Delayed update

Sorry for the delay in getting a recent posting, but here it goes.... Things couldn't be going better for the triplets. There is actually very little to report other than that they are all doing exactly as they should be doing: eating, sleeping, and growing.

All three are eating well, as they are doing 3 oral feedings a day of approx. 25-40 ml per feeding in addition to their tube feedings.

Growth-wise, they are gaining steadily. Louie and Greta both weighed in at 4 lb 12 oz last night (Thursday) and Agatha came in a bit behind at 4 lb 10 oz.

They have all been moved into open-air cribs and have been doing a good job of maintaining adequate temperatures.

In a nutshell, and this is what we expected, it seems as though all we do is change their diapers, feed them, hold them until they go back to sleep, and then start it all over again.

We have been told and are hopeful that they will all be released in a week or so. They are in what would have been in their 36th week of gestation. At this point it is just a matter of them eating an adequate amount orally and demonstrating signs that they are able to wake up and display their hunger.

Overall though, everything couldn't be going more smoothly.

Coasting along

Here we are on Mother's Day, and Leah couldn't have gotten a better gift. As of this moment, all three of our little ones are coasting right along. Greta, who had the chest tube placed earlier in the week is now rid of it as her lung has resealed itself, and she has also caught up with her siblings in regards to their feeding amounts. They are all now recieving 35 ml of breast milk via a feeding tube 8x a day which has allowed them to have their IV lines disconnected. At this moment, they are all just growing with no issues that can be identified as of right now.

THis weekend was a busy one for the family as we had a bunch of visitors. First, Elsie got to meet her new triplet siblings which was an exciting moment to her. Elsie recieved a "finger hug" from her sister Agatha when she grabbed Elsie's finger. Elsie also got to hold all three, but "not for too long as her arm fell asleep."

The babies were also visited by grandparents Dennis & Sue and Dwaine & Susan, who all got plenty of baby time. They were also visited by other friends and family

Big sis Adeline also got to make the trip down to Omaha, but was unable to meet her new siblings, however did have a fun weekend with family and some quality time at the hotel pool.

And finally as a Mother's Day gift from the nurses, Leah was allowed to get all three of the triplets together for their first photo appearance.

One small bump in the road

Overall the update for all of the hospitalized is very positive. To begin, Louie and Agatha are just coasting along. Every day now they've gotten another monitoring device removed, yesterday a temp probe and today their oxygen saturation probe as they both have demonstrated no need to have them. Greta however suffered a minor setback on Tuesday evening as she developed a right pneumothorax, which is a hole in her lung causing her to labor while breathing and eventually for her oxygen sats to decline. The doctors believed it to be a random event, maybe a sudden deep breathe, whatever the cause, she had to get a chest tube placed in an attempt to get the lung to reseal itself. As of this noon hour, it looks as if she has succeeded and we are hopeful that it will be removed by tomorrow.

All three of them are recieving breast milk via a feeding tube which is encouraging.

As for Leah, she is doing better, as the headaches she had the first day postop have subsided, or so we hope. She is especially excited that both Louie and Agatha were successful in their first attempt at nursing, which was a surprise to everyone. They of course couldn't consume enough milk to meet their needs, but it is encouraging. It is in the plans to let Greta attempt tomorrow. Leah is set to be discharged tomorrow (Friday) and plans to remain in Omaha until we can start bringing babies home.

This weekend our two other beauties, Elsie & Adeline will get the chance to come down to Omaha to meet their new siblings, so that should be fun.

Sorry there are no new pics to this update, but will have some more added this weekend.

All's Well

A quick update of the triplets for Tuesday includes all good news. First, the two girls were each given their names. Baby B will now be called Greta and Baby C has assumed the name of Agatha. In regards to their health, they are all doing well. Greta, who was on C-Pap yesterday and through the night has now been weaned off of it and is doing well on room air. She still has a rapid respiration, but the doctor is overall happy with her. Both Agatha and Louie have had no issues to speak of. All three babies were given some food via feeding tubes today.

Leah is doing alright, but is in some pain. Of course her incision is awfully painful, but she has also been having some headaches. She promises that she will never have another C-Section again.

We'll leave another post when or if anything changes.

They're Here

And it finally happened, today Leah, Elsie, Adeline, and I welcomed in three more members to the family. At 1510, 1510, and 1511 on May 4, Louie Kent, Agatha Hollyn, and Greta Rose came crashing into the world. Actually it was a very controlled situation, as we had a C-section scheduled for the afternoon.

