Getting Settled

Everyday I think about how great it is that the triplets are all home from the hospital now.  Faith has only been home for almost three weeks, but already the NICU seems like a distant memory. Although taking care of three babies is quite the challenge, we are working on figuring out how to best take care of them while doing some of the stuff we love.

Since I was approved to resume normal activities at six weeks postpartum (5 1/2 weeks ago), I have been running a few days a week. I haven't been running very far, partly because I'm so out of shape and partly because I don't want to be gone from the babies for very long, but I'm just happy to be out there again. This was a bit easier to do when we had family in town as there was always someone here to watch the babies for me, but I plan on running either before Micah leaves for work or after he gets home.  Since I've been running for half of my life I find that it helps me get in touch with the person I was before I got pregnant as everything else in my life has changed.  It also gives me a break from my new "job," and of course it's a great workout and I can't wait until I'm back in shape.

Micah has been climbing once or twice a week since the babies were born. He has a couple of climbing trips planned for the fall (Zion and Yosemite) so he needs to maintain his fitness. Like running for me, climbing helps him maintain a part of his life that he had before babies.  Although I have been running much longer than I've been climbing, I really miss it since I was climbing 2-3 times a week before I got pregnant. I've now made it to the climbing gym twice, once with Micah when his mom was in town and once with my friend Val. Although it is difficult since I still have pregnancy weight to lose and I have zero strength, it feels really good to climb again and I'm hoping to make it back to the gym at least once a week.

Twice we've loaded all three babies in the car and went to Uptown (shopping area). Before that we hadn't driven with all three yet as there hadn't been anyplace we had to go, but we decided Uptown would be a good start as it's an outdoor mall so we could get fresh air yet do something other than just go for a walk. We are hoping to bring all three babies on a short climbing day trip in the next couple of months (with the help of our friends, the Turners, that climb and have two kids) as although we know that our priorities have to change with the babies, we are determined to do at least some of the activities we did before the triplets as we really value our active lifestyle. 

Although we have made some time to go running and climbing, right now we pretty much spend all of our time feeding, washing bottles, making formula, changing diapers, and doing laundry. We are trying to stretch out the nighttime feedings a little so that we get more sleep, so I am now getting up at 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. instead of 2:30 and 5:30.  Hopefully we can even stretch that 3:00 a.m. feeding a little more soon as everyone does sleep pretty well, but right now at least one baby is crying and ready to eat at that time.

We are so thankful for friends that have been helping since our parents left. It is amazing how much help an extra set of hands is, and the babies all love to be held so having friends over to even just hold the babies is helpful. We are also extremely thankful for our church as various people have been providing meals for us.

 We haven't been to the doctor in a few weeks so we weren't sure how much weight the babies were gaining, but we recently received a baby scale from one of my mom's co-workers.  This is great as we feel much better knowing that they are still growing and gaining weight as they should!  Yesterday Jack weighed 7 lbs 12 oz, Alexis weighed 7 lbs 9.5 oz, and Faith weighed 7 lbs 10.5 oz.  They really are the size of full term newborns now, and we are so thankful that they are all gaining weight so steadily. 

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks:

Jack with Tyler

Micah getting a bear hug from Alexis

Family photo on our 8th anniversary (8/13/13)

Pack n play fun (F, A, J)

Alexis snoozing on Grammy

Alexis resting with Davis

Alexis, Faith, and Jack with Grammy

Alexis and Micah sleeping

Getting stuff done around the hosue

Faith and Alexis

Sarah K. with Faith and Alexis

Auggie and Val with Alexis

Auggie and Val giving Faith a bath

Faith and Jack

Walking around Uptown with Jack in the carrier and the girls in the stroller

Micah actually pushed the stroller

Faith and Alexis. This pic really shows how much more square A's head is (right) which is how we can tell them apart right now.

Jack and Alexis. Although we put them several inches apart when we lay them down, they always find each other as they love to touch!

Alexis and Faith

They are starting to outgrow the pack n play!

Faith (left) and Alexis (right) - they love to touch!

Faith and Alexis

Jack

40 Weeks Gestation AND 2 Months Old

We are so excited that Faith came home on Tuesday!  We were told time and time again to expect our babies to come home around their due date, but I had read average NICU stay lengths in a book when I was pregnant, and I was confident that they would be home much earlier than their due date since they were born at 31 weeks.  This turned out to be true for Jack and Alexis, but Faith ended up coming home the day before her due date.  Although it was difficult traveling back and forth to the hospital to visit Faith while taking care of two babies at home, we were fortunate to have help from our parents.  We are so glad that the whole family can now spend time together at home as Micah and I have seen very little of each other since Jack and Alexis were discharged.

Faith in her car seat at the NICU ready to go home!

The girls reunited. Alexis (left) and Faith (right)

Faith, Alexis, and Jack 

First walk with the whole family

Even though we are very happy that all of the babies are home, the staff and other families at the
NICU were a big part of our lives over the last two months and it is a bit strange that we will no longer see any of them.  We had great primary nurses and we always felt confident leaving our babies in their care. Thank you Carolina, Ashley, and Merri for loving our babies and looking out for their best interest at all times!

