We are very excited (and tired,lol) to have Alyssa, Katelyn, and Courtney home! We were trained by the NICU proper ways to care for preemie babies, which is quite different than what we are use to with our other two children when they were babies. So we are incorporating all of this into our very detailed and documented schedule!

Visitation is also quite different this time around. We have been instructed by the pediatrician and NICU to not allow visitors until the girls are 6 weeks old. At that point, they will be 40 weeks (gestational age) where we would care for them more as newborn/average sized babies at that time vs. preemies. Their immune systems will hopefully also be more built up by then, whereas now, they are extremely viable to countless things. Visitors will be allowed then however we will have to continue to wait another month before we take them out in public or around large crowds. We will work around schedules to have everyone over that has called, texted, and emailed wanting to come see the girls at that time. Thank you in advance for your understanding and continued support…..we know it’s not easy but we feel that we need to take heed to the pediatric instructions we have been given.

Since coming home, the girls have done fabulous!! They are growing in length and weight. Katelyn has even outgrown the preemie clothing and has been bumped to the newborn sizes! (she’s a long measuring baby, just like her big brother Austin!) The girls are doing great with their schedules and feedings, thanks to what the NICU had already put in place! We are quickly adjusting to functioning as a productive team with lack of a lot of sleep! (but loving it!!)

Katelyn is now 5 lbs 2oz, Alyssa is 4 lbs 13 oz, and Courtney is 4 lbs 9.5 oz! Each one gained 4-5 ounces within 3 days of being home! It is very exciting to see Austin and Matthew interacting with the girls! They are SUCH AMAZING big brothers! Each of the girls are developing their own little personalities and it amazes us how much we see of Austin and Matthew in them! We are definitely on an incredible adventure!!

As always, thank you once again to the wonderful people that have come to mow our yard and drop off so many amazing meals week after week! (the frozen meals have been a great idea with our new busy transition of life!) Words can’t describe how much you have blessed our family! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

(PS - We are working on getting some more pictures sent out! We have taken a TON since they have come home, it’s just a matter of finding “spare time” to upload to the computer, narrow them down, then finally sending out, lol!)

Our transition into this new adventure as a family of SEVEN has been a whirlwind of excitement for each of us! It is hard to believe that one week ago today, July 21st, our triplet girls finally arrived into our arms after a long 34 week pregnancy! We were very blessed to have three beautiful, strong, and healthy baby girls! Katelyn Grace was 4 lbs 10 oz / 18 in., Alyssa Joy was 4 lbs .06 oz / 16 ½ in., and Courtney Faith was 4 lbs 1 oz. / 17 ½ in. All three girls have been in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) since birth. They have done wonderful there and are anticipated to arrive home by the end of this week! (please continue to keep us in your prayers!)

Katelyn Grace was our first born of the girls! She was born at 4:48PM on July 21st. As soon as her pediatric delivery team cleaned her up and gave her a physical exam, she proved to be strong and healthy and was handed to Daddy to hold! Brady was able to hold her the longest in the operating room! She was crying and as soon as Brady and I uttered our first words to her (through our tears of joy!), she immediately became peaceful! I was able to hold Katelyn on the way to my recovery room, as they pushed my bed through the NICU shortly after delivery! ….. Katelyn has always been on room air and passed all other testing with flying colors! She has done beautifully! Currently, she does have a feeding tube in, as about every 6th feeding, she is physically exhausted. So as she is still developing, and her stomach continues to grow they help her and tube feed her then. She does excellent taking every feeding, other than that one a day, by bottle. ….. Katelyn has the lightest colored hair of the girls. Out of the three, she also looks the most like her daddy and big brother Austin! (and she has a tiny dimple in her chin!) Katelyn has the loudest cry out of the three but we don’t hear it very often and is easy to calm down!

Alyssa Joy was our second born and is the smallest of the girls! She was born at 4:49 PM on July 21st. After she was delivered, her pediatric team had to put her on a CPAP, which gave her an extra boost of oxygen as she had swallowed some fluid as she was pulled from mommy’s tummy. They continued to clean her up and do a physical exam on her. Everything else appeared to be okay with her so right at the end, before they girls were taken to the NICU, Brady was able to hold Alyssa also for a quick picture with all three girls in his arms! ….. Since then, Alyssa has done beautifully! She was only on the CPAP until the morning after she was born. She has passed all other testings and proven to almost be the strongest of the three! She has had a feeding tube since she swallowed fluids at birth. She had done great with bottle feeding and really hasn’t needed her feeding tube the past 2-3 days. Last night she pulled it completely out and the nurses are not putting it back in as they said she has done so great with bottle feeding and has gone for so long without needing the tube anyhow! One more step to coming home!! ….. Alyssa has darker hair and a thinner shaped jaw line. (sounds funny, but details like this help us tell them apart!) She looks a lot like her mommy and big brother Matthew! Alyssa almost sounds like a little kitten when she cries as it is so soft! She has also had her eyes open the most and shown the most facial expressions!

