05 February 2000
(more pictures in the picture gallery!)
8 hours of sleep is a wonderful thing
That's about what we got in the month of October. Now we're getting
it
(well, almost all) every night. Or at least we could if there
weren't other
chores to be done. Everyone keeps telling us that the further
along you
get, it gets a little better. Another day, a little better.
Another day, a
little better. We have found that to be quite true. What
was once a
carefully orchestrated monkey circus is slowly evolving into a more
respectable three ring circus (ala Barnum and Bailey, complete with
the clowns and the little car).
So what have you the casual website reader missed since September
of 1999? If you weren't curious enough to call and ask, why should
I
bother to tell you? That's certainly a tall order and we'd honestly
love to
share it with you, but we honestly don't remember the details much
less
the days. We're pretty sure we lived the experience, but it all
seems
somewhat fuzzy and dark like a bad dream after you wake up. Not
that it was all that bad, but we sure didn't have a lot of spare time
to
write down our thoughts and dream in the diary like we used to.
It
was more like, sleep or die. We chose to live.
Doctor's Visits
20 October 1999
This was a routine visit with a fine result. They gave us weights
but
their under something right now. If you're really interested,
we'll
update this text when we find 'em. The first round of vaccinations
will happen in 9 days. Everyone is happy and healthy. Katherine
has some immature red blood cells which they refer to as "target cells."
They have prescribed an iron additive to help bolster her marrow
and foster the maturing red cells. Actually, everyone got the
iron
supplement, but Katherine got a double dose. Ian remains on caffeine
and hear monitor. Rebecca is the largest of the three, Katherine
is second
heaviest and Ian is a pound smaller than Katherine.
Sidebar: It is the custom at the doctor's office to strip the
babies
down to their diaper and wait for the doctor to arrive in the exam
room. Since these are preemie babies and subject to rapid heat
loss, Rachel brought in blankets that their great aunt Judy made for
them. Each blanket was carefully stitched with the baby's name
and
a pair of balloons. The doctor walked in and saw each child carefully
laid out and labeled and commented, "You're a smart woman. Get
tired
of being asked their names, huh?"
29 November 1999
Most babies don't have a three month checkup. Ours are special
since their are both triplets and preemies, the doctor wants to
monitor their progress and keep a close watch for any possible
trouble. Everyone is ordered off of the iron supplement.
Katherine
still has some target cells, but not enough for the doctor to be concerned.
Ian has been weaned off of the caffeine with no ill effects and now
we see
how long it takes for the heart monitor to go away. Maybe for
Christmas.
Weights are:
Ian
9 lbs 12 ounces
Katherine 10 lbs 3.5
ounces
Rebecca 10 lbs
12.5 ounces
13 January 2000
The babies made it through the Y2K deal without the first bit of concern.
We kept explaining that the talk was all hype and they really didn't
let it
bother them. We were fairly proud. The doctor gave them
the next round
of vaccinations. Everyone remains happy and healthy. The
countdown clock
for Ian's heart monitor has begun. While no firm date has been
set, the next
two weeks would provide the final data as to whether he required the
monitor
anymore or not. We're getting tired of plugging and unplugging
our baby boy
into this gadget... this is great news.
Weights are:
Ian
14 lbs 11 ounces
Katherine 12 lbs 10
ounces
Rebecca 13 lbs
14 ounces
The Routine
When we started this experiment in parenthood, the babies were being
fed every three hours. This basically gave you enough time to
feed the
babies, go to the bathroom and prepare to feed the babies again in
30
minutes. While this was a difficult schedule, we got used to
it in time
and managed not to kill anymore. During the first doctor's visit,
Dr.
Beard had recommended letting the babies stretch out their feeding
time during the night. And to gradually, move into a four hour
routine.
There is a magic formula to make sure the baby is getting enough food
in a given 24 hour period. Ours were eating enough that they
could move
from 8 feedings a day to 6 feedings a day. When we started out,
it
didn't seem like it would work but it only took a day or so and they
had the hang of it. We suddenly felt like we had been given two
tickets
to the Carribean. There was actually a possibility of sleeping
between
feeds. This was miraculous. We quickly moved into a 8:00/12:00/4:00
schedule and thought we were given a gift of spare time.
As we realized that we were the masters of our own lifes, it occurred
to
us that maybe shifting the schedule would work out better. And
suddenly,
we were on a 10:00/2:00/6:00 plan that allowed us to eat lunch at noon
and
dinner closer to our standard 7:30 of days gone by. Mark could
get up
early and actually spend time with the babies before going to work.
This also
meant that he could go to bed before 2:00am and function the next day.
