6:30 tonight.  Now he is just waiting on his brothers to come join him.  After we got him home to the Ronald McDonald House he has just slept and ate.  Jill, Gran and I had a wonderful dinner prepared by some culinary chefs from Virginia College.  It was a pork tenderloin and it was awesome.  Emerson just slept in his pack and play that his Aunt Jennifer gave him. 

After dinner Jill and Gran stayed with Emerson while I went to check out the other two boys in the NICU.  They are doing good.  When I walked in they were mad that Emerson had left them.  They were really fussy!  I think they were just hungry.  So I picked up Brayson and fed him.  Brayson is now weighing over 7lbs.  He ate 100ccs today which is equivalent to a little over three ounces in one feeding. I gave Brayson 95ccs when I fed him tonight.  Cooper was fed by his nurse Mrs. Taylor.  Most nurses go by their first names but when I asked her her name a couple weeks ago she said Mrs. Taylor.  So I call her Mrs. Taylor but her name is Maggie.  Mrs. Taylor fed Cooper about 60ccs.  Cooper went right back to sleep after his feeding but Brayson was wide awake.  I sang several songs to Brayson but he still would not go to sleep.  Then I read him some books.  "Good Night Moon" and a book by Dr. Seuss called "Oh Baby the Place You Will Go".  He really enjoyed them and went to sleep. 

Check out these pictures of Emerson coming home, Brayson and Cooper.

Emerson & Jill in the Ronald McDonald House.  Straight out of the NICU.

Emerson in his car seat

Emerson in his Pack and Play

Brayson

Cooper

Emerson Status!

Well yesterday we didnt get the news we were looking for with Emerson.  Emerson was supposed to have his circumcision yesterday.  Since it was the 4th of July he did not.  Emerson was supposed to also get his vaccinations and he didn't get those either.  Emerson will probably not come home tomorrow but will maybe be  Thursday.  Today all of the boys got their vaccinations and will get their circumcisions tomorrow.  Since they got their vaccinations today the doctors want to monitor the boys for 48 hours. 

We got the news today that Brayson's caffeine levels were below five.  Actually his level was 2.6.  Since his levels were this good he now has to go one week without a heart rate drop then he will be ready to go home.  Cooper's caffeine levels were 6.5 which is above the 5 mark that he needs to have before they start his countdown for him to go home. 

All the boys are really doing good.  They are eight weeks old today.  They all have been off their air cannulas and feeding tubes for well over a week.  They all are weighing over 6lbs as well.  Emerson is now at 6lbs 5oz, Brayson is 6lbs 14oz, and Cooper is 6lbs 1oz.  Emerson has gained 3lbs 4oz since birth, Brayson has gained 3lbs and Cooper has gained 2lbs 14oz.  On Sunday they moved their feedings to as much as they want.  So basically feed them until they are satisfied.  Brayson ate 80ccs last night which is almost 3 ounces.  Emerson ate 75 ccs tonight while Cooper ate 60ccs which is 2 ounces exactly. 

I think the expected going home date for Brayson and Cooper will probably be the middle of next week.  So that will be around the 13th of July.  I think Brayson will definetly be going home by then and Cooper will hopefully be just a couple of days later.

Check out these pictures.

Emerson

Cooper

Emerson

Brayson

Please continue to pray for our boys to get stronger and be able to come home to Ocean Springs.

Thanks

Jill and Amon

Update!

All the boys are doing really well!  We are just waiting on the caffeine levels to go down and then the countdown begins.  We have been talking to the nurses and as soon as Brayson and Cooper's caffeine levels go down below 5 the clock begins.  They have to go one week without a heart rate drop then its off to Ocean Springs.  All of the boys have been on regular air for a week now.  Cooper was the last to get off his air cannula last Saturday.  Emerson is the only one that is really really close to going home!  Emerson was not on any caffeine and has not had a heart rate drop since last Monday, June 27th.  Emerson also had a test last night and he passed.  That test was the car seat test.  The car seat test is where they buckle them into their car seats and they have to go for one hour without any heart rate drops.  All Emerson has to have done is his vaccinations and that other surgery that most males do not like to talk about.  We are hoping that he will be home on Monday but keep your fingers crossed. 

Jill and I are all ready to go to Ocean Springs.  We went home yesterday for a little while.  Actually for most of the day because I had to have a little oral surgery.  After my surgery and spending most of the day at home we went to grab some dinner with friends in Ocean Springs.  Jill and I wanted me to have the surgery before the babies got home so Jill would not have to four babies at home.  I am doing okay still hurts a little but not enough to keep me out of the NICU.  Plus the doctor gave me plenty of drugs as well. 

Please keep praying for our little boys to get better so they can go home and see their other brother "Logan".

Thanks
Jill and Amon

Close to Home!!

