Turning a corner? Um, maybe, maybe not...

The girls are eight weeks adjusted (that's their due date + 8 weeks) and will be five months old (in real time) in a week.  Things are getting a little better at our house.

The past three nights they have slept five hours between feedings.  Tony's response to this ray of sunshine was, "I've started to have dreams again. Dreams I'm feeding them, ugh!" Not only have they been sleeping a longer at night, but they don't cry as much between night time feedings, so I have been able to get more sleep as well.  (Because Mindy has better hearing than Tony, or sleeps lighter...) Oh, how we have missed our good friend sleep and our other buddy -- quiet time.

Their pediatrician kept telling us that we were in the toughest, least rewarding part, but if we hang in there, things will get better.  We are starting to understand what he was talking about.  The girls love laying on their play mat looking up at the lights and toys that hang down above them.  I could watch them play for hours. Which is good because Tony likes to take off to work-out all the time!  Teagan and Rianne are starting to coo a little and often talk to the play mat.  It is really cute.

Teagan has started smiling at us when we talk to her which is adorable. Rianne and Brielle are working on smiling more but don't smile on demand yet, just when they are done filling their pants.

Brielle still continues to be a challenge with her fussiness.  I can't wait until she can start talking so she can tell us what is wrong. The girls are eating three ounces five to six times a day. We've had to add a stronger nipple because they were crushing the old ones and not getting any milk. We had a poor feeding day until we figured out that they were chewing so hard on the nipple it was splashing into the backs of their throats.

We usually sit with one of these while we are feeding, on the label it says No para dormir which means not for sleeping in Spanish. Good thing Rianne hasn't learned Spanish yet, putting her on this has allowed us to keep her flat (not fat) head off the mat and it's starting to round again.

Our first Bobblehead: Teagan. Her head is in the 10% of a normal baby's...thanks Dad...

Rianne is just about to get her toes done, ready to dip them in a nice warm salt bath while mom and dad rub her feet

Brielle found out how much mom and dad charge for the above service...yes, you can choose your nail color

It's a lot like The View...chubby girls talking nonsense about boys

First one to the top...hey, pink shoes?...C'mon man.

Rianne in her Goth outfit, I know black matches her skirt, but really? A black, dead flower?

This is how they look when we get to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and "Kids Eat Free". C'mon kids, this meal has to last you all day! No more chicken tenders...I couldn't look at another wing!

Okay, everyone make a goofy face!

Turn the ceiling fan on

Turn the ceiling fan off

Creepy. Her red eyes match her red bow. Her dead black flower matches her dress. Ri, "will you wear this outfit again?" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore".

Too young to know they are wearing their sisters' clothes. Priceless.

Is it bad to wake up naked on Christmas morning wearing only a diaper and a Santa cap?

Totally snagging those milk and cookies before Santa gets here. Guy could lose a pound or two anyway!

For Pete's sake, who said Santa wasn't real?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rianne, her ribcage sticking out, a frail skeleton at two pounds on the day she was born.

Rianne now, over ten pounds, watching her favorite television show "Ceiling Fan"

Teagan on the day she was born. We weren't allowed to touch her for more than a moment.

This is Teagan now watching her second favorite program, "Back of my Eyelids". Her favorite is "Scream for my Dinner"
.

Brielle the day she was born under the Bilirubin lights with her blinders.

Thankful that she is now a healthier, growing baby watching her favorite television show, "Where's my second bottle?"

Brielle (right) looking at Rianne (left), "Looks like you got Daddy's forehead." Rianne, "Looks like you got a booger in your nose."

Ri, left "I just want to take my duck and go" Teagues, middle "How can it be all about me if there are three of us in the picture" Brielle, Right, "I see another bottle on the shelf!"

Very Thankful when Teagan is this calm which isn't often. She's either in pre-cry or post-cry mode.

Hey Brotha', Pound that.

Thankful that we have one calm, easy baby.She's practicing the doggy-paddle. We'll try her out in water soon.

It's it's, carpet. Hey let me see, let me see.

Bri, seriously, let me see.

Teagan sleeping on her sister.It was a big climb.

Ri (left) showing off how much bigger she is.

