Light at the End...

Today all the boys finished all their bottles and food for the first time since March 9. A HUGE relief to me, and the first sign that we really are coming to the end of this RSV adventure. Last night we put the boys Vicks rub on the bottom of their feet (like a study suggested), and while it did not stop the coughing fits, the boys didn't wake up with their coughing fits, so we all slept pretty well! 

Weston, Creighton, Paxton

At the peak of the worst nights we were up all night, sometimes I would wake Mark up so I could sleep for an hour. And some nights we both were up with multiple babies just dozing in and out as the boys allowed in various chairs and positions. They would be awake struggling to breathe, so I would be suctioning their noses every 45 min - 1 hour, while also trying to keep them calm so they wouldn't go into a coughing fit, start crying, and create even more drainage and coughing. I even had my mom track down a new (and rather disgusting) invention: The Nose Frida.

You essentially put one end in their nose and you suck the other end with your mouth to get out all the "stuff" (it doesn't reach the sucker person due to a filter). I had heard about them but never thought I would be convinced to try using one... until RSV.
Review: AMAZING! Highly recommend for any baby with a cold. Less traumatic for baby then the bulb syringe, and it got more out.

So far Paxton is the only one who got an ear infection, but as I sit here Creighton is in my lap struggling with sleep. So he may be joining that band wagon soon enough. During the days they struggled to eat, sometimes only eating 1/3 of normal intake. Coughing fits would send my nerves to the edge as they struggled to catch their breath. And when you held them you could hear their wheezing as they breathed. But after various doctor visits, and lot's of phone calls with questions, things seem to be improving. During the day the boys were extra fussy and loved to just be held. So I began a new way to accommodate this need, and it has worked like a charm.

 We have to trade, frequently, who rides where, and I can only hold all 3 for a few minutes unless I am sitting down. Above is Weston in the wrap and Paxton on my hip.

I spent plenty of time worrying about them and going in and putting my hand on their back or chest just to count their breathing and make sure it wasn't too fast. I was constantly looking for signs of hypoxia (breathing fast, not eating, fatigue, chest moving in a way that was different called retractions, etc.). I learned that the boys have settled into favorite sleeping positions, each unique!

 Creighton - back, Paxton - side, Weston - tummy with bum up in air

One fussy, sunny afternoon I though a walk might help calm them, so we broke out the choo choo wagon!

This ride only lasted past 2 houses before Paxton was screaming to get out. Weston wasn't too keen on it either. But Creighton enjoyed the ride, so it wasn't a total waste. 

Ella and I also got RSV, but since we are over 2 years old it is called bronchiolitis, or just a bad cough and cold. I am starting to feel better and coughing less, Ella is slowly getting better as well. Makaela got a stomach bug on Monday, then Ella got that on Tuesday. And somehow Thea has escaped it all! But as Mark pointed out, there are perks to them all getting sick together so we just get through it rather then enduring months of illness one at a time.

So we are well, and I am grateful for all your thoughts and prayers. We avoided hospitals!!! Hurray! I feel so blessed to have such healthy boys and girls, and such wonderful friends and family. We are doing great, and my regular days feel much easier now.

RSV Found Us

I had suspected Creighton's "cold" was more serious an hour into it's first symptoms Friday night. So yesterday we hauled all 3 (and of course Ella), in to see the pediatrician where he confirmed our suspicions and diagnosed the ever evil and dreaded, RSV (aka: Respiratory Syncytial Virus).

What is RSV?
It is a viral infection, often called bronchiolitis. In adults and older children it appears as only a severe cold, but in infants under a year they become more ill as the disease moves into the lungs and causes severe cough and wheezing. This can often lead to hospitalization and/or oxygen to help them through it. Infants who get RSV are more likely to develop asthma later in life. Almost all of them will go on to have subsequent wheezing episodes with other respiratory viral illnesses, especially in the recovery time.

