Squirmy Wormies!

Babies' First Halloween!  We got adorable costumes and sat them out on the porch for all the neighborhood folks to meet :)  They were so good, and the weather was fantastic.  Weirdly, lots of the kids and even some adults asked if they were real...

Collin, Evan, and Ryan

The babies are becoming much more alert, they focus and are starting to look at objects.  They smile, though I'm not convinced it is at anything in particular yet.  When that day comes, look out!  We washed all our 0-3 month clothes today, most of the newborn things are getting snug.  It's crazy how fast they grow!  Seems like yesterday the Newborn things started to fit.  The Preemie clothes had a VERY short lifespan, some much shorter than others, and some even started too small since our kiddos were so long.

We had our first shot on Friday, the Synagis injection for RSV.  The babies are only getting 3 injections based on insurance, because of their age and size (which were good) but bad since they only get 3 months of added protection.  We used the DumDum sucker trick, but they still screamed.  And Evan stopped breathing!  He wailed and used all the reserves in his lungs, then forgot to reload!  He did again really quick, but not until after I told him to breathe twice!  His face got really red, and his lips a little purple.  But we made it.  There will be a lot of shots in the next few months though, the next two Synagis doses and their 2 month vaccines.  The nurse that gave the injections weighed and measured the babies, here are their stats...

Evan 7# 4.5oz, 20.8"
Ryan 7# 10oz, 20.4"
Collin 7# 9oz, 20.2"

They are pretty similar to the measurements from earlier in the week, probably since those were right after eating, and these were right before eating.  These chunky monkeys are still chow hounds!  They now get at least 5 oz at each feeding, my breastmilk stores are going to get devoured quickly and it is harder and harder to even keep up with 50% of their meals.  We're stopping pumping soon anyway though.  They have dropped another feeding though, we're stretching them through the night so we really only have about 6 feedings per day (today it is 7, 10:30, 1:45, 5, and probably 8/8:30 and 11).  And we've had help, both of my parents on Saturday and my sister this weekend, and an old friend from grade school who is expecting came on Friday.  We are always happy to have our babies held and to have help changing and feeding them!

I know I say this all the time, but I can't believe how much they change on a daily basis and how they will get big before I know it...

Our life now...

Ryan, Collin, and Evan

The baby boys will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, how time flies! That is sure to be a redundant theme... They are still doing fabulously. They eat great, 4-4.5 oz of breastmilk and 5 oz of formula every other feeding. They spit up a lot too. We go through a big can of powder formula every 5 days at least. We are full on in newborn diapers, and they may be getting a bit snug. We go through a package of diapers every 2 days (about 21 diapers a day minimum). They stay awake more, they are looking around a lot more, but not playing or really interacting yet. They have graduated from the big stroller bassinet in our bed to two in the cradle (we tried squeezing three in the cradle for a couple nights, it was too tight of a fit), and one baby in a single bassinet. The sleeping varies, some nights it's great and we get 3 hours at a time, some nights it's not so great. We have spoiled them and developed the very bad habit of pulling them in bed with us one at a time if they fuss too soon (or even right on time if we're not quite ready to rise and shine). I don't know what to do about that. They settle right down in bed with us for the most part, though sometimes it seems were plucking pacifiers back in their mouths every couple of minutes for hours. Hopefully when we move them across the house to their crib they we'll stop that habit. That time should come in the next month or so.

Speaking of the stroller, we have it up and running with all parts in. We've taken several walks around the neighborhood, people always stop us to see the babies and one mom even came out of her house to check us out. They do really well on the walks and it feels good to get them out of the house.

We had our first round of diaper rash last week (Evan was most affected, Collin was least affected, overall it was pretty mild). We went through two tubes of Desitin. Between that and our ridiculously frequent spit-ups, they get bathed twice a week now and should be probably more often. Bathing is time consuming, and labor intensive. It doesn't help that one or more babies invariably poops during the bath and we have to start all over after the clean-up. Here are our new weights as of yesterday during our bath (OMG, are these the same babies?!?!)...

Evan 7# 5.5 oz.