Grandma Joy with her handful

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I know this is late but the girls have been a bit under the weather and it has been hard to get to the computer.  Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.  We are very thankful for all of you who follow our blog and have helped us make it through the first four months of the girls' lives. 

Quick Clip.

We know teenagers fall in love and want to do all the things grown ups do. We've actually had some wonderful daughters come with their moms to help us out and their altruism is really exceptional. However, there are some teens that might not feel as close to their parent's advice.

We thought we would capture just Teagan in a short clip entitled:

"Of course having a baby will make a relationship work"

This is Teagan when guests arrive.

This is Teagan when she sees they've left. Just push play and turn down the volume.

The girls are almost 19 weeks old or 6 weeks adjusted. They are becoming more interactive and love to look around... Especially at the ceiling fan. They are smiling more but at nothing in particular. We take them Wednesday for their developmental check. We aren't looking forward to loading them all up but are excited to see how they are doing. Rianne is close to hitting the ten pound mark and Teagan is 14 ounces away.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped keep as sane and fed this past month. We couldn't do this without you. Thanks to grandma Joy for helping with the late night feeding so mom and dad can get more than three hours of sleep at a time.

There are times available to help us out if you are interested.
http://signupgenius.com/go/triplet2

Or if you like to cook or make too much food for Thanksgiving. 
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4EAEAF23AB9-meal

We have a new camera and I haven't had a chance to download the software and pictures to my computer yet.  We will post new pictures soon .

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

Why aren't we posting more often you ask?

Hey everyone, I know we have been blog slackers here as we've gotten (is that a word?) the kiddos home and we've established our routine.


Megan, Mindy's sister, was a rock star the last day doing a 24 hour survivor type stay at our house helping out. She took a bunch of good pictures which we will post soon, but I wanted to get something up on the blog.


We heard that there was a 9 pm limit on the "sign up" to hang out with the kids and found that some people would be happy to come at night (and we would be happy to have them!) we no longer go by the calendar day, we are up every 4 hours all day, seven days a week, so if you want to come by after 9 (let us know) but we'll be happy to have you!


I'm in the Poetry section of my creative writing class and I'm supposed to write a poem on "witnessing" something, I'll probably actually do the 2001 World Series because it was in the 9/11 year, I saw Giuliani, and the Diamondbacks won the series at home over the Yankees. Not to impune the good works of the Cardinals this year against the Rangers, but beating the Yankees, that's special! Back to the point (keep drifting!) ... I thought I'd add some sleep deprivation poetry in here and a little small poem of my own...


This poem is very sweet, the kind of poem you would expect...

Ideas and Babies

By Yael Daphna Saar

Before

Ideas

like babies

wake me up

demanding my attention in the middle of the night

I am not complaining

I sleep with a notebook under my pillow

to catch my drips

The dark circles

under my eyes

are a small price for the twinkle they sparkle

After

Babies

wake me up in the middle of the night

and many more times before dawn

Who’s complaining?

I wake up to find a child sharing my pillow

I drip milk and tears and sweat

I can’t find my notebook

I type with one hand

I have never been this tired or so much in love

I know, you just want to hug someone, right? I would rename the previous poem, "Seriously, just one?" So I put together my own special triplet poem. 

Payback’s Come Due

By

Tony Guerra

My wife gives me the elbow; I send her one back,

“It’s your turn,” I say, then she says, “don’t give me no flack.”

I don't really hit her, it's just a nudge, 

But she gets me good, often I won't budge.

I trudge out of bed, run into a wall,

Walk down the hallway, trip over and fall.

I get the cold bottles, and warm them in cups,

I hear Teagan screaming, why are you still up?

“It’s been three hours, I’m hungry,” she pleads,

“Watch my lower lip quiver, so first you feed me.”

Brielle shows her big eyes, blue and so round,

“Do you love her more, I have to wait now?”

Rianne smiles at both and says I’ve got one better,

You can feed them now, oh this smell will fester.

How do I choose? Which one to feed,

They all are screaming, “I am in need.”

So I start with Rianne, progress we’re making,

Slurps and suction, much time this won’t be taking,

Then she passes out, oh, no what happened?

To the changing table I must go, so she doesn’t get a nap in.

