First Family Portrait

Which babies which?

Brayson

Guess?

Emerson

Cooper

Emerson

This morning before work I went to the NICU.  I was talking to the nurses and seeing how the boys did overnight when they told me they had a surprise for us.  They said when Jill and I came back together we would have a family portrait.  I quickly told the nurse that we would probably not be back in time before the shift change.  Jill had to go to her doctors appt in Ocean Springs and I had to go to work.  After I said that I realized! Wait a minute,we can be back!  We had to be back before 6:30 when they changed shifts!  Well as you can see we made it.  It was truly an awesome experience.  

So we went to our house and we saw our other baby.  He was so happy to see us.  Check out this picture of our nine year old:

Logan

  Check out his tennis balls in the background.  He was ready to play.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Jill and Amon

 

Traumatic

Traumatic!  Tonight we had a fantastic dinner with Moma Rita, Papa Rolland, and Gran at Felix's down on the causeway here in Mobile.  It was really good!  Dad and I had a dozen raw oysters with some gumbo.  Jill and mom had a white crusted fish and Gran had fried shrimp and oysters.  After dinner we came back to check out the boys in the NICU.  Immediately when we walked in Cooper and Emerson were getting baths or were just finished with their baths.  If you could have seen Cooper's face it was so funny and cute.  He was definetly traumatized.  Emerson was actually in the bath and he had the same facial expressions.  They all receive baths on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights but Jill and I have never experienced them bathing since birth.  That was an awesome ending to a good day!  Brayson was not in the bath but he was wide awake in his incubator.  We usually take the camera everytime but for some reason Jill forgot the camera tonight so we do not have pictures.  However we did take some pictures with their little disposable cameras that Gran brought us.  It was really cute but pretty traumatic for Cooper and Emerson.

As far as their health they are doing pretty good.  Emerson is weighing 3lbs 8oz, Brayson has not been weighed since last night so not an update on him.  Cooper now weighs 3lbs 9oz.  All boys are still on their canulars.  Brayson decided that he needed a high flow canular like his brothers.  We held Cooper and Emerson this morning but did not get to hold Brayson today.  As I mentioned in the above paragraph Moma Rita and Papa Rolland came to see them today.  Also we had our friend Stephanie and her girls come and visit today.  They are still having some heart rate drops but not as often!  They are now 33weeks of gestation.  We cant go home until they are at least 35 weeks of gestation.  That doesnt mean we will be going home though.  They will probably be ready by the end of June.  I really hope they will be able to go home at 35weeks though.

During Cooper and Emerson bath we got to hold them up close to see if they look a like.  And after posting that comment last night about them looking a like, Jill and I think that they are definetly going to look a like. 

Amon and Cooper

Jill and Cooper

Cooper

Emerson

Emerson, What did that nurse do?

Emerson(tough day)

Here are some more pictures.  Thanks for the prayers for our boys.  We need to get these boys home to Ocean Springs ASAP!  So we still need the prayers. 

Jill and Amon

Today Jill and I really slept in.  I think I got out of bed around 9am and Jill finally got up around 10:15am.  Jill had woken up earlier to pump some milk for the babies but went right back to sleep.  We finally made it to the hospital around 11am.  We immediately went into pod 1 and saw the babies doing well.  The boys are doing good without their CPAPs.  They all seem to still be having heart rate drops but it seems to me that they are less than they usually are.  Emerson now weighs 3lbs 7.5oz, Brayson 4lbs 1.4oz, and Cooper is weighing 3lbs 7.7oz just two grams above Emerson.  We held the boys together today.  Jill held Emerson while I held Cooper.  Emerson and Cooper are right next to one another.  We got a picture of this which was awesome with us sitting 2 feet a part.  I joked with Jill while holding the two that they were identical and she immediately said they have differences.  I agree they do have their differences but sometimes if you take a quick look I cant tell them a part.  We later held Brayson later on in the day.  We are starting to hold them all everyday or we have been for the last couple of days.  We really like our nurses that we have been having for the last couple of days that might be why the holdings have gone up. 

