Happy Halloween

I felt like a terrible mom that I didn't get costumes for the babies. Honestly, I looked for some but everything I found was too big. But I have costumes for the pugs...







We took everyone for a stroll and put the costumes on the pugs. I'm a bad mom to Bella too, this the same costume she has worn for 4 years. The is the first time Pickles has been a skunk. It is really appropriate because it is sad to say these dogs have been a little neglected since the arrival of the babies. Well, neglected is relative. Right now, Bella is perched on Rich's shoulder like a parrot and Pickles is resting her face on his leg while he is watching football.

I guess the babies did get dressed up for Halloween. The had special hats and socks that they donned waiting for trick or treaters (Thanks Clarke and Laura!).


After about 30 seconds, this is what it looks like- Beckett is falling over because of the weight of his head, Eloise is about to bust open the belly on her onesie and Addy is eating her hand. I realized later when I got him undressed for his bath that Beckett's onesie was on inside out and backwards. Pretty typical around here these days.

Ahoy Sailor!!

I can't find any Halloween costumes for the babies because they are too small for most of what is in the stores. The 0-6 month costumes are way too big so I was trying to figure out what I could do with some of the clothes I have. I was experimenting with a pseudo-sailor hat.




Rich liked the hat on the girls but wasn't so fond of this picture of his little boy.




They are not going to be sailors because I only have 1 hat. I'll have to figure out something else.
And it is really not a sailor hat. It reminds me of the hats worn by the some of the French military.

 

I don't know if this is really military or what. All I know is that when my mom and I were in Paris last summer we were sneaking around taking a lot of pictures of adorable French boys in military garb. We have lots of pictures of the famous places in Paris and artwork but taking pictures of people and naked statues was the most fun. This hat happened to be one of our favorites.

We have a roller...

My big girl Addy is the first to turn over. It was really an accident and really was an attempt on her part to get out of doing tummy-time. I had all three on their bellies doing tummy-time and as usual Eloise was screaming, Beckett was falling asleep and Addy had her head up looking around. She is a strong little thing. She was kicking and squiring and next thing I knew she has rolled herself over to her back. Then she played there and looked in the mirror on the activity gym for 45 minutes.
This is why we have to do tummy-time- it is called:

BABY PATTERN BALDNESS



I don't know what people did before these activity gyms. I just bought one from another multiple mom who was done with hers and she said that her boys would hang out under it for hours. I was a non-believer until I got the triplets under it. They can go about 45 minutes to 90 minutes kicking and playing.


Today when I got home from work Eloise was in her outfit that she came home from the hospital in. Maria (our nanny) told me that I need to start sorting out the clothes because some of it was too small for the babies. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she pulled that outfit out of the basket that had all the too small preemie clothes.
Eloise looked so uncomfortable. In this picture you can really see that her height is in the 4th percentile and her head is in the 40th.


Well... I swear, she really did look uncomfortable but Eloise seems to know when to turn on the smile for the camera.

This is the same outfit that was too big 3 months ago when she came home from the hospital.


As my mom says, that belly and those rolls under the chin all took tons of work on our part (i.e., feeding them every 3 hours!) And tons of work for the babies as well.

I just couldn't resist this picture of Beckett. I wonder if he actually ate any of the medicine...

Even though we are stuck at home with limited visitors, I still get them dressed up like we were are going to go on outings. I mean, I would feel bad if I sat around in my pajamas all day.








Those eyelashes and those lips!

Addy Update

I took Addy to a maxillofacial plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital today to look at the bump on her forehead and her ears. First of all, I was totally freaked out because they have staff and security at at the entrance of the Hospital screening for flu and handing out masks. I think it was because I was close to the ER entrance. I had Addy totally covered by both shades on the stroller so no germs would get on her. I know that probably didn't help but it made me feel better. I had my hospital grade hand sanitizer in the cup holder. Luckily I was in the wrong building and it was a little less scary in the next building.

The surgeon said that the bump and redness above her left eye is definitely a hemangioma. He said that they are very common and 10% of infants have some version- or maybe it was 10% of premature babies. I can't remember. But I know they are more common in babies that were born prematurely. The most aggressive growth is usually in the first 2 months and the growth will stop at about 6 months to 1 year. He said that for her, it is cosmetic and unless there was a huge growth spurt, it would in no way impact her eyesight. When they are much larger, there are 2 different medications for treatment but the medications (steroid and a beta-blocker) can have negative cardiovascular and respiratory implications. No thanks!
It sounds as if the hemangioma will disappear without treatment by the time Addy goes to kindergarten which I guess is about the time that kids start to notice that kind of stuff.

