Our departure from the NICU last week was pretty uneventful. After a four month stay, I thought I might be a little more emotional. To be honest, we were ready to leave and not come back. We'll surely miss all of our nurses and doctors and will be forever thankful for the care and love they gave our daughters, but I won't miss having one of my babies at the hospital with the other two at home. We've been trying to ween ourselves off of the care that the NICU provided and have only called back a handful of times for help with some of the inevitable questions we've had. It doesn't matter who answers the phone, they're always willing to help and ask for updates on how all of the girls are doing. Even our favorite nurse, now friend, Melissa, came by last week and spent several hours just holding the girls. I can see how they might get attached :) We love it!
Izzy, buckled in and ready to get home and see her sisters!
Meg and our smallest girl
Happy to be leaving the hospital
Meg, glued to her baby. Wait, if I'm taking this photo, who's driving?
Saying that we are utterly exhausted would still be a huge understatement. Everyone says that "it gets easier." I sure as hell hope so. We're running at an unsustainable pace, and that's with help! Don't worry about us though. We'll get through it. We're already adjusting to even less sleep and we're really trying to be diligent when it comes to keeping the girls on a schedule. They're adjusting, too, which makes this transition much more manageable.
We're learning on the fly and adjusting our behavior based on how our girls respond. They're pretty good at letting us know when they've had too much to eat, when they're getting bored, and when they just need to be held for a while. I'm not sure how aware of each other they are yet, but I definitely think they use crying as a way to communicate with each other. If they're even semi-awake and one starts crying, the other two easily chime in, even to the point where it sounds like they're singing the same tune. Even though it's extremely loud, it's hard for Meg and me not to look at each other and smile :)
Bottle washing and formula mixing absolutely take up too much of our time. I don't see us getting away from it anytime soon though, so we're just trying to get faster. What's really time consuming is calculating everything that you need for the next day. All of the girls are on different formula. The breast milk-to-formula ratio is different for each girl. Plus, they're all on a slightly different calorie make up. Add to that the fact that their volume requirements seem like they're constantly in flux. If you're not good at mental math, forget it, your toast! So, it's probably a good thing that I'm doing the bottles (sorry babe).
Let's see. What else has been really exciting this week? Oh yeah, Izzy pulled out her NG tube three times on Christmas night, Maddy has been extremely constipated, and we're trying to switch Sophie from sleeping on her stomach to her back (not fun).
Believe it or not, I've been working on this post for five days. I just can't seem to get enough time to put a complete thought together and write in a way that flows. I'm sure I've complained about this before. So, if I don't hit "Publish" now, you may never see this post! There's definitely more to come!
Sisters, Sophia and Isabelle, spending some quality time together for the first time!
Meg, Sophia, and Izzy
Izzy, looking almost exactly like Sophia
Izzy, practicing her bottle feeding
Izzy, assuming the post-feeding, sleeping position
Sophia, lounging with all of her baby chub. I never thought our babies would be "chubby."
Dad, with Sophia and Isabelle
Izzy's first bath! Well, her first at home at least. She and the other girls are so close to sucking their thumb.
"Mom, get this big frog off of me!"
Santa brought Wubbanub's for all of the girls. Izzy loves her pink puppy pacifier.
Maddy, spending some quality time with Kelly
Triple-wide! That's how we roll!
Can you tell, in order, who's been crying the longest? HINT: Let the color on the face be your guide
Aaaaah, a nice photo, with no crying, of all the girls
Izzy was a littttttle hungry and accidentally mistook Maddy's cheek for a nipple. Yum Yum. Look at her eyes! Cracks me up every time!
Keegan and Kelly spending some time with Sophia
Grandma Jo Anne working her magic with Maddy
Mom and Izzy
If you've put in a full day's work, your shirt will probably look like this at the DeBauche household.
I love this photo! Maddy, with her Wubbanub. She has the biggest eyes when she's not crying.
I love your post! All three of ours have been home for almost 4 months! We also have help cuz honestly I dont know how any triplet parent does this solo! It will get easier! And once they start smiling and giggling, you quickly forget that your eyes are burning and how tired you are! Dont you feel like a scientist mixing and preparing bottles and doing so much math??!!! Do you have a feeding/diaper chart? we still use ours.
ReplyDeleteI <3 seeing the chub on your girls! I was so excited when mine started getting chubby & looking like "normal" babies!
ReplyDeletesuper cute kids! and everyone lies when they say it will get easier after three months. i don't have triplets and i can't say it ever gets "easier", just different. :) hang in there, get help where you can. do you qualify for an at home nurse?
ReplyDeleteYou guys are doing great! I remember these days like they were yesterday but my three will turn 3 years old in March. Not sure if I've said this before but "the days seem long but the months fly by". I'm not sure I can say you will one day miss mixing all of that formula/breast milk but you will miss holding those little ones in your arms. You won't miss waking up several times in the middle of the night but I still find myself going in to check on them. It's amazing how a few solid hours of sleep makes you feel human again. Keep up the great work. The girls are adorable :)
ReplyDeleteMr. DeBauche, you should be very proud of what you have Wrought for your family. You are a super-hero, indeed. Wishing you & yours Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from San Jose, California.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on having all your babies home! So exciting. The pure exhaustion from sleep deprivation will be replaced by a different kind- from chasing three toddlers in three directions- in no time!
ReplyDeleteMy journey was very similar...TTTS...laser surgery....28 week delivery....but just know you will make it through. Keep taking those beautiful pics; it does go so fast, even though some days can be long! Congrats on getting your family under one roof...a big milestone!
ReplyDeleteYour girls are so lucky to have you both ad their parents...love all the pictures especially that last one of maddy!
ReplyDeleteJeremy, I love your blog, and it's brought me a lot of comfort and information since my husband and I found out we're expecting triplets this summer. Your girls are so adorable. If you don't mind a practical question, what brand and model of car seats do you use? We have an SUV with one bench seat, and it's a brand-new lease, so we can't trade it in yet and we're we're concerned about getting three infant car seats across. Glad to see photographic proof that it can be done!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the question about in-home nursing care, I haven't checked. I assumed if it was an option, then the docs would've had to write an order for it at the time they ordered Izzy's pump and HR/RR monitor. It wouldn't hurt to check it out though.
About our SUV, we have a Nissan Armada that we bought back in 2008. Back then, we had no idea that we'd need all that space so soon! The seats are Peg Perego SIP 30/30. There are definitely less expensive brands, but I'm not sure about the size difference in the seats. We probably would've picked something else had we not found an awesome deal on the Peg Perego triplet stroller (normally $1k, found ours for $150!).