The boys are really doing good!!  They are doing so good that we might be able to go home soon!!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!  After the move to the other side the boys have been making tremendous strides.  Brayson  hit the 6lb mark with his weight.  Emerson now weighs 5lbs 9oz, Brayson is 6lbs 4oz and Cooper 5lbs 6oz.  On Thursday Brayson got his cannula removed.  He is on room air and is doing good.  Jill and I were very nervous at first but he has been doing a fantastic job.  Yesterday Emerson got his cannula removed and is doing fantastic as well.  So Cooper was the only one with a cannula on but yesterday they moved his high flow cannula from three to two.  Which was really good news!  Well this morning when Jill and I went to the NICU our doctor was there with the boys.  It was then that we found our little Cooper had taking the big step and gotten off  his cannula.  Yes he skipped the regular cannula step and went straight to room air.  Jill and I have been up to check on him several times today and he is doing good.  So now that all boys are off of their cannulas the next step is to not have any heart rate drops.  They have to go one week without any heart rate drops.  Brayson and Cooper have been on some caffeine since birth to help stimulate their lungs well for them to go home they have to have their caffeine levels drop and then not have any heart rate drops for 7 days.  Emerson on the other hand has not had any caffeine and can go home as soon as he can start taking a bottle a little more consistent.  He can take the bottle good, but he just gets a little tired sometimes.  The doctor told us today that Brayson would not be receiving any caffeine tomorrow morning so his levels should drop.  Even if his caffeine levels drop he still has to go a week without a heart rate drop. 

Here are some pictures of the boys.

Brayson

Cooper

Brayson

Brayson

Emerson

Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming.

Jill and Amon

Big Boy Pants

The boys did it!  They made their way down to the annex part of the NICU yesterday.  They have started wearing their big boy pants as the nurses like to say.  Yesterday Jill got the news while I was still at work and she called me immediately to let me know.  Then about 5:30 they made the move.  Emerson and Brayson are doing so good that they got their high flow canulars removed.  Now they are on regular canulars instead of the high flow.  The high flow has heat added to it instead of just regular air flow.  Their canulars are set on the level of two just like they were when they were on the high flow.  The next step will be room air just like we all breath.  Emerson is weighing 5lbs 5oz, Brayson is at 5lbs 13oz, and Cooper is 5lbs 3oz.  Today they are six weeks old and 36 weeks of gestation.  It should only be about four more weeks at the most then we will be going home.  However it could be sooner!  I am thinking maybe around July 10th or thats what I am hoping anyway.

My First Fathers Day

Today was my first Fathers Day.  What a day!  The boys got their dad several different things.  I got a new Polo Shirt, some new sunglasses and last but not least three burping towels with golfing greens on them!  Thanks to all for the first Fathers Day wishes! 

The boys are all doing good and gaining weight.  Brayson is now weighing 5lbs 12oz, Emerson is 5lbs 3oz and Cooper weighs 5lbs 1oz.  Emerson is doing really good in his crib.  He has maintained his temperature very well and his high flow canular is now back on two like it was a week and half ago.  Emerson was turned down from three to two yesterday while Brayson got his turned down to two today.  Dana the man nurse that has been watching the boys for the last few days said that Emerson and Brayson would probably be moved down to a regular canular in a couple of days instead of the high flow canular.  Hopefully in the next week and half they will be completly off their canulars.

Yesterday the boys almost got promoted.  Promoted meaning that they are doing well enough to get out of the more extensive part of the NICU to the calm side of the NICU.  This part is called the annex.  The annex means you are just one step closer to going home.  We were set to go to the annex until we found out that they only had room for two babies.  Jill and I told the nurses that we didnt want to split the boys up so we didnt go.  We have friends here at the hospital that are from Gulfport.  They had twins (boy & girl) and they have been in annex for a couple of weeks and told us tonight that it would not be long and we would be in the annex.  They said that we are at the top of the nurses list to go.  The last part of the NICU before you go home is called progressive care or what some nurses call the fat farm.  The fat farm meaning that you are big enough and are not having heart rate drops or canulars anymore.

Please continue to pray for our boys to get better so we can go home.

Thanks

Brayson sporting his hat Mrs. Sharon gave him.

Emerson in his crib

Cooper

Amon sporting his new shades in the NICU.

Brayson

Amon burping Cooper yesterday.

Jill and Amon

Emerson in a Crib

Cooper

Emerson

Brayson aka "One eyed Willy"

Coopster

Brasonator

Emerson in his crib

Last night Emerson made the big move.  He was the last to take the big step but he did it!  Yay they are all in a crib now.  Emerson also reached the 5lb mark yesterday.  He now weighs exactly 5lbs.  Cooper is not far behind at 4lbs 15.8oz.   Brayson now weighs 5lbs 9oz.  On a recent post I said Brayson weighed 5lbs 12oz which was wrong.  They are all three doing good.  They are ready to go home but still have about 3-4 more weeks.  Their parents can't wait.  I was personally hoping for the best and first Fathers Day ever by them going home!  It will come. 

Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming.

Jill and Amon