Adjusted Age 28 Weeks

Today the trio is 28 weeks, otherwise known as negative 12 weeks. What on earth does that mean you ask? Well since they were born so early they are essentially measured as if they were still in the womb rather than being compared to babies born at term. So if you use 40 weeks as when a baby is supposed to be born and these babies were 15 weeks early but have now been out for 3 weeks then they are essential -12 weeks. Make sense? However how the nurses and doctors refer to them is now as 28 week old babies because if they were still inside I would be 28 weeks pregnant and that's the milestones they compare them to. So when they hit 41 weeks they will essentially be equivalent to a any other baby that is 1 week old even though they are in fact 16 weeks old, strange right. And this goes for clothes and everything else until they are about 2 years old. So at their 1st birthday they will not be measured the same as other 1 year olds but to babies that are 9 months old instead. They say this all evens out at about 2 years but until then, this may get really confusing!

I bring this up because as I said they are at the 28 week milestone today and are doing so well. Ella & Claire's oxygen levels are now equivalent to the same air you and I breathe...room air. Ella has zero "rate"(pushes of air) and Claire's are down to 15 per minute. Slade is still having some difficulty and is getting 40 pushes, however he is still gaining weight and is now only 1oz away from the big 2lb mark.

Today, I got the chance to take Claire's temperature and change her diaper and while I did the whole temperature thing well, I really blew it on the diaper. Its really hard to do with your hands through little holes, with gloves, with wires all around, an IV running threw her leg and her kicking like crazy. I couldn't get it done and the nurse had to finish. However, I paid very close attention and will be better next time!

Finally a lot of people have been asking how I've been recovering and I'm doing fairly well. My incision is healing nicely and the pain has subsided immensely. The only issue I'm still facing is the blood loss issue. During the surgery I lost 4 units of blood and as of my Dr's appt a couple days ago I still have not regained any. This leads me to tiring very easily when walking and also a very ghostly complexion. However, they have me on a lot of iron and expect that it should regenerate within the month. So all in all, for almost three weeks out, I would say I'm doing pretty darn well, thanks for asking!

Below is a picture of their three little houses in a row. They are all covered with blankets to keep out the bright lights. The one closest is Claire's, next is Slade's and the one in pink the nurse is blocking is Miss Ella.