Progress!

The Miracles of Modern Medicine

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The past ten days have been rough. It started last Tuesday night with a midnight trip to the ER, a dose of racemic epinephrine, and a round of steroids. Jack had wandered into our room, gasping for breath, a nasty bout of croup with stridor having developed in the few hours since he’d fallen asleep.

By Monday, we’d added a trip to Urgent Care plus four rapid strep tests (all negative, thank goodness!), and one pretty sick mama.

Wednesday brought with it three fevers (and no school), and one sleepless night for Sophie, Mom, and Dad. By Thursday, I’d lost my voice (and pretty much all of my energy), and we rounded out the day with a trip to the pediatrician to rule out strep (again) and an ear infection.

There is still a lot of snot and a lot of coughing in our household, and not a lot of sleep. The fevers keep coming and going, and I don’t think anyone has eaten a square meal in over a week.

BUT (and this is a VERY big but), if coughs, and colds, and fevers, and runny noses, and yes, even a trip to the ER for croup is our worst week…then I cannot help but count us all very lucky.

Our road to parenthood was not an easy one. The before, during, and after of my pregnancy involved a lot of doctors, a lot of medicine, and a lot of hope. The photos below are a constant reminder of how far these little people have come, and the fact that their little bodies are strong enough to fend off these viruses makes me one very grateful mama.

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On the top left there is Henry, still eleven weeks before a baby is supposed to be out in this world on his own, barely two pounds, and working to breathe with a collapsed lung.

And then there’s Jack, working hard just to open his eyes a few days after being born.

And finally Sophie. Rocking her shades from the from her phototherapy treatment for jaundice.

It would be days before we held Henry, weeks before the three of them were reunited with each other, and months before they came home.

So I’ll take the sniffles, the sleepless nights, and the multiple trips to the doctor if it means I get to have these three happy humans in my arms, at home, every night. It was a long time coming, and I am just so very grateful that they are here.

 

And then they were three…

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They had a party with a bubble machine, cupcakes, and all of their friends from school. They aged out of Early Intervention services. Turning three was a big deal.

April 2 · 

When you try to make a surprise birthday breakfast for three kids who regularly request (demand?) pancakes at 5:30AM. BARELY made it.

#cookinginthedark #turnsouttheydontevenlikecinammonrolls#baconforthewin

 

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When they share a birthday but not an opinion. #tripletproblems

 

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A very happy birthday to this adorable, thoughtful, clever little man. Whether he grows up to be a veterinarian, a mad scientist, a teacher, a dancer, or the president of the United States, he will never stop amazing me with all that he can do. Love this little man.

Happy birthday to this sweet, sensitive, and generous little man. Whether he grows up to be a mathematician, a musician, a soccer player, or a cowboy, I know he will find joy in every minute. I am so grateful for his constant love and affection. Love this little man.

A very happy birthday to this spunky, hilarious, snuggly little girl. Whether she grows up to be a soccer player, a princess, a firefighter, a doctor, or a ballerina, I have no doubt this girl is going to make things happen. I’m so lucky to have her light in my life!

Sunday Funday with the Family. An impromptu tire swing date with a friend, discovering the “BIG slide,” a trip to the zoo, bubbles, and Shake Shack. Simply the best.

April 16 · 

Because everything is color coded. Always.

And because the only picture we could get with the three kids was this one.

#theirnewfavoriteholidayiseaster#thisiswhathappenswhenthreepeopleplayeasterbunny #thanksnana#thanksgrammie #easterwithoutchocolate

 

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April 18 · 

You know you’re in for a long night when at 8:48 one of your toddlers is already asking, “Is it time to wake up yet?” And she hasn’t even fallen asleep yet 🤣

April 21 · 

Some days (like yesterday), you’re repeatedly reminded of all the things you haven’t done: there’s no food in the house, the bill you meant to pay last week is still sitting in your purse, the kids have no clean underwear. Literally.