So what now?
Our pediatrician has started all the boys on Singulair (an asthma medication), to try and limit damage to the lungs. He thinks this will help prevent hospitalization, and decrease subsequent wheezing episodes as well as decrease the odds of having asthma later (there are limited studies to show this, but we are happy to try it).  We are also suctioning... a lot. We use nasal sprays up to 10 times a day and suction, suction, suction to help their breathing. In fact, we have a prescription to go to a "suction clinic" when it gets worse. This is where you drive to a clinic (we would go to Primary Children's Medical Center) and the clinic does nothing but suction secretions out of clogged up kids, mostly infants with RSV (apparently). You go at least daily to get them cleared out and breathing better. Another intervention to help avoid hospitalization. We are also sleeping them all in elevated positions and using a humidifier. We are watching for signs for hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood), as this is what would drive us towards more doctor visits, oxygen, or hospitalization. There is also a higher likely hood that someone will develop an ear infection due to all the secretions they are having.

So as for us...
Well, Creighton is on day 4 of his course and Weston & Paxton are on day 1. It is usually a 14-21 day ordeal, with the worst of it happening about days 7-10. Creighton is wheezing and I find it difficult to not check his breathing hourly (even at night). I was initially upset that after all this staying in and avoiding people it was all for not. But our doctor was quick to point out that RSV in these older, chubbier boys is better then 10 lbs ago. They will be more able to fight it and hopefully avoid hospitalization. I have never had RSV despite having all fall babies, and my girls did not stay inside away from people like these triplets have. How frustrating. No one has been sick in our house for weeks, so I have no idea where they got it from. It is a very contagious disease so it would not have taken much. I have had to let go of trying to figure out the "how" because it was driving me insane. Forward and onward we go. I feel like we are walking into a dark cave, and I hate dark caves. But the only way through this is through it, and I wish I could run, but we can't. This will be a daily battle, and hopefully we come out with minimal scarring.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and I will do my best to keep everyone updated.

A Day in the Life

One of the most common questions I get asked is, "how are you doing?" or "How do you do it?" So, for better or boredom, I have decided to post what happened during a day around here. It is nothing fancy, nothing unusual, and is in fact what most every stay-home mom is probably doing. I just take a little longer because I have to do many things 3 times over. So if you've ever wondered what a day is like around here... below is day in the life of us.

4:00am - Weston is put back into bed after being awake with a bad diaper rash in a bad diaper
4:50am - Paxton wakes up screaming, he is stuck in the corner of his crib. I re-position him.
5:15am - Paxton still screaming, so I get him so I can cuddle him back to sleep.
6:10am - Creighton (often the early riser) wakes up. He is talking and cooing and making me smile despite my half awake brain.
7:10am - Creighton is ready to have some attention, Weston is awake also.
7:30am - Girls are awakened by Mark, I get the boys changed & going on their bottles (letting Paxton sleep a bit longer), fix breakfast, pack lunches, scripture study done.
8:00am - Paxton wakes up, so we change his diaper and start his bottle and move Weston and Creighton to the play mats. Then finish getting the girls ready for school. Mark leaves for work.
8:30am - Girls leave for school. I eat breakfast.
8:45am - Feed the boys something solid.

9:10am - Creighton & Weston go down for a nap, clean up the baby eating area, read Ella a book as part of deal to motivate her to get dressed, and then help her get going on her "hideout" for the day (interpretation: a place where she will hide a bunch of things collected throughout the day that will eventually take us a while to put away. Today it is behind a chair).

 9:30am - Paxton down for his nap. Start laundry for the day, and realize that I left the yogurt & milk on the counter... oops.
9:50am - Ella is ready for a "snack" (she eats better aft 9a, just like her mom. not a morning stomach). We have some talk time.
10:10am - Clean the kitchen, put my room back together for the day, change/hang the laundry
10:20am - Head to exercise room... stop and watch Ella sing. Dance with her and help locate a microphone so our show is now more serious.
10:30am - Start exercising with Ella by me. We enjoy an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
11:05am - Paxton screaming. He has soaked himself and his bedding in spit up. Change the bedding, get all boys dressed & lotions applied (eczema meds for P & W), and am grateful for the quickwash feature that will get the boys blankets done sooner rather then later.

