Quick Update

Hello everyone. I have a free moment so I thought I would put a post on to let everyone know how it is going.

We have survived the first sickness in the house. Jeremy caught a cold and was pretty sick. Amazingly, neither the kids or I got sick. Jeremy tried to limit his time with the kids and contact with me. Unfortunately with his limited time with the kids left more for me to do. Jeremy is better now, so things are back to normal, well as normal gets in our house.

The kids are doing good. On Monday they were weighed by the home nurse, Alice. Alex weighed 8#15oz.; Liz weighed 7#12.5oz.; Zach weighed 7#11.5oz. All are eating great. Alex has been getting rice cereal added to his milk due to his great appetite. Today we started Zach on rice cereal. Unfortunately between the rice cereal and medication Alex has been dealing with constipation, which is a major to-do for him. All are still dealing with acid reflux. Liz is the one least affected by it. She does have medication which does help. Alex is on his second medication to help and this med is finally working. Zach is also on his second med but still seems very irritated, so we are adjusting meds to help him.

The kids are reaching milestones, which is very exciting for us. They are all getting very close to smiling real smiles as well as getting ready to coo. We are both very anxious for this to happen. Today Alex rolled onto his back after I put him on his belly. Both the boys slept through the night last night. The finally settled down at 1am and woke up at 8:45am. Liz is sleeping longer at night but still not all the way through. I just don't know what to do with all the extra sleep!!! :)

My days seem to be going better. The kids are getting into a routine which helps me get things done. I still have help some days. I thank everyone who has helped without it I would have been lost. We feel we have made it through the worse part and are on a up-slope. Trust me we still have some bad moments but we will have that for the next 18 years or so. We had our first official time away from the kids this last Sunday. Nope we did not go see a movie or go out to eat, we went to baptism class for 2 1/2 hours. Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Jean watched the kids. All went well. This weekend we will have a real outing. My cousin is getting married on Saturday. Nana and Papa will be watching them this time.

This week I picked up a single and a double stroller so my mom or someone else and I can take walks with the kids. We have a triple stroller as well but it would be nice to have help pushing the kids. With the weather getting warmer, I am itching to get outside. Actually any outing is nice!! :)

Well I will try to get some pictures put on here soon. Since I started this in the late morning and it is now 5pm, I am going to get this posted before it is midnight.

Jen

A post from Mom

Hello Everyone!!! I have found a brief moment to update everyone on how things are going.

The household is still chaotic but an 'organized' chaos.....if there can be such a thing. We have a little bit of a routine but that can change very quickly. We have 6 feedings a day - early morning (2/3am), mid morning (6/7am), late morning (10/11am), early afternoon (2/3pm), early eveing (6/7pm) and late night (10/11pm). Feedings still take about 2 hours to do.

Nighttimes are the worse time for us.....some days I dred nighttime. Mid-morning/early afternoon are our best times. So during the night I try to tell myself that the good time is almost here...it helps some times. At this point the kids have not shown their true colors to anyone but us. Yes that is right, they have been little angels everytime we have visitors. One day they will show others how well they behave without visitors.

My mom and sister have been my life savers - mom has come over on a drop of a dime to help feed or give me a moment to shower. Jean has helped me get a little more sleep by taking care of feedings. Jean, my friend Kristin and my aunt Deb have helped me feel a little normal by cleaning my house. It is amazing that vacuumed floors can make a person feel so good.

I am doing good as a stay at home mom. I have learned a lot in a short amount of time. Sleep is not happening as often as I (and my body) would like. I am getting 2 to 3 hours total during the night. And yes I have fallen a sleep feeding as well as pumping. I catch a meal here and there, not at normal meal times. Thank goodness I have such a good family and friends that have made us meals. Without them I think we would be living on whatever finger food I have in the house.

I had a great first Mother's day. My niece, Alexis, got baptized. I am her Godmother. So I got out for a few hours...and yes, Jeremy did just fine home by himself. The kids and Jeremy got me a beautiful sterling silver necklace with 3 pendants with the kids' birthstones.

The kids had there first outdoor experience on Saturday. They helped me clean the pond so the darn fish can finally get back outside. Although it was a little nerve wrecking experience (for mom), I think they enjoyed it...it was a beautiful day!!

The kids are still sleeping. I was very lucky today to have Kristin come over. She brought me lunch and let me take a nap while she did the early afternoon feeding. She has triplets and knows exactly what I am going through. She says that this is the worst part so it should get better not worse from here.

