3 Weeks Old

It is so hard to believe that the boys are 3 weeks old today! It seems like yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting their arrival while confined to my hospital room. Time really does fly when you are having fun and boy oh boy oh boy are we having fun!

Over the past two weeks, the boys and I have been getting healthier and stronger as we all recover. During our second week, the boys made two visits to the pediatrician for weight checks. At the first check on April 21st, Andrew weighed 5lb 1.2oz, Jared weighed 4lb 8.8oz and Wesley weighed 4lb and 15oz. Jared had only gained .8oz since the first check 3 days prior but he gained weight so we were still doing ok and he retained his title as "the baby."

On April 25th, the boys were 13 days old and we returned for another weight check. The target weight for 2 weeks is to return to their birth weight. At this visit, Andrew weighed 5lb 4.6oz and Jared weighed 4lb and 13.8oz. Both of these boys had surpassed the target of returning to their birth weight. Wesley weighed 5lb 3.6oz at this visit which was 1.4 oz less than his birth weight. The nurse was confident that based on his weight gain during the week that if he were to be weighed on Saturday, he would also be at his birth weight. As we had met our targets for weight gain, we were released from additional weight checks and did not need to return to the pediatrician until their one month appointment on May 15th. We are so proud of our big boys' accomplishments!!!

As the boys had returned to their weight at delivery, I thought it would be fun to have Mike hold all three babies to gain an appreciation for what I was carrying at the point of delivery. While he was a wonderful caretaker throughout the entire pregnancy, I still wanted him to hold all three babies to feel what I had physically experienced (pictured to the left). Let's just imagine Mike pregnant for a moment...

While we are talking about weight gain, I just want to take a moment to mention my weight loss. As of the date the boys reached their birth weight and I had reached my pre-pregnancy weight. I gained a total of 69 lbs during my pregnancy and as of April 25th (13 days post delivery), I had lost 71 lbs... yipee! During week 3, the weight loss had slowed considerably and I only lost 2 additional pounds. I hope to keep loosing to reach a much healthier weight. Taking care of these boys is turning out to be a great weight loss program!

I also had two visits with Dr. Dixon to continue to monitor my blood pressure and that darn "spot" that had become infected above the incision area. At my first follow up visit regarding the "spot," Dr. Dixon's assessment was that it was getting better but prescribed yet another antibiotic to fight the bacteria. At my visit this week, Dr. Dixon was pleased with the "spot's" healing and we were released from weekly visits and my next appointment is the regular 6 week post-partum visit on May 23rd. My blood pressure was 132/86 and Dr. Dixon is confident that at my 6 week appointment, I will be completely back to normal... how very exciting!

Over the past two weeks, we have had a lot of great moments with the boys. The boys were able to meet their Great Grandmother Pooka and Aunt Joan. Pooka and Aunt Joan were able to spend time with all three boys. The boys were all very comfortable with Pooka and were soothed to sleep the moment they were in her arms. Pooka, where are you when the boys are awake and fussy during the middle of the night??? We need to bottle a little of that Pooka magic. The picture to the left is Pooka with Wesley. The picture to the right is Aunt Joan feeding Jared. We all really enjoyed your visit.

The downside of the visit was that they were here to visit with the boys and to give Grandma Sally a ride home. So, at the conclusion of their visit, it was Mama and Papa Darnell on their own with the trio and Papa had already returned to work. From Wednesday to Saturday, we had an opportunity to experience life as a family without any additional hands on deck. Let's just say we survived but we were very happy to hear that Grandma Sally was ready and willing to return on Saturday evening and Uncle Lance was eager (or at least willing) to drive her back to Tallahassee.

As all three boys have lost their umbilical cords, we have started to regularly bathe the boys. This activity is so much fun that I had to mention it. I attempted the first bath in the baby bath tub when I was caring for the boys alone. It was a good thing that there was not another adult in the house or he may have been compelled to call 911 as he could have assumed the boys were being tortured based on the cries that were coming from the kitchen. I have now nicknamed the bath, the "torture bath" time. One would swear the boys are being tortured based on their reaction to bath time. During their first bath, I had one baby in the bath and the other two were still in their crib. Once the baby in the bath started to scream, the boys in the crib started to scream as if they were screaming for me to stop causing so much pain to their brother. The good news is that after bath time, all boys are relaxed, smell like angels and appear at peace... or it is exhaustion from the intense reaction to the bath. The other good point is that with each bath, they are getting a little calmer. I hope that they will eventually learn to enjoy bath time. If anyone out there has suggestions on how to improve the bathing experience for the boys, I am open to suggestions.

