Wow, I feel like I am wanted on a Canada wide warrant

Good day all,

So June 8th was my official last blog entry and well I guess today is a good a day as any to update again. Our lives have turned from a world of having three premature babies who need a lot of support to get through a day to wow these girls are ours and they will be coming home, period. We of course have no idea yet when they will be coming home but reality is setting in and we are realizing that the support will not fully be there when they come home. We are not going to be able to do everything, but we better be able to do mostly everything that all four of our girls need as well as the support that Stephanie and I need to give to each other. The hospital experience has been very different for both Stephanie and I, we are two different people with two very different outlooks. Thinking about it now it is funny how things have changed since the birth. I was always someone who would consider a glass half empty during the pregnancy, meaning that I was always looking at the worst possible outcome and now I am more of a glass half full, and very positive that everything will be just fine, whereas Steph was and is completely opposite now. It is easily explainable as moms of course are going to worry worry worry when their babies are being supported by different devices and the computer monitors that are reading the heart beat, respiration, and oxygen levels are not all where they should be. We have, knock on wood, overcome some colds and flus the last couple weeks and now we are simply doing our visits with the girls, working, and playing with Renee and family. Steph's list is a little longer however she is coping very well to this point.

The girls were transfered three weeks back to Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) in New Westminister from Childrens Hospital in Vancouver. The care at this new hospital is a little different, better in some ways, and worse in others, but as a whole it is good. They have had their hiccups since being at RCH but all is good for the most part. Shauna really needed to get out of her incubator but being that she still had some issues to deal with and that she is still small it has taken some time. About a week ago she was taken out and as you can see in the pictures that I sent out she is doing well squished in the middle between her sisters.

We were told last weekend that Andy could come home on Wednesday of this past week however after blood tests and some not so positive feeding days it was determined that it would be best if she were left in the hospital for more observation. Her ability to breastfeed when she does is awesome, she really has been gaining a lot of weight and looks really good. She is currently 5 lbs and 4 ounces. Paige has been hit and miss over the last few weeks as well, you can tell by her hair-do that she had some shaved off not to long ago. That was to accomodate a new IV, as your head is the best place to put it so that you don't pull it out and so forth. After a blood transfusion and some antibiotics she is back on track again. Stephanie has started breastfeeding her but she is just doing it once and a while because she is only 4 lbs 6 ounces and gets quite tired still. Shauna our little fighter has a great little personallity, fiery, and has done really well because of it. At 3 lbs 10 ounces she is still the smallest but has grown into her face a little better now and is doing quite well. She has begun taking the bottle and has also tried breastfeeding a little bit.

We expect our girls to be coming home over the next 4 to 5 weeks and we can not wait to start our new journey. These girls have been through a lot and we truly appreciate all the well wishes as well as the respect that you have given us for the decision to protect our babies while they have been in hospital. Premature babies are very vulnerable to a lot of things so therefore we have decided to ask all of our friends and family to please give us our space once they come home. A lot of you, I know, may not understand but please realize that the first few years these girls could get very very sick from the smallest of bugs and if one of them gets a bug then it will probably spread to all three. Our house has become a sanitizing safety haven because of this and we would like to maintain that as much as we can. If and when you and your family comes to visit please make sure that yourself and your children have absolutely no colds and that you are as clean as you possibly can be. We are aware that our precautious attitudes about this may offend some of our family and friends and we apologize about this before hand but at the end of the day we do not want to be in and out of the hospital with them due to colds and viruses.

Once again, thank you for your support.

The Van Marrewyk girls and ..................................ME. (PS. Gordon we need to talk, you never gave me advice on dealing with 5 girls-----Can anyone help?)

Welcome our little bundles of Joy

Tuesday June 8th at 3:36 pm we welcomed Andy Leigh to this world. She weighed at a beefy 1285 grams or just under 2 pounds 13 ounces. At 3:37 pm we welcomed both Shauna Hope and finally Paige Lynn weighing in at 909 grams or 2 pounds and 1155 grams or 2 pounds and 6 ounces, respectively.

