The Buchanan triplets, Elsie, left, and Ashton,
right, snooze while Blair, the smallest, snuggles between her
siblings. At their last visit to the doctor, Ashton weighed
9 pounds, 1 ounce, up from her birth weight of 4 pounds, 1 ounce.
Blair weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, up from 3 pounds, 7 ounces,
and Elsie hit the 8-pound, 2-ounce mark, up from 3 pounds, 9
ounces. ‚ Herald photo by Carey King
By Carey King
If you need a "baby fix," call Stevie Buchanan.
Buchanan and her husband, Danny, who live on Sutton Branch,
are the proud parents of three of them.
Triplets Ashton Riley, Blair Dawn and Elsie Pearl were born
July 1 by caesarean section, eight weeks ahead of their Aug.
27 due date.
"It's a shame I can't take them out and show them to everybody,
but I have to keep them home for three months since they're
premature," Buchanan said.
Nevertheless, Buchanan's Sunday school teacher and other fellow
members of Old Savannah Baptist Church have figured out a way
to get their "baby fix" on a regular schedule.
"Someone brings food every other day. And two nights a
week, someone comes from 7 or 8 until 10 or 11 so I can sleep
or go to the store or just have someone new to talk to,"
she said. "And then, sometimes someone will just call and
say they need to stop by to get their 'baby fix.' That's OK,
too."
Buchanan has been blessed with visitors for quite a while. Placed
on bed rest in April, she was not allowed to cook meals or move
around the house.
"All I could do was heat food and go to the bathroom,"
said Buchanan.
After she was sent to Asheville's Mission-St. Joseph Hospital
in May for five weeks of pre-delivery care, Buchanan was allowed
outside only once to sit by the hospital's fish pond.
"It was a long time to wait. I kind of wanted it to end.
But there was only one day where I didn't have someone come
visit me," she said.
While specialists in Asheville had warned her of the dangers
of multiple births – long hospital stays, bed rest, shortening
of the cervix, and pre-term labor – Buchanan said her pregnancy
was relatively mild. While she did experience carpal tunnel
syndrome, sciatic nerve pain in her right leg and high blood
pressure, Buchanan said the problems could have been much worse.
"They'd said I'd probably have gestational diabetes, especially
since the babies aren't identical and there were three separate
placentas. But that didn't happen," said Buchanan.
The triplets, too, are doing exceptionally well.
"They were on oxygen for the first 24 hours after birth,
but they weren't very sick at all. All they had to learn to
do was breathe, suck and swallow," said their proud mama.
While Blair is currently on a sleep apnea monitor to check her
heartbeat, Buchanan recently learned her daughter may only have
had a case of acid reflux.
The triplets stayed in the hospital for five weeks and five
days, during which Buchanan only went home once.
"I came home once to run errands and get my hair cut, but
then I cried the whole night. I had to go back," she said.
Since that night, the longest Buchanan has spent away from the
babies has been three hours, to watch her nieces cheer at a
county-league football game.
For the last part of the babies' hospital stay, Buchanan and
her mother stayed in the Lewis Rathburn Center, a home near
the hospital where family members can live while a loved-one
is hospitalized.
"I'd do one feeding in the morning, then eat lunch, nap,
do another feeding, then eat supper, then do another feeding,
and then go to bed," she said.
Buchanan said that caring for three babies at once can be intense.
In fact, without insurance, the triplets' hospital bills would
have cost the family about $250,000.
While buying three sets of everything can get expensive, Buchanan
said she has been blessed by friends and family who have made
sure she hasn't had to purchase a thing. Mead Johnson Co. provides
free formula as part of its multiple-births program.
"I've been given three gift showers already, and I still
have one left to go," she said.
The triplets are quite a novelty, since as far as Buchanan knows
they are the only set in Jackson County.
"I know that a lady had triplets in the hospital here a
few years ago, but she was not from Jackson County.
And Floyd and Lloyd Green were born as triplets with a brother
Boyd, but he died during delivery, and that was a long time
ago," she said.
Since the Buchanans used in vitro fertilization to get pregnant,
they knew they had a higher chance of having multiple births.
"The specialists took five eggs from me, and three of those
were fertilized. I just knew I could carry babies, so I just
knew all three of them would take," Buchanan said.
While doctors told her that only two of the fertilized eggs
seemed likely to come to full-term, Buchanan said her husband,
Danny, kept saying he knew there would be three. And sure enough,
doctors later found three heartbeats.
Buchanan plans to return to work at the Jackson County Clerk
of Court's Office in November, but she cannot put the triplets
in day care because they were born premature, making them more
susceptible to infections.
"I'm looking for someone who can come to our home to watch
them, someone who is patient and really organized," she
said.
Whoever finally steps up to that task will have to catch up
fast with three growing girls.
At their last visit to the doctor, Ashton weighed 9 pounds,
1 ounce, up from her birth weight of 4 pounds, 1 ounce. Blair
weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, up from 3 pounds, 7 ounces, and
Elsie hit the 8-pound, 2-ounce mark, up from 3 pounds, 9 ounces.
The girls' caretaker will also find three strong personalities
in development.
"All three girls have a boy's name since I have a boy's
name. Ashton and Blair are strong names, and Elsie is an old-timey
man's name. She's named for Danny's grandpa, Elcie Sutton, since
we live on his old home place," said Buchanan.
Buchanan said the triplets' characters are so distinct that
she never has a problem telling them apart.
"Ashton is laid back and requires the least. Blair's all
business – she knows what she wants and when she wants
it," Buchanan said. "Elsie is a little nosy, always
looking around. If she hasn't had a full bottle, she'll be checking
you out."
