Machesney Park triplets reunited, reach milestones

Joshua and Kalie Kuhl got to hold all three of their babies at once on Monday for the first time since their birth.

It was part of a week of firsts for the Machesney Park couple’s identical triplet sons — Brodin, Gavin and Trevin — who were born May 20 at Rockford Memorial Hospital after surviving twin-to-twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare and perilous defect that caused them to share blood vessels in the placenta.

“We were able to reunite all three boys again,” Kalie said today. “They just kind of cozied up to each other and went to sleep. My goal is to continue to do that at least once a day, every day.”

Other firsts, the Kuhls said, are that the boys have started smiling in response to voices, they have begun wearing clothes and they have begun to develop distinct personalities.

The boys, who had been kept apart until Monday because they needed special intravenous tubes, are now on twice-daily bottle feedings supplemented with feeding tubes. Their beds’ temperatures have been reduced to condition the infants to maintain body heat, Kalie said today.

“Based on what I’ve seen, Trevin is going to be my laid-back boy, Gavin more of my rough tough kid, and I think Brodin is going to be my entertainer,” Kalie said.

Kalie, who delivered the triplets by Caesarean section, was cleared to drive Tuesday. She visits the boys each morning in Rockford Memorial’s neonatal intensive care unit. Joshua joins her each evening for another visit, a pattern they’ve followed since Kalie was released from the hospital May 23.

Now Kalie is preparing for the boys’ homecoming, although she doesn’t yet know the date. The home nursery is decorated and the cribs are set up. Clothing gifts from family and friends are washed and put away.

Kalie, still building up her strength after 16 weeks’ bed rest during the pregnancy, said she’ll be “flying solo” if just one or two of the boys comes home first. But once all three are home, her mother will come to stay for a week and Joshua plans to take a week of vacation.

“That should help us until we figure out how we can get some sleep, get everybody changed and how you feed everybody when there’s three of them,” she said.

Brodin, Gavin and Trevin can go home when they can eat on their own, maintain their body temperatures and continue to gain weight, Kalie said.

“From everything I’ve been told, the next milestone is home,” she said today. “That’s the nice milestone. That’s the one I’m ready for.”

HealthyRockford.com staff writer Deborah Austin may be reached at 815-987-1352 or at daustin@rrstar.com.