Up again comes Rianne, ready to eat,

Twenty more mL’s, then again to sleep,

Fine, I say, which really never means that,

I’ll put you back, on your baby mat.

As soon as her back, touches the bed,

Wide awake she is, asking, “why am I not being fed?”

I make the mistake of leaving her there,

Grabbing another baby, and putting her into the chair.

Now Rianne is screaming, “what happened to me?”

“I was first in line, it was time to feed.” 

Logic says, “too bad” but still as a father,

As I feed Teagan, pain I hate for a daughter.

Teagan eats quick, in short snappy bites,

Just enough suction, that we might finish tonight,

Brielle has to wait, until last place,

Because she’s been eating, two bottles on slow pace,

Teagan passes out, so I sneak her into the chair,

I pull up Rianne, feed her the last of her fare,

Then put her in bed, this time it’s not screaming,

Just garbles and coos, words I’m not gleaning.

Back to Teagan to feed, she looks right at me,

De Niro had less intense eyes, on Gaylord I believe,

I can’t believe you tricked me, and put me in there,

It was time for me to eat, you’re on my list, beware!

How can a little girl, say so much,

Without a word, while she dines on lunch,

Finally her anger, subsides in the wake,

Of eyelids grown heavy, dreaming of cake.

Now on to Brielle, the marathon eater,

She keeps constant pace, in perfect meter,

One bottle down, then comes another,

She burps loud sounds, milk is her druthers.

Back into your sack, I’m happy to send her,

All sleep like angels, trust it’s never,

Like this for long, so sleep I will treasure.

Back into bed, I go for a snooz, 

Then Teagan screams, please tell me it’s a ruse,

She needed to belch, just one more time,

So she could sleep soundly, and be just fine.

You know I’m just kidding, this is not how it goes,

Mindy always helps, even sometimes I doze,

One will feed two; the other will feed one,

Once done. Are you okay? Can I sneak off just once?

A marriage must be strong, to endure this storm,

Partners must laugh, for there’s little time to snore,

Sure we love our kids, we would ask for no other,

But let us get some @#$@$ sleep, oh please, my brother.

Thanks to the volunteers, who give us one less feeding,

It really makes a difference, in the days we are sleeping,

That Mindy can fill, her prescriptions with care,

And Tony can teach, without early morning stares,

Then the screaming starts, the cycle returns,

When will they sleep long? When will they learn?

What laughs must our parents have, for this is one of the few,

Times they get to smile and say – payback’s come due.

Ri and Teag in Mommy and Daddy's "Hawaii" Might be a while before we see a vacation!

Ri cutting a sash for Miss Congeniality

Can you tell who is who?

Brielle is the one without the bink

Teagan is the one with oxygen and the bink.

Ri is the one without the annoying oxygen on her face.

No we are not going to dress them all alike, even though we did just this once.

Our kids are making carpet angels. They are so smart!

The roaring 20's? Not fans of hair bows.

But it makes them look more girly.Tony thinks that just because you put a flower on a kids head doesn't mean they will smell like a flower.

Brielle sniffing the flower. Can I eat that?

The girls all packed up to do to the Dr for their 4 month shots... not a fun day.Yogi would be proud of our little picnic baskets!

Ri and Teagan were both screaming so I tried to hold Ri while feeding Teag.

Thanks Reanna for their adorable shirts.Hello, hello, hellooooo...Barbershop Trip-Let

Not big fans of having their pics taken.

They wouldn't let us get good pics without their binks. Our girls and their accessories.

Brielle started sucking on Teagan's head when her bink fell out.

Ri looks like an angry giant.

Ri is 9 pounds 8 ounces. Brie is 8 pounds, Teagan is 8 pounds 13 ounces.

Brielle Update and Infant CPR Notes

Friday 11/4/11 - Brielle's Home!!! Yeah. She slept six hours last night and was screaming bloody murder this morning, which in baby talk is, why isn't my breakfast ready? She took 90 mL (a normal feeding is around 50-60 every 4 hours and is doing well. Thanks again for all of your prayers, well wishes and volunteer coverage! New Blog on Sunday, we are back to 3 at home, they are starting to become aware of things, looking around etc. as if they could get any cuter...

