Faith - Family - Friends

9 Months

2011-01-23T21:28:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's season visiting with friends and family.

This month, we celebrated the 9 month mark for the trio and at their doctor visit everyone measured in at the 50th percentile or so on both height and weight. The boys surprised no one when their head measurements came in at the 85th percentile. They have some huge noggins!

It is great that they are doing so well health, growth and activity wise.

We are looking forward to the big 1 Year celebration in April.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's season visiting with friends and family.

It is great that they are doing so well health, growth and activity wise.

We are looking forward to the big 1 Year celebration in April.

Happy Six Month Birthday!

2010-10-05T15:14:00.002-04:00

The triplets celebrated their 6 month birthday today.

We celebrated with them by going to the doctor for some shots. :)

While we were there, everyone got weighed and measured.
Tyler is now 17 lbs 9 oz and is 25 ¼ inches tall. Lincoln is 16 lbs 13 oz and is 26 inches tall. Allison is 15 lbs 10 oz and is also 25 ¼ inches tall. They are all moving up the percentile ranges and actually in the 40-50% range for most of their measurements. They have done incredibly well for 31 week preemies.

Tyler and Lincoln have both started growing some teeth. They each have two little ones just starting to poke through in the front. Everyone has started eating baby cereal and the different vegetable and fruit purees.

Lincoln got to celebrate a second time this afternoon by going to see his cardiologist. He did really well and let them strap all the testing equipment on him without getting upset. He got rave reviews for both his behavior and the current condition of his heart. He will not have to go back until his first birthday now.

Overall, a really good day of doctor visits and reports and thankful for the progress they each continue to make. Happy ½ birthday, gang!

Closing in on 6 months

2010-09-24T16:18:00.003-04:00

We are closing in on 6 months. It is hard to fathom. Some moments it seems like just the other day we were in the NICU(s) and then moments later it seems like time is dragging. (Often the volume level of the children seems to sway me one way or the other)

We had a generous gift of a family photo shoot granted to us recently. Here is one of the best shots of our whole crew.

Aug 27 pictures

2010-08-27T10:32:00.001-04:00

We are coming up on 5 months on September 5. Here are a couple pictures from this morning.

Family Picture

2010-08-18T09:27:00.002-04:00

Here is our best family picture. My blog posts will likely continue to be very sparse for a while. The babies are growing and currently doing well health wise. The boys need to start sleeping better at night. Everyone is close to 13 pounds now with Tyler being 14. They have done really well in gaining weight.

Tyler Surgery Update

2010-08-03T19:23:00.004-04:00

We are back from Philadelphia. Tyler did well and the surgery went well.

Tyler definitely made his presence known as we worked our way through the admission and setup process starting at 6am on Monday. Several of the staff and administrative personal recognized me from previous visits with Lincoln and they loved meeting Tyler also. His good morning greetings to everyone brought many offers of pacifiers, but to no avail. None of the triplets really like pacifiers, which is apparently a bit of an aberration, especially for babies who were in the NICU for a substantial period.

Here are a couple pictures I took with my phone as we were waiting for Tyler to go back for his surgery. At this point, it was about 7:30, so he had exhausted himself from screaming and just relaxed for a bit before finally falling asleep.

He goes for a post-op check in about 10 days, and thankfully we are able to do this with the surgeon's partner in Reading, saving us another trip to Philly. Tyler, along with Allison and Lincoln will have their 4 month check-up in the next week or so as well and we can have an official update on their continued great weight gain. Tyler is the heaviest and weighed in for his surgery at almost 13 1/2 pounds.

Sleep - Is it Day or Night?

2010-07-29T09:42:00.003-04:00

Do you like to sleep at night? Many people do.
Tyler and Lincoln often like to sleep in the day and then have parties at night.
They have been doing some better, but Allison is progressing a bit quicker at sleeping for longer periods at night than the boys. There have been a couple nights when she only woke up once and one night this past week when she slept for about 10 hours straight. The guys like to still get up every 3-4 hours or so. So on the sleeping front: progress is happening, but it is slow.

Here are some pictures from this week of the boys sleeping (during the day) and Allison enjoying the quiet of them not yelling.

July is winding down

2010-07-23T22:06:00.003-04:00

The triplets continue to grow. Everyone is over 11 pounds now. They will all get weighed again the second week of August and may be closing in on 12 by then. The main health issue right now besides Tyler's impending hernia operation is Lincoln and Tyler still struggling with acid reflux. This affects their eating, sleeping and general comfort level. We are still working with the doctors and home visit caregivers to find a solution so that this does not grow into a problem that causes them to not want to continue eating as well as they have been.

The rest of our family has been able to enjoy some time away due to the generosity of others and the wonderful babysitters who come and watch Tyler, Allison and Lincoln.

Laura has been able to do her spa day. (It was split into two 1/2 days due to logistics, but this ended up giving her two special times away.) She enjoyed a salon cut and style, a manicure, pedicure and massage.

Jack and Emily enjoyed a day away with Mom and Dad at Dorney Park and both were quite adventuresome in trying some new rides. They both rode their first roller coaster, Jack tried out a classic, fast-paced ride called "The Whip" and Emily went up in the high, rotating hot air balloon ride with Laura. Once they grow a few more feet, we will all be able to enjoy the crazy, twisting roller coasters together.

I'll be pretty busy the next couple weeks with work, so my next post will probably be after Tyler's surgery on August 2 to let you know how it went.

Tyler Schedule Update

2010-07-17T22:28:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update.

Tyler is scheduled for his hernia repair surgery on Monday, August 2.

He will be seeing the same doctor who worked on Lincoln in Philadelphia.

3 Months

2010-07-12T18:20:00.002-04:00

Last Monday we celebrated 3 months with the triplets! Today they had their 3 month check-up and all are now over 10 pounds! Allison 10 lb 5 oz, Lincoln 10 lb 11 oz and Tyler is 11 lb 4 oz!
Here are the latest pictures with their friend, Big Bird. At their weigh-in today, we found out they are now on the actual growth chart! They are all in the 5-10% range, but it is nice to see them beginning to catch up a little bit. Some authors suggest that it will take the first two years until they are fully caught up in growth to children born at full term.

Tyler goes to meet with the surgeon this Thursday to discuss the plans for operating to repair his hernia. He and Lincoln are both on medicine for acid reflux. Allison has been doing great health wise and is also sleeping better than both the boys. No one is ready to sleep through the night yet, but we are still very early for premature babies.

Tyler

Allison

Lincoln

Fourth of July Craziness

2010-07-06T12:14:00.002-04:00

Somebody forgot to tell Tyler that the 4th of July was supposed to be a holiday! The last couple days of last week, he had been spitting up a little more than normal. Then on Saturday and Saturday night, he projectile rejected 4 of his 7 feedings. We decided to have Laura take him in to the pediatrician on Sunday morning. (We continue to be very happy with our choice of pediatrician group. Amazing that we could go on the 4th of July on a Sunday without an appointment and see a doctor without a long wait!) They gave him several treatments at the office and decided that he should be admitted to the hospital. His official diagnosis was bronchulitus. He had wheezing and low blood oxygen levels. This combined with his acid reflux was not a good combination. At the hospital he was treated with oxygen, new acid reflux medicine and nebulizer treatments. He was doing well enough to come home on Monday afternoon and will continue for at least the next week on the nebulizer treatments.

Today (July 6), Lincoln went in for his first official cardiologist appointment. An EKG, blood pressure checks, Echocardiogram (and much crying) later, he received an excellent report. The area on his heart from the surgery still looks good and his heart is carrying an appropriate work load. He does not have to go back for another check for 3 months. As he grows, they will be watching that the area does not close up due to either body growth or scar tissue that could develop. My understanding is that he will be seeing a cardiologist regularly for all his younger years and probably even as an adult to monitor this area in his heart. Very thankful for this initial good report.

The triplets turned 3 months old yesterday! An exciting milestone for us all. We didn't really have time to stop and celebrate together, but mark your calendars now for April 5th of next year, because I think we will have quite the festive 1st birthday party.

Next week is pretty full also. On Monday the triplets go to the pediatrician for their 3 month checkup. They will also be checking Tyler to see how he has been responding to the medicine and decide what treatments he needs to continue and what can be stopped if he is doing better.
On Thursday, Tyler goes to Philadelphia to visit the surgeon for a consult on his hernia. I'm not sure how all his other stuff impacts the potential scheduling of a surgery. I'll let you know when I find out.

Laura and I are very happy and thankful for these three months with the triplets and for all those who have surrounded us with prayer, help and support. We are continually tired, but trusting God for His strength for each new day.

Joel

Mobile Office

2010-07-01T21:48:00.002-04:00

I have finally moved into the 21st century and purchased a decent phone. I now have a Sprint Samsung Moment. This allows me to access all my personal and work email, calendars and internet files from any location. No longer do I have to tote my laptop with me and search for a wireless signal. As long as I have a cell signal, I am good to go.

This will prove useful for being able to work more efficiently from doctor's offices.

Speaking of doctor's offices:

Tyler has been scheduled for an initial consult for hernia surgery in Philadelphia on July 15. This is with the same doctor who performed the hernia surgery for Lincoln. This month also contains visits to the pediatrician for all the triplets for their 3 month check-up, a visit to the cardiologist for Lincoln for a checkup and depending on the scheduling and visit with the surgeon for Tyler a possible surgery.

It will be great to be able to stay connected throughout all the travels and visits.

Surgery # 3

2010-06-28T21:03:00.002-04:00

It looks like we are in for another trip down to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

Let me bring you up to speed. Lincoln had heart surgery a couple days after he was born. Last month, he had to return to St. Chris to have a double hernia repaired. Tyler had recently been diagnosed with acid reflux and is being treated with medicine for that.

This week, Tyler and Lincoln decided to trade symptoms. Lincoln also now has acid reflux and Tyler has been diagnosed with a single hernia. That means Tyler will be having his first surgery sometime in the next few weeks.

We just went to the doctor and got this news tonight, so the time line is not yet set. Having been through it with Lincoln, we do know there are three steps. An initial consult with the surgeon at which time a surgery will likely be scheduled. Return for the surgery which includes at least a one night stay in the hospital. Go back two weeks later for a post-operative checkup that everything is healing appropriately. I'll post further as we get additional details.

Although Allison has learned recently from her brothers to yell pretty strongly and had apnea spells for her first few weeks, overall she remains our non-complicated and quiet one.

Here are a few recent pictures.

Learning from her brothers

2010-06-26T20:27:00.003-04:00

The last couple weeks have been sparse in my postings. I imagine the coming weeks will be as well. Somewhere in the last 10 days Tyler and Lincoln taught Allison how to cry with their same level of intensity. For the first two months, we had not really had any moments where all three were strongly upset all at the same time. This was pretty nice, as there are almost always 2 adults in the house and (in what was the worst case scenario) each adult could take a crying baby, the third would sleep and Jack and Emily would play (or watch a video) together.

Now that Allison has learned to cry at the same level, it is a daily occurrence to have all three of them going a little bonkers at the same time. The adult to child ratio does not work out quite so well in this scenario and it gets a little complicated.

I do have some new pictures and will hopefully get them posted sometime.

