Sick Daddy = Busy Mommy

Oh boy! Not good, soooo not good when 1 of us is down & out. Geez, can I just say that the past few days have been really busy. Todd came down w/ some kind of throat illness that put him in bed w/ a low grade temp for a few days. It wasn't easy to really be the 1 handling the kids all the time w/o his help. As a matter of fact, I am still doing most everything w/ them b/c he is scared to touch them. I don't blame him. I do have to say a BIG THANK YOU to my in-laws for helping me out. I'm sure I would have been much more in a bind if they hadn't been here to help.

Now that he is finally feeling a bit better, he is able to help w/ feedings again. I had to take a picture of him last night b/c it was too funny! Of course we are trying to prevent the transmission of disease & since we don't have face masks (something I am going to buy today) or gowns, we got a bit creative.


We used a cloth napkin & the top to his Vovinam suit (Vietnamese martial arts). Pretty funny, don't you think?

As for the babies, they are all doing well. We had a run in w/ a 2nd bout of pink eye. Thankfully I had antibiotic drops left over & am giving it to them now for 7 days. Ian is still getting over this cold thing he had. He has had the cough now for just over a week but it is finally loosening up & he is spitting up flem. EWE!

Developmentally, they are doing fantastic! They are able to hold themselves up quite well & sit in the Bumbo seat w/o much help at all. They still do the "Stevie Wonder" but it isn't nearly as bad. Ian really laughed for the 1st time today & it just made my entire week! I have been waiting for this moment for quite some time. It reminds me of that cute baby on that commercial that giggles every time the paper is ripped. TOO CUTE! All 3 are "talking" quite a bit & have discovered several new syllables. Ian has said "ga" & "ma". I know it isn't in reference to me so I am not throwing it in Todd's face :) b/c chances are his 1st word will be something completely unrelated! Sofi & Gabi are both saying "ga" quite a bit. Gabi has learned to make some high pitched squeels that get our attention.

Along w/ all the talking, they have learned to hold on to things & bring them to their mouths. This has actually been going on for a while but they are starting to enjoy it more & think of it as a fun activity, especially Gabi.


Here are some great pictures of the kids having fun. We are all smiles now days!

Sofi smiles but it is always hard to catch!

This is Ian's flirty smile. He loves practicing on me...it melts my heart every time!

I couldn't believe I caught this big ol' smile from Gabi. She was having a blast in her bouncy chair going after her fist & fingers.

Hopefully there will be many more of these moments in the coming days, weeks, & months. This is what life is all about!

Then & Now

Last night I went to our local M.O.M. (Moms of Multiples) meeting & I had the pleasure of meeting a soon-to-be mommy of triplets. She is 18 wks along & in talking to her, many memories came flooding back. I honestly can't believe that the babies are almost 16 wks old! Where did the time go? It seems like yesterday that I had been put on bed rest (18w 4d pregnant) & I thought I was HUGE. Little did I know how big I would get although I don't think I ever got really big.

This was the beginning of our journey when I started injectables for the in-vitro.


Me at 19 wks, right after the cerclage was placed & on bed rest.



This is me the day the babies were born at 33w 6d.



We went through so much to have these babies. I know there were days that I just wanted to be able to go to Target or Babies R Us or help paint the babies' room but couldn't b/c I knew if I was up & about that my body would want to start contracting. It wasn't worth the risk!

Then our babies were born & we got to bring them home. I don't have much recollection of April & May. Sometimes I wonder how we did it. Todd & I were on our own during the night except for a few nights when I was sick w/ mastitis. Why didn't we ask for help? I think I was very concentrated on getting the kids on a good schedule & wanted to make sure that they stayed on it. For those of you thinking about doing it on your own, it is possible. We did have help during the day but being the Type A person that I am, I never napped. Nope, not once. Couldn't do it & still can't! I don't think I would have done anything differently.

Here are some pics of the kids from then & now.

Gabi at 3 wks old & 15w 4d old.

Ian at 3 wks old & 15w 4d old.

Sofi at 3 wks old & 15w 4d old.

Gabi practicing standing. She LOVES to do this!

Sofi blowing bubbles w/ her spit. Really cute, huh?

Ian sleeping in his swing. He LOVES his swing!


BIG DIFFERENCE! I can't believe they are so big! I think I want time to slow down a bit. Chances are these will be our only babies so I want to really enjoy these times b/c once they are gone, I'll never get them back.

When it rains, it pours but then the flowers bloom!

