Month: December 2008

2008 in review

I got this list of questions from one of my favorite blogs ever…looks like fun, yes? And an easy way to get an entry done. Heh.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Good lord. Is raising triplets too obvious of an answer?

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn’t make any last year. I was too tired. I think I will for 2009, though.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Well, my friend Anne had her son Whitman on Jan 1, and my friend Kettie had Henry at the end of July. To name a couple.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No

5. What countries did you visit?

Canada! I can’t believe I actually got to answer this question.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A Wii and a Wii Fit. Heh. And walking, talking, children.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 4, 2008 – the boys’ first birthday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting to that first birthday.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not losing the baby weight.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, nothing major. Just residual crap from the boys’ birth.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Too bad we bought the minivan at the end of 2007.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Well, Linus, Oliver, and Miles’s, of course!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Well, Linus, Oliver, and Miles’s, of course!

14. Where did most of your money go?

Well, Linus, Oliver, and Miles, of course!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Well, Linus, Oliver, and Miles, of course!

Okay, I’ll stop. The election. That made me very happy too.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Any of the ones from the Fisher-Price line of toys, particularly the Laugh and Learn Table thingy.

“One, two-three, four-five-six-seven-eight
Then, there’s nine!
Counting’s really great
With numbers,
When you have numbers,
Then you can count!
…And count agAIN!”

Man, I love that song.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? marginally thinner
c) richer or poorer? poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Eat

20. How did you spend Christmas?

In the Emergency Room with Miles and George

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

I did. By the time 2008 rolled around, I was emerging from the haze of newborn triplets, and actually starting to love them. It wasn’t instantaneous like they want you to believe.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

30 Rock

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nah

24. What was the best book you read?

The new David Sedaris book, probably.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

See question #16

26. What did you want and get?

My wedding band and engagement ring to fit again!

27. What did you want and not get?

My pre-pregnancy clothes to fit again.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Did I see a movie this year? I’m sure I did. But I can’t remember right now.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 33. George and I went to dinner at a Belgian restaurant. I was still very itchy (post-pregnancy issue) and tired. The boys were 5 weeks old.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Winning the lottery.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Slovenly.

32. What kept you sane?

Well, Linus, Oliver, and Miles, of course!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I still love me some Colin Firth.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Just the election in general, I guess.

35. Who did you miss?

I have to say I missed my dad a lot this year. I can only imagine how much fun he’d be having with the boys.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I think I’d have to say the local triplet moms, especially Alicia and Stephanie (who had their quads and triplets at the same time as me, you know what I mean) because I’ve learned so much from them. And made great friendships.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Always cover up the pee-pee with a washcloth when changing a baby boy’s diaper.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

“One, two-three, four-five-six-seven-eight
Then, there’s nine!
Counting’s really great
With numbers,
When you have numbers,
Then you can count!
…And count agAIN!”

Our Christmas

Well, it’s not Christmas with three boys without a visit to the Emergency Room, is it? I suppose this is my future, eh?

Let me give away the ending first…everyone is FINE.

Okay, now for the story…

Woke up early, put the Monkey Bread I’d assembled last night in the oven. Went to see the boys (they were awake and chattering.) Changed diapers, went and woke up George.

Opened presents. The boys got, from us, Wall-E, a big rubber ball, and a touch and feel board book (they’re really into photos in books right now.) I also put sippy cups, pacifiers, puffs, and socks in their stockings. 🙂

Went downstairs to retrieve the burning Monkey Bread. Damn! Fed the boys breakfast, went upstairs to play before their morning nap. Miles was sleepy (nothing sinister here, it was just naptime, that’s all.) I was laying on the playroom floor on my back, and Miles was laying on my tummy. As I stroked his head, I felt a weird squishy spot. It felt like his soft spot, you know, as big as it was when he was a newborn, but it was on the side of his head, a few inches above his ear. It was very strange. I checked to see if the other boys had a similar spot, nope. I looked at it to see if it was a bruise. Nope. Just a raised area, about 3-4″ in diameter, with a bony ridge around the edges. Weird.

George asked me to call the ped about it, and even though I was sort of reluctant to, I did. I felt awful calling her on Christmas morning, but she didn’t mind. After I described it, she said she’d feel bettter if we took him to the ER at Children’s Hospital to get it looked at. I guess if offices had been open, I would have just taken him there, but seeing as it was Christmas…

We get to the hospital. Thank God it’s not crowded. We get in fairly quickly, but you know how it is. We wait for the doctor. We wait for Radiology. We wait for another doctor to look at the x-rays. We wait for the phlebotomist to take his blood (which he loooooved, let me tell you!) and finally we waited for-everrrrr to get the lab results back on his blood. They wanted to make sure he didn’t have any clotting disorders or anything blood related. That was definitely the hardest wait, since it brought up these whole new scary things to think about…blood disorders? Yikes. Fortunately, all was well with his blood, and it just seems to be a hematoma. A bruise. Of some sort.

