Be My Valentine

It is hard to remember all the details of life this time last year. Jason and I were hoping to expand our family, Chase was really gaining his independence and there were obstacles it seemed that faced us at every turn.

Fast forward one year: We have healthy triplet boys who went "full-term"; an amazing 2 1/2 year old who never ceases to amaze me with his whit, smiles and love; amazing support from family and friends and constant reminders of how lucky we really are.

As I sit here writing this entry, the boys are all sleeping on their boppy's on the couch, Chase is at school, Jason is at work. I am debating whether or not I should nap or just continue to sit and look and my new additions with wonder and awe. I know everyone says the mom should nap while the baby's nap, but sometimes I am just not tired when they are. With 3 infants who use burp cloths like they will wash themselves, it seems like the ToDo list at this house is never-ending. Laundry - at least 1 load daily, Washing bottles - twice a day, changing diapers - literally too often to count, rocking/holding/consoling babies - see changing diapers. The good news is that even with all the 'stuff' to do, I still love my life. The sleep deprivation tends to catch up with me at certain times but overall, things are going very well. I am amazed at how well the boys are doing. They are eating over 2 ounces (65 mLs) per feeding - which is great considering that we started at 15 mLs in the hospital 2 weeks ago. They are sleeping fairly well (depending on who we are talking about and the time of the day). They are tracking and following sounds and lights as well as 'talking' to us. Chase is adjusting better than I could have expected to having the boys around. It has definitely helped to have extra bodies around so that he still gets some one on one time from people when he is home.

I am recovering from the C-section every day. I haven't taken any pain meds for about 5 days now. I am driving and getting up and down from a seated position fairly well. I am ready for the weather to get warm so the boys and I can start taking some walks around the neighborhood. I have set a goal to complete a 5K at the end of March to raise money via my sorority (ZTA). We host a Franklin 5K every Spring to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. We are going to participate as a family this year (all the boys, Jason, myself and my mom). We have great UNC outfits for all the boys to wear (thanks Dennis and Missy) and we plan to take our first UNC gear family photo while we are on campus.

Anyway, Chase spent most of yesterday asking everyone to be his 'balentime' so I thought it only right to make sure that Jason and my boys know that I got everything I wanted for Valentine's Day this year - all of us home together, happy and healthy. I only hope that everyone else had a great day too.

General Update

Again, the frequent updates are difficult to do, but honestly, the last week has relatively little to report. Overall, we're all doing well. The boys are all gaining weight which is fantastic. We've had a few appointments at the pediatrician to get the boys checked out. Their weights look like this:

Jack
Birth (1/27): 4 - 9
Hospital Discharge (1/31) 4 - 2
1st Appt (2/1) 4 - 4
2nd Appt (2/4) 4 - 5
3rd Appt (2/9) 4 - 10

Graham
Birth (1/27): 4 - 7
Hospital Discharge (1/31) 4 - 0
1st Appt (2/1) 4 - 3
2nd Appt (2/4) 4 - 3
3rd Appt (2/9) 4 - 8

Anthony
Birth (1/27): 4- 0
Hospital Discharge (1/31) 4 - 3
1st Appt (2/1) 4 - 4
2nd Appt (2/4) 4 - 6
3rd Appt (2/9) 4 - 10

Next weight check will be Monday, 2/21.

We're settling into a daily pattern. Of course, that pattern is getting ready to change for several reasons. First, my Mom (Nana) has literally just pulled out of the driveway headed back to Winston-Salem. As I've said several times, having her around has been a huge help. So, we're down to three adults now...Melissa's Mom (Grandma) is still staying with us. The other change is my work schedule will pick up a little more this week. I've been into the office several half days last week, and done a lot of work from home, but this coming week I'll be going into the office every day this week. I still might work some half days, and then work from home the rest of the day, but it will still be a change. So, we'll see how this week goes. A few other highlights from the week:
-- Uncle Marc and Aunt Sabrina came into town last night and are still here...will be leaving after while. They took care of the midnight feeding last night, so Melissa and I both went to bed around 10:00 and didn't get up until almost 3:30 am (for the 4 am feeding). Jack had just started to fuss, and Melissa needed to pump, but we both felt pretty refreshed...especially Melissa as I think 5 1/2 hours is the most sleep she's had since the triplets were born (and probably even a few months before they were born due to the frequent pee trips in the middle of the night). We got back to sleep around 5:00 am and slept until about 7:30, so last night was great sleep for Mom & Dad!!




--Chase took a header on the stairs to the slide at school on Monday and has a decent shiner now. He had a huge goose-egg above his right eye for about 24 hours and then as it went down, the surrounding areas turned different shades of yellow, blue, green, and black. Good times!






-- Popi & Meme came to visit last weekend for a few hours.


-- Captain & Rokky have really been helping out a lot too!




--Chase has also been helping a lot.






-- Matt & Jennifer have come by a couple of times, so we got a great picture of the 6 grand-kids. Meredith is certainly going to rule the roost with all these boys! :)


On Saturday (yesterday), Chase went to the Ringling Bros circus with Grandma, Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Matt, Jennifer, Bise and Meredith. We don't have any pictures yet, but he was sooooo excited about the entire event. It was a big hit...thank you to Grandma and the rest of the gang for taking Chase on this special trip!!

That's all for now. More later this week!