Happy Mother's Day!!!!

First, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there. I also want to let everyone know that my best friend, Leslie, had her son today. His name is Ryan & he was 7lb 4oz, 20in long! Congrats mama! We waited for this our whole lives. Now we have kids only 6 weeks apart & hopefully we will raise them together when you move back to Texas.

Today was my very 1st Mother's Day & I knew that I wouldn't be getting much in the way of gifts b/c taking care of 3 babies takes up all our time so Todd didn't have the opportunity to go buy anything. I'm actually fine w/ it b/c to me, these holidays aren't about spending money to buy a gift, they are about creating memories AND that is EXACTLY what we did. Daddy & the kids all came to bed & we had breakfast in bed together. It was fantastic. I even got to feed Ian so it would officially be a family breakfast rather than me eating by myself. Todd must have left at some point after the 5am to go buy a dozen red roses, a card, & kolaches w/ apple fritters. He is so sweet! Here is a picture of us all enjoying the bed together. I told Todd that we needed to do this every weekend on Sunday.



I have to say that this day could not have been any better. Todd did all the feedings through 5pm which is the only feeding I have done today besides the 2am this morning. I even got to sleep until 11:30am! Yeah, I had to get up & pump after breakfast but at least I didn't have to feed kids either at the 8am or 11am. I got to just lay in bed. BEAUTIFUL!

I have also conquered the 2am feeding. We have still been battling scheduling conflicts so we are yet again trying a different approach b/c the one we had before wasn't working for Todd at all. Poor guy was coming home, going to sleep & messing up his schedule completely. So, now we are trying this...

2am ~ I feed alone.
5am ~ Todd feeds alone.
8am ~ I feed alone.
11am ~ I feed alone.
2pm ~ I feed alone.
5pm ~ Todd & I feed together.
8pm ~ Todd & I feed together (wasn't happening b/c he was falling asleep before & I didn't have the heart to wake him).
11pm ~ I feed alone (he was feeding & I was pumping before).

I think it is going to work out well for the both of us. Last night we had a trial run w/ the new schedule minus me doing the 8am, 11am, & 2pm feedings b/c of Mother's Day but I did all my scheduled feedings on Saturday while he worked on the AC unit & I was fine. Hopefully this is the right schedule for us.

You may be wondering how you feed 3 babies by yourself. Well, I took a couple of pictures to illustrate 1 of the ways we feed the babies. The Boppy pillows come in very handy now that they can fit. Before, the Boppies were too big for them. I would say that if your baby is much smaller than 7lbs, the Boppy is not an option. Once they pass the 7lb mark, it is easy to get them in there, roll up a receiving blanket to use as a make shift tray & then another receiving blanket to prop the bottle at the right height. Yes, there is a science to it all & once you figure it out, you have hands free feedings! Of course, it does get a bit hairy when you have to burp them. It's kind of like a conveyor belt...I just go down the line, pick them up & burp them. Let me note this, they do not burp nearly as much now as they did before. I think as they become more efficient suckers, they don't take in nearly as much air thus not as many burps. That is a good thing in the middle of the night! Here is what they look like all propped up & eating. This was taken yesterday during the day.



We also started tummy time a couple of days ago. I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea but after getting many different mommies' advice, I started. It was great to prop them up on their Boppies (aren't these pillows great???) & WAAAA-LAAAA...they didn't have any problems! Their necks are getting much stronger although in the pictures it looks like they are all asleep.

Gabi on the Boppy, lovin' life!

Sofi w/ her Boppy, chillin' out!

Ianchito w/ his Boppy, cool as can be!


Besides all this, tomorrow they will be 6 weeks old. I can't believe 6 weeks have gone by! Seriously, it seems like yesterday that I was being wheeled down the hall to go to the NICU for the 1st time to see my babies. Now they are home, developing personalities & growing before my eyes. The girls are nearing the 8lb range from my best guess & Ian isn't too far behind. They are easily eating 4oz per feeding, most of it which is breast milk. Yes, I am still a mad woman & pumping! I hope to keep it up for at least 6 months. We'll see. Being attached to a pump which is much like a 4th child, isn't going to be easy.

Life has found a routine. I believe that it will get much more enjoyable than what it has been now that we found a schedule that will work for both Todd & I. If we can keep this up, we will make it through the 1st 3 months which I hear are the hardest. Well, we are 1/2 way there already so not too much longer!