Praise the Lord! The babies are FINALLY here!

Because all of this happened so quickly, we have been extremely behind keeping our blog up to date. But here goes...

Friday, April 21, 2006... Lacy went into the hospital to be evaluated because she was having contractions 5-6 minutes apart for 2-3 hours. She was taking oral terbutaline to stop the contractions, but her body did not respond, so the Dr. ordered her to come in for evaluation. We were given good news that she was not yet dialating, and the babies were not in any distress. However, the doctors wanted to do whatever possible to stop pre-term labor. Lacy was given Magnesium Sulfate through an IV to see if the contractions would stop. It required a weekend stay, and not a very fun one because the Mag. Sulfate can have some pretty harsh side effects. But we were grateful it seemed to work.

Sunday, April 23, 2006... Lacy seemed to be doing very well. She went all day on Sunday without any contractions and they released us around 1:00 pm. We picked up the kids and headed home. About 2 hours later, Lacy woke up to harsh contractions every 2-3 minutes and so we headed back to the hospital. They admitted us and once again started up the Mag. Sulfate to try to get everything stopped. It seemed to slow things down, but contractions were still coming every 10-15 minutes or so. Obviously, these babies (and her belly) were ready!

Monday, April 24, 2006... The doctor came to see us around 8:00 am to let us know we would be staying in the hospital unitl the babies were born. Lacy was extremely disappointed because that meant a 2 week hospital stay since the C-section wasn't scheduled until May 8th. Which also meant we would miss her brother Brent's wedding that coming Friday. But...God had other plans.
Lacy was taken for an ultrasound and biophysical profile later that morning to evaluate each one of the babies movements, etc. While there, they found Baby A (Paige) was presenting a potential problem. Her umbilical cord was pushing against the cervix, and if Lacy's water were to break or she were to dialate, the cord would have presented first causing an emergency C-section. The doctor reminded us God had us in the "right place at the right time". Obviously, they wanted to avoid this and scheduled a C-section for 4:00 p.m.
We were relieved to know these babies for whom we have prayed for so long were finally coming, and yet anxious about premature lungs and other scary things that come along with having preemies.

4:12 p.m... Paige Gabrielle was born weighing in at 4 lbs. 6 oz and 17 1/2 long.
4:13 p.m... Next came Bryce Evan weighing in at 4 lbs 11 oz and the longest 18 1/4 inches.
4:13 p.m... Only seconds behind him came Connor Jay, the biggest, weighing in at a whopping
5 lbs. 3 oz. and 18 inches long.

All 3 came out screaming, which was music to our ears! Of course, they were whisked away immediately to be checked by the NICU teams. (Each one had their own team of docotrs and nurses so you can imagine how crowded that room was!) Initially, all 3 were doing very well. We were able to get lots of pictures and video for Lacy since she couldn't see much of what was going on. That night, all 3 were hooked up to CPAP machines. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is a method of respriratory ventialtion used on patients with respiratory distress. This machine is designed to force oxygen into their lungs causing the pressure to keep
the lungs open. Along with this, they each had IV's and heart monitors in case of any apnea episodes. It was sad to see them hooked up to so many machines, but we knew and trusted it for their best.