We're Back and a little BANANAS! :)

All three boys are finally out of the Children's Hospital in Portland. I don't know if you heard, but Rex, the kids, and I gave the babies RSV. We were sick at the time that they sent them home. The doctors told me we would be fine as long as I gave them my breast milk with the antibodies (well, we thought we just had a bad flu) turns out it was bronchitis, which is RSV for infants. I will write up a complete history of what happened, some day~ On the blog and email you all letting you know it is finished :)
I have tons of pictures, and tons of stories, and.... NO TIME! lol :D All I can promise is... Some day.

I miss you all so much! Thanks for all the support you have been to us... we really depended on you guys, and you all helped in so many ways! We have been home for 2 weeks now. Zachary and Riley came home 2 Tuesdays ago, and Alex came home this last Thursday.
Since they have been home we have had a "house-call nurse" come out to the house to weigh the babies twice. It is a free service to us so we don't have to take the babies into a doctors office for more than immunizations. The last time they were weighed before this was right before leaving the Salem NICU. At that time I think their weights were as follows:

Alex was 5 # 10 oz,
Zachary and Riley were both about 4# 8 oz.

Well, 4 days ago they were all weighed for the first time since being home and they did so well!
Alex weighed 7# 2.5 oz.
Zachary was 6 # 4 oz and
Riley was 6 # 6 oz

AWESOME HUH? Then they were weighed again today so here are the new numbers:
Alex is 7# 1 oz ~ You will notice he lost weight... I will explain that in a minute.
Zachary is 6# 10 oz (Gained 6 ounces in 4 days!) and
Riley is 6# 10.5 oz (Gained 4.5 ounces in 4 days!)

They want the babies to gain about an ounce a day so Zach and Riley are doing great, but how about Alex? He is currently on Methadone. It is a sedative/pain killer that they had to give him and Zachary when they were inti-bated. Zachary was already weaned off of the Methadone before coming home, but still had the jitters and withdrawals associated with coming off street drugs. They say that the only help for them is the binki... and Zachary LOVES his bink like he never did before! Anyway, about Alex... why did they not wean him off this drug at the hospital you might ask? We asked that too... basically he was on it for so long that it will take considerably longer to wean him off of it. He was on it for 3 weeks! Well. he is still on it actually, but I have weaned him gradually down to one fourth the dose they sent him home on. He is doing good... but the drug is a sedative so he sleeps a lot and struggles to stay awake long enough to finish a meal. He eats enough to barely maintain his weight, but he doesn't eat as much as we would like for him to gain an ounce a day. So I am hopeful that once I have him completely off the Methadone that he will perk up and take his full feeds again. ;) Already today he nursed 3 times with in 2 hours... we are on a good track, but I don't know if I can keep making enough milk for these three! It's a full time job in it's self! ha ha!

So that is my update. Email me if you have questions, I'll write back within the year! (maybe) ;) Miss you all!

Love The White's

Riley

As you all should be aware (thanks to Sharon sending updates to all of you on my mailing list) the boys are back in the hospital.

• Zachary is doing better... still on a respirator, but they are talking about the possibility of him being taken off of it as early as tomorrow! Yeah Zach!
  
• Alex is right in the thick of it... I tear up when I look at him, cause he looks the most sedated and lifeless out of the three of them. He is at the hardest part of his fight against the virus. Hopefully he doesn't get pneumonia like Zach did.

• Riley has had 3 rapid RSV tests done on him... all three of which came back negative so they moved him to the "floor" (meaning the pediatric floor). Where babies go when they are not seriously sick. I had a bad feeling about this, because Riley was showing all the tell tale signs that his brothers showed at the beginning of their sicknesses. Earlier this week they told me that they were going to send Riley home on Wednesday. I told them that they weren't sending him any where unless they tested him again, and this time do the longer test. All along they have been doing the rapid version which has a larger margin for error. It can have a false negative! Well, yesterday I talked to Riley's doctor on the floor and she said that she thinks he doesn't have RSV. She thinks he "just has another virus that can be treated at home," she obviously wasn't very good at listening, so I had to be frank with her. I said, "I will not take him home only to have to turn around in a day and do the whole ER, intibation and Ambulance Transport back to Legacy! I know he has RSV... he is Lethargic, he has spells (oxygen saturation dropping, and heart rate going up too high) His lips turned blue and his face grey when I was feeding him today, and he has a cough and mucus in his nasal passages. You guys have just got to trust my instinct as a mom, I don't care what the test says, he has what his brothers have." She finally took me seriously I guess, cause she ordered the test that is more accurate, and also ran more blood work on him. This morning Rex went over to the hospital for "Rounds" (all the staff that works with the boys meet at their room every morning to discuss the game plan for that day~ they did the same thing at the NICU in Salem). After rounds for Alex and Zach in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) Rex went over to the Pediatric floor to get the over night update on Riley. The test results were back and Riley is POSITIVE for RSV! Here we are saying "I TOLD YOU SO!!!"

