Life in Phoenix....

Life is in full swing here in Phoenix with the Triplets, Daddy, and Papa.   It seems like we blink and another month has gone by, and several milestones are marked with the kids.   Here are some of our highlights and life events that have happened recently.

Harry watching over the kids



In early February, we had to say goodbye to our second 4-legged child, Harry.   In retrospect, there were lots of signs that he was not doing well.  As a testament to Harry, he worked hard until the very end to continue to be an active member of the household.  Right up until the very end, he was by our side, and warming up to the kids.  We think he knew that he wouldn't be with us much longer, and "talked" to the kids to make sure they would take care of us in person, when he wasn't able to.   On his last day, Sid and I were able to spend several hours with him laying in the sun on our  front lawn watching the world go by.  After a little over a month, we still miss him like crazy, and his passing has left a hole in our  hearts and our household that will not be healed very soon.  Sid and I still think we see him laying in the corner overnight watching us get up to take care of the kids - and I'm sure he is still doing that.   Harry, thank you for your unconditional love and support, and for getting us ready for the kids arrival.  You were the most lovable Dog we have ever known, and have set the bar very high for any pet that might follow you.   You are definitely missed every hour of every day!

February 26, 2012 - Six Month Birthday for the Triplets

Six months... WOW!  Where has the time gone.   So much has happened, we have gone from feeding by milliliters in the NICU, to almost "pints"... OK, maybe not quite, but it seems like it.   From eating once every two hours, to almost 5 hours during they day, and 8+ hours over night, and anywhere between 6-8 ounces.   On the clothing front, it seems almost impossible to keep them in clothes that fit them just right.   We have new outfits just bought that one "Chunky Monkey" (Caitlin) has grown out of even before she wore it - luckily Kelsie is behind her enought that we still get use out of it.   Riley is getting so long, he needs bigger clothes just for the length.   All of the kids are so happy most of the time, laughing, giggling, and enjoying each other, and Daddy and Papa.   We have settled into a routine - several times - each time we get used to one, it changes!  These little Monkees are keeping us on our toes for sure.  

Our Neighbors, Family, and Friends continue to be a blessing.  While I'm sure no one is under the impression that Sid and I are in any danger of starving, lots of people have brought food recently, which is just a god-send, as the kids usually demand play-time in the evening, and dinner is usually anytime after 8pm.  When we have something to dig into in between play-time, it makes it much easier.   Sid's Nephew Mario and his wife Sabrina  have been over helping out overnight on some weekends, and our wonderful friends Carrie and Barry have stepped in several times to babysit and help out.

Time to blog is in short supply, so I apologize for the infrequent updates.  Hopefully as we go forward, some time will open up, and we can continue sharing our Arizona Triplet Tales.   There are lots of things on the horizon, so more exciting news to come in the near future !   Thanks again for stopping by !

Caitlin Marie - February 2012

Kelsie Jeanne - February 2012

Riley Connor - February 2012

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to All !

Our First Christmas Picture - An Arizona Snow Globe

Well, it looks like I'm a few days late for my "regular monthly post".   I really do mean to post more often, but time seems to be going amazingly fast.   In just over a week, the Arizona Triplets will be 4 MONTHS OLD... amazing!   It's been a whirlwind of activity; most good, but some VERY challenging times as well.  Over all, we continue to be so blessed with happy, healthy children that are growing right on target.   As of this week, Caitlin is in the lead at 13# 14oz,  Riley is just behind at 12# 13oz, and Kelsie is bring up the rear at just about 11# 10oz.    Ms. Caitlin Marie has graduated to diaper size #2.  We've come quite a way from Preemie diapers, trying to get them to eat 30ml through the bottle versus a feeding tube, and waiting for the umbelical cord stump to fall off and heal up.

We are spending the holidays at home, of course.  Our great family are all coming to visit us.  We can't wait to see everyone, but I have to confess, I'm a little nervous about having this many people in our house at the same time, and getting the kids to sleep on a somewhat normal schedule.   Sid keeps telling me that it will all work out, and I'm sure he's right.

The pictures on this post were taken a few weeks ago.  It was actually the first "public" outing in AZ for the kids.  That is, the first time we ventured out in public, without going to the doctor office.  Everything went fairly well - we are getting a "little" better at getting the Triplets dressed, in car seats, and out the door... but it still takes about 45 minutes to an hour.   So, we finally get out the door, down the driveway, and on our way.  We went over to a shopping center not far from the house.   On the drive over, the sky got darker, darker and darker still.... yup... we made it to the parking lot just in time for the rain!   We made it out of the parking lot... and then  people noticed us ... two men with three babies... and the "wow, are those triplets..." comments began.   Everyone was nice,  but I was really wanting to get out of the cold.  At the end of the short visit, all I wanted to do was get back into the heated car.  We were there long enough to take the picture above, buy some stuff and Bath & Body.   The next stop was our friends house, Jane & Cookie, and their puppy, Kirin. 

