Happy Birthday Alexander, Elizabeth and Zachary!!!

OMG!!! Can you believe they are one?!?!?!? What an amazing first year of life! I don't even know where to start.....I guess their birth. What an awful feeling to have when your children enter this world 10 weeks early, you feel like you have failed them, but you hope they have the fight to live. Luckily our three miracles did. They fought hard! I am still bitter about not being able to hold them right away and to leave the hospital empty handed (even though it was the best place for them). Ask any mother, I would think they would agree that being able to have that intial bond is very important. The first 2 months of their lives were not conventional at all. Thank goodness we had an uneventful NICU stay and the great nurses that care for them. Two things that helped having our babies an hour away from us. After they were all home, it has been one adventure after another. Some days more hectic than others, but every day is worth it. They have taught me SO much -not only about them but about myself. They completely amaze me - from watching them learn to watching them do something for the first time. This first year has been filled with so much - learning to sit up, crawl, pull up, walking assisted, hold their own bottles, babbling/talking, smile, etc. etc. They have been relatively healthy, thank goodness. I have taken thousand of pictures to remember each and every moment. We have video of them doing such cute things. If I could bottle this past year up I would.
Even though this event is emotional for me, it is the biggest milestone so far. I know we cannot keep them small forever as them growing up is development, which is so important. Since they have entered our lives, things have not been 'normal' and, honestly, we would not want them to be normal. Our lives pre-triplets is quite a blur. We cannot imagine life without them. I will speak for both of us and say we are honored to be their parents.
Happy 1st Birthday to our miracles! We love you more than words can say. Thank you for making our lives complete.
Love,
Jen

A light at the end of the tunnel....

I just wanted to put an update on how the kids are doing. The end of the week was a lot better then the beginning. On Tuesday I fell ill. I came down with flu-like symptoms VERY quickly. At 11am I was fine, by Noon my tummy was flipping, then at 3 I had to call for help to care for the kids...thankfully my mom and dad were both able to come over. I ached incredibily bad as well as had a fever that gave me the chills and the sweats (changed from time to time). I became so lethargic I could barely keep my eyes open. The kids felt like they weighed 100 pounds. Within an hour of my parents being here Liz started projectile vomiting and Zach had explosive diarrhea - don't think my parents signed up for that. :) Liz was unable to keep anything down for the rest of the night. By Wednesday both we doing better as was I. Jeremy stayed home to help me out and we also had a snowstorm that dropped 17 inches of snow on us, so the roads were awful! Wednesday night the kids slept thru until Alex woke at 5:24am. I felt like I have gotten a great night's rest. Thursday we found out my dad was feeling poorly, just like I had. :( Thursday night Liz and I slept in the recliner as we thought she was having troubles with her ears, she was just screaming bloody murder. So back to the doctor we went on Friday....apparently her ears are just fine, so we think Liz was just being a diva. Alex had diarrhea and went through 2 outfits. So this morning (Saturday) Jeremy woke up sick and has been in bed all day. The kids are doing well, so we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel...finally! I will be working this week to disinfect the house to make it 'safe' for the kids' party on Saturday. We are VERY thankful that we all got the flu shot; we feel that had we not had them the kids would have been much worse and I would not bounced back as quick as I did. We now have to work on getting the kids back on schedule and a little less spoiled (they were very clingy and were held & rocked to sleep many times). Breaking them of some of those habits is going to be tough.
We are looking forward to their birthday a week from today. I can't wait to watch them with the cakes....check back for pictures.
Love, Jen

sick kid x 3 + lack of sleep = no fun

As of last week Wednesday they kids have been sick. Thought it was just a regular cold but it has turned into much more - horrible cough, runny nose, congestion, very irritable, etc. They were looking pretty awful on Friday, so I decided to take them in to see the pediatrician. Thanks to my mom for helping me get them there. Thankfully it is not RSV. The doctor did hear some crackling in Zachary's lungs so he was put on steroids to help him breath. At that point Elizabeth and Alexander's lungs were fine. We were told that if their cough got any worse or they started breathing fast and shallow, they would need to be put on steroids as well. By Saturday afternoon all three were on steroids.
Needless to say, we are exhausted!!! Wednesday and Thursday I slept in the recliner with Zach and Liz. They spent most of the time taking turns crying because of their cough or because they could not breath. Friday night Jeremy slept in the recliner with Alex and Zach. With the same taking turns crying. Saturday morning I had to work so Jeremy was on his own. When I got home I heard about the lack of sleep the kids were getting.
Part of the schedule went like this:
9:10 put Alex upstairs for a nap
9:20 put Liz upstairs for a nap
9:30 put Zach upstairs for a nap
9:45 Alex is awake
10:15 Alex is sleeping again but downstairs in the recliner with dad
After I got home, there was a lot of holding and rocking. It is really a two person job, better to even have three people, but we made due. Sunday we had my mom come over to help. She was here all day holding sick babies and helping with some chores that needed to be done. We cannot thank her enough. So today I am on my own again. We have had our ups and downs but we are surviving.
Recently we gave all but one corner of the living room to the kids, so today I made "Camp Feel Better" for them. Knowing I was not going to be able to cuddle with all three of them I took a comforter, folded it in half, covered it will a fleece sheet and made little sleeping areas for each of them. I took some pictures to show you how we are enjoying our day. As you can see I do have a helper, Baylee.
So I will close this for now or it will never get posted.
Love, Jen
The trio taking a early morning nap

We have a little energy now, so we are playing.