 11:35am - Bottle time
12:00pm - reading time with the boys, singing time. Ella is there to help.

 12:30pm - lunch time for Ella, laundry calling me again
12:45pm - nap time for boys (oops, Creighton started without me)

1:00pm - Laundry, clean up Ella's book mess in her bedroom, chore time around house

1:50pm - Play with Ella, find some toys she chooses. Weston wakes up. Show on for Ella (and Weston) while I shower and change laundry.
2:35pm - Sit down
2:35pm and 10 seconds - Paxton starts screaming. Bring him down to play barbies & princesses with us.
3:15pm - Creighton wakes up. Haul everybody upstairs.
3:30pm - Paxton gets another new outfit, all diapers changed, and bottle time
3:35pm - Girls home from school (one of the blessings in my life: neighbors who help them get home if the weather is not fit for walking)! Snack time, report about day while we entertain boys.Then start homework, piano, and after school "to-do's."
3:50pm - boys need some attention, Ella is starting to get a major collection of at least a dozen items in her hideout.
4:00pm - boys restless, change activities. Back to girls.
4:15pm - boys restless again, holding Weston, Creighton & Paxton get a new activity. Convince Thea she wants to play with them for a while as a "break." She invents "baby school" for boys with Ella as her assistant. Awesome.
4:30pm - Makaela ready for dance, help her get out the door (another major blessing - people who drive her and my other girls to and from dance!).
4:45pm - Boys fussy, Thea & Ella done. Thea back to her "to-do's" while I am getting solids ready for fussy babies and checking to make sure Ella is not getting into trouble.
5:00pm - solids again for boys (*Triplet Fact: we are going through 124 jars of baby food a month, and 72oz of baby cereal).
5:30pm - boys done with solids, serve up a wonderful dinner brought to us by some gracious neighbor for Thea & Ella while boys work on eating crackers.
5:45pm - clean up boys, take to room, fill bath tub for boys
6:00pm - Begin bath time
6:35pm - Screaming, clean, babies dressed and bottles given. Room picked up, Ella & Thea done with dinner, Makaela home and ready for dinner. Scoop her dinner while she watches babies eat bottles, then we switch and she eats while I finish feeding boys and tuck them into bed.
6:45pm -  Mark home!

(oops! forgot to take pictures at the end of the day... got a little too crazy)

The rest of the evening is filled with normal stuff for the other kids, including books, bedtime, bath's & showers, and Mark & I eating dinner. I also work in the evenings and finish the laundry, and Mark will exercise and make the next days bottles. Then we collapse into bed, hopefully before midnight, and count our many blessings that helped us make it through another day.

Each day is a little different and things change all the time. Every day is a little different in the schedule, but I just woke up and recorded one day so that at least a snapshot could be recorded. If you hung in there through this post... well, wow. The days are constant. There is constantly someone or something needing me, but I am fairly certain that is the case of most mother's, especially mother's of 6. So I don't claim this day to be exceptional in any way, shape, or form, but it was our day, and maybe now you can better picture what life is like in our home of triplets + 3. And when I say "I'm fine." I really mean it. We are tired, but fine, thanks to the help of others and banding together as a family.

We still love 3's!

7 months ago these 3 rays of sunshine completed our family and have been bringing joy to our hearts every day since. Time is moving so incredibly fast. 

 Weston, Paxton, Creighton

Weston, Paxton, Creighton

 Sometimes we have to "take 5" for a bottle break and a few songs and tickles

Creighton

Paxton

Weston

We also got to enjoy a lunch date with 11 other triplet moms. The most average age of the triplets there was 3, but there were some younger triplets as well, however we were the youngest at this particular event. It was nice to get out with these other 50 friends! We took up half the restaurant and I had a glimpse of what craziness awaits me in the next few years. Ella had a lot of fun as well being able to get out of the house. And after watching all these toddler/preschool triplets it was a reminder to me how different multiples are then a single. The difference of my 1 to their 3 was a stark contrast for me, and a wonderful glimpse of my future and how busy it will continue to be.