I asked Rex to go over to the PICU and talk to doctor Buchottz (one of Alex and Zach's doctors) and tell him that Riley is positive. Rex explained to him that his wife is frustrated because they haven't made a decision on whether or not to send him back to the PICU. Doctor Buhottz said, "Don't worry... now that we know, we will make sure to get him over here asap!" So when Rex and Seth and Madison and I went to the grocery store this afternoon we got a call from the peds floor letting us know that Riley has been moved back to the PICU and is now in room 12. Alex and Zach are in room 7. They can't fit all three in one room.

So I am greatly relieved that all three boys will be treated well.

3 New Arrivals!

I just have to pinch my self when I am sitting holding all three of them! That's right... the triplets are here!

All three born on Monday 2/9/09

• Alex Jesse White born at 12:45am and weighing 4# 8 oz

• Zachary Ryan White born at 12:46am and weighing 3# 11oz

• Riley Cade White born at 12:48am and weighing 3# 13oz

Here is the blow by blow account of how they got here:

Sunday, the 8th of February was a lazy day for me. Rex and the kids went to church while I slept (good thing I had with what was coming next). Rex and the kids came home from church and Rex put them down for naps while he read one of his required reading books for class. I got up to go to the bathroom and my hips were killing me, as I climbed back into bed I got a contraction. No big deal, I have had lots of those. Well, I fell back asleep with no more contractions. Later that night Rex called to the kids to get up to the table for dinner which woke me up. My hips were hurting again... guess I was just sleeping through the pain. So I got up to go to the bathroom again, which walking helped with the pain this time. I didn't want to eat in bed, so I walked to the table and sat down. While Rex was dishing every one up and trying to organize the kids I had a contraction. After prayer and five bites into my meal I had another contraction (more like a braxton hicks). A few bites later I had another real contraction. (well, the doctor said that if I were ever to have 4 or more contractions in an hour that I need to rush to the Salem Hospital Family Birth Center. I left my dinner knowing I already had 3 contractions close together and needed to lay down. As I was walking to my bed I got contraction #4, and OH did it hurt!!! I was holding on to the walls in the hall way to brace my self as I walked. Rex ran to my side and helped me get in bed. Usually when I lay down the contractions ease up or go away. Not this time!

As I was laying there I had another 3 contractions, mixed braxton hicks with some very painful ones too. Rex asked me what we should do. I reminded him of what the doctor said, but I didn't know if it was necessary to go in. Rex asked again, "Aleece what do you want to do?" I said, "If it weren't for putting every one out (meaning his family) I would say I need to go in, and..." Rex cut me off and said, "Okay we are going in." He called his parents and asked them to meet us at the hospital to pick up Seth and Madison. I was worried that we would get there and it would have been false labor and every one would have wasted their time.

We drove FAST to the hospital (laws were probably broken). Total, I had 12 contractions from dinner time to the time we got to the hospital and they didn't stop once we got there. The nurse checked me and I was still only dilated 2 centimeters. I thought, great... everyone has jumped for nothing! So they did some test and sent it to the lab which would take 45 minutes to get back. They said the test would help determine how soon I would be having the babies. Well, they wanted to get me and the babies on the monitors while we were waiting. So they did non stress testing. From there every one could see on the monitors that I really was having contractions, but they couldn't get the babies to hold still (what's new, huh?). So they took me out for a BPP (ultrasound) where they checked on the babies. All three were doing great so we were rolled back to the room to put me back on the monitors (Mind you... contractions happening all through this!). The nurse had checked me again some where in that time and said I was still at a 2. After some time of waiting the feeling seemed to be that we would be going home, but we were just waiting for that stinken test result. The on call doctor, Dr. Frank, came in to meet with us and the nurse asked him to check me before discharging me. (It had only been about 15 minutes since the last time I was checked.) He did, and the next words out of his mouth threw me into a whirl wind, "We're having a birthday tonight! You are dilated to 3 1/2 centimeters." Then every one started rushing around and I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I kept telling my self, "wait until doctor Bowen gets here... he will give you other options!" Doctor Bowen was called right away and got there with in 10 minutes. He checked me and I was to 4 centimeters now! He said it was all progressing too fast to stop, and they wouldn't be able to buy enough time to give the babies the two shots of steroids (that takes 24 hours). As soon as all the nurses and doctors left the room I broke down into tears. This wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to make it at least one more week to 34 weeks. Rex held me and tried to comfort me. I reluctantly accepted my fate, but not with out help... I asked Rexy to give me a blessing. Rex's dad and mom had taken the kids home and then returned when Rex called them to say it was going to happen tonight- leaving Lacey home with Seth and Madison (Thank you, Lacey). When doctor Bowen came back I asked him to stand in on my blessing with Rexy and Rex Sr. He did. Rex Jr (my hubby) gave the blessing. It was beautiful! I was told that the babies would be fine and so would I. We then hurried like crazy to get ready for surgery (C-Section). You know the expression?... "Hurry, hurry, hurry.... and wait." Yeah, we had to wait for the O. R. to be cleaned since there were two other C-Sections that had just gotten done. Anyway... we got into the hospital at about 9:30pm on Sunday and had them starting with Alex at 12:45 am on Monday.

