12/28

The 1st Christmas....

I've been away from the blog for a few days but for good reason. We have been a bit busy with the holidays. The triplets just celebrated their 1st Christmas.
I'd like to say that we were smart about it and didn't get them too much. We knew that their grandparents were going to spoil them rotten so my husband and I only got them a few things. With their birthday being a week after Christmas, we made sure to finish all our shopping and wrapping early in order to prepare for the big birthday party and to be able to enjoy the holidays with the kids.

Traditions are important to me so we have started a few (not all are Christmas related):
1. last year my parents gave me a Christmas photo keepsake book. It is a place where you place a picture from each Christmas and write where you were that year, who you spent it with and write any special memories. It was perfect to get last year because we were pregnant and  each year I will be placing our family Christmas card in it. Last year's card had a picture of my husband and I (me very pregnant!) and this year was our whole family.

2. the Christmas pickle ornament- for those of you who don't know this tradition, there is an ornament shaped like a pickle (yes, a pickle). You hide it deep with in the branches of your tree. On Christmas morning, the child who finds the pickle ornament receives a special gift from Santa. The idea is that they are noticing and admiring all the beautiful ornaments on the tree instead of just rushing to see what Santa brought them.

3. Each year EACH CHILD will receive THEIR OWN PERSONILIZED ornament for the tree. This way when they grow up and move out of the house and start families of their own, they will have personal pieces of home to take with them for their Christmas.
4. My husband recieved a circus shaped waffle maker for Christmas. Corny, yes. But we decided that we want to have a special breakfast morning once a week for the kids that they can look forward to. (Haven't decided on the day of week yet but they have had they waffles already!)

5. Friday night is pizza night in our house.

6. and we are looking to start the Elf on the Shelf here in a few years (we need to get one but we figured it's more fun to let them name it :)

So, as for this years Christmas, our almost 1 year olds were very over stimulated. We did Christmas as a family and then gammie and grandfather came over (my parents) to do presents (talk about spoiling!). After that, we went to grammie and grampies (his parents) house for dinner and more presents with auntie and uncle and cousins. And all this time I kept thinking, their birthday is next week and we are doing this all over again! I can forsee this becoming a huge problem in the future. And with all the toys they have, they all fight over the one that the other is playing with!
We made it through Christmas and the kids had a blast. This Sunday is their birthday. I can't believe my little 3lb 9 oz baby boy and 2 lb 12oz /2lb 13 oz baby girls are going to be ONE!!!! Today as I write this my little boy is 22lbs and my girls are 18lbs and 20lbs! Who would have thought?

One more thing to get through after Sunday and that is the all important party that I have been obsessing about....

Until the next time.....
Jess

12/18

Internet Fun

So some other MOMS (mothers of multipes) shared this with me. It really just sums up how we often feel on a day to day basis. I thought on this blog I would share some great stuff that I've found on the web related to multiples.....

I was on bedrest for a very long time and had a lot of time to spend researching and playing on the computer. I would like to share some of the websites that I have found fun and informative throughout my pregnancy and these past 11 months.
http://www.kmanganphoto.com/ A good friend of mine who did our children's newborn shots. The picture of the feet at the top of the blog and the picture of the heads on the first post are hers. We are also featured on her website. Check her out!
http://lilypie.com/  Tickers. Awesome way to follow and countdown important things in your life. I had a ticker for my pregnancy and now one as the babies approach their 1st birthday.
http://www.personalizationmall.com/ One of my favorite places to shop online. I had a watch made for Rob for father's day with the family's picture on the face. I had an afgan made for my mother for her birthday with the babies picture on it, and a tie and mouse pad made for my father's birthday with the babies pictures on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl9dgCs-mv0  The link on YouTube where I learned to make the tutu's for my girls.
http://voices.yahoo.com/triplet-baby-name-ideas-give-babies-three-7178562.html  Some cute naming ideas. My husband was set on our sons name, Dalton, and I was set on one of the girls names, Dublyn. However, when we found out that there was another girl, we were stuck. We already had two 'D' names so at that point we figured just go with it. We need another 'D' name but something that 'fit' with the other two. So many 'D' names for girls are common: Danielle, Debra and Donna. And the others like Daphne and Delila just didn't feel right. I eventually stumbled upon Dawsyn online while doing research. I love unisex names and the fact that I could use the 'y' like I did in Dublyn's name made me happy because both girls would have the 'y'. It wasn't until after we settled on the names and were pretty far along in the pregnancy that we then realized that all 3 names had 6 letters, started with a 'd' and ended with a 'n'. Kind of creepy!
http://www.tripletconnection.org/ We are members of this and I just love getting the magazine every quarter. It overwhelms me to see how many triplets there are in the world of all ages.
http://www.nomotc.org/  National organization for multiples. From this site, you can search for a local club in your area.
http://www.babble.com/baby/baby-care/tips-for-new-dads-parenting-advice/?page=1  For the new dad...some good advice from a dad of triplets.
http://www.mostonline.org/faqbf.htm?gclid=CNTotfaZja0CFQ3DtgodDDH8mA  Information for Mothers of Supertwins (triplets or more)
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-01-01/news/fl-first-baby-20110101_1_first-babies-triplets-first-births  Thought I'd throw this one in there....I wonder which triplets were among the first babies born in 2011??? I do believe they were the 1st set of triplets to be born in 2011 in the world....now that went in the baby books!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIBqd1kxoQk and for those of you with a great sense of humor and who have ever had a hard time putting your little one down for the night, check out this youtube video of a bedtime story (for adults NOT children) read by Samuel L. Jackson. You may pee yourself laughing....