Laura and I had a wonderful time away and got enough sleep to keep us going for a few more days. Lincoln's post-operative hernia appointment with the surgeon was good and he does not have to return there. The coming weeks will see us having 3 month checkups, Lincoln's next check with his cardiologist, the start of visits from early intervention physical therapists to work with each of them and much more excitement.

JH

My posts on the World Cup and NBA finals will have to wait until another year. :)

Married with Multiples

2010-06-22T05:04:00.003-04:00

Laura and I are preparing to take 2 days and a night away to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that the triplets were born eleven weeks ago today. We were both reminded last night (in the midst of the intensity of having three infants) how thankful we are for every single day we have with our children.

I am beginning to have clarity on a few things for parents of "multiples." One of those is that it is even more important than ever to create blocks of time to spend with your spouse. Several people have been surprised that we are able or willing to take a night away so soon. We are able due to the continued wonderful community that surrounds us with their time and care for us and our children. We are willing because Laura and I have decided to make our relationship the primary one in our family. One of the things that is hard to have in the midst of late night feedings, doctor appointments and the general chaos of 5 kids four and under are the small moments of time to talk together. There are very few quiet dinners, evening walks, or time sitting and reading together. That is just not the daily flow of a multiples family. Since that is the case, it is even more important for us to go away for dinner, a day, or a weekend to be able to catch up with each other and keep our relationship strong. Our goal is to be able to take at least a full week away next year when we celebrate our 10th anniversary. :) You can check back then to see if our plans come to fruition.

As I was getting the final items packed and lists made for helpers this morning, my thoughts turned to the investment so many people have been making in our lives with their time. Their investment is not just in the lives of our children, but is in our lives as well, in our marriage and our ministry. I am very thankful for this and it motivates me do well in each of these. Let me encourage you this week to take a few moments with your husband or wife. Tell them you love them, enjoy a quiet moment with them and while you do that; Laura and I will be enjoying some roller coasters at Dorney Park.

Father's Day Reflections

2010-06-20T12:44:00.005-04:00

It's been a few days since I've posted, so I thought Father's Day would be an appropriate time to reflect a bit. Tyler and Lincoln decided they wanted to celebrate early this morning, so we got to spend some special Father's Day time together before the sun came up. It was great to celebrate my birthday this past weekend. Having two nights in a row with people coming to spend the night to help with the feedings and allowing me to get two nights sleep in a row was a great gift. That allowed me to recover a bit to be able to handle a few of the more recent short nights.

Medical Updates
Lincoln seems to be recovering well from his 2nd surgery. He goes in this coming week for his post-op visit. Tyler and Allison both received a thumbs up at their 2nd eye doctor appointment that the retina has continued developing as it should. Lincoln did not have to go to the 2nd one as he passed that test the first time. Tyler has developed some acid reflux and went in this week to get some medicine for that. It will be nice if that begins to give him some relief from spitting up and having trouble eating at times. It hasn't caused him too much trouble eating, as he is now 10 pounds! Lincoln and Allison are both over 8 pounds now.

Sleeping Update

Allison has been doing a great job sleeping. While she does not sleep for more than 3-4 hours at a time, she is quite consistent in doing this. Tyler and Lincoln on the other hand are not doing so great a job. They are struggling to go to sleep at night and can get quite boisterous in their insistence that they are not happy. This can be frustrating at times and I am grateful for my wonderful partner and wife. When she is worn out, sometimes I have a burst of energy. When I am worn out, she digs a bit deeper for some more stamina. When we are both worn out, we are deeply grateful for each and every person who has come to help: for a night, a morning, an afternoon, or just a couple hours.

This coming week, Laura and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary. She has done a wonderful job recruiting help so we can spend two days and a night away. The list that shows we have a dozen people scheduled to take care of just the triplets for the two days while we are away is a reminder to me why I am so tired. :) Jack and Emily are looking forward to a sleepover at their cousin's house.

Father's Day

Laura and I are both appreciative of our loving, kind and God-fearing fathers. Our children are so blessed to have grandparents on both sides of the family who love Jesus.

Next Time
Later this week, (or maybe next week) I will write about some of my birthday fun, our wedding anniversary, the NBA finals, the World Cup and maybe a little bit about the kids.

Crash!

2010-06-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

The online silence you have heard the last few days is the sound of us crashing! This past weekend, the continuous nights of 3-4 hours of sleep have caught up with me especially, but Laura as well. Our bodies (and brains) are wearing out. Today, I took some time today to spend solely with Jack and Emily while Laura had help with the triplets. We are working to schedule sleep time and rejuvenation time for both of us in the next two weeks with my birthday coming as well as our wedding anniversary.

The blog will probably be a bit quiet the next few days. I do have another video and picture montage that was almost completed before I crashed. So if I find myself awake at 3 a.m. again or driving Tyler and Lincoln around in the van to calm them down and can put the finishing touches on it, I will post it.

JH

Surgery Report, 2 Month Doctor Visits & Chaos

2010-06-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

Lincoln had his double hernia surgery yesterday. The doctors are pleased with the results and he was able to come home this afternoon and is trying to get back in the routine here. I was able to stay down in Philadelphia with him at the Ronald McDonald House again. It was a very long two days for me between the waiting rooms, waiting areas and general waiting. I was able to take a couple 15 minute naps in the waiting areas in between the overhead speakers paging staff, other cute babies crying and the general hubbub of a hospital. Lincoln did great on the drive there and back and other than letting everyone know when he was in pain and hungry, he overall did very good the entire two days. It was nice for us to get back home this afternoon.

Greeting us at home were three crying children (I think Allison was sleeping at the moment) and a beautiful wife/mom. Laura had taken Tyler and Allison for their two month doctor appointments today. They both received three shots and so are a bit sore and rather fussy from that experience. This has made for quite a bit of chaos here tonight. We were very thankful for the report on Tyler. He had been very cranky and we were concerned that he may have developed a hernia as well. That was not the case. He was just cranky. ;)

Due to all these doctor visits, we do have current weights for the triplets. Lincoln is just over 7 pounds now. Allison is 8 pounds 2 ounces. Tyler comes in as part of the heavyweight division at 8 pounds 12 ounces!

The next few weeks will be very busy and chaotic as multiple appointments are on the horizon. Lincoln has to go for his 2 month pediatrician appointment (and get the 3 shots his siblings had today) and also go back for a two week post-op visit with the surgeon from this week. Tyler and Allison have to go back to the eye doctor for a two week followup to see how their retinas are developing. Everyone is getting a home visit from the Easter Seals for early intervention to see how their developmental milestones are progressing, and then at the start of July, Lincoln has to go back to the cardiologist for another check up to make sure his heart is still doing ok. Then they will all be back to the pediatrician for their 3 month check-in. Our desire is that the remainder of the summer remains surgery-free for all three of them so we can just balance all the doctors appointments already on the agenda.

That is all I have for now, back to the feeding, changing, consoling,
Joel

(editors note: this post took 2 hours to get finished from start to finish due to the typical flow of an evening with triplets)

Humor Break - "Joel and Laura (Barely Alive With Only Five)"

2010-06-10T00:41:00.000-04:00

Ok, so in the midst of all the ongoing craziness of doctor visits, surgeries, changing diapers and crying, I thought tonight would be a good time to take a break for some levity. I'll get back to medical updates tomorrow sometime.

After surviving two months with 5 children ages 4 and under, Laura and I have been asked at least 3 times each day if we are going to have our own show like John and Kate. The fact that their home is only a half hour or so from us does not help the situation either. Apparently pretty much everyone in the greater Reading area is either close friends with them or went to school with their third cousin. Anyway, at this point TLC has not called to offer us a show. If they do call, I have a few conditions for the show to move forward.

1) They have to hire a stand in for me to shoot all the nighttime feedings and diaper changes (I suggest Dean Cain) (I will let Laura pick her own stand in)

2) We will need a full time sponsorship from Mt. Dew

3) Our show cannot air in the same time slot as Dora the Explorer or Curious George

4) We will not be yelling at our children or each other, so other story lines will have to be incorporated.

Dancing with the Stars did call to let me know that if TLC does decide to give us a show that they just wanted to let me know that I will not be invited to appear on ABC. They said something about slow, uncoordinated and out of shape, but what do they know. They did suggest America's Funniest Home Videos might be more appropriate.

We have decided that if we are able to survive the first 5 or so years that we will be able to go on the road to present speaking tours on parenting. By that point if we are not expert parents, we will at least have a nice family photo to plaster on our books to make it look like we are. Oh yes, did I mention I plan to write a book?
Chapter 1 - The Sane Years
Chapter 2 -
Well, I don't really know what comes in Chapter 2 or beyond, because we have moved past Chapter 1 already.

If you want more humorous insight into our craziness, you'll have to hire me to come for the above mentioned presentation. We are available for couples conferences, marriage conferences, parenting seminars, and anything in Hawaii or Florida during January and February.

Lincoln Surgery Day (#2) (updated)

2010-06-09T02:54:00.001-04:00

Lincoln is scheduled for his second major surgery in the two short months of his life this morning. At 7:00 this morning, we should be checking into admissions at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children again. Lincoln and I are thankful for being able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House here beside the hospital this past evening. Our commute will be much shorter than if we had to drive from home: 2 minutes in the stroller versus 90 minutes in traffic. Around 8:30, the surgery is scheduled to begin with Dr. Arthur attending. It is anticipated to take a little more than an hour. Lincoln will then go through the different recovery rooms as he comes out from the anesthesia and then will be staying at least one night for observation. I hope to post an update again sometime in the afternoon.

For now, I will give you some reading from a dear friend who is in the midst of a surgery recovery himself. One of my seminary professors, who I have known for almost 20 years now, just had a kidney transplant. You can read some of his Lessons Learned from a Kidney Transplant and thoughts on the Benefits of Weakness and Suffering by clicking on the links in this sentence. I see much connection in his recent postings and what we have experienced with Lincoln and the other triplets. God is good and it is wonderful to be surrounded by loving friends and family during challenging times.

7:00pm update Wednesday June 9

Lincoln is out of surgery and in a room. The surgeon was pleased with how things went. Lincoln is a bit groggy still and in some pain. They are giving him oxygen to help him breathe while he wakes up and an IV for nutrients since he did not really want to eat. (I think b/c of the pain and sleepiness) He will be spending the night and they will see how he is doing tomorrow. There is a possibility that he will need to stay more than one night.

Picture Night

2010-06-07T23:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a couple days since I posted and today is not going to be much.
I uploaded quite a few new pictures and a video to facebook. Go ahead and check them out. If you need to friend request me first, that is fine. If you do not have facebook yet... well, I can't help you this time. It would just take to long to upload them all here.

Lincoln's surgery is on Wednesday. I will post more then.

JH

Celebrities at the Eye Doctor

2010-06-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday, we had our first eye doctor visit with the triplets. While they have had multiple outings now, (walks, park, doctor, baby shower, church) this was the first time we encountered the celebrity factor in its fullness. As we came into the (very large) eye doctor lobby, we found a large number of retired patients waiting and many nurses and staff there to help them. Very quickly, they all became fascinated by the arrival of 3 babies all together. It was fun to hear all their sweet comments and looks of amazement. Thankfully, before it got to crazy, we were hurried off to the special children waiting area and had a few moments of quiet before going back to see the doctor. My favorite comment from the crowd was directed to Laura. The lady said "that's the way to do it, one time and done: instant family" Laura was happy to inform her that was not the case, that this was "third time and done" and that we had a 4 year old and 2 year old at home. I love the stunned looks from strangers we get in these instances.