Got Liz and Alex to sleep, Baylee is keeping Zach's spot warm.

We have CHOMPERS!!!!

Hello everyone,
It is official...the kids are starting to get teeth. All that drooling and chewing on things is starting to pay off! ;) Last week Alex started cutting a tooth and the next day Liz started and bypassed Alex. So Liz popped the first tooth. So as of right now both Liz and Alex have popped one of their bottom front teeth. Zach is still working on his. He has a 'bump' but it has not popped through. The teething process has not been too bad. We occasionally have a crabby kid but nothing too bad. Yet another milestone has been met.
News of another milestone. We feel that the kids may be walking by their first birthday. The way that Zach has progressed, I thought he was going to be walking by the end of this last weekend....no such luck though. All of the kids will walk along the couch great. Zach will stand on his own for a few seconds, which is getting longer and longer every day. Everyone does a great job pulling themselves up and standing. If they are walking by their birthday they will have hit that milestone on the head (that milestone happens between 12-15 months). I am hoping that the pediatrician will tell us at their one year checkup that we will not have to adjust them anymore. It has been a lot of hard to get where we are at but worth every minute.
One last note....as you know their first birthday is coming up. We are having a party for them but we are keeping it small, immediate family only. When we started planning and making a list of people to invite it was easily over 100 people. We do not feel comfortable exposing them to that many people in the middle of RSV season. So we are hoping to have a spring party, kinda like a coming out of hibernation party. This way everyone that has yet to meet the triplets or those who have only seen them once or twice can come visit them and us. It would be nice for everyone. So please don't feel left out with their birthday, a bigger party is in the works.
Love, Jen

More pics from yesterday....

Here are a few other pics I took yesterday. First on is them eating Cheerios in the morning; second one is them after eating supper right before taking them out for bath time; and third is bathtime. Hope you enjoy them.
Love, Jen

Eleven months ago today......

We brought our three miracles into this world.

They were:
- fragile.
- very tiny.
- very early.
- could not be held.
- had to touch them firmly, not stroke them as their nerve endings were very sensitive.
- connected to too many things (pumps, ventilators, monitors).
- in isolettes to help maintain their body temp.

We now have three children that:
- are excellent crawlers.
- can pull themselves up on pretty much anything.
- can walk with holding onto something like the couch.
- love to smile.
- love to talk to each other and us.
- love to play.
- can feed themselves finger foods.
- are growing like weeds.

We count our blessings every day. We are EXTREMELY fortunate to have these three little people in our lives to love, hold, care for, teach and learn from. Our hearts overflow with love for them. We would do it again in a heartbeat (minus the NICU stuff!)!

Liz was not the happiest in this picture. I will try to get a better one after they eat!!!

Love, Jen

December pics...Enjoy!!!

Here are pictures from December. It was a great year. Looking forward to a great 2008. Many more milestones to come.

Love, Jen

Alex on the first set of wheels.

Liz on the first set of wheels.
Zach on the first set of wheels.
Alex meets Elmo.

Liz meets Elmo

Zach meets Elmo
Liz would like someone to come let her out of the jail!
Daddy and his miracles
Alex has Liz down for the count!
Julie and Zach in the NICU lobby when we went to the Nicu Christmas party. Julie was Zach's primary night nurse. As she says, she was the 2nd person ever to touch Zach. She was the nurse that 'caught' him after they pulled him from me. She is a special part of our lives.

The boys wrestling.
The three of them playing together.
Daddy asleep with his princess.
Zach was playing with this laundry basket and it ended up on top of him. Who needs toys when there are laundry baskets.
Alex

Zach
Liz and Alex helping me fold laundry....more like unfold :)
Alex and Baylee
Liz and Baylee
Zach and Baylee

Alex
Mommy reading to the kiddos.
Zach has Alex down for the count with Baby Einstein on....don't know what to do watch or play.
Daddy's little helper, Alex, wanted to help put toys together on Christmas.

I don't think we have enough toys!?!?!?!
Daddy actually reading the directions......

Daddy 'testing' the toy.
Alex
Two laundry baskets....three kids......
Alex is having fun.....
so is Liz.....

and of course Zach is too!
"What? We are not doing anything wrong!"
I sense another homebrewer int he family....
"Dad, can I have a sip?"