4 Months!

There has been so much going on that it's been difficult to sit down and do this.  And there are so many photos I would want to add, but I don't think that will happen.  A big part of the busyness is that I went back to work, first 2 days a week at the beginning of January, and now 3 days a week.  I really miss the boys when I am gone, it is really hard to leave them.  Once I get to work I'm usually busy, and I still love what I do, but it is not easy.  The boys' cuteness adds to the difficulty!  They spend so much of the day awake now, looking and smiling and even laughing.  They spend time in the jumperoo and on the playmat and interact with each other and with us.  Collin was the really smiley and flirty one at first, but now we get lots and lots from all of them and Ryan and Evan are just as cute.

Stats from 4 month well check visit on January 11th:
Evan - 14# 5oz, 24.25" tall, head 16.25"
Ryan - 14# 12oz, 23.75" tall, head 16"
Collin - 14# 10oz, 24" tall, head 16.25"

Evan is on Propanolol for his hemangioma under his eye, it has really helped (he had an ultrasound on the 3rd to make sure it was).  His torticollis was really mild, and is already much better.  I think he also wasn't looking left because he had more difficulty seeing out of that eye, the eye shrunk practically immediately and we noticed a dramatic improvement.  We still try to make him look left more to help even out his head shape.  The babies are doing AMAZING sleeping... they eat 5 times a day, and for the past few days have woken up around 7am, talking but happy in their cribs.  If they wake up in the middle of the night they have been putting themselves back to sleep.

Here are our 4 month pictures.

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Check out this entry for their previous pics at 3 months, you can tell how much bigger they are!

We've also been taking them out more... a trip to the mall:

And tonight they are meeting us at the reception after a friend's wedding!  It is so fun to take them out... I just need to get used to all the attention.  And the outings are much easier now that we have our new car.  It's a Ford Flex and I love it, it's cool and young and not a mini van.  Plus, we can now carry more than 2 adults and the 3 babies so no more trips in the back of an SUV for me.

Boys' First Christmas

The babies are 15 weeks old today.  Can't believe how time flies... they are huge!  Here are their stats from Saturday's Synagis injection...

Evan 13#, 23.5" long, head 41cm
Ryan 13.3#, 23" long (don't know if I buy that), head 41cm
Collin 13.2#, 24.25" long, head 41cm

 We had the second white Christmas that I've been able to remember in Oklahoma.  Actually, it was a little more than a white Christmas... it was a record breaking blizzard!  Oklahoma City had 14.1" of snow in less than 12 hours (some reports said 8, I don't know, it was a lot) on Christmas Eve.  Aunt Steph was at our house, Dee and Harold and Mike were driving in from KC, and Grammy, Daniel, Marmee and Bear were at their house.  We had plans to head over there for dinner and church, but then church got cancelled and dinner got postponed.  Sean got the fire going and cooked a lovely Christmas Eve dinner for Steph and I while we sang carols to the boys.

Christmas morning we got up and took photos of the boys with their stockings...

Evan, Ryan, Collin

Then braved the roads to get to Marmee and Bear's and see everyone.

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Ryan

Evan

We had a lovely Christmas and dinner, and the next day got to repeat the festivities when Grandma Susie and Grampa Pat, Uncle Eric and Aunt Kathleen came over here.  Definitely not the usual Christmas celebration, but fun nonetheless.  We can't wait until the boys are old enough to understand the holiday and enjoy the celebration, but on the other hand there were many comments about how different it would be with 3 toddlers...

Collin

The babies are such fun right now.  They are pretty much smiling non-stop, cooing, and even giggling or laughing a little.  I was nostalgic about their newborn stage, missing their tiny sleeping bodies, but I love this stage too!  They are still major cuddle bugs and just melt into you when held, and we still take naps together on the couch or pull one or more into bed with us when they wake up early.  I love the cuddles and snuggles!  And the smiles just melt your heart.