Chewie is finally starting to warm up to the boys... or at least he is acknowledging that they exist. He is still not excited about the boys when they are crying. There have been a couple of times when a baby has been crying in the swing or the bouncer and Chewie has started to bark at the baby. I am not sure if he is trying to alert me to the crying (as if I did not hear it on my own) or he is trying to tell the baby to be quiet. Either way, the additional barking does not help the calm the situation.

The boys have started to be more and more alert each day. When the boys are alert, we have started "tummy time" with them. Wesley forgot to read the memo that told him he was a premie baby and should be a little behind in development. He is very active on his tummy. He is able to move his head from left to right and back with ease. He is also starting to hold his head up and to my surprise, he rolled from his stomach to his back. He first did this two days ago and I thought it was a fluke. Today, during "tummy time" he did it twice. Andrew is also active during "tummy time" and is able to move his head from side to side and has brief moments of lifting his head. Jared is once again, more interested in sleep than any activity. We are not sure he knows what he is supposed to do because when we lay him on his tummy, he wants to go to sleep. I am really proud of anything they are able to do at this point because we should all remember that they are still about a week away from their original due date.

One action all three of the boys have mastered is the art of the spin. Using their feet and legs, the boys are able to spin their bodies in full circles. This activity along with the boys' desire to be close to each other has resulted in a new phenomenon occurring in their crib. The boys have started to use each other as leg rests.

Pictured to the left is Wesley with his legs propped up on Jared. The funniest part about this is that they were both sleeping soundly when we found them like this. Wesley was comfortable and Jared was undisturbed by his brother. We have noticed that Wesley is our big "cuddler" and we always find him moved over into Jared's crib space. The boys were originally assigned spots in their crib with Andrew on the left, Jared in the middle and Wesley on the right. This was done to help everyone keep track of who is who. However, once we continued to find Wesley and Jared cuddled up, we decided to move Andrew to the middle so he could get some brotherly love. Let's not forget that Andrew was the baby in utero that was on the bottom of the other two and was somewhat isolated. With Andrew in the middle, Jared decided to repay the foot rest favor and we found Jared with his feet resting on Andrew. Once again, both boys were sleeping soundly when this picture was taken.

Then today, the sweetness and innocence of the leg resting turned ugly. Andrew was still sleeping in the middle with Jared on his left. I was feeding Wesley while Andrew and Jared were in the crib. I am not sure who started it but the scene in the crib took a turn for the worse. First, I saw feet out from underneath their blankets. Then, I heard the sounds of frustration from both boys. I continued to feed Wesley until the sounds of frustration turned into all out cries. I then got up and discovered Andrew kicking Jared in the head and Jared kicking Andrew in the body. In the picture, Andrew is on the right and started out sleeping straight up and down. He had turned a full 90 degrees to get his feet up to Jared's head. Mark the date of May 3rd as the date I had to break up the first Team Darnell fight! I am sure this will not be the last time I move the boys to their own respective corners to "cool down." Don't worry, the boys have kissed and made up.

Other memorable moments and cute photos:

Andrew in his bouncer. During the first week, the boys were unsure of their bouncers. Since then, they have learned to enjoy time in their bouncers. There is one small issue with the bouncers. The issue is that the vibration mode lasts for 10 minutes and then shuts off. Well, the boys really like this and it is difficult to keep hitting the button every ten minutes when caring for two additional babies.

This is Jared after finishing a bottle. Ahhh, so content!!!

Wesley taking a breather during "tummy time."

The past two weeks have been wonderful!! We have really appreciated the help provided by Grandma Sally. Today, the team from Junction, Texas arrived to meet the boys and lend a helping hand. The team consists of Grandma Peggy, her friend Donna and Donna's daughter Harley. The boys are so happy to have the group here (as are Mike and I) as they are all getting held a lot which has not been the case when there is only one set of arms to hold them.

While in the hospital, the boys had their pictures taken. If you would like to see them, you can view them online at http://www.tmh.org/. Once on the site, select the link to the Web Nursery. It will then ask for the birth date for the babies, April 12, 2008. There will be two listings for Kellie D. The password to access is Team Darnell. The first listing contains pictures for Wesley and Jared. It will first display Wesley (taking an oath). To view Jared, change the name in the dropdown at the top of the page labled "viewing." The second listing of my name contains the pictures for Andrew.

This should bring everyone up to speed on what is occurring within the Darnell household. I hope everyone else is doing well.

Take care,

Kellie