C-Section Recovery:

TOUGH STUFF!!! I hate it! I am used to being able to be good old Aleece with in a few days after a vaginal birth, but this C-Section recovery has been kicking my butt! Today is the first that I have been able to cough or sneeze with out feeling like my whole gut is going to rip open. On the positive side, I am loosing significant inches daily, and I have already dropped 25+ pounds. I gained 43 pounds in the pregnancy... so I am relieved that in just one week I have dropped more than half of that! Once the swelling in my feet and hands goes down I will loose even more weight. Lots of people have told me that they can't believe I had triplets one week ago. That makes me feel awesome and gives me motivation to keep loosing inches. (Extra skin I am afraid will never be resolved, but who knows!)

The triplets had their one week birthday on Monday the 16th. All three babies have lost weight, which is normal, but scary for their mommy and daddy. At one week old here are their weights:

Alex: 4 # 4.4 oz (original weight 4# 8 oz)

Zach: 3# 4.7 oz ( " " 3# 11 oz)

Riley: 3# 7.7 oz ( " " 3# 13 oz)

All three of the triplets are off CPAP (breathing assistance) and all three are off the billyrubin lights as of yesterday when Riley came off. They are all three off of IV's and can now wear clothing. I am boarding in a room at the hospital for free while the triplets are in the NICU. (They will probably be there for 3-4 total weeks.) I got my milk in with in 2 days after having the triplets. They are solely on my breast milk which has been fortified with some additional vitamins. It's amazing but I am able to pump 12 oz of milk every 3 hours. The nurses are freezing my milk now. They have over 30 - 4 oz bottles already frozen and I am consistently adding to it. Right now my life consists of visits to the NICU every 3 hours for their feedings. I then do Kangaroo Care (skin to skin contact) with each of the babies. They say it is so important for preemies to have this contact with their parents. Rex has Kangaroo Cared for each of the boys... I think they love being with their dad, but he has got to get rid of the chest hair! lol Poor little Riley holds his hand between is face and his daddies chest, I assume because it tickles his face. They already have soooo much personality showing through. Alex might be Mr. Tough Guy with a soft inner core. Zachary might be Mr. Methodical and very serious (his forehead is always wrinkled like he is thinking really hard). Riley might be our little class clown. He giggles and smiles sooo much! They are all so precious. We love them so much!

Seth and Madison have gotten to come into the NICU to see the babies. They came tonight with grandma and grandpa and Seth and grandma and grandpa got to hold Zachary one at a time. Madison isn't interested in holding them, yet... thank goodness. We have a ways to go in teaching her to be soft. Regardless of how soft she is or isn't, she obviously loves her brothers. I was telling Rex that one of these days I would like to take Seth and Madison out for a few hours with mom, one at a time. I am feeling well enough now that I could handle that I think. I would just have to do it between feedings of the triplets, and I would have to have the car. We are trying to work out the details of this. Maybe tomorrow I will spend time with Seth. Grandma Sharon says he has been home sick.

I will post again in a week telling you all the babies 2 week birthday stats and any other progress we have made in getting them home soon. We plan to have the babies blessed on March 29th in our ward building (45th Street) at 11 am. All are welcome. Thank you every one for your help through this! We love you all!
Love the White's

6 years of Marriage Bliss! Hehehe, okay, but we are happy!

These pictures were both taken our senior year of high school 1999.

Rex's year book picture.

Mine was from my participation in the Miss Richfield Pageant.
(Fun experience but heavy competition, not my kind of thing!)

Rex and I have been married 6 years on Friday, February 6th. I think back to the day we were married and how much in love we were. I remember a few people, from our ward now, coming to the open house at Sharon and Rex Sr.'s home to give gifts and wish us the best. It was a wonderful time in my life. You know what is nice about reminiscing on your anniversary... it is a time to reflect with optimism on the years you have spent together and resolve to move on together with your best foot forward.

My favorite of our wedding Photos

Rex and I have this thing we do... Since we were married a week before Valentine's Day we decided we would transfer our celebration of Valentine's to August 14th of each year! We have done this for the last 2 years and we like it a lot better! This way we spread out the lovey times and sentimental dates which evens out the year a little more. So you may wonder who would have a silly idea like that, right? Must have been a guys idea? Nope, it was all me! I am a cheap-O! It's expensive enough to have an anniversary during Valentine's season due to the high flower prices and such, and we save our selves a little money and peace of mind by doing "Our" Valentine's Day 6 months after every one else. Plus, you know how hard it is to find a babysitter on Valentine's Day! I swear they are booked 2 months in advance! :)
Okay, so this Anniversary Rex wants to take me to dinner and a movie... wheelchair and all! :) How romantic! LOL We'll see how I am feeling I guess.