Then other days you shower (that’s a big accomplishment, folks), and make it out the door to the donut shop in the rain with all three kids before work, and you feel like a rockstar. Did I mention Will was out of town?

And then, you go to leave for work and have to come back THREE separate times because you forgot your debit card, your cell phone, and your employee ID. Oh, and you also threw an envelope of cash in the TRASH last night while you were cleaning up, and you’re just lucky someone else thought to look for it before that trash was taken out for the day. At least we all got our donuts…? 😳🍩🍩🍩

 

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Flying Solo

April 24 · 

Guys, I survived 72 hours alone with the triplets. Well, to be fair, I was at work for 8 of those hours, but really it was 75 hours if we’re counting, so…close enough. There were some stressful moments (what to do at 9pm and 11pm and 12am and 2am and 4am when all they want is Daddy and he’s the one thing you can’t provide at the moment?) and some joyous moments (give these kids a few sticks and a pile of mulch, and they are in heaven. They may not be clean, but they’re happy).

And have I mentioned how much they LOVE the subway? We had a subway adventure (yes, I brought three toddlers on the subway by myself, and yes, I’m slightly crazy), and on it, we got LOTS of stares. We got the “Are you crazy?” stares and the “Wait…are those triplets?!” stares, and the “I feel for you” stares, and the “You REALLY shouldn’t have three toddlers on the escalator/sidewalk/subway platform by yourself” stares.

And then, on the ride back, we sat down next to a family with five adults and ONE toddler, and they looked at us and said, “Wow…are they twins?” We get this a lot. “Triplets,” I replied. “OH! Wow! That’s wonderful! You are lucky! You are blessed.” they said. And they were serious. And you know what? We hear that almost every time we are out with the kids. And sure, it’s one out of the sixty comments/stares we get that day (someone actually took a photo of them in the wagon at the bagel store the other day just because she’d “never seen anything like it”), but it happens, without fail. And you know what? It’s 100% true.

Having three kids is EXHAUSTING. And having three toddlers is BEYOND exhausting. Especially three who have decided sleeping is not one of their favorite past times. But we are SO FREAKIN’ LUCKY that this is our family. And I know that. Sometimes I forget it after two hours of bedtime shenanigans, or when one toddler starts off running in the middle of the sidewalk and I have to decide to leave two to chase the third (remind me to tell you about our “Strangers” talk sometime). But when we are all standing on our chairs rocking out to Coldplay at 7am (and in fits of giggles over the “Ah ooooooooooh” part) or when they write their own song with the lyrics, “I love you, Mommy, oh yes I do!!” it pretty much just melts your heart. And with three of them, I’m lucky enough to get thrice the serenades. Love these crazy kids. And now, to bed.

#loveandlight #choosejoy #tripletproblems

 

April 26 · 

We discovered SnapChat. Thanks, Sarah McTurk MacLeod, for the recommendation. You’re right. LOTS of toddler entertainment. And Mom thought it was pretty funny too. Missing our weekend together already (yes, the sleepless/showerless one).

 

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 New York Transit Museum
April 30 · Brooklyn, New York 

Story time on an old subway car!

 

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11 (and a half?) Months

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These babies are 11 (and a half) months already! And they won’t sit still for group photos.

A Day in the Life of Henry, Jack, and Sophie

  • 5:00 to 6:00 am: The trio wakes up, one by one, always in a different order.
  • 5:45 to 6:25: They chat in their cribs while Will and I get ready for the day. Sometimes this takes too long and they fall back to sleep. Oops.
  • 6:30: “Good Morning!” We relocate to the baby jail. I mean, “play area.”
  • 6:30 to 7:00: Diapers changed, babies dressed for the day. Yes, this takes 30 minutes. These guys are wriggly little buggers!
  • 7:00: Morning bottle (7 oz)

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    This is everybody’s preferred bottle position. One-handed for Sophie, completely vertical for H, and laid-back and relaxed for J.