We are settling into a new routine at home now that Faith is home.  One advantage of having babies in the NICU is that they are on a three hour feeding schedule in the hospital and therefore it is easy to keep them on a schedule when they come home.  Although we've modified the times a bit to fit our family, the triplets have been doing well with continuing to eat every three hours.  Since my mom has been in town it is tempting to feed multiple babies at once, especially if another is crying while someone else is being fed, but for the most part we are trying to only feed one at a time so that when Micah or I are feeding alone we will be able to take the right amount of time with each baby.  All three have become much more efficient at eating, but they all have reflux so we try to hold them all upright for a bit once their bottle is gone.  When another baby is crying to be fed, though, the holding gets cut short which is sad as I wish I could spend all day holding each baby and it usually means more spit up (which is uncomfortable for the babies and means more laundry at our house).

Currently, Faith is fed first, then Alexis, and then Jack.  We decided on this order since Faith has the worst reflux, followed by Alexis, and Jack seems the least bothered by reflux. Right now the babies are fed at 5:30, 8:30, 11:30, and 2:30 (a.m. and p.m.).  Micah has been taking the 11:30 p.m. feeding so that I can go to bed earlier and get up for the 2:30 a.m. feeding.  I then go back to bed (for 1.5 hours since each baby takes about 30 minutes from start to finish including holding, so it takes 1.5 hours to feed all three) and I wake up for the 5:30 a.m. feeding.  My mom has been doing the majority of the feeding at 5:30 so that I can go to bed again after I get her set up, but once she is gone I will be on my own so my goal is to get enough sleep before 5:30 so that I can be up for the day at that time.  It's not my favorite time of day as I like my sleep, but when you only have 1.5 hours between bottle feedings all day long it is good to get an early start on things. My goal is to get 6 hours of sleep a night, which is doable as long as I get to bed around 10:00.  Micah goes to bed after the 11:30 p.m. feeding (around 1:00 a.m.), and then he gets up for work around 7:00 a.m.  This has worked out well as he needs sleep to function at work, but since Faith has been home I have been waking him up to help console babies at the 2:30 a.m. feeding as it's a bit overwhelming at times.

My mom and I feeding Faith (with me) and Alexis

We have been fortunate to have our parents here since Jack and Alexis were discharged a couple of weeks ago.  This has been great since, in addition to helping with the babies, they have taken over the grocery shopping, cooking, bottle washing, laundry, and cleaning.  My mom leaves tomorrow and then Micah's mom will be back Tuesday through Sunday, but after that I'm not sure how I'll manage to do it all!  I wish I could hire a full-time assistant, but I'm sure I'll figure it out :).

Since the triplets were born exactly two months before their due date, they reached the 40 week gestation mark the same day they turned 2 months old.  Surprisingly, Faith has taken the lead in weight!  At two months Faith weighed 6 lbs 9 oz (2 lbs 13 oz at birth), Alexis weighed 6 lbs 6 oz (3 lbs at birth), and Jack weighed 6 lbs 5 oz (3 lbs 3 oz at birth).

Alexis

Jack

Faith

Amazingly, Jack has already rolled over about a dozen times from his tummy to his back.  The first time we saw it we thought it was a fluke, but he has continued to do it almost every day since then!

All three have been doing a great job with their tummy time.  Here are some pics from the other day when they were using the Boppy.

Faith

Alexis

Jack

Jack showing off in the pack n play

Since the girls are identical, we are worried we will get them mixed up now that they are home from the hospital, so we decided to paint Faith's toenails to help us keep them straight.  It is really hard to paint tiny toes!  Although it doesn't look great, it serves the purpose, especially in the middle of the night when we're tired.  I just hope I get better at painting her toenails as it looks pretty sloppy right now.

Although we will never be 100% sure why Faith continued to have spells for weeks after Jack and Alexis came home, the doctors and nurses suspect reflux is to blame.  To help combat the reflux, she has a small amount of rice cereal mixed into her milk and she sleeps in an upright position.  The hospital cribs could be tilted on an angle, but her crib at home is flat so we were sent home with a wedge for her to sleep on. Although it looks a bit strange, she really does not seem uncomfortable and we only keep her in it for the few hours at night when she is sleeping unmonitored (the other hours at night she is being fed and during the day she sleeps in a Rock n Play Sleeper).

Faith testing out her wedge during her first night home

Faith in her Rock n Play Sleeper

The trio in their Rock n Plays during the day (Faith is back left, Jack back right, and Alexis in front)

When my mom came out to visit last spring we found a bunch of newborn size twin girl outfits at a consignment sale.  Although the girls were sometimes dressed alike in the NICU, it's a bit more fun to do at home.  Some of the outfits are still a little big, but some fit great so we have been dressing them alike.  We are trying to put on headbands whenever we remember so we can tell them apart in pics.  Faith will always have a pink headband on or the pink version of coordinating outfits.

Faith left, Alexis right

We need to find some more cute outfits for Jack as a onesie doesn't quite measure up to some of the outfits we have for the girls!

Faith is in the middle

Faith

I will try to keep up with my blog in the future, but I'm sure it will become more challenging once our family is gone.  I'll at least try to post pics on a regular basis as I know many people are curious about the Howard Trio!  Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers while are babies were in the NICU.