2 months old

So we've been home for 2 months now and I'm just now updating the blog.  That's because our lives are CRAZY!  There is hardly time to do anything besides feed babies and change diapers.  These babies are a LOT of work!  When I take one of them out, it seems like a piece of cake now. :-)  We love our children, but we are VERY tired!  The other day Ben said, "Daddy and I are going to play Wii.  We are getting out of babyland and going up to legoland!"  They needed a break.  Ben is actually a very big help and he loves cuddling his siblings.  It's hard to get anywhere but we have managed to make some outings. It's a big process to get them all ready and out the door. Our first big outing was to one of Ben's baseball games.  We are thankful for the warm weather so we can get them out for walks.  We also went to a wedding where Ben was the ring bearer and we were actually on time!  We have them on a pretty good schedule during the day, but we're still working on getting them to sleep through the night.  We're down to one feeding in the middle of the night which makes a big difference.  It's just hard because it seems like there is always at least one that needs attention.  We often have to reheat our lunch 3 or 4 times because as soon as we sit down to eat, something happens and someone needs to be taken care of.   They all had a cold for a week or two but everyone is doing well now.  One health concern is that Seth has a belly button hernia, but the doctor said it isvery common and it should go away on its own.  There is so much more to say, but it's time to feed the babies again!  Hopefully it won't be 2 months before I touch this again. :-)

Show and Tell

Ben wanted me to bring the babies in for his last show and tell of the year and it was a big hit.  He is a very proud big brother and was so excited to show off his little sister and brothers!  He carried each of them around the circle very carefully so everyone could see.  He said that was the best show and tell EVER!

Kate

 Beautiful Kathryn!  She is such a girl!  You can already tell a big difference between her and the boys.  Even her cry is girly.  She's got a really high-pitched scream.  Kate knows what she wants and she'll let us know too! :-)  She has always been the most alert out of the three.  When her eyes are open she is looking all over....very cute!  I actually got a good smile from her last week and it was adorable!  She now weighs 8 lbs. 14 oz.

Tyler

Tyler is our little chunky monkey!  At 2 months he weighs 10 lb. 2 oz.!  Mark said he's going to have to spend some extra time in the Johnny Jump-up to get exercise. :-)  His cheeks are just adorable! When he is hungry there is no making him happy until there is a bottle in his mouth! He seemed to be very sleepy through the first month, but now that he's more alert he is very squirmy....just like he was in the womb!  Baby B - he was always the active one. Tyler really likes his pacifier and he loves to snuggle with Ben.

Seth

2 months old and 9 lb. 6 oz.!  Seth is such a sweet little boy!  He makes the cutest little faces.  When you hold him against your chest he likes to prop himself up and look around like in this picture.  He sounds a little bit like a kitten when he cries.  Seth seems to be the best sleeper at night, and we think he'll be the first to sleep through the night.  Hopefully that will be soon! 

Going Home!!!

Who would have thought that we would all be going home just four days after the triplets were born?  God has certainly been in control of this entire process and blessed us tremendously.  We are very excited to go home even though we are a little tired and know that the work has just begun.  Thankfully we have Kristen's mom waiting for us and many other people that have been a huge help.  The doctors keep asking if we have a good support system at home and that is one thing we do not have to worry about.
Kristen was officially discharged last night, but they allowed us to stay in the room one more night since the babies needed to stay.  They took her staples out this morning and were very pleased with the way the incision looked.  We were thankful to have one more night that the nurses could watch the babies and do a feeding so we could get a good chunk of sleep.  The babies are all doing great!  They were watching Tyler's weight, but that stabilized yesterday.  I think with three small babies there will always be one that has something to keep on eye on.  We would like to keep the blog updated more often but with feedings, diaper changes, naps (theirs and ours) and visitors it has been hard to find time.  Somehow I get the feeling that is going to be the normal routine for us for a while.
So, here we are getting ready to take our little Easter babies home all together....and we never even saw the inside of the NICU!  What a HUGE blessing!  We can't thank you enough for all of the prayers!

One Big Happy Family

Our family has officially doubled in numbers.  I would have said doubled in size but at less than 5 pounds each they have some catching up to do yet.  The babies are all doing great.  They eat a little bit more at each feeding, which is every three hours.  Everyone at the hospital has been great.  They have commented that the babies are doing remarkably well for the circumstances.  We are keeping a close eye on their body temperature and making sure they do not become jaundice.  Right now they are doing a car seat test to make sure the babies can handle the ride home.  The car seat test consists of the babies sitting in their car seats for an hour and a half while their oxygen levels are monitored.

Last night the reality started to hit us a little more.  One of the babies was starting to fuss a little so I gave that one to Kristen to hold and then a second one started to fuss so I picked that one up and then the third one started to fuss and we said "what do we do now".  That is what grandmother's are for!  Kristen is recovering but still very sore.  After watching the surgery I realize why it takes so long to recover after a c-section.  The doctors were really pulling and stretching her.  I have some good pictures of the babies being pulled out but they are not suitable for the blog and those of you with queasy stomachs!

It looks like we will be able to come home on Sunday.  They want to give Kristen and the babies a little extra time to recover.  Still that is such a short hospital stay compared to what we thought may happen.  God has certainly blessed us through the whole process.