You know, about 3 years back Rex had two surgeries on his left foot (two screws were put in to fix a broken navicular bone). Well, we had a tradition of going to the Duck games every year. (During Football Season we didn't do dates... we chose to put that money towards going to games, which then turned into our dates! We actually spent less money on game tickets, gas and food than we would have had to for dinner, a movie, snacks, and a babysitter!) Thanks to Sharon watching the kids for us for free. But the point is... Rex was in a wheel chair during the football season and couldn't make his way up the steep ramps at Autzen Stadium with out me pushing him the whole way! I pushed that man in that wheelchair many, many, many times! (true love) So it is kinda sweet "revenge" that he now has to push me every where. :) hehehe! I love you Rex!
Okay, enough silly mushy stuff... you all want to know about the pregnancy right? Well, we have stellar news... I am now just past 32 weeks along! Only 26 more days! My cervix is the same as last time (dilated 2 centimeters and holding), and the babies are sounding good in their non-stress-tests (NST). On Friday we go in for another NST and my physical therapy(PT). Monday we go in for NST and then have to drive to Portland for a measurement/growth ultrasound for the babies (we will find out their weights and percentages again). Wednesday I have PT and I go back into the OB/GYN to have my cervix checked again. We will continue this crazy schedule until the babies get here. Wish us luck that we make it to March 3rd (36 weeks).
Sharon insisted on taking a picture of me at Brian's Birthday Party tonight, so there is a belly picture in existence, but I don't have it yet. As soon as Sharon can email it to me I will post it here on the blog with all the other belly pics. After taking my picture she then grabbed a measuring tape to measure around my back to the biggest part of my belly, and I am 51" around! WOW! I will never forget how this feels! It's very vivid now, but I know It's easy to forget after the fact! I will never take certain things for granted ever again, like: being able to turn over in bed, or sleeping on my belly, or BREATHING normally! or being able to get up or sit down with out having to brace my self! and I would love to get up in the middle of the night with out having to hold on to the furniture around me so I don't collapse! I will be so glad to have my old body back, even with it's imperfections! :) LOL Sister Reedy was talking to me today about how I should take more profile belly pictures of the end of this pregnancy, just so I have something to look back on to remember this whole experience and so the triplets will know too. So I will make more of an effort to add one every time I write a post.
This week one of my best friends' dad died, it has been very difficult for her, and I feel like I am so out of touch. Tonight since we were invite to Rex's parents for pizza for Brian's party, Rex decided to make dinner and desert for her and her family and drop it by on our way to West Salem. Rex took it to the door... he said she was crying pretty bad. I feel so helpless. Many of you may know who I am talking about. If you do, I think bringing in meals is a great way to help them out. I know we are getting a lot of help too, so I hate to seem like I am pushing for this, but I think if my dad had just died the last thing I would have energy to do is cook meals. This really is just a heads up every one... I love you all and know you have probably already started planning something to assist her and her family. I wish I could join the ranks... believe me I would rather be on the giving than the receiving end. You ladies rock, and I love you all! Thanks for your support to Rex and I by continuing to sign up each time the list comes around at church. We have needed you, and greatly appreciate everything you are doing! Lots of love! Aleece

31 weeks

No belly pics this time around... not feeling very photogenic lately! :)
This week marks 31 weeks along. I removed a post I had up this last week, because it was too sad... I was having a really rough couple of days. So I would like to take things on a higher note with this post. Yes, as of Monday I found out I am dilated 2 centimeters, but my cervix is still thick and baby A is still high enough. On Monday Feb. 2nd I have more non stress tests and a doctors appointment to check dilation. Hopefully there isn't too much of a change in the cervix.
I have come down with a cold, Again! Funny thing... earlier this week a sister from the ward called saying she was going to come over to visit, but that she was sick and wanted to warn me. We came to the conclusion that she better postpone her visit, so that the kids or I weren't exposed to any more sicknesses. So she didn't come, and look! I got sick any way!~ Today I have kinda felt like death warmed over. Thank you to all you sisters who helped out with the kids today! I was out of commission today for sure! And dinner was great~! I was craving Chinese food, but then again... what haven't I been craving? Seriously, the other day I was talking to Rex and out of the blue I said, "I need one of those jelly filled donuts covered in powdered sugar!" I actually could smell it, and it made my mouth water! And then don't get me started on how good everything on the Arby's menu looked this week! We got a flier in the mail with coupons for arby melts, etc.... and I could smell them too! CRAZY TIMES... I never had cravings this strong with Seth or Madison. Good thing or I would have gained 100 pounds with each of them! By the way, my weight gain has been good... I can't believe I am about to post this, but I started out at 177 and now I am 213. I have only gained 36 pounds! Doctor says I need to gain at least 50 pounds by the end of the pregnancy. First time in my life I have ever tried to gain weight. I'm trying Doc!

Rex's Birthday was on the 18th. He is getting old! 28 years now! I am only 5 months behind him, but he will always be OLDER! I love you Rex and Happy Birthday!











Seth's 5th Birthday was this last Saturday(the 24th). He got to take only one friend, seeing as money is always a factor. He invited Trevor to go with him and Daddy and Aunt Lacey to the Dallas Aquatic Center. They played for several hours and then came here to the house for pizza and cake and ice cream with the family. Grandma and Grandpa White gave Seth his own set of Lincoln Logs, and mommy, daddy and Madison gave him a brand new piggy bank, since his old one was broken. I think he had a good birthday! We love you Seth.















































This Saturday is the baby shower that Sharon (my M.I.L.) and Kay Bowen are throwing for the triplets and I. I am so excited to see some of the faces of people I haven't seen in a while. I just hope I get this sneezing under control before then... I don't want to spoil the party because I am sick. Thanks Sharon and Kay! I can't wait... oh, and Sharon has paid for me to get a pedicure right before the shower. I love those massaging chairs and I could really use one this week.

