pictures!!!!

our babies are so grown up!

Here are some of the fun things they do in their 'grown up' state of mind...

*They try to crawl out of their boppies (Zach)*They hold their own bottles up (only a one time thing for now by Colby)

*They link arms with each other (Avery and Colby)

*They have their first friend...Hadley Rankin

*They have big boy and girl paci's
ok....so reality says they're still negative a week and a half....but very advanced for their young selves!! Next week is their official 'due date' and the 40 week mark where we can start counting positive weeks with their adjusted age. they will start acting more like term babies, and start catching up with all the fun things babies do...which hopefully includes sleeping for stretches longer than 1.5 hours through the night!!

Update

Everyone is doing very well!...the boys are definitely boys...peeing all over themselves and taking formula/milk baths just about every feeding...and Avery is definitely the princess...demanding lots of attention and looking beautiful in all of her cute clothes.

Their mom and dad are doing well too...trying to sleep as much as possible, even though that works out better for their dad than it does their mom (who is really pushing for the longer sleeping stretches through the night!)

Our Outings

Last week, we went to the eye dr....and if you ever have a preemie that has to go to the eye dr...be prepared for the torture devices they use on their poor eyes. It's important to get them checked so we know for sure they won't have a detached retina down the road, but i have never heard the babies scream that loud before. They use a clampy-like-thing to hold their eye opened, then another tool to rotate their eye left and right....the nurse even said her ears were ringing-especially after Colby was done. Here i thought we were in for a nice family trip out of the house, but it didn't turn out to be so nice for the babies-but the good news is the dr. said their eyes were even a little more developed than they should be at their age!

We did go on our first family outing this weekend that wasn't as torturous! And by family...everyone including Cooper got to go! We all rode together so mom could do a little shopping at Old Navy and Target (mom was the only one who got out of the minivan) and then dad got to get out to get carryout food from Max and Erma's! Even though the babies slept the whole time, i know they were excited to get out of the house and watch mommy do what she does best-shop!! =)

Now...it's time for mommy to get some sleep while she can! The 3am feed/pump session comes faster every night!!

Aren't they so cute in their hand-made 'baby in a bag' outfits!? They were very cozy in them after their baths!

more pics can be seen at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=165zx8f1.9uhdoxnp&x=0&y=gp293r&localeid=en_US

Three fat babies

We are finally to a point where the kids are big enough that their feeding patterns will be changing. Kara talked to a nurse today who told us we could stop putting formula powder (extra calories) in the breast milk. She also said we could start transitioning to more "on call" feedings instead of having to wake them up every three hours to feed. Tonight is the first night we are trying this. It is 2 am now and I just got done feeding the kids. I would have normally woke them up at midnight and fed them but I waited until they woke themselves up. They slept an extra hour from what they normally would. The real test will be, what time they wake up again. Normally I would do a 3am feed and go to bed but who knows when they will wake up. Little Angel

Two of a kind


Not much else has changed in the last week. Kara and I have had to learn to do the day to day activities while trying to handle three little ones. Avery takes the most attention to keep happy. Once a day she goes into a screaming fit. We are lucky that it is only once a day. If you pick her up she is fine, she usually stops within seconds and goes to sleep in your arms. Well, the other day she went into one of the screaming fits while Kara was doing dishes and I was getting bottles ready. Neither of us was at a good stopping point so we had to get a little creative. I think the picture says it all..... I know it looks goofy but it worked. We also have a pouch that looks like a kangaroo pouch. Kara has carried around the kids and it works great. Hands free cell phones was a great invention, but hands free kid carriers are going to be a life saver! We had a conversation tonight about what it would be like if we only had one baby instead of three. We heard so many times how hard it was going to be trying to take care of three kids. How hard just one kid is and here we are trying to to raise three. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been easy, especially on Kara. No matter if the kids slept 8 straight hours, she would still have to get up every three to make her "mommy juice". I feel bad for her because I can tell it takes a lot out of her every day but she is doing great. And it is not as hard as it will be when I go back to work. Right now, the load is lightened with me being home because I just keep the same sleep pattern that I do when I work, staying with the kids all night. When I go back, it will be even more time Kara will have to be here by herself and less rest for her. But, we would not trade this for the world. We talked about how bored we would be, and how much more down time we would have with just one. Our living room is a makeshift nursery right now and that wouldn't be here with just one baby. Our lives would be completely different and it just isn't something we would want. Anyways, just some random thoughts popping in my head. Enjoy the pics, will post more later.

