Bacon on Wheels

We didn't remember, until the end of the day, that this Halloween marked Maddy's one-year anniversary of being home with her parents.  It was exactly one year ago, to the day, that we were finally able to bring Maddy home from the NICU to join Sophie, who had come home two weeks before.  We would still have to wait another month and a half for Izzy to escape from the NICU.

So, this was our first Halloween together, as a complete family.  As it always does, time ran out and dad forgot to get his Big Bad Wolf costume.  In my heart, I was dressed as a wolf.  In reality, I looked like I should've been on a boat at sea.  I think the girls will forgive me though.  I have plenty more Halloweens on which to look foolish and have fun with my girls. 

We walked around the neighborhood with Kelly and Keegan.  I was a little disappointed in my little ladies and their inability to scrounge up candy for their parents.  Those feelings were quickly cast aside when, towards the end of the walk, a mother walked from her house, down to the sidewalk, and put some candy in each girl's trailer.  I said, "Thank you" to the nice lady.  She probably thought I was thanking her on behalf of my girls, but that would be a lie.  Seriously, did she think that any good parent would really let their young kids play with candy?  I did the only responsible thing I could think of to save my daughter's lives and ate the candy.  They'll thank me for that kind of bravery when they get older.

One other benefit of walking around with your kids is that you're forced to find time to catch up with your spouse and enjoy the benefits of drinking mommy and daddy juice.  For those that don't know, mommy and daddy juice is full of life-enriching benefits and has the most awesome side effects, such as making you immune to the cold.  Definitely better than all of those other "adult" drinks that our kid-less friends consume.

Fun fact:  Did you know that an entire bottle of wine can fit in most standard plastic water bottles that all of those healthy people use when they're working out?  Neither did I.  Just thought you should know and I can't remember how I figured that out.

Dad and his bacon


Curious piggy


Happy piggy


Why-am-I-wearing-this-costume piggy


They're going to be mad at us one day when we break out these photos.  Then, they'll get older and be thankful that we took them.  Just a guess.



Sophie, yelling back to her sisters, "Hey!  Pull it together back there!  We've got a long night ahead of us."


We had to bundle the girls up in multiple layers to keep them warm.  The only problem is that they couldn't move an inch.

Izzy, struggling to sit up straight (normally not an issue)


Maddy, looking forward to drooling on yet another piece of clothing


Izzy


Sophie


Maddy


Kelly, helping Sophie enjoy more toddler-appropriate Halloween treats


Hey, look at how green that grass is!  Oh, this is supposed to be about the babies.


That's one happy little piggy snuggling with her mom!


A mom's job is never done.  After all of the excitement, babies still need to get ready for bed.  The tired ones go searching for a lap to crawl in to and warm body to snuggle up against.  Moms are good for that.



Maddy, saying "good night" with her eyes

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

While this St. Patty's day was a little more tame than those of pre-triplet life, we did manage to relax, have a drink, and get out of the house to see some of the neighborhood fam.  The girls had received St. Patrick's day shirts and bibs as gifts, so it was definitely a good excuse to break out the camera for some lasting memories.  In total, our celebration probably lasted about 30 minutes in Steve and Kelly's backyard, but it was a celebration nonetheless.

Plus, we look for any excuse possible to get out of the house and take a stroll through the neighborhood.  The weather in Chicago was perfect (aka. unseasonably warm and enjoyable for this time of year).  The girls soaked up the warmer weather (but not the sun).  Dressing them up in their St. Patrick's day garb also served as a good excuse to break free from the sleeper slums.  I wrote a post a little while back about how these girls lived in their sleepers 24x7.  Now, the weather is turning warmer and mom's got a closet full of fashion in store for these girls this season.  I think they were pretty excited to let their chubby little arms and legs hang out.  Also, to show their excitement, they waited until the very last minute, right after we got them dressed, to start spitting up and drooling all over their new clothes.  I realize that's what babies do after all, but c'mon.

A St. Patty's Day family portrait


Kelly and Steve with Maddy and Sophie


Meg and Izzy



Maddy



Izzy, smiling (and drooling)



Sophie



The DeBauche Babies!  Just finishing up a round of solids and getting ready for a walk.



Which one do you like better, the color or the black & white?



Also, it wouldn't be normal around here if someone didn't visit the hospital this week.  I'll tell you who, but it's not who you would expect.  No babies this time around.

Meg and I decided that we wanted to start running again.  When we lived in DC, we used to run together quite often and ran a few 10-milers together.  Life's been a little hectic the past year and we kinda let it go.  The girls are getting bigger (and so am I), the weather's getting nicer, and there's no excuse not to get back outside.

Now, Meg and I can't go running at the same time (at least not yet), so I went early in the morning.  She decided to sneak out while the babies were napping (yes, someone was here with them).  She got about a mile away from home and, wouldn't you know it, a piece of sidewalk jumped up and bit her.  She wiped out, scraping up one hand and both knees, as well as putting a nice little crack down the middle of her new iPhone.  Worst of all, she broke her elbow.

