What? It's been a month already?!!!

What? It's been a month already?!!!

Posted by Tom

Well, what can we say? This has probably been the fastest month of our lives. The babies are now one month old. All three are doing great. Reiker and Holland have been doing one bottle feed a day for the last few days and today have actually had two bottle feeds. Sutton had her first bottle tonight, and she demolished it. Our "Little Bit" is a spitfire for sure!

All of the babies had an eye exam on Friday, May 2nd. All three passed with no problems or abnormalities that can be seen in preemies. They will have another test in two weeks and then another at gestational week 40. This Sunday (May 4) the babies would have been at gestational week 35 had they not been born.

Hopefully a few more weeks of good growth/progress in the NICU and then the babies will get to come home. It will be a bitter sweet homecoming. We have met some really good people at St. Mary's. They have taken great care of us and our triple miracles. We could not be happier with the care and service that we have received.

The latest measurements for the babies are Sutton is now 3 lbs 12 oz, Holland is 5 lbs 6 oz, and Reiker is    5 lbs 3 oz.

Miss Sutton (aka Little Bit)

Miss Holland (aka Little Meatball)

Mr. Reiker (aka Little Man)

He is Risen! A happy Easter!

He is Risen! A happy Easter!

Posted by Tom

It's hard to believe that the 3 weeks have gone by since the babies were born. They have come so far in a short amount of time. Each day they continue to grow a little bigger and stronger. Today, Kim would have been 33 weeks pregnant had they not been born. We're hoping for a few more weeks of good growth and progress, and maybe these little miracles will be released from the hospital but not before their ready.

Holland has grown from 3lbs 7oz at birth to 4lbs 6oz. Reiker has gone from 3lbs 9oz to 4lbs 3oz. Sutton has broken the 3lb mark from her birth at 2lbs 8oz. All three babies are doing extremely well. Holland and Reiker are now in open cribs, and Sutton is still in her isolette. Hopefully she'll be in an open crib soon. All three babies haven't had any major infections or complications. They are as normal as preemies can be. We just have to fatten them up before they can come home.

I leave you all with a few pictures of the past several weeks.

A picture at 2 weeks

Everybody's sleeping!!

Holland

Reiker

Sutton

Holland and Reiker (Check out that smile!)

"You are healed!"

Sutton

Holland

Reiker

"Y'all have a good one. I'll be here brushing my hair." (Sutton)

Cheers!

- tom

A Very Special Delivery

A Very Special Delivery

Posted by Tom

While at the hospital, on Monday, March 31st, our sweet nurse Tonya came in to tell us that it was "go time." They were setting our delivery up to begin at 12:00 noon that day. St. Mary's called in several of the NICU staff, respiratory therapists, and labor nurses. The delivery of triplets is not an ordinary thing and they wanted to make sure that every detail was covered. Including Kim and myself, there were 18 people in the operating room. Needless to say, it was "grand central station" with all of the people and equipment. We could not be more grateful for the service we received from our doctors, nurses, specialists, and staff here at StMH.

At 12:24pm, Holland Belle McCullers was born weighing 3lbs 7oz and 15-3/4" long.

At 12:26pm, Charlie Reiker McCullers was born weighing 3lbs 9oz and 16" long.

At 12:26pm, Sutton Michelle McCullers was born weighing 2lbs 8oz and 14-1/2" long.

Kim and I have been very blessed. God has given us more than we could have ever imagined. The babies and mom are doing great. Kim was released from the hospital on Saturday, April 5th and the babies continue to stay in the NICU. All three are doing great; they just need a little time to grow and get stronger. Each day they continue to improve. The McCullers family has been blessed with three special deliveries.

Our decorated mailbox, thanks to Tabitha (Nonna)

Our decorated door, thanks to Aunt Julie

Nurse Carol (the artist) did a wonderful job decorating the babies' boards.

From left to right - Holland, Reiker, Sutton

Kim holding Holland for the first time.

Kim holding Reiker for the first time.

Kim holding Sutton for the first time.

Cheers!

-tom (dad)

The Wheels fell off, well sortof...

The Wheels fell off, well sortof...

Posted by Tom

Kim has had a great pregnancy thus far. She hasn't had any problems related to blood pressure or health risks that could arise with carrying multiples. During week 29, things started to change slightly. Monday of that week her blood pressure was up. Nothing major, but it just caught our attention. This was her last week of work before she went on bed rest. Wednesday night of that week, her BP was still high. Something was definitely up, but we thought that maybe her body was just getting to the point where rest is the only thing that would do.

Thursday morning, she checked her BP before work and it was up even higher than the night before. After thinking about it, I decided that Kim was done with work and the she needed to rest. Later on that morning she called the high risk doctor and he recommended her to go to her OBGYN to have everything checked out since she hadn't had any problems until now.

At the OBGYN, after checking Kim's BP again and doing a urine test, it was determined that she needed to go to the hospital to have a few more tests ran. During blood work it was found that her platelet level had dropped. Kim was showing signs of preeclampsia.

We were now hour to hour waiting to see if it was time to meet our little ones. Thursday afternoon they gave Kim a steroid shot to help with the development of the babies' lungs. Our goal at this point was to get to Saturday afternoon. The doctor said 48 hours after the initial steroid shot would allow it to work its magic. Friday turned into Saturday and Saturday into Sunday. Kim was having blood work done every 12 hours to see if the preeclampsia had gotten any worse. Her platelet level had remained constant but still low. Her BP had gotten back to normal or within reason of being pregnant. All of this changed Monday morning.

Kim's blood work was done Monday morning and her liver enzymes had elevated to a level where the doctors were no longer comfortable. The HELLP syndrome had kicked in full force and it was "go time."

Our lives were about to be forever changed... for the better!!

Cheers!
-tommy