  • 7:15 to 8:15: Play time!
    Because sometimes, even though we have an entire playmat, it feels like the thing to do is pile up on top of one another in one corner.
    Hugs.
    Standing is more fun with three!
  • 8:15 to 8:45: Breakfast in the high chairs (usually waffles and yogurt)
  • 9:00 to 10/10:30: Morning nap. I use the word “nap” loosely here, since a good 30-45 minutes of this is more chatting in the cribs, banging their feet against the walls, or standing up and (sometimes) forgetting how to get back down.
  • 10:30: Play time!
  • 11:30: Lunch in high chairs (avocados, spinach pancakes, lentil soup, meatballs)
  • 12:00 to 1:00: More play time!
  • 1:00: Afternoon bottle (6-7 oz)
  • 1:30 to 3:00: Afternoon nap. Same routine as before. A little bit of napping, a little bit of chatting.
  • 3:00 to 4:50: Playing! Again!
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We love our Treetop Adventure! Good thing it has four sides! Too bad Henry’s already figured out how to knock it over…

  • 4:50: Dinner and milk in high chairs (pasta w/meat sauce, fish, turkey soup w/rice).
  • 5:30: Pajamas on (baths on bath day). This is particularly difficult. It works best in a sneak attack. Change one baby when he or she least expects it. Then, as soon as you think they’ve forgotten, change the next. Repeat.
  • 6:00: Bedtime begins, and it’s difficult to say exactly what it will look like, although it will almost certainly involve some (perhaps a lot) of crying, a song (or two or three), a good amount of whining, a lot of rocking on hands and knees in the crib, and one really fast bolt to the nursery door by two (sometimes one) not-so-stealthy parents.
  • 6:30 to 7:00: Eventually they fall asleep, one by one, and rarely in the same order (although you can probably count on Sophie to be last), and most nights, that’s it! Until it starts again the next morning 🙂

New This Month: 

  • STANDING. Everybody is standing. At their exersaucer, the door to the baby jail, in their cribs, hanging onto our shoulders. It’s pretty much their favorite thing to do. Until Sophie forgets how to get down. But she’s working on that too.
  • See those teeny tiny tops of heads? That’s usually what I see when I leave in the morning.
    And this is what I usually see when I’m in the kitchen. “Hello, Mom? Can I help?”
    Sophie’s friend Emi taught her how to use the walker.

  • ROAMING. They are exploring other parts of the apartment. Time to baby proof!
  • SWINGING. 
Silly Sophie!
Classic Henry!
Jolly Jack!

 

  • NO MORE PREVACID! And, this is the best part, drum roll please….NO MORE REFLUX!
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One of the last times taking their medicine. For posterity 🙂

JACK

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Nicknames: Jack-o, J, Bubba

Weight: 16 lbs something. I forgot to remember at our last doctor’s visit.

Clothing size: We’re finally graduating to 6-9 months, although this little lad still rocks the 3-6 month size too.

New tricks: pulling up to stand, high-fiving with Dad, standing up in his crib, drinking from a straw, taking baths in the big tub

Favorite foods: puffs, pasta with meat sauce, fish sticks!

Least favorite food: raspberries

Favorite toys: Books, ladybug stuffed animal, Tree Top Adventure, snack cups, diapers!

Favorite Pastimes: tackling (hugging) sister Sophie, reading, eating, dancing, singing, climbing all over Mom and Dad.

Sounds: Ba-ba, ma-ma, da-da, ga-ga, and other assorted babbles.

Things we are working on: Jack is our master crawler. He’s also been the first to catch on to standing up one foot at a time. He’s working on using a snack cup (reaching in and pulling out a puff), drinking from a cup, and cruising.

Tooth count: two

Eating: Three meals a day, three bottles a day, and one snack

Sleeping: Two naps a day, and an eleven(ish) hour stretch overnight

HENRY

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Nicknames: H-Man, H, Magoo

Weight: 17 lbs something. We forgot his too.

Clothing size: Same as his brother. Are you surprised?