Meghan, patiently waiting to see if she'll be getting a cast or if they'll tell her she's being a sissy.


The nurse, removing the soft cast they gave her at the ER last night.




Meghan and the doc, moments after he injected a needle into her elbow to remove some blood that was pooling and causing.  She was a trooper!


The silver lining here is that she won't require a cast and should start feeling better within the next few weeks.  This does mean that dad will be pulling triple duty in the evenings as Meg can't hold anyone for a while.  Fortunately, Jo Anne is coming to our rescue this evening and will be staying with us for the next couple of weeks. We couldn't do this without family and friends!

A Day in the Life with Triplets (by Meghan)

Wow!  I can't believe it's only been a week since we've written. -Scratch that...another week has gone by now.  We didn't get a chance to edit pictures so here we are a week later still trying to publish this post!  It feels like an eternity in some ways and it feels like just yesterday in others.  It's weird how that happens!

Well let's start with the most important thing first: We made it! (Through a week and a half with no live-in grandma help.) Not by ourselves that's for sure!  We have had a lot of support this week from friends and family near and far.  We received a large food delivery from a church group which was set up by a fellow triplet mom.  Then our dear friend Sarah and the wonderful Hubbard family set up a food delivery program online.  Sarah had been asking me for a list of people to send it to and I hesitated for a long time because I didn't think anyone would want to send us food.  And I sometimes feel very guilty accepting all this support.  I don't exactly know how to explain it.  I feel very, very appreciative, but also very guilty.  Anyway, the other night we had a surprise delivery at our door. Pizza from our friend Tara at Mt. Eagle.  I can't say I've ever been that big of a fan of pizza.  We usually order it once every few months.  But that pizza was amazing.  The time it saved not having to make a plate and warm something up.  And, the best part is I could easily hold a baby while eating with the other hand.  I think pizza might be our new favorite food!  :)  Then yesterday Jeremy got on the site and saw all the people who are sending us food.  I couldn't believe it.  If some of you are reading this, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!  I never knew how difficult it would be to find time to grocery shop and make something to eat.  It is such a blessing to have food just show up at the door. We are truly grateful!

As many of you know, this week was particularly rough because we were on our own without moms (grandmas) staying with us helping around the clock for the first time since Sophia came home on October 14th.  We had a lot of local family members come over to help us make the transition.  Shallee (my cousin) and her daughter Kylie actually came to stay for a few nights to help with the dreaded night shift. Once they left we had to cover all night on our own.  As you can guess, this was not a week of much sleep for us.  I actually fell asleep while I was NG feeding Isabelle and spilled the syringe of breast milk all over!  That was a rude awakening! Thank you Shallee, Kylie, Aunt Mary, and Kelly for chipping in and helping us take care of these sweet girls!  Thankfully we have finally hired a nanny to help. I thought since I was staying home we wouldn't need a nanny, but as you see below I was in for a rude awakening.

Every time I'm the one posting I try to tell it truthfully.  Whether it's scary outcomes that could result from Izzy's surgery or worst and best case scenarios.  So, I do want to just share for a moment how hard this really is...what life is really like for us with triplet infants.  I have to really make an effort to get myself into the shower every 3-4 days. Many days it gets to the late afternoon and I realize I haven't brushed my teeth. I haven't left the house in three weeks accept for doctor appointments. There is always a baby who is fussing and needs to be held.  None of my time is my own to watch a show, or return a call to a friend, or go to the bathroom, or exercise.  I'm sure having a baby is an adjustment for any first-time parents, but having three, and one with special needs, is a monumental life overhaul. I have to say I did have a little bit of an adjustment period when I needed some time to accept that. Now that I have,  I'm enjoying every minute (Wait a minute! That's not true...I'm enjoying many moments, but there are rough times too.) Every day I am in awe of their growth and so sad it's another day I'll never get back again.  At the same time I wish they would just hold their bottles already so I could feed more than one at a time!  Time is so fleeting with infants who seem to change every moment. We are so lucky!

Let me fill you in about our day starting in the evening.

