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.

A Day in the Life

People always ask me "How do you do it?" or something like "you must be busy" so I thought I would give a little taste of the weekday:

Newman Triplet Style

I wake up at 5:30, take out the dogs and feed them and sometimes eat breakfast. The night nanny leaves at 6:00 (only during the week) so I head upstairs and TRY to sleep in the guest room with the monitor. This usually lasts about 15 minutes before someone is crying, or pooping or needing attention. The other day I put Beckett in the Baby Bjorn at 6:30 while I made the bottles for the day. At 7:30 I haul all the babies down to the living room, give them their medicine, change them and then feed them their 8:00 bottles. I also watch the Today show. That Willard Scott sure is a scream.

After the morning bottle, I change the babies into their "play clothes" and we usually read a few books and sing Old McDonald, Itsy-Bitsy Spider- you get the picture. This can't last too long because their attention span is so short so they start to get a little fussy around 9:45 and I encourage them to sleep around 10. I end up with Addy in the stroller getting pushed back and forth and I usually hold another baby. Luckily, at least one will usually start their morning nap around this time without my encouragement.

I have help that comes for a few hours during the day so at that point is when I can shower, make bottles if I hadn't done it earlier and then either go to work or run errands. I can't tell you how many times a week I go to Babies R'us. You would think at some point I would figure out to cluster my errands but it always seems like I'm running out of formula, wipes, diapers or nursery water. Imagine that. Or I'm running out of laundry detergent. I do all the baby clothes separately with a different soap. This is what I use. It smells so good sometimes I'm tempted to taste it.

People are amazed that I've gone back to work. I've gone back to work because I'm NOT Supermom. I need the break and to think about other things besides poop and bottles. When I work, I have to shower when I get home (hospital GERMS) so most of the time that means that I only work for 2.5 or 3.5 hours but it is enough to make me glad to get to work and miss the babies about the time that I come back home.

At some point during the day, I try to get the babies outside or give them a change of scenery. Many times I pack them all in the car to go for a walk at a nature preserve. Getting all three in the car with a diaper bag, my wallet, phone, and the stroller while corralling the pugs inside the house is really a scene. But the 10 minutes of crying (babies) and sweating (me) are worth having a cry-free 2 hours. They love being outside and they love going for walks and they love being in the car. Once we get home the transition from the house to the car can be really loud because they are ready to eat and tired of being in their infant seats. This is usually a crazy 15 minutes of carrying things from the garage to the house, getting them out of their seat, changed and ready to eat.
If it looks like it might rain or for some reason we will not have enough time between bottles to go somewhere because say maybe all 3 needed a bath because of a messy diaper then the pugs get lucky. With the rainy weather lately, I've been taking the babies and the two pugs on a walk in the afternoon. I'm sure that is a sight. I have my pockets stuffed with pacifiers, plastic bags and Canine Carry-Outs dog treats.

They eat at 6:30 and then we usually have about 15 minutes of entertaining before starting the bedtime routine. Lately I have been lining them up in their Boppy's, blasting songs from the opera Carmen and standing in front of them pretending to sing opera and dancing. They love it. How these things get started, I have no idea. I mean, why would I think to dance to opera? That is just an glimpse of how desperate I can get to entertain them.

I then haul all three upstairs and put two Boppy's facing one another so the babies are kicking each other, put in the Jewel Lullaby CD and start with the baths. I'm always amazed at the amount of lint that Eloise can collect in her little hands. Even after the bath I have to go back open her clenched fist and and pry out the lint. Beckett's hands need a thorough cleaning as well because he puts them in his mouth so much they always smell like spoiled milk. They all get a bath and a mini massage with Calendula oil. This is my favorite part of the day. They love baths and are so happy and content and clean and naked. There is nothing cuter than a naked baby. When I give them a massage they laugh, kick and stare at me in the mirror in the bathroom.