I will leave the details of an infant eye check out for you, as it was not that pleasant. It did involve 3 rounds of eye drops and each of them having their eyes held open so the doctor could see clearly. Overall, they each did well, although Tyler and Allison both cried for quite a bit after they had finished seeing the doctor. Lincoln did cry while he was being checked, but as soon as it was done he promptly went back to sleep. I guess he decided after major surgery and being poked and prodded many times in preparation for a second one that a little eye check was no big deal.

It is common for premature babies to have their retinas stop growing after they are born and then start growing again later when the body realizes they were not fully developed yet. Lincoln's eyes are well developed and he does not have to go back for a second check. Apparently the stress of the events he has had may have prompted him to continue growing. Tyler and Allison both need to have things develop a little more to be on track with where they should be, so they will be going back for a second check in a couple weeks.

A Special Sunday

2010-06-03T17:44:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday we were able to take Tyler, Allison and Lincoln with us to church for the first time. The new addition to the church nursery had been completed a couple months ago and the nursery team was ready to go. (Yes, there really is a new addition to the nursery. I can only take partial credit for this though, as it is also due to the ongoing baby boom and influx of new young families at our church.) Laura and I took the opportunity to use this first Sunday as a time to dedicate our family and our parenting efforts publicly to God enlisting the support and accountability of our church family. We were also able to have several members of Laura's family and mine join us for the occasion. We believe that faith is a personal relationship between each person and God. It is not something that carries over from parent to child automatically. For each of the children, we chose a verse that we felt could be significant for them and that we hope to use as we train them in the truth of God's Word and pray for them as they become older that they would embrace a faith in Jesus Christ for themselves.

For Jackson, we chose Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Sometimes, Jack has the tendency to be a bit timid in new situations. It is our prayer that he will be a confident young man in life and in his words and actions for Jesus Christ.

For Emily, we chose Colossians 3:12 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.” This verse speaks to some strong character qualities that we desire to nurture in Emily as she moves from our sweet little 2 year old, to a young girl, to a young lady to a woman.

For Tyler, we chose Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This is a verse that Laura and I have both found challenging in our own lives. We hope to use it with Tyler to help him see that God does give us direction for living and help him model his life in this way.

For Allison, we chose 1 Peter 3:4 “But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” Again, this is a verse that speaks to some strong character qualities that we desire to nurture in Allison as well.

For Lincoln, we chose Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Lincoln has certainly had an eventful first couple months to his life. We desire that as he grows older, he too will see God as a strong foundation rock and his redeemer.

Pastor Dave trying to convince Jack to come hang out with him.

Emily praying with Pastor Dave

Jack praying with Pastor Dave

The best picture we have of all 7 of us.

Jack helped when Emily lost her shoes. He just piled them on top of the babies for mommy.

Touring the Hospital with Lincoln

2010-06-01T18:48:00.001-04:00

Today, Lincoln and I went down to see some of his old friends at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and make some new ones. Lincoln did really, really well during the drive down and back and during all the different visits with doctors and their medical teams. He didn't like when the rush hour traffic slowed to a crawl and yelled at a few of the drivers. This was helpful as it allowed me to save my voice for negotiating with the doctors.

The purpose of our visit was to have an initial visit/consult with the surgeon who would be doing the surgery on Lincoln's hernias. In spite of the heavy traffic and 1 hr 45 minute ride to get there and a very poopy diaper upon arrival, we were still 15 minutes early for our 10:15 appointment. This allowed us to be seen by the doctor around 11:00. :)

Both of the surgeons who looked at Lincoln confirmed the previous diagnosis and the need for surgery. His situation is not currently "emergent" so they are able to schedule him and get everything prepped first. They scheduled him for the first available date, which is Wednesday, June 9. They were concerned that Lincoln had not yet seen his cardiologist since being discharged. A few phone calls, a few more diaper changes, a stop at the surgery preregistration spot and Lincoln and I finally just walked into the cardiology unit to make our case.

After several more phone calls, faxes, waits, a feeding, and another diaper change the cardiologist who was seeing patients today decided that Lincoln could also be seen. He had a short check and a long echo cardiogram which they said showed that his heart still looks good. They gave us a letter/note saying he was good from their standpoint and cleared for the surgery and general anesthesia for next week. We hiked back to the other side of the hospital again to drop this letter off back at the general surgeon's office (after making a copy for ourselves) and then headed back home. While Lincoln will still need to see his cardiologist at some point in the next 2-4 weeks, it is my understanding at this time, that he is all set to go for his surgery a week from tomorrow. Lincoln will have to stay for at least one night after the surgery due to his age, size and heart issues to make sure he is recovering well and the anesthesia is worn off.

Thanks for your encouragement, gifts and prayers. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family surrounding us to help make this stage of our life something that is wonderful. I will post more on that, our family events from this past weekend and some reflections on our first two months in the week ahead.

JH

Lincoln Second Surgery Update

2010-05-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

As previously noted, Lincoln will be needing a second surgery to address a double hernia.
Initially, we thought that this Tuesday he would be having the actual surgery. We found out Friday, that this is just the initial consultation with the surgeon and that based on that we will find out what the next step and time frame is for him. This is good and also frustrating. It is good, because we had several unanswered questions related to the surgery and if there was any concern from Lincoln's previous heart surgery for this one. It is frustrating, because we thought Lincoln would be having this addressed so he could have some relief.

We will provide an update as we have time Tuesday or Wednesday after talking to the surgeon.

This morning, we are packing everyone up for our first trip to church with the entire crew. I'll post more on that later.

Great Grandmom Visit

2010-05-28T08:27:00.000-04:00

Great Grandma Laura headed back to Minnesota yesterday. It was great to have her visit for a little over a week. This is Laura's grandmom. It has been pretty neat that she has been able to visit with each of our children after they were born and now spend some time with the triplets also. She told me her great-grandchild count is now up to 25.

We were able to carve out a little time one night for her and I to beat Laura and her mom in a game or two of cribbage.

Here are a few pictures from her visit.

Thursday Thoughts on a 1st Century Happy Meal

2010-05-27T06:17:00.000-04:00

The title of my blog is "Faith-Family-Friends." You can read more about the origins of that title in one of my original posts. Recently, for obvious reasons, my posts have tended more towards the Family side of things. I thought today I'd share a short thought from one of the most famous miracles of Christ.

In John 6:1-14 we have recorded the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 when He miraculously turned a young boys 1st century Happy Meal (5 small pieces of bread and 2 small fish) into enough food for a huge crowd to eat and have plenty left over. Let me give you three considerations to reflect on from this story. A consideration about the crowd, one about his disciples and one about the young boy.

1) Jesus will meet the needs of His followers (often with more than enough)

In the middle of what was a short time of respite in the middle of a very busy schedule, Jesus took time to care for the physical needs of this crowd. In doing so He demonstrated Himself again as God over all creation and cared for many people in a very personal way.

2) Jesus calls his followers to obedience

Before Jesus created the extra food, he talked with His disciples. I love the interaction he had with Philip.
Jesus "Philip, what are we going to do about getting food for all these people?"
Philip (somehow ignoring the fact that He was standing beside the Son of God) "umm, well, let me add it up. If we bought everybody just a little bite or two it might hold them over. That would cost, well, actually even that would cost way more than we have on hand."
Isn't that how we often are? When faced with a challenge or deep need, instead of turning to the One who can supply our every need, we begin doing mental math to figure out how to take care of it ourselves or to decide if it is even feasible or not.

After this short exchange, Jesus tells His disciples to have the people sit down. This seems to be a call for obedience from them. I imagine Philip was probably thinking "what? sit down? don't you mean send them all home?" Often Jesus calls us to obedience before we can see the way that He will be working.

3) Jesus finds joy in letting us be a part of His work

When I think about this little boy with his small lunch, it becomes obvious to me that Jesus did not really need this food for the miracle. If He created the entire universe from nothing, surely He could whip up a few thousand lunches without a small serving to begin with. For His reasons though, Jesus used this young boys lunch and he became a part of one of the largest miracles recorded for us. (and the only one recorded in all four Gospels) In this same way, Jesus finds joy in using us in the lives of others.

He is the all-powerful God, yet He has chosen to use us in His unique way to further His kingdom. That is a pretty humbling thought.

Spa Suggestions?

2010-05-25T20:41:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much to each of you who have participated in Laura's Online Shower. The notes of encouragement have been wonderful. Thank you also to those of you who gave towards her Spa Day away. She is excited about this chance to recharge and refresh. In telling her about the plan and that several of you have shared to make this happen for her, I found out that this will be the first time Laura has really been to a Spa. (I'll take the blame for that one) Anyway, since she does not already have a favorite spa and I am not a Spa expert, I am taking suggestions for a place that your may recommend. Something withing a half hour of our home would be good. That does eliminate the Philadelphia options. If you can recommend one, or know one that would give a special deal or discount to a mother of triplets let me know.

7 Week Pictures

2010-05-25T01:49:00.000-04:00

We paused on Monday to get a couple of pictures of each of the triplets with one of their gifts from the shower. Borrowed the idea from JM to use this stuffed Big Bird to show their growth over the coming months.

Allison

Tyler

Lincoln

Lincoln's Next Adventure

2010-05-24T14:13:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like Lincoln will be making another trip down to St. Christopher's. On Saturday afternoon, we took him in to the doctor to get checked out and it turns out he has a double inguinal hernia. This apparently occurs in about 5% of infants with boys and premature babies being the most likely to have it.
You can read about the medical aspects here. -->babycenter.com<--
Lincoln will need a surgery to have this repaired and we will most likely be going back to St. Christopher's to have this done. There are several doctors, doctor's offices and hospitals that have to communicate together before we get details on time frames for when the surgery would be done and how long Lincoln would be expected to be staying at the hospital. In some instances, this can be an outpatient surgery. With Lincoln's heart issue and general prematurity, we do not know yet if that will be the case for him, or if he will need to stay for a day or two after the surgery.

Lincoln has been gaining weight and eating well. As of Saturday he is 5 lbs and 14 oz. Allison and Tyler have not been measured in a little over a week, but they had both been bigger than Lincoln at the previous weigh-ins, so I am pretty confident they are both just over 6 lbs now.

A lot has happened in the last 7 weeks since these wonderful babies where added to our family. God continues to be our strength and daily encouragement. I will share more about Lincoln's next steps over the coming days as we receive more information.

Here is a picture of Lincoln from this morning.

The Triplets make a Surprise Appearance at the Baby Shower

2010-05-22T10:50:00.002-04:00

This morning, the triplets made a surprise appearance at the Baby Shower at church. Laura and I had decided a couple days ago that I would bring them over after their mid-morning feeding to say hi to everyone. It is great to have Great Grandma Laura and Grandma R here to help with the travel arrangements. Jack and Emily are a big help also. I will post pictures later this afternoon.

Laura and the babies have a special message for those participating in her online shower today (details here) on the facebook event page. (found here) Check the photos and video links there for updates throughout the day.

Drink Reviews Part 2 - "Iced Tea"

2010-05-20T23:52:00.001-04:00

Since so many of you found my Mt. Dew review so helpful, I decided to proceed with the second installment of my drink reviews. This essay focuses on my ratings of Iced Tea. I will use a scale of 0-10 to identify the different teas that I have personally come across. For this system, zero is the worst and ten is the best.