We are still having good moments and not-so-happy moments, but thats life, right??  Over the past few weeks, all three kids have been smiling from ear-to-ear at the sight of us, and really, thats what it's all about ! 

Caitlin Marie

Kelsie Jeanne

Riley Connor

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from all of us !

Our Home away from Home ...

During our Surrogacy journey, we were matched with a Surrogate from the Sacramento area.  I was very excited, because I am from Northern California, and I felt this might be a good omen.   Although I'm not from the Sacramento area, growing up in  the San Francisco Bay Area for the first 20+ years of my life, I travelled through Sacramento several times, but not enough to know the area well.   One thing that anyone knows, is that one of the most famous hospitals in the Sacramento area, is the Sutter Heath System.   Our surrogate confirmed this, as this is where here children were born.   We were "sure" that our children would wind up being born at a Sutter Hospital..... this was only one of the first things we would be very wrong about during this journey.    It seems that the insurance company we were supposed to be dealing with didn't allow births at Sutter Facilities... where did that leave us then?   Once we knew we would have multiples (Twins, then Triplets, back to Twins... back to Triplets)... we knew it was important to have the babies delivered at a hospital with a good Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) - with Sutter out, that left the UC Davis Medical Center.

At first I was confused...  the city of Davis, where the main campus of UC Davis is located, is south of the Sacramento area.   Quickly I learned that the UC Davis Medical Center was located in downtown Sacramento at the "UC Davis 'Downtown Campus'"... and with that... our plans were set.

Heidi and I had a tour of the medical center in late July - little did we know it then, but that would wind up being less than 4 weeks before the birth of our children.   We had a quick tour of the Birthing Suites (3rd Floor, Davis Tower)... and was directed that if the children had to go into the NIC/U, they would be upstairs on the 5th Floor.   The tour was pretty quick, and the whole area seemed very confusing at the time.

Fast forward to August 20, 2011 - Sid and I stopped by the UCDMC building, and I gave him a quick tour of where to go when the big day came.   We still had no idea we would be back there before the end of the next week... On August 25, 2011 when the call came that Heidi was being admitted to Labor & Delivery, those previous visits really paid off! 

During Heidi's admission process, the NICU team came down to give us an introduction to what to expect during the delivery process.   What really freaked me out was that they began setting up the Infant Warming Bed in the birthing suite that Heidi occupied ... wow!  This was really going to happen!  The Nurses offered Sid and I a quick tour of the NICU - at around 10pm - we were so clueless, of course they were a 24hr operation.  All of the rooms in their NICU are animal themed; we toured through the Lion room, the Zebra Room, and through the halls past several unused rooms (the patient count was low... but about to grow by 3 at least).

Well, as you know, the birth process occurred on Friday August 26, 2011.  Right after the children were delivered via C-Section, they were brought to an outer room of the Operating Room, and this was where Sid and I were able to catch the first glimpse of our Angels.  After the kids were stabalized, assessed, and lightly cleaned, we were all on the move to the NICU. 

The Children were taken directly into the Zebra Room.  This was a new strange area for us to get used to, and we were still dressed in our "Daddy Suits" (see picture in previous post).   Once we arrived, someone told us - diplomatically - that we could get out of those paper suits, thankfully.   We could then get our first close up glimpse of the kids.

All in all, the children were in the Zebra Room for about a week, and then "hopped" over to the Bunny Room.   The Bunny Room was THE place to be, everyone assured us, because most kids were released from there to go home, as ours eventually were.

We can't describe the love, training, compassion, information, and support we received from the staff in the NICU.  From the Doctors (UCDMC is a teaching hospital, so there were LOTS of Doc's), to the Nurses, Nurse Managers, support staff, and Volunteers - everyone was so nice and accomodating to us.  Over all, we spent about 19 days on the NICU ward with our children, and these people came to be our family while we were in the "bubble" of hospital life.

Some notable people that we want to thank - and please, if we left anyone out, our apologies:

Becky, Angie, Roberta, Linda, Christopher, Sue, Monique, Susan, Elizabeth, Christy, Melodie, Valerie, Jane, Janie, Jennifer, Cathy, Joan, Andrea, Desiree, Cathy, Nancy, Amber, Sharon, Christa, Donna, Robin, Antje, Kim, and Arlene ... and many, many others!!