I feed them another bottle at 8 pm and by 8:30 all three will be lined up in the crib, bundled up sleeping like angels. Well, sometimes. Last night Beckett decided that he was not tired so we had a battle of the wills between 8:30 and 10:00. He whined that entire time. Every 5 minutes I would go in to the room, give him his pacifier, rub his belly, tell him it is okay and then leave when he was quiet. He would be quiet for about 3 minutes and start over again. After they are asleep is when the real work begins.
For the next hour or two I get the house picked up, laundry put away, bottles made, dogs out, water plants, sweep the floor- you know the daily stuff you have to do to keep your house half-way presentable. It is amazing how trashed the living room can get in a matter of hours with bottles, blankets, burp cloths, and toys. There is really no way for me to do any of this during the day. One of my friends was over the other day and she commented about none of the babies sleeping at the time. It's true. At this age, they are still not on a regular nap routine and I can't remember that last time that all 3 were sleeping during the day. I'm ALWAYS entertaining or holding one baby. She also commented on how regimented I was. Actually, the word militant was used. That is true as well. I'm militant about the feeding times and rituals such as bedtime. I can't afford to have all the babies on a different schedule or confused about what comes next.
I try to get to sleep before 11 but that does not happen too frequently. Even though I have a night nanny during the week, I still sometime get up during the night if I hear babies crying for long periods of time. It is just a mother's instinct because I have a hard time falling asleep once I wake up and there is crying. And there is lots of crying these days because we are STILL trying to cut out the 2 AM feeding. Beckett will have none of it. They only get 1.5 oz at 2 but he still wakes up like clockwork. Addy slept through the other night and had to be woken up at 5 AM to eat. Eloise is hit or miss. I think Beckett wakes her up. I heard he woke her up the other night because he was working really hard grunting to fill his pants.
So that it. That's my normal day. I probably struggle and juggle with the same obstacles as any other mom with more than one child. But here's the difference- I don't know any different. I don't know what it is like to only have 1 baby. In many ways, that is probably a good thing. This is normal to me.
I think this weekend we are going to move the 3rd crib out of our room and back into the nursery and put them in their own cribs. It's not that they are too big, yet, but it is more for the noise factor. I remember looking at all three lined up in the crib and thinking how big the crib was for even all three of them. My babies are really growing up. And that little glint of longing for your babies to stay babies forever is probably normal for every parent...

Weekend Activities

I thought I was a goner late last week when Rich was at a Bachelor Party in Las Vegas on Thursday night and my night nanny cancelled and I didn't have any help on Friday until Rich got home on Friday afternoon. Uggg. Actually it was not too bad, I got about 3 hours of sleep because Beckett decided that he was going to whine from 2:30 to 4:30 and I refused to pick him up. I figured out that between Rich and I and the two night nannies that we all pick up Beckett and snuggle with him and he ends up spending most of the night outside of the crib. So Thursday night every 5 minutes (I timed it) I went over to the crib, told him it would be okay, popped his pacifier in his mouth and walked away. That's what I did every 5 minutes for 2 hours. Saturday night was much better and he only whined for a few minutes.
This is what a whining little Beckett looks like.


Beckett not whining


Speaking of whining, he had a big scare on Saturday. We took the babies to a nature preserve for a walk and it started to pour so Rich RAN the babies about 1/2 mile back to the car. I was tagging behind and I could hear Beckett screaming. The girls slept but Beckett probably thought he was getting the biggest bath of his life which is why he was so mad.

We are also cutting out the 2 AM feeding and Eloise slept through the 2 AM all the way to the 5 AM feeding 2 of the last 3 nights. She eats the most during the day so it makes sense she is the first to drop that feeding.
She is so proud of her herself. She is such a little smarty-pants.


Actually, the last several days she gets really smiley right before eating at 8 PM and going to sleep. All I have to do to make her smile is sing "Old McDonald had a farm" and sing about the different dinosaurs Old McDonald kept on the farm despite the code violations. She really likes raptorsaurus.


Speaking of sleeping, for some reason Beckett and Eloise were sleeping this weekend with their arms straight out.




Addy and Eloise were holding hands


Oh, my little Adeline. We switched formulas and she is doing so much better. She still farts like a full grown man who just ate a pot of chili with beans but the hours of crying have slowed down and she is actually smiling sometimes. It made me so sad when I saw her smiling because I realized how uncomfortable she had been and that she was always crying or sleeping so lately she never looked relaxed or happy. But now I get to see those little dimples every once in a while.


Here she is not worried about her tummy but about her hair and tucking those loose strands, I mean strand, behind her little pointed ear.


Thanks to everyone for their suggestions on what worked with their "high need" babies- a Dr. Sears term. Right now we have her on Nutramigen, Dr. Browns bottles, Honey consistency thickener and Prevacid. They all are on thickener and Prevacid but the other two are on the Similac Isomil, thank goodness because of the cost.

This is one days worth of hand washed bottles.


On Saturday morning, Rich watched the babies while I did the "Make a Wish" bike ride because The Heart Hospital (where I work) had a team. I hadn't been on my bike in almost a year so I was a little nervous. I was even more nervous when I got there and it seemed like everyone else looked like serious bike riders. I started to rethink putting the wicker basket on the front of my bike but then where would I put my keys, Gatorade, Chapstick and my HORN.

(nice port-a-potty shot!)