And so it begins...

Finally, a few nights late, I am updating the blog.  Before the babies were born people kept asking when I would update, and I looked at them like they were crazy and replied "Tuesday night of course, right after they are born!".   Yeah right.

We are IN LOVE with our precious girls born on 11/1/11.

Anna Carolyn, 2 lbs 15 oz
Irene Margaret, 4 lbs
Elizabeth Brooks, 4 lbs 3 oz

Anna - she is LOVING having her own space.  She spent the last few months squished underneath her sisters and was ready to kick back and relax.  She has been the best breather of the three - I've heard that about the smallest babies, but I can say now that it is true.  She has only been on "room air" the whole time- never needed any additional oxygen.  Tonight they are going to try to start with a very small feeding for the first time.  We are praying that she takes well to the feedings and can start gaining some weight!

Irene - I love this sweet picture of her with her eyes open.  She is doing great.  The first day she had to be on oxygen for a little while, but now she is off the oxygen and has actually started some feedings which are going pretty well.  Anna and Irene are identical, and although the size difference makes it a little hard to tell right now their similar features are definitely starting to show.   They seem to have my coloring with a tint of reddish blond in their hair and the nurses think their features resemble me as well.  So hard to tell when they are so little though!

Brooks - I know it is hard to tell in the picture but she looks just like Jack which makes me so happy!   Brooks is doing great also.  She was on oxygen the longest.  Most likely since she never had to share anything in utero, she just took a tad bit longer to get the hang of it.  So funny how that works.  As of tonight she is off oxygen and they are going to start her feedings as well.  She is a wiggle worm.  Always kicking her feet free and moving her arms around, even in her sleep.  When we took this picture she was working hard to get her feet out.

The past few days have been a total whirlwind.  Tuesday morning was full of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and about any emotion you can imagine as we prepared for the c-section, which was scheduled for around noon.  The c-section itself was fairly routine and the girls were out so fast!  I can't think of the right words to express how we felt when we saw them and heard their little cries (it sounded like a litter of kitties).  It felt amazing and I felt intense relief and happiness.  As they were putting me back together, I started to feel pretty awful physically.  A combination of things happened all at the same time - blood pressure went way down, blood sugar was very low, and from what I understand a fairly large amount of blood loss.  I can't really remember much about that part or the first few hours of recovery, but a few rounds of medicine and a few blood transfusions later I started to recoup.  The first night I was delirious and restless and sad because I couldn't see the girls but by the next morning I was feeling much better, and, finally, I was able to see my babies.  Today I feel even better and I'm sure it will just continue to progress each day.  I cannot wait to be able to hold them.  I was able to hold Anna for a few minutes yesterday which was wonderful.  Hopefully soon we'll be able to hold all three during our visits. 

Here are a few more pictures.  We have already taken a million so I tried to select just one more of each, for now....

Irene getting mad at the nurse for waking her up.  I don't blame her!  But I was happy because then she opened her eyes for a while.

Brooks finally gets her feet free!

Anna with my big pale hand cleaning her face.  This picture really shows her little size!  This afternoon she was alert and responding to our voices.  So sweet. 

Thank you to everyone for the prayers and sweet thoughts.  It is great to be surrounded by so much love and support.  We can't wait for these girls to get home and meet everyone!