Finally...A Party of 5! (Jacen comes home!)

At noon on October 9th Matt and Jody made their final trip to the NICU, to pick up Jacen. This time all three boys traveled in style in their triple decker stroller, which caused a lot of stares and comments. People would actually pull out their cell phone and make a phone call to tell someone else that they saw triplets! Matt and Jody know it's just because their boys are so darn cute.

Here's some pictures from the happy event...

Jacen's all ready to go, and bundled into his car seat...



Matt and Jody proudly stand by their trio in the deluxe triple decker (a.k.a. triplet limo...)



Here's Alex, in the front...

Ty in the middle...

And Jacen brings up the rear!

You can tell that all three are so excited to be home...

Reunited!

All Bottled Up and Nowhere to Go

Tonight Matt and Jody tentatively tried a technique known to triplet parents as "bottle propping," in which you nest each triplet in a boppy pillow (a U-shaped soft pillow) and then give them their bottles, which are then balanced on rolled flannel blankets or some other surface. It was a runaway success. Ty especially loved the boppy pillow and looked extra comfortable. It definitely made the 3:30 a.m. feeding go quickly as well; it cuts the time that each feeding takes down a full half-hour to an hour. That leaves more time to cuddle them afterwards!

Here are pictures from the bottle propping experiment...

The boys belly up to the bar...er, boppy...

Alex waiting to be fed...



Mmmm...efficient and tasty!



Ty contemplating a yummy bottle!

Orc wants his too...

Ty and Alex Come Home!

This week something exciting happened! Ty came home on Friday, and Alex followed on Sunday!

Ty proved to be an extremely easy baby to take care of, leading Matt and Jody to believe that one is "easy." Alex's addition proves that two are more difficult. Apparently the boys have a competition as to who can unswaddle themselves first. Matt and Jody are splittiing the feeds, so we'll see what Jody thinks after she completes the 3:30 a.m. feeding cycle by herself...

Here are some pictures from this weekend...

Jody gets Ty dressed in his (rather large) coming home outfit (it's newborn sized!)...



Ty says "Oh no! I need to grow to fit into my own clothes!"



Fortunately, however, Ty does fit into his carseat...



And so Matt is able to pick him up and carry him out of the NICU after all! Ty is hiding beneath his blue cap...



Ty gets more alert however when he's home and dressed in something more comfy and is allowed to hang out on his own changing table before the first feeding...



Ty dines in style on the new leather Lazy Boy rocker recliner (Matt and Jody didn't tell him that they bought it for their own comfort!)...



And after Ty gets to relax on his own in a big crib! He looks lonely though.



Fortunately on Sunday Alex gets to join Ty at home. Here's Alex dressed and ready, next to a sleeping Jacen...



Jacen's left on his own until Tuesday morning...



Well, Alex is ready to join Ty at home...Ty (on the right) looks exhausted by the whole affair!



Now when they get home both brothers are snoozing...



Ty is so happy to have Alex home he just can't stay away and keeps breaking out of his swaddling to cuddle with (and bat at) Alex!

October is here!

This week the boys continued to grow and gain weight. All three were put on a four-hour feeding schedule and spent the week adjusting to that.

Jody brought in clothes from home for the boys, and they were styling in their new duds!



A mellow Ty decked out with alligators...




Alex says "I will eat my sleeve!"





But he looks as cuddly as a teddy bear...





Jacen finds his rainbow stripes way too exciting and lets loose with a huge yawn...clearly not much of a fashion mavin, is he?




Also, two of the triplets had baths with Matt and Jody. Matt scrubbed Ty first...

Ty says, "I'm not sure I want to go in there..."



Matt scrubs Ty...



Ty relaxes during the bath...



Jody gets ready to soap up Alex...



Everyone poses for the camera!

The Madeira Triplets--Life from 34 to 35 Weeks Old

After an action-packed first week of life in which the Madeira triplets greeted the world, bottled feedings, were transferred to the step-down NICU in the Brigham and ultimately to another hospital closer to home, this second week was a welcome respite! It's tough being a premie these days! Of course it's tough being a NICU parent too, which is why Matt and Jody didn't have time to update the blog much of last week. What with traveling in to see the boys and putting the final touches on the nursery, things were hopping. It helped, however, that Jody was able to start driving again on Tuesday, September 24, which allowed her to go in to see the boys more often during the day.

And just what were the boys doing this week? They were focused on gaining weight and on getting even bigger on feedings. Highlights from this week included being moved into a single crib, getting double chins and getting feeding tubes taken out. Ty is still the slowest bottler of the three--but he vows to get better!

Matt giving Alex a bottle, Sept. 23



Matt feeding Ty...



All three are reunited in an open crib on Monday, Sept. 24...that's Jacen on the left, Alex in the middle and Ty on the right...





Jody's proud of her sons...



Matt figured he better put a swing or two together after seeing how well the boys were doing!

Some silly photos were taken this week too. Here's Jody getting love from Ty (right) and Alex (left)...

Alex has a death grip on Matt...



Give me a bottle...or else!



It's unclear here whether Ty is trying to lead a revolution (power to the premies?) or whether he's happy about finishing his own bottle at a speedy pace for once...talk about "Formula" One racing :D



The boys also drew some curious cousins up from Pennsylvania--Matt's cousins Jenny, Cary and Kavala came to visit over the weekend! Here's Cary and Jenny with the boys...



And Kavala...

Here's the triplets in their crib again at 35 weeks old, Sept. 29...



And individual mug shots! Alex...



Ty...



and Jacen...

Sunday, Sept. 23--The Triplets are Transferred to Another Closer Level 2 NICU

The boys had their first car ride this morning--each was taken by ambulance from the Brigham to Winchester hospital, which is much closer to us and out of the way of city traffic. The boys now occupy the back right corner of the Winchester Special Care nursery. They all arrived and were settled in by noon. We visited them at 1 p.m., and they all hung out as a family until the evening. It's much quieter here, and even more private than the Level 2 room in the Brigham.

Here's the Special Care Nursery...




Jacen not only moved into new digs at Winchester, but he also got to leave behind his isolette for an open crib because he can maintain his body temperature without it! So this is his first "big boy bed"...you can see how happy he is to be one step closer to going home!





We also gave all three boys little birthday presents that had been given to them by another triplet mom...cute and very soft blankets shaped like a tiger, ducky, and froggy. The boys really received these new presents enthusiastically by continuing to slumber away in their beds.

Here's Alex with his ducky...



And Jacen with his froggy...



And Ty with his Tyger, of course!



And here are some other photos of the Madeira five-some hanging out together...

Matt holding Alex...



Alex taking a bottle...mmm, good!



Jody with Ty...



Matt with a very burrowed Ty burrito...