They are getting better at holding their heads up, they can sit when supported, or spend some time in the jumperoos, but it still has a short timespan.  The head issue caused me to pick up on something that I hadn't, Evan has Torticollis.  His head is always to the right.  He can move it to the left, he just doesn't.  And if his head is straight, or he is trying to hold it up, it eventually moves so he is facing right.  He has a very mild case, but his head is a little uneven from it already.  We're very optimistic that now that we have recognized it and can work on it he won't have any lasting effects.  When we went to the doctor about the Torticollis, I also asked him about the puffiness under Evan's left eye.  About 3 weeks ago it came up and looked like a bruise, so we put him on the far right in the crib to protect it from his whacking brothers.  It looked better, then worse, then better, etc. but never went away.  The doctor thinks it is a deep hemangioma, similar to Ryan's superficial one but underneath his skin.  Since it may be obscuring his vision he wants to address it by getting an ultrasound of it and then start him on medication (propanolol) for it.  We go in on Monday at 7:30 for the ultrasound downtown at Children's Hospital.  Good news is that both of these issues are pretty benign and once we address them shouldn't cause him any long term problems.  Especially important is that he is not in any pain or experiencing any discomfort from them... except for maybe now since I am constantly adjusting his head to look left!

Collin

Collin

That's the latest, the babies are enjoying their Christmas presents (thanks everyone!) and we are now officially in 3-6 months clothes and frantically using the last of our Size 1 diapers.  I put together a couple bags of their preemie, newborn, and 0-3 month clothes to take to Mercy's NICU where Collin and Ryan were for 8 and 9 days.  We were so excited when they could start wearing clothes after being under the bili lights and in the bili blankets, I hope other parents will think their babies are as cute in the clothes as ours were!

Likes

In honor of Christmas, the boys' current "likes"...

Evan - cuddling, kisses, his fist, sleeping, bottle
Ryan - bottle, his binky, his swing, the mirror on his swing, the mobile on his swing
Collin - the monkey on his playmat, smiling, mirror behind the bath tub, bottle, the binky

and "dislikes"...
Evan - binkies (I prefer my fist)
Ryan - being burped (gimme back my bottle!)
Collin - sleeping (he is often the first to wake up and usually the last to fall asleep)

On our way to the work Christmas party last week...

Evan is in front, Collin on the left and Ryan in the back :)

3 Months Old...

Yesterday!  These babies are getting BIG!  We have to be 12 pounds now... We'll get official stats next week when they get their next Synagis injections.  Here are some updates...

The biggest news is that we are getting some smiles!!  Everybody has smiled at least a few times at various people.  I think I am behind in getting the smiles :(  Here is Evan on one of the first times Sean got him to smile...

They now go to bed around 11pm and wake up between 4:30 and 6.  They are excellent self-soothers and will cry for a little while and put themselves back to bed.  This morning we woke them up at 7am!  We know all this because we have bought the most wonderful device, a video monitor.  The receiver has a video so we can carry it with us, but we use it the most plugged in to our tv in the bedroom.

These are larger than life babies!  Now when I wake up in the middle of the night I look up at the tv and watch them breathe, move, etc.  And if they cry, I can look up and see who it is and whether it is anything to do anything about.  It's great.  But as you can see, we may have to move them to separate cribs earlier than I hoped.  We set them down at least an arm's length away, but they move and snuggle together, the other night Collin kept smacking Ryan in the face with his fist, and Evan has a bruise under his eye that won't go away.

They are still getting rice cereal in their bottles, right now they are eating 4.5oz at 6am, 10am, 2pm, and 6pm.  At 10pm they get 5oz.  The first bottle at 6am is breastmilk, but that will only be for the next 2 days :(  I am still glad I was able to pump as long as I did, and I'm glad I stopped when I did.  The frozen supply has lasted almost a full month and I have so much more time without pumping.  Thankfully, we also haven't bought formula in a while thanks to free samples from our pediatrician and some formula companies.  We just switched from soy-based (the NICU had started the boys on it) to regular formula.  Our pediatrician doesn't think they should really need the soy-based, and we have the spit-up MUCH better controlled with the rice cereal so it's a good time to try the switch so that we should notice a difference if there is one.  Also, we've been off of Axid for a couple weeks and we're still doing ok.  Collin had two bouts of reflux at first but none in over a week.  We still have one more bottle in case we need it, but I'm glad not to have to deal with it if we don't have too.  Twice a day medication for 3 babies isn't easy, and it was $6 a day!

