UPDATED PICS. :-)

Delilah Marie enjoying cake! yum!

Melody Grace and Hector! lol

I know, I know... It's been FOREVER!!

Wow! I can't believe it's been over 6 months since my last blog update!! Well, I must say that a lot has happened since my last update. My triplets turned one and are thriving! There's lots going on right now and I'm really excited about some of the things that are to come. I'm still a stay-at-home mom and I love it! Although it's always nice to go out by my self and take a break... :-)

Ok, so where do I start? Delilah officially has no more central line and no more g-tube, an no more NOTHING! It feels really great!! She's eating by mouth and doing great. She's receiving some PT and Early Intervention and she has shown a lot of progress these last couple of months. Our only little problem with her right now is that she has lazy eyes due to an ROP surgery when she was in the NICU. Her vision is good though so there's no need for glasses. Right now we're just patching her better eye so that her lazy will make an effort to stay straight. Her ophthalmologist recommended surgery for her in January to fix the lazy eyes and we are quite happy about that. He says that the problem should be fixed and he has no major concerns. Yay!! :-) Overall she's very healthy and we're blessed to have her here with us today. She also has two teeth and loves bitting into everything. lol

So now let's talk about little Hector. He was our main concern developmentally because his legs were a bit stiff and the pediatrician was having some doubts about possible mild CP in his legs. Well let me just say that he's now crawling and almost got sitting down! The physical therapy has really helped and he's doing great! Our main concern with Hector right now is his hearing. Hector was diagnosed with hearing loss after failing all his hearing test. He had ear tubes placed last April and they found out his problem is a nerve that didn't fully develop... probably from his prematurity. He's been wearing hearing aids, and although there are times when we think he can hear us, we still have our doubts. We took him to see a cochlear implant specialist this month and he sent him to do some preliminary testing to make sure his ear anatomy is normal. They did and MRI and CT Scan and so we're waiting on those results. If all is well then he qualifies for the implant. The specialist has his office in Jacksonville and only comes once a month to Nemours to see his patients. So we will have to go to Jacksonville for his pre-op testings and the surgery. They want Hector to have some Speech Therapy for at least 2-3 months before we take him up for surgery. They want to make sure that his hearing loss is profound before they go ahead and perform a cochlear implant. We are really excited about the implant because after making a lot of research on it, we learned that a lot of babies that have a cochlear implant go on to having normal lives and talking. We really want that for little Hector and we're hopeful that he will be one of those children that succeed!

On to Melody... Oh Melody, Melody, Melody!! She's definitely the leader of the bunch. Melody is doing absolutely great. She's sitting, crawling, walking holding on to things, and just thriving! She's very curious and quite the funny character. We know that she will be the one pushing her siblings to catch up and thrive along with her! Because she's the leader of the group, she also has the attitude to go along with it... lol She's very observant and will stare at you without blinking for a long time. She puts everything in her mouth and she's very energetic. She also got her first tooth coming out... so that might be the reason for her putting everything in her mouth. lol She's very healthy and doing great! We're truly blessed!

Well that's all in a nut shell... I know this is a long blog, but it's been forever since my last blog so I had a lot to update! :-) Hopefully I will be blogging a little more now that the babies have gotten bigger and have way less things to worry about now than before. Hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving! Until next time... :-)

Oh and I will leave you with some recent pictures of them... :-) Enjoy!

Sickie babies, Mother's day, and triplets' 7 months! :)

This past week everyone in the house got sick. I took the babies to the pediatrician and she increased my son an extra nebulizer treatment a day. I was only sick for about 4-5 days so it wasn't that bad. I was mostly congested. The babies are doing much better and the only one coughing now is my son and it's not too bad. My husband called off from work those days and stayed home to take care of us :) He's too sweet!

Mother's day was amazing!! Yesterday was my first mother's day and it was an unforgettable one! My husband got me roses and a much wanted necklace that I've been wanting for a few months now. He took the most care of the babies all day and was giving me the day off. We went to church in the morning with all THREE babies... If you have multiples you can just imagine how crazy that was! It was an adventure just getting them ready for church in the morning. It was the first time I took all three babies to church! After church my whole family met at my mother's house and we had dinner and spent time together. The men served their wives and we just relaxed and talked to each other the whole time. It was the first time that I took the babies to a family event. I usually try to keep them out of crowds as much as possible.