By the way, if you have never thought of it before now.... It really stinks to sneeze with three babies inside! Lots of side effects come along with that. Thinking of switching to depends! LOL With the major pressure on my pelvis, I often wonder if this next sneeze is going to be the one to introduce baby A to a whole new world! Wouldn't that be a story? I can see headlines now... "Woman pregnant with triplets drops the whole litter, thanks to a sneeze!" :)

Okay, I feel better. And I couldn't stand how sad that last post was, so I am sorry if you feel left out cause you didn't get to read it. Promise, you didn't miss anything that great! Just me crying and whining about my plight.

So here is to optimism! We have 32 more days until these babies will come into the world! Thanks to every one for all your help. We are eternally indebted to you! And thanks Sharon and Debbie for putting the cribs up... it's all starting to come together. I have to mention... thank you Dianna! Poor Dianna had to chase down our family dog who slipped out of the house as soon as he saw his get away! And then later, when bathing Seth, the dog jumped into the bath, and Dianna had to deal with that! Dear, dear Dianna, thank you for all your help! The dog will be lucky if it makes it another week as far as I am concerned, but he is Rex's little pal now, and I think I will loose that battle! Thanks to all of you. I Love you all!

30 Weeks, Baby!!!

Wow, lots has happened this last week. Yesterday marked 30 weeks along! Exciting!

On Monday we spent over 7 hours at the Family Birth Center with an ultrasound and non stress tests to monitor the babies heart rates. The ultrasound went really well... (it is getting nearly unbearable to lay on my back for 2+ hours for the measurements of all three babies). Here are the results:

Baby A
Heart Rate: 139
Pounds: 3.4
Percentile: 52%

Baby B
Heart Rate: 144
Pounds: 3.1
Percentile: 45%

Baby C
Heart Rate: 144
Pounds: 3.3
Percentile: 50%

I got some cute ultrasound pictures of the babies too! Remember these are 2-D pictures, so the pictures only show some of their facial features.

After our regularly long ultrasound appointment (only long cause there are 3 babies to measure), We had to go to the next floor down to check in for non-stress testing of the babies. We started out in a room that only could monitor 2 babies at one time, so I had to redress and move to another room (which was a lot bigger and had a TV for Seth to watch cartoons- yeah I forgot to mention that 7 hours was with Seth there. We wanted him to be able to experience the ultrasound... and had no idea that the testing afterward would take 4 additional hours!) It took forever! The nurses and Doctor did everything they could, but these three little boys wouldn't hold still! Every time we got the monitor on for one baby the other one's would move and we would have to reposition theirs. We needed to have about 30 minutes of constant monitoring of all three babies together! So it's not the hospitals fault at all... I just have 3 very active little boys in here (but I already knew that!) The crazy thing about this non-stress testing is that we have to do it once a week for the next two Mondays, and then we will switch to two times a week! I am afraid poor Rex is not going to have enough time for studying between school days because of all the appointments. I am sure he will find a way to make it work. :)
SO... they finally got the monitoring done and we went to get something to eat! I was starving! Sharon had been watching Madison that whole time, which I am so thankful for, cause it was hard enough for Seth to wait around that long with us, and I know Maddie would have lost it before the ultrasound was even over.
That evening I was laying down at home and... to make a very, very long story short.... Rex found Madison with the Children's Tylenol. She had some how gotten past the child lock on the bottle, and poured it all over her bed and herself. There was no part of her that wasn't sticky! I read the back of the bottle and called Poison Control while stripping her clothes off and putting her in the shower. Rex managed to scrape up the puddle of Tylenol on her bed and get it back into the bottle so we could tell poison control how much was left. They told us to rush her to the E.R.! So we pulled her from the shower and dressed her in PJ's and they were off to the hospital. Rex's mom came to the E.R. to pick up Seth to take him to her house so Rex could focus fully on Madison. It was very stressful sitting here home alone and wondering if Madison was going to be okay. I was very emotional and anxious. I called Rex I think once every hour, and that was holding back!!! lol
Turns out after over 6 hours in the E.R., making Madison drink a charcoal drink (which she threw up all over), blood drawn, and an IV that they had to poke her for twice because she was putting up quiet the fight, the blood results came back that she had absolutely NO TYLENOL in her system! Poor Madison! When they got home (after midnight) she was asleep on daddy's shoulder and I got out of bed so I could give her some kisses. My poor baby! Everything is so different around here for the kids, and I know that they aren't getting all the care that they used to. It makes me feel so helpless. You know I was thinking about it, and Seth and Madison were a full time job for me as a stay at home mom. I was able to see to all their needs because the only other thing I was doing in life was a church calling. Poor Rex has been working on his bachelors full time and working a job part time, on top of my old full time job, taking care of our Family! I have been too hard on him I think. After all they are men... they aren't wired the same as us women! lol Not that that is bad... it's just that they don't have some of the same instincts that a mother has. So our family survived that day... BARELY! lol What a day! (Madison is doing great!)
Today I had physical therapy! Not in the pool though... That's right! I was approved for more visits to the therapist! Yahoo! I got a back message and rested on a heat pad for 10 wonderful minutes. It felt so good! I will still continue to do the pool as often as Ii can get there.
Also today I had a doctors appointment where we got a lot of good news! My cervix hasn't gotten any worse (same as last week), my blood pressure and tests showed I am in tip top shape, and we got to set a date for the C-Section!!!