The babies aren't getting swaddled anymore!  The babies immediately freed their arms when swaddled regardless, so they weren't helping much with that.  Then they kept wiggling up so they were just around their waists and then kicking them off.  So now we are in Sleep Sacks.  They are working great!

They spend at least a little while on the play mat or on a blanket on the floor almost every day now.  They love to kick their legs and wiggle around!  Still no interest in toys yet... Although I did get Evan to hold a rattle the other day... he just kept whacking it on his head!  And I wonder where the bruise came from...

We've done a few outings with the babies.  Of course they still go through drive-thrus with me, such as the pharmacy, bank, dry cleaner, etc. and they are excellent in the car.  Hopefully we'll have a new car for them soon... And over Thanksgiving we went to dinner with them!  They did great!  So now they've been to lunch and dinner with no problems.  I took them to the dentist with me, where they were a huge hit.  They also went to visit one of the veterinary hospitals I filled in part-time at while I was pregnant.  After Christmas we may try an OKC Thunder game when we have Aunt Steph to help :)  Should be fun!

Here are their 3 month pictures...

Evan at 2 months...

Evan at 3 months!

Ryan at 2 months...

Ryan at 3 months!

Collin at 2 months...

Collin at 3 months!

Look at how much better we are at sitting up!  And how we are all bigger than our stuffed animals now!

Thanksgiving

We had a busy week of family and activities!  Aunt Neenee (Steph) was here all week and was a huge help.  It's always easier with three people in the evenings and two during the day.  She knows more than anyone how things work and how we do things, it's a great relief.  Also, since she was close by we chose this week to transition to the crib.  It went pretty well!  They slept great from 10:30/11:00 until 3 or 4 in the morning (for the most part), and then until 6:30 or 7.  Every night we pulled at least one of them into bed with us at some point, but that's ok... we're not ready to give up cuddling yet!

Nano and my Aunt Mary also came into town, and our friends Jim and Linda Burke also joined us all at my parents for dinner.  The babies had lots of laps to sit in for their first Thanksgiving!  After dinner number 1 we went to dinner number 2 at Sean's parents house.  This was the babies first trip to either grandparent's house and I think both went well, though our time frame is always dictated by feedings.

Evan, Collin, Ryan

Sean with Evan

Bear with Collin

Nano with Ryan

Sean and I (baby free for the moment)

Kathleen with Collin, Susan with Evan

Friday we started the day with the second round of Synagis injections.  They are antibodies for RSV that last one month.  The nurse weighed and measured the babies, here are their stats:

Evan weighed 10# 5.8oz, his head measured 38.5cm, and he was 21.5" long
Ryan weighed 10# 10oz, his head was 39cm, and he was 22" long
Collin weighed 10# 9.3oz, his head was 38.5cm, and he was 22.25" long

They are getting soooo big!  I can't believe it!  We've been in 0-3 clothes for a week or so now and size 1-2 diapers.  Then we took Christmas pictures and had a visit from Steph's friend Maggie.  Then we watched Nebraska beat Colorado.  Friday night Sean, Steph and I left the babies with Nano, Mary, and Marmee and went with Bear (my dad) to the OKC Thunder game.  It was a great game, but a late night.  Fortunately we came home to the babies sound asleep in their crib.  We are in love with our video monitor... it enables us to watch them sleep on a handheld receiver or on our tv :)

Saturday Sean and I escaped to the OU/OSU Bedlam game.  During the first quarter I was convinced we would have to leave at halftime because the game was horrible, sloppy, and taking forever.  OU finally got it together though and it was actually a fun game.  We still left in the fourth quarter though.  One of many ways these babies have changed my life... I used to NEVER leave a game early, EVER.  Those people were bad fans.  I'm now a bad fan.  I think about the babies the whole time we are gone and can't wait to get home to them.  We ended the day playing bridge with Steph, Nano, and Marmee (my mom) while holding and cuddling babies and watching football.