Ryan 7# 10.5 oz.

Collin 7# 8.5 oz.

I've been on my own A LOT, and it feels great. It's hard, don't get me wrong, definitely not easy or relaxing. One of these days (or never) I'll feel normal again. Here's what the schedule is like for me, give or take 30 minutes... or an hour...

8am - Sean helps feed the babies and I pump before he goes to work. If I'm good, this is when I shower and get cleaned up (no point getting TOO clean, see spit-up issues addressed above). Done by 9:00.

9am - Clean bottles from overnight, take all the formula and overnight supplies back to kitchen and start dishwasher. Move baby swing and seats into living room (put up at night so kitties don't make them beds). Babies hang out in their Boppy pillows on my bed.

11am - Change babies and feed babies (takes one hour if I prop the bottles and feed three at once, takes 1.5-2 hours if I feed them one at a time), I then pump when I'm done (additional 30 minutes).

1pm - I eat something, check email, and start prepping the next round of bottles. Maybe transfer a load of laundry and empty dishwasher. Babies in swing/seats or on playmat.

2pm - Change babies and feed babies, then pump.

4pm - Breathe, what else needs to get done? Babies are napping, sometimes in their crib, sometimes in their Boppy pillows, sometimes in their swing/seats.

5pm - Change babies and feed babies, then pump.

6-6:30pm - Sean gets home! Yay!

And this is what we all want to do...

We have some super cute Halloween costumes for the babies this weekend, I'll post those pics next week :) And, really really exciting, I am getting out of the house for some fun! So far I've only left the babies at home twice, once for a pedicure and once for a one year-old's birthday party. Tomorrow will be a big day for me, I have a doctor's appointment in the morning for my 6 week post-op and then tomorrow night we are going to a nice dinner downtown and then to the OKC Thunder for the first game of the season! Soooo excited! Thanks to all the parents for helping babysit to keep me sane :)

One Month Old!

I cannot believe these babies are one month old today... they are getting big sooo fast. Literally, big. We got a baby scale and weighed them yesterday, here are the stats:

Evan 6# 12.5 oz

Ryan 6# 15.5 oz

Collin 6# 15 oz

They are doing so well. They eat 2.5-4 oz. of breastmilk or formula, they alternate each feeding between the two. Only giving 50% breastmilk allows me to keep up, since I'm still pumping. Hopefully I can continue for another month, but we're still taking it week by week. They are still only having one middle of the night feeding (1-3), with one late evening (10-12) and one early morning (5-7). So far so good...

I have uploaded all their pics to my mobileme site, but here's a few from yesterday...

Evan after his bath

Ryan

Collin

I love the fall...

But our babies were born at the wrong time of year. It's not because it's football season and I'll likely miss every game this year. It's not because the days are getting shorter and the weather less hospitable. It's because it's prime time for flu and RSV; in Oklahoma RSV season is from November to April, yay. Any respiratory disease can be more severe in our premature babies with their under-developed lungs, but RSV in particular can be devastating. It's a virus that affects almost all babies by 2 years of age, in adults it is very mild and may only seem like a runny nose or mild cough. It wreaks havoc on the lungs of babies, but in particular those of premature infants. It can necessitate hospitalization, cause lifelong asthma, and even death. Even though I'm dying to get out of the house, and desperately want to show off my babies to everyone I work with and all my friends, we've been cautioned by our pediatrician and the NICU staff to keep them at home. When we go to the pediatrician we don't wait in the lobby, he has us go straight to his office until an exam room opens up. And he doesn't want to see us until the babies' 2 month well-check unless there is a problem; there is just too much flu and illness at his office. The babies will get an extra "vaccine" for RSV, it doesn't prevent illness but can reduce the severity of symptoms. You have to apply to have insurance cover it, as it is $1200 per injection and each baby gets a series of 6. Our pediatrician also requested, and insurance will cover, a nurse to come to the house to give the shots.