0 - "Dad H's Tea" - This one barely qualifies to be included in the sample. To understand a rating of zero, you must have actually had a glass of this substance. Brewed teabags are the only ingredient, then chilled and served. The best descriptor would be a icy mud flavor.

1 - Tap Water - This also helps establish the murky nature of the previously noted item.

2 - Instant Tea - If you like powder flavored tea with a nasty aftertaste, this one is for you.

3 - Mint Tea - I have recently sampled several different varieties of Mint Tea, each made with actual fresh mint. I have not found any of these especially pleasing. I realize that some others may differ in this particular taste, but I find mint flavor better for my chewing gum than my tea glass.

4 -Sun Tea - Not only is the flavor and temperature of this style of tea usually a bit off, but who really wants to have a dose of bacteria to go along with their tea. (Bacteria in Sun Tea)

5 - McDonald's Sweet Tea - With all the fast food restaurants that offer freshly brewed sweet tea, I thought it necessary to include at least one. I have found the overall consistency and flavor of the "Mickey D's Sweet Tea to be the best of the fast food teas.

6a - Mom R's Tea - This is a mildly sweet tea mixed with frozen lemonade; not bad for a tea with Minnesota roots.
6b - Mildly sweet tea mixed with Orange Juice - I have had this in several locations, but none so refreshing as walking off the 18th green into the clubhouse at Hickory Meadows Golf Course after a 5 hour adventure of climbing through ditches and hiking through trees to helpless hack at a silly round ball.

7 - Mom H's Sweet Tea - This Tea is still available for special occasions when traveling to small town NC. A strongly brewed tea, mixed with a fair amount of sugar and the local water supply give it a great taste.

8 - Turkey Hill Flavored Teas - In the midst of all these specialty and personal recipes, I realize that it may seem odd to include a regional brand that is available anywhere from gas stations to grocery stores this high in the list. However, Turkey Hill has done an incredible job of not just getting one flavor right, but several. They continue to come out with new flavors while maintaining the classics (Orange Tea and Blueberry Oolong) that make this brand one of the best.

9 - Mom H's "Original" Sweet Tea - Now I realize that a similar tea was mentioned in the number seven slot. I have it on good authority, however, that over the past few decades the original recipe has undergone slight revisions that, while subtle, have altered the taste enough to justify two separate listings. The "Original" Version has to rank very near the top of anyone's list who likes a truly Sweet Tea.

10 - Karo Syrup Tea - While I have yet to have this flavor tea, I can only suppose that it would taste perfect. I can only blame the propensity of my Iced Tea choices to tend towards the ultra sweet on my dear mother who (it is said) would actually dip my pacifier in Karo Syrup to quiet my cries.

Have any other teas that you particularly like? Leave a comment to let us know.

Sisters

2010-05-20T21:14:00.001-04:00

Emily has been having a wonderful time getting to know her new sister. She has enjoyed checking on her in the crib, holding her hand and sitting together with us. As Allison has continued to grow and Emily has continued to do well with her, today we let Emily actually hold Allison on her own. They both loved it and had a wonderful time hanging out as sisters for a little bit.

Big Weekend

2010-05-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

Shower Weekend is almost here! I am glad that Great Grandma Laura happened to fly in this week and will be here this weekend to help along with Grandma R while Laura is gone to the shower at church during the morning. For those of you that missed the original post, click here to see details about Laura's online shower that will also be happening this Saturday and ways you can participate. (Laura's Online Shower). I hope to be adding some new posts and perhaps a fun video or two for the Online Shower. I have also heard that a special surprise may be planned for the shower at church. Guess we will have to wait until then to find out what it is.

Along with all that, this is one of our Youth Sundays at church with extra involvement from the Youth Group on Sunday morning and a College/Young Adult event after the evening service. It looks like everything is getting set for that. A special thanks to those that have helped keep things moving and taken various pieces and run with them to make sure things will be ready. It won't be long before I am looking at the Youth Group and seeing my five kids staring back at me. :)
I guess for now we will just work on getting them ready to make their first appearance at church on a Sunday. We are going to try and make it happen on May 30.

"Never Trust a Preemie"

2010-05-18T18:56:00.000-04:00

One of our doctors at St. Christopher's told us that in the NICU one of their sayings is "Never trust a Preemie." For the medical team, this referred to the fact that things could change from moment to moment and that they always had to be prepared to respond to a medical change. Lincoln certainly proved this saying true for us on several occasions.

However, my most recent experience that allows me to also state "Never trust a Preemie" has to do with Tyler. I must first preface the story by explaining that Lincoln, Tyler and I had an understanding. It was an unspoken agreement that during their diaper changes they would wait to fill the next diaper until it was actually on. For those of you unfamiliar with changing little boys, they often like to "let things flow" during the short moment that they have in between a diaper change. Lincoln and Tyler both have done this on several occasions with Laura, nurses and many other helpers, but not with me. You must understand. We had a gentleman's agreement. Wait until the next diaper is on. It was unspoken, but mutually understood; and for six weeks had been rock sold...until last night.
Tyler decided that he did not want to wait and subsequently, I had to get a new t-shirt at 2am. I am quite dissapointed in the young fellow. I had to let him know that such behavior is entirely unacceptable, so I am taking away some privileges. For the next week, he will not be allowed to take the car out after 8pm, visit any of his girlfriends or go on an overnight trip. Wait, I take that last one back.
For now, Lincoln and I still have our agreement in place, but I have a voice in the back of my head saying "Never trust a Preemie."

The "Culprit" in a clean outfit.

Week One - A Numerical Overview

2010-05-17T12:41:00.000-04:00

It has been one week now that we have had everyone at home.
What a week it has been!

168 Feedings
336 Burps
215 Diaper Changes
7 Doctor Visits
13 Helpers in our home
8 Visitors at our home who were drafted to help once they showed up

While we are tired, Laura and I are enjoying having every one at home and look forward to continuing to cherish each new day with our wonderful children.

A Trip to the Park

2010-05-15T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well, we decided to load up the van this evening and see what happened.

After several trips to the van to load 5 children, three monitors, several bags and various other items, we got all the children set and ready to go. A nice moment was when Emily decided this was the day she would begin buckling herself into the car seat. That will be an extra help for sure.

After a stop at everyone's favorite fast food restaurant (Chic-fil-A) for nuggets, fries and milkshakes, we headed over to Exeter Community Park where we enjoyed a shaded picnic and Jack and Emily got to play at the playground. Overall, a very good first attempt at taking everyone out at once.

Mountain Dew

2010-05-15T07:58:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, I am a bit of a Mountain Dew fan. They have recently been running a promotion with three new flavors and allowing you to vote on their website for a favorite that will be the next in the continually growing options of caffeine ingestion. The flavors are Typhoon, Distortion and Whiteout. This morning I was up early due to my odd sleeping schedule of late and took a trip over to Wal-Mart to pick up some bananas and doughnuts. While I was there, I saw four packs of each of the three new flavors for 98 cents each. I decided to have my own taste test and here are the results. (No, I did not drink three cans of Mt. Dew this morning. I already had enjoyed some Chock full o'Nuts coffee with my banana and Dunkin' Donuts jelly filled. This was merely a taste test to see what to go with later.)

Typhoon - This was the one I had highest hopes for. It promised a "Punch of Tropical Dew." It turned out to be a mild tropical punch flavor with only a hint of the original "dew" taste.

Distortion - "Lime Blasted Dew" - This pretty much just tasted like a lime. It was a weird alien green color also. My least favorite. I would only drink this one if it was the last bit of caffeine in the house and I needed an extra boost.

White Out - I did not know what to expect from this one, as it promised a "Smooth Citrus Dew." For some reason, I had always thought original Mt. Dew was citrus. Anyway, this is basically Sprite with caffeine. I guess that is good on two fronts. 1) Coca-cola makes Sprite, and this give Pepsi an offering besides Sierra Mist. 2) I love Sprite, but sometimes it would be good to have caffeine in the Sprite.

Final Rankings
1) White Out
2) Typhoon
3) Distortion

The reality though is that none of these live up to regular Mt. Dew, Diet Mt. Dew or even the red-haired stepchild, Mt. Dew Code Red. My ultimate prediction is that after what I am sure is millions of dollars in promotional expenditures, the company will roll one of these out as the "newest brand chosen by the people;" but it will ultimately be pulled due to lack of sales or at the very least be relegated to a few vending machines on the interstate rest areas much like Mt. Dew LiveWire and Mt. Dew Voltage.
I predict none of these three will ever make it to the esteemed 2 liter soda aisle in your local grocery.

What are your thoughts?

Going for a Walk

2010-05-13T13:26:00.004-04:00

We decided to enjoy the beautiful weather today and take the whole family out for a walk.
The triplets enjoyed their infant triple stroller and Jackson, Emily and cousin David enjoyed testing out the toddler triple stroller. We got to stop by and say hi to a couple of our neighborhood friends as we went along.

On the sleeping front: Night 3 was greatly improved from the first two. Laura and I were actually able to get close to 6 hours of sleep. Let's hope for more nights like that in the next few weeks.

Sleep Deprivation and Daily Strength

2010-05-12T21:42:00.004-04:00

The first two nights of having the triplets with us have come and gone and we are preparing for night three.

Here is a recap of the first two nights.

Night One

10:30pm - midnight - feeding, crying etc
midnight - 12:30 am - Lincoln's monitor going off and could not be fixed, called monitor company, 30 minutes later technician arrived (great service by the way from Superior Oxygen) and replaced what turned out to be a faulty cord.
12:30am - 12:45 am - Jackson came in and told us Emily was hitting him on the head (could not convince him this was just a dream, but did get him back to sleep finally)
12:45-2:30 am - more crying, diaper changing, no sleeping
2:30am - 3:30 am - all three ate, and fell asleep for a bit
3:30am - 7:00 am - sweet 3 and 1/2 hours of sleep for us all

Night Two
10:30 - 11:30 pm - feeding, diapers, put all three down
11:30pm - 12:30 am - crying, readjusting, back rubbing, singing,
12:30 am - 1:00am - Emily woke up crying, took care of her and checked on Jack to realize his juice from dinner had reappeared on his bed. Changed him and his sheets. Back to bed.
1:00am - 3:00 am - all slept (YAY)
3:00am - 3:45am - feeding, diapers, back to sleep
3:45 am - 7:00 am - all slept (YAY)

So Laura and I got about 5 hours of sleep and realize that this is probably the best case scenario for how things can go for the next few weeks.

Laura and I are thankful for the help from ladies during the day that has allowed us both a small nap or two lest we fall over asleep while we are walking around. :p

I have been reminded in several situation of late that God is good and provides for our needs each day. He is the sustainer of life for our little ones and for all eternity. I shared tonight at Youth Group on the frailty of life and the encouragement of the testimony we have seen from PB and his family and also our friends the Gilliams. Follow the link on their name if you want to hear more about how God is sustaining them during their trial and proving Himself true each day.

Gripping the Rock,
Joel and Laura

Everyone is Home!