Today while in the NICU I went up to Brayson and immediately noticed a horrible smell coming from his incubator.  Brayson's nurse was gone to lunch so I asked Cooper's nurse to come help me with it.  I have changed a diaper before but not a stinky diaper.  So Cooper's nurse was about to change the diaper when she quickly said you need to learn how to change it why not start now!  So I relunctantly agreed to change Brayson's stinky diaper.  I was joking with the nurse trying to get her to change the diaper for me!  She was standing her ground!  I eventually changed the stinky diaper!  Not once but twice today for Brayson.  I have now changed 4 diapers in my life. Two stinky ones and two not stinky. 

Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming.

Jill and Amon

Cooper and Brayson

Stinky Diaper

Emerson

Brayson

Emerson

Cooper

Jill and I got to move to a new room inside the Ronald McDonald House.  Since we have triplets we got to move into a suite room.  We have been in a room that kind of looks like a hotel room.  In this room we have our hotel style room, with a foyer, kitchen and living room.  It has a lot more room for us.  It also has a front door where we can go in and out without walking through the halls.  In the kitchen of this room we have a stove, dishwasher, and a full size refrigerator.  The living room has an old style big screen tv.  The other room that has our bed has a 27 inch tube tv.  We have had a 19inch tube tv in the old room. 

Today the boys had a good day.  When we went to see them at the 11am feeding we got to hold Brayson and Cooper.  Jill and I both held them at the same time.  This was awesome.  The nurse took a picture of both of us holding them.  Emerson was a sleep but we held him tonight.  Emerson lost a little weight due to a bowel movement but was just 4 grams.  So he is now weighing 3lbs 4.5oz.  Brayson now weighs 3 grams less than 4lbs, and Cooper weighs 3lbs 5.8oz.  They are doing pretty good.  They are still having heart rate drops every couple of hours but usually they recover on their own.  This is good when they recover on their own.  Emerson is doing good on his high flow canular.   Cooper had to make the move to this high flow canular as well.

Tonight Jill, Gran and I went out to get a bite to eat.  We went to the Original Oyster House here in Mobile.  It was very good!!!  Gran and I had a couple of adult beverages.  We all had some great seafood.  I had the Causway Steamer which includes steamed shrimp, king crab legs and steamed oysters.  Jill had fried crab claws and shrimp while Gran had the trio shrimp.  We also had some alligator and fried green tomatoes.  The bartender made a joke about Gran that was hilarious.  The bartender was asking us how our food was and Gran misunderstood what he was saying.  So later on in the night some lady was ordering drinks over Gran and was apologizes to her when the bartender joked with the lady that Gran had misunderstood earlier.  It was really funny!!  After dinner Jill and I went back to see the boys.

Brayson

Brayson

More Brayson

Brayson

Brayson

Jill in background with Cooper

Cooper

Concerned Dad

Concerned Mom

Suite

Suite

Check out that hat

Here are some pictures.

Thanks for the prayers and the love.

Jill and Amon

Together

All of the boys are now in the same pod.  For the first time since birth they are together again.  Yes they are in pod #1 the first three babies on the right. The order is Cooper, Brayson and Emerson.  Jill and I were totally surprised.  I got off of work a little early and drove back to Mobile.  We went to the NICU at 5pm and we found all three of them in the same pod.  The nurses were so happy they were together as well. 

Emerson got off his non invasive CPAP today.  He is going to try and be a big boy like his brothers.  They put him on a high flow canular.  So that was good news.  Cooper and Brayson were doing good without their CPAPs until we went back to see them after dinner.  They were having a lot of heart rate drops.  The nurses call it showing off for mom and dad.  Mom and dad do not really like it when this happens. 

We didnt get a chance to hold the boys today.  However they were very awake and alert with their eyes wide open.  Tonight Cooper was very active.  He was exercising in his isolette.  Grabbing his canular and putting it in his mouth.  Not once but several times when I was watching him for a solid 30 minutes.  I guess he was hungry! 

Heres some pictures of the boys.

Thanks for the prayers. Keep them coming.

