Tough day!

So yesterday was one of those days where I wish I hadn't gotten out of bed. But as I look back, it wasn't as bad as it felt yesterday. It was more stressful than anything else.
The morning started off great, the kids woke up at a good time (6:30am), they ate at 7am and went right back down for a nap around 8am. The dogs woke them up by barking at 9:30, but I let them play in their cribs until 10. I got them all dressed for the day and they played a little until it was time to eat at 11. They ate spinach, which I love giving them healthy foods, but man spinach is like so GREEN! When they spit up, it gets everywhere and is very hard to clean!
The plan for the day was to take Stephen and his friends to the skatepark. By the time I was ready to go, the babies were crying because they were tired and wanted to take a nap. I forgot to mention, I also had Damien. He does a great job, but it's another kid to tack on to my 4! So yesterday I had a full car, 7 kids! I can't complain because they all did great, I was the one that went sour.
So I take Stephen and his 2 friends to the skatepark and Damien, Dane, Drake, Ava and I go to Target. Thankfully my sister Crystal was meeting us there. I still have not ventured out by myself totally yet. We got to Target, and by that time, I was already sweating! The expedition's a/c isn't working. AHHH, that's another added stress. I get the kids loaded up in the "limo" stroller and all is good. Target has a/c. The whole purpose of this trip was to use these coupons I got off the internet, so I go to the baby section and load up the cart with baby food. 44 packs of two. The coupon is for $1 off 2 Gerber foods. It's supposed to be a "great" buy. I get to the checkout stand and only 7 of 22 coupons work. I don't get it, they're all the same coupons! Why can't they just use the 7 that do work. Then the manager came over and said that you can't use copied coupons. WHAT?? They're all the SAME, from the internet! I told the lady to take back all the containers and just give me what I can get. Meanwhile, Ava is having a meltdown and wants to be held! I understand, she's very tired and wants to take a nap. The checkout lady hands me my bill and it doesn't even have the coupons on there. By this time I just wanted to leave. It's already 2:20 and the babies will be eating in 40 minutes, I want to get back to the skatepark, so I can feed them. We make it there and it's at least 95 degrees out. I'm soaked from sweat and so are the babies. Damien at least finds a friend and occupies himself. The babies are in a great mood after they eat and we roll around on a blanket under a tree. Finally some relaxing. Then we have to get back into that hot car and drive home. But we make it home and everyone is fine, the babies go down for a nap and I realize that I haven't eaten since 8am! So I make grilled cheese for everyone and I get to eat.
The day is almost over and I've finally cooled off. Chad makes it home as I am putting the babies to bed. He was supposed to get home earlier, but encountered a flat tire. He hates getting home late, but he loves the weekends when he gets to see the babies bright and early in the morning.
For now, it's saturday morning and I've had a great nights sleep. Today will be in the 90's outside and we have some things we need to do, but at least we'll have all day together!

7 1/2 months old

7 1/2 months old and I still can't get over the fact that we have 3 babies! Just in the past month or so, they have really progressed! Chad is still convinced that they are right on with the normal 7 1/2 month olds. Which they very well may be. I'm not one for comparing.

Let's see, we'll start with Dane.

Dane: I'm guessing he's around 16-17lbs. A big boy. We had to switch him and Drake to a bigger car seat, seeming that they are too long, about 27inches now. May even be longer. Dane has really changed. He was once the quiet, content guy who just liked to watch everyone around him. He still likes to watch, but boy can he babble! He giggles at just about anything and yells and loves to sit up all on his own. He was the first to do that. He reminds me of the Gerber baby. With his big blue eyes, we will have to fight the girls off! He gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth, sometimes even scooting himself backwards. He has straightened his knees and put his butt up in the air. So cute! When he's put in an exersaucer or jumper, he gets wild and crazy! Just starts bouncing and jumping up and down! He loves it! He's still our little cuddler.

Drake: Where do I begin with him! He's been pretty much our first with everything. He can crawl and get into just about anything he wants. We've started baby proofing the house for him. He weighs about 16lbs. Although Dane was our first at sitting, Drake can now sit unassisted for a short period. He still is our Mr. Personality and he just can't sit still. He is always on the move. Even when you're holding him, he has to be facing out towards the world. His eyes are changing to a more hazel color, like Mommy's.