Tuesday was a wonderful day for us. Stephanie Renee and I were able to welcome these wonderful little girls to our lives with so much love not only from her immediate family but also so much love from all of our friends and family. Although some of you are learning this for the first time it was such a delight to hear about all the support and love that has been pouring out in our direction for of course it will be such a long road for our family to get these girls home.

With the help of Stephanie's mom and my parents it has made our transitition into this new adventure as easy as it could be. It has been such as awesome experience to spend the last 8 weeks with Stephanie's mom in our home as she truly does not understand what she has brought to our house over these last few weeks. I believe as a mother, nana, and a mother-in-law she put her heart out there for all six of us over the past 8 weeks and there are absolutely no words that can be said about her and her family back home as they have all supported nana being here instead of being home with her husband and the rest of the family. The dedication that she has shown to all of us here in our home will never be forgotten and it has truly been so rewarding for me to know that the love that is felt for my family from the MacKenzie's is so strong and deep. I have said it to Stephanie once and I feel I need to share it with you but I feel that without her Stephanie would not have made it to 29 weeks, I would have been a ball of stress and headaches as I know I would have been spread way to thin to be able to handle all that was needed to be done for the little ones, for Stephanie, and for Renee. She truly was the glue that kept this ship afloat over the last 8 weeks.

To my parents, they too have stepped up since moving to Ladner and really helped our family and also Shirley, Stephanie's mom, continue on our journey for complete success in the pregnancy. The dinners, the coffees, the bed changes, the babysitting has all been so great for us to have so close to home and been so gratifying to know that it was all done with such a pleasure and with so much love for us.

To all of you who were involved in getting us to 29 weeks in our pregnancy whether it was in physical help or just personal prayers you have no idea how much it helped and we appreciate it all from the bottoms of our hearts.

OK so now that that is out it is back to our dear little girls. On Tuesday we went in for a general ultrasound and quickly realized that this was going to be the day that our girls were going to enter the world. Shauna Hope, as Patty likes to call her, had complete reverse flow in her umbilical cord and that is an immediate red light for the pregnancy. This if it were to continue for too long would cause severe complications for the entire pregnancy so therefore the doctors instantaneously told us that they were going to be born.

Although a bit of a shock, Stephanie and I were ready for it and had no problem with what was happening to us. We had met our goal of 28 weeks and so therefore we were all smiles that these girls were going to be introduced to us so soon.

As I described above the girls came out without real concern as they all came out quite small however their voices said that they were ready for what ever is going to happen over the next few weeks as we prepare to bring them home. The road from Tuesday until they come home will truly be a long one as we expect to have them in intensive care for 8 to 12 weeks depending on their development over the next few weeks. Physically, these babies are so perfect. Small yes but so strong. Stephanie gave these girls such an awesome first 29 weeks with her perfect diet and such strong mental health that we know that they will fight to get out as quickly and successfully as possible. 29 week old babies is something that one doctor told us, "could be done in his sleep," of course there will be bumps in the road but that is to be expected because these girls have a lot of developing to do still.

So what has happened since they were born, well Shauna Hope is our strongest baby up to this point, she has not been intubated at all, meaning she has yet to receive any breathing support. The other two on the other hand within the first 7 hours needed to have a surfactant added to their lungs in order for their lungs to remain open as they were beginning to notice that they would need it or the lungs would collapse. This was all normal however of course never nice to have done. The babies were put under and intubated (a breathing tube put into their lungs), where they first administered the surfactant and then helped them breathe for a few hours. By Wednesday morning Paige had had her tube removed and Andy had hers removed later in the day. Since then it has really been extremely uneventful, which is awesome. Paige has had some high blood pressure and also spat up breast milk a few times but for the most part she has been fabulous.

Right now all three are in incubators of course and they have a tube connected to their nose that creates positive pressure for their lungs and then there is an I-V going into their hands and a feeding tube going directly into their stomachs. The incubator is sitting at about 35 degrees celsius and at a humidity of about 65 % I think. Stephanie said that they are like little heating elements as they are so warm when they are strapped to you for Kangaroo Care. Kangaroo care is described as skin to skin contact which helps the babies as they strive with the natural setting instead of the artificial one.