Thursday 11/3/11 Tony and Mindy's 4th wedding anniversary. Mindy said,"let's do dinner at the hospital" and I took that literally. Then I'm like, well, I'll meet you there, and she said she only had jeans on. Well, seriously how nice do you need to get dressed up for a hospital cafeteria?

So we will take a few minutes to enjoy a dinner around 6:30 in downtown Des Moines thanks to our babysitters this evening then I'm sacking overnight with Brielle who will hopefully make parole Friday. She's eating around 40 to 50 mL of milk every 3 hours.

She must be so relieved that it doesn't come up anymore! Thanks for your texts, emails, prayers and food! We would have lost it (well, more than we have) without you all! I still remember when I was in the room with Mindy saying awesome, triplets! Um, the idea of having triplets...awesome. Being outnumbered by your children in one birthing, mmmm, not as awesome...


Other two are doing great, really upped their eating and will be at the Biggest Winner weight in this afternoon, we'll update you!

Wednesday - 11/2/11 Slacker bloggers Tony and Mindy G didn't update...Brielle was taking a step backwards not tolerating her feedings very well at first. 

Tuesday 11/1/11 5:30 PM. Brielle enjoyed 15mL of Pedialyte and did great with it. Two hours later she'll have another round of 15mL, then real food will be on the way. Mindy's friends have set up a couple of volunteer sites. She asked that I put the link up on the blog. Thanks for your prayers and help, we really wouldn't survive without you all. 

*** I know on one of these links it says the front door will be open. For you creepers, there are always two people at home at least, our neighbors are always watching our house and because we have triplet girls, trust me, if there is nothing valuable left and if we did have anything valuable, you'll be stealing something with formula puke on it and we'll be thankful for you to take it.  ***

Here's the link to the website for people to use to sign up to help hold the girls. 
http://www.SignUpGenius.com/go/triplet2


and if you want to help with food:
http://guerratriplets.pleasebringit.com/events/14572


Thanks again! 

Tuesday 11/1/11 12:30 PM Brielle is extubated, waiting for a little while to give her morphine for the pain. She's doing well.

Seriously, what does a girl have to do to get some food around here?

Tues 11/1/11 7 AM - Brielle went in and had a successful one-hour surgery at Blank Children's Hospital to lance a rather large bulge in her pyloric valve. Because her lung function is compromised (why she's on oxygen at home) it took her a little while to come to. She is still intubated at 11 AM as a precaution, she needs to wake up a bit more before they will extubate her. Thanks for your prayers, we are so thankful she's out and hopefully this will make her much better and she can come home in a few days. 

Meds: They put in 3.5 mcg of fentanyl to calm her so she wouldn't cough and fight the intubation, gave her an albuterol treatment as she responded with some bronchospasm to the tube and they were going to give her a muscle relaxer to help her lungs. We'll keep you posted.

Think: A baby Julia Roberts with a shaved head, birth mark and one of those dentist's water pik's in her mouth

Mon 11 AM  - Doctor confirmed Pyloric Stenosis and the surgeon has been called. Brielle will go in the next couple days. It's Halloween so we didn't want her to miss anything so they are feeding her glucose by IV (D5W) since she can't have any candy.

Brielle: Look, I got an orange Halloween sticker for my cannula! And my "laser" is back! I feel like I'm in an Old Navy commercial with my sleeveless fleece! I just need some back up dancers.

Back up dancers: Don't forget, cool onesies 2 for $10 only at Old Navy!

Sun 8 PM - Brielle had another episode and had to be transferred from the Pediatric floor to the Pediatric ICU. She had to be bagged (given 100% oxygen) and may need to be intubated. We just have no idea what's wrong with her and why she just seems to keep her food above her stomach to prevent herself from breathing. 

We go back to our mantra, two steps forward one step back. We have been able to enjoy Brielle, our last one to come home, at the house for a couple of weeks, we want the best and just may have to wait until she's ready, ready to come home.

Thank you to everyone who has been helping. The other two girls are doing great, Kinzie is helping me feed them now. 

Sun 8 AM - Mindy went to Blank Children's with the monitor hoping to pick up Brielle today. 

Sat 10:45 PM. Mindy reports that Brielle is doing well and chomping hard on her pacifier. They will be doing blood work and x-rays.