Metting of the minds...they are plotting against us

mommy's little miracles

Everyday, I stare at Avery, Colby and Zachary in pure amazement....how two people can make these 3 beautiful babies...how God has blessed us in so many ways...how i can't remeber what life was like without them...how i want time to stand still, because as i think about the future, i am excited to see who they are going to be, but at the same time know that they will never be this small again, which makes me sad. I'm trying to take in every minute, every moment, and remember everything they do.

This week we have settled into our routine...at least the routine we will have while Josh is still home...i get more and more scared by the day trying to imagine what it's going to be like when he goes back to work b/c i can't imagine doing this on my own, but i know we will be fine and fall into our own routine for the days without him.

This week i feel like i don't have huge milestones to report...but there are a few little things that are fun that i will share.

*The babies' eyelashes are growing in....Zach's are the longest right now =)

*Avery sings to herself while she sleeps (hums a sweet little tune)

*They all LOVE to be held (especially Avery)

*Colby's got aim and distance without a diaper on (christened the footstool of the glider)

*Zach is still the wiggle worm he was in my belly and always ends up in funny positions to sleep

*Colby has a shriek that is ear piercing when he is not happy, but it's usually just a one time thing. i think he scares himself when he does it!

*They have more gas than any babies i have ever met!! (and it's still funny every time they do it!)

*The babies went back to get their weights checked at the dr, and they were thrilled with their progress! They have all gained a pound since last tuesday....Avery is 5lbs 11oz, Zachary is 5lbs 13.5 oz, and Colby is 5lbs 15oz!

That's all for now...i promise i will get some more pics up in the next few days!

The babies are a month old!!!!!! I'm still tired

The babies turned a month old yesterday, on mother's day. It was the first, and possibly the best mother's day in history. Kara's grandma got to come visit and see the babies for the first time since they were born. She rode down with Kara's Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Jack who had a fun time visiting also. There were 4 generations in the house and it is Donna's first great grand babies. They must have gotten Zach all fired up while they were here. As soon as they left we did diaper changes for the 6 o'clock feed. Uncle Alex was changing his diaper when he had a supercharged poop while his diaper was off. Alex got out of the way in time and it ended up shooting off the changing table and on the floor. It was a great shot, and something only a mother could love(because his mother didn't have to clean it up...the pic of me with resolve.) I apologize that the blog isn't being updated as regularly as it was while in the hospital. We are a little busier without a nurse taking care of feeding, diapers, baths, etc. Kara and I have fell in to a routine over the last week. We both feed and care for the kids during the early afternoon through night hours. She goes to bed around 11 or so and I stay up through the 3 am feed, typically getting to bed around 4 or 430. She wakes up when I get in bed for 30 minutes or so. She then goes back to sleep (or tries to) until the 6 am feed. The 6 am and 9 am feed are up to her while I catch some sleep, then it is back to both of us. We have talked about how quick the days and nights go by having to get the babies up every three hours around the clock to feed. In another few weeks we should be able to drop a feeding session during the night. Right now the point of feeding is to pack on the weight and fatten them up a little bit. Once they get a little fatter we can do feeding "on call". Let them sleep when they want to sleep and feed them when they are hungry. That should lighten the load a little bit. We are going through 24+ bottles and diapers a day, along with 24 burp clothes (3 per feeding). I think the city of Monroe is about to go into a water shortage due to our dishes and laundry loads. This is nothing all of you with kids hasn't gone through before on a smaller scale. Like I implied before, things are hectic so we will update when we can! Oh ya, to everyone who has visited and brought dinner, we thank you. It means so much and takes a big load off of Kara and I when there is one less step that we have to go through on a nightly basis.

Getting settled in...

Can you tell we have babies home and not a lot of free time on our hands?! I've been trying to update since Tuesday, but haven't had luck finishing it! The good news is we've made it pretty successfully through our first 5 days at home!! My mom has stayed with us all except one night, which has been my saving grace so i can get a few consecutive hours of sleep. With the babies eating every 3 hours, by the time they are finished with one feeding, it's almost time to start another one, so it's been nice having an extra person in the rotation!

We had our first pediatrician visit, and they all checked out with a clean bill of health! They continue to grow and as of Tuesday...we had our first 5 pound baby..Colby! The dr. said at this point, they should be gaining an ounce or so a day, so if those calculations are right, all 3 of them should be really close to 5lbs now!!
Cooper has also been getting better every day. He is VERY protective, and while he still really wants to lick them from head to toe, he resists. The poor puppy has been tired too...b/c he's up with us every feeding and every peep they make in between! He figured out real quick what the bobbys are for....
And is pretty understanding when they are occupied... :)
We had our first bath at home too! And i don't think that is something we are going to do without at least 2 people for a long time! It doesn't take too terribly long when one person can wash and they other one can dry and dress. They all got to be "babies in a bag" after their baths...and looked VERY cute!!
Zachy after his bath...
Avery after her bath...
Colby after his bath...
They continue to sleep most of the day...and sometimes snuggle too!!But sometime we get to see their bright eyes!! (Usually about 2am!)