Stephanie is doing well. Never a complaint or anything about any of this, she truly is a rock as so many of you know. She received a spinal and an epidural and the epidural went a little wrong before the c-section as the needle nicked her spinal cord and the fluid leaked into her spinal column ( I think I got that right, I grow plants not humans??????). This has led to many headaches that were getting worse and worse over the last few days. Yesterday she had a blood patch done in order to try to seal the hole from leaking into her spinal column. It worked however whenever you play in the spine you also have back pain and other pains so she will need a few days to recoop from that. Because Stephanie is really the only one who is able to go in and see the babies she has been able to hold both Shauna and Andy for about an hour and a half each. It is said that "Kangaroo Care" truly is the best way to get these girls over hurdles that they may encounter over the next few weeks.

So how have we been coping, well that side could be a little better, Renee and Daddy are both suffering from colds and well this is definately a no-no when it comes to visiting the babies. I saw them a few times the first day and a half however since then I have not been able so say hi to them, Renee has yet to meet her little sisters but I think because of her age she is ok with it.

Yes I have pictures however they are on the camera at the hospital. I will get them today and hopefully I will have them up here tomorrow.

Thank you again to everyone and I can not begin to extend all the appreciation that is needed to be extended to you all.

Love Stephanie, Ron, Renee, Shauna, Paige and Andy, aka......to be determined as I am not going to be able to write all those names out each time I sign off. lol

T-Minus three days till goal date

Hello again,

It has not been that I have not wanted to write I just wanted to have enough info for it to be worthwhile. The last few weeks have been full of stressful times hoping that everything was going to be ok with Shauna. Here we are today with the buns still in the oven and Shauna continuing on her hot streak of beating the odds. It is hard to ignore the other two girls as they too are doing so well. Shauna definately has had her moments of instability however on a whole we are here today with big smiles on our faces because we can see our goal marker getting closer and closer.

Last week Friday we had our measurement day for the little ladies, where they look at the babies heart beats/ min, the size of their abdoment, head, and femer, as well they take the flow of the arteries in umbilical cord which I have kind of explained in the past few weeks. All three girls grew the maximum they could in 14 days. So we now have Andy (A) and Paige (C) at around the 71st percentile or approximately 1100 grams and Shauna at the 7th percentile or about 850 grams. 1 pound is 454 grams.

On Friday the 21st, Stephanie got a phone call from a home nurse from Surrey telling her that she needs to be on full bedrest effective immediately. This also led to visits from the home nurses doing non-stress tests which looks at a 20 minute time frame monitoring the heart beat as well as the kicks that Steph feels during that same time frame. If the heart beat rate is between 110 and 160 with good "acceleration" periods then they consider the test to be a good indicator that the babies are still doing well.

We are now doing two visits to BC Womens this week and three visits to our home from the home nurses. There of course is the possibility that things may go awry this week and therefore the schedule will change at any point. There has also been more talk about admitting Steph into the hospital if things change slightly from where it is now. We are at a point now where if we need to intervene due to any circumstance then we will deliver all of the girls. There is a definate push to keep all of these guys in the oven for as long as possible. There are definately a few things they will be keeping a close eye on over the next few weeks however right now the only thing that we need to really be aware of is the umbilical cord.

On Friday the 27th, we also decided to begin the two doses of steroids which will help the babies if they are born within 2 weeks. The steroids take 48 hours to begin their effect and the doctors have been adiment in that the steroids are very important and proven to have such a huge effect on the babies if and when they are born. There has also been research on the even more positive effect if the babies recieve two full doses of the steroids, however the second round of steroids will only be given if it has been more than two weeks after the first dose, and once again they will only have an effect if they are done 48 hours prior to their birth.

All in all though, we are starting to relax a little more as we are so close to 28 weeks now, the only hard part now is Steph trying to stay relaxed and keeping her on bed rest. As everyone knows, it is really hard to do nothing for even a few hours in a day so to be told to do nothing all day and everyday you know that that will not be easy. We are really hoping that the ultrasounds stay the way they are so that we do not have to admit Steph to hospital. She absolutely loves her time with Renee in the morning and just being in the comforts of home is much better than being stuck in a hospital, but it will be inevitable that Stephanie will need to be in hospital for closer monitoring due to the circumstances.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Nothing comes easy!!!