6:30-7:30 pm - Feed Izzy
7:30-8:00 pm - Give Maddy meds and feed Sophia
8:00-8:45 pm - Feed Maddy (She needs to be held for at least 30 minutes after eating, but sometimes she needs to be held for hours.  It just depends on the feeding.)
8:45 pm -  All kids are down in bed and sleeping  
9:00 pm - Give Izzy her meds
9:30 pm - Hook up Izzy's NG feeding.
9:30-11:30 pm -  The rush is on...I rush to get pumping and ready for bed so I can sleep a little bit.  Usually by the time I tidy up, get ready for bed, and pump it's between 10 and 11.  Jeremy rushes downstairs to get bottles ready for the next day, washes bottles from that day, tidies up a bit more and then comes up to bed.  He tries to get a bit of sleep.
12:00-12:45 am - Jeremy feeds Maddy and adds more milk and resets Izzy's pump.
2:00-6:00 am - There is no break until morning. The pump goes off, the monitor alarms (usually for no reason!), Sophia cries for her pacifier, Maddy spits up and screams her head off until you come in and hold her for a while, Izzy cries because she needs a diaper change, Sophia cries because she needs a diaper change, Izzy pulls out her NG tube, Maddy's crying because she's constipated, Sophia needs to be re-swaddled, the reasons are endless!
3:15-3:50 am - I wake up and pump.
4:00-4:45 am - Feed Maddy and reset Izzy's pump
5:00-6:30 am - Each morning I think today will be the day they'll let me go back to sleep.  I lay down and start to fall asleep and the second that happens someone starts crying. I've timed it...it's usually about every 10 to 20 minutes someone needs me so at some point I give up and hang out on FB on the iPad in the nursery, helping as needed. 
7:00 am - Bring each girl downstairs as they wake, put them in the swing and hope they'll be content and quiet while you run upstairs to get the others and try to scarf down a bowl of cereal. 
7:30-8:00 am - Give Maddy meds and feed Sophia.
8:00-8:45 am - Feed Maddy
9:00 am - Give Izzy meds
9:30-10:30 am - Feed Izzy
10:30-11:00 am - Pump
11:30-12:00 pm - Feeding frenzy starts again! Get meds for Maddy and feed Sophie. 
12:00-12:45 pm - Feed Maddy
12:30-1:30 pm - Feed Izzy
1:30-2:00 pm - Pump
2:00-3:15 pm - get s#*t done
3:30-4:30 pm -  Feed Izzy
3:30-4:00 pm - Feed Sophia
4:00-4:45 pm - Feed Maddy
5:00-6:00 pm - Try to feed ourselves and bounce around helping/holding fussy babies
6:30-7:30 pm - Feed Izzy.
7:30-8:00 pm - Meds for Maddy and feed Sophia
8:00-8:45 pm - Feed Maddy and we're back up to bed.

Do you see all the overlap?!!! Izzy's on an every three hour schedule while the other two eat every four. So, no matter how we arrange the schedule there are some feedings where there is a lot of overlap and some where they're eating every hour for three hours straight.  Maddy's reflux is horrible and makes her a very high-maintenance baby.  Each feeding with her takes at least 45 minutes and sometimes she needs to be held most of the three hours in between each feeding. Then there's sweet Izzy.  She usually takes about an hour to feed.  We start off with the bottle and then NG whatever is left.  She's a very slow bottle feeder and she cries and spits up if the NG goes to quickly.  Thankfully Sophia takes 10-15 minutes to feed and can burp and go down to her bouncy five minutes later if we need her to. We're so thankful for one easy baby, but we have major feelings of guilt because we spend so much more time with the other two. Hopefully as the others grow we'll be able to equal out the attention a bit more!

In the few hours of down time, there are so many tasks to fit into the day: washing bottles, making bottles, bathing babies, showering ourselves, eating, laundry, folding and putting away laundry, going to the doctor, calling doctors' offices and Early Intervention for appointments, sifting through the obscene amounts of paperwork that we get from bills, to insurance explanation of benefits, write a blog post, return calls to friends and family, grocery shopping, diaper and other necessity shopping, sleep, feed our poor neglected kitty, kitty litter, breast pumping.  If we have fussy babies all of these things get put on hold until we can find a free moment.

Needless to say, while it may be possible for one person to take care of three babies, it is not possible for one person to take care of these three babies. Thank goodness we finally hired a nanny!  I have sad feelings about this too.  I really want to do this myself, soaking up every second of their lives and not sharing it with anyone but Jeremy and close friends and family. For now though, I need to accept the fact that I need help.  Hopefully, as they grow, that will change or at least lessen as time goes on.

We've taken some great pics this week.  We'll leave you with them.  Sorry some of them have been revealed on FB already.  I couldn't wait to share!

Happy New Year everyone!

Meghan

Izzy's meds before bed


Maddy's meds in the morning and evening


Giving Maddy her meds


This is just after a couple of hours of "triplet life"


We had to move Maddy to the Rock 'n Play on the left.  That's her monitor over there.  On the right, is Isabelle's pump.


The nanny with Izzy



Meg and her girls


Madness on the Mat!


Maddy, catching some z's




Sophia, lounging with her Wubbanub


Izzy, working up her stamina


Sophie, figuring out what's happening with Baby Einstein

Now, We REALLY Have Triplets

Well, we're about a week and a half in to REALLY having triplets.  Izzy came home on 12/19 and our lives will truly never be the same.  It's been an incredible 10 days (yes, I'm counting days at this point).  Everything that I thought about how life would be with three, got blown out of the water the day after Izzy came home.  We've basically gone from playing man-to-man to needing to play a zone defense.  I've tried to explain it to people, but it's an experience that can never truly be explained to its fullness or understood in its entirety by folks who don't have triplets.

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.