Today is Monday and I'm back to reality. I'm home alone with my three munchkins and even though I love being home with them all day, it can be very exhausting. This week will be a busy one since we have a few appointments for the babies. All three of them have an ophthalmologist appointment tomorrow, Delilah has a gastroentologist appointment on Thursday, and Hector has an audiologist appointment on Friday. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but my son has some hearing loss and requires the use of hearing aids. Thankfully he is responding wonderfully with the hearing aids and appears to be hearing well with them on. The hearing aids are at a very low setting which is great because it means that his hearing loss is not severe.

The babies turned 7 months old today!! Time really flies! It feels like it was yesterday they were in the NICU. I am so thankful for every month that passes and God allows me to have them with me. I love them so much and I always look forward to their full recovery and well-being! Happy 7 months my beautiful triplets!!!

I will post some pictures of Mother's day later on. I have to find my camera usb cable to download the pictures and I have no clue where it could be. Until then, have an amazing start to this week!! :)

Triplets' first time at the beach.

This past weekend I took the triplets to the beach for the first time. We were supposed to present the babies at church, but unfortunately my grandmother got admitted to the hospital and we were unable to. Since my husband had the weekend off for the event, we decided to go to the beach and stay overnight. We had a lot of fun, but it was oh so difficult!! It felt like the babies were eating all the time, since time flew. My aunt, her husband, and my cousins joined us for this overnight stay, and my mom and her hubby met us over there just for the day. It was a beautiful day for the beach, but I was worried about the sun and we decided to stay in the hotel room until the sun went down. Overall we had a good time and now we have a better idea of how a mini vacation with the babies would be like.... One thing we definitely know is that WE NEED HELP if we're gonna do this again!!! :)

Here are some pictures of the triplets' first time at the beach:

Our pretty little family:

My mommy and my aunt with the babies.

Hector Manuel Jr. with his hat and bathing suit shorts!

Melody Grace showing off her bathing suit. :)
Delilah Marie with her big bow and her blanky.

Continuation of March of Dimes story post...

Ok so this post will be the continuation of the March of Dimes story.

Delilah had the surgery on March 30th. It was a true success! The surgeon had a smile on his face when he told us the good news about her surgery and how he didn't have to remove any more intestine. Yay! She was in the hospital for a week and a half and went home with some feeds, but still on her IV fluids. It was so awesome seeing having some feeds. We are extremely thankful to God because we know that all this time He was watching after her.

The day after Delilah came home, the triplets turned 6 months! Half a year!! I couldn't help but celebrate this big event and invited a few friends and family and had a little party for them. I got them the bumbo seats (which I love!) and got them each a cake! It was a lot of fun!

The triplets have been growing and developing wonderfully! Melody is the leader since she meets most of the milestones before her siblings... Hector is my quiet little angel... He's such a sweetheart! Delilah is my fighter and almost always gets her way. She is a cuddle bug and loves to be talked to.

So far, so good! So keep us in your prayers so it can continue to be this way!! :)

Pictures of the triplets from newly born to now!

Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

First Kangaroo Care with Hector Jr.

First Kangaroo care with Melody Grace

Delilah Marie could not be held until she was 5 weeks old!

Here she is at about a month old.

All of my babies home!

My Delilah Marie at 6 months old.

Melody Grace always smiling!

My gorgeous looking son Hector Manuel Jr. smiling.

The triplets' six month celebration! Huge milestone!

Our first family picture outside the hospital.

Not as easy as it might look. ;)

Starting once again... :)

Ok, ok... So I've been missing in action again for a while. It's hard not to with triplets! I left off at my triplets' 10 days of life. They are now almost 7 months old now and sooo much has happened!