Alas...pink eye could not be the beginning & ending of our saga. We went to the dr w/ Gabi & Ian on Monday morning b/c both were running temps on Sunday evening, Ian at 101 & Gabi at 100.4. Turns out my hunch w/ Gabi was right. She has an ear infection & let me tell you that she lets you know that she is in pain. Ian has a pretty bad head cold & he is so laid back, I wonder if he even knows he is sick. Seriously, he is the most chilled out baby I have seen. I wish all 3 were like that, lol! Since Gabi's treatable, we are on our 1st bout of antibiotics, the good ol' pink stuff that you have to put in the frig. Oddly enough, she LOVES taking her meds. No problem at all w/ her trying to spit it out. She gladly swallows it. No meds for Ian though since it is a cold. Wish I could give the poor guy some chicken soup.

While we were there, both got weighed again. Gabi is at 11 lb 13 oz & Ian is 11 lb 11 oz. He did quite a bit of catching up since their 2 mth well baby exam! I'm so proud of him. I also discussed w/ the dr going to a 3.5 hr feeding schedule & she gave us the green light to go to a 4 hr schedule. You know me, no hestitating at all! As soon as we got home rather than feeding them at 11am, I went ahead & stretched them out to 12pm. It worked w/o any problems at all. They were obviously ready for the change! Monday was a bit weird since we were off by an hour but now we have our new schedule...

5am ~ Snack bottle w/ Todd (He feeds them before going to work otherwise they would make it until 6:30 but he saves me the hassle of having to wake up then & having an odd schedule the rest of the day. I'm sure the kids will be ready in the next month or so to drop that feeding all together.)
9am ~ 5.5 oz bottle w/ me
10:30-11:30/12 ~ nap
1pm ~ 5.5 oz bottle w/ me
2-4:30-5 ~ nap
5pm ~ 5.5 oz bottle w/ us
8pm ~ 6 oz bottle w/ us
8:30pm ~ Down for the count!

We don't want them to eat at 9pm b/c I am still pumping & start doing that no later than 9pm so I can be in bed asleep by 10pm. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night to pump. Many people think I am crazy but I have to tell you that the prolactin level is at its highest between 1am & 4am & by pumping during that time, I set the volume for the day. I am officially making enough to feed the kids all their bottles w/ breast milk. No supplementing at this moment. Actually, I take that back, about every 3-4 days they get 1 formula bottle. Not too shabby! GO BOOBIES! So this is my new pumping schedule...

3am ~ 16-18 oz
8am ~ 16-18 oz
12pm ~ 12-14 oz
4pm ~ 10-12 oz
8:30pm ~ 12 oz

I average about 72 oz per day which is 3/4 of a gallon of milk. I feel like a professional human COW! Todd & I sat down to figure out how much we are saving per month. A can of formula is $16, times that by 7 b/c the kids would go through a can a day & that is $112 per week. Multiply that by 52 & you get a grand total of...drum roll please...

$5824 per year!

Seriously, that is enough motivation to continue pumping for a year. I'm down to 5 sessions a day & if I could get down to 4 w/o losing my supply which means continuing to wake up in the middle of the night, then I'll do it! That is QUITE A BIT OF MONEY! Oh, I have to tell you I have a guilty pleasure...my treat for waking up at 3am is an oatmeal cream pie. My excuse is that oatmeal helps produce milk, wink, wink.

For those of you expecting triplets or are in the throws of those 1st 90 days at home w/ them, it does & will get better. I didn't think I would see the light at the end of the tunnel but it is happening. We are slowly starting to get our lives together again & w/ a schedule that is manageable for all of us. Todd & I are actually eating dinners cooked by me again. I don't know what we would have done w/o our parents those 1st few months b/c w/o them, we would not have eaten. THANK YOU! Life is getting on track. It feels great!

For you picture people, here are the latest...

Uncle Iancho & Ianchito playing on the computer.

Ianchito LOVEs his fingers, especially that thumb.

Sofi practicing how to sit up like a big girl.

Gabi loves to kick while she is in her bouncy chair.

Pink Eye :(

Well, seems like you can get pink eye from out of nowhere! It all started yesterday afternoon. Gabi was in her swing & when we went to get her out there was the yellowish-green gook (for lack of a better word) that was oozing out. I can't remember exactly what it was like when I had gotten pink eye so here I was freaking out b/c she had this crap coming out of both eyes, was fussy & would start crying anytime we walked under a light. I was sure she was going to lose her eye sight! I called our ped's office & was able to get in to the after hours office at 8:20pm. Thank God for TX Children's Pediatrics!