I have been thinking about the sounds of my days and how there are so many sounds I never thought I would enjoy or never even knew to imagine hearing.
* The sound of all 3 of my girls giggling and playing
* The sound of a quiet nursery with 3 boys busy drinking bottles
* The sound of a husband  getting up with a baby in the morning
* The sound of little girls requesting your company in their next activity
* The sound of little boys giggling and sighing as you hand them their blanket and kiss them goodnight.
* The sound of 3 little girls dancing, reading, and entertaining 3 little boys
* The sound of my sweet 3 year old desperately trying to get a last good-bye in to her sisters on their way out the door to school
* The sound of yet another car pulling into my driveway to pick up my girls and chauffeur them off to their activities.
* The sound of a text message with an offer to help
* The sound of silence when it surprises me for just a few minutes
* The sound of sisters talking in Spanish to help each other and with their dad for fun
* The sound of the piano being practiced, or better yet, just being played
* The sound of help at the door, often food that relieves our hungry tummy's at the end of a chaotic (and fun) day
* The sound of little girls whispering and giggling in the dark past bedtime
* The sound of "hello" when my family members return home
* The sound of baby giggles to songs & books & silly faces
* The sound of 3 babies crying all together in my house, or sometimes even 6 kids crying
* The sound of babies kicking and cooing in their cribs

There are many sounds in life, I could go on. But it is amazing the things I get to enjoy hearing every day.

Winter Blues?

I can feel the winter fog lifting! Life is starting to pick up and we are starting to see blue skies and remember what color our roof is under the melting snow.

The girls are starting to show off their fall and winter work in some performances. At school they get to have dance. But this isn't any dance, they dance to learn the core curriculum better. Makaela danced answers to multiplication & division, how to read maps, Native American dances, and a black lights moon dance. She was as graceful and rhythmic as ever.

Thea danced to Dr. Seuss books and performed a fabulous dance to a book the class had recorded reading with music: Mr. McElligot's Pool. Each child would just glow when they heard their voice reading their line from the book. What a fun idea! I did indeed get teary (you know how I love watching my kids glow as they share their hard work and talents), and the triplets got to go to Thea's performance (big outing!). Also the reason she doesn't have as many pictures. But she was so busy she hardly held still long enough for a picture, she was even cartwheeling across the floor at times!

 Now let me back up to Valentine's Day. We don't usually make a huge deal on this holiday. Mark & I keep it simple (since our anniversary is just a couple weeks prior too). On Valentine's we have started a tradition of having a nice dinner by mood-lighting with the kids. This year it was really fancy... Heart shaped pizza (haha!). But it was fun none-the-less and we also had treats and hearts we wrote on to each family member. This year will always be memorable though because when Mark & I opened our cards to each other we were completely surprised (and shocked) to realize that we had bought each other the same card! I had shopped at the grocery store at the end of January, and Mark bought his at Hallmark just a few days prior. So funny!

In the aftermath of Valentine's we had lot's of chocolates laying around, and on the weekend I worked I woke to hear that at 4pm the girls were hungry because dad had forgotten lunch (they had gone out for a walk!). I told them we would eat an early dinner so go ahead and eat a couple Valentine candies to hold them over. While taking care of the boys I caught a glimpse of Ella on the couch with this pile. I told her she didn't need all of those, just two was fine, but snapped a picture and went back to the boys. A few seconds later Mark comes in with a handful of 10 wrappers! "Did you mean she could have 2 more in addition to these?" She had already consumed at least 8-10 and this pile was not her taking, but what was left! Oh my sweet toothed Ella. She can out eat us all when it comes to sugar.