Looking back at the pictures I took this morning, you can see the lump, so I don’t know if he knocked his head on his (iron) crib in the middle of the night, or if it happened yesterday, or what. Hmm. Weird. I guess with three little boys, these things are just going to happen more and more. Of course, considering how my sister and I fought growing up, I don’t think it’d be any different if I’d had three little girls. Hmm.

So the boys went and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and George and I went to our friends’ house to eat Christmas dinner and play their Wii. Now George wants one. Woo hoo! Hee hee! I want one baaaaad, so I can get the Wii Fit and then um exercise a lot.

Tonight I’m taking the boys to Baton Rouge to see Grandee and Larry. We haven’t stayed overnight at their new house. Should be fun!

Here’s Lumpy-head: You can see the lump on the right side of his head, above his ear. It’s pretty big!

The boys with their stockings last year:

And this year:


Christmas Eve Eve Eve

I think I might be getting a little bit more into the Christmas spirit. The cold weather helps. Of course, it’s supposed to be in the 70s on on Thursday. Hmmph.

Saturday, I went Christmas shopping once. Once with two kids (and Teresa) and once without (also with Teresa). Can you imagine which time was easier/more enjoyable? Yeah. I still haven’t finished shopping, but that’s what Wednesday is for. Oh, heavenly Wednesday! The day I have off work, and daycare is still open! I can’t wait.

Yesterday I made some Christmas confections. Homemade Oreos (good, not too hard, but it occurs to me now that why should I bother trying to recreate something that’s so good and cheap? Hmm.) and meringue cookies. At least those are harder to find.

The Faux-reos before they got the filling and sandwiching:

Artsy-fartsy picture of the meringues:

The goodies ready to be given:

Oh yeah, also on Saturday, Ren and I took my boys and her girls to Fulton Street (along with her cousins and their offspring) for the Christmas display. It was…eh. There was faux snow. And lots of flocked trees.

They got their picture taken with Santa, too.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve!

Awesome, fun New Year’s plans

Don’t be jealous. While you’re off sipping champagne or other festive adult beverages, wearing sparkly clothes and enjoying fireworks, George and I will be tending to three sickly children. Fun!

That’s right, they’re all three having their adenoids removed and ear tubes put in, on the 31st. I guess with three kids, you can’t be too choosy about what surgery slot you get. Ah well. I’m pretty excited about it, nevertheless. Could there possibly be an end in sight of the constant ear infections? Oh please, say yes!

One year stats

I just realized I haven’t posted the boys’ one year stats yet. It’s been a tiring week month year. Bear with me.

One year! Here is my official one year post….

Stats:
Linus: 20 lbs, 8.5 oz (10th-25th); 30.25″ long (50th-75th); HC 46″ (25-50th)
Oliver: 20 lbs, 12.5 oz (25th); 30″ long (50th); HC 47″ (50th-75th)
Miles: 19 lbs, 12 oz (10th); 30″ long (50th); HC 46.5″ (50th)

at 10 months, their stats were:
Linus: 18#5.5oz (6th); 28.5″ long (32nd)
Oliver: 18#2.5oz (5th); 28.75″ long (41st)
Miles: 17#3oz (<3rd); 28″ long (17th)

So I’m quite pleased at how much they’ve come up the charts on their weight. Whew!

Now, what are they doing? Well, they’re all
– Pulling to standing
– Mimicking sounds we make
– Drinking milk out of sippy cups
– Dropping things on purpose
– Giving “five” (okay, grabbing your hand when you put it out.)
– Climbing on everything they can (which, admittedly, is not much)
– Wearing 12-18 month tops, but 9 month pants.
– Chasing each other around their playroom. Oh man, this is the best. They just giggle uncontrollably, looking back at whoever’s chasing them. It’s so cute.
– Waving

Linus is:
– Very good at mimicking sounds (more so than the other two, i think)
– My little frat boy. Loves to drop his pants and giggle about it.

Oliver is:
– very fond of giving you things. Very sweet, even when it’s a soggy, half-eaten cracker
– still very much a mama’s boy. Has the worst separation anxiety

Miles is:
– standing on his own! He’s gotten quite good at standing and will do it for several seconds now – maybe 10-15 before he gets bored? I think he has the balance thing down, he’s just trying to figure out what to do next.
– clapping sometimes, if I prompt him.

Okay, maybe I need to pay more attention to my kids. They’re definitely doing more than this, but come on. I’m tired.

