Good news and bad news!

Wow, what a week! First we will start off with how great all the babies have done this week! All of them are over 5 lbs and quickly growing day by day. Last weekend I came down with mastitis, which I have never had before. Geez, it was terrible. I had a fever, the shakes and felt like I had the flu. Fortunately I was able to call my Dr and get an antibiotic that night and started feeling back to normal after a day and a half. Unfortunately, due to my fever I had to wait 48 hours before visiting the babies, which broke my heart. Luckily, their good old daddy got to visit and love on them! Tuesday they turned 3 weeks old and was their second day of taking all of their bottles!! So we knew we were getting close to hearing the news that one or both of the boys were getting ready to come home. So by our evening visit the doctor informed us that if the boys did not have any apnea episodes and continued to do well with the bottles that they would be discharged this weekend!!!! What great news, our boys would be home by Christmas!! So knowing this weekend might be it, I thought I better bring Emery into the pediatrician to check her cough she just started having. Thank God I did, because Emery was contagious. So as much as we would love to have the boys home for Christmas, they are safe and healthy in their “hotel" for a little bit longer until we are germ free!! So once again.....we have to patiently wait!! From the very beginning of this journey we have prayed for healthy babies, so waiting a few more days for our prayers to be answered will all be worth it. Chances are we will probably end up bringing them all home at once!!! So we ask that y'all pray for Emery to get over her sickness and we can have a germ free and sick free home until March!!!! We also want to thank everyone again for all of our wonderful dinners! I have been visiting the hospital 2-3 times a day and juggling the girls and their schedule along with Brian putting in his last week of work, the last thing either of us feel like doing is cooking! So thanks again!

Week 2...a little late!!

Better late than never! This week was 2 weeks and on Friday they hit 35 weeks gestationally. Not much has really changed besides the boys are slowly increasing their bottle feedings. Annalee is still on one bottle feeding a day. This is just a slow process and just takes time and for them to be developmentally ready. I visit them every morning after dropping the

girls off at school and then Brian and I go every evening before dinner. For me I'm physically exhausted but I just keep on going. I'm trying to keep the girls on a good routine and yet leave time for the babies. The girls are doing well considering ALL the changes they have gone through in the past 10 months- moving, less mommy time, mommy in the hospital and now leaving them in the evening. Weekends we try to do special activities and give extra attention. It will be another adjustment once the babies come home, but at least we will all be together!!Thank you all for the prayers- continue to pray that all three pick up quickly on their bottle feedings so we can all be home by Christmas! Also a big thanks to the dinners, gifts and diapers that have been given to us!!I feel terrible not having thank you cards written, but for right now I have had no time, just know it is all very appreciated!!

Our Burbrink Bunch is FINALLY complete!!

Just a week after my last post, I began having contractions. I ended up in the hospital just a day after my last high risk appointment. I was able to get 2 steroid shots for lung development and discharged after a day. My doctor was going out of town that weekend so I was praying I did not go into labor! I had a shower on Saturday with the ladies from church. It was so nice to have a few hours of distraction from being majorly uncomfortable by this point!! I can't be anymore thankful though, that I only had to deal with about a week of "I can't take this anymore”! Monday morning I went to the Dr and no progression and just sent home to continue Procardia. She said if anything happened that she would be delivering all day on Tuesday to just come in if things didn't get better. I went home that night and had 3 hours of contractions but then was able to sleep all night, I then woke up at 5 am with another 3 hours of painful contractions. I told Brian go ahead and get the girls together and our hospital bags, we need to go in and get checked again. Sure enough I was having contractions every 2 hours. My Dr came to check on me and she said it was time to deliver. Within about 2 hours it was go time!! Kristin was able to come up to photograph the entire birth, and our moms, Brians Aunt and the girls were able to make it!! I was so ready, I had said my prayers and knew it would all work out. When we made it into the operating room, the Anesthesiologist asked Kristin if I was always this calm!!! I am fortunate enough to have had two previous c-sections so I knew what to expect, I also knew my recovery would not be that bad. At 1:10 Elijah was born first weighing in at 4.8 lbs, then came Liam at 4.6 lbs. Our poor little Annalee was born last a 1:11 weighing in at 4.3 lbs! All three were swept away very quickly to be cleaned and evaluated. A few minutes later the nurses and Brian brought all three over for me to kiss and see before they were taken away to the NICU. I was given a few updates for the next few hours saying that all three were doing GREAT! I was wheeled down at 8 pm that night and was able to view them all. That evening all seemed like a blur! The next day I woke up feeling like the old Heather!! I felt amazing not to be carrying around all that extra weight! I scrubbed in at the NICU and was able to get a new update. Liam never needed any oxygen after birth and he was just given an IV for nutrients and then a tube through his nose that was his feeding tube. Elijah and Annalee were on 30% oxygen which is really not much. Every day after was another accomplishment. Day 2 Elijah was off oxygen. Day 3 Thanksgiving Day- I held Annalee for the first time!!Day 4 I nursed Liam. Day 5 I nursed both boys- these are very big steps because they normally wait until gestational age of 34-36 weeks to introduce bottle or nipple, and Elijah was off oxygen. Day 6 Annalee off oxygen!!! 1 week old- All three are in an open cribs, in cute clothes and the boys have met thier birth weights!! From here on out all three just need the practice of bottle feeding. ELijah takes almost all his feedings by bottles at this point! He is most likely going to be our first home. Liam is taking 3 out of 8 feedings by bottle and Annalee isn't ready yet to try!! These babies could not be doing any better, the prayers have absolutely worked!!As for the question everybody wants to know "When are they coming home?", the staff really can't guesstimate, we are always told "By their due date"! Which we know will probably NOT be the case. So for now we just take every single day as such a blessing as they are so well taken care of by the St Tammany NICU staff! Brian and I have enjoyed our visits with the babies but also the conversations the with all the nurses! They have done a great job of informing us, teaching us and really being encouraging! This is a short period of time in the babies’ lives and I know they will be home in no time!! I am doing great! My recovery has been the easiest yet. Mentally I am doing great because I have had the help of my mother in law taking and picking up the girls so Brian and I can visit the hospital in the morning and then my mom comes at 4 after school so we can go back in the evening. There is NO WAY this would all be possible without their help!!!Super Grandma's already! The hardest part for me right now is pumping every two hours during the day for 40 min. so by the time I am finished I have 1 hr and 15 min to do something productive! At night I am allowing myself to go every 4 hours to get more sleep. I am trying to build up a supply for 3!! I feel it is so important for all three to have all the nutrients and benefits of breast milk. So the exhaustion is well worth is for three healthy babies!! Brian and I want to thank all of our friends and family for the help, gifts and words of encouragement, we feel so blessed and look forward to slowly bringing the babies home!!!