The other fun Ella at home moment is the new Disney Channel show "Sofia: the first." It's a new cartoon about a little girl who suddenly finds her mom married to a king so she must learn to become a princess. It is really an adorable cartoon full of music and good things. So every Friday since January there is a new episode and we record it, and after the boys go down for a nap we sit down and watch it together. Well, Ella won a Super Bowl contest at my parents party, so she took her money and bought herself a Sofia dress, amulet, and little toy figurine. What a fun day this was to go down to the Disney Store and let her shop! We tried on every shoe and a couple dresses in the fancy mirrors before she decided. Oh how I love my little girls. What a gift and blessing they are. 

 The boys. They continue to grow bigger every day. We are currently working on 3 very important, life changing skills. I think this is part of the reason time goes 3x faster with multiples. I am enjoying the moments I have, they go so quickly! But I also look forward to new skills that will change the simplest things in day to day life. Long days & fast months continue.

1. Sitting up.

We practice in a variety of places, this is how we eat solids. I can't wait until they have another way to play and view the world. And once they can sit up well enough I will also be anxious to start using my wagons to transport them on outings! (also waiting for RSV and the flu to disappear a little more)
Weston, Paxton, Creighton

2. Holding bottles

They are not very good yet, these pictures were caught by Mark during practice. They cannot hold them with more then 1-3 oz, and still lose their grips, but there is hope. And we practice this sometimes too.
Creighton, Paxton (top), Weston

3. Finger foods

I will soon be buying a new knife for all the finger food cutting I will be doing. And someday I will be very tired of chopping up food into "finger nail" sized bites, but these boys are ready to start heading there. So we are practicing holding foods and getting them into the mouth. For now we have 2 very perfect crackers to practice with. And they get better every time.
Paxton

It seems like from 6 months until 2 years of age you cannot keep up with all the new things your kids do every day. I can already see how quickly these next few years will go with 3 of them overwhelming me with their progress every day. What a blessing to have such healthy, growing boys. I feel more humbled every day to get to have a front row seat to all this. And I am still in denial that I get to be their mom forever. Wow.


Another big event was we took the boys out to dinner! It was my dad's birthday dinner, and it was at a fancier restaurant, so I must admit I was having some anxiety about the boys behaving (and their 6:30p bedtime also contributed to my anxious state going to a 5:45p dinner). But when we arrived my dad had told them about the boys and they had gotten us our own little area, like an alcove, away from most every one. It was perfect! My anxiety was gone and we enjoyed a most delightful 3 hour meal! The night felt so normal. I had to double check that it wasn't my birthday! Maybe I can go somewhere, even a nice somewhere, with 6 kids... as long as there are 6 adults.

Thea, Makaela, Ella, Paxton, Creighton, Weston

Another Winter Week at Home

It is yet another week at home hiding from the flu & RSV & other winter bugs. I am quite happy to be here enjoying the moments I get be a part of as mom of these wonderful kids.

Mark & the girls did get to go out on a daddy-daughter date the other night. When I asked the girls their favorite part of the evening they all agreed it was "dancing and dancing with daddy!" Ella even informed me she danced to Gangnam Style. They also ate cookies, and made Valentine's cards. What a great fundraiser by the high school!

 My Ella keeps me smiling, laughing, and playing all kinds of games. She is full of hilarious one liners all day. "My brain won't let me sleep mom" or "next time you read that book you need to stop so I can say that 'the cockatoo pooped on his head.'" And other comments involve food: "mom go check on the babies so I can get a chocolate" or "my tummy really thinks sandwiches in squares are tastier to day." She is just so fabulous! There are so many things she says each day I sometimes wish I could record her all day. And she is all girl. If I want her to wear pants I'd better be ready to battle, so most days she wears the same dresses over and over and is always adding her "fancy accessories."

Paxton & Weston

Looking very grown-up in "real" clothes

Paxton, my thumb sucker. He was the only one to nap in the afternoon on this particular day, and I know I have his thumb to thank. I am just not convinced that these little moments are going to be worth the pain of breaking the habit in the future. Never had a thumb sucker before. And I can't seem to stop him.

Witching Hour.

