Last night after the girls were in bed, I did what I usually do. I sat down with Brent to watch a little tv and got on the computer to check e-mail, Facebook and tripletconnection (an online triplet family forum where I can connect with other mom's and dad's of triplets and share experiences and seek advice from other families in our shoes).
I saw a post from a mom of triplets asking for prayers for a family of triplet boys in Florida that was close to losing one of their trio. They, like us, had a set of identical twins and a fraternal triplet in their bunch. And their twin set, like ours, was born with some twin-to-twin transfusion. That basically means that one twin was receiving the majority or all of the blood and nutrients from the placenta and the other twin was not receiving enough. All ultrasounds prior to our delivery showed healthy trips, but when Reagan and Addison were delivered it was apparent that Addison was receiving all of the blood and Reagan was not. Addie was bright pink, almost red in color and Reagan was pale and needed a blood transfusion immediately. To this day, I know that it was by the grace of God that my water broke and the girls were delivered early so that Reagan could get the help she needed outside of the womb.
This family in Florida delivered their triplets at 28 weeks in the middle of July 2009 due to the twin-to-twin transfusion. One of the twins never left the NICU due to the complications from the twin-to-twin transfusion...he spent 6 and 1/2 months, his entire life, in the NICU. He passed away Saturday evening in his mother's arms.
I think every day how blessed we are to have three happy, healthy little girls...but this family's story hit me like a ton of bricks. We are SO LUCKY that the girls thrived in the NICU and were able to bring them home after 19 days (Baylee) and 24 days (Reagan and Addison). We are SO LUCKY they currently don't have any major health issues due to being born prematurely and Reagan is doing just great even though she was low on blood when she was born.
I was crying about their story all night. I could almost feel the pain that mother must be going through and I couldn't help but imagine how completely torn to shreds I would be if we had lost our sweet Reagan.
Sweet Reagan Baby in her bumble bee pjs
Mom, I know you are crying right now but dry your eyes as this post gets a little more upbeat. (love you)
The girls are doing SO GREAT with their sleep training! Reagan and Addison are sleeping ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT! *Hallelujah Dance*
Baylee is close but with having her tongue clipped last week she is still progressing and trying to get there. But hey, 2 outta 3 ain't bad!
Baylee Boo in her ladybug pjs
The girls are also just happy little babies! They laugh and giggle...mostly at their Daddy. Last night my heart was just bursting watching Addie squeal and giggle at her Daddy over and over again while they played and laughed before bedtime. Precious, precious babies.
Addie Bear in her ducky pjs
They haven't quite mastered the smile-on-cue-for-pictures thing, but hey, we'll get there.
L-O-V-E to you all!
I wasn't just crying, I was squawling! But more about the fact that you knew I would be crying! We have seen God's hand at work so many times with all of our grandbabies. How blessed we are and the blessings will keep coming because we pray everyday for their health and happiness. Not because we are deserving, but because God gives his grace freely before we even know we need it. He knew that Reagan needed help before any of us or the doctors could have known.
ReplyDeleteI sure wish I could see these little bundles!!!
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