Howard Trio Plus One: Staying Busy

My younger brother, Kent, and his fiance, Emily, came to visit us last week for a long weekend. Kent and Emily met at the beginning of the year so Micah and I had not met her yet, and neither of them had met the triplets. Although Kent and Emily were a little worried about helping out with the babies since they don't have a lot of experience with infants, they did help with feedings every day and by the last day they actually changed a few diapers and outfits! It was nice to have some extra hands around for a few days.

Uncle Kent with Faith, Jack, and Alexis

(future) Aunt Emily with Alexis

Kent keeping Faith and Alexis happy

Our packed car! This was the first time we actually used our 4Runner to its full seating capacity as we had to put up the third row for Kent and Emily. It was tight but it worked!

On Saturday and Sunday I was able to leave the babies with Micah for a few hours while Kent, Emily, and I explored ABQ. We went to a couple of wineries for tastings on Saturday and we went out for a beer in Nob Hill on Sunday, both of which sound pretty crazy when I think of my new life as a mom of triplets! It felt really good to get out of the house and it was nice to hang out with Kent and Emily without the babies as they can be a bit distracting. We're looking forward to the next time Kent and Emily visit as we had a great time, and we don't plan on going to MI until their wedding next August so we're hoping to see them again before that.


Carving "Three Blind Mice" pumpkins with Kent and Emily after the babies were in bed

The finished products

A couple of weeks ago we went to the NIC Development Clinic so that the babies could be evaluated by a nutritionist and an occupational therapist to make sure they have stayed on track since leaving the NICU. Although Jack has had great weight gain (he's now 11 pounds), the girls are a little behind so the nutritionist recommended that we add back the 3:00 a.m. feeding for the girls (they had been pretty much sleeping through the night). Even though it's hard to get up during the night, this has made a difference for the girls daily volumes, and I feel badly that I didn't start doing this sooner. The great news from the appointment came from the OT. She looked at their motor skills and said that they should be at the level of a 2.5 month old since that is their adjusted age, but they all came in between 3-3.5 months! I thought they were a little ahead of their adjusted age, but it was great to have someone trained in infant development confirm that! Of course this could change as time goes on, but the OT gave me some great ideas for working with the babies to make sure they progress as they should, so I'm hoping they continue to catch up to their actual age.

Faith, Alexis, Jack

Faith & Alexis

Jack playing with the rattle

Alexis reaching for a toy

Alexis playing with the crinkly toy that Grandma Howard made

Faith

Jack

Alexis

Last week I realized that I needed to start putting the babies on a napping schedule as it was no longer working to just let them nap whenever. When we first brought them home from the NICU they pretty much napped all of the time and would fall asleep easily on their own whenever they got tired, but as they have grown they have become more aware of their surroundings and they have started to fight sleep to play, which results in a lot of crying when they get overtired. And when one starts crying, they all start crying, so something needed to change ASAP. A couple of people had mentioned the "Babywise" schedule, so I bought the book and read it in a couple of days, and we are now following that schedule of eat, play, sleep. Although it's not perfect yet, it is working pretty well and there is a lot less crying! It just takes diligence on my part to write down when everyone wakes, eats, and goes back to sleep, and to watch their tired cues, so that they all stay on schedule. Inevitably, at least one baby has trouble during every nap so I really don't get a break, but I'm hopeful that they will all be napping well soon so I can at least take a shower during the day without worrying that someone is crying and waking the others up.

Feeding Jack and Alexis at the same time

Now that we have been following the Babywise schedule and we added back the 3:00 a.m. feeding, the babies current schedule is:

3:00 a.m. (or as late as 3:30 depending on when they wake up): Micah feeds Faith & Alexis
6:30-7:00 a.m.: I feed all the babies
They play for a bit after they eat
8:00ish: down for their first nap
9:30 a.m.: another bottle
They play for a bit after they eat
11:00: we go on a morning walk (babies nap while I push the stroller) or do some other activity (friends over, etc)
12:30: another bottle
They play for a bit after they eat
1:30/2:00: down for another nap
3:30: another bottle
They play for a bit after they eat and I try to work with each of them individually during this time
5:00/5:30: down for another nap
6:30: another bottle
7:30: first part of nighttime sleep
10:00: we wake them for their last bottle of the day and Jack sleeps until morning

One crazy sad thing that has happened since the babies have been born is three of my friends have moved / are moving away from ABQ! I really miss Megan and Araceli, and now Amy is moving tomorrow. Although they all moved for good reasons, it has been strange to have so many friends leave in such a short period of time.