It's the little things in life that bring us the most joy.
Being creatures of habit, it took us a while to understand what the
babies
were trying to tell us when January began. It was our routine
to feed the
last bottle around 10:00pm and put them to bed for the night.
One night
when Rachel when grocery shopping, the babies decided to make a
coordinated attack on Dad and possibly get it through their thick skulls
that 10:00pm was too late. It was a mean night, everyone was
crying a
full hour before their feeding time, Mom wasn't home to help repeal
the
attack and Dad was making exaggerated dance steps and singing songs
that didn't exist to bring peace to this peace-less place. It
was then that
it hit him. They're tired! They want to be half way through
the feeding
by now. Holy cow, we need to back up the last feed and put them
to
bed earlier. It was then that he became giddy and babbled incoherently
for the next 15 minutes.
Thus began the odyssey, known as sleeping longer. Feedings became
compressed as we moved the 10:00 to 9:30 and from there to 9:00.
Suddenly,
8:30 just seemed like the time to feed and put the babies to bed.
Well now,
we had another problem. What happens when you have a 6:00 feed
that
lasts until 7:30 and then an 8:30 feed that you really need to push
back
to 8:00. Ha! You move the 6:00 to 5:30, yeah, that'll work.
Whoops. No it won't.
The past three days, we've begun skipping the 6:00 all together and
making the last bottle happen between 7:00-8:00pm. The babies
have
rewarded our efforts with longer sleeping patterns and happier faces
throughout the day. We now fear that the last bottle may happen
sometime
around 10:00 in the morning and if the trend continues we'll have to
figure out the time paradox of feeding the last bottle sometime before
the
first. Time travel isn't possible yet, so we've begun working
on solid food.
Rice cereal and carrots are a lot easier than Einstein's E=MC2.
Personalities Abound
In the past 60 days, the curious set of eyes staring back at you has
expanded it's repertoire from the standard "blank or mad" expression
to add another possibility. Happy. Normally, we'd know
they were
happy or at least content when they weren't mad. Now we can confirm
our suspicions when they smile back at you. You can go to the
park
and see someone juggle chainsaws and then yawn because you've seen
something like that before. But when you see your child smile
for the first
time, it is truly an amazing and fun experience. Our incessantly
one way
conversations have recently started becoming a little more interactive
when Rebecca, then Katherine and finally Ian; cooed, then smiled, then
laughed. Each step more momentous than the first and no less
amazing
when the second to find a smile copied the first.
We've noticed that Rebecca is usually the first to find a skill like
smiling
or thumb-sucking. Once she has it down, Katherine is sure to
follow
only to be joined by Ian shortly thereafter. Thumb-sucking.
A habit that
you hear most parents trying to break rather than encourage.
We have
found that once a baby can find his/her own thumb that they can calm
themselves down or put themselves to sleep. And better yet, when
the
thumb falls out of their mouths, they can put it back. Peace
in our time.
Rebecca was first. Katherine found hers about two weeks later
and
Ian alternates between the side of his hand, all of his fingers, his
thumb
and middle (which we call the whistle) and finally just his thumb.
It
just can't be explained how this little step adds comfort to both parents
looking for downtime and children looking for comfort. We'll
regret
in a few years, but for now it's awesome.
Going Out in Public (or the public's top 10 most stupid questions)
When you have three babies who are in three identical car seats, coming
out of the same van. Or when you have three babies in a triple
stroller
and you're walking about. Something about this attracts attention
from
the average person you run into. We're not sure what it is.
Here are our
favorite 10 questions from the average stunned passerby.
10. What does your dog think?
9. Are they twins?
8. Are you going to have any more kids?
7. Are they identical?
6. What's the mix? All boys? All girls?
Some of each?
5. Did you know you were having triplets?
4. Getting much sleep?
3. Are they all yours?
2. Are they triplets?
1. Were they born on the same day?
While we mostly enjoy our celebrity status, it just amazes us when
people won't believe they could all belong to one set of parents or
look at a triple stroller and wonder if their twins? Huh?
Grand-daddy and the Dry Cleaner
Some would begin to get paranoid, some would feel like they are
being singled out. But Rachel's father is still the doting grandfather
even though he somehow attracts whatever baby is leaking
when he has on a pair of "Dry Clean Only" pants. You know you've
been caught one too many times when your dry cleaner is disappointed
when you don't have a pair of pants with baby-<fill in the blank>
on
the leg. Despite a leaking diaper and tricky kids who like to
show
you their stomach contents when you're least expecting it, he hasn't
quit coming yet. We try not to laugh. Really we do.