What a difference a year makes! Here I am about a week before the girls were born.
Anna Victoria~ a few hours after birth August 21, 2009
Elizabeth Kristine~ a few hours after birth August, 21, 2009
Katherine Maxine~ A few hours after birth August 21, 2009
One year later~ August 21, 2010
We have made it through the first year of our little girls' lives! Whew! What an exciting year it has been! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this past year of being the mother to our triplets. Boy, have our lives changed. A few days after we found out I was pregnant with triplets, I remember I had so many emotions and thoughts going through my head. My biggest fears were for the health of these children. Secondly, I worried about Jack quite a bit. I also thought so much about how we would manage every day living and how much simples things, like walking around at the mall and eating dinner on a Saturday night, would be near impossible for a while. I divided my life: life before the triplets and life after.
Being pregnant was not enjoyable for me. It was summer, I was hot and huge. In the final days before the girls were born, I would have done anything to get them out! I even thought about paying the doctor to induce me! I remember their births like it was yesterday. Anna crying in the delivery room, Elizabeth screaming from the moment she came out and the wait for Kate. It all happened so fast and the quick c-section for Kate only took ten minutes. It seemed like a lifetime. I knew she needed to come out and was thankful for the quick thinking and expertise of the doctors and nurses. Kate needed a bit of help transitioning in the OR, but really did well in the NICU along with the other two. I was on some terrible drugs the first 24 hours that made it impossible for me to visit the girls. However, I was able to finally spend some time with them when they were a day old. I remember looking at them and thinking they were perfectly made. I studied them and quickly learned of their differences, similarities and personalities. I left the hospital a few days later without my babies, and there was an afternoon of crying. I remember coming home and thinking that it never happened. Did I really give birth to three children? Those few weeks while they were in the NICU were tough. Driving back and forth to see them and leaving them each day was difficult, especially since I couldn't drive for a while. The girls were superstars, probably because they knew their mother was an old NICU nurse and knew way too much. Never on oxygen, they had only a few desat spells and feeding tubes, but were fast learners in taking their bottles. After 15 days, Anna came home first. It was nice to have her at home and gave me some great one-on-one time with her. It eased me into the newborn stage again and the adjustment with an older sibling. When Kate came home a few days later, I struggled getting to the NICU to see Elizabeth. Thankfully, it was only a week before Elizabeth was ready to come home with her sisters and brother. When we went to pick up Elizabeth to take her home, I was very nervous. I had three babies under 5 lbs and actually, Elizabeth was under 4 lbs. Could we really do this? God gave us everything we needed to survive those first few months. The girls did well and kept growing and gaining weight. But, this was a hard time. I was busy. The process of feeding and pumping took about two hours. They ate every three. So once I would finish a round of feeding, I would have to clean my supplies and have about a half an hour before it started again. It was like a three patient assignment at work, except I was working the day and the night shift always! There wasn't much down time in those days and my mind was constantly in the "stay on task" mode. I knew if I deviated from the schedule, I would pay for it later and not have time to get everything done. So, I didn't. I was constantly moving and doing something. However, I tried to spend time holding and cuddling with the babies as much as I could because I knew from the days of Jack, those times would be gone before I knew it.
Thankfully, this time went fast and before we knew it, they began to stretch out their night feedings to where I was only getting up once a night, usually around 1-2am to bottle feed them and pump. This was always a challenge for me to try to get them all up, changed, fed, pump, and pump supplies cleaned in an hour to be back in bed. Most of the time it took a little longer, but I always aimed for one hour. I mostly did the night shifts by myself. John was working, but during his leave from work, I would finish their 5 am feed and go to bed while he would get them back to sleep. While they were waking up at night, I was sleeping on the couch downstairs on the couch. It was easier access to the bottles and I didn't have to worry about waking up Jack or John. Around three months, Anna slept through the night! In her crib! Feeding two at night was so easy! Elizabeth was sleeping through the night very soon after Anna and Kate was a few weeks later. What a wonderful Christmas present for us! Three babies asleep from 7 pm to 7 am. And my bed never felt more comfortable!
During this time, they had a terrible "witching hour" starting around 5:30-6pm in which they were very hard to console. The joke was, "All mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night" and we even had onesies that said it. I had so many wonderful volunteers from our Church that would come and help me get through this time frame. I couldn't hold all three at once and that was so hard for me. Plus, Jack needed attention too. Knowing they would sleep throught the night, I could get through this hour by thinking that it will all end very soon. I think there were only a few nights I was alone during this hour. And, only once did I suggest to John when he called me to tell me he was getting off the train to "run home" because the girls and I were losing it.
The holidays went by so fast, and we were worried traveling with them for the first time, but they did great. The winter months seemed to drag on and I was anxious for some warmer days to get out of the house with the girls. The first warm day- probably early in April, it was in the 70s and I brought out swings, blanket and play mats and the girls and Jack and I were outside all morning. Because of how well they traveled at Christmas, we also were able to travel to Indiana to visit grandparents a few times in the winter and spring. Knowing that they traveled so well made these trips easier.
I started solid foods in early spring and after a few feedings, they seemed to catch on to the food and they have been great eaters since. Thankfully, I don't have picky eaters. But, there are days when I feel like all I do is feed and change poopy diapers.
We started to bring all the kids to church around Easter. This was a big step for us since we are out numbered and our church does not have a cry room, but we think it is important to attend mass as a family. We get quite a few stares, but we just push our triple wide stroller right through the double doors of the church and park them in the back corner. In the beginning, the girls slept through part of mass, and were so interested in the 'new' surroundings they were so good just looking around. Then, we went through a span that we could give them Cheerios in a snack trap towards the end of mass that would give us another 15 minutes of calmness. Today, they are getting harder and harder. Mostly because they are mobile and want down when we are holding them or in the stroller. We have let them crawl in the back of church on the ground a few times.
The summer flew by. It was hot and humid, but we got the girls out and experienced new things. We went on our first family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells which turned out to go as best as it probably could. We also made it to the Druelle's houes in Grand Rapids, MI, Navy Pier, the Brookfield Zoo, a few splash parks, play dates, parks, a family reunion AND we actually went out to eat at a restaurant for the first time as a family of six. Something I thought would not happen until much later!
So, all in all, we survived the year--with the help from many, many wonderful people. I am a little sad they are not babies anymore and how fast this year went. There were many ups and downs, but we are very fortunate to have these little ladies in our lives. There are moments when I want to freeze time, especially when I walk into their room in the mornings and there are shrieks, giggles and HUGE grins,the way they "talk" to each other, and also the way Jack can get them all to laugh at him, but I realize they must grow up and I anticipate more moments like these that bring me so much joy to being their mother. They are perfect little angles sent to us from God and we continue to love them more and more each day.
Happy Birthday Anna.
Happy Birthday Elizabeth.
Happy Birthday Kate.
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