Bottle Prep

Every day the boys eat at least 5 times.
6 AM
10 AM
2 PM
6 PM
10 PM
This is of course, if all goes well. 

Nate & Ben eat 4.5 oz and Sam eats 5 oz at each feeding.  This equals about 75 oz of milk per day.  I'm currently pumping about 60 oz per day.  We've been dipping into our freezer stash which has been a life saver.  I'm hoping to make it until March when the boys are 6 months old.  I'm getting a little panicky that I'm going to run out.  Formula won't hurt.  Right?

We've been making all the bottles at once for the entire day and then putting them in the fridge for when we need them.  We make 65 oz at a time.

Lined up and ready to load.

The pitcher is the key.  We need to mix breastmilk with formula

to increase calories.  There is a mixer inside the pitcher.

The top shelf of our fridge is soley dedicated to

the boys' meals.

The dryer racks for all my pump equipment & milk

storage.  I have 4 sets of pump equipment.

The top rack of our dishwasher.  We wash whenever

we have 12 bottles ready to go.

Free Money

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Thanks!!!

Nate's Surgery & Hospital Rant (pix added)

Before I start the rant, I'll let you know that Nate is fine.  He rocked his surgery.  He had a left inguinal hernia repair & exploration on the right.  There was nothing on the right after all, but better safe than sorry.  I took tons of pictures which I'll add once I do an upload.
Here's the rant:
I don't have a lot of experience with surgeries.  Eli's had 2 and the only 1 I've had was for my c-section.  I could only compare this to Eli's experience at LGH.  Nate's doctor was awesome.  I think I just ran into some grumpy people having a bad day.

When we got to the hospital, we checked in and were seated in a waiting room.  There were tons of people in the room and some were in johnny's.  It turns out this is where everybody waits...patients, friends, families, etc.  I don't know how it's o.k. to have people waiting for surgery in wheelchairs & their hospital gowns among the guests.  That just seems weird.  We waited in this room for 2 hours.  Yes, 2 hours.  When Eli had his surgeries, we were led to his room where he'd be staying.  The nurses came in, did his vitals, got him changed & we hung out and watched TV.  This was what I was expected.  This is not what I got.  I needed to pump.  There was no way I was going to pump in this overcrowded room.  Dave asked the receptionist and I was shown to a small room that looked like a dr's office.  OK so pumping crisis averted.

Finally we were brought into the "holding cell".  This is where the nurse took his vitals & we chatted with his dr & the anesthesia people.  Nobody ever gave us a play-by-play or let us know what was going to happen.  They took him away...no gown just his diaper and a blanket...and we went back to the waiting room.  I had to pump again but now the room was pretty empty to Dave set up a barricade and I was all set.  There was no food allowed in the waiting room and I was too much of a nervous Nelly to go downstairs to eat.  We waited for the dr to let us know Nate was done.  This was an hour and a half later.  It is now 4ish.  We haven't eaten since 10.

We went to the recovery room.  We were told Nate would be there about an hour.  He needed to wake up, have some pedialyte, pee, etc.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  Nate fulfilled his end of the deal within an hour.  We kept waiting.  They kept telling us "15 minutes.  They're cleaning his room upstairs."  We kept waiting and waiting and waiting.  It's now 8 o'clock.  The new nurse came on shift & I lost it.  I was exhausted.  I had to pump.  Nate needed to eat.  Luckily Dave ran and got us some cardboard sandwiches.

We got ushered upstairs quicker than anticipated b/c I lost it and Nate was bawling looking to eat.  Now earlier in the week I had called the pedi floor and asked about his bottles.  He takes breast milk mixed w/ formula for the extra calories.  I was told to bring his formula, but I wouldn't be allowed to mix it.  The dietician had to mix it.  OK.  I brought the formula.  I had some milk.  Where's the dietician to mix it?  Oh, it's 8 PM and there's no dietician on call.  Hmm...what's Nate going to eat?  They told me to mix up some straight formula and just give it to him.  OK.  I didn't bring the recipe or the stuff I need to mix his milk so I just gave him the straight formula.