Ava: Our little peanut! Still a short little thing, but her attitude sure is not! What a character she is! Being the only girl, she does get a little spoiled, but not as much as I thought. She's just demanding. She's not much of a cuddler, which kills me, but she's still my princess. She maybe weighs 15-16lbs, she loves to reach and stretch out to get to things. She still rolls around like crazy. Oh when I say Dane likes to babble, he's got nothing on her. She wakes up in the morning and after her naps and just babbles like crazy. She'll yell and sing, as I think she just loves to hear herself. I love it too. You can definetely tell she's a girl. She has that very high pitched voice. So very cute! Ava can now sit up with her bros, but for a very short period. Her and Drake had a little giggle fest sitting in front of each other yesterday. As soon as I got the camera out, they stopped and were so much more intrigued by it. And of course they both fell over immediately.

Oh, the joy of having 3! I have had some bad days, I won't lie. But the day after is like heaven. I just have to remind myself that bad days are few and far between the beautiful ones. Daddy and big brother just had their birthday, to which Stephen is now a teen! YIKES! Chad has had another "talk" and I believe we have a great kid on our hands. He is interested in girls, but rollerblading is very high in his life. As it should be. The kid is amazing! I'll have to figure out how to post a video of him. WOW! I think he could go far with it. But he knows that school will be #1 and if he did what he did last year (horrible year for grades), he won't be allowed to skate.

An update on the house, our first two showings were from the same people. They were interested, but unfortunately we lost out to the same style house, but with another car garage and a view of the mountains. So sad. But we've had at least 4 other people look at it. So within a month, we're not doing too bad. I just hope it sells soon!

That's it for now, the babies are stirring!

Take care!

The sign is up...

The for sale sign that is. We have officially put our house on the market as of Saturday. I hope it sells quickly so we can move , but I don't because our house isn't built yet! They haven't even broken ground yet. I'm very excited to be moving to a larger home, but not looking forward to what moving entails. Especially with 3 young infants!
This is a short post, I've got to put Drake down for a nap. The other two went down pretty quickly.

6 month check-up

Well, we have some great big babies on our hands. I was actually surprised though, they've kind of slowed a bit. Their doctor said they all look very healthy and they are on track developmentally. Everyone is rolling over, sitting up with assistance and grabbing for toys, objects and anything shiny mom has on! Dane is actually sitting for a brief minute or two by himself. Drake and Ava have found their feet and absolutely love them. Life is getting to be a bit more busy these days as the kids are requiring more attention. Also, Stephen being home, we're still getting used to that. It's very different when you have to make sure he gets fed, Chad and I would normally just eat whatever. With Stephen, we have to make sure there is something to eat. And a 12 (almost 13) year old boy requires a lot of food! Chads mom took him to get a cast today and great news for him, doc said he doesn't need one!!

So, the kids' weights:
Dane: 15lbs 8oz and 26 1/2 inches
Drake: 15lbs 1oz and 26 1/2 inches
Ava: 14lbs 2oz and 25 inches long

Some funnies from other multiple moms!

*You've ever said to your husband/wife while walking in the mall with your kids, "Just don't make eye contact and keep walking"*The subject of college funds makes you instinctively laugh (and throw up a little bit in your mouth)
*You occasionally lose track of how many scoops you've poured into a bottle
*At one point you've had a bottle in every room of your house
*You've taken approximately 2200 photos in the first 6 months of your babies lives
*Babies are rearranged to dodge drool pools rather change the crib sheet
*Your family blog is over taken with baby photos and stories
*The strollers in your garage occupy the space of an entire car
*You have to make an appointment just to take a shower
*When there is not one room in your house that hasn't been overtaken with baby stuff (three swings, three bouncy seats, three cribs, pack n plays, three bumbos, three exersaucers, three activity mats, ect.)
*You still aren't satisfied with your rehearsed answer about fertility drugs
*You have stock in rechargable batteries and three sets are ALWAYS being charged
*You have a costco/sams membership but no time to actually go
*You color code your babies
*An entire shelf in your pantry has been taken over by cans of formula, jars of baby food, ect.\
*Your means of conception and/or fertility methods are now public information

The weekend is finally over!

