Stedje Babies are Here!

3 1/2 weeks ago on December 9th, my husband Scott and I welcomed our precious, tiny triplets into this world. It was a day we had anticipated since we saw 3 little peanuts on the ultrasound, only they were 15 weeks early. On December 9th at 12:50 p.m., I was wheeled into the operating room with my sweet husband by my side. We were both terrified not knowing what was in store for us in the next few minutes. I remember him holding my hand and telling me over and over how great I was doing. About 15 minutes later at 1:05 our first son, Jens Brenner was born. He was 1 lb. 10 oz. Our baby girl, Lane Kathryn was born at 1:06. She was 1 lb. 6 oz. Another minute later at 1:07, our second son, Sloan Benson was born. He also weighed in at 1 lb. 6 oz. When I woke up in the recovery room an hour later, I was blessed to find out that all three of my babies had made it through the delivery. I looked over at Scott who was sitting right next to me, and I know I will never forget the look on his face and the way his voice sounded as he was talking about our babies.He was telling me about each one of them, calling them by name, with a huge smile on his face. Right then and there I realized that while we had a long road ahead of us, our lives would become better, richer, fuller with each passing day. Our dream of becoming parents had come true.

It is now January 2nd, and a lot has happened in the past 3 1/2 weeks.We have had our ups and downs in the NICU with each passing hour and day. Our hearts broke when we got the phone call at midnight on December 16th, that our son Jens was having some complications and we needed to come in right away. Scott and I rode the 3 minutes to the hospital in silence as we knew what the phone call meant. Our precious baby boy fought all through the night with his daddy right by his side, and at 6:00 a.m. Jens went to be with the Lord. We were able to hold him for the first time and let him know how much we love him.

As much as we hurt and struggled over the loss of Jens, we knew we had two other babies that needed their mom and dad.

Lane and Sloan are now almost a month old and are progressing every day. We are learning the meaning of "baby steps" and the phrase "two steps forward and one step back". Scott and I spend our days going back and forth to the NICU and the Ronald McDonald house where we are so fortunate enough to get to stay. Lane is now 1 lb. 15 oz. and continues to amaze us everyday. She is a tough little girl! Sloan is now 1 lb. 13 oz. and is fighting an infection, but getting stronger everyday. This blog is for all of our sweet, caring family and friends who have all been extremely supportive. We are blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives.