3 Weeks Old!

We had another busy week with the three little amigos! Last Thursday, they got circumcised. It was WAY worse than I expected, and I found out there's an unwritten rule that people don't tell you how bad it's going to be. The boys didn't cry nearly as much as I did at the pediatrician's office. They made up for it at home though. In reality, it wasn't all that bad on them, but I'm still getting over the trauma! We went today for a follow-up and they are all healing very well, so another hurdle crossed.

This appointment was also the guys' 2 week check-up, even though they were almost 3 weeks old at the time. They are getting huge! Here are their current stats:

Luke - 6 lb. 10 oz and 20 inches (up 1 lb. 6 oz. from birth)

Eli- 7 lb. 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches (up 1 lb. 6 oz. from birth)

Zach - 7 lb. 15 oz and 21 inches (up 1 lb. 11 oz. from birth)

Everything else checked out fine - they're perfectly healthy so far!

Friday we took the guys to have blood work done at the lab. Arizona has mandatory blood testing for certain diseases so you have to get this done. We scheduled the appointment for Friday because we thought they had enough trauma on Thursday, but it was remarkably easy. They hardly even woke up when they got stuck on the heel. The lab tech even had to squeeze their little heels to try to get enough blood, and they barely blinked. We were so proud! (It doesn't take much).

Then on Saturday we had a photo session with the boys. We have a great friend from church who is into amateur photography and so we took a bunch of pictures of the little ones in our living room. They turned out really awesome - again, very proud! Here are some of my favorites...

Luke, Eli and Zach - little angels!

Not angelic behavior - can you spot the little faux pas? Oh Zach!

More pics

Hi everyone! Just a quick update... The boys are all doing well. Luke had a dimple in his back that the pediatrician found, and wanted to have checked out, so Mom and I took him to Phoenix Children's Hospital on Thursday. He had a sonogram of his spine and we found out that everything was completely normal and fine. That was not something we were really worried about, but we are relieved that it's OK. Zach has a little bit of a cold - he's stuffed up, but it's nothing to worry about either. He snores like his Dad now! Overall, everyone is fine - the adults are a little sleep deprived, but we're starting to figure out how to give everyone one shift a night off - at least until Mom leaves on Monday. John's Mom will be coming up for the week to help, so we're looking forward to spending time with her too!

Here are some more pictures - enjoy!

Welcome home!

Zach Eli and Luke

Eli and Zach - minutes old

Eli

Luke

Week 2 of Amigos' Life

Hi everyone! Just a quick update on how the amigos are doing. They and we are doing really great! Admittedly, our existence is kind of limited. We mostly eat, sleep, and go to appointments. We wake the boys up every three hours to eat, then they sleep (most of the time) between feedings. We went to the first pediatrician visit last Friday, and that went well. John and I really like the doctor, but the boys are withholding their opinions until next week, when they'll be circumcised :( Hopefully that won't be too traumatic for anyone involved.

We have had lots of visitors, which is really nice. No one can resist the little cuties, and more than John, Mom or I can! So not too much else to say, so I'll get to the fun part - pictures! We've taken like 500 pictures so far, so this is just a sample of some of the cute ones!

Welcome home Amigos!

Boys sleeping - Luke, Eli and Zach

Cute duckie sleep sacks - Luke, Eli and Zach left to right

The boys cheered the Steelers to victory Monday night in their outfits!

One days' worth of bottles!

Amigos have arrived!

They're here!! We are so excited to announce the birth of the three amigos! Here are the vital statistics, in birth order:

Luke Julian Zeneski - born October 30, 7:22 am - 5 pounds 4 ounces, 17-1/2 inches
(Julian is John's and his Dad's middle name)
Elijah Robert Zeneski - born October 30, 7:23 am - 5 pounds 11 ounces, 18-1/2 inches
(Robert is my Dad and Grandfather's first name)
Zachary Joseph Zeneski - born October 30, 7:25 am - 6 pounds 4 ounces, 19 inches
(Joseph is my Dad and John's brother's middle name)

The whole story of their birth is just too much to write about in a blog, especially after all of the excitement of the last week, but I will try to give some details.

On Friday morning, the results of some blood work I had made it necessary for me to have general anesthetic instead of an epidural. This meant that I couldn't be awake for the surgery. Luckily though, the doctors (very graciously and unexpectedly) allowed John to be in the operating room, and he recorded it all. So I was able to see their glorious entrance in the end anyway!

After I recovered, I got to go to our room where John's mom and step dad and my mom were waiting. We got to have two babies with us, Luke and Eli. Zach was having a little trouble breathing, so he was taken for more observation. Eventually he went to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). He didn't have to stay overnight, but he was transferred to a nursery on the same floor as we were on. Eli also got transferred to the nursery, because he wasn't' eating well enough. These are issues that are very common with premature babies, and were not super scary. It was reassuring that they weren't in the NICU, but just in the nursery.

So from the first day, we only had Luke in our room. Because of the rough time I had recovering, I was only able to hang out mostly with him, while John spent a lot of time with Zach and Eli. That was hard, but it was really important that Eli and Zach got round the clock care. The nurses both in the nursery and on the floor where my room was were totally amazing. They are really adept at working with multiples, and just took such great care of us.

We really didn't have any huge issues with either the babies or me - we are truly blessed! Luke, Eli and I were all discharged from the hospital yesterday (Tuesday). We had a good night - they eat every 3 hours. John is the master feeder - he can get these boys to eat better than any of us! So he participated in all of the feedings, and Mom and I each took one off. Today, we picked up Zach! He is doing really great, and now we are all together at home. It's so awesome! To have all three boys home within the week is just amazing - again, we are so blessed!

Alright, so my energy is still low and I can't write much more tonight, but I'll leave you with a taste of all the pictures yet to come!