2010-05-10T13:24:00.004-04:00

Emily, Allison, Laura, Tyler, Joel, Lincoln, Jackson

After just 3 days back at Reading Hospital, Lincoln was ready to join the rest of us at home. It was quite an eventful Mother's Day weekend for Laura. We are rejoicing in having everyone back together 5 weeks to the day that the triplets were born.
As you may notice from the picture, all three of the children are on monitors right now. This checks their breathing and heart rates to make sure everyone is doing ok. It is likely that they will be on these until at least a month past their original due date (June 4th).
Laura and I are getting geared up for the upcoming nights of multiple feedings, diaper changes, rocking and whatever other activity is in store for us. Now that they are all three home, the activity actually picks up even more. They each will go to the pediatrician three times in the first month, each go to the ophthalmologist to make sure their eyes are developing ok, Lincoln will go see the cardiologist, and there are visits from visiting nurses and early intervention care as well. We continue to be grateful each day for God's provision for us and for the individuals who are sharing themselves, their time and their resources with our family.

Online Baby Shower for Laura - May 22

2010-05-09T18:27:00.004-04:00

I would like to invite all Laura's friends who live outside the local area to an "Online Shower" for her on Saturday, May 22.

The ladies of our church are having a baby shower for Laura on Saturday May 22. This was a "surprise" shower that was originally scheduled for the beginning of March. Laura's initial visit to the hospital that led to her month of bed rest preempted the original plan. As you can surmise, this is no longer a surprise. Pretty much any event for our family requires a fair amount of planning at this point (especially if it involves Laura being somewhere without any of the children). Laura is looking forward to this time to catch up with friends at church and it will be good for her to have a morning away as well.

I am hosting an "Online Shower" for her on that same day.

There are two ways you can participate if you are interested.

1) On Saturday, May 22, send her an email, e-card or facebook message. You can share a special Scripture verse with her, a funny story you remember about her (or me) or remind her of a special memory or event from a time that you spent with her.

2) Share a gift with with her towards a special "Spa Day." This will be an entire day (or two) that I arrange for her to be away at a spa, relax without any of the children and enjoy down time. Several of you have asked what things we still need for the babies. Most of the large items have been taken care of and the church shower on May 22 will help with some of the remaining pieces. The biggest thing the triplets need over the coming months is for their mom to have energy and rest. You can give a financial gift towards this specific day for her by contributing via the PayPal/Credit Card link on this page or by sending a check to our home address or to "The Hughes Family" at 926 Philadelphia Ave Birdsboro PA 19508. (This is my work address at church)

Participating via either option 1 or 2 above will be a very special gift for her and I know she will enjoy hearing from each of you that participate in sending a message.

Eat, Sleep, Cry, Repeat

2010-05-08T17:52:00.003-04:00

We have survived two nights with having 2 babies at home. It is a good thing, because the latest news on little Lincoln is that he may join us at home on Monday! His first two days here at Reading have been good and they are laying the groundwork to send him home soon.

Jackson and Emily are doing well with their new siblings. It will be a priority for us to continue giving them attention and care so they can enjoy the new children and not be upset about them joining us.

I will post some additional pictures and videos once everyone is home and I have time to sort through things and put them in a semblance of order.

It will be great to celebrate Mother's Day with Laura tomorrow and rejoice in the many blessing of this past year in our family.

Look for the next post sometime (maybe late) Monday night with what I am hoping will be the elusive picture of all three of the triplets.

Lincoln returns to Reading Hospital

2010-05-07T11:17:00.002-04:00

Lincoln has had a good couple days and this morning was able to be transported back to the hospital here in Reading!

This is wonderful news for us, as now with Tyler and Allison at home, it would have been extremely difficult to visit him in Philadelphia. I think he just decided that he didn't want to share any attention in the NICU and decided to wait until Tyler and Allison left before he was ready to come back from his trip to the city.

Laura will be going over to see him for a little bit this afternoon while I hold things down here with the help of one of our wonderful babysitters.

Last night with 2 at home went pretty good. Thankfully, Jack and Emily slept through the night without any difficulties and Laura and I and we could give our full attention to Tyler and Allison.

Lincoln needs to work on his feeding here in the Reading NICU and then when he is good with that, they will see if he is ready on all other fronts to talk about coming home as well.

Tyler is Home

2010-05-06T18:01:00.003-04:00

Tyler was able to come home this afternoon and rejoin Allison.

Lincoln remains at St. Christopher's in Philadelphia. There is discussion again about possibly transferring him back to Reading. I will share more on this in tomorrow's update.

I stopped by the grocery store and filled the prescription for caffeine.
No, not for the triplets, we already have theirs, this was for me: coffee, Mt. Dew and Pepsi.

Wed May 5 - Allison at home, Tyler may be next

2010-05-05T12:04:00.005-04:00

Allison came home yesterday and Tyler may come home as early as tomorrow.

Find me on facebook if you want to see more pictures.

Lincoln is still hanging out in Philadelphia. He is doing pretty well, but they continue to watch him to see how he is. The tests from the last few days since he had the low temperature have not indicated anything significant. He has begun eating more from a bottle, which has caused him to lose a little weight due to the extra exertion. He is still currently the largest of the three at 5 lbs 2 oz.

Allison is Home

2010-05-04T18:35:00.002-04:00

We were able to bring Allison home today. She is currently resting quietly in her crib.
I should have some pictures by tomorrow and will try to post them then.

Tyler may be home soon as well if he continues progressing as he is.
Lincoln is still hanging out in Philadelphia for a little while longer.

Sorry for the short post.

Tuesday May 4 morning status report

2010-05-04T09:40:00.001-04:00

Change in plans - Lincoln will not be returning to Reading today. As they were prepping him to move, his temperature measurement was very low. They were not able to get it to return to normal w/o putting him back in the isolet under the warmer. They will have to keep him a little more to find out what is going on.

Allison is still on schedule to go home today. Probably early afternoon before we get all the paperwork and final items done so that we can head out.

Moving Day on Tuesday

2010-05-03T16:09:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow will be a day of movement!

Allison will be coming home with us some time tomorrow morning or early afternoon.

At the same time, Lincoln will be returning from St. Christopher's back to the NICU here in Reading. This is fantastic, especially with the timing of Allison coming home.

Tyler was moved into an open air crib today, so it will not be much longer until he is ready to come home. It could be as early as the end of this week.

Lincoln has had several good days down in Philadelphia and is beginning to eat, so realistically, it may not be long until they are ready to send him home as well.

Let the fun begin!

The Nursery is Ready!

2010-05-02T23:23:00.004-04:00

The nursery is ready! Bring on the babies. :)

While Laura visited with Tyler and Allison tonight after church, I was able to put the finishing touches on the nursery. The room darkening blinds Laura picked out from Target (thanks for the gift cards) are now set up. Here are a few pictures to give you a general idea.

I am sure many of you can see something you gave, loaned or helped supply in the nursery. There are many other items tucked away in boxes and closets that still need some organization.
Thanks to each of you!
I made some decent progress on the big storage room in the basement tonight. By the end of this week, it should be looking a lot better and give us some added space to sort through things. For the next 18 years, we will be continually sorting, rearranging and clearing out to make room for the next years worth of clothes. Having the large amount of storage space in our basement and garage is a huge blessing.

It was wonderful to be back at church today and for Laura to be able to be there with me. With Allison scheduled to be coming home and others to hopefully follow in the weeks to come, it may be a little while before we can pull that off again. Allison will be on a monitor when she comes home and will likely be restricted in her travel until after this phase is complete. It will not be surprising for Tyler and Lincoln to have to do the same. The monitor will be used for a minimum of one month and will keep tabs on the triplets heart rates for apnea spells.

Tomorrow, Laura and I go for our final round of CPR training, monitor training and will spend the night at the hospital in a family room with Allison before bringing her home on Tuesday.

Preparing to bring Allison Home

2010-04-30T14:33:00.003-04:00

The news for today is that Allison has been doing so well that the medical team is ready to begin preparations to send her home at the start of next week. She has been eating well on her own and has had the feeding tube in the above picture actually removed now. She does still have occasional apnea events which are common in premature babies. Essentially, she forgets to breathe for a moment and then jumps back in to catch up. Since she is still having these, she will be on a monitor at home for the first month and Laura and I will continue to give her doses of caffeine each day. The next few days will be a flurry of activity for all this, as Laura and I will have CPR training on Saturday, monitor training and learning how to prepare and administer the caffeine on Monday and then spend the night in a family room with her on Monday night as a practice round before bringing her home on Tuesday. There are also car seat checks, discharge paperwork and a number of other items that will quickly fill the days. Then the first few days after she comes home will be filled with visits to the pediatrician and to our home by the home health care nurse. That is the plan at this point. We realize things can change pretty quickly, so we will update posts accordingly as we have opportunity.

While we have not had any specific discussion on a time frame for Tyler coming home, he may not be to far behind.

Lincoln remains in Philadelphia and on the antibiotics to fight off the infection. The current course of treatment will run through Tuesday. If the infection is gone at that point, we will be able to again discuss the possibility of moving him back to Reading Hospital. That would certainly be a big help, especially with Allison now scheduled to be coming home.

Wed - 28th - Triplets Update

2010-04-28T17:00:00.004-04:00

Today has been a good day for the triplets: nice little steps forward and no major changes.
The additional cultures did confirm that Lincoln had the bacterial infection (bacteremia for the medical ones out there.) It is a praise that this did not appear to be an odd strain or develop into full blown sepsis. He is doing well on the antibiotics. I was able to hold him for several extended periods today and he actually took his evening feeding from a bottle for me. This was the first time he has really taken more than a couple sips from the bottle, so that was a nice step forward.

Lincoln 4.28

Tyler and Allison 4.28

Allison and Tyler also continue to progress slowly forward. They both took their full lunch from a bottle for Laura. Tyler is gaining weight a little quicker than Allison. She has been doing more of her feedings from the bottle, which can initially cause her to burn calories quicker as she learns the process.

We received the SS cards for the kids in the mail today, so the tax break is official. :)
I had thought it would be ironic if they were born on April 15, but they were ready to come on the 5th. That works out nice though. We will have a party for them on April 5th each year and then Laura and I can have a party on April 15.

Positive initial report for Lincoln

2010-04-27T16:01:00.002-04:00

Laura and I went down to Philly today. The initial cultures came back not showing sepsis, but a common bacteria. This is a good thing on the scope of options. Lincoln has responded well to the treatments and has actually put on a little weight in the last few days. They plan to continue the antibiotics and send another culture to confirm the initial test results. We are thankful for this report.

I plan to be in Philly from Wed-Fri this week to spend some time with Lincoln and make sure we have a clear understanding of where things are for him on a daily basis. There is still some possibility that if he has a series of good days that they could transfer him to the hospital here in Reading on Friday or Monday.

Monday - April 26 - 3 weeks old

2010-04-26T14:45:00.002-04:00

Here are some clips from the triplets third week.
Laura and I will be down in Philadelphia tomorrow and should have more information on how Lincoln is doing and what the next expectations are for him.

We were able to go over to Reading today and help feed Tyler and Allison both a little from their bottles. They are both working on getting to the place that they can take all their feedings without the feeding tubes. They still have a little ways to go, but are doing well.

