zombie

Oh man what a rough night.
After yesterdays fun fiasco of the power going out & the delightful trauma of the eye exam, I was spent. So that last feed at night, while feeding Katie, her alarm goes off. As if I wasn't frazzled enough. And her canula won't stay in right. We are lucky if 1 nostril part stays in. To the designer of the canula- your design bites. It especially bites between 12-7am. So after that attempted fix and minor heart attack on me, I went to check on Katie. Right when I did, she had arched puke. Some call it 'spit up.' That description does not do it justice. So we had to fix her up (it came out her nose even- real fun with a canula....). Redo the bed, her clothes, etc. That was the start of a long night. We didn't get a single solid hour of sleep. I am hurting today. Luckily the grandparents are here & we can nap once I detach from the torture device called breast pump.

Todays topic: Trauma of the momma

Today was exhausting.
First trauma was at the house. We were getting ready for the day and suddenly the power goes out. Normally no big deal. However (insert panic here)- my baby girl is hooked up to medical equipment powered by electricity (also, the milk in the fridge!). So things start beeping. My first thought is take Katie to the car (granted, she is fine when we take her off the equipment for bathing and truly doesn't need it. My car has actual plug outlets in it. Of course, you can't be in a garage with the car on so I would have had to hit the garage door opener button (no power remember). If I would have made it that far, I probably would have just driven thru the garage door. But alas, Charles was here and fixed it so our garage door was spared.Yes, I know, totally irritational of me but I blame it on the lack of sleep.




The next trauma of the day for me was the eye exam. We took all 3 (our 1st time!) to the eye doc in Winter Park. Our appt was at 11:30 & we left at 2:15. Looong day. First they have to put drops in their eyes every 15 min or so. Then we asked to be taken out of the regular waiting room since it is RSV season (strangers wanted to help feed the babies. Sweet, but back off! I don't know where those peeps have been!). So they moved us into their storage room (hence the eyeball pics on my flickr acct). We were in there forever. I wish we could have napped! We had to feed the kids on this trip too. So then they call us into the room. I had to sit on the exam chair & hold (aka 'refrain') each kid in my lap while they stuck this object that looked like to wire forks mangled together into each of my babies eye sockets (no valium for the babies or me!). Holy crap that was so not cool. They had numbing drops but ack! They screamed. So then we go to leave & have to pay. Its a $25 co pay which isn't bad. Till you times it by 3. Plus we have to go back in 3 weeks. Then I checked the waiting room to see if it was clear. There were like THIRTY kids in their, during RSV season. Nooooooo! Not cool. So I ask for the back door and it leads to stairs :( so we had to rush out the normal exit.
And that my friends was this momma's trauma of the day.

Quick hello

I got to administer my 1st suppository yesterday. Those things work. Yup- that was the excitement of the night.
Little Katie's alarm went off while I was feeding her & I am proud to say I did not have the knee jerk response of tossing her or the bottle up in the air. :)

Chaz' mom was here this weekend which rocked. His Dad came up today. They let us sleep in & they fed all 3 babies. Heaven sent! I also got to go in to work for a few hours. I felt so bad- I saw my cool co-workers at work & I wanted to catch up so bad but I only had two hours to get all the budget stuff done :( Boo.

Late night

IMG_5097
Originally uploaded by drjeeeol

What a cutie. I had to post this!

math

When I feed the triplets with Charles, it can take anywhere from 45 min to 1.5 hours. By myself it is 2 hours.

Hypothetically, lets do some math:

Kids eat every 3 to 4 hours so lets gingerally go with the later (2 hours x 6 feedings) = 12 HOURS.

Then I have to pump and clean the pump & replenish the bottles so min of 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours = 3 to 4 HOURS

Now lets talk diapers. I'll LOW ball this one. Lets say the diaper gets changed after every meal (6 to 8 meals a day x 3 kids) = min of 54 diapers a day. Each diaper change takes about 5 min including outfir change if neccesary...That's about 4.5 HOURS.

On to laundry. At least one load a day and putting it away. I'll just go with 20 MINUTES. I'll skip the garbage (by the way- the Diaper Champ is awesome!).

Bottles. After each feeding and pumping, I have to wash/sterilze them to reuse them. Thats about a min of 5 min each time if hurried so I'll just say 45 MIN.

We will skip bath time since that isn't daily. Then there is clean up time but that varies.
Uhm....we are at about 21 hours in a 24 hour day. Hmmmm. I shouldnt be this sane. Oh- & for each doc appt, you have to do the paperwork 3 times. It was like writing a novel!

So it sounds crazy but it is really, really doable. The worst part is pumping but that is my time for blogs, email, uploading pics. I also work a few hours from home.Anywho, so far so good. I still shower. I have cut out the daily scooping of the dog poo, vacuuming (ugh that urks me), & my daily yard work routine. I still get to watch all my shows I have recorded when feeding the kids. I still get snuggle time in with the kids. The secret is routine, organization, & cleanliness. I notice the frustrations rise when mess starts up. Lack of sleep occassionally is the toughest. Next week we will start interviewing help.I have a dozen apps so far to review & asked for them to all be in by next Friday.

