MannTriplets

Looking at the last post can you tell who daddy’s favorite is?  Its always been Emma.  He named her so I think that makes it even better.  I love them all the same.  But I cant believe how they are changing so much.  They are all crawling now and waiting to start walking.  They love standing unassisted and walk around in their walkers and around furniture.  I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with them, i don’t know what kind of trouble they will get into when all four are walking.  One more obstacle we are looking forward to.

Their 1st Birthday is coming up so quickly too…I cant believe in 5 days they will be one!  I remember being in my hospital room watching the fireworks from my window.  I actually remember talking to my dad while watching them.  And how sore and tired I was.  Believe it or not, I miss being pregnant with them, it was a long hall, but worth all the pain.  We are so blessed with four beautiful, healthy girls.

I just cant believe they are almost one already, boy how does time fly.  Really, i don’t remember Lilly’s first birthday going this fast, but then again, she is three already!  Will time go triple fast for us?  It seems like it!  All I can say is we are so blessed!  I cant wait for their party.  Cant wait to see you there!

Goodnight for now.  I have been so busy I have had no time to get on here and update you…Hopefully can make time!  And FAMILY when you read this please leave some comments!

(Kerry Here Live from the NICU family room with Lilly)

We got a room at the Ronald McDonald House. We are so relieved.  We’ve called ~ 30 times a day . I have always seen the little Ronald McDonald House donation boxes but I never knew exactly what they were for- now I do.  This is a really great place and a really needed service for parents (who live far away) with little ones hospitalized.  I will be sure to donate in the future-

We are so lucky to get in, there is a huge waiting list. The Ronald McDonald House goes off of a waiting list until 4pm. After 4pm its open game and if you happen to call in after a room opens up it is yours. Thats how we got in.  Otherwise there are like 20 people on the waiting list.

It is so nice here- We are so relieved mostly for Lilly, the instability of being away from home , away from her parents and in a diferent hotel or families house for the last 2 weeks has taken a toll on her. Thanks again to all of our great family that gave us a place to stay and everyone for helping out with Lilly.

This place has an actual McDonalds playroom with a slide and everything - as well as another playroom with every toy you could imagine. Lilly is in Heaven. In addition they have a computer room, video game room, chapel and a secret garden outside with several teepees or as Lilly says ” Look at the pee pees!”…

There is a kitchen too so we can have some normal sit down meals.

Anyways- The triplets are doing great. I bottle fed Emma and Alyssa yesterday- Jenell fed Katie. The girls are off of oxegon and caffeine- They are only on a feeding tube yet.  The next step is to get them feeding and assuring they hold their heat in so we can get them out of the incubators.

The nurses here are amazing ! Next week we hope to get the girls feeding regulary , we have a car seat clinic to attend as well as infant cpr.  We will keep you posted as we can. 

The triplets are doing well. They are all off of oxegon. The nurses taking care of them are amazing- we want to take one home ! Alyssa had a little heart murmer but it seems to be going away.

The next step is to get them feeding on their own- currently they are fed through a tube. Kerry and I are holding the girls as much as possible. We do “Kagaroo Care” this invloves holding the baby skin to skin- the girls love it- They seem to be happy and content.

We are already seeing their personalites - which I noticed before we delivered- Alyssa is a kicker and a bit fussy- Katie and Emma are a little more laid back. Katie and Emma sleep so peacefully AND they look identical, althoughKatie is the little peanut - she is just about to break 3 lbs !. Its amazing when you think about it , imagine holding a cat Katie is 1/2 to 1/3rd the weight of an average cat. But she is doing the best out of the three.

We are so thankful the girls are doing well. The hardest part for us continues to be the fact that we live 1.5 hours from the hospital. We have been in a diferent hotel OR relatives house every day. Thanks Aunt Mary for the bed last night and for helping with Lilly - and Aunt Elayne too. We are STILL on the list for the Ronald Mcdonald house. Tonight for the first time we will sleep at our house- It is so hard being this far from the girls- The other problem is feeding- I have been pumping for the girls- and its going well- tommorow I will start feeding… So it will just not be possible to drive back and forth everyday when I need to be there to feed the girls. So we will keep calling- We are heading back tommorow morning !

Lilly has been great- (she loves Demma - Katie and Lysa) but she is homesick and has been throwing a few fits latley- I feel bad so we are trying to give her some time back at home as well as more attention. She doesnt last when we visit the girls so luckily family has been taking her. I tried to allow Lilly in by the girls today-Linda (one of the best nurses ever) helped setup a play area in the corner- but Daddy was in another part of the hospital (in a phone meeting with a client) and Lilly had a fit until he came back. She is really turning into a daddy’s girl.. ALSO - Grandma Sue made Lilly a shirt that says “I’m the big SISTER to triplets”.. - Its really cute and a nice conversation piece. We keep getting ” Is that true?” or “Is that for real” or “Glad it’s you and not me” (Im glad its me and not you too !)