The most exciting recent development of all, though, is NO MORE BOTTLES! Yippee! I think they got their last bottle on Thursday night, and since then, it’s been sippy cups of milk only. Yahoo! We have to go to the pediatrician again today so hopefully there hasn’t been any drastic weight loss in the last week or anything. Hmm. And tomorrow is a visit to the ENT for all three. Sigh.

Matchy matchy

Pay attention. This is one of those rare times when you’ll see the boys dressed exactly alike.

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Well, not exactly. Oliver’s a reindeer, and their shoes are different. And the shirts under their jumpers.  But dang, aren’t these cute? Thanks Aunt Kristie!

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Oliver does make an adorable reindeer, doesn’t he?

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Miles stands! And looks quite proud of himself, doesn’t he?

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This is so you can see the ridiculous cuteness of this jumper thingy. The hoodie part! Oh, it kills me.

SNOW!!!

Eeeeee, it’s snowing here! It’s so dreamy and beautifullllll. My brain is turning to mush. I wish I could get a good picture of it, but I only have my cell phone and I can’t get pictures off of it right now. Argh! Here’s a really bad picture from my coworker’s iPhone:

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Edited to add: Me in snow!!!

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Weekend recap

Must recap the last few days. I am beyond exhausted, so much has been going on!

So let’s start with Friday…

That morning, I dropped the boys off at daycare so I could get some things done in the morning. At around 11:30, I headed to daycare for their birthday party there, which really just involved getting cake and sharing it with the other kids.

My mom met me there, and then she and the daycare teachers helped me get the boys changed. We were off to the NICU party at the hospital. It was pretty crowded and very hot, but I was glad to see some friends there and to see my beloved doctor who delivered the boys. It was also neat to see some of the NICU nurses and my doctor’s nurse who also had triplets (weird, eh?)

Meanwhile, there’s a TV news camera there, shooting footage. He gets some of the boys, but he didn’t do any interviews or anything. Which is weird, because later that day, the channel that shot the footage is doing commercials for that night’s news broadcast. “Featuring a follow-up, one year later with the triplets and quads born all on the same day.” So they’re showing footage of me holding the boys and George and I being interviewed, from last year, on this promo. But we were never told there was a “follow up” story! It was very strange.

So the news comes on, and basically they show a few shots of the boys (never saying who, exactly, they are) along with a bunch of other kids at the party. Weird. There’s some raw footage of the event here, and a written story here. Anyhoo. Not sure if that made any sense. Sorry.

At the NICU reunion with the quads:

That night, after we get the boys to bed, my mom and I go shop for some party supplies.

Saturday…

Wake up, start decorating. My mom makes the frosting for the cupcakes. I am getting super-stressed because the party is approaching, nothing is getting done, the boys won’t take naps, the house is still a mess, I am still wearing my pajamas (though I’d already showered) and people will be arriving soon.

But by the time three o’clock rolls around, things are falling into place, and some friends came over to help get ready. The party itself actually goes really well. The boys (esp Oliver) won’t wear the gorgeous party hats I had made for them, and the house isn’t as neat as I’d hoped it would be, but everyone (including the boys) had a good time. So, what more can you ask for? They got a lot of loot, as you can imagine. A Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn House. Four ride-on toys. (The Mater one from Cars is my favorite, and theirs. Hee!) Some wooden puzzles. A huge box of wipes (I asked for those, heh). Some money for the 529s I’m going to open soon. Some cute sweaters. Lots of toys. Lots and lots of toys. I’m going to be saving some for later in the year.

And now, some pictures!

Cozy coupe! Loooove. And lookie, a bow on top! I love that. 🙂

The cupcakes and food. And cheap beer.

The felt flag banner that I spent many, many hours working on.

The playroom looked like a daycare…

Now, I can show you pictures of the boys eating their cake…

(Linus)

(Oliver) (who did a little palate-cleansing with some Cheerios, but don’t worry, he finished his cake too.)

(Miles)

You should have seen Miles with the cake. He was literally licking the plate. Well, here, you can see:

I’m kind of sad I don’t have any pictures from outside. It was a beautiful day, even though it was a bit chilly. I hung up flags (the plastic pennants that car dealerships use, you know?) and bunches of helium balloons. It was festive. 🙂

So anyway. Yesterday we just kind of lazed around. Cleaned up a bit, but mostly just hung around the house. Last night we pulled the boys in the wagon down to our friends’ pizza place for a Christmas party. Oh my god, the food was amazing (not pizza.) They had prime rib and charbroiled oysters and stuffed mushrooms and cauliflower soup and smoked duck and some kind of salmon and grilled asparagus…oh man. The boys were being v crabby though, so we left after a bit. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Today I took them to the pediatrician for their one year well-baby visit. They weren’t quite well, so we have to go back next week for their shots. After two rounds of antibiotics, they still have fluid in their ears, so we have to make an appointment with an ear doctor as well. Sigh.