These people cared for our Children and in the process "gently" pushed us into being more active with their care (taking temps, changing diapers, changing clothes, bathing, etc); after all, as great as they were, they weren't going to be following us home to take care of them for us!   These wonderful women and men gave us the confidence to know that we could take care of our children.  Thankfully, the children were healthy and just needed to grow stronger, but in the meantime, we gained some valuable "on the job" training to help prepare us for the trip home.

Thank you isn't enough for all of these people that helped our new family to start.   These people work long hours, and are so dedicated to the patients they serve, and their families, we will always be in-debted to them.   Thanks D-5 Special Nursery Staff !!   We love you !!  

  

THE "Call" ...

Dear Friends and Followers... So sorry we haven't posted anything recently; as you all probably know, we've been pretty busy.  For those of you that know me, you know that I'm pretty OCD, so it just wouldn't sit  right if I didn't go in somewhat of chronological order. 

The week of 8/22, I was very lucky to have a work assignment that required me to be in the SF Bay area.   This was good because the prior weekend (8/19-8/21), Sid and I planned on packing up the Expedition (see post below of the packed car) - and head up to Sacramento.  The main goal here was to get the Baby Gear, Car, Carseats, etc  to Sacramento for the "upcoming event".   The drive went well; we visited Sid's family on the way (where his Niece announced she is pregnant ... Circle of Life !!).  We made it to Sacramento Saturday by 6pm, and headed over to Heidi & Jeremy's, where they gratiously let Sid cook for them.   Sid made carne asada & pollo (beef and chicken), with help from Jeremy's grilling skills, and along with mexican rice, and canned beans (we were on a short time frame), we had the meat in tortillas taco/burrito style.  Heidi's kids loved it!  We were happy that we could spend time with them, and do something small for all of the work they have had to put into our project - you know, being on the "business end" and all (Heidi with an ever growing belly full of baby). 

Sunday 8/21, Sid flew back to Phoenix from Oakland, and we had a few hours to visit with my Sister and Niece.  My Niece was about to turn 12 on 8/31, so it was great to see her before her b-day, and just before starting 7th grade (wow!).

It was kinda business as usual the week of 8/22 - me on a work trip, and Sid at home.   Until....

On Thursday 8/25, I was trying to work it out to meet Heidi in Sacramento for a doctor visit.   Due to a long string of events (in Heidi's post linked below), the timing didn't work out.   I stayed at work in the Bay Area, and although I really was starving, I didn't go to lunch.  That turned out to be a very good thing...

At around 1pm my cell phone rang.  No big deal, happens pretty frequently.   I looked down... and saw Jeremy was calling.   I think I instantly went into shock!  Everything faded away from my conscious as I answered the phone, already out of breath (maybe holding my breath).   Jeremy informed me that the "routine" Fetal Monitoring appointment turned into a concern, so they sent Heidi to the hospital.    At the sound of the word "hospital" and "labor & Delivery" I think I was half out of the door, ready to drive to Sacramento.   I told Jeremy I would be there ASAP; he cautioned me that it could be noting.   This was the beauty of me being in the Bay Area though; even if it was nothing, I could still come back to the Bay Area and continue the Wait. 

I called Sid... and I'm not too proud to say that at the sound of his voice on the phone, I started bawling like the babies that were possibly on the way.   I told him that I HAD to have him with me; go find a flight, and get your butt here quick!!   Luckily he listened. 

Click the link below to get Heidi's rendition of the story.... (Yes, I'm plagerising, but I need to be efficient now that we are Dad's of Triplets !) ...

The Birth Story

As it was throughout this journey, our Birth Story was a bit of a roller coaster.  I was an emotional wreck at the end of the day, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry from happiness, or just get lost in all of the wonder an amazement that had just happened.   In the end, Heidi did an AMAZING job of carrying the Triplets to 33 weeks, 6 days gestation - better than 90% of all Triplet births.   The babies had a bit of a rough first day, but within several hours, things were working as they should be, and the only issues were "normal" Preemie-realated things.  

We are blessed in so many ways.   Great Family, Friends, and now three beautiful children that we INSTANTANEOUSLY fell in love with at first site.    Thanks, one and all, for continuing to follow the "Arizona Triplet Tales" - now the fun is  really about to begin !

More to follow soon with the details about the kids !

Three Amigos Sid, Aaron, Jeremy - Ready for Action

The NICU Team awaiting the delivery ready to "Catch" the Babies

After seeing the arrival of our first Baby - Caitlin Marie, Baby A

With Kelsie Jeanne in the NICU just after delivery - lots of tubes and wires, but things were looking good



The ABC's of Love...