Today I held all three girls for a quick photo shoot. See the latest triplets photos here…

Keep the comments coming and Thank you everyone for your support.

-

Hello,

We uploaded some pictures of the triplets. More to come-

We have to head back to say goodnight to the girls now…

Hi all, this has to be a quick post from me as I am extremely exhausted. The long wait is finally over, we delivered our beautiful triplets July 9th at 10:32pm. I am so happy they are here. They are just beautiful and look like our Lilly. She is doing great with all of this, I wasn’t sure how she was going to take it, but very well so far. Lilly can name all of her sisters. But calls Emma Dmma, so cute!

I am so tired and feel beat up from every angle. The meds they are giving me are not enough! They used staples and one is pinching me…

My recovery has been hard. Due to the pre clamcia my blood pressure was very high and they had to put me on magnesium. I’m also on several pain pills. I was very dizzy earlier and they ran an MRI and catscan to make sure I had no blood clots. The tests were OK however I do have liquid in my lungs. This is particularly troublesome because it forces me to cough— nothing is more painful for my Csection than coughing.

I don’t know when I will be out of the hospital- its been hard- without Lilly Kerry could stay here with me and check in on the girls… he was at a hotel last night with Lilly and we hope to get a room at the ronald McDonald house soon- we are on the list - so we can be close to the trips.

I was able to see the girls again. I held my sweet little Katie, she is the smallest. Oddly enough the smallest one is doing the best. Emma and Alyssa are doing well but they are both on Oxegon. Kerry held Alyssa. We wanted to hold Emma too but my pain returned and we had to head back. We are heading down there again in a few minutes.

Thanks to Aunt Elayne for watching Lilly yesterday so we could be with our girls! And Thanks to aunt Mary for Taking Lilly today… Emma is so cute- she is laid back and she seems to sleep so peacefully with her hands clutched together. Emma and Katie could be identical - Alyssa looks different with darker hair.

I hope to keep everyone updated-they have an internet terminal here at the hospital so If I can get up and around some more we will see– however as you can imagine its tough. Sorry but I’d rather be with my girls ! But with that said I am writing this for myself and our family too- It will be great to look back at this website as a virtual scrapbook years down the road.

(Kerry Here LIVE from Kinko’s Copies on limited sleep !)

Jenell delivered Girl,Girl,Girl triplets on 7/9/07 ~ 10.36pm.

1. Alyssa Lynn Mann 3 lbs 13 oz & 16″
2. Katie Susan Mann 3 lbs 1 oz & 15″
3. Emma Elizabeth Mann 3 lbs 10 oz 17″

I will try to put together a better post after some more sleep… Jenell was forced into labor at 32 and 5/7 weeks- because she had preclamcia - very high blood pressure among other things… she delivered fine although premature. Jenell still has preclamcia and high blood pressure as well a severe pain from the C-Section. As a result she was put on a lot of meds that make her very drowsy. It’s sad that she was not able to see her own babies until today… nearly 2 full days after delivery. More on this-

The delivery was amazing- literaly 30 people running around and attending to each baby. I watched the entire C-Section and followed the babies into N-Intensive Care….

The babies are beautiful-(pictures to come)

They are doing well so far for premature babies. They are so small ! The babies are in a room lined up next to each other in incubaters– The nurses taking care of them are amazing.

Emma is a little cutie relaxed and laid back.

Allysa and Katie are a little more fussy.

Sorry I dont have time to write more- Lilly is Crying !- Quickly

Thanks so much to Jenell’s family- her Dad and Grandma Sue have been so helpful WE COULD NOT OF DONE THIS WITHOUT THEM !

The problem is Lilly cant be alone with Jenell- Lilly cant be with me and teh triplets- Lilly cant sleep at the hospital. So I am stuck with Lilly , Helping my wife, and enjoying the first few days of my 3 girls lives ! Warren and Sue (who live 6 hours away) have been helping out and taking Lilly at night. Jenell’s Aunt Elayne has also been amazing with Lilly and letting us live at here house before we delivered.

Thanks to my Aunt Mary and Aunt Margie for stopping by-

Anyways- really tired. We hope to get a room at the Ronald McDonald house( they house families with sick children near hospitals and Lilly can stay there with me )

Lastly- My wife is amazing . She went nearly 33 weeks with almost no bedrest- all of the specialists are telling her she has done awesome. And today - with no sleep , gallstones, preclamcia, high blood pressure, shortness of breath and on and on– She was in so much pain, literaly bleeding , her stiches were coming apart she had to stand up so she could get in to a wheelchair so we could take her to see her babies (after 48 hours of waiting) The nurse kept asking if she was Ok and she kept saying YES im ok- But I knew she wasnt.. She told me later she was in the most pain of her life- But the reward was well worth it- Im a big baby myself - I held back a few tears as I opened the door for Jenell to see her babies- the babies are beautiful….