Miscellaneous

This was so funny, I had to post it. Yesterday (Tuesday) Mary asked about going to church and I said we would go tomorrow (Wednesday). Well this morning, she announced that tomorrow was over, and asked about going to church. She is so smart!!!

Also, unless sister helped, Chris rolled over onto his tummy this morning for the first time, and was the first of the trio to do this. No surprise, he seems the most agile.

Last week (on the 14th) we started feeding the boys cereal. Chris and Daniel are keeping most of it in their mouth. Nathan is slobbering a lot out...

From stepping on the scale, with and without baby, I think the boys weigh about 16 pounds now, each. They are doing fantastic. I'm looking forward to the official numbers at the pediatrician's office, the end of next week. Sometime over the weekend I will be able to pick up my sister and nephew from her in-laws in Greenville, to spend the first week of August before she returns to California. :)

Before that though, I will need to get through 4 days of CPE in Greenville. I've got sitters arranged for each day, all wonderful trustworthy people...but I'm still not anticipating leaving the boys, or sitting in a classroom four days straight. However, it's better than the alternatives of giving up my CPA licence or doing home based study a couple hours every day (while the kids sleep) for several weeks.

Updates and News

"You've got yer hands full!" We hear this everywhere.

Mary reading to the boys

It is not possible to get three boys to smile at the same time!

Helping Daddy assemble a tricycle for big sister

Poor kid! Big sister has been busy.

Happy Birthday!

Life is relatively day to day normal busy these days. Although nothing extremely "exciting" is going on, that is not a bad thing.

We almost had a court date (would have been last week) to finalize the boys' adoption. We were hoping to get in before the end of June, related to the timing of Jeff's employee adoption assistance from Clemson. That became impossible because of the back log of the Anderson County family court. The day after we got our court date scheduled, it became apparent that there was one additional paperwork detail that would prevent that date from being feasible. We have been told we may be able to finalize the adoptions in August...we will see. We anticipate the finalization, however, there is a blessing in not being able to finalize the adoptions yet...

I have had a surprising, but great blessing this month. As my free formula from the manufacturers was running out, we were anticipating the need to start purchasing formula. On a whim, and partly due to the fact the boys are on Medicaid (because of their technical status as foster children), I called up our local WIC office. Sure enough, Medicaid recipients automatically qualify for WIC!! So, until the boys' adoption finalizes in court, we will qualify for WIC. We also anticipate our pediatrician taking the boys off the high calorie (read high dollar) formula at their six month check up the beginning of August. The WIC appointment took about 2 1/2 hours. We met with two different nurses as well as a nutritionist. The boys were weighed and measured (they were up to 13-7, 13-13, and 14-4). I especially thought the discussion with the nutritionist was quite valuable (especially with regard to the timing of starting baby cereal).

We were encouraged at the last visit with the doctor to start cereal soon. But, based on the boys prematurity, and their excellent weight gain, and good sleep, (not to mention the extra effort of spoon feeding)...I have yet to begin that journey. Probably before too long, we'll give it a try, as the boys are almost 6 months old now!

At times, I've noticed Chris especially (and possibly the other two) sucking his thumb. The boys all love to giggle and smile. Just the other day, Mary got into a giggling contest with one of the boys. They have also begun to notice each other and at times, just stare at each other. We recently pulled a Jumperoo down from the attic, and all the boys seem to have figured it out (although Nathan I think has to work a little harder to hold up his head--he being our chunk!) We also have a walker which will be more useful in coming months (their feet don't reach the floor on it yet!). However, Mary has enjoyed pushing her brothers around--yes, already! :)

Finally, even though this is a triplet blog, I need to mention the boys' sister...Mary is a big girl now. She turned 3 on "Juwy ferd"...translated July 3. :) Mary very much enjoyed her "swimming party". She had over 5 boys from the 2-3 Sunday school class at church (she's the only girl), along with her cousin Emily and the kids all enjoyed the octopus sprinkler, slip n slide and wading pool.

We are beginning what appears to be shaping up to be a busy month with friends coming over, a couple trips up to Greenville, and four days of CPE for Rebecca (and babysitters for all four days). At least I can get most of my 40 hours knocked out at one time. The highlight though, will be a visit from Aunt Liz and Cousin Noah at the beginning of August!!!

More pictures and videos from June are posted here.