March 3rd!!!

So we will have 3 babies on 3/3. What a coincidence huh? The doctor said he was going out of town for a week and a half right after that, so he picked that day! I like it a lot... and I am so excited... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We finally have a date to push towards. March 3rd lands on a Tuesday, so I will be exactly 36 weeks! Happy Day! :)

Taking a Step Back:

Well, every one... I went to the doctor this last Wednesday and measured 45 1/2 weeks along. Again, 40 weeks is full term for a singleton. Even with my other pregnancies I never measured more than 41 weeks. This is craziness! :) Also, I things have started to progress a little, and I am starting to dilate. Just STARTING to... so no worries, doctor says he expected this. Doctor reiterated that I need to be true to bed rest. I guess no more cheating. If bed rest doesn't kill me, I know I can handle anything... including the triplets! :)


I'll tell you all I am still a little scared~ But I know that there are lots of options for me if things progress too quickly, and we are assured by the doctors that things still look really good. I go in on Monday for another ultrasound (I promise to ask for profile pics of the babies again). Seth is going to go with us, and Madison will hang out at grandma's. Right after the ultrasound on the 4th floor of the birthing center we will go to the 3rd floor where the triplets will undergo some stress tests. They need to monitor their heart rates on a regular basis from here on out. Soon I will have to go in twice a week for the stress tests.
I am including a video of the day we found out we were having triplets. The first part was of Madison getting her hair done right before we were leaving to the ultrasound. The second part was of Rex's dad at his work when we told him the Great News! So funny~ you have to check it out!
Thanks to every one who has helped out in every way!~ We couldn't imagine doing this alone. We love you all!
Love Aleece

Working on week 29

I am 28 weeks and working on week 29. On Thursday, while Rex was at school, Sharon took me to my appointment with my OB/GYN. Everything looked good still. I took my glucose test (not too bad, they have definitely improved the flavor!) I got a call Friday afternoon from the doctor about my test results, which had me worried for a moment, but he assured me that I am not diabetic. I guess they also checked my hemoglobin levels and they came back very low. So I am anemic, big surprise, I have been with the other pregnancies too. But this time he wants me doubling my dose of iron supplements. Explains why I have felt more tired and weak lately.

I know this isn't much of an update, but really isn't much more to say about that. This last couple days I have worked on transferring the pictures I took of the Young Women in our ward (while I was in that calling) from our home computer to our lap top. The CD burner on the home computer wouldn't work, so I transferred them all to burn them onto CD from the lap top. It took two Cd's! Yeah, I like to take pictures. I am going to give the Cd's to the young women's president, Sunshine H. She will figure out something cute to do with all of them I am sure. Some of the pictures were of the girls and their dads learning how to dance from Bro and Sis Bergevin, a talent show night for the Beehives and Mia maids, the night we played the giant size game "LIFE" in the gym, Sister Spencer's Birthday Party, and some great Girls Camp pictures! It was a lot of fun to go back and look at the all! Good Memories girls! I will cherish them forever.

Here are some pictures of Seth and Madison with their best friend, Max!





















Aren't they cute! They love Max, and he is great with them... As long as they stay away from him while he is eating. He is very possessive of his food and will bite to defend it. Hard to say what from his past caused him to be that way, but we just keep his food far from where the kids play.

I sure miss you all! Hope everything is going well in your lives! Love Aleece

P.S. I got my hair chopped off this week and I hate the way it turned out!!!! You may not get to see any more pictures of me... lol I shouldn't have gone with the bangs! Ahhhh! Too late now, I guess, but I am so sad about it. I cut it short to avoid spending a lot of time on my hair, but now I have to spend more time trying to make it look decent! Pickles!

Ultra Sound Belly Pics:

The walk into the Family Birth Center for our ultrasound.

More paper work!

We waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes, which isn't normal. That's the second time this has happened. We have to check in on the 3rd floor at the Family Birth Center and then take the elevator to the 4th floor to the waiting room. I guess the receptionist on the 3rd floor forgot to call upstairs to let them know we were waiting. So we were sitting there for nothing. While we were sitting there the office called me on the cell phone to ask if I was coming! LOL They felt so bad... mostly because it was the second time. We didn't put up a fuss at all, just laughed it off... but when we were leaving they gave us two gift cards for The Ram restaurant. (Maybe when life slows down a little Rex and I can go on a date!) Sweet!

Doctors want me to gain 50 pounds with this pregnancy, but I have only gained 25 pounds so far.
Each baby is weighing over the amount a normal Singleton baby weighs at this gestation. A regular baby at 27 weeks should weigh just under 2 pounds. Our babies weights are: Baby A ~ 2.7 pounds, Baby B ~ 2.1 pounds and Baby C ~ 2.2 pounds. Baby A is the one on the bottom, so we joke around that his extra weight is due to him being like Samson, He needs to be stronger to hold up the two babies on top of him.