The day began with myself scrambling to get back to Omaha late Sunday night after having driven up to Norfolk on Sunday afternoon from Omaha. Leah was again having contractions and the nurse believed she was dialated to a 4-5. After getting down here to Omaha, the nurse informed us that it was her medical opinion that we would be having babies within the upcoming 24 hours, which we were ready to do. However, as the early morning hours progressed, the contractions started to lighten in intensity and in duration and by 7 AM, Leah wasn't having many contractions. Our perinatologist was optomistic that we would still be able to delay the delivery for another 1-2 weeks. After having our hopes up that this was the day, as Leah was really ready to get on with the show, this wasn't exactly what we wanted to hear. We were pretty discouraged, even though the longer the babies were in the womb, the healthier they might be. But overall, we were about burned out of the false alarms. However later in the morning, by 10 AM or so, there were some signs of pre-eclampsia setting in, so it was decided that since the babies were believed to be all over 4 lbs, a c-section would be the way to go.

Leah proceeded to the OR shortly before 3 PM, and everything went a smooth as could be expected. Louie weighed in at 4 lbs 4 oz and the girls were 4 lbs 4 oz and 4 lbs 2 oz. At this paticular moment, we have not decided which girl is Agatha and which is Greta. Leah has only gotten to see each of them for a couple of minutes and wants to spend a little more time before making that decision.

As far as the health of the babies, they are all doing well. Baby B (one of the girls) is currently on a C-Pap to assist with inflating her lungs, but is improving. Louie and Baby C are doing great and are breathing on their own on room air, no problems to speak of.

Leah on the other hand had a difficult evening as she has been very nauscous as the effects of the spinal are setting in along with the pain of the incision.

But overall, everything is going well here. I'll add some pics and sign off for the night. We'll try to add more tommorow as we know more.

Staying put (May 2, 2009)

The current news from Omaha on this Saturday, May 2 is that Leah is now 33 weeks along and has not progressed in her labor in the past 30 hours. SHe is still dialated to a 3 and the drugs attempting to suppress the contractions are still running. We were given the option to have the drugs turned off this weekend and let nature run it's course, or to attempt to buy more time for the babies by leaving the drugs on. We wanted to just have the drugs turned off and get on with the show, but, the better of us said to stave off the labor for as long as could be done, safely. Our perinatologist told us that for every day the babies are in the womb, statistically you can subtract 3 days of ICU stay, so, we'll wait. If everything continues to go as is, we should be looking at the end of next week to turn off the drugs and see how things proceed.

At the moment, Leah is pretty uncomfortable, but she has been predominantly on bedrest for the past week and it's more just a matter of being achy, can't sleep, anxiousness, etc. She is at Methodist Hospital in Omaha, and her direct phone line is 402-354-3902 if anyone would like to give her a call to help pass the time.

In regards to everything else going on at the moment, most of Kent's entire family was down in Omaha this weekend to celebrate Kent's brother's graduation from medical school, congratulations doctor. The girls have also made it down to Omaha once to see their mother, but currently are being taken care of by Leah's parents, Dennis and Sue, to whom Leah and I are forever endebted to for allowing us to stay with them while we sell our home in KC. In addition to helping us take care of the girls while I run down to Omaha for every time we think it will be the real deal. Thanks again Dennis and Sue.

Elsie & Adeline

Pics of the girls.

Pics of Leah thru the pregnancy

Here are some pics of Leah thru the pregnancy and the growth of her belly.

Coming down to Omaha

On Monday morning, April 27, (very early), Leah started having some contractions (about 5-7 mins apart) that she hadn't felt yet, so , concerned that we were 2 hrs from the hospital, we headed down to Omaha. Leah got admitted, was given steroids to help the babies lungs develope, and then was given some drugs to help suppress the contractions. This worked and by Thursday, April 30, her contractions had diminished, the drugs were stopped, and she thought she might be released, however, she then started having contractions again and after being examined, she was found to be dialated to a "3". So, the drugs were again started and the contractions have again diminished and here we are again.

Leah is currently at 32 6/7 weeks along, and the goal is to reach 34 weeks gestation, so we believe that the plan is to continue with the drugs, suppressing the contractions until we've reached the 34 week mark.

Welcome to Leah & Kent Olberding blog

Leah and I are going to start and attempt to keep a blog regarding our family and future additions to. Please feel free to check back as often as you like as we will try to post pics periodically and give updates. Enjoy.