It didn't take Dr. Worrall (who happens to be a friend of my inlaws) a second to say "pink eye" & what a bad case. I swear, her eyes were fine an hour before it all started happening! I can't believe how fast it happens. Gabi seems to be the one that gets everything. It's ok though, we got to weigh her again. She is 11lb 14oz & very healthy. No issues w/ her ears which normally happens when a baby gets pink eye. I asked about how to keep the other 2 from getting it & he said to wash our hands all the time. Off I went to the 24 hr pharmacy to get the medicine.

Wouldn't you know that we wouldn't get away w/ just 1 baby getting it, right? Minutes after waking Ian up for his 8am bottle, the yellow-green gook comes oozing out of his left eye. I called the ped's office again (they are also open weekends). I was hoping they would just call in the drops BUT NOOOOOO...b/c he is only 14w 5d old, he had to be seen so off I went AGAIN to Dr. Worrall (not that it is bad to see him b/c he is a FANTASTIC dr). He walked in the room & did a double take. Then he said he would just write out a script for both Ian & Sofi (in case she also got it we wouldn't have to go back). The good thing about going to the ped's is that the babies get weighed. I have been dying to know how much my little Ianchito weighed for quite some time since he seems quite a bit bigger than what he was. Low & behold he is only 2oz less than Gabi (she was bigger than Ian by almost a whole pound the last time). He weighs in at 11lb 12oz. Not too shabby!

I also got the "unofficial pumping award" as he couldn't believe that the babies are only getting 1 formula bottle a day a piece. Honestly, I am still in awe that I am pumping about 70oz a day. He said he has only met 1 other lady that pumped this long & it was for twins. My goal is to get us to 6 mths. I just rented the pump for another 3 mths so I better not give up before then!

Next week is a big week. I have my local M.O.M. (Moms Of Multiples) meeting on Thursday & then I am giving a presentation to the Marvelous Multiples class at Women's Hospital. I'm really excited about it as I took it when we were expecting. We had a mother of twins come in but I think they really need to see it from a mom of triplets' perspective. I have already planned on making a list of must haves & tips. I'll have to post about it when I get back.

Well, I'm going to finish pumping (my last session for the day until 2:30am) & go to bed. Nighty night!

My daughter, the head case!

LOL! I have a head case on my hands! Seriously! Ok, let me explain. Gabi & Ian were both born w/ some head molding issues meaning that their heads weren't really round. Gabi's was really bad. So bad that her ears were off by at least an inch! Poor dear had 1 side of her face protruding further than the other. Also, 1 side of the back of her head was pushed in a bit & made it look like she had a very square head. Well, at the 2 mth well baby exam, Dr. Nguyen noticed how bad it was & wrote us a referral to see a specialist. At the time, she also said we needed to start laying her on the left side to see if we could get her head to start changing shape. So that is what we have been doing. We got new sleep positioners that really hold the babies in place on their sides. They are made by The First Years & can be found at Walmart ($10)& Babies R Us ($13). Anywho...for the last month, we have been putting Gabi, Sofi & Ian on their sides & the results are amazing! I had to take Gabi in to the dr b/c she was projectile vomiting her formula bottle in the evening for a whole week & when she saw her, she said that this was the 1st time she had seen such a drastic change in a short amount of time. WOOT! We still had the appt w/ the specialist on the 3rd but I was now confident we wouldn't need a helmet.

First, the appt was at a different office & I went to the one that the nurse told me to go to BUT it ended up being the WRONG ONE! I had to go to a totally different location & when I got there, I went to the office they told me to but again it was the wrong one. I was on a wild goose chase! Finally we found the right office but they wanted to reschedule me. HA! I told them no way b/c it was just too difficult to get out there & arrange for someone to watch the other 2 kiddos. We did get seen & the specialist told me that she had only a mild case of head molding & torticollis. You can read more about torticollis here...

We have to do some basic exercises to stretch out Gabi's neck & continue to put her on her left side to sleep. The dr said her head shape will resolve itself. Thank God! One less thing we have to worry about!

Oh, the 2nd part of the 1st dr visit was about Gabi projectile vomiting her formula bottle. Since they only get 1 bottle a day of formula, we decided to go ahead & switch to Enfamil A.R. So far so good! Otherwise, Gabi is doing very well & is on the regular growth chart weighing in at a heafty 11 lb 6 oz (this was a week ago). When we went to the specialist 2 days later, she weighed 11 lb 14 oz! I don't think we have any growth problems! She is also 23 1/4 inches long!

We go back on the 31st for their 4 month well baby & I am curious to see how well the babies are doing then. I know they are all at around 12 lbs each which is just incredible. I took out some of their preemie clothes & remember when it was too big for them. They are growing up way too fast!

Here are some pictures that I tweeked. Enjoy!

Sofi in her bikini.

Ian w/ my Bear-Bear.

Gabi sitting in the bumbo chair.