Courtney Faith was our third born and is the “true baby” of all 5 of our children! She was born at 4:50 PM on July 21st. After she was delivered, her pediatric team also gave her a physical exam and cleaned her up. Like Katelyn, she proved to be strong and healthy and was placed in her daddy’s arms in the operating room! As she was moved to the NICU with her sisters, she continued to thrive! By the next morning, she was doing great and in her own crib with Katelyn! ….. Courtney has always been on room air and passed all other testings! Currently, she does have a feeding tube in. She has done great with bottle feeding and lasted the longest before getting a feeding tube. (she just got it yesterday) Like Katelyn, the nurses just noticed that she was physically wearing down after about 5 full bottle feedings. So as she is still developing and her stomach continues to grow, they help her and tube feed her then. She does excellent taking every feeding by bottle, other than that one tube feed a day to give her a break. ….. Courtney has darker hair. She and Alyssa look a LOT alike, yet have smaller, distinct features! She also looks more like mommy and her big brother Matthew! Courtney also has quite a grip when she gets a hold of your finger! (daddy thinks a future softball player for sure!) She also has a very sweet, soft cry!

All three girls have the sweetest little personalities and differ a little, even now! Each has been opening their eyes quite often so that has been very exciting!

The girls all have a required amount of milk/formula that they have to intake at each feeding and that amount increases daily. All three girls are at the amount they need to be, however they have to take that amount fully by bottle each feeding for 48 hours before they will be able to come home. Needless to say, they are in their final NICU days and we hope to have them home by the end of this week! (that is our prayer!) We are more than ready to have them home so we can break into our new schedule as a family with five beautiful children! The NICU specialists and our pediatrician have advised us to not have visitors for the first 6 weeks that they are home as they are still preemies and very prone to catching germs and sickness. (which as preemies/high risk, could be life threatening) We will be playing it all by ear and will try to get a set visiting schedule in place after we are settled and in our own routine. We know many are anxious to meet them so please bear with us as we create a system that works for our family, keeping the girls health a top priority.

We thank you once again for your continual support, love, encouragement, and prayers! Please continue to pray for the girls while they are in the NICU and for our family as they are released to come home.

Lastly, I always forget to send an update on mommy and many have been kind enough to also ask about my recovery. I must admit, I was not fully prepared for the days following a csection, delivering three babies! The night of, when I was still numb from surgery, it was actually very nice to be able to immediately breathe again! The girls had weighed down so heavily on my lungs that I had to do breathing exercises each day and still struggled to catch my breath. So suddenly, the pressure was no longer there! I could actually see my entire legs and toes! It was just an all over sudden physical change! However, by later that night and by morning, the reality of SURGERY hit me….even as I stayed on top of my pain medications to the minute of when I could take them! It has been a physically long and hard week. They say each day gets better. I would say every 3-4 days SLOWLY gets better! Healing-wise though, I can’t complain too much as I seem to be right on track! I feel healthy and a little refreshed to not have even my stretch marks stretching! I am still on “bedrest”, taking it easy at home. (I was released from the hospital this past Saturday) I try to save my energy and my trips of walking for the NICU visiting! Even then, my ankles and feet are swollen by the time we get home. So it has taken some getting use to but we are adapting. I am trying to get as much physical rest as possible so I can be as healthy and as healed as possible when the girls are able to come home! So again, thank you for your prayers and special little things you have done just for mommy on the recovery road! It is all more appreciated than I could ever find the words to share!

All three girls are strong and healthy and doing great! Katelyn and Courtney did not need ANY tubes or help with breathing or feeding! In fact, they are already holding their body temperatures and eating from bottles! (Daddy, Austin, and Matthew were even able to feed them!) Alyssa swallowed a little bit of amniotic fluid so she is on a CPAP to help give her a little more oxygen to clear out her lungs. They said she should be off of it in the morning. She is doing great with everything else! Katelyn and Courtney are doing so well that they said they could be in my room by tonight if I wanted, vs the NICU. (we felt it was best that I get as much help from NICU while we are here so I can recover properly, so all three girls are staying together for now.) All three girls should come home with us when I am released on Saturday, which is truly a MIRACLE!

We will keep everyone updated and also post more pictures soon! We do ask that there are no visitors until we reach a more calming point in recovery and this new phase of life! Thank you for your considerations and wi will keep you posted!

Here is a link with some pictures to enjoy! Will send more soon!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1056312022/a=171101022_171101022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Sincerely,
Brady, Angela, Austin, Matthew, Katelyn, Alyssa, and Courtney Kendall

So as this point I am here until the end, which thankfully is not too far away. They will deliver if labor kicks into full gear without slowing down or if I make it to week 36. So either one of those options will finally allow the girls to arrive. =)

Tomorrow I am 34 weeks.

Will keep you all posted!! =)

Anyhow, from yesterdays ultrasound, Alyssa weighed 4 lbs 12 oz, Katelyn weighed 4 lbs 5 oz, and Courtney weighed 4 lbs 11 oz! So they are strong, healthy growing girls for sure!

Please keep us in your prayers! Thank you for your support and love! Thank you to Aunt Laura and Taylor who have so willingly stepped up and taken care of the boys at home for the past 2 days! You are more of a blessing and miracle than you’ll ever know!