Waiting to go into the ultra sound.

Now that's what I call a serious Gutt!

No mole hill, huh?

No pictures of the babies this time, that's just a one time deal!
Thanks Sharon for taking all these pictures!

Pictures of Christmas 2008

The love birds! Six years of marriage this February :D

Lacey, Aleece (Side shot of the belly... it's getting Huge!) and Nicole, Jaris and Austin (Rex's cousin and his family).

Rex's Parents: Sharon and Rex Sr.


The "Belly Shelf"... It also makes a nice table top :)

Madison sucking her thumb and playing with her hair as always.

More of Christmas

Christmas Eve at Rex's parents house: What a Goof Ball!

Aleece Chill 'n on the couch!

Seth waiting patiently to open his White Elephant gift at the Family Christmas Party.

Rex and Lacey(she is the youngest of Rex's siblings). Rex had a black eye (his right side) from being elbowed in the face at basketball the week before. He said, "When you get as tall as I am you aren't used to protecting your face cause not too many other people can throw an elbow that high!" lol

P.S. It was accidental by the way.

Rex and Jessica (Rex's sister just 23? months younger than him).

I told you, it's a great table top!

26 Weeks

Hey every one! As of This last Tuesday I am now 26 weeks along! This is good news because we have over come one of our goals... Salem Hospital can not deliver babies before 26 weeks. Before now if there was an emergency we would have had to drive to Portland to St. Vincents Hospital. Now we can have the babies here in Salem. Yea!
The next big goal is 28 weeks. If they can make it that far their survival rate goes up to 80%. Even though it would be good news to have high survival rate, it just wouldn't be good enough... the babies could still have very poor quality of life. The doctors have told me from the beginning that I want to get these babies past 32 weeks for a higher quality of life, not just survival. One baby step at a time. Having these little goals helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have been getting so huge that I feel physically broken down. However, everything seems to be going well, my body is doing what it needs to for the babies. Thank heaven.
I had my first physical therapy appointment this week. All she did was examine me and determine what plan of action they were going to take. Found out that a lot of my "hip pain" is actually in my lower back. I guess the pain just radiates or something. So I have only been approved for one more visit... messed up huh? Good ole' insurance! Anyway... my physical therapist said I need more than that, and will put in for an extension. She said even if I don't get approved for more appointments, that I can still use their facility for the pool. My first real therapy treatment is Monday afternoon. I have to try to get into a swim suit! LOL I think I will just wear a maternity cami and shorts. :)
I had a doctors appointment the next day (Christmas Eve) with my OB/GYN where he said everything looked good. He said I am measuring 41 weeks pregnant!!! That means I am measuring 15 weeks larger than I would be with just one baby at this gestation! Yikes! I am telling you all... I feel Enormous! Still growing though... so I guess enormous will have a whole new meaning before too long!
I also have an ultra sound on Monday morning where they will be doing all the babies measurements again. It is very important that they all are close in size! Pray for us, please. If one is in danger it could compromise the whole pregnancy and cause us to have to deliver all of them early. We are hopeful and are optimistic that things will continue to look up!
I am so tired... woke up with Rex at 3 am Christmas morning to finish wrapping presents for the kids. After that, I finished making a quilt I wanted to have finished for Madison. I made a few boo boo's! First I cut a hole in the middle of it when cutting a straggler string, which required a heart shaped patch... but then while ironing the patch on I scorched the fabric!!! I have never done that before... and I was just so sick about it! I started crying and wanted to quit, but Rex was right there to comfort me and convinced me that Madison will cherish it more knowing it was made from my heart. Then a little later when I was binding the edges I pricked my finger and bled on it! I was flabbergasted! Again Rex comforted me, "When she is older you can show her evidence of these battle wounds on the blanket, that you suffered Christmas 2008, trying so hard to make a quilt when you were 6 1/2 months pregnant with the triplets." I guess it does make it a little more sentimental~ when looked at that way.
Thank you who ever you are... that gave a Secret Santa gift to our family this Christmas! The Missionaries came over one evening with a Christmas card from a Secret Santa with two gift cards. One for Toys R Us and the other for Target. Each one for $50 dollars! What a wonderful gift, thank you so much for thinking of us! One of the gifts we got for Madison from Toys R Us, turned out Grandma Sharon had already bought one like it and it was wrapped, so rather than exchange it we gave it to a family in our ward with three little girls who loved it. It felt good to know we could help them out... by passing it forward a bit. On Christmas Eve another family dropped gifts at our door for the whole family, it was so kind. Thank you! Rest assured, both Seth and Madison had a great Christmas, and thanks goes to all our family and friends. My mom sent 4 boxes of presents for all of us... probably spending more on shipping than on the gifts, and that was sweet of her. Mom, the kids loved all their presents, and thanks so much for the things you sent Rex and I. Sharon and Rex Sr. and Jessica, and Lacey all got us very nice gifts too! I felt sooo Spoiled! Seth got some of the cutest clothes for church... He will look so handsome in them. Thanks every one! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

A Recap Of The Last Year...