As for their stats, I left the sheets in my car, but guess what? Oliver is bigger than Linus again! Those two, they just can’t stop competing for the title of “Heaviest Baby in the House.” They’re all about 30″ long though.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I may have already mentioned this, if so, sorry. 🙂 Make sure you watch at least the beginning of the show about the deaf and blind triplets that will be on Discovery Health on the 17th. The boys’ ultrasound will be used for it.

December 4, 2007

Considering I was going to have three children surgically extracted from my uterus, I slept surprisingly well the night before my c-section. At around 5:30 am, I woke up to get freshened up. At around 6, nurses came by to do some last minute prep. And at 6:30, I walked down to the operating room.

Friends were there, family was there, but all I could think about was the babies. And how thirsty I was. Man, I was parched!

I hopped (ha!) on the operating table, and hunched over while the spinal block was placed. Ooooh, that was the worst! Definitely the worst part of the c-section. Ick. But once that was over, I was laid down on my back, and George was brought in.

Thank goodness we have video of everything from here on out, because I probably wouldn’t remember much of it otherwise. I was very out of it from the drugs and my exhaustion. And seriously, all I could think about was “I am sooooo thirsty.”

The surgery started, and 24 minutes later, I heard, “it’s a boy!” Linus was born. One minute later, “it’s another boy!” and Oliver was pulled out. And then, at 6:56, Miles was born. (“It’s another boy!”) They didn’t cry right away, but I was okay with that, since my doctor had prepared me for that.

A little while later, I did hear their little kitten-like mewls. The rest of the operation was a blur. They sewed me up, the boys were wheeled past me (sadly, I didn’t get to kiss them or see them up close) and everyone was informed of the sexes of the babies.

I was wheeled to recovery a little while later, where friends visited and I trembled. It freaked George out. heh. He edited the video to send out to friends and family, which you can see here. (Well, I fixed it up a little.)

The rest of the day, I was a bit out of it from the morphine pump and the magnesium sulfate I had to be on, so it’s definitely a blur. The NICU nurses brought pictures of the boys as well as updates. They were doing so well already, I was very happy about that. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see them that day because of the mag sulfate. But honestly, with the amount of drugs in my system, I hardly noticed.

Yay, morphine! Heh.

Later, I’ll recap today…their birthday. Right now, the boys are napping. That’s their gift to mommy. 🙂

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy food plus family equals a good time. I have a huge, crazy family so I love these big get-togethers. Especially when I get to see cousins and relatives I hardly ever see.

Baby birds!

Great-uncle Bob pulled them in the wagon:

My cousin Laura and her daughters Charlotte and Kristen (who is a couple of weeks younger than the boys)

Charlotte rode with the boys for a bit:

My cousin Rob’s wife, Lottie, holding Kristen:

After the boys and I left Baton Rouge, we stopped by the pub for our neighborhood Thanksgiving feast. Linus ate all the coasters:

December 3, 2007

(I still want to post some pictures from Thanksgiving, but I’ll do that in another post.)

Okay, so one year ago. It was a Monday morning. I’d spent the weekend before miserable. I had a rash all over my body that nothing helped. I wasn’t sleeping. I was just done. Done, done, done. I spent all day Sunday practicing what I was going to say to my doctor when he came to see me Monday morning.

When he walked in with a medical student in tow, he took one look at me and knew it was time. We knew the babies were big, and since it was only a matter of time before the pre-eclampsia got worse, he agreed that it was time to schedule my c-section. They left the room to go check the schedule. I was on pins and needles.

A little while later, the med student came in.

“How does 6:30 tomorrow morning sound?”

!!!!!

Sounds great!! I was ecstatic. I called George and asked him if he was ready to be a daddy. (No, he was not. Ha ha!) I called my mom. She was teary and excited. I was soooo happy! That was definitely the best day so far. Looking back, I kind of wish we could have scheduled it a bit later – I think just having a date set was what made me happy. But hey, December 4 sounded like a good birthday to me! (My Uncle Greg’s birthday is on the fifth, my cousin Sara’s is on the 10th, my cousin Matthew’s is on the 16th, and my mom’s is on the 17th. Not many days left for me to pick! Though I would have been thrilled to make it to my mom’s birthday.)

That evening, my room was filled with people. George, my mom, my in-laws, my aunt, my cousin….it got a little overwhelming. So we sent everyone away and my mom went to get me the last meal I’d get for a while. At around 9, the anesthesiologist came by to put my IV in. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink after midnight, so you can bet I was guzzling water and chewing on the yummy hospital ice until 11:59. (Okay, it’s possible I cheated ever so slightly after that…I got really thirsty at night!)

The rest of the recap will have to come tomorrow, of course…. 🙂