5%, 12%, 20%

Chris

Daniel

Nathan

Wow Wow Wow! That was everyone's assessment at the pediatrician's check up visit last week. The boys are doing great. They are starting to catch up to their peers at their actual age!!! The above percentiles refer to the boys' ACTUAL percentiles for weight compared to all their peers born on time in January. Chris weighed 12 lb 8 oz, Dan weighed 12 lb 13 oz, and Nate weighed 13 lb 4 oz. They are getting to be such chunks! I started moving up the boys bedtime this week to feeding them at 8pm, then bed. The boys took to it great. That means one less bottle per day (now at 4, where we will remain the rest of the year). Nathan just compensated by requesting 7 1/2 ounces at one time last night! The other two are already starting to pick up some steam as well, eating nearly the same amount of formula per day as before. All three are somewhat consistently eating about 6 ounces at a time. The other feeding excitement to come is spoon feeding. The pediatrician wants us to start on time based on the boys actual age with cereal and a few veggies over the next few months. The boys are now just shy of 5 months old.

The boys have all rolled over at least once now. Recently, we had Chris and Daniel in a seeming roll-a-thon. We would set them on their tummies and they'd both flip, then we'd set them back and the process would continue to repeat. The boys are smiling constantly, and I occasionally hear something that almost sounds like a giggle!

The boys' hernia surgery results look great as well. The fevers left them about the time we went home from the hospital and did not return. The post-op checkup showed the surgery results to be perfect. And, the boys are all off the apnea monitors (we discarded those a few weeks ago). More recently, Mary picked up a cold somewhere a few weeks ago, that just seemed to drag. The night of the boys' check up and immunizations, all were running fevers, but Daniel's was 103...and he had a runny nose. So the next day, Saturday I got him in to the doctor again, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Since Mary's symptoms were hanging on, I took her in Monday morning, and she had a sinus infection. At least we know what's up and have everyone on antibiotics now.

Life is starting to settle in and slow down a bit. We have returned to our monthly Rook game tournaments, and are teetering on the edge of starting to build a new home to accommodate our growing family.

We have posted pictures and videos from May here

Home again

Thanks to everyone for praying for our family this week. The boys surgeries both went very smoothly. At 4:00 this morning during the nurse's check on the boys, Chris registered a temperature of 101.1. Tylenol quickly got it under control, and then Nathan did the same thing mid morning. The doctor decided to keep us until noon just to watch and see what would happen. He says there's no infection at this point, and just to monitor the boys at home over the next few days. Otherwise the boys are doing great--eating great and fairly back to their old selves.

A few brief notes...

We have not needed to feed the boys overnight all week! Their schedule has been to eat at 10:00 pm, and sleep after that until 7:00 am. We all will hopefully be a bit more rested now.

Also, Chris and Nathan had a consultation with the pediatric surgeon in Greenville Tuesday. They have been scheduled for hernia surgeries next Thursday morning at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Because of their age and prematurity from birth, they will stay at the hospital overnight. This is a very common issue for preemies, and routine surgery, but please do keep them (and Momma and Daddy!) in your prayers next week.

A Busy Month

Jogging strollers we use to walk for exercise.




Triple stroller for going to the park, mall, etc.




Mary doing "Tummy Time" with the boys


April 15th each year usually brings a change of pace to our household. This year was no exception. In the past, the date marked the end of tax "busy season." This year, however, Mom flew home on April the 14th. Life has gotten busier in some ways, but not insanely so.

Over the last several weeks the boys have begun to sleep at night closer to a 5 hour stretch (and occasionally 6 hours). We put them to bed at night around 11 pm after feeding them at 10:00, and usually hear stirrings somewhere around 4 am. Jeff and I together feed all three boys simultaneously and stumble back to bed after about 40 minutes or so. Then the boys sleep until somewhere around 8 am. So we generally get a reasonable night's sleep, if a bit short. We certainly cannot complain, though we anticipate the day hopefully not too far off when the boys will sleep the full night through.

With Mom gone, so far I've been picking up groceries on Monday nights, and doing laundry later in the week, spread across a few days, with a bit of cleaning and cooking "sprinkled" in where possible. I've started buying more convenience food items to cut cooking time, and a good friend from church has started coming by once a week to help out with laundry, etc.