Sunday we have more plans... sadly Steph has to drive back to Houston :(  We'll miss her, and the babies will too, but she'll be back in 3 weeks.  And tomorrow we start a new week, during which I go back to work 1/2 day.  I'm looking forward to it but also nervous about how it will all go.  Has to happen sometime though!  And I'm lucky that I have a job that I love and employers that allow this much flexibility.

More cute pics from our photo shoot...

Thankful

With Thanksgiving approaching I have been thinking about all the things I am thankful for, and there is nothing like reading a blog like this one to put things in perspective.

I am thankful, in no particular order...

for 3 healthy babies to snuggle and cuddle and feel their babysoft skin
for a healthy extended family who loves us and supports us have enabled us to survive the last few weeks
for a church family who has prayed for us
for a roof over our heads, even though it feels small these days
for a job that I love and for the flexibility I've been given
for friends I can talk to about anything, near and far
for the generosity of friends and family for helping to provide for these babies
for my husband, who through good and bad is my best friend and partner on this crazy adventure

On a less serious note, I am thankful for a few things that make my life easier and more enjoyable these days...
pacifiers
online shopping
triple stroller
digital camera
vibrating chairs and swings
chocolate
working on those baby smiles that seem to be right around the corner
Sean getting home from work!

the boys on their two-month birthday

Big, big babies!

We had our two month check-up on Wednesday.  We have big, growing babies!  They are all right on average for the preemie growth chart and look perfect.  Ryan has a small hemangioma on his back, which I suspected, and we're just monitoring it for now.  It should go away on it's own by around a year.  We've noticed it for the last month or so and it has gotten a little bigger as he has.  So here are their stats...

Evan 8# 9oz, 21.25"
Ryan 8# 15oz!!, 21.75"
Collin 8# 8oz, 20.75"

They got their first round of vaccines, hate those.  No more vaccines until January, but two Synagis injections before then.  We also found out the 5 ounces they've been getting at a feeding is two much, which I suspected, and probably contributing to the spit-up and reflux we've had.  They are good, good babies, not fussy except for one to two times a day when they get reflux and get fussy and scream and spit-up.  So we started rice cereal, and that through a wrench in our routine.  We had everything going so well.  Now it seems we are starting all over trying to find a quantity of formula and cereal that works and our schedule isn't quite so regular.  We also had to switch nipples for the formula/cereal combo, very stressful the night we figured out the formula wouldn't flow!

Right now we are working toward sleeping in the crib, a strategy the babies may have discovered and seem to be trying to thwart.  We had been sleeping fabulously at night except for the occasional bout of reflux that resulted in brief uncontrollable screaming and spit-ups (our babies don't like their faces to lay in their spit-up, it bothers them horribly).  We had been napping wonderfully in the crib during the day.  That has all changed.  Now I can't seem to get them all to nap in the crib, someone and more often two someones are invariably fussy and want their pacis but keep dropping them.  Soooo frustrating.  The plan is still to try sleeping in the crib at night next week when Auntie Steph is close by (the nursery is across the house).  I desperately want my bedroom and bathroom back... the babies have taken over the whole house and I want one room back!  We have a whole changing table set-up in our bathroom, and Evan had an explosive poo incident that caused it to go everywhere.  Plus our comforter has spit-up spots all over, we can't wash it often enough.  And we have baby clothes in the nursery, baby clothes in the bedroom, laundry all over.  I'm trying to move the stuff out of the room before the babies, because even though I tell myself I'm ready, I'm not sure that I am.  I think this is the time though, they need to get used to it sooner rather than later.  We'll let you know how it goes...

So far we're still acting more like newborns than 2 month olds, a little developmentally delayed.  They are looking at things and can track things with their eyes a little.  No smiles or coos yet :(  Hopefully soon!  We are really, really cute right now though, I'll try to post pictures soon :)