Jill and Amon

Good Day

All the boys had a pretty good day!  The boys are still gaining weight which is good.  Their weight as of today was Emerson 3lbs 4.9oz, Brayson 3lbs 14.1oz, and Cooper is 3lbs 4.8oz.  Cooper weighs exactly 1 gram less than Emerson.  Brayson has finally made it up to his birth weight.  Brayson and Cooper finally got the support from the doctors that they were looking for by having their CPAPs removed.  Yes they removed their CPAPs today for a trial run.  They removed them about 3pm today and have been doing pretty good.  We left the NICU around 10pm and both boys were doing really good without the CPAP.  They still are wearing an air canular (I think thats the way you spell it).  This is a huge step up for them.  The nurses joke about the boys are ready to be big boys by having their CPAPs removed.  We had really good nurses today!  That also makes for a good day. 

We got to hold  Brayson tonight.  We have not been able to hold him in a while because he has had some bad days.  I held Brayson first then Jill.  He is so sweet!  And it looks like he is going to have red hair!  Just like his mommy!  We did not hold the other two but got to hold them both yesterday. 

Jill and I are doing good!  Getting plenty of rest and we are both ready for the Memorial Day weekend.  Probably not going to have this good of rest in about 6 weeks! Lol! 

Here are some pictures.

Brayson

Check out the hat

Me and Brayson

Jill and Brayson

More of Brayson w/o his CPAP

Cooper getting upset

Cooper

Please keep the prayers coming!

Jill and Amon

Weight Gain

Well the boys are still gaining some weight.  Cooper is now above his birth weight at 3lbs 4oz, Emerson is holding at 3lbs 3.8oz, and Brayson weighs in at 3lbs 12oz.  If Brayson doesnt watch it his brothers are going to catch up with him.  Its a race to 4lbs.  Lol! Just kidding!  I just like seeing them gain weight.  We need them to get up to 5lbs so they can go home. 

Nurses in the NICU are something.  Some you love, some you hate.  This morning before I went to work I went to deliver Cooper's milk and was in the pod asking who Cooper's nurse was?  Well after asking around at all the ten nurses that were in there no one knew who Cooper's nurse was!  So I went to see how Brayson and Emerson were doing and came back to find out who was the nurse. Well no one knew who Cooper's nurse was still. So after reviewing the board of who the nurses were for each baby I found out her name.  So I went back into Cooper's pod and asked about this nurse. Well low and behold there she was and had been there the whole time.  I guess she didnt recognize the name or she was in la la land.  So frustrating!  However we have had some really good nurses to!  Cameron is one of the best.  If Jill and I had our choice Cameron would be all of our boys nurses.  Cameron has been Emerson's nurse the majority of the two weeks and we would like her to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week but that wouldnt be very realistic.  We have had other good nurses as well.  Theres a man nurse and his name is Dana.  Yes Dana believe it or not!  Dana is a really good nurse!  He was Brayson's nurse the first couple nights and was very good. 

I will have some more pictures for yall later.

Thanks for the prayers.

Jill and Amon

Pictures of Boys

BraysonEmerson

Brayson

Cooper

Emerson

Brayson

These are pictures of the boys from today.  Last night I took a picture of Brayson and Emerson together.  Thats the one above with Brayson on the left and Emerson on the right.  Today was a big day for Cooper.  He finally had a bowel movement on his own!  That means his digestive system is working.  He has been taking laxatives in the past.  I got to change Brayson's diaper today.  It took me 35 minutes!  Just kidding it seemed like 35 minutes.  He was moving so much it was hard to get his velcro part under his butt.  But I eventually got it all on him.  I think the nurse immediately took off his diaper and put a new one on him after I left so she wouldnt hurt my feelings.  Emerson now weighs 3lbs 3 oz, Brayson is at 3lbs 11oz and Cooper is coming in at 3lbs 3oz like Emerson.  Cooper is now eating 25ccs like Emerson and Brayson is eating 29ccs which is 1cc less than an ounce.  Maybe by next week Brayson will be over a pound for his 3week old birthday and the other two will be where Brayson is now.  We really need them to start breathing without the CPAPs! 

Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming.

Amon and Jill