I had wanted to post an update before today, but I am struggling to find the words to describe the emotions and actions associated with having our little ones home. So, I’ll start out this post as a very factual time-line of what has been happening and see if that provides some inspiration.
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/We arrived at the hospital around 1:30 pm on Saturday to being the check-out process. The kids had just eaten and were relatively quiet and seemingly ready to go. The checkout progress was very long and drawn out. Lots of “do this” and “don’t do that” instructions, many papers were signed, and many doctors, nurses, and pharmacists passed through to ensure all was in order and to say their last goodbyes. Apparently, this was the first time that they were sending all three triplets home together in a long time (usually they go home one or two at a time).
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/The kids came home on monitors that inform us when their heart rate is too fast/slow and when they don’t breath for 20 seconds. We couldn’t get Brinlee’s monitor to work correctly for about 40 minutes at the hospital but eventually that was resolved with some clever engineering.
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/Of course, right when it was finally getting to the point of picking up the kids and heading out, it was feeding time again. So we fed Kimball and Sawyer, warmed Brinlee’s bottle, and made a dash for it. Hospital regulations required April to be taken out in a wheelchair holding two of the kids and a nurse to carry the third. So we loaded up three kids who were hooked to monitors and started out. The nurse and I fell a little behind April and her caravan during the long walk so we got a lot of “Congratulations on the twins” (as April passed) and then, “TRIPLETS, oh my gosh…etc” as I passed a few moments later.
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/They also don’t allow you to put the kids in their car seats in the hospital and it was in the low 50s that day so we had to scramble to put them in their car seats and into the car quickly. Of course, during this process, we had people standing over us asking a million questions. April and I didn’t even look up or say a word. It wasn’t the time or place (if it is ever the time or place to ask personal questions). We got them bundled in and decided to feed Brinlee. So we drove about forty feet and parked again. Amazingly the kids were asleep and quiet and Brinlee fed well. It as at this point that I realized that this was our last chance. The hospital doors were less than 100 feet away. Were we ready? Could all three be handled?
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/Somehow, probably in large part to the strength of the relationship and trust that exists between April and I, we turned the car up the hill and made our way to the freeway.Â
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/I have never liked being the driver while other peoples’ kids were in the car. It has always freaked me out. What if anything, ANYTHING goes wrong? It’s your fault! If you know that feeling, take it and quadruple it. Why quadruple…three kids and the monitors add a fourth component of risk. I’m glad it was a Saturday afternoon with little traffic.
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/We made it home by around 6 pm if I remember correctly. April’s parents were waiting for us. We brought them inside and set them next to the Christmas tree as they wandered in and out of various stages of sleep. Then the race began.
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/The first night was definitely the roughest night. I don’t believe April’s parents, despite April and my requests, got any sleep as they hovered over the babies all night (I guess grandparents are allowed to spoil, dote and worry).
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/Since that first night, we have learned many things…tilt the crib to lessen their reflux (which they are still on medicine for)…move everything for the nighttime feedings upstairs in the evening in coolers, etc…Sawyer likes this…Brinlee likes that…Kimball does this but he’s just expressing himself and he’ll calm himself down…etc. The only real issue we have had is with Sawyer not eating enough and having several serious apnea moments (thankfully picked up by the monitors). I think we have found a solution to both of these issues and he has started eating better and not have a major apnea moment since we tilted the crib.
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/Amazingly, with three hands going strong, we are all getting decent sleep. They are feeding every four hours (3am,7am,11am,3pm,7pm,11pm) and sleeping fairly well between their feedings (and setting the monitors off only rarely). I (Adam) have been doing the 11 pm feedings and getting to bed. Each feeding time takes between 1.5 to 2 hours and is a flurry of bottle warming, diaper changes, and charting of the babies’ progress. April is doing the 3 am feedings and my mom has handled the 7 am feedings. This allows all of us to get 5-6 hours of basically uninterrupted sleep each night (and hopefully we can get April and my mom to nap some during the day). At this point, we feel that this is doable.
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/We had their first pediatrician visit yesterday (Monday, December 4th). The nurse and doctor were very happy and impressed with their progress and gave some great tips to help Sawyer. Their weights were up we believe, although in the hospital they were weighed naked and in the doctor’s office they all had dirty diapers and it was a different type of scale.
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/Child                             Hospital on 12/1/06              Doctor’s office (12/4/06)
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/Sawyer                           5 lbs 13 oz                             6 lbs 2 oz
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/Sawyer did have about two days of pentup, gag reflux producing crap in his diaper.
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/Brinlee                            5 lbs 3 oz                               5 lbs 8 oz
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/Kimball                            5 lbs 4.5 oz                            5 lbs 12 oz (holy fat kid!)
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/And yes, the kids look so much bigger these days. They are now 37 weeks. We did use our triplet stroller for the first time yesterday. Although it is loooooooong, it does make them very easy to push around.
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/It is overwhelming? Yes.Â
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/Can we do this? Yes.
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/Is it wonderful? Yes.
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/Last night was the first time I did their feeding all by my big self. As I sat in that room, surrounded by baby stuff, I quite enjoyed myself. This is going to a wild ride.