In 2007 Rex was able to meet Mitt Romney when he was asked to drive the lead car for his campaign when they came to Portland. He drove them from PDX to a dinner at a really nice "mansion" which I believe is owned by a member of the church. Rex then escorted them and Mr. Romney to his private jet. Awesome experience, huh?

"GO DUCKS!"

Seth was able to get his picture taken with the Duck when he went with mom and dad to the game!That's right, Seth's hair is definitely green!Since his middle name is Autzen (after the Ducks football stadium)he has kinda been raised with the University of Oregon in his blood!

"Home Sweet Home"
Rex and I started house sitting this house for Helen in November 2007. Helen was sweet enough to offer it to us, while Rex is full time in school. We love it here. Just enough room for all 8 of us now (counting the triplets and the dog, Max!) It's a beautiful home.

Thanks Helen!

"Called to Serve"
I was called into Young Women's in the
Jan Ree Ward in February this last year.
I worked with the Beehives!
I miss my calling now that I am on bed rest.
I still love you all, ladies!
(Young Womens Presidency)


"The Sobrio's"
Okay, I know I said a recap of the last year and this is obviously older than one year, but I wanted to give a picture that shows all my family members, and the last one we had taken was when Seth was 9 months old. Starting Left Top~ Dad (Tony), Mom (Jeaneen), Rex (you should recognize this guy!), Jacob (my brother in law-married to Amanda), Ashley (little sister- 19 yrs now), Aaron (little brother~ Not really so little huh? This was pre-mission, now he is an R.M. and 23 I think~ sorry ladies, he's already spoken for!). Starting Bottom Left~ Auriela (little sister- 16 yrs old now), Me (alot younger back then!) with Seth on my lap, Amanda (little sister- pregnant with baby number two) with her oldest child Bronson on her lap, Austin (littlest brother~ turns 12 this year I think!) So that's the whole gang!
Only one's missing: Amanda's second child Carson (we call him "Chunky Monkey" cause that is the only kind of ice cream Amanda would eat when she was pregnant with him), and Madison who was still just a twinkle in her daddy's eye! Aaron has a special someone, but I haven't met her... so sorry, no pictures to speak of yet.

My family came on vacation to visit Oregon. This picture is of Ashley, Aaron and I. Near D River on the coast. This picture was of us walking back after racing each other down the beach in the sand. Obviously I came in last place! But hey, I'm an old worn down mom :)

(They'll get old too, soon enough!)

Ashley and I working on a sand castle.

This picture is of Auriela
and Madison at Tillamook Cheese Factory.

This picture is of Austin.
He is standing with Seth at Silver Falls.
"A Visit to Zion"
Rex was able to do a session in the Salt Lake Temple for the first time when he went to Utah for an all expense paid trip for some work meetings. He really enjoyed' his time there in Salt Lake.

"Yummy"
June 15th 2008, Making a cake with mom, the day after mom's 27th birthday!

"Happily Forever After"
Young Womens Camp 2008:
I wore my hair in tiny braids...
My cabin theme was "Rapunzels Dread Lock Divas!"
I loved all the girls in my cabin, and I miss girls camp a lot!
I wanted to go to camp again next summer,but with the triplets coming I cannot break away for
an entire week, no matter how bad I want to go! :(

I coordinated a skit that the young women from my ward would perform at girls camp called:
"Cinderella~ A Fractured Fairy Tale"
The girls Rocked!
(They also performed it again for a ward social infront of their parents.)

"Happy 4th of July!"
Mom and Madison swimming inGrandma and Grandpa White's pool.

Rex and Madison taking a snooze after a tiring swim in the pool!
While Madison slept ... Seth enjoyed story time with grandma. This is a very special time for Seth. He loves it when Grandma Sharon reads to him.

Seth and Madison sitting in their car seats on the side walk at grandma Sharon's house watching the cool fireworks grandpa bought for them!

"Ouchy"
Seth burned his arm on the side of a large counter top skillet! He believes mom now when she says "Stay off the counter... this is very hot!" (This picture was taken one week after the fact. It looked much worse when it first happened.) Thank goodness, it healed well and there is only a slightly visible scar now.

"Camping with Mom"
"Funny Faces"... we are really good at them! (Don't you all feel so lucky to see this side of us! lol) This was the night that Seth and Mommy set up the tent in the yard and spent the night out there, alone! Scary! Mommy had to get up and come in the house twice for a potty break. (I was at the beginning of the triplet pregnancy) Yep, there were a lot of things mommy probably shouldn't have been doing (like setting up a tent), if I had known there were three babies in there, but it was awesome to spend the time with Seth! Dad and Madison slept in the house, and dad kept his bedroom window open so he could hear us if we needed him.Mommy and Seth camping out!

Here's some more "Funny Faces!"

"Enchanted Forest"
Seth, Madison and Mommy were treated to Enchanted Forest by Grandma and Grandpa White. It was a ton of fun for every one!












Grandpa and Seth after getting all wet!


When Seth saw this picture of him and grandma he said,
"Mom, I think this was grandma's favorite ride!"


To be continued...
I am too tired to add more. Yes believe me, there are tonz more! I am a picture-holic!
Thank Heaven some one invented Digital Cameras!