24 weeks 2 days.

Well the last time we wrote things were just peachy and that was at the gestation period of 20 weeks 3 days, we truly have an appreciation for life and the complications that we and others have faced in this world. We have been put in a perdicament that I wish upon no one. However we sit here today feeling so confident in our decisions.

On April 22nd we came out of the our ultrasound thinking that things were still good as the prior measuring ultrasound was so perfect. When Dr. Gagnon came in to the room after the ultrasound we could see that his demeanor said it all. What was presented to us was that in week 20 the growth of Baby B was in the 32nd percentile range with 10 -90 percentile being "normal." in week 22 Baby B was at the 11th percentile compared to her identical twin sister who was at the 55th percentile at the same point. The cause, the umbilical cord.

When the heart pumps in the baby it causes the blood to flow freely between the baby to the placenta in order to send back or recieve blood from it. Because of the positioning of the umbilical cord on the placenta and a bit of the sharing of some veins and arteries between twin B and C the cord was not working entirely normal. What is happening is that the factors of the position and Baby C's link with Baby B is causing the flow through the umbilical cord to literally stop intermittently. Each time the heart pumps it starts the flow from the body back to the placenta. What should happen is that the blood should continue to flow slightly between the pumps of the heart, however with Baby b it was stopping briefly prior to the next pump.

What this leads to is a lack of nutrients and water for the baby. The next negative thing described to us was a small fluid sac surrounding the baby. The fluid surrounding her is so important in the development of her lungs starting somewhere around now. A fluid pocket of anything over 2 cms is ok and today, May 6th, we found a pocket of 4.5 cms however in week 22 there was only a 2.2 cm pocket was found

Without going any deeper, what was then presented to us were the options and the ethics that surround them. Remember when we found this out we were 22 weeks 2 days. It was described to us that because it was still before 24 weeks 0 days we could still terminate baby B in order to save baby C or we could terminate both baby B and Baby C. The two problems that this posed is that we were in this position at the beginning of the pregnancy and we chose not to terminate anyone of our babies and the second that if we were to do the procedure then we would risk losing the entire pregnancy due to infection or pre-term labour.

So with all the wonderful facts that were thrown our way we were left feeling very uneducated and that any decision that we made would not be the wrong one. We needed to accept our current situation and deal with the decision we made. It was hard to find a comfortable answer and our emotions were truly all over the map. Through the weekend we had lots of questions and on Monday we went in to try to get a little more claity on Baby B's situation through a dopler or blood flow test. It came out ok and we were able to get all of our questions answered. We set ourselves up for a meeting with the surgeon who would be performing the termination procedure if need be. This lady, Dr. Pressey, truly is a god send for us since that day. She was so comforting and reassuring and was able to truly put herself in our situation where she would fight for us if need be.

Since last Wednesday we have had three ultrasounds to see how the umbilical cord doppler is doing for Baby B. Dr. Pressey has been involved in each session and been able to educate us to the point where we are able to feel so strong in the decision that we have made and we now feel that once again we are at peace with our little ladies.

So where are we today? We had another sizing test today and that went well, once again Baby B had intermittent flow in her umbilical cord and she grew 10 days out of 14 days. Is this good? Yes, as long as she grows, it shows that she can continue in mommy. She is now down to the 7th percentile in growth with Baby C being at the 64th percentile and Baby A being at the 93rd percentile. Dr. Tessier and Pressey both agreed that they think that these three will make it to 28 weeks if not further.

So what does 28 weeks mean? A lot. This is an invisible line that doctors have which has a more positive outcome on the babies. Remember there will be risk of serebal palsy at any age and everything else. Today we also took a trip to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. What a special place, our first trip into Childrens Hospital was truly gut wrenching as you begin to feel what situation we are in. It is a very real situation and it is coming clearer and clearer moment by moment. We were introduced to a couple of babies that were just over a pound and it was a stunning sight. We are so humbled by the support that we have from the doctors at the womens hospital and now a little from the childrens that all we can do is thank god for who we have had help us.