Have a great night all....
Jess

12/15

Triple the Torture...

Being sick is ONE of the worst things in the world. Having a sick child is THE worst thing in the world. Having sick TRIPLETS IS TORTURE for them and me.
I remember when I was a child and I was sick. On most occasions I didn't even realize I was sick. I insisted that I felt fine- even though I had a fever of 103- and that I could still go play outside in the snow (we lived up north and without fail I always got the flu on the day of the first snow fall; and usually Christmas and the first and last day of school but that's another blog on another day). But the days are always better than the nights. As night falls, the stuffiness always sets in. Moms...you know what I'm talking about. You're tired and strung out from chasing them all day and wiping their noses. They've been cranky and moody all day (the Jekyll and Hyde phenomenon) and now with nightfall approaching and your hope of sleep, you quickly realize that neither you or the baby (ies) will be sleeping if the stuffiness continues.
So what do we do?
We bust out the big guns....
1. the vapor bath
2. baby vapor rub (bottom of the feet..why? because mom and grandma said so)(chest and back)
3. suction, suction, suction (the blue bulb from the hospital is the best one no matter what anyone else tells you....get as many as you can before you leave).
4. saline (saline in the nostrils before bedtime will allow the mucus to break up enough to allow breathing during sleep. Also they will be able to suck on the Binky :)
5. Humidifier (we always keep ours on every nap and bedtime. It is listed as one of the factors that may help reduce the chance of SIDS. FYI: a ceiling fan is also listed however we choose not to use ours when the kids have colds/stuffiness as we have found it only contributes to more stuffiness).

This has become my routine every time the kids get sick.

So tell me that your one baby has a cold and you got no sleep last night and I'll raise you two more babies and a husband (along with two old dogs who have bladder issues). The chances of an overtired, undernourished mommy whose children have been climbing all over her rubbing their snotty noses all over her and putting their fingers in her mouth getting sick??? I'd say 98.5%

So if you find me to be,
obsessive
anal retentive
overbearing
slightly moody

You may be right, but I'm raising triplets here. We run a tight ship and we do everything we can to keep our kids healthy. Don't get me wrong, I get that they have to be exposed to germs now and then. We take them out, they go on play dates, they play outside and at indoor playgrounds. I guess your idea of safe and clean changes A LOT after you get pregnant and have kids.
When I was pregnant, I armed myself with a can of Lysol and a bottle of hand sanitizer (I teach). I threatened any one who came near me. After the kids were born, we started stashing bottles of Lysol and hand sanitizer all around the house. We have a playroom that the kids practically live in that gets cleaned and sanitized every week (Lysoled every night) with a special overhaul clean anytime they are sick or anyone comes for a play date. But that is us. That's how we run our house.

So I sit here listening to a quiet monitor with the hopes that my OCD routine will help the kids sleep tonight. So far so good but they've only been down for an hour and a half. There is a long night ahead of me. This mommy is feeling the sore throat and stuffiness set in and we are ALL set for the doctor's office tomorrow.

So here's to the hopes of at least 4-5 hours of sleep tonight....that's a reasonable request right?

Jess

12/13

1st Birthday Party Prep

The all important 1st birthday party is almost among us. The triplets will be one on New Year's Day 2012. I have been planning their party for almost three months. My husband and I agreed that we would do a big party for the first birthday (because you can never get that one back) and then not again until they are five and can invite their friends personally and decide on a theme(somewhat) themselves.
After much consideration we decided to go with a '3-ring circus' theme. For us, it was perfect. We can never go anywhere without being the 'freak show' or being gawked at. Plus, there was a massive amount of ideas and possibilities at my fingertips with this theme. After the party, I will share tons of pictures, but for now I will only share a few things (I don't want to spoil the surprises for my guests!)
I did a lot of research on the Internet for this party. I researched other circus parties and what other moms did/made to make their child's party special. I took a lot of their ideas and tweaked them to fit our party.

First, for some centerpieces I purchased some double sided frames from IKEA for .99 each. I then purchased some foam cut birthday cutouts from the Dollar store and some pom pom balls from the Dollar store and used both to decorate the frames.

I printed pictures of the kids from my home computer with photo paper we already had. So for a total of $16, I made 12 centerpieces.

Since the party is a circus/carnival theme, we are going to have some games. Instead of purchasing a bunch of premade games and spending a lot of money, I chose to make some of the games. For about a week, my husband and I saved cans (6) and washed them in the dishwasher. Next I printed a free coloring sheet off the Internet (about 3 inches in height) and colored it myself. My husband made color copies (6) of the colored sheet and then cut it to fit the can. I glued the cut and colored sheet onto the can with rubber cement and DONE!