I wouldn't say this was the worst weekend we've had, but it's ranked pretty high. I've never felt such frustration with my kids.
It began Friday, the 1st, their 6 month b-day! Everything seemed all right in the morning. Everyone had gone down for their first nap relatively okay. Shortly after they woke up, I took them to my other triplet friends house. We were having a play date. When I arrived it was feeding time. Drake and Ava did great, although I had put them in Lindsay's space-saver high chairs that they were not used to. Dane sat in his seat and fussed the entire time. He maybe ate 2 1/2 oz and that was pretty much forced. I thought maybe he was just tired, so I put him back in his car seat and he fell right asleep. That night, he fussed way more than usual. And with him, is he cries, we know something is wrong. And it wasn't his normal cry, so I knew something was definitely wrong. I took his temperature and sure enough his temp wasn't normal. So we gave him Tylenol and he slept until morning.
Again, Saturday morning he seemed fine. It wasn't until later that afternoon that Chad took his temp again. This time much it was 101.5. So again he got Tylenol. And he seemed to sleep OK that night. It was Drake that got us that night. The second I got home from work, I heard this terrifying scream from the nursery. Sprinting up the stairs I met Chad at the top. He didn't have any idea what was happening. I grabbed Drake and saw that his faced was covered in his spit up. He was gagging and gasping for air. It took a good half hour just for him to calm down long enough to catch his breath. I feared the worst. And he didn't sleep at all, which means neither did Mom and Dad. It was miserable.
Sunday, at the morning feeding, I noticed Dane's ear was really filled with stuff and his temp was still high. So I took him to Children's. They told me that I was right and he had an ear infection. They told me that it had already ruptured as to why his ear was filled with white crust instead of the normal yellow/orange. They gave us antibiotics and some ear drops and told me to keep using the Tylenol to help with the pain.
Everything was fine after that, he was still a little fussy, but at least the Tylenol helped him sleep. We had a BBQ for Stephen's "homecoming". What a great turnout. We had A LOT of people in our little house. I can't wait to sell our house and move! That's a whole other post!
Monday morning, after a very stressful night of crying boys, I had to leave. I was helping out with our golf tournament for Sam. Chad called me after the kids' morning bottle and said Drake was acting like Dane was the other day. Great, I didn't know ear infections could be contagious! They aren't but an infection is an infection and they are contagious. Meanwhile, Chad had to take Stephen in to the doctors for his broken hand. What a family! Later that day, Chad took Drake in to see what was the problem was. They told him that it looks like since he has a runny nose that he could have an ear infection, but it looked as though it hadn't ruptured yet. So all this time, both the boys were just in misery with their ears! We felt awful! Ava also has a runny nose and we're praying that she doesn't get an ear infection.
So, needless to say, the weekend's over!! Today has been okay, the naps are short, but I'm hoping things will get back to normal by tomorrow.

Remembering...

