Triplet's Birth Story

Well, like I said in my previous post, I was told on Friday, May 31 that we would be having our babies.... TOMORROW!
I was sort of planning on having the next week to finalize things.... go to 112 Eatery one last time with Dave... have my final days as a family of 2... well... instead we had about 20 hours. ( June 1st would be their birthday.... our goal was to make it till June.... and we DID!)

I called Dave immediately at work and I asked him- " how do you feel about becoming a dad tomorrow?"
His response- "really? are you serious?" Followed by a ton of laughter! Ready or not here they come!

I drove home, calling all my family members, informing them to be at the hospital the next day, June 1st, at 9:30am... so they wouldnt miss the birthday of our baby boys!
Everyone was so excited, and in disbelief that it was really happening.

I got home, and almost didnt know what to do first. I actually think I layed down for a bit. I got a text from Dave around noon saying, " I cant concentrate, I am leaving work now, be home soon."
So dave came home, and we took a 2 hour nap together. (I think the shock of babies coming wore us out)

That night we got P.F.Changs for dinner, got the house pretty clean, called friends to get our puppy Bosley taken care of for the following days ahead, packed our bags, and tried to get some sleep!

We were up and out the door by 7am. We got to the hospital, and they brought me to a room to get me prepped right away!

My nurse Libby was wonderful! She, along with the whole team, who came in to see me, were so thorough in explaining everything that was going to happen!

I waddled into the OR around 9:30am... sat on the table for my spinal block- which was not that bad!
As I laid down, in came the pit crew to prep for the operation!
Dave then came in all decked out in his scrubs ready to go with the camera.

As soon as I was all numb and prepped, off they went!
Weird feeling to be numb from the chest down, but boy was I grateful! Kendall was the guy in charge of keeping me numb and watching my vitals. He was wonderful! Kept us informed, checked in, great bedside manner!
I did get nauseated during the C-section... due to my blood pressure dropping a bit too fast once the spinal block reached its peak.
A bit tricky to puke while laying down... but all went ok. and soon I was feeling better again!

It was about 15 minutes in that babies were starting to be born. The dr. alerted Dave to stand up and get the camera ready. The baby nurses were standing ready to take each baby once they were born.

At 10:15am baby A, Henry John was born- screaming at the top of his lungs! The best sound in the world!
4 lbs 2 oz

At 10:16am baby C was born- Nolan Michael. Again screaming nice and loud!
3 lbs 9 oz

At 10:16am- just moments later baby B was born- Graham Edward- screaming like his brothers!
3 lbs 2 oz

And that was that... we were parents,.. to three baby boys!
Dave went into the next room to take more pictures of each baby, cut cords, and get a nice close look at the newest Dvoraks!

He came back in and filled me in, showed me pictures, and just soak it all in as parents. They brought in Graham and Nolan for us to see, ( Henry was on a bit of oxygen so they couldn't bring him in)

Dave left again to go be with the boys, while I remained on the table as they put me back together.
From the moment I waddled in there to when they wheeled me out, only 1 hour 20 minutes! AMAZING!

I went to recovery for another hour and 20 minutes. I had a bit of the shakes, so they tried to get that under control. I was feeling pretty good, and we just needed to wait for me to regain some feeling in my legs and feet.
Since I couldnt eat or drink 8 hours prior to surgery I was very excited when my nurse, Libby, brought me ice chips.... but I was BEYOND excited when she brought me a glass saying "a little birdie told me you LOVE apple juice, so I brought you some"  (oh that husband of mine.... gosh I love him!)

Dave was able to bring back our family 2 by 2 to say hi and see me. It was fun to watch the video they took of Dave coming to reveal their names and weights! I will make sure to post that when I get my hands on it!

After recovery, they took me right to see the babies... who were brought to special care nursery (a step up from NICU, a step down from the regular nursery! AMAZING boys!) I was able to see Nolan, and finally see Henry, but I got to hold Graham! Wow, such a powerful moment.. to hold and snuggle my son!

Their cute name sign on their door- a nurse makes them for all the special care babies!

After a bit, I realized I had not had any pain meds yet...and I was starting to feel pain.
They got me settled in my room and gave me pain meds. Things got a little groggy for a while... but a few visitors came to see us.
It took a while to get my pain under control, but my nurse, Peggy, for that day was amazing and made it happen.
Dave and I did our best to get sleep that night... it was Sunday morning, they had me up and out of bed, in the shower, and in a wheel chair so we could go visit the babies!

I stayed in the hospital till Wednesday afternoon.
Days consisted of:
 Rrdering breakfast and lunch, dinner was usually brought to us! SO nice!
 Pain meds distributed throughout the day and night-every 4 hours
visitors coming and going
back and forth trips to the special care nursery to see, hold, and love our boys
start the process of pumping
resting
TV watching

I was feeling pretty good starting Monday morning, both my nurses and the special care nurses were amazed at how well I was doing... I soon got the reputation that I was the mom that didn'rt rest enough...
but I made sure to listen to instructions as best I could, to stay healthy.

I was discharged Wednesday afternoon.
My staples from my incision were taken out. (not as painful as it sounds)
We had a bit of an insurance hiccup where I needed to call to clarify some things... it was at this time my hormones decided to go wonky on me.... I started crying, for no real reason... and of course my nurse warned Dave, "there usually is no reason for crying, so don't ask why... just comfort her."

Once we were discharged from my room, we headed to the special care nursery to spend some time with our boys before heading home.
I did well leaving, although it was not fun...I knew I would be back the next day at noon to be with them all day!

When we got home, we started to unpack. Dave decided to open a card we got from a friend. It was one of those singing cards, this one played somewhere over the rainbow, by the hawaiian guy with the ukulele .... It took all of 2.5 seconds of hearing that card... and I started bawling.... no real reason... probably because I was missing the babies... but I threw Dave off that is for sure. He did great at comforting me as I calmed down.

It was about a half an hour later, we were watching wheel of fortune. It was the final puzzle.... 'person'... the contestant solved it.... it was 'twins and triplets'- cue water works! I lost it again... oh man these hormones were getting the best of me.
Dave asked me as he comforted- "what do you need when this happens? Wine? Food? Ice cream? Me? Me to leave you alone?
Awww what a guy.

 I DID made it through my first night away from the boys. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed, with my husband and puppy.  So now for the next couple weeks it will be back and forth from the hospital... soaking up as much baby time as we can during the day, and trying to have restful nights at home before they all come home and it REALLY begins.