Seeing the other babies and kids in the clinic put it in perspective that her hemangioma is really very minor compared to what we could be dealing with. We will go back in 2 months just for a check up and then yearly after that.

He also looked and her ears and said that she is going to have pointed ears. That's just they way they are. I'm glad. I think everyone should have at least one baby with pointy ears. It's good luck.

Do TARANTULAS live in Texas?

For about the last two years I have been walking at a park about 5 miles from my house. It has paved trails and some mountain biking trails and an occasional armadillo and maybe a field mouse or two. I've been taking the babies almost daily for the last month to walk and just get out of the house. Generally I walk with the babies and Rich runs and we meet up after about 50 minutes. My crazy husband does something called "hill repeats" where he runs up and down the hill as fast as he can. It looks miserable but funny to watch when he is running pushing the stroller. Beckett screams when he goes too fast.
Anyway, on Friday I was on the paved trail and this couple was stopped in front of me with their Labrador dog. As I passed them they said that there was a tarantula on the trail and their dog alerted them and would not walk any further. Sure enough, about 50 feet ahead of them there was a huge hairy spider crawling in the grass. I got pretty close and took a picture with my camera phone. I was just kicking myself for not packing my camera in the diaper bag. I had about 15 diapers, 40 wipes, 3 sets of clothes, 3 burp cloths, 3 pacifiers and 1 bulb syringe but I forgot my camera.
I thought it was pretty exciting to see something like that in the wild (as wild as suburban Dallas can be) and thought the babies were lucky to see such a cool spider. I had heard really good things about tarantulas from my cousin Eowyn and her husband, Christopher. He had or has a tarantula and I seem to remember hearing stories about him napping and snuggling with his tarantula so figured that it wasn't about to jump up and get us.
When I met up with Rich later I took him back to the spot but the spider was gone. Too bad!
Rich and I went back to the park on Sunday (two days later) and again I was walking the babies and I saw something black walking across the sidewalk in front of me. Low and behold it was what looked like the same spider. I couldn't believe it. I was about a mile from where I saw last time. In two years going to this park the most exciting thing I have seen is a hawk and an occasionally what appears to be an awkward first date. Luckily, this time I had my camera...




Is this really a tarantula or another spider who got into a bottle of Rogaine? And I wonder if it was the same spider? Either way, it was pretty exciting and the triplets got a good lecture on not picking up hairy spiders but just looking instead.


(Eloise, Beckett, Adeline getting back into the car after our walk)

Hook'em Horns

GO TEXAS!

We dressed the babies in Longhorn gear in honor of their first Texas vs. OU football game. We couldn't go to any football parties so we had our own party and here are some of the pictures.

"It's really fun to watch football with my daddy." -Beckett

"Stop knocking down Colt McCoy." -Beckett

"I had too many bottles during the first half, I need to sleep it off." -Beckett

"Mom, Beckett is on my foot and won't get off." -Eloise

"My goodness, how many penalties can we rack up?"


"I can't believe you made us pose for pictures and put on these tee shirts and you won't even let us watch the game." -Newman Triplets (they are not allowed to watch TV)

Shots, Shots and more Shots- and not the good kind either

No, I'm not talking about alcohol although I could use it after this last couple of days. The babies got shots on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday were their first set of Synagis shots. These are to protect against RSV. They will get shots every 28 days for the next 5 months.

Synagis is the only FDA-approved medication to help protect high-risk babies from severe RSV disease. Even though Synagis is given as a shot by your healthcare provider, it's not a vaccine and it works differently. Each Synagis shot provides a dose of virus-fighting substances called antibodies that help prevent RSV from infecting your baby’s lungs.
Preemies are often born before getting enough antibodies from their mothers to help fight RSV and other viruses. But preemies are also at greater risk for severe RSV disease because their lungs are less developed and their airways are narrower than those of full-term babies. Synagis helps preemies by providing more infection-fighting antibodies to help protect their vulnerable lungs from RSV.

http://www.synagis.com/how-synagis-works.aspx

They got weighed and our skinny little man has taken over in the weight-gaining competition. I'm a little worried all of the weight is in his head. Oh well, more brains.

