Detailed update and more pictures!

Hello! We are so excited to have welcomed our children in to the world. Praise the Lord! We give God the glory for these three lives because they are His masterpieces. David, Aria, and Levi are miracles and we can’t thank God enough for them. God has been our strength and provider through this entire adventure and He has amazed us at every step.

The kids are doing wonderful. They are being very well cared for in the NICU. Right now, they are all under special lights for jaundice. We were told almost all babies in the NICU need the lights and so we are accomplishing another step before getting to go home. We know it will probably be at least a couple weeks before the triplets are ready for home, but we’ll be patient. There is so much for them to learn! They are all learning to eat from the bottle, but they aren’t ready to get all their calorie needs from the bottle yet. They still have IV’s and feeding tubes to help them get stronger.

I’ve never seen my babies so content as when they are in our arms. I’ve gotten to do some “Kangaroo Care” with each of them. That is where they get to be held skin to skin. They cuddle up to me and seem to go into a happy trance. When I sing some of the songs I’ve sung all along the pregnancy to them, their faces light up and they try and open their eyes. It doesn’t always work because eyelids can be such heavy things to lift!! But, those moments are precious.

Dan is Daddy extraordinaire! He’s changed lots of diapers, feed lots of bottles and knows the ins and outs of their care way more than I do at the moment! I always find myself asking him what the alarms are and how to do this and that. He’s learned so much so far in the NICU, it’s amazing. I’ll be sad when he has to go back to work. I haven’t been able to lean over the isolets yet to be able to change a diaper. I’m still getting my strength back, although this hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.

My c-section went very fast and uneventful. I couldn’t believe it when David was born because it seemed like they had just laid me down and Dan had just gotten there! I didn’t get to see much of the babies as they were born, but I was just glad they all came out crying and doing well. They put David by my face for a kiss. When they wheeled Aria by, she stretched out her hand for me to touch (I’m not surprise the first thing I saw her do was stretch!). And I got a glimpse of Levi cleaned up and wrapped before they were taken to the NICU. Dan followed them and my aunt Donna stepped in to stay with me while the surgery ended. I am shocked at how much of the surgery Dan watched. I’m pretty sure he saw each of them born and some of the after stuff. NOT ME! I didn’t even let them tell me what was happening. I jabbered to Dan the whole time trying to distract myself from what was going on on the other side of the curtain. But, before I knew it, it was all over and I was wheeled back to recovery.

Unfortunately, while in recovery, I was bleeding more than the nurse liked. I guess they had to kind of be aggressive with me to get it taken care of. Luckily, I was numb and didn’t have a clue. They were moving me around and I saw my leg come up off the bed once, and I could’ve sworn I felt it still stretched out on the bed! Weird. I remember just laying there watching Dan’s face and praying that God would heal me soon so I could go see my babies. The bleeding slowed down significantly after that and although I was slightly delayed in recovery, they still rolled my bed over to the NICU to see my newborn children. What a sight to see! Getting to hold Levi right there on my bed did my heart sooo much good and helped me survive until I could return later. The impatient grandparents were also very grateful I got to see the triplets because I didn’t let anyone go see them until I had! I know, it’s cruel but I’m the MOMMA! Obviously, they survived but I believe the newest Grandpa Rigsby was about to throw a fit! ;)

The next 24 hours for me are a bit of a blur. I was on some good meds and I didn’t get much sleep. My first night without the 15 pounds of baby on my bladder was eventful anyway. Between 12am & 1am, my IV alarm kept waking me up. Then at 4 am I woke up with a stabbing pain in the back & neck. It hurt to do anything, especially breathe deeply. I put up with for a couple days before they took an x-ray and discovered the cause was an air bubble in my abdomen from surgery. Today has been the first day it hasn’t really bothered me. Back to the exhausting first hours… I saw a short part of a video Dan had taken and I sounded awful!! I guess I sounded drugged because I was. I was wheeled back & forth to the NICU droopy eyed and falling asleep. It was hard feeling that way while trying to introduce myself to my children and get to know them. Gradually it has gotten much better and I’m ready to feel like my old self again.

I will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow but will probably still spend most of my time up here in the NICU. We can have visitors for short amounts of time, a couple at a time. Please don’t come if you think you may be sick, and no one under the age of 15 is allowed to visit either. Sorry. Otherwise, the babies will be home with Mommy and Daddy before we all know it.

Mommy, Grandma Rigsby, Aria & Levi


David


Levi


Aria


Well, I think that is all I will talk about for now. I’ll see if there are any new pictures I can post for you. I have to give a quick shout out to the triplet’s Aunt Jess. She has been receiving all of my posts and posting them for me since the hospital doesn’t let me log in here.. So, thanks Jessica! We love you! Can wait to see you soon!

Love,
Elizabeth