The Mack Women - Triplet Girls

MASCCUA.MACK04 (MASCCUA.MACK04@ssw.alcoa.com)
28 Feb 1996 15:24:15 GMT 

     My name is John Mack.  My wife Lisa & I live in upstate New York and are
     the recent parents of TRIPLET GIRLS born @ ~25 weeks (actually the first
     was born @24w6d on Feb.4 and the other 2 were born @25w2d on Feb.7, 1996).
     We are obviously new at this preemie stuff, but learning quickly about SAT
     monitors, respirator settings, etc..  We are anxious to learn as much as we
     can from all sources and would be interested in seeing what "preemie-l" has
     to offer.

     A little of our background:

     My wife & I are in our early 30's and we've been trying to have children
     for about 3 years.  We finally were refered to a fertility specialist and
     were lucky enough to get pregnant on our 1st cycle of Metrodin.  Our last
     visit to the fertility specialist revealed triplets!  He immediately
     refered us to a Parenatoligist - specializing in problem pregnancies.  The
     only problem was that she is in Albany, 4 hours from our home.

     Lisa was having a perfectly normal pregnancy until about 22 weeks, when the
     doctor detected a thinning of her cervix.  After a weekend in the hospital,
     Procartia and bed rest seemed to keep her stable.  She was put on home
     monitoring to look for contractions.  At her next doctor's appointment the
     following week she was slightly dilated and the cervix was thinner.  She
     was put back in the hospital for observation.  We planned on me coming down
     every weekend to visit her, which I did that following weekend - January
     26.

     At 01:00am on Saturday night, January 27, at 23w5d, she began bleeding and
     contracting.  She was rushed to Labor & Delivery and I immediately came in
     from the hotel. She was started on Indocin and Mag Sulfate, which got the
     contractions under control.  She was now dilated 4cm.  Lisa spent the next
     8 days in a hospital bed in Trendelenburg position (head below her hips).
     At 3:00am on Sunday morning, Feb.4, she called the nurse in and said, "I
     feel like if I sneeze I'd have the baby."  She wasn't far from wrong.  She
     was wheeled into an operating room and at 4:50am Mack baby "A", Lauren
     Michele, was born - 1 lb. 6 oz., 13 in.  She was breathing on her own, but
     was intubated to reduce her effort in breathing.  Lisa was kept on the Mag
     Sulfate and we waited around for 3 hours.  The other 2 didn't seem
     interested in coming yet, so they placed a Cercloge in Lisa's cervix and
     we went back to the regular room.

     Things stayed pretty quiet for 3 days.  Lisa was still laying on her head,
     but was getting used to it.  I was beginning to make plans to return home.
     Then around noon on Wednesday, Feb. 7, the water broke on baby "B".  This
     kicked off a round of contractions and bleeding which they couldn't stop.
     We moved back to the operating room and, at 2:10pm, Rachel Elizabeth was
     born - 1 lb. 3 oz., 12 in.  She was breech, but doing well enough that we
     got a quick look and Lisa gave her a kiss on the hand before she was taken
     to the  NICU.

     Again we waited, but this time the bleeding and contractions continued.
     Lisa's blood pressure was dropping and the doctor decided we were going to
     have to go get baby "C".  Lisa had lost too much blood, so a spinal was
     out.  They kicked me out of the room and gave her a general anesthetic.
     At 4:11pm Emily Anne was born by Cesarean - 1 lb. 4 oz, 13 in.  She wasn't
     doing as well as the other two.  She wasn't breathing and her heart had
     stopped during the delivery.  They resuscitated her, but she needed blood,
     which she got within the first 1/2 hour.

     As of this morning (2/28), all 3 are doing pretty well.  Rachel's ductus
     valve has reopened and if the medication doesn't close it in a few days,
     she'll need to have surgery.  Lauren & Emily are eating breast milk every
     few hours and beginning to gain weight.  Despite her rough start, Emily is
     the strongest of the three.  Lisa is living at the Ronald McDonald house
     in Albany and I carry a beeper to be accessible all the time.  We're
     guardedly optimistic at this early stage.

     At this point, I've need help with one problem - Lisa has alot of guilt
     feelings about not being able to carry the girls longer.  She said things
     to me like, "You don't deserve to be put through this."  Has anyone else
     felt this way and what can I do to help her deal with these feelings?

     I've rambled long enough.  Please reply with any suggestions.


     :) John