Reece, Troy & Jillian F. ~ Super Hero Alias: The Amazing Micro-Preemie 3 Amigos

Age: 2 years old and 4 months
Weight at birth: Reese (1lb 6oz), Troy (2lbs 2oz), Jillian (2lbs)
Weeks gestation: Reese (23wks6days), Troy & Jillian (26wks3days)
Time in the NICU: Reese (115 days), Troy (91 days), Jillian (97 days)

Diagnosis, surgeries, complications?

Beyond the many micro-preemie breathing and other issues (ventilator, cpap, blood transfusions, brain bleeds, etc), Troy had heart surgery to close his PDA in August 2010. We currently have speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy weekly.

Why Should Your Children Be Recognized as Preemies of the Year?

Our triplets, Reese, Troy and Jillian, are “Preemies of the Year” because they are the real life 3 Amigos! I have never seen so much character packed into such tiny little bodies. Our first daughter, Reese, decided to take a leave from the Amigos at 23 weeks, 6 days because she was so determined to meet the world outside her momma’s belly. Troy and Jillian could only do without the first Amigo for so long, so they joined us 18 days later. Yes, that’s right; they are triplets with two separate birthdays! In the NICU, Kangaroo care was a joy, while the incessant warning beeps of the monitor were not; unless, of course, it was Reese doing her signature brief-bradychardia-beep when we tried to leave at the end of the day; just her way of saying “bye-bye” to Mom and Dad! Just as we were getting cozy into our NICU routine, Troy would be transferred to another hospital for heart surgery to close his PDA. On his Dad’s birthday, Troy went through surgery with flying colors, and his little heart was fixed. Troy shocked us all by being discharged HOME, and not back to our original NICU, on September 1st. We had heard of the infamous “wimpy boy” syndrome…well…this wimpy boy was the first of our three to come home. Not so wimpy, after all (he has much to prove on that at home now, as his sisters test his 2.25 year old strength on a daily basis). Reese and Jillian joined us at home on September 16, and that is when a whole other kind of crazy began! My husband made a photo montage recently, and for this point in time the music he chose was “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns n’ Roses. He could not have chosen a more appropriate tune. While we were so sleep deprived that it is rather blurry in both of our brains, we do remember a sea of acid reflux induced spit-ups,’ round the clock feedings, and lots of breast milk pumping (on my part, anyway). We waded through lots of doctor’s appointments and therapy appointments, but had to minimize the visitations by people who had awaited the arrival of these babies for so very long. It was very difficult saying “No, you can’t meet my children that I am immensely proud of” because of the risks of infection that came with it. Since then, it has been one amazing day after another. With the possible outcomes we were given based on their gestations at birth, I never would have pictured the amazing little people that they are today. They continue to receive various therapies, but are otherwise healthy 2 year olds. I cannot express how blessed we feel and how immensely thankful we are for everything (and everyone) we have. Reese, Troy and Jillian are truly the Amazing Micro-preemie 3 Amigos!

Using Three Or More Characteristics of a Super Hero, Please Describe Your Children.

Reese – Determined, Creative, Stealthy

Troy – Persistent, Persuasive, Glowing

Jillian – Ambitious, Indomitable, Clever

I tried to come up with three encompassing characteristics of Reese, Troy and Jillian. They have similarities, however they have characteristics that also set them apart from each other, slightly, and I wanted to share those.

Reese has been determined to beat the odds since the day she was born. It is always difficult to know when Reese isn’t feeling well because she maintains her good spirit and mood no matter how she is feeling. She is very stealthy in this way, and is also physically stealthy; this girl can be reading a book one second and then across the room climbing over a baby-gate the next! She finds ways to make anything work Reese’s way. She finds out how everything works, down to the details. This comes in handy later on when she wants to maneuver a dollhouse into a climbing stool to get over that gate.

Troy is a salesman at heart. He can persuade you of anything even though his vocabulary is still fairly limited at age 2. Once he has decided he wants to do something, he is persistent and will have you convinced of the same thing very quickly. He has a glow about him that just emanates his good spirits, which only helps with his persuasiveness. Watch out if you do catch him in bad spirits, though; that fiery redhead temper can flare every once in a while!

Jillian was dubbed “happy go lucky” in her NICU and early months. She was content to sleep in her Isolette and rarely encountered fussiness. We are convinced that she was planning her future ambitions this whole time. Her goals of leaping from couch to ottoman and doing a forward somersault have already been reached. Only Jillian knows what her next accomplishment will be. She cleverly keeps these ideas to herself and surprises everyone with them when she completes her attempts. Do not try to dissuade her from these tasks – if Jillian has decided it is important to try, it will be done.

What advice do you have for future NICU parents?

Even though you are focused on your baby (or babies), please take time to take care of yourself. Even if you aren’t hungry, eat. Even if you aren’t tired, sleep when you can. NICU babies need healthy Moms and Dads!