I posted their story at the March of Dimes website, so what I'll do is copy and paste it so that you can all be updated and then I'll continue from there. Hopefully this time I will continue the blogs... *cross fingers* :)

My name is Annette and my husband's name is Hector. We had been trying to conceive for two years before we finally got pregnant! It was a very joyful time and we were so excited on our journey to parenthood. At 6 weeks pregnant we found out I was pregnant with triplets... YES!! TRIPLETS!! We were very much in shock, but super excited! We had no idea how hard this pregnancy was going to be. We kept being warned that I would most likely not have great results with my triplet pregnancy because usually triplet pregnancies are very complicated and to top it off I'm very short (5'2) and didn't have the "ideal" body to carry triplets. My husband and I were still hopeful and prayed that we could carry the triplets to a viable term.

At 20 weeks gestation, I began to have pre-term labor. My high risk doctor put me on bed rest and gave me medication to stop my contractions. I was diagnosed with incompetent cervix and even though my doctor had placed a cerclage on my cervix, the cerclage was not holding it close. I was admitted to the hospital at 22 weeks with not much hope that I would carry these babies much further along. My doctor really did not want to admit me because he did not think it would make much of a difference, but I insisted, and so he did. I was in the antepartum floor with heavy duty medications to hold my pregnancy, daily ultrasounds, and a contractions monitor 24/7. No fun. But I was willing to do it because I wanted these babies so bad! Every day that passed i was more and more in love with my triplets and all I wanted in this world was for them to be okay. I received the steroid shots for their lungs at midnight on my first day of my 24th week. I was so excited because I knew that the shots would help my babies' lungs!

At 24 weeks and 1 day I went into an unstoppable labor. I knew their chances were only 40-50% but I kept my faith and I was hoping they would be okay. Everyone looked at me with eyes of pity because they thought that my babies were most likely not going to make it... I ignored those looks and kept my faith and hope alive. I was 7cm dilated and Baby A wanted to meet this world.... My water broke and then the action began. I was taken to Labor and Delivery and received a spinal anesthesia. My babies were born October 10, 2009 at 1:32pm, 1:33pm, and 1:37pm. The doctors switched the order that they came out because Baby A was already on my birth canal and they wanted to take out Baby B and Baby C first. Baby B became Baby A, Baby C became Baby B, and Baby A became Baby C.... I know, it's kind of confusing... It was for my husband too! Their weights and lengths were as following:

Delilah Marie- 1lb 7oz 11 3/4in
Hector Manuel- 1lb 10oz 12 1/2 in
Melody Grace- 1lb 6oz 12 in

They were tiny, tiny and were rushed to the NICU. I was not able to see them because they were taken as soon as they came out.

Delilah gave us the most problems in the NICU. At 2 days old one of her lungs collapsed and she had to get a chest tube and was put on the High frequency ventilator, also known as the oscillator. I called it "the monster" because it was so loud and it would make her vibrate non-stop. The high frequency can give the babies up to 900 breaths per minute! It is very, very scary to see a baby in this machine, but I still did not loose hope. I knew my Delilah would make it through. Two days later she came off the high frequency ventilator and was placed again on a regular ventilator. They also took off the chest tube. A 14 days old, Delilah got sick with NEC. NEC is when the intestines begin to get necrotic and the babies get really sick. If NEC is not caught on time the baby usually dies. Delilah was under a pound and a half and the doctors gave me absolutely NO HOPE. The surgeons explained to me that they were going to take her to surgery because there was nothing else they could do and that she was most likely not going to make it through surgery. I remember not receiving those words and going to the surgery waiting room bathroom... I knelt down and began to beg God to save my daughter and I pleaded Him and reminded Him of His promises with the my babies. I cried and wept... Then I felt a load come off my shoulders and I saw a picture of Jesus performing that surgery on Delilah. It was at that moment that I stood up, went back to the waiting room, and knew that everything would be alright. About 45 minutes passed (which felt like hours) and the surgeon came to talk to us. Delilah survived the surgery but now she had to survive the next 48 hours after surgery. We passed the first 24 hours and Delilah started getting very sick. She wasn't urinating and her kidneys were apparently shutting down. He little body began to swell up and she looked lifeless. She was max out on blood pressure medications because her blood pressure went down, she was also max out on the high frequency ventilator and there was nothing more that they could do. The doctors were doing their rounds and said they were very sorry. I said "No! Delilah is going to be just fine!" They thought I was crazy, but I knew that God had the last word. And He did. Delilah finally started to urinate. Her blood pressure began to normalize, and her swelling started to come down. She was taken off the high frequency ventilator and was placed once again on the regular ventilator. It was a MIRACLE! Everyone was surprised. Except for my family and I... We always knew that God was in control.