Complicated Weekend, Lincoln setback and Reality Hitting

2010-04-25T13:39:00.005-04:00

Well, this weekend did not go exactly as I had hoped. We were planning on being back at church today: me for the first time since Easter and Laura for a month plus before that due to her bed rest. Emily, however has come down with something. Friday and Saturday night she woke up around midnight sending the contents of her meals from the day all over the bed. After a short night of sleep from all that, we decided I would stay home with her so that Laura could go into church with Jack at least this week. Once the triplets come home, she will be home again for a while until they are cleared to go out in public. I took Emily into the doctor and got some medicine to hopefully help her begin to feel better.

Lincoln also has experienced a setback in his progression. During one of his feedings on Saturday, his belly grew distended. This was a signal that something was a little off, so they stopped his feedings and are doing some lab work. Some of the lab work has come back, but some takes a couple days. The concern is that he has sepsis, which is an infection. They are treating him with antibiotics and a transfusion of red blood cells while they await the return of the tests. They are also holding off his feedings and giving him breathing support again so that his body doesn't have to work hard in these areas and can focus on fighting the possible infection. This almost definitely will delay his potential return to Reading Hospital, not just because his feedings will not have progressed far enough, but because if it is an infection that will need to be resolved first.

In a conversation with the medical team at Reading this weekend, reality also became a little clearer and more pronounced. As we discussed the stages of development that each of the children need to have and talked about the point when they eventually come home, Laura and I realized that even when they come home from the NICU they may be on monitors and will need continual care. They will also all three likely not come home at the same time, but will be released as they each reach the developmental milestones that dictate their being ready to be discharged.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Laura and me as we seek to balance all these pieces and understand how best to care for each of our 5 children.

Psalm 57:1 "Be merciful to me O God, for my soul trust in you; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge."

Wheeling and Dealing - Triple Strollers

2010-04-24T20:59:00.003-04:00

We are now totally set on Triple Strollers! After finding a infant triple stroller on craigslist about a month ago for $50, (kudos to A.L. for the heads up) I thought that was the best deal of the year. This week, however brought an even better one! I found a used triple peg perego on craigslist for FREE! Laura was able to coordinate picking it up today and Jack and Emily where kind enough to test it out for the triplets in the back yard this afternoon. The infant one will hold their car seats and work well until they can sit on their own. This larger one will work until they are 2+ or just to heavy to be pushed around anymore. Have I mentioned I love craigslist!

Here is the video of Jack and Emily going for a test drive.

Friday Visit with Tyler and Allison (4.23)

2010-04-23T20:19:00.004-04:00

Laura and I were able to visit with Tyler and Allison in Reading this afternoon. They have both begun doing some bottle feeding, but it wears them out pretty good. They need to continue building up strength in this and other areas. Tyler now weighs 4 lbs 6 oz and Allison is 4 lbs 3 oz.

We also had a chance to talk with the medical team in Reading some about the developmental stages and next steps for the triplets.

Apparently, they plan to eventually send all three of these little to come live with us!!! They wanted to make sure the house and everything is going to be ready for them. I was wondering more along the lines of are Laura and I ready for them? I talked to the nurse though, and we decided that they will just take the caffeine drip that has been going to the babies and transfer it to Laura and I on their discharge and we should be fine.

Tyler - wondering who woke him up from his nice nap

Allison - trying to go back to sleep after her afternoon snack

Thursday visit with Lincoln (4.22)

2010-04-22T19:09:00.003-04:00

Laura and I drove down to Philadelphia today to visit with Lincoln. He is doing well and is breathing fully on his own. We were able to speak with both the cardiac and NICU teams. The cardiac group is satisfied with where Lincoln is and pleased with his progress. Now the major medical/developmental step he needs to take to come back to Reading is to advance on his feedings. Currently, Lincoln is getting 22 ml at each feeding and needs to work up to 40 ml at each feeding to be weaned fully of the IV fluids he is also getting. Once this is down the NICU team will feel more comfortable with him being able to handle the stress of the transport back to Reading without digressing from his current levels. The goal if he is continue to advance some each day in his feeding levels would be for this to happen next week. We will just have to wait and see if he is able to continue increasing his intake each day or has to slow down as he did last week.

Tomorrow, Laura and I will be visiting with Tyler and Allison at Reading and I will give an update on the two of them tomorrow night. Jackson and Emily are enjoying being at home and continue having fun with all the different, wonderful babysitters they get to play with.

Bath Time for Tyler

2010-04-21T21:49:00.003-04:00

Laura was able to go over to visit Tyler and Allison here in Reading today, while I hung out with Jack and Emily. Tyler got a bath while she was there.

Apparently he did not find it very fun. He did get a break from having the feeding tube in during the bath, but alas it had to go back so he could eat some more after getting all cleaned up.

Laura and I plan to drive down to Philly for a little time with Lincoln tomorrow.

We were able to go to Youth Group tonight and catch up with all our wonderful friends there. Special thanks to Frank for a great challenge from John 3.

4 Pounds!

2010-04-20T14:46:00.004-04:00

Tyler, Allison and Lincoln have each reached the 4 pound mark today! While there is nothing really significant about that mark medically, it is good to see that they have each now regained their birth weight and added a few more ounces. I was able to spend some time with Lincoln this morning before heading back towards Reading to catch up with the rest of my family.

It was also amazing to see how much has bloomed in the two weeks I have been gone. Our yard is full of color and the enormous tree in our back yard is providing shade for the play area and pretty much the entire back portion of our house and property.

These signs of spring in bloom reminds me of Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus tells us that seeing the birds and the spring flowers can remind us that God takes care of these small details. These are visual reminders of His care and provision for each of our needs as well.

Technical Notes and Contact Information

2010-04-20T14:06:00.002-04:00

Just a brief aside from family updates.

If you want to receive the blog updates via email instead of checking the page each day, you should be able to do that now via the Feedburner link on the side of this page. Please let me know if you experience any difficulty with this option.

If you need my email address, it can be found on this site.
http://www.exeterbiblechurch.org/pages/staff.html

If you need our mailing address, please send me an email at the above address and I will respond individually.

Thank you. Back to the regularly scheduled programming. Pictures and updates later today.

You Are So Beautiful To Me

2010-04-18T18:53:00.004-04:00

Tyler, Allison and Lincoln each continue to make good, slow progress: slow feedings, some help breathing from time to time, slowly growing bigger. Today, I just wanted to share some of the pictures from the last few days in the next video segment.

Click below to play.

Saturday update 4.17

2010-04-17T17:26:00.002-04:00

A good day for each of the triplets.

Lincoln continues to breathe on his own, and has increased his feedings to 6.5 ml. He is now up to 3lb 13 oz and will continue to slowly increase his feedings.

Tyler took a break from feeding yesterday afternoon as his belly was getting a bit full. He has started back today at the 3ml level and will slowly build up again. He has gained a little wait also and is now 3 lb 14 oz.

Allison also had a good day and is getting 9 ml per feeding. She is up to 3 lb 12 oz.

One of the items they have begun working with on Allison is letting her regulate her own temperature at room temperature instead of having the heater keep things warm for her. This is something they hope to begin doing with all three as they continue to progress.

- author note - I have come down with a bit of a cold/virus which is preventing me from visiting the triplets in person right now. Our prayer is that the medicine and rest for me will knock this out and I will be able to get back to visiting in person. Right now, I am staying in contact with the medical teams only over the phone, so as not to spread the bug to our three or anyone else in the hospitals.

4/16 Trip to Philly

2010-04-16T21:16:00.002-04:00

Lincoln had some more visitors today. Our dear friend, Mrs. Barb, drove Laura, Jack and Emily down for a visit. She and Laura where able to spend some time in the NICU with Lincoln who made several steps of progress in the last day. He is completely breathing on his own now, increased his feedings very slightly and is able to be held for short periods of time. Jack, Emily and I played at the Ronald McDonald House and toured the hospital. They are not allowed into the NICU due to their young ages and since I was feeling a little under the weather, I stayed out as well. We were able to peek in through the window and see Lincoln sleeping.

The doctors are all very pleased with the progress Lincoln has made, and there is some discussion of allowing him to go back to our hospital in Reading if he continues to make progress next week. We have been extremely thankful for the care Lincoln has received here in Philly. It would be wonderful if he is able to return to the NICU in Reading and spend some time with Tyler and Allison there before coming home.

Milk, Coffee and Personalities

2010-04-15T12:57:00.006-04:00

Tyler, Allison and Lincoln are all getting to take small amounts of milk. These feedings begin very slowly and as the babies are able to tolerate them, will increase over time. Right now, they are all being fed through feeding tubes. As the amounts grow close to a full feeding, they will begin working on drinking from a bottle. Lincoln is getting 2 milliliters every four hours. To give you an idea of this amount, 5 ml would be about a teaspoon. He is purposefully being kept to a very low amount to make sure his stomach is doing ok. A side effect from the aortic coarctation can be that his stomach did not receive enough blood flow and may be not quite as ready to process the milk. Allison had started some feedings a couple days ago and her stomach was not digesting it fully, so she took a couple days off. She has started back today getting 3 ml at each feeding. Tyler is the big eater right now. He has been progressively increasing and today is getting 20 ml at each feeding. This is about 2/3 of an ounce.

All three of them have gained an ounce or two back after the initial post birth drop in weight. As they are all able to increase their feedings, we will be looking to see them gain weight and move to the 4 then 5 then 6 pound ranges. Right now, they are each close to the 3 lb 11 oz mark.

Each of the three have received caffeine to help them with their energy levels over the past few days. They have each responded well to this and it has helped them with their breathing. Tyler is breathing totally on his own now. Allison and Lincoln are receiving the lowest level of breathing support and are very close to breathing fully on their own.

They are each beginning to show their own personality a little bit also. Tyler loves to look around and see what is going on with everyone else. Allison enjoys relaxing and sucking on her pacifier. Lincoln enjoys sprawling out, throwing his arms up over his head and propping his legs up to get comfortable during his naps.

Tyler

Allison

Lincoln

Grandparent Visits

2010-04-14T17:26:00.005-04:00

Over the past week, Laura and I have been greatly blessed by the support of our family and friends. Whether it has been an in person visit, a phone call, an email or a post, we have deeply appreciated each word of encouragement.

Jack and Emily have been staying at Laura's parents since Tyler, Allison and Lincoln arrived; and Laura has also been able to spend some time there recuperating after being discharged from the hospital. Grandma and Grandpa R have both been able to come visit with each of the new grandchildren in Reading and Philadelphia.

My parents were able to drive up from NC this past weekend. It was great to spend some time with them and they were also able to visit with all three new grandchildren.

Grandma H with Allison

Grandma H with Lincoln

Toni and Ron taking a break from all the driving around.

Having Laura's sister drive in from Ohio for a week and her brother and sister-in-law helping to babysit and come down to St. Christopher's to visit have also been very encouraging and enormously helpful.

A big THANK YOU to everyone for their prayer and support for our family.

Tuesday April 13 - weekend recap and start of week 2

2010-04-13T20:42:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I was able to drive over to Reading. This gave me a chance to spend some time with Laura, visit Tyler and Allison and have some time with Jack and Emily as well. Jack and Emily decided to call the triplets on the "telephone" and I also had a chance to just kick back with them for a couple hours. Today, Tim and Christine came down and where able to see Lincoln and took me out to dinner. It was wonderful to spend some time with them also.