And there you have it folks. I have been very busy with so much more but this is all I am willing to share right now. Stay tuned for the party pictures......
Jess

12/10

To Schedule or Not to Schedule??

I ask myself today, "why would any parent not want to have their child on a schedule?."
When my 3 infants came home, the NICU had them on a 'schedule' of eating every 4 hours. I thought that I was all set. Boy was I ALL wrong. My beautiful little angels were each on their own 'every 4 hour' schedule. I found myself feeding a baby at say 3 am, another at 4am, and yet the last at 5am. I would then sleep for 45 minutes and then do it all over again. I was a walking zombie. My dear husband, who is a fireman and works 24 hour shifts, hired a nanny to stay with me while he was gone (this was after my mother had to return to work). One day she called in sick and he was on shift...I was stuck with the kids by my self!

That day the kids and I came to an understanding. Once they were changed, fed, and there was absolutely nothing 'wrong' with them, I had to understand that I could not console them each and every second of the day...I was enabling them. It was better for both of us at that point if I let them cry it out a little. From that day forward I have been stronger and I have been able to do it on my own.
After that, I created a schedule for them. I knew that no matter how tired I was and how resistant to it they were, I had to be consistent. The schedule I created was, at the time, convenient for them and our family. After about a week the kids caught on and we were in business. I decided to go with the Eat-Play-Sleep scheduling since it seemed the most logical. That was about 5 months ago. Our previous schedule was:
7am- wake/bottle
7:30-9- play
9/9:30-11- NAP
11- baby food (breakfast)
12-bottle
1/1:20-3- NAP
3 baby food and bottle (lunch)
3:30-6 play
6- oatmeal (dinner)
6:15- bedtime routine (bath and such)
6:45-7- bedtime bottle

So today was the 1st full day of the new schedule. The kids have shown me that it is time for a change and I have agreed full hearted. I must say that they took to it very well today and I was quite surprised. I thought they would put up much more of a fight. The new schedule is:
7am-wake/bottle
7:30-breakfast (oatmeal)
9:15-snack
10am-NAP
12- lunch/bottle
2pm-NAP
3:30- snack
5pm-Dinner/bottle
6:15-bedtime routine (bath)
645-7- bedtime bottle


Anyway, not the most exciting post, but I know that some mommies want to know this kind of information, especially those who have multiples. It's always hard to take a schedule for one baby and make it work for your multiples.


Jess

12/7

Why Would Anyone Read This????

I fought with myself about whether or not to start a blog. I wondered if anyone would actually care to read about the life of a mom raising triplets, but in my past life-pre-children, I loved to write. I had begun to write a novel, a children's book and a few poems but all that changed when I FINALLY got pregnant. I was naive enough to think that I would still have time to do all of the things I loved. I would never be one of "those" moms. But here I sit.
So this post will be long because I have to explain our story. I'll try to give you all the short version.
My husband and I had a five year battle with infertility-my body, not his- and after much heartache ( and many finacial donations to the wonderful world of science) we were overjoyed to find out we were finally pregnant. Since we used IVF, we knew there was a high chance for multiples and with our Beta numbers sky high we were almost positive we were having twins. When we went in for our ultasound, the doctor started counting and as she got to three my husband, Rob, told her she better stop counting because there WERE NO MORE! Thank god he was right because I think we both would have fainted.
Initially we didn't tell everyone that we were having triplets because one of the embryos was not growing quite as fast as the other two (we later found out that was our boy). After a few weeks and some visits to the specialist, we were comfortable with the pregnancy and carrying it to term so we made the announcement.
I found out I was pregnant in June of 2010. I planned on working as long as I could throughout the pregnancy- I teach middle school- however I only made it to Halloween. My doctor put me on complete bed rest through the end of my pregnancy....pure tourture to be on bed rest! I had several 'labor check' runs to the hospital and had Braxton Hicks contractions from 4months till the end. I was admitted to the hospital on December 29th of 2010 for severe pre-eclampsia. I gained 20 pounds in 3 days! (all fluid)
After close monitoring by my fabulous OB, my beautiful angels were born via C-section on New Year's Day (1-1-11). I had made it to 31 weeks and 1 day. I told my OB I would not deliver until January and I made it.

We have 3 beautiful, healthy angels- Two girls (Dublyn and Dawsyn) and one boy (Dalton).
The were in the NICU for almost 2 months. Each had their own small struggles and even when they came home, we had some health issues here and there, but now, today they are 11 months and happy and healthy.
We've dealt with acid reflux, torticolis, allergies to soy and milk, possible neurological issues (due to events inutero w/ pre-eclampsia), schedules, lack of sleep (for babies and parents), colds/sickness, and so much more. But soon we will be celebrating...celebrating the first year of their life and the fact that we made it through.
So I know it's been almost a year since they were born and I know there was so much I could've written about already. But the fun is just beginning and well, they're just starting to get independent enough for me to have time to write. So come join me on this journey as the triplets turn one and we roll in all the fun!
Jess