Well that is all I can think of for now. I am going to try to get something done while it is still quiet here. I am checking my email and trying to respond in a reasonable amount of time, so I do have some communication to the outside world. :)

From a mom enjoying every moment of parenthood,
Jen

more pics

Due to popular demand, here are some more pictures of the triplets at home. Enjoy!!



Time in the playpen:

Hanging out together on the quilt:'Quit pushing me!''I'm in control here boys!'Tummy time: Alex holding on tight:Great Grandpa Pluemer and Zach:Nana and Liz:4 generations, Pluemer version:Liz chilling in her bouncer:

Update 04/28/07

Hello all! Sorry we haven't posted any pictures recently, it's been a whirlwind past two weeks. I've tried the last three days to make time just to get the pictures downloaded off the camera and I've finally got it done. Anyhooooo...here are a bunch of recent pictures of the kids - some after Alex came home and others now that all are home.

Jeremy

Here's Judy and Alex, Judy was Alex's primary nurse and one of our favorites in the NICU:
Alex ready to be discharged from the NICU:Alex strapped in his carseat:Alex saying goodbye to the NICU:
Baylee checking out Alex:Baylee keeping a protective eye on Alex:Alex in his new bathrobe (thanks Great Aunt Nan!) after his first bath at home:Alex already has the Lenzendorf scowl down... :)The back seat of the truck is loaded with kids!:

Kinda full back there... :)Trips in their Moses baskets:Zonked out after getting home:The cribs in the final arrangement. It took a while to figure out the best way to maximize space.Baylee (or Mother Hen as Jen calls him now) watching over the trips.

They are coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a quick note between phone calls...... we will be bring Liz and Zach home tonight!!!!! Zachary was supposed to be discharged on Friday but had some issues that the doctor wanted to keep him there over the weekend. After speaking with the doctor on Monday, he wanted to keep Zach one more day. I believe the real reason was so Liz could catch up and come home too. So we got the news early this afternoon that they are breaking out. We are super excited. After a long 68 days, we will have our whole family home. Although it will be a little chaotic, we are looking forward to having them here. It will be strange not having to call or go to the NICU everyday. We will miss our wonderful nurses, but plan on keeping in touch with them. Well I have got to run so I can leave to go get our babies!!!

Love, Jen

He's home!

Sorry to have kept those of you didn't know yet in suspense. Alex came home with us Friday evening! It felt great to finally be able to bring one of our babies home, but it was difficult leaving the other two there. They'll be following soon though. The benefit of bringing only one home though is that it allowed Alex, us, and the animals a break in period to figure out how things are going to work around here. No matter how much we prepared and others tried to explain it to us, there's no way to be completely ready for when he came home. Things were a little frantic to begin with, but not too bad. We all have actually gotten some sleep and I think we're getting the hang of it. We figure about the time we get things pretty settled with him another one will come home and the whole house dynamic will change again! :)

There are tons more details, but I have to try and get something accomplished before we head to the hospital to see Liz and Zach this afternoon.

Thank you all for your support. We'll try to get pictures of him after he got home up on here when we get a chance.

Jeremy

Exciting news!!!!!!

We did not go to the hospital Wednesday due to the snow. We did not want to risk getting into an accident. Unfortunately Jeremy has not seen the kids since Sunday. He feels awful.

We got some great news today.................Alex is hopefully being discharged Friday or Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I am a little excited?!?!?! It is not official until there are written orders from the doctor. We have been told that the orders should be written tomorrow. Judy, Alex's nurse and a favorite, started the discharge paperwork tonight while we were there. They have told us that discharge could take a couple of hours due to meeting with different people and paperwork, so Jeremy has taken a half day. Alex has done well at letting the nurses know when he wants to eat. He is taking anywhere from 75 cc to 95cc of milk every 3 to 4 hours. He weighs 6#10 ounces today. He is doing great!!!

Liz and Zach are doing well too. Liz now weighs 5#11 ounces and is off of her cannula except for feedings. So we can finally see what her face looks like! I must say she is a beautiful little girl, but I am a little bias! :) Zach weighed in at 5# 5 ounces today. He is working on his feedings, before we know it he will be coming home. All three have continued with their immunizations, just another step towards going home.

We are so excited to be finally bringing someone home 8 weeks after they enter this world! I cannot wait to lay on the couch with him on my chest or watch him sleep in a normal crib or listen to him coo on the monitor or to be woke up by a crying baby instead of boobs that need to be pumped or just start feeling like a parent! Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day as we bring one home and leave the other two there but it will not be long before they join him. We will keep you posted with the homecoming and pictures (I am sure there will be a lot, don't want to miss a moment). You will most likely not see a post in the next few days as our family begins to start the next leg of our journey. Bring on the bonding process!!!! Love, Jen