Allison, Tyler and Lincoln all continue to be stable and receive small feedings to help their stomachs begin to develop and be ready to digest larger amounts. Sunday, I was able to hold Tyler and Laura was able to hold both Tyler and Allison today.

I will also be updating the Triplets picture album on Facebook later tonight so you can all look at individual pictures.

Blessings to Share

2010-04-12T18:31:00.002-04:00

I wanted to take a moment today to consider 3 specific blessings from the past week. There are many more to recount, but these three are related.

It is a significant blessing that Laura's doctor was only a few miles from our new home and that his office is actually on the Reading hospital campus, which is also where Emily was born. He is also the same doctor that delivered Emily, giving Laura a familiarity with him and his staff that was helpful in our dozens of visits there. More can be read about the Journey that brought us to this point and the events surrounding the day we found out we were expecting Triplets in previous posts. The primary blessing here is that we had a very skilled, experienced and caring doctor very close by. In addition his office was on site at a large, well equipped hospital that we were already familiar with and that has a strong NICU with experienced doctors, nurses and other caregivers. When we went for Laura's normal Monday morning appointment and she was beginning labor, it was very simple for them to move her quickly upstairs and prepare for the triplets arrival. Last Monday, it was very special to have Laura's doctor ask to pray with us just prior to her going back for the c-section.

The second blessing we can see is the availability of the specific surgical care that Lincoln needed in relatively close proximity to our home. St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is one of the leaders in the Northeast in pediatric heart care. The doctor working in the NICU in Reading on Monday when the triplets where born had actually worked at St. Chris for several years and so was familiar with their NICU and had personally with the highly skilled cardio-thoracic surgeon who would be performing Lincoln's surgery. This personal knowledge and confidence in his skills may seem small, but was a large part of helping Laura and I maintain clear minds and a calmness in the midst of the events that were unfolding. This somewhat close proximity and cooperating relationship between the two hospitals also means that the cardiologists who will be following up with Lincoln in the days, weeks, months and years ahead have offices both in Philadelphia and in Reading and eventually will be able to have most of his visits in Reading, saving us much travel time.

The final organization which has been a wonderful blessing in these past days is the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Now, I have certainly visited McDonald's my fair share over the years, but was never really familiar with the Ronald McDonald Houses. When I came down with Pastor Dave on Tuesday morning to meet the doctors and try to sort through everything, one of the staff at the hospital suggested that I try to get a room there. They said it was often full and when one of them called over for me and a room was available right away, they were a bit surprised. This has proven to be an enormous blessing. Being able to stay here in a very low cost room (literally across a parking lot from the hospital) has given me the opportunity to rest, visit often with Lincoln, and stay connected with his medical teams here to understand the progress he is making and plans they have for him. The free dinners provided by various community groups are wonderful each evening and give me a chance to recharge.

Again, there are many more blessings and praises that are all interrelated, but these three organizations are being used in a unique way in our lives right now. We are deeply thankful for each of them and to God for his watching over us in each step of our journey that has us here now. Laura and I are deeply grateful for the love continuing to be shown us by friends, family and strangers alike. We rest in the knowledge that our God is in control - not just of our current slice of life, but of all eternity.

Monday April 12 - Time to eat

2010-04-12T16:49:00.002-04:00

Tyler, Allison and Lincoln have each begun small feedings of milk through a tube now. For each of them this will be a slow process of building up to a full level of feeding that could take a couple weeks and then the next step after that will be to get them to begin feeding from a bottle. Both steps are distinct and require different development phases for them as premature infants. For Lincoln, this process may go a little slower; as the the medical team wants to make sure the low blood pressure he experienced as part of his aortic coarctation did not impact his stomach's ability to develop and be ready to handle milk.

Tyler has been able to begin breathing on his own with no assistance. Allison and Lincoln continue to receive some breathing assistance from the machines and the goal is that they would be able to be weaned from this in the next few days as well.

Allison and Tyler have both lost some weight, which is somewhat normal. The desire is that they will gain this back and more as they begin feeding. Lincoln has not been weighed recently to my knowledge.

Tomorrow, I hope to have some newer pictures to include with the daily post.

Sunday April 11

2010-04-11T22:15:00.002-04:00

After visiting with Lincoln a little this morning, I was able to drive to Reading to see Laura, Jack and Emily. Laura and I were able to also go over the Reading Hospital to visit Tyler and Allison one more time with my parents while they were still here. During this time, I was able to hold Tyler for the first time for about 30 minutes. That was great! :) Allison and Tyler have also both began taking a little milk through a feeding tube. Slowly increasing the amount and frequency of this for them is something that will be worked on in the coming weeks.

I got back to Philadelphia tonight and checked in on Lincoln. He was able to move back to the NICU today and if we are able to connect with the doctors after the start of the week assessment tomorrow morning, hopefully I can share a more detailed report of how he is doing.

In general, all three of the children had a good day.

Week 1 video

2010-04-10T18:33:00.005-04:00

This video is a short summation of the past 5 days of the life of our family. The two songs accompanying the clips speak to our faith in God and the praise we give to Him.

“We believe” – Steve Green

God created these amazing little ones and they are His. His plans are perfect.

Psalm 18:30 “This God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.”

The faith in this that we believe is truly what gives us strength for living each day and for life eternal. He is our comforter.

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

He is the constant in our lives and will remain so in the days ahead.

“Awesome is the Lord Most High” – Chris Tomlin

“We will praise You together. Our God is Awesome.”

This is the heart cry of Laura and me. Our family belongs to God and we will praise Him during times of joy and times of challenge. We give praise to God.

Friday April 9 11:45pm update (4 Days Old)

2010-04-09T23:48:00.003-04:00

A long day, but pretty uneventful for the little ones compared to the first 3.

My parents got in last night and visited with Lincoln. This morning, I was able to drive over to Reading with them to see Laura, Jack, Emily, Tyler and Allison. It was nice to have dinner there with them. The families that have provided meals from our church both during Laura's time of bed rest and now have been an enormous blessing.

Tyler and Allison are doing well. They continue to have typical premature baby challenges with breathing and are receiving some moderate assistance from the machines and have are also getting small doses of caffeine to help them stay enthused. Lincoln had a pretty uneventful day here in Philly. I stopped back in to see him again tonight. He is still on the breathing tube from his surgery. They will see if over the next few days they can wean him off this. He is also receiving small doses of caffeine to keep him motivated at times. I am sure all the coffee fans will be glad to hear you apparently will have three more converts to your team.

Lincoln Pictures from 4/8 and diagram of the surgery

2010-04-08T15:35:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Lincoln from today after his surgery.

Dr. Stevens who worked on the surgical team with Dr. Moulick drew these pictures for us to show the area of the aorta being operated on. The first shows the narrowing arch and the very narrow section just above the section labeled PDA. The PDA is the portion that is there just to function during the infant's time in the womb. The medical team had administered some medicine the last few days to help keep that open until the surgery.

This second drawing shows how they removed the narrow are and brought up the lower portion of the aorta to connect in up higher.

Lincoln Surgery Report is Good! Also an update on Tyler, Allison and Laura- Thursday April 8 12:30 pm

2010-04-08T12:29:00.006-04:00

Dr. Moulik is very pleased with the surgery on Lincoln today. They removed the narrow area and connected the lower portion of the artery in to make a large area for the blood to flow. I will upload a picture later tonight showing a drawing Dr. Stevens did of the before and after of the area the operated on.

They entire medical team is very happy with the results. Lincoln will now be hanging out in the Critical Care Unit instead of the NICU while he continues to recover from the surgery along with just being a small little guy. If they are satisfied over time that the heart is good, they may move him back to the NICU to just continue monitoring him as a preemie.

This is wonderful news and we are praising God for His answered prayers and continuing to rest in His care as we know that there will be recovery and then lifelong care and monitoring of his heart along with knowing that there will continue to be ups and downs over the next weeks/months with each of our three little ones.

Tyler and Allison remain in the NICU at Reading Hospital and are doing well. At times, they receive some machine assistance with their breathing, but this is not unusual for premature babies. Tyler may be able to begin trying to have some milk in the next day or so also.

Laura will likely be going home this afternoon. The current plan is for her to stay at her parents for a little bit with Jack and Emily there also. This will allow her some additional recovery time and also help while I am in Philly as she is not allowed to drive for at least 2 weeks.

My parents are driving up from NC this evening, so we are looking forward to seeing them as well and they are looking forward to meeting Tyler, Allison and Lincoln.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers on our behalf. It is wonderful to have family and friends as well as people we do not even personally know supporting us during these eventful days.

Thursday April 8 - Going into surgery 7:45

2010-04-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

Lincoln just headed in for his heart surgery. This will be around a 3 hour operation taking the majority of the morning. We are trusting in God's sovereignty and grace for Lincoln and praying for Dr. Moulick and his team this morning as he performs the delicate work.

April 7 9:30pm MRI report

2010-04-07T21:36:00.002-04:00

The initial report from the radiologist tonight is that there is no brain bleed. It appears from the MRI to just be an asymmetrical development of the two ventricles. This basically means that one is just larger than the other in the way he is designed. This is the optimal scenario from the options and a praise as the cardiologist confirms that they will proceed with the heart surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30am.

Triplets Arrival and First few days April 5-7

2010-04-07T17:30:00.005-04:00

I have decided to return to this blog to help with all the updates for Tyler, Allison and Lincoln.
This first post will consist of cutting and pasting my status updates from Facebook over the past few days. I will then be updating this site moving forward which I can then link to Facebook. Hopefully this will help those of you who are still holding out on Facebook to keep up with things by just checking here for recent news.

Postings from Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Babies are here! Tyler Michael, Allison Joy, and Lincoln Christopher.

Tyler Michael is 3 lb 15 oz and 17.25 inches. Allison Joy is 3lb 13 oz and 17 inches. Lincoln Christopher is 3 lb 11 oz and 16.25 inches.

Lincoln is being transferred to St. Christophers in Philadelphia. He needs heart surgery to repair a artery in his heart that is too narrow. At this point, they plan to monitor and test things tonight and the surgeon should be looking at him in the morning.

Mon at 8:54pm

Tuesday April 6 12:20 pm update. Lincoln was transferred to St. Christophers Hospital for Children in Philadelphia last night. I met with the doctors and surgeon here this morning. They have scheduled him for heart surgery tomorrow (Wed) afternoon. The surgery will take several hours and be the majority of the afternoon. They are waiting until then to give him time to be ready and have all the tests and scans performed and to give them time to observe him and make sure they have all the pieces of the puzzle accessed. I am staying at the Ronald McDonald house directly beside the hospital and will be here for at least the next couple days. It is a huge blessing that there was a room available as they are usually full. I will update more later as we have further information.

I wanted to let you all know that the triplets arrived on Monday, April 5th just after 12:30 in the afternoon!
Tyler Michael is 3 lb 15 oz and 17.25 inches. Allison Joy is 3lb 13 oz and 17 inches. Lincoln Christopher is 3 lb 11 oz and 16.25 inches.
They were born at Reading Memorial Hospital and Tyler and Allison are there in the NICU. On a whole, they are currently doing well for babies being born at 31 ½ weeks. They are hooked up to lots of monitors and support systems that keep track of things and help them breathe and get enough oxygen as their lungs continue to develop.

