triplets

PIC Assessment

Quick update on the girls since we haven’t posted in a few days.

PIC (Parent Infant Children) came out on Thursday and did an assessment on the girls. They are a non profit program that assesses how babies are developing and if they need any special assistance or therapy to continue to grow and thrive.

The girls were on good behavior for the visit and all cooperated. Reagan went first and passed everything with flying colors, showing the lady how well she can hold up her head and do tummy time.

Harper also did well and both girls are considered in the normal development range for their adjusted age (7 weeks adjusted/14 weeks actual). Harper enjoyed the different things the lady tested her on and was a good sport!

Emerie put up a bit more of a fight, probably because she was in the middle of a bottle, and…because she’s Emerie (lol). Since she’s a bit smaller, she has more to do to catch up. She is also our fussier and more demanding baby in terms of feedings and tummy time, so her assessment showed she is on the cusp of the normal development range. This is typically for the smallest premie and no reason for concern.

Overall everything looks good and there isn’t anything we need to worry about. At their suggestion, we are going to start transitioning from sideline feedings to the normal front feedings, and get them used to that. Hopefully they pick it up pretty quick and we can find a new, efficient propping method for all three.

Butterfly Feet

Yesterday we decided to attempt an arts and crafts project with the girls. They weren’t super thrilled at the idea but I think it came out pretty decently! We will definitely give it another try soon, and have a few other body part ideas!

A list of items for this include:

  • A cute baby with baby feet!
  • Acrylic paint (it washes right off): don’t want any permanent purple baby feet!
  • Mini brushes
  • Canvases of any size: I got a few different ones so we could try out a few different things.
  • Newspaper to limit the mess, and a wash cloth to wipe those feet off when the hate rage begins!
  • Two sets of hands is also helpful, one set to coddle the minion and one set to press the foot into the canvas. We had a few alien feet attempts…

They didn’t particularly like the feeling of paint on their toes, but overall were good sports. We did individual butterflies for each of them and a group canvas as well.

Next I want to try a few handprints on a coffee mug. After painting their feet, we gave them each a break to recuperate. It’s surprising how strong they are when they don’t want their painted feet pushed against a canvas! Reagan definitely fought back the most, and Harper and Emerie tolerated it for the most part. I think it will be a great addition to their memory boxes.

Triple(t)rouble- 3 months!

The girls hit 3 months on Wednesday. It’s been a long week, with the current developmental milestone causing a few long, cranky baby nights. But, while that hasn’t been so much fun, seeing the changes in personality are worth it! A quick update on each kiddo.

Harper

  • Harper is up to 11 pounds, 7 oz, and is still in the lead on weight.
  • She has started smiling a lot. When she wakes up in the morning she is all smiles for us. She’s also started baby talking a little, and it’s super cute!
  • She is still our best sleeper, and doesn’t mind the crib compared to the rock and play.
  • I think we’ve finally won her over on the play mat. She doesn’t just cry now when she’s on it, and is starting to chuckle at the colors and music.

Emerie

  • Emerie is up to 9 pounds, 15 oz! She has grown the most of the three, but is still the smallest (by a bit!)
  • She is also grasping the responsive smile better now, and likes to smile at us, toys, and, of course, the fan.
  • She is definitely the cuddler of the group, and needs snuggles everyday from whoever is around! She also doesn’t mind snuggling up to her sisters.
  • Emerie likes the play mat as long as her sisters are on it with her.
  • I put a headband on her the other morning (none of them are fond of them), and she sneezed so hard it flew off her head about a foot. It was hilarious.

Reagan

  • Reagan is 11 pounds, 1 oz and really trying to catch up with her sister!
  • She’s still our biggest smiler and been that way since birth.
  • During playtime on Monday, she rolled from her back to her stomach. We were not expecting that (I don’t think she was either), and she wouldn’t do it a second time for the camera.
  • She loves toys and enjoys laying in the crib and looking at them. She’s also an escape artist from her swaddle sacks.
  • So far she has the strongest neck muscles, and can hold her head up really well and loves looking around and out the windows.

All in all, everyone is advancing great, especially on sleep. As I write this, sitting in the dark in the nursery, my Fitbit tells me I slept for 5 straight hours. First time since…ummm…the day before their birth. Feels pretty great.

Father’s Day Adventures 2018

Yesterday I had big plans of writing a nice post, singing praises to my hubby for Father’s Day and all the great things he’s been doing!

That plan was still in effect until our evening feed, when some tiny newborn sized monsters were unleashed for an epic battle of babies versus Mom. Needless to say, I did not get any screen time for blog writing.

Last night was definitely in the top five of hardest nights since the girls came home, with 3 straight hours of bloody murder screaming. As soon as one settled, the next would start wailing within seconds that they were absolutely starving, you know, since 20 minutes ago and how dare I not immediately feed them and stop feeding their sisters. To top it all off, instead of having two of us versus the three babies, it was only me because Craig had the pleasure of spending those hours puking in the bathroom from his back pain pills. Not a great night for either of us.

As everyone suggests, after a long and drawn out 3 hour baby battle, my patience was wearing quite thin so I put everyone in their bassinets and took a sanity/pumping break downstairs. Apparently that was the answer because that put everyone to sleep…or maybe it was all the energy burned from crying; either way it worked. And they slept five hours!

Now enough complaining about that. Yesterday was Father’s Day, and the first in a long line of them that I’ve actually acknowledged or celebrated. A good friend of mine designed cute onesies for the girls and Craig (well not a onesie for Craig hehe) and everyone was styling for a few photos.

Her shop is called Super Crafty Maye and is on Facebook! She is very creative and read my mind on what I wanted with minimal effort needed on my part! The girls looked so very cute and the onesies are so soft.

In true Craig style, the theme was triplet elephants.

After a little photo op, we managed to eat lunch out at our favorite place, Sushi Sushi, with all the girls, Grandma Sue and Uncle William, and Kerstin, and not have any crying fits! I think they were saving those for the evening, little did we know…

In closing, happy Father’s Day to all those dads out there, supporting and loving their kiddos. I’m glad we would celebrate Craig’s first holiday as a Dad, with many more to come! Hopefully future ones will involve less crying and puking. It can only improve from here.