Delilah and her siblings continued to grow. Delilah had an ostomy were she put stool through and a central line to have TPN (IV fluids with nutrients and fat for the body). An ostomy is pretty much a part of her intestine sticking out of her belly that acts as a temporary anus. Delilah could not tolerate food because her ostomy was in her small intestine and everything that went in through her mouth, she would put out right through her ostomy. They took a total of 7cm of intestine in that surgery.

Delilah, Hector, and Melody went through a PDA ligation at 1 month old. They had a large ductus that caused them to have murmurs. The large ductus also caused the desaturate and have bradycardia. With the PDA ligation, they put a small titanium clip and close off the ductus. After this surgery, the babies started to get better and slowly got weaned off the ventilator, then to a C-PAP, and then to a nasal cannula. Melody and Hector were having a good journey through the NICU, which was still very surprising because they were 24 weekers!

Delilah was still getting sick and having lots of infections. At two months old, one of the NICU doctors thought that it was coming from her intestines and wanted to take her back to surgery to check her intestines. And so he did. Once again the surgeon told me she might not make it out of surgery. She made it out much better then her first surgery. The reason for those infections was that her ostomy had an obstruction and they removed another 5cm of her intestines. Her recovery was excellent and Delilah was a brand new baby. She weaned off her ventilator and went back to a nasal cannula! She was doing outstanding! It's as if she was screaming for that surgery to be done. Delilah was left with her ostomy and she was doing great. Her siblings were doing absolutely amazing.

At 3 months old, Melody came home without any breathing support, just a apnea and bradycardia monitor. She was only 36 weeks gestational age and she was doing great. She only weighed 4 pounds even and was still so tiny. Two weeks after Melody went home, my son Hector came home. He came home on a little bit of oxygen and also a monitor. Neither Hector or Melody had any feeding issues. They both ate great by bottle. It was great having two of my babies home, but I hated leaving Delilah all alone at the hospital.

Delilah continued to thrive in the NICU but still had her ostomy and had her TPN (IV fluids). Her NICU doctor decided to send her home because there was really no reason for her to be in the NICU since all she really had I could do at home. She would come home and have her surgery to get her intestines back together and working 4-6 weeks after she went home. Delilah came home a month after her brother. She came home on a little bit of oxygen and a monitor. She also came home with her central line and the TPN to go through it. I had all three babies home and doing absolutely wonderful! It was my dream come true! I was truly the happiest mommy in the universe! My 24 weeker triplets made it out the NICU and are doing great!

My triplets are currently 5 1/2 months old are thriving! Delilah was taken off her oxygen and monitor and Melody was also taken off her monitor. Delilah is currently back in the hospital awaiting her surgery which will take place in THREE days! This surgery is going to make our Delilah a normal baby. She is going to be able to eat and stool through her anus instead of her ostomy. We really can't wait for that to take place. We are truly excited and pray and hope that everything will work out great.

We feel very blessed because we have three amazing babies that complete our lives. We know that these babies are a miracle and we give thanks to our God because we know that HE made it possible! Please help us by praying for Delilah's surgery. We need all the prayer we could get.

Thank you for reading our long story... This is just the beginning!

With love,

Annette, Hector, Delilah, Hector Jr., and Melody Torres

http://www.shareyourstory.org/webx/.ef6abdf

Now that you're all a bit up to date, I will post some pictures on my next post of their growth and how they are today. :)

Delilah at 10 days old...

Everything was going fairly well the first week of my triplets' lives. No major occurrences except for the common and expected micro-preemie stuff. They desaturated and had bradys... stuff like that.