So where are we mentally and physically today, happy!!!! We know it is going to be a challenge to get to 28 weeks but we know that Baby B is a fighter like her mother and father are. We have wonderful help from Stephanie's mom who has, together with Stephanie's dad, have decided to have Shirley, Steph's mom, stay with us for as long as we need. It is such a pleasure to have her help and be there for her daughter at a time which is the most trying time that we have ever gone through and I really hope this is it.

Now I would like you all to know a little one of our secrets about Baby B. She is our daughter already and we have accepted the fact that we can not control what happens in the near future to her. Her name is Shauna Hope Van Marrewyk and has been a true fighter over the past few weeks if not longer. She has brought so much to Stephanie and I already, and we know that this little girl is loved by everyone that has followed her through the blog or been a part of her life through us. She is going to fight, we can feel it, and she gave us a true sign today during the ultrasound. After an hour of testing on the ultrasound the technician did one last pass over Shauna where we were able to see Shauna raise her hand and give us a extremely clear thumbs up. We know she is going to do it and I truly ask that all of you pray for our little star and of course all of them because they could potentially all be at risk however this is worst case scenerio.

We know that you all wish you could help, so like I said please pray for the girls. We are doing our best to get to the milestone of week 28 and we are going to work day by day to get there.

Love

Shauna, Ron, Stephanie, Renee, Baby A and C

Renee is getting so big!!

Hello hello,

Well so much has been said about the soon to be new additions to our family that we have had little mention of our current little angel. Renee has been so good with mommy when it comes to the babies and she is doing so well at daycare and at home on her days out of it. Right now she goes to daycare on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and is home with mommy on Tuesdays and Sundays and I am home on Fridays and Saturdays to spoil her.

She has learned so much from daycare and really has a great time there although she is Miss. Independant so that sometimes gets her into trouble. Renee and mommy have been on the ball the last few weeks working on crafts, painting, and playing out in the garden. The ducks is also a favorite stop near our house whenever we can, and she can use one of her most recent crafts in order to carry her duck food to the pond. This week she built a bird house and an easter egg basket out of popsicle sticks, but the latter still needs some finishing touches. Because of the new additions we have also moved her playroom downstairs and it fits Renee quite well. We put her music on in her room and with the existing mirror that was already in the room for Stephanie's fitness classes she can now dance and sing to herself in the mirror, up to now it definately does not get old. We were joking recently that now all we have to do is add a ballet bar. NOT IN MY HOUSE!!!

I too have been busy trying to get the house all ready for the big day. Chad, Sara, and Ava were over last weekend and Chad and Sara were able to help us organize our new playroom for Renee as well we moved some big furniture and our piano so that we could make room for a new 'L' couch that we bought in order to be able to accomodate more company when these babies come. I also just got rid of my little tonka truck and upgraded so that I would be able to pick up renee from daycare and be able to drive the kids around in my truck if need be. We also decided to take out some lawn next to our driveway so that we will have a wider driveway in order to more comfortably fit two cars in the driveway. as it is now, the driveways in our area are far to narrow and so it will be fixed. Other than that we are enjoying our time and tomorrow we will be looking for furniture and more car seats in order to have things more prepared, WE ARE GETTING THERE

I can tell you that she is measuring 33 cms and she should only be measuring 18 cms if this was a single pregnancy. We had an ultrasound this week as well and it was the most important one of all the ultrasounds that we have had and will have as it determined the health and development of the babies brains, organs and of course growth. All three babies are in the normal range so that is fantastic.

I am sure I have said this a few times, however Stephanie really has to start slowing down now. She is getting more fatigued as well her body is definately limiting her to doing any real bending. The doctor put it best yesterday, ' what is truly a necessity, groceries-no, your husband can do it, laundry-no, your husband can do it, tying your shoe laces-no, your husband can do it!!! So in otherwords, I will be her #$@#@ for the next few months. All she needs now is a bell and a walky-talky and she'll be laughing. I am truly learning how to say, 'Yes Dear, I love you dear,' real well now.