This is just how it continued.  Dave had to leave to go home to the other boys.  I stayed with Nate.  His overnight nurse was less than warm and fuzzy.  I was miserable.  Nate was miserable.  His morning nurse tech was amazing & I'm thinking of sending a letter to the hospital about her.  In the long run, Nate never had any breast milk.  His dr was furious and apologized for the beaurocracy.  It was a big mess and I don't wish that experience on anybody.  It was like they'd never had an infant patient before.  They didn't even have the right size diapers for him.  No formula on the floor.  Like I said, it was a mess...I'm just glad we're home and Nate's ok.  Yikes!

In recovery.  Had I known we would be there for 4

hours, I would have packed a lunch...

In his room.  Looking at his toys.

Rocking the cutie patootie hat and trying to eat his IV.

Yes that is my IPod in the back.  He needed

lullaby music...poor guy...

Finally asleep!!! (briefly)

These are his "boo boos".  We get the bandages

removed at the dr's this week.  (Yes, that's

a face cloth covering his package.  He's very shy.)

4 Month Check Up

We ventured out in our 3rd snowstorm in the past 2 weeks to go to the babies' 4 month check up.  Other than the snow, it was pretty uneventful.  The best news of the day was that Sammy made it onto the growth curve!  WOO-HOO!!!  He's in the 5th%, but he's there!
New weights:
Ben:  11 lbs 1 oz
Nate:  10 lbs 15 oz (still the peanut)
Sam: 12 lbs 0.1 oz  (Holy Moose, Batman!!!)

I also asked the dr about Ben's coughing.  He's been doing it for about a week.  He said it's attempt to talk.  It's like he's saying "mama".  I don't know if I buy that, but at least he's not sick! =}  Ben has also been smiling like a crazy man.  It takes the edge off his screeching for sure. 
The other guys are holding their own and rocking my world everyday!  They're getting more and more fun every second!!!

Surgery Switch-a-roo

Nate's doctor's office called and switched his appointment.  It was for scheduling purposes not because Nate's condition has changed.  Now it will be on Tuesday of next week.  I'm freaking out still, but getting some of my questions answered.  Thank you to everybody who's helping to calm my frayed nerves and keep me from throwing up all over the place.  Send your vibes to Boston next Tuesday!  I'll keep you updated when he's out (I haven't decided if I'm bringing the computer yet).

Hernias & Eyeballs

We made the trip down to Tufts last week to meet with Nate's pediatric urologist.  He defnitely needs surgery and I pushed to get it done sooner rather than later.  One reason is because I'm headed back to school (boo!!!) in March.  The other reason is because Nate has these "episodes" which I'm convinced are caused by his hernia.  The doctor was a bit abrubt (I was warned of this), but he knows his stuff so I'll take it. 
The surgery will be February 2nd.  I hope it's not like the movie "Groundhog Day".  He'll be staying overnight so I'll be staying overnight.  This means a logistical nightmare will take over.  Dave will come down with me & Nate in the morning for the surgery.  He'll then leave after Nate's out of recovery & take the train home.  I'll stay with Natey-bug until discharge.  Upon which time, I'll have to cart out Nate, Nate's stuff, my stuff, my pump, etc.  Do hospitals have bell hops?  I'm also freaking out about pumping while I'm there and feeding Nate.  Do I bring bottles?  Do I bring his vitamins (they're prescribed)?  Do I bring his formula (also prescribed)?  How will I wash my pump stuff?  How will I store the milk I pump?  Do I bring a cooler?  Will they lend me a pump so I don't have to pack mine?  All these questions fly around along with all of the logistics of who is going to watch the boys at home, pick up Eli, pick up Dave from the train, get Eli to school, do Eli's homework, etc?  And the biggest question of all... How the *bleep* will I get myself out of Boston???
Oy vey!  I know it's been done before so I know I'll survive and get it all figured out.  I guess all the worrying about logistics keeps my mind off of worrying about Nate.
Today the boys had an eyeball check up.  They were checking to see if they're nearsighted.  It turns out...they're not!  The doc does want to follow up in 6 months to ensure this is the case.  The appointment went super smoothly.  We managed to get ourselves there in a snowstorm.  I had to park in a snowbank and unload the boys into a busy street, but we made it!  The doctor was really personable and friendly.  He didn't even take the babies out of their carseats so they stayed asleep the whole time.  It's hard to believe they slept through having their eyes dialated & a pen light shone in their eyes, but they did!  Way to go guys!