So we ask that anyone that visits our babies not have any symptoms of a cough, sniffles, and definitely no recent fever. We also ask that anyone with young children not visit if the kids have had any kind of respiratory symptoms, fever, etc. Sean and I and our immediate families have all gotten flu shots, the first time ever for me. We also ask that even if you have been the picture of health, you wash your hands as soon as you come in our house. And we have bottles of Germ-X everywhere should you feel the need to decontaminate during your visit. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our munchkins at home, away from church, work, grocery stores, and anywhere where there are lots of people and potential transmission of disease. Hopefully we'll make it through the season without too many issues.

Some pics from our recent visit from Sean's Aunt Sharon and cousin Tamara...

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Happy 3-week birthday baby boys!

So many changes over the last 3 weeks! We are now fitting in Newborn diapers, Preemie is too small. We have outgrown almost every Preemie sized outfit too. Some of our Newborn clothes are still too big, but I doubt that will last very long. They didn't fuss for our second bath, but that may be more due to mom's learning curve than theirs. They are staying awake and alert for longer during the day, even enjoying some time without a swaddle. During tummy time they can move their heads from side to side and they have a lot more head control in general. Plus, they are just growing!! They seem so much bigger than they did 3 weeks ago... It's a little sad that they will never be so little again. The biggest change that affects us is that we have dropped a feeding overnight! Instead of 9, 12, 3 and 6, for the last 3 nights they have switched to 10, 1-2, and 5-6. It makes a huge difference for us, and we hope it continues.

One thing that isn't going quite so well is my pumping breastmilk for them. I just can't keep up with them! We are trying a few things to help, so we'll see how long I last. I'm really sick of pumping around the clock, but I know it's best for them regardless of how much they get. I'll be a lot more motivated if I can provide more for them. We'll see how the next week goes...

Some new pics of tummy time and unswaddled time... Ironically, even though they are taken on different days the boys are in the same order. Left to right... Ryan, Collin, and Evan.

It's been a week...

Collin came home a week ago last night, Ryan came home a week ago this morning. We have been solely responsible for 3 baby boys for one week. I say solely responsible, but we have had a LOT of help. My sister stayed with us last weekend and was able to help a ton, even with some of the overnight feedings; I cried when she left. Both grandmothers have been incredibly helpful, with meals, helping around the house, and helping me at home now that Sean is back at work.

So this is how it goes... we live in 3 hour increments. The babies eat and are changed at 9, 12, 3, 6, and so on, thankfully the NICU had Ryan and Collin on a tight schedule and Evan was already used to eating right before, after, or during those times. The babies are on breastmilk, but from a bottle. We need to be able to reliably track how much they are eating, so that means I am attached to a pump all day long. So every three hours we repeat the pump, change, feed routine, which lasts 1-1.5 hours each time. That leaves 1.5-2 hours for anything else... sleeping, eating, showering, whatever.

Here are some pics:

Evan

Ryan in the NICU

Collin in the NICU

Evan, Ryan, and Collin a week ago

Happy 2-week birthday babies!

So Collin came home last Thursday night, and Ryan on Friday morning! Everyone is home and doing well. We went to the pediatrician today for their 2-week check-up and they are all gaining weight and getting bigger by the minute... Evan is up to 5# 5oz., Ryan is 5# 10oz., and Collin is 5# 11oz. They are all bigger than they were at birth, a big goal for 2 weeks.

I also had my post-surgical appointment today, I'm doing great. I've lost 39# from my max and I'm only up 14# from my first pregnancy appointment! My incision doesn't hurt, I don't have any complications, etc. We also found out that two of the babies are identical! We had wondered about Ryan and Collin, and now it was confirmed by the pathology report on the placentas. Apparently they all had separate placentas but the membrane/sack separating Ryan and Collin was incomplete, they are triamniotic and dichorionic. It makes a lot of sense, they look a lot alike (I think their expressions are very different and think I can tell them apart, but I haven't tested that yet), their mannerisms are extremely similar, and they were both the same size, etc.

We are all doing well at home, both grandmothers have been a huge help, and Auntie Stephanie was in town last weekend to help as well. We struggle with lack of sleep, but we love these little munchkins and they are going to be big before we know it!