Lincoln was born with an aortic coarctation which essentially means that one portion of his aorta is smaller than normal and restricting blood flow. This is a condition that requires open heart surgery in infants.
He was transferred to St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia just before midnight on Monday night and I am down there with him now. They are preparing him for surgery and it is currently scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and will last several hours.

A medical definition can be found about the condition here http://dictionary.webmd.com/terms/aortic-coarctation
and a somewhat easier to read article can be found here http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/cardiac/ca.html

Laura did great and is recovering currently at Reading Hospital. She has been able to spend some time in the NICU with Tyler and Allison there and also got to see Lincoln off before his trip to Philly.

Luke 12:7 tells us that God knows the smallest details about us and has great care and love for us. Laura and I are resting in His love and the knowledge that He has plans for each of our children and for us.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Jack and Emily are spending some time with their grandparents while all the excitement is going on. I will continue to provide updates on my Facebook page. If you want to friend request me so you can stay up to date on the daily progress you should be able to find me by searching this email address – jhughes@exeterbiblechurch.

org.

Wed Apr 7 - 8:30 am update- I was able to speak with both surgeons Dr. Stevens and Dr. Moulick along with the anesthesiologist this morning. Dr. Moulick is the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery here at the hospital and will be performing the surgery himself. They currently plan to begin around 1:00pm today and that the surgery will be several hours in length. Thank you for your continued encouragements and prayers.

2:30 pm update Lincoln's surgery has been postponed until Thursday morning at 7:30. The morning surgery today on another patient was a more complicated case that has gone long and will not be completed until around 5:00pm. With Lincoln remaining stable at this point, the Doctors feel it will be better to have him hang out and be first on the docket for the morning.

4/7 5:00pm update on Lincoln - spoke to Dr. Frost the neonatologist In preparation for the surgery on Lincoln’s heart he was scheduled for today, the medical team had run multiple scans to have a overall picture of his body. The ultrasound of his brain came back with some unclear results around 10 this morning, so they re-ran the test this afternoon and just received those results.

There is an area in question on the left ventricle and choroid plexus of his brain and if there is a intraventricular hemorrhage (concern is that it may be a grade 3 out of 4). The left ventricle is larger than the left which may just be his design or may be a sign of fluid or blood on the brain. A closely related concern is if there is bleeding in the choroid plexus. To give them a clearer picture, they will be taking Lincoln for a brain MRI at 7:00pm tonight. The results of this will have to be discussed between the brain team and the heart team to decide if they are able to proceed with his heart surgery as scheduled tomorrow morning or need to wait. I hope to have these results very late tonight and will let you know how this impacts the potential surgery for tomorrow morning.

Please Stand By

2010-01-14T15:43:00.002-05:00

I have come to a conclusion recently. There is no way I am going to be able to maintain a blog of any substance at this point in my life. Those of you who have followed my intermittent postings will not find this shocking at all.

We'll try to keep things updated on Facebook for you and that will have to suffice.

JH

Emily

2009-11-07T14:55:00.006-05:00

I decided it was about time Emily got her own post.
It is pretty hard to believe that she will be turning 2 in about a month.
Not that long ago, she was just a tiny little thing.

It did not take long for her to begin learning from her older brother how to explore fun areas in the kitchen and behind curtains when Mom and Dad were not looking. She also seems to enjoy posing for pictures a bit more as well. This one was near her 1st birthday last year.

It has during the last 12 months that her personality has really exploded.

Emily is our adventuresome one. While Jack likes to climb and jump there is a limit for him at some points when he decides he has had enough excitement or does not want to try something new. Emily will try everything Jack is doing and then some. She loves the bouncy houses at fairs, will jump and climb off everything Jack does and has recently taken to going for horseback rides double-decker style.

We enjoy Emily a lot and love the things that make her unique and special. She will always have some special connections to both Laura and me as she grows up.

She is the oldest daughter in the family = Laura.

She is the second child in the family = Joel.

So there you go Emily. Your own blog post.

Oh yes, she wants me to remind everyone that just because her birthday is in December does not mean that you can buy her one gift and call it a birthday and Christmas present; even if it comes in a cute red box.

Triplets!!!

2009-10-25T14:14:00.007-04:00

One week ago today, my wife and I were enjoying a very nice, peaceful Sunday. It was the start of missions conference, I had just finished my first week as the new Youth Director at Exeter Bible Church and we found out in mid-afternoon that our offer had been accepted on a home in the area. A nice Sunday, after what had been a very busy, but exciting week. We even spent a nice amount of time that evening discussing the layout of our potential home and how we could use some of the ample space. We were also excited as we prepared to tell our families later in the week about the news that Laura was expecting and Jack and Emily would have a little brother or sister joining them sometime in late spring.

The next morning, I headed out to work and our babysitter came by to watch Jack and Emily as Laura was headed to her first appointment at the OB. I did not even think to come along as this all seemed rather routine being our third time around. My rather quiet morning of study was interrupted by Laura's arrival in my office with news that I am still digesting. She showed me the pictures from her visit and proceeded to let me know that Jack and Emily would be having not one, but THREE new siblings. For her story of the events, check out her note.

We are both quite excited about this, and I am sure will be trying to wrap our minds around it for years to come. I have had a great time telling the story and seeing the surprised reactions from people and their initial comments. Here are some of my favorites.

"You are joking!" - all our relatives seemed to say this first. I don't understand, why does everyone seem to think we would be playing a joke on them. :)

"WOW!" - often followed by "Oh, My!" and a quiet stare of disbelief for several minutes.

"Congratulations! I am so happy... for you." - I find this one pretty humorous and understandable.

"I came in at the end of your story, but missed the punchline. It sounded like you said you were having triplets."

"That story you told us the other day, that was a joke right?"

As I have reflected over this last week on this new event that dwarfs the other changes going on in our lives, I have been reminded of some truths from Scripture. The Wednesday before we found this out, I had challenged the youth group from Proverbs 3 and encouraged them that as we seek God and follow his direction, that He will guide our steps down the paths He has for us. While the path may not appear straight in our sight, it is progressing toward the goal He has for us.

The timing of the events of the past few months is clearly of God.

Our almost 7 years of school and preparation for full time ministry in a church, including the last year during which we talked to ministries literally across the country, culminated with us ending up within 10 miles of Laura's hometown and family in PA. The timing of us finding out about the triplets after we had already made the step into a ministry role and not while I was still working at the bank, the timing of us deciding to move forward on a large home (not knowing that it was a good thing it was so large), the location of the ministry geographically to not just Laura's family, but an extended network of friends and churches that we have ministered in and with over the last 7 years, the fact that Laura will be able to have the same doctor and we will be at the same hospital where Emily was delivered, avoiding the newness of a different doctor and hospital: these pieces and others demonstrate to me God's faithfulness in working out our steps.

I am also reminded of Romans 8:28 where Scripture tells us that God works out all things for those who love Him. Often we quote that verse when to us things seem to be going poorly, or we are facing a hardship. While we certainly should claim that truth in times of difficulty, we can also rejoice in it during times of blessing. We know that the Almighty Creator is working out the details of our lives as we daily seek to love and serve Him more. While the next several months (years) will certainly be busy and full and as we commit the health of Laura and these three tiny children to Him, we know that during times of joy and times of hardship, our Sovereign God still reigns.

The Lord Be Exalted.

Joel

Breaking News

2009-10-22T20:26:00.003-04:00

We found out this week that Laura and I are expecting triplets!!!

I will have to write some of my thoughts on this exciting blessing once my brain slows down.

Maybe next week, I'll put together a decent post.

Hit by a truck

2009-10-08T15:28:00.005-04:00

If you have ever heard the phrase
"I slept so hard I felt like I had been hit by a truck"
this one is for you.

This was how we found Jack at the end of his quiet/nap time today.

Any ideas on how someone falls asleep with a truck on their head?

Camping

2009-09-27T13:17:00.007-04:00

I took my 3 and 1/2 year old son, Jackson, camping last night.

Let me first say, I am quite thankful for modern meteorological capabilities.

The plan was to camp in the backyard of Grandma and Grandpa's House with Laura and little sister Emily enjoying the indoors.

The local radar, however, suggested that a bit of rain may be on the way, so we went to plan "B."

B for Basement.

We set the tent up there and had a grand time down there while staying warm and dry.

I think this may be my favored location for camping going forward, so if you live in an exotic location and don't mind a couple guys crashing in your basement or spare room, let me know and we may stop by.

I learned a few things (other than staying indoors is good on a very rainy night)

on the camping trip.

- I learned that my tent was not as big as I remembered it being.

- I learned that my son likes to pull all the sheets to his side of the mattress.

- I learned that my son talks in his sleep (along with producing some other noises).

- For all you parents out there: I learned that a good bedtime routine still works even in odd locations.

- I learned that if I go to sleep at 8:30pm with my son, that I will be wide awake at 2:00am.

Next Time, we will try again for an outside adventure.

P.S. - Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the free camping site. :)

The Journey

2009-09-18T17:44:00.016-04:00

The journey that began over 20 years ago has reached its next milestone.

During my final years of college, I found my career goal of being a financially prosperous businessman being challenged during my time of Bible study and prayer. Over the course of time, I found God changing the desire of my heart from quick riches to serving Him fully in all aspects of my life: including my chosen profession.

After college, I had the opportunity to serve as the Athletic Director and teach at a Christian school in North Carolina. It was during this time that Laura and I were married. Soon thereafter we moved to Pennsylvania and it was not long before I began work on a Masters degree at Calvary Baptist Seminary.

During the time I was working on my degree, we had opportunities to serve in several different churches, saw children added to our family and I had the privilege to work at TD Bank (previously Commerce Bank). Working at the bank was a tremendous opportunity for me and I worked with a lot of great people, many of whom became dear friends.

One of my favorite things during this time was seeing and helping others grow.

When I worked in the branches it was great to see people grow in their skills and responsibilities and take advantage of new opportunities. After moving into the training department, as I met employees just starting out and those who were advancing in their careers, I loved seeing people move forward towards their goals.

Throughout this time though, we have been preparing for ministry and it has been my desire to fully be involved in helping others grow, not just in their career, but also in their spiritual journey. I now have the opportunity to do this on a full time basis as part of the staff at Exeter Bible Church outside Reading Pennsylvania. Beginning in mid-October I will be on staff, overseeing the youth programs and assisting in various other capacities. I am excited to be able to begin developing relationships there with the teenagers, their parents and those I will be joining in service.

The desire Laura and I have during this next phase of our journey is to be able to come alongside young people during a time in their life where they are deciding the framework from which to view life and help them take the next step in their spiritual journey.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

10 Years

2009-08-29T00:10:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer, my wife Laura and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. It was almost ten years ago that we went on our first date: Sep 1, 1999. My classic 1988 Chevy Celebrity served as our transportation as I picked up my beautiful date. (No matter that it had also recently transported five or six soccer teammates back from practice.) We headed out for dinner at Carrabbas and three hours later we will were still talking as we headed back to campus amazed at how much time had passed. So began the wonderful journey we have been on together.

Faith - Family - Friends

2009-08-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

The title of this blog is a phrase that hangs on the wall of my living room.

"Faith - Family - Friends"

It is more though, than just a phrase.

These are three core values, overlapping at times,

that impact my life and make up who I am.

In time, I intend to post on each of these topics.

Stay Tuned for more.