We are so thankful for our CPR training and the time all of the good health practitioners took to make sure we understood what needed to happen in an emergency. I detailed everything step-by-step that  anyone who has a child that needs CPR can help their child as well.


Brielle and I were watching the Texas Tech/Iowa State game when the three red LEDs on her apnea monitor lit up and the alarm sounded. The noise, identical to a smoke alarm, is deafening. There are many false alarms for a loose cable, a held breath for a poop or too much sneezing. However, this time, she foamed at the mouth while her color turned pale. I flicked her foot hard, the recommended response when a child stops breathing, and she gurgled the horrifying muffled cry of a child that can't get a breath.

I screamed for Mindy to come but she was pumping in the Master bedroom about 40 feet away. The timing couldn't be worse as she couldn't hear me yell for her because of her electric toothbrush.

I flicked her foot again but she began turning a deeper shade of purple, the monitor beeped steadily and Rianne and Teagan began crying. I shoved my finger down her throat to try to clear the obstruction with the sweep action and she threw up a combination of formula with small strings of blood. Still, she gurgled and continued to turn purple. 

I ripped her onesie in half, pulled off her velcro monitor band and I started CPR. I began by trying to get a breath in and it didn't go in. After a few compressions, I yelled for Mindy again. I should have turned her around and patted the back of her but with obstruction you must decide to perform CPR or remove the obstruction. It's not possible to both at once.

Our NICU nurses at Mercy told us over and over again, look at the baby, not the monitor, and that made it much harder.In CPR class you look at a hard, pink plastic baby, you have the instructor right in front of you to correct any errors and it is a very calm atmosphere.

In real life, Brielle lay soft, purple and limp as I cried uncontrollably and prayed that God would not take our child. We thought we had failed, we thought we had lost her.

Mindy came over and asked, "what should I do?" I said, "call 911." Then Mindy talked to the operator, gave our house number and came over and gave breaths while I gave compressions and we switched. We wiped  splattered formula from her nose and mouth and used suction to try to get it out of her nose. It seemed like it wasn't working.

I completely forgot that with an infant you have to cover the nose and the mouth but with another breath in, a convulsion came and she threw up. Her blue eyes groggily came out.It's like that pivotal moment in a movie where you aren't sure if the person is going to make it back, you hold your breath at the same time until with a gasp, they throw up, spit up and finally breathe. But this real life moment carried desperation, not entertainment. 

The Churchill "never, never, never, never give up" is all I can think of for the moment. 


I switched oxygen compressors to get her more oxygen. We have two compressors, one that feeds Brielle's line that only goes up to 1 liter and another that feeds Teagan's line. Although Teagan is only on 1/4 liter, she has a device that converts a 2 liter flow to a 1/4 liter flow. However, if you bypass the device you can get up to six liters in. That much air is like having an all O2 box fan in your nose.

It all took about 45 seconds to 1.5 minutes maybe two, I think, I don't know, it felt like an hour. We would have known for sure if I hadn't ripped off her monitor band.

As she was turning pink a very competent officer came in followed by the fire department. The Ankeny officer was very good, he was doing all the right things without the frenziedness that we felt telling us to keep her on her side and it was so calming to have someone asking good questions, doing the right thing in a practiced manner.

But it was scary as &*&#.

I just wanted to thank all of the people that wouldn't let us go home without proper training.

The respiratory therapists showed us how to use the oxygen converters step-by-step. Our nurses in the NICU showed us how to turn up the oxygen when something happens. We have seen them bag Brielle before and knew exactly what to do with her oxygen.

The Mercy team taught us infant CPR, so even under this duress, we were able to do enough things right to keep oxygen going to her brain and get the formula out of her so she was alert and pink in the ambulance as she rolled to Blank Children's Hospital. I remember thinking what a pain it was to take infant CPR because I am CPR trained, but the specialized training, the extra points saved Bri's life.

We'll keep you up to date through the blog and Facebook. It was just a scary time and we're just so fortunate that we knew exactly what to do and were able to do it.

Keep us in your prayers.

The family is with Mindy at the hospital. I'm going to start feeding Ri and Teagers.

I just need to hold my daughters.