1st night with 2 boys (triplet 1 & triplet 2)

29th Aug 2010

2nd cubby was moved in to recovery room together wit 1st cubby.

In d afternoon, hubby n i tried feeding both babies. I BF one,then pass to him for burping while i BF d other, then pass it over again.hahaha..it was fun!

Nite time (as hospital NICU rules, all daddies must leave the recovery room by 1030pm), cubby2 repeated d cries like cubby1. It should b due to d new environment. He cried from 12-4am. After that, cubby1 cried from 4-530am. *yawn* cubbyDaddy should be arriving at 930am

1st 24hrs being a fulltime mother of Triplets

26 Aug 2010

cubby 1 had moved in to recovery room wit me. Have to start changing nappy and feeding him all on my own. 
Feeding:
He is on full breastfeeding, which means save time on heating up milk or feeding him wit cup/syringe. However, he is a super sleeper, he does not wake easily thou been kacau for more than an hr. Heard many ppl says BF must feed every 2hrs, each time feed 20mins from each breast. However, my case is totally different. My bb only sucks 10-20mins n fr one breast. After that he refuse any top-ups n will fall asleep. Was quite worried initially cos afraid he did not eat enough, moreover,he can stays on for more than 4hrs without food. 
consult and get assurance fr doctors n nurses that he is getting enough. But they still advice, not to wait more than 4hrs cos it may affect his blood glucose level. Hence, everyday,nurses will punch his feet to get a drop of blood to test it out. margin count: 2.8, cubby's result 4.5 n above. So, now will only feeds him when he cries.

New environment:
Tis room is a new environment to him, new temperature. Once after giving him 10pm meal, he started crying non-stop. He is fed, nappy changed. Carry him in arms, he stop for a short while,once put him down,he starts the crying again. He cried & scream almost throughout the nite n the day after.

Hooray!

25 Aug 2010

Cubby 1: got promoted from 'intermediate room' to 'recovery room', meaning from today onwards, he will sleep by my bedside. And i'll have to fully 'jaga' him without much assistance fr d nurses...he'll be on breastfeeding on-demand program!!!

Cubby 2: in 'intermediate room', he still needs to learn how to suck. Soon he will b joining cubby1. He is on EBM (Expressed Breast Milk) program!

Cubby 3: strong tiny little fellow. Was slightly unwell yesterday, but with his determination & strong will, he is working hard to gain sufficient weight in order to leave d incubator. 300-400grams to go. He is on EBM (Expressed Breast Milk) program! EBM will help him to grow stronger

Great News!

23 Aug 2010

Cubbies r 13th days old today!

They r showing great improvements!

Cub 1: From yesterday's few mild sucking to today's vigorous sucking. He really surprised us with his great improvement. Doc allows to remove the O/G tube. Nurse says must ensure his blood glucose level maintain at least 3.0 to ensure he is feeding sufficiently. So far,he had fed twice with full BF. I'm sure he will show more improvement later.

Cub 2: Last nite was promoted from incubator to normal cot. Today he is move to Intermediate room, sleeping next to Cub1. They both look alike. Tested that they both don't cry at the same time. That's great!

Cub 3: Still in incubator, but he is growing well. Always actively dancing with arms & legs in the incubator.

NICU...my home for the time being

22 Aug 2010

Tis is my 4th day staying in NICU. Within this short stay, I'd already broke down in tears 4nites. It's not because of d babies, but it's d physical & mental exhaustion that causes the emotional breakdown.

Here, we do hv very busy schedule. Breastfeeding(BF) every 3hrs. Lets say BF@1130am, we need to b thr slightly early, latest 1115am, then get d baby wakeup & ready 4 feeding. Try/teach/BF baby for at least 20-30mins. Since baby still learning to suck, so we need to top up baby's feeding with tube. After feeding baby with tube, I'll usually stay for awhile to ensure baby is alright after the feeding. This whole process actually takes up an hour. By the time i leave d room, it's almost 1pm.

Get back to my bed, get ready d breastpump, need to express breastmilk for feeding. During of pumping takes 30-40mins. After that, clean up the utensils & sterilize it with hot water. Take the expressed breastmilk to keep in the fridge which is quite a distance away. by the time tis finishes, the time is 2pm.

Quickly get back to grab some food cos the next feeding starts at 230pm... N this goes on d whole day.

It's quite tiring especially for new mothers -- new as in the sense just gave birth. Cos physically we have yet to recover from d operation, now we need to do lots of standing & walking. My back & incision area actually aches every nite. And not forgetting my both wrist which had carpal tunnel syndrome due to pregnancy had not reduce. 
Other than that, for chinese, this is the crucial month to 调养身体。Food wise, not suitable for confinement. Even malay also does not take those food during their 'pantang' period. So, hubby had to send my meals which r cooked by mother in law in d morning.
Emotionally, when physically tired & can't enjoy every meal nicely will definately affect d emotion. At times, I feel like requesting to go home to rest. 

However.....

Although there r many unpleasant things, once I saw d improvement in each on d babies...all these pain will be forgotten.

Today is the '12day' for the babies!

Eldest son: improves in sucking, at least he is more initiative to opens up his mouth & able to suck for more times. He is also more awake, rolling his eyes left & right.

2nd son: weight increase, came out of incubator today! Bravo. Should b learning to BF soon.

3rd son: had increase from 1.1kg (birth weight) to 1.3kg. He is still in incubators, but soon when his weight is 1.6, then he should be out from incubator too.

So, when i think of all of their improvements & achiements... I'm happily continuing my stay here in the NICU.