If you have been following along for a while, you know that our multiples have been "Baby A", Baby "B", and Baby "C", as we've progressed through this crazy, roller-coaster-like journey that is Gestational Surrogacy with Triplets.   As kids tend to do, they threw us a little curve-ball when they arrived, and changed up the batting order for the starting line-up last week.

Baby "A", aka Caitlin Marie,(4# 14oz, 18") was always our "Baby A", the larger of the two girls.  She is shaping up to be a natural born leader, as most first-born children usually become. 

Baby "B" was our son during pregnancy, but he got "sent down" to the little leagues, and our (former) Baby "C" took his place.   Kelsie Jeanne decided that she would be 2nd born, after almost 34 weeks of  being in the back-seat.  She is small, coming in at just 3# 11oz, and 17"; but don't count her out!  In just a few short days, she has proven in many ways that she is the stronger of the three.

Baby "C" - formerly "Little Girl Houdini" - is now our son, Riley Connor.  He appeared last, but the largest - 5# 4oz, 17".    Riley came out of the Operating Room in the best condition, but took a few steps back on his birthday.  He LOVES to be wrapped up, and under blankets (just like his Daddy!), and he is showing signs of being very independant. 

As I write this post, I am sitting in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, aka: NICU, at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California.   We've had a busy few days, but have finally settled into the NICU/Hospital routine.  The staff her has been AWESOME!! Not only have they been taking care of the kids, but - as I'm sure they do all too often - they have been slowly training Daddy Aaron and Papa Sid.   So far, we are taking temperatures, and diapering.  We've began to help moving the babies, and re-positioning.  We are definitely Daddies-in-Training !

Our babies wound up being born at 33 weeks + 6 days gestation.  In the Triplet world, that is AWESOME!!   Heidi out-did herself.  We will post some details of the "main event" soon - I'm not up to that just now.  Luckily she was discharged from the hospital on Monday, and is home recouperating.   Our families were able to be here to meet our new arrivals; they've all gone home to work and school now, but will be back over the long weekend.   Otherwise, Sid and I are content to hang out in the NICU, starting into our childrens eyes, and rotating the "Daddy Time" holding schedule.

The "Team" headed to the Big Show !! Guys are dressed in "Daddy Suits"

The Kids have arrived !

They are here!!

Born 8/26 at 10:07, 10:08, and 10:09 Pacific time!

• Caitlin Marie -  4# 14oz,  18"  
• Kelsie Jeanne -  3# 11oz,  17"   
• Riley Connor -  5#   4oz., 17"   

Our Awesome SurroMom, New Dads, and Babies are all doing well... More pictures to follow soon !

We are Banded !! One for each Baby, and the Green one for the NICU

"The Parent Zone".... Getting Closer !

We made it past 32 weeks, woo hoo! There are so many reasons that this is good news, of course the main one is that the kids will be that much healthier when they do finally come, however another great benefit is that everything that we haven't accomplished yet we can try to get accomplished (finally!).

First things first... The most recent doctors appointments continue to report good news. Heidi and the babies are all doing great! The babies continue to grow, and all of them should be over 4# now (estimated weight), which is great! The ultrasounds continue to show lung development, and who knows how they are doing this, but they are flip-flopping all around and keeping the Doctors guessing who is who.

Next... Must get stuff closer the the babies: We packed up the car on 8/19, and off we drove to California. After a pit-stop in LA visiting Sid's Family, it was north to Sacramento. The drive wasn't bad at all, it really helped to stretch it out over a few days. We drove right up to Sacramento, and met at Heidi & Jeremy's house to hang out. Sid made dinner for everyone, and we had a very nice visit. On Sunday, we headed over to the hospital to give Sid some idea of where he needed to go when he came back to the hospital with "other things" on his mind. We were also able to get the hotel situation figured out. Everything is falling into place... Go team !

Beyond being week #33 this week, there were some other significant events. Heidi has been driven to make it beyond 8/24 for two reasons: that day is both her oldest son's birthday, and was supposed to be her youngest sons first day of school. All was going well, until - boom (literally)!! There was a rail-car tanker fire in Heidi's neighborhood - a tanker car full of Propane caught on fire! Yikes! Not only just a simple fire - this one has made the national news. Thank goodness no evacuation so far - this is so not a stress that she needed . Hopefully things work out. Since they used the school for an evac center, school was delayed. If all works out, hopefully first day of school will be Monday.

On the delivery front, assuming there are no surprises, we will find out just after Labor Day when the scheduled c-section might be. We are getting so close! Sid and I are anxious to meet our children, but another week or two would be awesome. 35 week Triplets are very rare, but its looking like a possibility. We really feel blessed.

The countdown continues.... Thanks for stopping by !