As I sit here today, I try to remember what life was like a year ago. I remember it was very different, very solid, I knew what tomorrow would bring. I knew I could do whatever I wanted. Though I miss it, I don’t envy it. I’ve got my world now and I would never change a thing.
My life changed the moment I met my husband Chad. I was young, 17 at the time, and wanted really nothing to do with children. When I found out he had a 3 year old son (Stephen), Chad was 23, I almost turned him away. But with love at first sight, I hung on. Low and behold, after 3 years of dating, we were married. Still, the thoughts of a child, let alone children, were far from my mind. Then, I realized I was missing what every other woman already had, a baby. I started to want that feeling that women talk about when they get pregnant. I wanted that feeling of having something grow inside of you. Most of all, I wanted that feeling of someone needing me to survive.
After almost 2 years of trying, we realized we weren’t getting anywhere. I remember thinking every time I was late, “I’m pregnant” only to be sadly disappointed when my period came. We had heard many good things about Dr. Schoolcraft’s office and we decided to give it a whirl. We met Dr. Minjarez and we began our journey. She helped us understand everything that is involved with infertility. It took Chad and I almost 6 months to finally agree to get started.
In March of 2006, we actually began our journey. With our first round of chlomid, on April 19th we had our first IUI (intrauterine insemination). On May 5th, we found out we were pregnant! I can’t tell you how excited we were. Finally, the most amazing news we had heard for quite some time. It wasn’t until my blood tests came back did we realize that there might be more than one. We knew going in that we had a 7-8% chance of having twins and less than 1% chance of having triplets. We had seen 3 big follicles, but were told that they may not all get fertilized. We knew something was up when they told me my hormone levels were really high though. My mom knew triplets! It wasn’t until our 6 week ultrasound that we found out it really was triplets! WOW! We were shocked, but kept our spirits up. We had heard many scary stories, but we knew going in that we wanted kids. So kids is what we got.
Like I said, I wouldn’t change a thing. So after we found out we were having triplets, we did probably what most expectant families do, PREPARE! I became very strict with my diet and took all the necessary vitamins. I was bound and determined to keep these kiddos safe and not have them be taken too early. I really had a great pregnancy. I never had the morning sickness. I was always happy, some would say I was glowing all the time. I giggled at everything and anything. I hated the way my body was changing, but the moment I felt them kick, I melted. I fell in love with the 3 little babies that I had never even seen. When we found out what the sexes were, it was like I already knew them. We had names picked out immediately and knew who was who. Baby A was Dane, Baby B Drake and Baby C was our daughter Ava. We were thrilled to have the perfect mixture.
After 34 weeks of my pregnancy bliss, I developed a lingering headache. I didn’t think anything of it. I took my normal Tylenol (as Tylenol was my new best friend along with Benadryl) and let it be. I went in for what would be my final doctors visit on Thursday November 30 and was told that the headache is usually a sign of preeclampsia (high blood pressure, only treatment is to give birth). What was that? I skimmed over it in books thinking I was not going to be the person who ended her pregnancy with it. I was told to pack my things and head back to the hospital that night. I was not going to be leaving without my babies, so I was told.
Wow, that hit me harder than expected. I was supposed to make it to at least 36 weeks, after all, the nurses told me I was the model triplet pregnancy. I realize now that it just strikes whoever, no way I could’ve stopped it. I did everything perfect.
So, on December 1, 2006 I was prepared to give birth to my triplets, via c-section. I couldn’t think of any other time where I was that nervous. I had been waiting for it for so long! Chad was a nervous wreck. He didn’t sleep a wink the night before, lucky me, they gave me a sleeping pill (why didn’t I get those before??).
At 12:37pm on December 1st, Dane Ethan was born, weighing 4 lbs 12 oz and was 18 ½ inches long. At 12:38pm both Drake Samuel and Ava Grace were born. Drake weighed 5 lbs 8 oz and was 18 inches long. Ava came out weighing 4 lbs 3 oz and was 16 ½ inches long. Amazing weights! Where did I have them? I was big, but not that big! Dane was put on a ventilator, but only for 12 hours. Both Drake and Ava had c-paps for not more than 32 hours. All 3 went to the Grad NICU the next day and had a room all to themselves. It was there that we all began to thrive.
I spent every day with them and I learned so much. Chad would visit after work. He didn't want to take off until the babies came home. I remember they were 3 of the most quiet babies in the NICU. They really only fussed when they didn't want to be messed with. But I wanted to hold them tight all day long. We learned a lot while in the NICU, though there are certain things you need to figure out on your own.
After all 3 had figured out how to suck and swallow and do what all babies are supposed to do (16 days to be exact), they got the okay to go home. Yes, all 3 at the same time. Thank God Chad had 3 weeks off!
So for those first 3 weeks home, our family started. It wasn’t the best days we’ve had, but it definitely was not the worst. Chad and I learned quickly that both of us getting up in the middle of the night was a terrible idea, someone needed to sleep. The babies came home on a four hour schedule and to our amazement, they stuck with it. There were times when they made it 3 ½ hours, but for the most part, we were blessed with a 4 hour schedule. We both started to get our sleep back. Chad and I never lost ourselves, we kept our team together. And with help from our STORM (Super Twins of the Rocky Mountains) mom, Amy Johnson, some meals were prepared for us so we didn’t have to cook.
So, one year later, we have 3 five month old babies. Each at least tripling their birth weights. They are all rolling from front to back. Drake seems to be the leader in everything though. My mom swears he was the first born. They each have their own little personalities as well. Dane is our quiet guy, who rarely cries. You have to pull a smile out of him, but when he does smile, it’ll make you melt. Drake is our Mr. Personality. Everything seems to be hysterical to him. He smiles constantly and doesn't seem to want to sit still. Ava, we thought she didn’t like anyone at first. Then all of a sudden she is the most outgoing of all 3. She smiles at everyone and giggles at anything.
The loves of our lives! Our family has been blessed and we look forward to each and every year that lies ahead.