I picked my favorite pics to put on here...but if you want to see the rest from our first week home...here's the link! http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=165zx8f1.1ynuxkj9&x=0&y=sy393s&localeid=en_US

The kids are home....i'm tired

In the car seats for the first time (they are so small)

First stroller ride...noone was awake to enjoy it

The kids got to come home yesterday!! We left the hospital about 330pm. It was a very slow ride home with Kara riding in the back with the babies. The nurse said she could not remember the last time triplets got to come home together. Most of the time a baby, maybe two get to come home while their brothers or sisters have to stay a little while longer. It was very exciting. We got a lot of stares and some very nice comments from medical staff and complete strangers as we walked by with the triplet stroller. This was a day that everyone was looking forward to but when we got them through the door it hit me....OH CRAP, now what do I do? Being first time parents I felt a little lost. I know Kara has everything under control and I am just following her lead. After 24 hours at home I have run through every possible emotion. I was extremely proud walking them out of the hospital and putting them in the car. Then it changed to terrified as I drove 5 miles an hour under the speed limit all the way home. Then back to ecstatic as we walked them in the door for the first time. Then as described before, the oh no feeling when I didn't have a clue as to what to do. After a few hours of just sitting and starring I realized that they don't really do much at this age. We have to get them up, changed, and fed every three hours. Then it's 2.5 hours of down time until their next cycle of changing and feeding. About 530 this morning my mood changed to sad when I realized we had forgotten to bring a Good Sam nurse home with us so she could do the 3 am and 6 am changing and feeding. I think it was the lack of sleep talking at that point.
We are all home



Cooper has had a tough time adjusting. I think he is going to be a protective big brother. He wants to be around and all over them ALL THE TIME. If he could find a way to jump into the pack and play he would. We have had to correct him more in the last 24 hours than we have in the 4 years that we've had him. He has been so careful not to step on any of them but he wants to be as close as possible and then going on a licking attack trying to clean them. It is funny to watch but it gets old after a while. He has to be just as tired as Kara and I. Every time one of the babies made the slightest sound he would jump to attention and run to the crib or pack and play to make sure they were ok. It is time to get back to work but I will update more later.

Atleast someone got some sleep lastnight

Zach is a beast...mommy and daddy are a train wreck

3 peas in a pod

So the kids are doing awesome. As you know, Avery pulled her own feeding tube out a few days back. Since then she has taken every bottle feeding and is doing great. The boys got theirs taken out by the nurses on Thursday and have not missed a beat. Just think, 3 weeks ago today they were taking 4 ml of milk every 3 hours. They are now up to 45 ml of milk every 3 hours. Zach is a beast when it comes to taking his bottles. When he was born he was the runt at a whopping 3 lb 4 oz. He has now caught his sister at 4 lb 7 oz. When you put a bottle in his mouth it is game on. At times I have to take the bottle out to give him a breather or he would eat all day. The kid does not get full. We have talked to the doctors and nurses and it seems as if they will be home soon. It is such a great feeling to know that we will start another exciting chapter to our lives in the next few days. It is also ironic because the kids are such all stars while Kara and I are falling apart. It is not the best time for both of us to be laid up but we have found ourselves in a little pickle. I hurt myself at work last night and found myself at the hospital. I have an air cast on my right foot and used crutches today. I did not break my foot but it is a good sprain and has slowed me down a step. When Kara and I went to the hospital today to visit the babies, Kara had set up a doctor's appointment to get checked out. She has been feeling tired and run down so she just wanted to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong before the kiddos come home. Kara told me to stay with the kids while she went to see the doctor (in the same building). About a half hour later I get a text message saying she had a large blood clot that was causing her pain and she was going to have to have surgery to get it removed.

Kara didn't want her picture taken after surgery.

I then learned that this "surgery" was scheduled for a few hours later. Nothing like rushing things. She came back down to the NICU to say hi to the kids, pump a little milk, then run back down for surgery. Long story short, things went well and the clot was removed. It has also slowed her down a step. If Kara and I got into a foot race I don't know who would win. The new surgery set back her healing time a little but she should bounce back a little faster. Anyways, it has been a long day so I am going to post some pictures and hit the sack. Keep you posted.