Triplets… How do you do it? You have your hands full!

• How do you do it?
• You have your hands full!

Yes, those are the 2 comments I receive the most, once someone hears, or figures out that I have triplets. I say figures out, because I don’t run around saying I have triplets, and I usually have them in 2 separate strollers, so most people see 2 of them, and think I have twins, which doesn’t grab peoples attention.

Hard to believe that there were 3 babies in there!

Being pregnant with 3 babies is by far one of the scariest things I’ve done in my life.  The one thing that does help calm your nerves when your carrying triplets, is that you go to the doctor every 2 weeks, starting  a few months in. I also got an ultrasound at every appointment and if you have children, you know that is a very exciting day at the doctor’s office.

My OB/GYN told me early on that this was going to be a very difficult pregnancy.  He advised me that I would most likely be put on house-rest at 24 weeks. House rest meant I would need to stay home, no leaving the house, except for Dr. appointments, with 6+ hours each day of inactivity. I could be admitted between 28 – 30 weeks, and that I have a very good chance of making it to 34-36 weeks, but it was going to be very hard. He said I would gain 30-40lbs and if I made it to 34-36 weeks, each baby would weigh 4+lbs.

Well I was put on house rest at 24 weeks and I’m not one to sit around for too long, so it took some getting used to. LittleBee1 was 2 1/2 and before this pregnancy, we went to the park daily, now she only went places with daddy, or occasionally an Auntie. Needless to say, that was probably one of the hardest things to deal with because we went everywhere together, and now I couldn’t leave the house, or the couch for that matter, and I got really sad because I missed so many things in her life. I’m sure that sounds silly, and even writing about it now, sounds silly to me, but at the same time, tears are running down my face. Of course there are pictures, and she would tell me all about her fun day, but being on house rest or bed rest, isn’t only about immobility and being stuck in your home, it’s mostly about the things you miss in the outside world.

Well the babies were born 35 weeks, 6 days… I was scheduled for a c-section on Friday, November 13th, and went in to the maternal fetal diagnostic center at the local hospital, for my final check-up and the perinatologist said it’s nothing to worry about, but instead of waiting until tomorrow, lets have the babies today.

Of course it’s easy for him to say there is nothing to worry about, but if that was truly the case, I’m sure we would have waited until tomorrow! So needless to say, I was checked in to the hospitals and watched everyone making phone calls and running around trying to get the TEAM together. I say TEAM because there were 2 doctors, a few nurses and an anesthesiologist for me, 2 nurses for each baby and a neonatologist for the babies. So there were a ton of people to get ready.

November 12th, 2009 at 3:22, 3:23, 3:24 the babies were born. All weighing over 4 lbs.

littleBee2 – 4 lb, 3oz
littleBee3 – 5lb, 7oz
littleBee4 – 5lb, 5oz

Everyone was home in less than 2 weeks and our life was forever changed. The Swine flu was in high swing, so we asked that people only stop by if they and everyone in their household was 100% healthy for the past 5-7 days. Asking visitors was a bit uncomfortable at first, but we got the hang of it and kept a ton of hand sanitizer in several locations of the house.

It was very hard in the beginning because it’s hard enough to adjust everything for one baby, but we had to figure out what to do with 3. This is were and when you really need your local triplet mom’s group.  They know all the tips you just can’t live without. The ladies at The Triplet Tree have really been a great resource.

The babies spent most of the time being held or in bouncy seats sleeping, and feedings got easier as the days went by. People always tell you it’s all a blur, and it really is. Being sleep deprived really messes with your head. I thought I was getting enough sleep, until I actually did get enough sleep and then I wondered how I did it!

Leaving the hospital!

Making 18 bottles was so time consuming. I would pump as often as I could and when their quantities grew, I would supplement the breast milk with formula.

I started out with a small Dr. Brown pitcher to mix the milk and the spout made pouring much easier, and quickly graduated into a double Pampered chef pitcher and still used the Dr. Brown pitcher because littleBee3 had a different formula than the other two.

I made all the bottles in the morning, so all we had to do was open up the fridge, grab 3 bottles and warm them up. Every morning I’d mix formula and pour bottle after bottle, and ended up with a diagnosed golf or tennis elbow… kinda funny, huh!

So we went on changing diapers, feeding, burping, holding, until they finally slept through the night at 3 months, which is a HUGE help. Then we really got to start enjoying their emerging personalities. LittleBee2 was and is still the smallest, and she is also the toughest, she will be a leader, trouble maker and most likely the first one to be taken to the emergency room. LittleBee3 is shy, sweet and just sits back and watches, although recently has become the biter! LittleBee4 is a bit of a whiner, but the boy in him is starting to come out and I can see his aggression when he wants the toy that someone else has.

Me Plus 3

I truly do not think of them as ‘triplets’. They are my children, and they are so different from each other, it’s impossible to treat them as one entity. You won’t hear me say the triplets very often, I usually refer to them by name.

They like different toys, they like different foods, I put different types of clothes on them,because littleBee3 is more like a flower child and littleBee2 is a bit of a tom-boy. So yes, I have triplets, but I really just have 4 kids. And YES, my hands are full….. FULL OF LOVE!

~Sue