The last time we had the boys weighed, it was only Chris and Nathan checked, since Daniel wasn't being seen that day. Back on April 21, Chris weighed 9 lb 15 oz, and Nathan weighed 10 lb 7 oz. The boys are continuing to grow like weeds! They are taking their formula 6 times a day now, 5 daytime bottles every 3 and a half hours or so, and the 4-5 am bottle.

Back at the boys' two month check up in March the pediatrician thought that Chris and Nathan might have hernias, so we were referred to a urologist to have them checked. The urologist confirmed his suspicions, but based on the boys' prematurity and age he wanted to refer us to a pediatric surgeon in Greenville who has access to better facilities than Anderson has, in the off chance that there are complications. We will be seeing the surgeon on Tuesday, and will proceed from there. It sounds at this point as though the procedures for the boys will be done in the near future. Please keep this situation in your prayers.

Also, we've had the monitors "read" twice now. With the boys on Prevacid for their reflux, they have all stopped having any monitor alarms. If we make it through another week or so, we should be able to stop using the monitors soon.

With the demise of cold/flu season, we have been able to take the boys out a bit. We've enjoyed taking the boys to church, and "out and about" a little, although its a bit challenging taking three infants and Mary anywhere. We have picked up a triple stroller which we have used several times. We also picked up two double jogging strollers so we can take the whole crew out for walks that we like to take often in the evenings.

I had my first great "solo" adventure with the crew this week. I met a friend at Olive Garden, and yes, packed up everyone to go. I started getting Mary and me ready at 10:30, fed the boys at 11:30, and made it to Olive Garden promptly by 1:02 pm. :) We attracted a good bit of attention from the waitresses, and other patrons at the restaurant, but had a very nice meal together as well. The boys were seated in three slings holding their car seats opposite us, sitting side by side on a bench row. I think the funniest part of the outing was the entourage of me carrying a baby in carseat out of the restaurant afterward, followed by two waitresses each carrying one out since my friend had her hands full with Mary and her take out box.

The most interesting (and most recent) event is that Nathan has started rolling over!!! Saturday morning, Nathan had pushed up very high on his arms, and just pushed himself over. I thought maybe it was a "fluke"--it quite took me off guard. I turned him back on his belly two more times, and he rolled over two more times in a row!

New pictures from April are posted here.

April

We had the above pictures taken several weeks ago and just got the proofs. We would like to thank Anita Goodman for taking these pictures for us. Go take a look at her work here: Goodman Photography

The boys are continuing to grow and develop. They are staying a bit more awake now, and alert. I got my first real, for sure, smile last night, from Nathan. I was feeding Chris, and Nathan and Daniel were on either side of me on the couch. I looked over at Nathan and said something to him (no clue now what I said), and he just looked at me and responded very naturally with a real smile!

Last Friday we took the boys in for their third (and final) monthly Synagis dose. By the time RSV season rolls around in September, their bodies will have significantly matured. A side benefit of going in for the shots, is that we get weights in between regular doctor visits. So, (drumroll please) Chris weighs 8 lb 12 oz, Daniel weighs 9 lb 1 oz, and Nathan weighs 9 lb 2 oz.

We will shortly be "running out" of our free Enfamil from their triplet gift program, so the pediatrician was more than accomodating, by signing us up this week with Similac. He had no problem switching us to the equivalent Preemie formula produced by them. I've been told that this may last us the year! Praise the Lord, what a blessing. We've calculated, that at retail, we could be spending 15 dollars per day on preemie formula (a can a day, now!)

Last Wednesday on ebay we found a slightly used triple stroller on a great buy-it-now deal. So Jeff jumped on it. The boys have their first conveyance of their own. Watch out on the roads now!

Mom has been a great help to us over the last two months, especially in February and early March when the boys were not as great eaters as they are now. Mom is needing to get back home to Dad and her own responsibilities in Texas. Mom flies home on Monday, and then the party will really begin! ;) The boys are starting to sleep a bit longer at night (last two nights they slept from midnight to four am!), and hopefully, especially as it will be just Jeff and me, they will continue to extend that even more so.

We've all got a bit of cabin fever, since we've been keeping the boys (and Mary) away from people mostly through the end of winter/early spring. Being preemies, any illness could be especially serious for these guys. As the weather warms, we are especially looking forward to getting out and about!

New pictures for March are here.