First Entry---Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blogsite...Schnarr Triplets. This is my first attempt at blogging so please bear with me while I grow accustomed to how exactly this online journaling thing works. I have several friends who have sparked the interest of blogging for me and so I thought I'd try it out and hopefully our families and friends are better able to stay updated with the events occurring in our busy life!

First things first, I'd like to take a moment to get you better acquainted with myself and my family. My name is Kiley Schnarr. My husbands name is Douglas Schnarr. I am a registered nurse and he is a police officer. We have been together since May 1999. We were married on October 25, 2003...what a great day that was!!! On Nov. 1, 2005 we found out that our family would be expanding as we were expecting...little did we know we were expecting three precious gifts from GOD!!! That little piece of knowledge came approx 6 weeks later when we were completely shocked while at our doctor's office during and early ultrasound we heard the words "umm, Kiley...there are three in here". I nearly fell off of the table, crying in complete and utter shock and disbelief...tears of joy none the less but overwhelmed with the fear of all the scary possibilities of a triplet pregnancy. I might add that I worked three years at a well known hospital in Indianapolis, In. in Labor and Delivery/High Risk Maternal Care so I unfortunately knew about all of the scary possibilities that could happen with such a high risk pregnancy. Doug on the other hand really had no clue and I think he was in such shock, all he could do was laugh. I never once had any reservations or regrets with having triplets and I would definitely not change a thing...believe me the doctors sat a down for a long discussion about selective reductioning and they gave me the option as I know they have to but for Doug and I that was NEVER an option. GOD had greater plans for us and though that road seemed scary at times I knew he would carry us through...and he most certainly did! At 13 weeks into my pregnancy, I had a transabdominal cerclage placed...this is a procedure where the Dr. makes an incision through the abdominal wall just like he/she would for a c-sect, providing access to my cervix, and then placing a tight band at the top of the cervix in attempt to prevent preterm dilation/delivery. My recovery was a lot rougher than I had anticipated but oh so worth it!!! At approx. 22 weeks I was placed on bedrest, started on home contraction monitoring and Procardia-an oral tablet used to relax the uterus from contracting. Within the first day, I had contracted too often and the Procardia was not working for me so they started me on a Terbutaline Pump-this is a medicine administered via a pump under the skin--also a smoothe muscle relaxant to decrease and prevent contractions. That worked for a short time but on a Monday...exactly 24+0 weeks pregnant, I was sent to the hospital due to contracting too frequently on the monitor and more importantly I just didn't feel "right". When we arrived to the triage, I was contracting regularly every 3-4 minutes. I was admitted, started on Magnesium sulfate-an IV medication to treat preterm labor (PTL) and Indocin-oral tablet to treat PTL, and given Betamethasone (steroid) injections to rapidly assist with fetal lung maturity. I spent the next eight weeks in the hospital on that regimen all the while usually contracting every 2-12 minutes. The indocin seemed to be my "miracle" drug because when it wore off midweek I would definitely start contracting again every 2-5 minutes. They would have to give me boluses of Mag sulfate and increase the rate frequently. Those eight weeks were very long but very short all at the same time...if that remotely makes sense to anyone. Some days were very long and difficulty and other days just simply flew by. The highlight of my day was to wake up and have someone change over my blocks. We had a block board in my room stating how far along I was so that was very exciting for me to see it go up...all my HARD work paying off! On May 15, 2006 I woke up and really just felt horrible. Not that I can explain to most with accurate detail just how taxing and strenuous gestating three babies is especially once you hit 30 weeks but try to imagine. I could not get up out of bed without assistance first of all, then once I was up I had to sit on the side of the bed for a short period of time just trying to re coop from that little bit of exertion, then it was time to walk to the bathroom (which was the only place I could go but I did not complain!). Those 15 steps seemed like 5 miles. I was absolutely wore out by the time I got back in bed and then I had to attempt to find a comfortable position-HAH! All I can say is Thank Goodness for pillows!!!!! All the while my eyes were all "messed up" because of the Mag Sulfate-it causes blurred and double vision as a normal side effect of the med. But back to the day we delivered. I really felt exceptionally horrible. I could not eat...not just because there was no room for my stomach but also because absolutely everything I ate came right back up. On top of that, I felt like someone was standing on either side of my bed trying to rip my ribcage from me because of all the pressure being placed on it. But most importantly...on May 14, I had noticed that my little ones were not moving around like they normally had. Then on the morning of May 15th, I noticed the same thing and they had always been extremely active prior to this. I informed my doctor and he ordered a biophysical profile (Ultrasound is used to view babies and look for certain things ie. practice breathing, gross and fine motor movement to determine if conditions are safe inside uterus for the babies). He also informed me not to eat until after the results were in. My babies had always passed these tests with a near perfect score even at an earlier age than would be expected. This particular day though, Brooke passed but was extremely close to failing due to lack of gross fetal movement-she just was not moving at all! Due to the change Dr. Sumners decided to go ahead with my c-sect for delivery. Thankfully so as I was informed later that had we not gone when we had...Brooke likely would not be with us!!! Logan Michael was my firstborn at 2:59pm, Brooke Caroline was second at 3:00pm and Chase Douglas was born last at 3:01pm. Logan weighed 3# 6oz, Brooke was 3# 9.5oz and Chase weighed 3# 7oz. They stayed in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for just shy of one month while overcoming issues due to their prematurity ie. regulating their own body temperature, growing, eating and maintaing their heart rate/oxygen saturation prior to us being able to bring them home at approx 4.5#'s. Logan and Brooke joined us at home first on June 9, 2006. Chase had to stay due to failing his carseat study but he was able to come home to us on June 13, 2006. That still put them home one month prior to their actual due date of July 10, 2006. Since the day our little ones have been born...we have been soooooo blessed! Yes, we definitely stay busy and most certainly our lives have changed...without a doubt for the better!!! There is not a day that goes by that I do not look at my three sweet little miracles and smile while thanking GOD for his generosity and keeping them safe and healthy! HE IS GREAT!!!!!! Logan, Brooke, and Chase are now 14 months old and are so much fun. Their personalities really shine right now. Logan is the most serious out of the three and if there is a "shy" one (just for a moment)...it is him. He loves to snuggle and cuddle and he really likes to "figure things out". Brooke is mommy's little social butterfly. She loves people and knows how to work them over with her adorable facial expressions and can speak volumes with her eyes. She is definitely a delicate "girly, girl". And Chase is my very outgoing, "all-in", go-for-it kid. He loves to laugh and have a good time and likes to be a rough and tough boy!