Happy New Year 2013!

After about a week-long hiatus, it's time to acknowledge that it's January and finally time to get rid of my holiday-brain.  Honestly, things still seem too relaxed for it to actually be real life.  It's not that life got any less busy over the holidays, it's just that the corresponding pressure that always accompanies our busyness didn't seem to have the same effect.  It was a great feeling.  It was also great to really get to spend some QT with Meg and the girls.  There is a part of me that feels good to be back at work, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking about all of my ladies all day long.

As we enter 2013, I can't help but think about everything we accomplished in 2012.  2011 was a difficult year, but 2012 definitely ranks as one of the busiest in our lives.  Maybe it will always be that way.  Maybe I'll always write that the year just ended was busier than the one before.  For now, all I have under my belt is my first full year of being a father to three baby girls, and everything it entailed, while also trying to be the sole income earner for our family, as well as a good husband.  I'm sure I could improve in all of those areas, but I'll leave that topic for a future post.

There were stressful times (sicknesses and surgeries) and sad times (death of Meg's mom, Sharon), but we also got to experience so many good times (the girls' first vacation, their first birthday, their first steps, the end of bottles, sleeping through the night, Sharon's wedding on the beach, etc).

Meg and I are beginning 2013 with a fresh perspective.  We're adapting, and will always be adapting, to being the parents of growing and changing toddlers.  We still consider ourselves extremely blessed each and every day we get to spend with our girls.  We both know that life can change on a dime.  Every hour, every day, and every week, we are thankful.  Every cry, every tantrum, and every poopy diaper, we are thankful.  2012 proved that innocence and loved ones can be lost in a minute and that even the very young are not immune to the craziness that exists in our world. I WILL do better at cherishing every moment and every experience I'm lucky enough to share with our girls.

The girls begin 2013 with hopes of getting more teeth, trying new food, figuring out what's on the OTHER side of the gate, being photographed less (not going to happen), everyone eating solids TOGETHER (that means you Izzy), getting off of all meds, figuring out what happens when mommy and daddy sit on the toilet, going crazy in their new bounce house, and saying their first "real" words.

For now, I'll leave you with the reason we now need to go buy gates for the staircase, courtesy of Miss Sophia.



Maddy, discovering her love for grilled cheese


Sophie, sharing in her sister's love of grilled bread and fromage


Izzy, taking steps with the walker over to mom (she's getting quite fast!)


All of the girls were sick over the Christmas holiday, which produced an unexpected result.  Izzy, who normally turns her head away from all food, seemed a little interested in this squishy stuff her sisters were eating.  While she was sick, we were able to keep her hydrated, but her gag reflex was overly sensitive and she wouldn't keep her formula down.  So, it appeared that she was quite hungry.  She didn't go overboard with it, but she actually put her mouth towards the food and kind of rubbed her face around in it.  It's not eating, but it's definitely the kind of progress we love to see!









We've been giving Sophie and Maddy some chicken and spinach-filled ravioli lately.  While this picture looks like she grabbed it out of the trashcan and is very excited about it, I can ensure you that she brought it with her.  What I can't tell you is when we cleaned our trashcan last.  Yuck.





Meg, taking care of her tired baby




Sophie is going through a phase where she REALLY wants to see what's happening on the island when we're making dinner.  It's pretty difficult to hold her and cook, so now she has a seat.  Though her legs are getting long enough where she can almost stand up with the her high chair strapped around her waist.  Not sure what we'll do next.



Honestly, it's amazing how she slows from 100 to 0 mph if we left her sit up there with us.  All of the girls have amazing eyes, but for some reason, Sophie's just really seemed to be glowing on that particular day.



Miss Izzy, practicing getting up early on Christmas Eve


Even though we'll occasionally still try to fit them individually in the sink, it was time to move to the big bathtub.



Sophie, just a little excited about bath time


"Rubber ducky, you're the one..."




"Hey, we're naked over here!"




So, it was actually getting cold in our kitchen.  In order to save air vent grate, we had closed it and covered it up with the rug leading out to the patio.  From time to time, the girls would remember it was under there, lift the rug, steal the grate, the proceed to scare us by sticking their limbs down the hole.  Enough was enough!  We opened up the vent and warm air rushed out, immediately warming up the kitchen.  There was only one option to keep our sanity-painter's tape, though duct tape would probably work, too, though it might leave some residue later.  So far, the girls haven't figured out how to peel off the tape and now go over to the grate to let the wind blow their hair around :)

Izzy, analyzing the best way to get the tape off


Maddy, letting the grate work her up a new hairdo


With Miss Izzy, we've started the weaning process from her Sildenafil.  If you recall, she was taking it to help relieve the pulmonary hypertension they were seeing from her lungs not being able to get enough oxygen to her heart.  When we began with the med, the blood vessel wall loosened up, allowed more oxygen-rich blood to get more easily to heart.  Her energy levels jumped and she became more active.  The docs now think she's grown enough to get the oxygen she needs without the med.  We're on a six-week weaning process.  We're already two weeks in to it and there's no sign of her slowing down.  If anything, she seems to be speeding up.  One second she's in the kitchen.  I turn around and two seconds later, she's crawled across the family room and is pulling up on my leg!