New tricks: crawling on his hands and knees, pulling up to stand, high-fiving Dad, drinking from a straw, taking baths in the big tub

Favorite foods: It’s hard to narrow down the list, but puffs, meat sauce, and waffles are high on the list. Oh, and broccoli or spinach pancakes. And fish sticks!

Least favorite food: Haven’t found it yet!

Favorite toys: blue peanut ball from Physical Therapy, Cloud B starlight turtle

Favorite Pastimes: eating, bouncing on his ball, taking a bath, climbing up our backs, and looking down our shirts!

Sounds: Ba-ba, ma-ma, da-da, ga-ga, and other assorted babbles.

Things we are working on: Creeping on his hands and knees. When he feels the need for speed, Henry prefers the army crawl. He also only seems to creep on padded surfaces. We are also working on drinking from a cup, using one foot to stand up, and cruising. It’d be nice if he stopped flipping over on the changing table too, but I think we’ll choose our battles.

Tooth Count: two

Eating: Three meals a day, three bottles a day, and one snack

Sleeping: Two naps a day, and an eleven(ish) hour stretch overnight

SOPHIE

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Nicknames: Noodle, Noods, Soph

Weight: 14 pounds, 6.7 ounces

Clothing size: this teeny peanut is still hanging out in her 3-month clothes from Carter’s, but she’s making her way into 3-6 month clothes more and more.

New Tricks: Pulling up to stand, playing Peek-a-Boo, drinking from a straw, taking baths in the big tub

Favorite foods: puffs, yogurt smoothies, waffles, turkey, FISH STICKS!

Favorite toys: foot finders, cell phones (real or fake, although she’d prefer real), mirrors, soccer ball

Favorite past times: standing, singing, dancing, looking in the mirror, playing Peek-a-Boo

Things we are working on: reciprocal crawling. Sophie prefers to reach with her right arm and pull with her left arm, dragging her right leg behind. She’s very efficient, if a bit awkward! We are also working on getting down from standing (I think short arms are a factor here!), eating more finger foods, drinking from a cup (we have a LONG way to go here), and clapping.

Sounds: Ba-ba, ma-ma, da-da, ga-ga, ya-ya, ay-yay and other assorted babbles.

Tooth count: zero! But we’re pretty sure she’s working on something.*

Eating: Three meals a day, three bottles a day, and one snack

Sleeping: Two naps a day, and an eleven(ish) hour stretch overnight

*By the time I posted this, Sophie had cut those two little teeth we were all anticipating. We’re hopeful her adult teeth know something her baby teeth don’t, because these two teeth are DEFINITELY not where they’re supposed to be! Braces times three? Ouch.

Mostly these days there’s a lot of standing up, chatting, laughing, crying, taking each other’s things, roaming around on the floor, chewing on things, and being adorable. Next up? Turning one!

7 Months!

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These silly babies are 7 months old now!

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Big Changes This Month: 

We’re eating solid foods! With a spoon!

We’re rolling around (some more than others).

Some of us are sleeping on our tummies.

We are making A LOT of noise.

We have physical therapy and speech therapy once a week.

We LOVE to play!

JACK:

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Favorite toy: It’s a tie between bunny blankets and burp cloths

Favorite food(s): carrots and bananas 

Favorite pastime: blowing bubbles

Favorite sleeping position: on his side or belly

Milestones reached: Rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back, raises head and chest with straight arms when lying on tummy, reaches for things, plays with toes, brings feet to mouth, makes one syllable sounds like, “ma,” “ah,” “muh,” laughs, grasps small objects.

Most mischievous moment:  Climbing out of his car seat. (While it was stationary, on the floor, in our apartment. Don’t worry.)

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HENRY:

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Favorite toy: crinkly book

Favorite food: anything you put in front of him. Bottle, spoon, his hand, your hand, his brother’s hand, he doesn’t discriminate. You can’t feed this child fast enough.

Favorite pastime: eating. Rolling is a close second.