It exists in every home with children, regardless of age. They either run you ragged or exhaust you with crying. We are currently in the "I'm done with all my toys and just want you to hold me" kind of witching hour. Of course I can't hold all 3 at once any more, or if I try I get stuck and can't figure out how to put them down. Plus 16lbs x 3 babies = 48lbs (that is like a big bag of Costco dog food!), so I tire out quickly. Any way, so every day I debate which one to hold, or two, and sometimes we stare at the third one left behind, and then we switch. And often we are grateful for our MamaRoo's which  become my 3rd arm. But today, nothing was working. So I snapped a picture. Because that is what we do now-a-days when we are overwhelmed by our children. And then we ate early, and went to bed early. And early bed time is the best cure to the Witching Hour. Someday I will wish that would work on older kids. And tomorrow, we will do it again, but maybe in a better way.

For my musings in this post, I have been thinking about things I now appreciate, but never did before.

1. I am slowly weaning myself of the dinner help that my neighbors continue to bring in (we are down to just 2 a week!). So as I have been planning dinners and figuring out how to add this task back into my daily life, I had, what felt like, a significant thought. I have never really loved cooking. In fact, I learned to cook for my family because circumstances required them to eat (imagine that). Most of our favorite meals involve a crockpot or fairly simple recipes. And I realized that while I have always viewed this as a weakness, it is actually now a strength. If I had become a homemaker who taught herself to enjoy labor intense, complicated meals I would now have to re-learn how to cook the simple things that I can manage in my current days. So while I used to mourn my lack of cooking enthusiasm and consequently skill, I am now grateful for it. And with 3 future teenage boys I will have plenty of opportunity to develop this talent in the future.

2. I used to think that having 2 colic babies was just bad luck. But now, I am actually grateful to have had these months of coping with crying before. My patience and tolerance grew by leaps and bounds. Now I have 3 babies that not only cry, but if one cries loud, the other two cry louder! And it can feel tedious and intense as we often have to yell to each other just to hear one another over them ("go get your dance clothes on!" "You need a drink of water!?!" "Can you help your sister!" "How was school today?!"). But I am now grateful for my colic babies. Grateful they came one at a time. Grateful they taught me that crying doesn't cause permanent damage. Grateful they gave me experience. And most of all, I am grateful that no matter how much these sweet boys cry, they are not colicky, just normal.

Half a Year

6 months old! Wow. As with all babies, the days have been long, but the months are going even faster then with just 1 baby! I spend my day running from task to task, and often feel I never have enough time to enjoy each baby. But I have also learned that because they were preemie babies, they feel younger than they are, so that is kind of nice. And I do love how chubby they are getting as well! They are developing each of their personalities, and you see unique things in how different they all talk, how they each love their blankets, and even how they like to sleep, and how they react to books & toys.

Weston

 It was an instant change from pouty lip to smiling! Sooooo funny! Weston likes to talk by spitting at you. This is particularly fun when he is eating carrots or other colorful solids. He was the last to roll over from front to back, but he can move from one end of his crib to the other quicker than anyone! And he absolutely LOVES to snuggle. If he is the one wakes in the middle night he is the easiest to calm because all I have to do is snuggle him.

Paxton

There is nothing quite as heart melting as when I walk into the room and start talking to him. His eyes light up and his face just glows. While he cried when we first started solids, he now cries because he has to wait so long in between bites. He loves eating! And his voice is expressed through gurgling sounds in the back of his throat. He has also discovered his thumb and loves to suck on it! Oh joy. Thank you for introducing me to thumb sucking & cradle cap!

 Creighton

Usually this boy would be open mouthed smiling with even the hint of attention. However, today he had been up all night (ok, just 2a-6:30a) with an ear ache. Poor guy, his 2nd ear infection. He is the tallest still and rolls off of his stomach in record time. He prefers to talk with "ooo's" and "aaahs" and still has the most unique cry. He is still the most ticklish, and he LOVES to sing "If You're Happy & You Know It."

 All 3 boys

Weston, Creighton, Paxton

Sisters kissing their brothers... Oh how my heart swells with JOY thanks, in part, to these 6 delightful (and completely exhausting) kids.