Way OVERDUE!!

Am so sorry for not posting pictures of our triplets for a while. It has been SUPERCRAZY with our triplets. They need our attention all the time. When they do not need us, we grab to eat, drink, sleep, go to bathroom, and shower. No time for anything else!! :-)
Brief update... Sydney, Sebastian and Max continue to do very well. At their last doctor's appointments on April 21st, Sydney weighed at 8lbs, Max weighed at 8lbs 6oz, and Sebastian weighed at 7lbs 10oz. However, after Sebastian's follow-up appointment, he weighed at 8lbs 10oz this recent Tuesday. They all are getting bigger fast!!
Anyway, before I sign off and get some shuteyes, here's some most recent pictures (taken yesterday - Saturday) of them. Enjoy!

Updates for March 22nd - 25th

We once again apologize for the delay in updating the blog but again we've been extremely busy with the triplets and all the grandparents who have been helping us out. We are very thankful for their help!!! We love you ALL!!

Let's see where we left off with the last posting....

Seems our last posting was on March 21st - almost three weeks ago. A lot has happened since then...

Sydney Belle Furman-Sanger was released from the hospital on Sunday, March 22nd. Exactly one month after our triplets' birth. Our first night with Sydney and Max wasn't easy as Max was now accustomed to the environment while it was Sydney's turn to adjust outside of NICU. As expected, the first night was a bit rough and we had very little sleep that night.

The Carolyn Family stopped by for a short time. They were able to bring us our mail and a few things from home. They also helped us take some things back to Phoenix. They were in awe of Max. Sydney was released later that day so they didn't have a chance to meet Sydney and Sebastian. Thanks to them for their generous help! We truly appreciate it. :)

The following morning, Max had his first scheduled doctor appointment. We brought Sydney along and fortunately she was also seen as well. Both were making good progress and looked good.

We took turns to visit Sebastian while he remained in NICU care while one of us stayed back and cared for Sydney and Max at the Ronald McDonald's House. We would bring Sydney and Max to the NICU everyday between 2pm to 4pm when we had the interpreter there.

Sebastian had his PCG (sleep test) on Sunday, March 22nd and apparently based on the results - Sebastian had several "events/episodes" of low heart rate and breathing issues. It was somewhat unexpected as Sebastian had been doing well up to a few days prior. Sebastian was put on caffeine to help with this. As a result of this, Sebastian would either have to remain in NICU for additional 3 to 5 days or he could go home with us with a special machine that would monitor Sebastian's heart rate and breathing. We explored the option of going home with this; however, we came to realize the machine that monitors his heart rate/breathing heavily rely on audio and there weren't any devices that would accomodate Deaf people. This was frustrating as the medical field often fails to consider people of disabilities (deaf, blind, etc.) especially when they continue to design new technical products even today. Anyhow, we decided to play it safe and leave Sebastian in NICU at this time. We had a very difficult time leaving Sebastian in NICU again; however, we didn't feel comfortable being home with the monitoring machine without any "ears" to help us out. At the time, we also weren't sure whether it would work with our baby-crying signal system so we wanted to play it safe.

It wasn't until Tuesday morning when TJ's Dad texted/emailed us saying that he was very eager to see our triplets. He had a few days off and was able to come down to Phoenix for the weekend starting tomorow (Wednesday, March 25th). This worked out for us as we were able to push for Sebastian to be discharged on Wednesday morning and bring him home with the monitoring machine since we would have "ears" at home until at least the 19th of April.

An interesting fact to note - they were released 3 days apart. :-)

Our last night in California was an emotional one for us and our surrogate, Melissa. It's amazing how we have come this far in just one year. We had a nice dinner with her and reminsce the whole wonderful experience. We would not have been able to do this without Melissa! We love you Melissa!! You're a true pioneer and we are truly blessed to have shared this experience with you. Of course we plan to keep in touch with Melissa as she is part of our family!! :)

After 31 days in San Diego, California - we were ready to return home. Our last night and last morning there, it took us a while to pack the van. We barely fit everything in the van as we had to store small things in every single open space we could fit them into. With three baby car seats, two play-pens, our bags of clothes, bags of babies stuff, that we had needed while Max & Sydney were with us, and other things, our van indeed was FULL!

Sebastian Zackary Furman-Sanger was finally released from NICU on March 25th, 2009. We bidded farewell to the staff at Ronald McDonald House, our social worker at the hospital and some nurses at the hospital (including our favorite nurse). It was time say good bye to San Diego, California and begin our journey back home to Phoenix, Arizona. Like a friend put it "Incredible how we came to California just two of us and how we were leaving California as a party of five!" ;-)

The story does not end here. More to come very soon. HUGS to you all!

Furman-Sanger Family

April 9th - brief message

We are still working on recent updates so bear with us. We are lacking time to do everything we need to do especially that we have three babies to take care of. :-) We will post pictures very soon so again, bear with us. I know you all are craving for recent pictures. SOON!!
Love you all,
Furman-Sanger family

A quick FYI

Hello everyone,

Just a quick brief post to let you all know we haven't been wiped off the face of earth. We are still here and have been extremely busy. A lengthy blog post recapping the last few days will be coming you way in a few days.

In short, both Sydney and Sebastian were released this week and we all 5 are now HOME in Phoenix, Arizona. All three are doing well including the parents although we are slightly sleep deprived. As we are busy with our trios, our families are also in town helping us out. As we know many of you are eager to meet the trios and see us, before the "parade of visitors" begins, we need some time to get settled in. We will definetely let you know when we are ready for visitors. Be in touch soon.
HUGS from the 5 of us

March 19 - 21, 2009 updates

Hello everyone! I bet many of you were wondering when the next blog posting would be. As we now have our hand full with Max, visiting Sebastian & Sydney, and have limited internet access, the frequency of our blog posting will be less for now. Only IF we had Wifi access at the Ronald McDonald House, then the blog posting would be more often.