Car Packed and time to go North !

Papa Bear Builds a Chair...

Things are definitely in high-gear around here these days!  Sid and I had another "marathon" Babies R'Us day on Saturday.  The plan was to just "fill in the gaps" with a "few things" we needed for when the babies come home...  3 hours, and about $1,500 later... we left with "just a few things".   There were some big purchases in the mix - a Rocking Chair, and a Video Monitor to name a few.   Luckily all of the gift cards from friends and family came in very handy, and significantly reduced the out-of-door cost for us... Thanks again everyone!

This week the nursery was painted.  We kinda gave in to the pressure of a new choice, and decided to keep the room the same colors it was (3 walls beige, and 1 dark green) - besides a profound lack of creativity in finding a nursery theme for 2 girls and 1 boy - we thought the existing colors would go well with the jungle/monkey (ie: 3 little monkies) theme we finally decided on.   Our GREAT friends, and long-time housepainters, John and Marcella, came over Tuesday and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls.  They are such great people!

Now the hard work... final placement of the furniture.  On the plus side, the "damaged" changing table hutch was delivered on Wednesday, and the rocking chair came in also... things are falling into place!

Here are a few pictures of Sid building the chair.  I told him that I would build the ottoman (it came put together in the box already...) if he built the chair... haha....

Harry and Sid concentrating hard...

My two "guys"... soon to get a new member of the club... Baby Boy "B"

Only a few more screws left...

Ahhh... Comfy !

We are gonna spend A LOT of time in this chair I have a feeling...

... Children... Your Chariot(s) await...

Ok, we are weak... We debated over buying a new car, and discussed the pros and con's, but when it came down to it, its so fun to buy a new car... (until the payments start that is)!   We are now the proud owners of a 2011 Ford Expedition.  The funny thing??  We owned the same color, make and model 10 years ago - we had a 2001 Expediton, white with beige trim and interior.  We loved the car, but couldn't justify such a big car for just the two of us... well, obviously that has changed (or almost about to!).   While another color was really my preference, this one had all the bells and whistles that I wanted, plus a bonus for Sid - A/C in the front seats!  (It goes without saying for those who know me that my list already had heated seats on it... I know, we live in the Desert, but it is really cold in the winter...haha).   So, 5 hours after test driving, we drove it home... really, WHY does it need to take so long to buy a car?  Besides the obvious selling points about having more room, the Expedition has 3 latch systems in the rear seat, where the Edge only had two, and has a 3rd row seat - (volunteers anyone?).   Luckily, we got a great deal, and everything worked out well. 

Sunday we tackled the job of unpacking the three car seats, bases, and assembling the Snap-and-Go strollers (yes, strollers - plural - one double, one single..), and setting it up in the car.  So far so good... although we did think the Expedition would provide much more seating space, it wound up about the same as the Edge.  Seriously, the Ford Edge is an AWESOME car, if it works for you, you should look at it.

Double stroller with car seats

Sid is placing the seats in the base

Ready for our three peas in a pod !

Stroller storage... need to work on space optimization though...

15 years of Milestones... and more to come...

This week was our 15 year anniversary. 15 years!! Wow... We can't be old enough for that kind of milestone yet, can we?? Where Did the time go?  Like any relationship, we've had our share of good and bad,  happy and sad - and we are still together!  Guess we are in it for the long haul now - neither one of us is letting the other away with three kids to take care of soon!    
Here are some pics from when it all started...

Sid & Aaron - Nov 1998 - Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Sid & Aaron - Hebe & Hector's House - About 1999

Aaron & Sid - Long Beach - About 2001

And Here is where we are headed 15 years later....  What an amazing ride, and its just starting all over again !

Nursery Furniture arrives - July 12, 2011
(We know, Bumpers bad, shelf over crib will be moved... haha)

Our First Father's Day Card !!

A surprise came in the mail this week... we actually got mail from our Little Bean's!!  We got the sweetest Father's Day Card in the mail from Heidi & Family, and "We Love Daddy" keychains.  It's amazing that with all H & J are going through growing our little sprouts, they had the time and forethought to think of us.  This is just reason number 6,567 that we are so blessed and grateful to be experiencing this journey with them.    It's amazing to think that our children are more that just "a gleam in our eyes", and they are actually alive and on this planet, growing stronger each day until we finally get to meet them!  Sid and I have thought about being parents for so long, thinking "One day...", and now we have a more definite date that our "One day..." will be here... (sometime around or before Labor Day, so appropriate, huh?).   Thank you to all of our friends, relatives, and blog followers that have and continue to support us through this journey, and as always, thanks to H & J for helping to make our dreams come true !