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