At 9 days old, Delilah was having a lot of desaturation in her oxygen and was bradying. I remember like if it was yesterday how that night started. I just knew she wasn't herself and something was going on. Dr. Perez was on call that night and he ordered a chest x-ray to see how her lungs were. Apparently the x-ray looked fine, but I just had a feeling that something was going on. Dr. Perez blamed her actions to her prematurity and left it at that. A few days before a nurse had called me because her belly was a bit swollen and she was having some residuals. They were apparently not too concerned because her belly was not hard and her feeding residuals could be because she was still very small. Rewinding for a minute... my babies were being treated for heart murmurs cause by an open ductus in the heart called a PDA. They were given IB profin as a non-invasive treatment for those murmurs. Apparently, there is a study that treating premature babies with IB profin causes a condition called NEC in babies.

What is NEC? A gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants, NEC involves infection and inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel (intestine) or part of the bowel. Although it affects only one in 2,000 to 4,000 births, or between 1% and 5% of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions, NEC is the most common and serious gastrointestinal disorder among hospitalized preterm infants.NEC typically occurs within the first 2 weeks of life, usually after milk feeding has begun (at first, feedings are usually given through a tube that goes directly to the baby's stomach). About 10% of babies weighing less than 1,500 grams (3 lbs., 5 oz.) experience NEC. These premature infants have immature bowels, which are sensitive to changes in blood flow and prone to infection. They may have difficulty with blood and oxygen circulation and digestion, which increases their chances of developing NEC.

Well, now that you have a bit of information about NEC, I will continue her story. The morning of Delilah's 10th day, another Dr. saw her x-ray. Apparently in her chest x-ray there was a part of her belly in the picture. Well the part of her belly showed that she had perforated in her intestines. Immediately she was sent to surgery. The surgeons told me that my daughter would not make it passed the surgery. Well back to the IB profin.... She was 24 hours post her last IB profin dose. Dr. Alexander (their secondary doctor) told me that if it was up to him, he would not give her the IB profin and then explained to me about the study of iB profin associated with NEC. He told me that it usually happened 24-48 hours after the last dose. Well guess what? This all happened 24 hours after her last dose. Coincidence or not... it still today plays with my mind.

Anyway, after almost losing my mind and begging God to not take my baby girl, the surgery is done and the surgeon comes to talk to us. He had good news! Delilah was okay and he barely had to take any of her intestines out. He told me that she would have to make it passed the next 24-48 hours and she should be okay. Well at the 48 hour mark, Delilah was not doing well. She was retaining fluids and not urinating. Her kidneys began to shut down and her blood flow started to decrease. She was placed on the high frequency ventilator again and she was very ill. The doctor called me and told me to come be with her because she was probably not going to make it. When I arrived, the doctors were doing their rounds... I remember they came into the room and told me how sorry they were and that they did everything they could. I did not believe those words in my heart.. I just knew my daughter was going to make it!!! After blood pressure medications being max out, high frequency giving her 900 breaths per minute, and receiving plasma and blood transfusions.... and lots and lots of prayer and faith... Delilah responded... and 24 hours later she was off the high frequency and they had to give her more fluids because she had urinated so much that she was a bit dehydrated.

My daughter is my super hero! :) I love her so much!! Truly a strong baby girl defying the odds!

My 24 weeker Triplets and the first 72 hours in the NICU

My husband arrived just as they were taking the babies to the NICU. He was able to walk with the nurses as they admitted our babies. I only got to see one of my babies before they took them out. They were just too fragile to waste time.

Babies' weights and lengths:

Delilah Marie (Baby B in the womb, Baby A in birth order)- 1lb 7oz 11 3/4in long

Hector Manuel (Baby C in the womb, Baby B in birth order)- 1lb 10oz 12 1/2in long

Melody Grace (Baby A in womb, Baby C in birth order)- 1lb 6oz 12in long

Melody Grace
Delilah Marie
Hector Manuel

Yes, my babies were tiny... but they were sure mighty! :)

All of my babies had to be intubated right after birth and a ventilator was breathing for them. They were all of course in incubators. The doctor explained to me that the first 24 hours are the most critical and they had a 40% chance to live. All three babies were doing fairly well considering their gestational age and how small they were. They made it pass their 48 hours and were doing okay. I was recovering from my c-section but I wanted to spend every minute I could with them. Their skin was red and they were so tiny!