What a learning experience

Well, our NICU experince is coming to a close. Kaitlyn comes home on Monday- my birthday.
It has been an experience like no other.I can't tell you how much we learned. I now know about things such as apneias, bradycardias, CPAP. PDA, etc. Peoplewould often say to us us "oh it must be so hard to have to go to the NICU." The hardest part is the 25 min drive.People- let me tell you= the NICU flippin rocks. Of course the unfamiliar beeps are scary at 1st but the bonuses of it are amazing. For instance, I have had a dozen NICU nurses tell me all of their tips, show us their techniques for bathing, massage, burping, swaddling, etc. Then their are the free classes. They hook you up with the bottles for pumping. They have lactation consutants their all the time.You get to go home and heal from delivery. You have an awesome doctor call you daily with updates and to answer your questions (he should so have his own reality show). Surprisingly, it is going to be hard to not go their anymore. The most amazing part was the people. You see certain nurses each day and become really, really good friends with them. The people at the main desk know us so well- they ask about each kid by name, they know my birthday, I know their grandparents names. Also, each day you get to see the people in the lobby leave with new babies, come in about to have a baby, or come down stairs to tell the families. Some have had babies in the valet area even. Then in the NICUyou meet other parents and hear the stories of heartbreak and ones of happiness. I am just an awe over the whole experience.

Today we had training on how to operate the oxygen tank and monitor that Katie will come home on. It is precautionary stuff. She will probably be on ot for a month. It is another blessing in disguise. Granted, it seems scary to most but parents can sleep better with it b/c it will alert us to any problems. However, it sounds like the Titanic's horn. No joke. I think the neighbors will know if we have a problem even!

We survived taking both boys to the pediatrician. YOu will have to pardon me if you don't see me for awhile. The pediatrician told us not to have lots of people over, esp kids 4 and under (RSV season). The babies technically arn't even supposed to be born yet (Dec. 8) so he wants us to avoidexposure and all.

We have had the boys home for about a week now. It is going well. The hardest part is lack of sleep. I pump every 3 hours.If you look at a breakdown:
*Pumping takes 1/2 hour so thats about 4 hours of your day right there. More if you include washing the parts.
*Feeding the boys takes up to 45 minutes every 3 to 4 hours now so That's about 8 hours.
*Diaper changes. I'm a freak, I like the diaper changes (except if I have to wake p to do them- that's rough). Not to mentionthe outfit change that usually accompanies any oopsies. Then factor in the ointments you have to put on the babies.
*Then you have to factor in the picture taking and uploading to keep the grandparents happy!
That alone is 12 hours or 1/2 my day
It would be sooo easy if we didn't require sleep, if only we required a regeneration chamber like 7 of 9...
So far it is all about organization and schedules.
I am rambling. xoxoxo

Monkies don't fling poo- babies do!

Today was a good lesson.After a long night with Charlie, we were ready to brave the day. I know little boys can soak you with their gunso I am extra careful about that (now....).I plan ahead tho. I have a sheet saver under the baby, etc. So I am changing Charlie who by the way, hates to be changed, & sweet Daddy walks in. He asks if he poo'd & I say no, he just tinkled. I lovingly lather on some butt paste (to the baby, not me) and then the unholiness breaks out!I am holding his lil legs up and BAM- his booty shoots yellow, seedy poo out of the co sleeper- it arched for pete's sake and had distance :o It made it all over to my beds dust ruffle.
And that boys and girls is todays lesson.
Man that was funny.

Oh and now for a gripe. It is funny how people become so moronic when they hear the word triplets. They get this 'look' and they VERBALLY say thinngs like "Oh my God" (but not in a good way) or they say "yikes"- and to those people, I just want you to know that YES, most mom's of multiples are non-verbally thinking you are a moron. Congratulations.
What are some of my other favorites? Oh yes, there is the "Wow, you will have your hands full" Seriously? Do people not realize we hear that 100s of times a day. Can the world not think of a better line?
Oh, another favorite= Are they all identical? Um seriously- how will I EVER tell Katie and the boys apart! No fool- they are not identical!I also get "Do twins run in your family?" or my ultimate favorite "Did you do IVF?" Now people I do not even know ask me that. That is personal stuff. Do I go around asking them if they conceived their child via intercourse!?
It's all rather funny actually.
Our top responses are (This one is Chaz')when he sees twins, he likes to say to the parents "Man, you have got it eeeeeeasy!" The looks they give him is hysterical. For me, if asked how we got triplets, my favorite is 'multiple orgasms.'

:)

Happy November!

My November has gotten off to a shaly start.
My camera that I took with me everywhere broke :( Hence, the slacking on the pictures. I will have to switch to one of Charles' cameras.
Then my cell phone broke yesterday. I know when people are calling and they can hear me, but I can't hear them. I dropped that phone hundreds of times on cement but yesterday it landed on a rug and that is what did it in :( So soon I will get a new phone. So text or email me if you are looking for me.
Now my VPN access from home to my work computer won't connect. And last night my wallet fell out of my pocket (luckily just into the depths of the chair I was sitting in when holding Will...I was back for my 2nd visit 3 hours later so phew!).
So blah to that stuff! Geeez.

On to the bigger news:
Will has his canula out now like Charlie.
The weights are:
Charlie 5 lbs 7 oz
Katie 4 lbs 1 oz
Will 4 lbs 11 oz

And Charlie comes home this Monday!!! In celebration, my school is having a parade this weekend (okay, it is the Homecoming parade but I will say it is for Charlie).We will get one more tailgate in.
Charlie will have a looong week tho- he has to do the car seat test, he gets his 2nd eye exam tomorrow, his immunization shots, and circumsized.