Anyhow to the point of this blog. As of today (Sunday March 22nd), our precious triplets turn one month old! ALREADY! It feels like last week when they just came into our lives. Sigh... how quickly time flies. :-/

As you all know by now Maximillian was released on Thursday March 19th. Max came "home" with us to our room at the R-McD House. We fed him, changed him, rocked him for a bit, and then put him in the bassinet. After a few moment as Max was fast asleep, TJ and I looked at each other and we were like ""Okay now, what do we do?" ;-)

Our first night with Max was not an easy one as Max was fussy. It's a new environment for him compare to the NICU environment he has been accustomed to. It was also hard for us as we kept checking on Max every fifteen minutes and would be watching him like a hawk, worrying, and making sure he was okay. In addition to that, we were uncertain whether the crying signal system we had was working properly as it wasn't always going off when Max cried or fussed. I even wore my hearing aid to help hear Max whenever he cried or became fussy. When the crying system did go off, the bed vibration and siren would scare the sh!t out of me as it is extemely powerful and loud! We certainly didn't get much sleep that night.

Friday - our surrogate M came by to see all five of us. She brought us lunch from Chipotle! Thank you M!!! She couldn't believe at how fast time has gone by and will miss us when we head back to Phoenix. We will miss her as well! TJ and M went to see Sebastian & Sydney while I stayed back with Max.

Our 2nd night with Max was much better than the first night. We weren't as paranoid as we were the previous night. TJ figured out how to get the crying signal system to work and it works better now. Maximillian slept more and was less fussy. We also were able to sleep a bit more than the previous night. One thing to note about Max, his nickname "Mad Max" indeed suits him as Max will become fussy about the little things and will "fight" or become overly active such as become extremely red and pulling his hair or face if he doesn't get what he wants NOW! :-) Regardless, we are truly enjoying our time with Max and are eager for Sebastian and Sydney to join us at "home".

A friend, Resa, from college that we haven't seen in a few years stopped in to meet the babies and had dinner with us at the RMcD House. It was good seeing her.

As for Sebastian & Sydney, they are now over 5 lbs and both continue to improve with their feedings. Sebastian has his PCG (sleep test) on Sunday night. We are approaching their release date which (knock on wood) happens this week provided all goes well. We are very much ready to be home in Phoenix! Hopefully that will happen this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

More updates and pictures will come your way in a few days. HUGS to you all!

The 5 of US!

March 19, 2009 Updates

It's 5:15am as I type this and I have only had two hours of sleep while TJ has had about 3 hours of sleep. Yep, we're sleep deprived already! Nope, Max hasn't been discharged yet! However, last night/this morning has been "officially" the first time we had one of the trio (Maximillian) under our supervision without the nurses' presence. We spent the night and the wee hours of the morning in what they call a Parental Living Unit (PLU) which allow us to take care of Max without any machines or any nurses. One of the purpose of PLU is to help parents become prepared with taking care of their baby/babies prior to their release from the hospital. The only difference is the NICU is across the hall and we can alert the nurse immediately if we need them. We are pleased to say we've survived through the night so this has become our "official" first night without sleep as a parent! :-) We were practically checking on Max every fifteen minutes to make sure he was okay even though we have our crying signal system in place. Guess we're definetely gonna be "overprotective" parents and have more gray hair before we know it!

It's highly likely Max will be released today as the outlook of everything appears to be great. We have a busy day ahead of us as we have CPR class late this morning and will meet with the doctor and the people who coordinate the discharge paperworks this afternoon. So this evening, we will most likely be taking Max "home" with us to the Ronald McDonald's House. And yes we have everything in place in our room for Max. :-)

Meanwhile, Sydney and Sebastian are not yet ready to be released yet. They both are making wonderful process and both had their feeding tube (through their nose) removed. Therefore, that means all feedings are now via bottle. Sebastian has been consistent with his feedings and has started higher intakes of milk. Sydney has improved with her feeding however she lag behind Sebastian. It is hopeful both will be released next week. We hope to know more today when we talk with the doctor. More updates will come your way soon. Stay tuned. I'm gonna try to get a little bit sleep as Max is out from his recent feed. Sleep is now a rare commodity! ;-)

Hugs to you all.

The 5 of us!

March 16, 2009 Update

Today was a good day! All are making wonderful progress with their feedings. Max ate 75 ml of milk earlier! He's sure a hungry boy! :-) Sebastian and Sydney continue to increase their feedings. We were informed that Max would more likely be discharged this week. Don't ask us when as we don't have a definite answer yet. We are excited and nervous at the same time. Guess it's natural, isn't it? :)

We were able to give all three a bath. Soooo cute giving them a bath. Sydney loves loves loves being pampered and didn't cry once. Sebastian - I worry about his bathtime as he's fussy about being "wet". Oy vey! We shall see. Maximillian half-enjoyed his bath today as he was fussy during half of it.

Our representative, Tracy, from the agency (Conceptual Options) where we started the whole surrogacy process came by. She instantly fell in love with them and find them all to be cute and adorable. Don't we all! Heh.

With few days left before one of our trios is released from the hospital and completely under our supervision, we are getting ourselves ready and the van geared up. Also making sure we have everything in place. We know those long night of sleep will be something we no longer will have the luxury of having. Regardless, we are looking forward to our journey of parenthood! ;-)

On a final note - want to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick Day's and be sure to drink and eat GREEN for us! ;-D Hugs to you all.

The 5 of us!