At 3 days old, Delilah was having some lung issues, one of her lungs deflated and she had to get a chest tube. It was very hard seeing my tiny baby girl with a chest tube along with a high frequency ventilator, also called the oscillator. She was on it for 2 days and back then I had no idea the gravity of the situation. Delilah was fighting for her life while she was given 500 breaths per minute by what I now call "the monster" (the high frequency). Her tiny body would vibrate due to the intensity of this machine and my mind still did not want to accept what was going on. Thankfully, 2 days later she was off "the monster" and the doctor took out her chest tube. She was doing a lot better.

Re-starting my Blog (End of my pregnancy and my delivery)

Hi everyone! Okay, so I am re-starting my blog after 5 months of not updating it... yes 5 months!! So much has happened that I will probably leave a lot of details out, but please feel free to ask anything you'd like. In my last blog, I left off at almost 20 weeks pregnant with my triplets.

Well, at my 20 week high risk appointment, my cervix had shortened to 2.7cm and I was officially put on bed rest. My preterm labor continued and my cervix continued to shorten to 2cm and then eventually to .7cm at 22 weeks. At this point, my high risk doctor told me that I would most likely deliver my triplets any minute now and that he was very sorry. He admitted me cause I practically begged him to... I didn't want to loose hope. At 22 weeks gestation I was admitted to Winnie Palmer Hospital. My doctor had told me that I would have to get to 24 weeks gestation in order for the NICU to take my babies and for me to get the steroid shots. During my stay at Winnie Palmer I had ultrasound scans every day to check for my babies' heartbeats and a high risk doctor would come see me. I was anxious to get to 24 weeks, but I was aware that 24 weeks just gave my triplets a 40-50% chance of life. I had so much faith and prayed that my babies would make it out just fine whenever they decided to come out. At 23 weeks 5 days I began having heavy duty contractions. Two high risk residents came to check my cervix and apparently it was not dilated and still closed. My high risk doctor happened to be out of town in a conference for the weekend and he had the residents come take a look at me while he was gone. The next two days I was in unbearable pain and taking more pills than I ever imagined taking in a lifetime. At 24 weeks midnight, I was given my first steroid shot. I was so excited cause I knew that this would help my babies have a better chance at living. Steroid shots are supposed to mature the babies' lungs. In order for the steroid shots to work to their max, you have to have 2 steroid shots usually 24 hours apart and wait 24 hours after the last shot in order for it to work to its full potential. I was in so much pain and labor was really no fun at all. The bad part in this whole situation is that while I was having heavy duty contractions, the monitor was not picking them up... so the nurses weren't very concerned. At 24 weeks and 1 day, almost 10 hours after my 2nd shot, I gave up and could not handle the pain. I begged a nurse to please call a resident to come check my cervix because I just knew I was in labor. A resident came in about half hour later to check my cervix. At this point I could not bare the pain. Right before the resident checked me, I felt like I had to push!!! When she checked me, I was 7cm dilated!!!! She could feel my amniotic sac bulging out and Baby A's head. I was in shock and very scared. I knew what their chances of living were and I wanted it all to be just a bad dream. The nurses rushed me to labor and delivery where another resident decided to check me. He was in disbelief that I went from a closed cervix to 7cm dilated in 48 hours. When he checked me, I was definitely 7cm dilated and he broke my water accidentally. As they tried to put the spinal anesthesia on, I had to be laying on my side because they did not want Baby A to come out. They tried the spinal 8 times before they got it in the right spot. The anesthesiologist told me that if the eight time didn't work they would have to put general anesthesia for c-section. Finally it worked! At all this, my husband was working and he didn't make it on time to be there with me. Thankfully my mother had come to visit me and was there for all the commotion as well as my grandmother. There were countless nurses and doctors in the operating room... it was very scary. They took out Baby B first, then Baby C, and finally Baby A. They took Baby A out last because she was in my birth canal and they wanted to take out the easiest ones before they reached down into my birth canal to take her out. They rushed my babies to the NICU and that's where our REAL journey begins...