Great Aunt Mary got the girls a Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy for Christmas.  They love it so much, I was debating on whether to go buy two more.  Then I thought to myself, "at some point, they really need to work on their sharing."  The point is, they love this puppy.  So much so that I find myself singing songs that the puppy sings.  How lame is that?







Lastly, I still have a post from my dad's visit before Christmas that I haven't posted yet, but we had some additional visitors between Christmas and New Year's Day.  Grandma and Grandpa Carrick spent the week with us and got their triplet fill.  Probably enough to last them a couple of months :)

Wait A Minute. 2011 Is Already Over!?!

Where did this year go?  What a whirlwind.  The holidays are winding down and all of our help is preparing to depart back to their own homes.  Meg and I are still on the search for a full-time nanny or "mommy's helper" to make it through the day when I'm at work.  Every day is still hectic, but I'm always amazed each morning when I wake up, see our girls faces, and notice the changes in each of our girls from the day before.

Today is New Year's Eve, a day when most of us stop for a moment and reflect on the previous year.  A day when you briefly analyze the things that went well during the year and those that you vow to improve upon in the next.   I can say, without a doubt, that 2011 has been the most amazingly, busy, scary, exhausting, exciting, hectic, surprising, and wonderful year of my life.  I think having kids has that effect on most.

Speaking of kids, here's a quick summary of how everyone's doing.  If this blog post is already too long for you, just know that all of the girls are progressing extremely well and are ready to ring 2012 in with a bang!

Sophia seems to be the most mild-mannered of the bunch.  She will sometimes sleep a seven hour stretch at night which makes mommy and daddy very, very happy parents :)  She usually smiles in the morning, after you change her diaper.  She cries the least and weighs the most, coming in right around 11 lbs as we wrap up the year.  She enjoys time on her back on the activity mat, trying to hold her head up when she's on her belly, and looking around the room with bobblehead-like coordination (she's actually a little better than a bobblehead when we give her some trunk support).

Isabelle weighed in at a svelte 7 lbs 4 oz the other day.  She's acclimated to home life, away from the NICU, quite well.  She probably gives the most eye contact out of the three girls.  She loves being held, a trait she picked up from the NICU nurses at Edward (thanks Melissa and Linda).  She's still on a continuous feed throughout the night, which actually allows her to sleep nine to 10 hours straight, which makes her a fan favorite right away :)  She was the first to really start noticing her hands, at least eating them anyway.  I think she realizes there's a thumb there that may be an easy replacement for a pacifier.  Let's hope she learns quickly because being the Chief Pacifier Retrieving Officer is a job I'm ready to give up.

Madelyn finishes up the year with chubbier cheeks and brighter eyes.  She's still on multiple medications to help with her reflux.  Overall, she seems much happier throughout the day and you just can't keep yourself from looking at her angelic face when she stares right back at you.  She weighed in around 10 lbs and seems to be catching up with Sophia.  We're only letting her sleep for four-hour stretches, primarily to make sure she's not starving when she wakes up because she CAN get a little cranky when she's hungry, but we love her anyway :)


If you're interested, Meg put together a photobook as a gift for our parents and my grandma.  It's a photographic summary of 2011, starting with last New Year's Eve when we lived it up after finding out our first attempt with IVF had failed and ending with this Christmas.  The link, below, should get you there and you don't need to log in to view it.

The DeBauche Triplets 2011 photobook

Even though I would sell a kidney for a full night's sleep at this point, both Meg and me consider ourselves extremely lucky to have a reason to be so sleep deprived and are looking forward to 2012.  In 2012, our girls will continue to grow, pass milestones, and make us laugh.  I'll continue to blog and share our experiences as long as you continue following along.  Thanks for reading and all of your wonderful comments in 2011!  Have a very Happy New Year!


I'll leave you with a couple of photos that we took during Christmas day and night, that didn't make it into that day's blog post.

As long as Meg and I have been together, we've had Christmas day dinner at her mom's house.  Usually, the table seats about 30 (not kidding).  While this particular Christmas day was pretty much like the day before and after it, ie. changing babies and feeding babies, Meg's stepmom, Jo Anne, sacrificed Christmas with her family, as well as three additional weeks of her life, to be with us and cooked a wonderful meal!  Thanks again for giving us so much of your time and love Jo Anne!




It wouldn't be Christmas dinner if there weren't Duoderm and Tagaderm sitting on the table



Shallee and Kylie came over on Christmas to visit and help with the babies




I took this photo of the girls on Christmas day.  I ended up with two versions--the calm, relaxed version with pacifiers and the out-of-control, screaming baby version on the bottom. We could just pretend that they were just singing Christmas carols, couldn't we?  Which one do you like?