Nov 30, 2006

Today, wow, what a day! So, I've had this terrible headache now for oh, maybe 4 days. Never thought anything of it. I had a doctors appointment yesterday, but it snowed like crazy and I didn't feel like it was a good idea for me to drive. So I rescheduled for today.
On my way down to the hospital, I noticed that my eyesite was beginning to get blury. My headache was extremely bad now and not even Tylenol was helping. Once I made it to my doctors office, I felt worse. I thought, I probably should not have been driving.
I did all my normal tests, weight, protein check and blood pressure. My blood pressure seemed to be a little off. So they did a blood test and told me, go home and rest and start packing your bags. We may have you admitted tonight! WHAT? All I have is a terrible headache, I thought.
Ok, so I stopped at my work for a bowl of soup and then headed home. By this time, I wasn't feeling all that bad. They told me they would call within a couple of hours.
Well, after about a 4 hour nap, I still hadn't heard from the nurse. Chad was getting anxious, awaiting the phone call to tell him to come get me. So about 5 or so, I decided to call. A half hour later, I got a call from my doctor. She said I have the onset of preeclampsia and that we should get down to the hospital. And she mentioned, you won't be going home pregnant!!
When Chad finally made it home, I went into nesting mode. I had slept all day and I hadn't done anything to the house to get it cleaned. I was going crazy. I needed to vacuum, clean the bathrooms, the kitchen, do the laundry, etc. The things I wouldn't be doing for awhile. And oh my gosh, my dogs! What about the dogs! Needless to say, I wasn't able to get those things done, but Chad would come home and do a few things while I would be in the hospital.
So we made it to the hospital. We got settled into our room and they started hooking me up to all the heartrate monitors and the contraction monitor. I was having more contractions than I thought! Then our Dr. came in and said, lets do this tonight! WHAT? I told her that I had a slice of cheese and a cookie before we left. And she said why'd you do that? So we weren't able to have the babies tonight. Chad and I let out a huge sigh of relief. He said he needed a beer! Me too! I felt bad though, cause she was our Dr we wanted to deliver our babies. But she scheduled our c-section for noon on the following day.
They gave a sleeping pill and told me that I can't eat anything again after 10 or so. That was fine, I wasn't able to eat anyway, I was way too nervous. Dawn spent the night with me and Chad went home to do a few things around the house and to take care of the dogs. I know he didn't get much sleep that night! He was a nervous wreck. At least they gave me sleeping pill.

22 Days to go!

This morning we had our last ultra sound. I never thought about how crowded it would be. I'm talking about my big belly. I couldn't make out anything during the ultrasound. I guess we did happen to see a foot! That was exciting. But I tell you, it's pretty darn crowded in there. Every one's getting so big , right along with my belly. Last week they measured me at 46 weeks. That's not normal! Not human!
They measure the weight during an ultrasound by measuring their femur (thigh bone) and then the circumference of their head. All weights are approximate. With that, I will remind you that I am 33 weeks and 1 day today. I still have 22 days left, which also means, they have 22 days left to continue to grow. Ok, so here are the weights. Baby A (Dane Ethan) weighed in at 4lbs 9oz. Baby B (Drake Samuel) weighed in at 4lbs 10oz. Baby C (Ava Grace) weighed in at 4lbs.
To many of you, those seem like really good weights. Now I remind you that they are all in MY belly! So that means I am carrying around about a 14lbs baby! If they continue growing like they have been, I could end up with 6lbs babies. God help me!
Unfortunetely, the doctor did say he was a bit weary of their weights. With them growing so big so quickly, it could mean poor lung development. So he suggested doing an amnio a couple days before the scheduled c-section to check the lung development. I pray for healthy babies! And if they are on ventilators for a short while, I know it's for the best. Chad sees it at his work all the time, so we're used to it.
Other than having big babies, we are all doing great! We are looking forward to sharing a wonderful Thanksgiving with family.
Have a great Thanksgiving!

32 weeks and counting!

If I could do a little dance, I would be dancing all around! I've made it to 32 weeks! I actually feel great today. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, but I feel much better than yesterday. It's been about a week since I've developed this rash. During the day it's fine, but as soon as I even think about going to bed, it strikes up ten-fold! From the beginning I've been taking Benadryl, but I don't think it's working anymore. So then my husband Chad went and bought me cortizone cream (spelling is wrong I know). That soothes it for awhile, but in the middle of the night, everything wears off. The only thing that I can do is cry and scratch! I know I shouldn't but man it feels good for a bit!
Other than that, I maybe have about 5-6 contractions a day! If I have more, I wouldn't even know. Those are just the ones that stop me in my tracks. Anyway, I feel great. My last day of work will be this saturday and I'm very sad. I know I'll be going back in a few months, but it just makes me sad.
Ok, so I think that's all for now.