BECKETT 9 lbs 8 oz
ELOISE 8 lbs 11 oz
ADELINE 9 lbs 4 oz

Here they are all lined up to get weighed (Beckett, Eloise, Addy).

We put their shirts back on and left their pants off so their little thighs were exposed. Don't they look happy? Little do they know...



I didn't take an "after" picture because it was too sad and I don't want them to remember it.
On Friday they got their 4 month immunizations. Again, I could have used a shot myself (of whiskey) after this appointment. They each got 3 shots. Their poor little legs. Beckett and Addy did very well. They only cried for a minute. But my little Eloise was so mad. Her face turned red and she screamed for about 10 minutes.
They put camouflage band-aids on their legs (Beckett's is blue)


They are really only in about the 10th percentile for their weight but before they were not even on the charts so they are doing much better. Eloise is only in the 3rd percentile for her height.
Beckett's head circumference is in the 90th percentile. I knew there was a reason the girls do better at holding their head up during tummy-time. (Eloise below)


Poor guy tries to hold it up but he usually ends up face down on the Boppy crying. Or he falls asleep from the effort.

I thought we were done with the specialists for a while now that Eloise had surgery, they have been cleared from the cardiologists, opthamologists and GI doctor. But now I'm taking Addy to a vascular surgeon on Monday at Children's Hospital because of the hemangioma on her forehead. Originally our pediatrician was not sure if it was a cyst or a hemangioma but now it looks more like a hemangioma. This is usually cosmetic but because it is close to her eye and growing we need a second opinion and plan in the event it starts to impede her eyesight. He is also going to look at her ears because it looks like the ridge at tip of her ears is growing together. That is why her ears look pointy. I like the pointy ears and I doubt they are going to do anything about it, again a cosmetic issue, but they are going to look at it as well. Then she has another appointment in December for someone to look at the shape of her head. Her head is a little pointy on top and they want to make sure this is a cosmetic issue and not something that would impede the growth of her head or brain. Poor little Addy was squished in utereo by her brother and sister which is why they think she has a few of these issues. It sounds as if this is not uncommon in higher order multiples.

I got the go-ahead to try and start them on rice cereal for thickening their formula rather than the bank-breaking Simply Thick that they have been getting. Only Eloise and Beckett are going to get it because we just got Addy all situated with her new formula and allergies are a concern for her. But because they are really only 2 months old adjusted age I'm hesitant to start this especially since the rice cereal might make them constipated and then I would have to give them prune juice or medication for the constipation. We are going to stay on the regular thickener for another month and then see where we are. But we are increasing the calorie content of the formula (more formula powder, less water) to help them get more calories, gain weight and maybe sleep through the 2 AM feeding!

My pretty girls (sideways)

"Good-bye" -Addy

Happy Birthday- 4 Months Old

On Friday, the triplets turned 4 months old. I can and can't believe it has been 4 months already. They days are just flying by and today I was asking Addy where my little preemie babies disappered to? We did play a modified version of hide and seek looking for preemie babies around the house but we never found any. All we found were fat and happy babies smiling and laughing waiting to guzzle down bottles.
We celebrated by putting dresses on the girls for the first time. Acutally, they wore dresses in the NICU when the nurses were dressing them (Addy had a tennis dress on one day) but this is the first time I've put something besides sleepers and sweatpants on the babies. My goal was to get tights on them as well but once I got them dressed and happy, I didn't want to push my luck.
Their big birthday present was a test to see if they could sit up in the Bumbo. Aren't they spoiled!

Beckett (again, I probably need to be putting socks on this little pointy ear man)



Addy- didn't like it at first but I've learned to give her a few minutes. After about 2 minutes she decided it was fun to be sitting up looking around like a big girl. She also liked the attention of course.




Eloise just lounging and flirting with the camera


This is what happens when you try to sit them up leaning on pillows. They eventually fall to the side on to their neighbor and then they all scream. Maybe I should have been picking them up rather than taking pictures.


I didn't realize that Eloise's dress was trying to eat her neck. Actually, she doesn't have much of a neck these days due to the fat rolls.