No but honestly, we are doing fantastic, Stephanie is doing great and yes she is slowing down and she is just going to have to listen to her body more and more as the signs are definately there, telling her to slow down and let other people help. Shirley, Gordon, and the rest of the MacKenzie Family, don't worry, I and the rest of us dutchies over here in BC are taking real good care of your daughter and sister.

We are just truly enjoying our time right now as we get closer to Stephanie being on bed rest. The time will come and she is ready for it when it is obvious that that time is needed.

Until next time enjoy some pics:

I promise you that this is not Stephanie's third boob!

Our little star

Here she is practising being a big sister with her cousin Ava.

The babies like ice cream

On Feb 25th we got the wonderful news that all was well in Steph's tummy and the babies are all developing at the right pace, they are now 9cm from crown to rump (bum). We had an ultrasound, met with a dietian, and with a social worker. All of our stops were in BC womens hospital which is attached to BC Childrens. The doctors and their organization definately has helped us feel more comfortable as we prep for this. Our time with the dietian was reassuring for Stephanie as she was told that her diet was bang on and actually was probably a close second to being the best diet that he had seen for someone going through a triplet pregnancy. Our last appointment of the day was with the social worker. They are going to be with us over the next year in order to prep us for the birth and then later on just helping us with what we are going through. Our initial visit with, Ann, was fantastic, she was great at opening the line of communication even though Steph and I are pretty good with our communication. Lastly, we got the OK to go to Mexico so that is why you have not heard from us over the last two weeks. Our trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico was absolutely fabulous. I had spent the month prior to the trip trying to secure some special requests that we knew would help Steph be more comfortable in Mexico. The food and water in Mexico were the most important thing for her so it was awesome to hear that they had bottled water and all the rest for us so that we could feel completely comfortable while we were there and able to drink and eat anything that we felt we wanted.

It is really hard to tell you anything new as we are just kind of in limbo until the next appointment which comes on the 25th of March. We will, from that point on, be having appointments every two weeks in order to more closely watch all of the factors that may change during the rest of the pregnancy. From week 18 on, it is imperative that the doctors keep a close eye on things because the babies could start drawing a lot from the placentas. With the identical twins this is a little tricky because the identicals share a placenta. For this reason there is a chance that they could share arteries and veins which may cause one of the two identical twins to take some of the nutrients away from the other, causing one to grow faster than the other. If this happens then things will definately get difficult because if one starts suffering then there could be a chance of an emergency c-section. The single baby however should be OK as he/she has its own placenta and therefore should have the right amount of nutrients the it is able to draw from the placenta.

Steph is feeling really good however she is quite tired. She is a lot better than a few weeks back and that is really positive as we all know that the rest of the road could be a rough one. Until next time here are some new pictures and some old ones as you get to see them grow in the tummy.

Until next time

Ron Steph, Renee, A, B, C

This is Stephanie pregnant with Renee at 20 weeks

Stephanie and the triplets at 16 weeks

The 12 week comparison for the triplets and Renee

Hey All,

Well the first trimester is officially done and the process of us putting all the little pieces together has begun. It is astonishing all that must be considered however it will come together quite quickly I am sure and I know that we will be ready in time for us to rest prior to these little guys coming out.

I decided to try to do belly comparisons between Stephanie's belly with Renee and the belly that she is going to have now just so you can see what Steph is going through.

This is the belly with Renee at 12 weeks

This is Steph and her 12 week belly with the tripletes

I also went out to TJ's the Kiddie store today and made our official first purchase. It was the Triplet stroller. Because of the sheer size of the stroller we are going to have a box made that is roughly 5 feet long and will slide into our hitch of our vehicle so that it will not be as hard to pack up each time we get in and out of the car. There is no real vehicle that fits these monstrosities so we will need to make adjustments to make it work. This stroller is the only one that fits three car seats for the first few months and then it has the best possibilies for the kids once they are out of the car seat. It has a nice steering wheel so it has a little easier manouverability.

If any of you have any suggestions for anything that may help us in our adventure please send e-mails and everything else.

And please feel free to add comments just after this post so that stephanie can see it as well when she checks the website, otherwise all of your replies come to me personally and not to her as well!!!!!!

Love Ron, Steph, Renee, A, B1, and B2