The Douglas Trio, or Douglets as we like to call them, are spontaneous identical triplet girls. They arrived on March 20, 2018 (the first day of spring!) at 33 weeks on the dot. They are the oldest of three sets of triplets born in Alaska in 2018 and the only girl/girl/girl set!
Harper Anne (Baby A), Emerie Faye (Baby B), and Reagan Jean (Baby C) are monozygotic identical triplets, more commonly known as identical triplets. They are also dichorionic triamniotic triplets, meaning there were two placentas, with Baby A and B sharing one and C the other, and each inside their own amniotic sac.
We had a pleasant NICU stay with no major concerns; mostly just growing and feeding. Everyone had minor respiratory support and light therapy for jaundice at the beginning, but eventually passed each necessary milestone with flying colors. We took Reagan home on April 17th after 28 days in the NICU and Harper and Emerie on April 21st after 32 days.
The first month home meant round the clock feedings every three hours, 24 hours a day. Luckily Craig was able to take a month off from work so we could adjust to life as a family of five! The first year passed in a blur- a big reason why we set up this blog in the first place. It is wonderful to be able to go back and read the milestones or cute stories associated with the girls.
The older they get, the “easier” everyday life becomes. The first year is filled with very busy days with feeding, cleaning, snuggling, and everything in between. There is minimal time to relax, sit even, and a lot of constant chores to complete to keep the house up and running. Having a little help from friends and family goes a long way- if people want to come visit, suggest they bring dinner, or fold a load of laundry, or wash bottles…it will help greatly!
Our little trio started crawling at about 11.5 months, and by 13 months were pros at walking and #onthemove. At 15 months everyone was climbing on everything and excitedly exploring the world around them with no fear! At 18 months, the conversations are certainly starting, secret giggles and gibberish between the girls as well as the random new words everyone continues to learn each day. At 21 months, they are running around, getting into everything, and testing out boundaries each and every moment! There is never a still moment and everyone is constantly into something or running around in three different directions.
We’ve tackled six eye surgeries for one of our girls after being diagnosed with a cataract in her left eye at about a year old. The first surgery removed the cataract and gave her a new lens and the second and and third worked on eye alignment muscles to help straighten out her eye. Other surgeries included Botox on her eye muscles, several times, to help her eye straighten out. We continue to patch her good eye four to five hours per day and as she’s grown older, this has come much easier than the first year of taping her glasses to her face. We anticipate continuing to do patching for a few more years, as her brain keeps developing and learning to use her weaker eye.
We try to take it all in and tackle each new developmental stage in stride. Luckily our girls are pretty healthy for the most part, other than minor colds and ear infections from life in the Alaska cold. Daily life is extremely busy and often stressful, nights can be long, but it is so fun to see them explore and watch everyone’s unique personalities advance, change, and mature! We are looking forward to achieving more milestones and seeing how our three munchkins grow. We can’t wait to see what adventures await us next.
#tripletlife
Here we go…!
The Douglets 