4 Weeks and a Birthday!!!

It was four weeks ago exactly that Scott and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary and welcomed our three little girls. Since then, we've had to say good-bye to our two oldest girls, the identical twins. And 4 weeks later, we celebrate Casey hitting 4 weeks exactly on Scott's 34th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Scott!!!

This past weekend, as Scott and I were scrubbing in to enter the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for the second time that day...I turned to him and said "Scott, I don't have anything planned for your birthday." He just smiled. I continued "I mean it. I'm real sorry but it's been so crazy. I really don't have a single thing planned...this isn't some complex plan to dupe you and throw you off-track. There's no surprise party or anything." He laughed at that. In all seriousness, I had always thought that I would be confined to bed being 7 and 1/2 months pregnant with triplets. I was hoping his friends would take him out for fun on the town, his last big hoorah before our lives got crazy. Well, the craziness started way early.

So, I have a lot to make up for. Christmas will be a big one this year=)

Casey just seems bigger and bigger. Although she lost a bit of weight the past two days. Today she weighs 2 lb 12 oz after getting up to 2 lb 14 oz. Oh, wrong way, Casey. Everything else is looking really good. They may have to figure out a way to pump up her caloric intake. Right now, she is intaking 24 mL of breastmilk every 3 hrs and her tummy looks like it's to full capacity. This past week, we have seen her sneeze, yawn, and hiccup. The poor thing seems to hiccup every time we kangaroo her. The poor lil thing squeaks when she hiccups. And those methods for getting rid of hiccups...they so don't work for a preemie. No drinking water upside down or scaring her.

This video clip is courtesy of Crissy who captured it perfectly.

She still has desaturation bouts, where the oxygen levels in her blood dip...but she seems to be maturing and tolerating a lot more. She used to desat when there was noise or talking or touching, now she tolerates it. So, we've been rubbing her soft hair or holding her hand when we can...its probably mostly for us...but we love being able to bond with her more. Last night, they took off her head gear while adjusting her mask and I massaged her head to get the blood circulating...and she opened both eyes and was looking around. She has Scott's eyes. Perfect eyes. The little tube that goes into her mouth runs into her stomach and that's how she is fed and it also helps air trapped in her stomach escape. She seems to think its a pacifier and she loves sucking on it...or pushing it around with her tongue. She enjoys it so much, I swear she actually smiles sometimes. Check out this video and see what I mean...warning, it's a little dark.

Prayer Requests:

-Casey gets a head ultrasound on Friday as she turns 30 days old. pray for no bleeds or abnormal results

-That she gains weight, we would LOVE for her to hit 3 lb by next week Monday

-That her lungs develop and strengthen so she breathes on room oxygen 21% more and with less help