Favorite sleeping position: on his belly

Milestones reached: Rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back, often in one fell swoop, raises head and chest with straight arms when lying on tummy, reaches for things, reaches for things with one arm when propped up on his belly, makes one syllable sounds like, “ma,” “ah,” “muh,” (he also strings these together and it sounds like “mama,” or, when he’s eating, “more,”  laughs, grasps small objects.

Most mischievous moment:  turning on his musical mobile during nap time

SOPHIE:

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Favorite toy: her Sophie doll

Favorite food: she’d rather just drink her milk and eat her hand. But if she had to choose and she could talk, she might say, “cereal.”

Favorite Pastime: playing with grown ups

Milestones reached: Rolls from tummy to back and side to tummy, raises head and chest propped on forearms when lying on tummy, reaches for things, brings feet to mouth, laughs, grasps small objects.

Most mischievous moment: stealing her brothers’ socks. Off of their feet.

Jack: “Hey! Where’d my sock go?”
Sophie: “Hey, what’s this?”
“I think I’ve seen this somewhere before.”
“What?”
“Ok, fine. You can have it back.”

So what is a day in the life of Henry, Jack, and Sophie like at 7 months? Well, it varies a bit, but here’s the general run-down:

  • 5:30-6am: somebody starts stirring, but usually he or she drifts back to sleep until…
  • 6:30am: everybody’s up. We get dressed for the day (actually, just the babies get dressed…too risky to put on our work clothes before the morning feed) and everybody plays on the floor until about 7am. Or until Henry starts screaming because he’s been up for an hour so somebody better feed him, for heaven’s sake!
  • 7am: the boys are fed in their Boppies on the floor. This is getting easier and easier with each passing day. They are eager to hold their bottles, and they’ve got the little bottles (with their reflux meds) pretty much mastered. For the bigger bottles, we’ve recently enlisted some “L’il Helpers Bottle Holders” and they are starting to get the hang of it. Sophie is less interested. Why hold my own bottle sitting on the floor when I can be picked up and cuddled while someone holds the bottle for me? But that won’t stop us from trying!
  • 8am: Morning nap. I know. They just woke up. But they can’t stay awake! They go back in their sleep sacks and snooze for an hour and a half to two hours.
  • 10am: Play time.
  • 11am: 6 oz bottle followed by a fruit or a vegetable. Then “play time” sitting propped up in their bouncer, their Boppy, etc. This is growing more challenging now that the boys are eager to roll around!
  • 1:00-1:30: Down for another nap. This will last two hours on a good day and 20 minutes on a bad day. Along with the usual variables that affect naptime (overnight sleep, teething, being sick) we also have: “I’ve rolled myself into a corner, and I can’t get out,” and ” HE’S not sleeping, why should I?” Sophie ALWAYS faces the boys, eager for a conversation if she can pique their interest. Often she scoots herself around 90 degrees, stretches her arms out through the slats in the crib and sticks her face up against the edge in the hopes that Jack will say hello.
  • 3pm: 5 oz bottles followed by cereal (rice or oatmeal) in their bouncer or car seats depending on how man hands we have on deck. Then we attempt to keep them all propped up for an hour or so so that said milk and cereal does not end up back all over the floor.
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Eating cereal

  • 5pm: Play time. During which most of Henry’s last meal ends up all over the floor. Oh well.
  • 5:45: Ready for bed in Sophie’s crib.
  • 6pm: 6 oz bottles in Jack’s bed. Sophie is still the wild card–will she eat in a Boppy? Will she have to be held? Will she refuse to eat altogether? The main goal is to make sure Sophie “finishes” her bottle last. She won’t stand for anyone hanging around in the nursery after she’s been put to bed, so we aim to put her down right before sneaking out of the room. This works about 60% of the time.
  • By 6:30/7pm: They’re asleep! On most nights, if reflux, itchy skin, dirty diapers, or getting stuck in the corner doesn’t wake anyone up, they’ll be down for the count.
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I accidentally rolled onto the floor…ouch.

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Visiting with Gee and Poppy

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Meeting Great Aunt Ann for the first time

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