4 months...can you believe it???

The boys turn 4 months old today!  Holy guacamole!  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was counting my pregnancy in weeks (& days) & now I'm counting their age in months.  Yikes!

Nate-Ben-Sam

They have all officially hit the 10 lb club.  Last week when they went for their RSV shot, their weights were:
Ben 10 lbs 3 oz
Nate 10 lbs 1 oz
Sam 10 lbs 13 oz
   They're still in the same weight order since birth.  It's so weird.  They are all loving to coo and smile and their head/neck control is getting better everyday.  Nate & Sam are our "rollers" while Ben seems more content to watch. 
   Their personalities are emerging more and more too.  Ben is the "screecher".  He has an ear-piercing screech when he wants attention.  Speaking of attention, he wants it ALL the time.  He always wants to be held & cuddled.  He is also super alert.  He sleeps about 1/2 of what the other two sleep because he just wants to be awake and hang out and observe everything. 
   Nate is the "sprinkler".  Every time we get his diaper off, he pees.  It's like clockwork.  Some people get peed on more than others.  His favorite time to "sprinkle" is when he's in the tub.  He's our Natey-bug.  He's a snuggly guy who will tuck himself right into your arm and make himself comfy.
   Sammy is our lamb-y.  He's the quietest of the three.  He only speaks up when necessary, but loves to chat & coo.  His smiles are contagious and his dimples (& Nate's) are adorable.  He's content almost any where with anybody doing anything.  He's definitely the most laid back.  It might be the reason why they had to pull him out by the bum during delivery.  He was content to just stay put while Ben was itching to get out.
   Now that it's 2011 it's making me realize my time home with them is coming to an end.  I'm not excited about having to go back to work in March and I keep crossing my fingers that we win the MegaMillions so I don't have to.
   In other news, Nate's appointment with his urologist is tomorrow.  We'll find out the scoop on his hernia and when his surgery is.  While I hate the idea of him needing surgery, I just want it over and done with.  He has these "episodes" where he arches his back and screams and cries and can't be consoled for about a 1/2 hour.  I feel like it must be hernia related and hope it will go away when he has his surgery.

Love them!!!

Triplets First Steps - fold note - EmbossingStore.com

I've ordered from this site in the past and wanted to get something for the babies.  I contacted them TODAY and they created a triplet card.  I just want to advertise their business as much as possible b/c I'm so impressed with them.  All of you non-triplet mommies can find something there too.  They're amazing!!!  Use ESTORE25 to get 25% off your order!!!

Roll, Sammy, Roll

It happened so quick we almost missed the 1st one, but we caught the 2nd one.  Pardon Eli's freshness at the end of the clip.  When we figure out how to edit, we'll take care of it.

Happy New Year!!!

A lot of people are excited to see 2010 go.  I am not.  While it was a crazy year and I was hugely pregnant for most of it, I'm sad to see it go.  It means my babies are getting older and they're getting bigger (so sad).  While I'm in awe everyday of their growth, at times I wish I could slow it down and keep them in a bubble.  I look at Eli and try to remember him when he was their age, and I just can't.  Oy vey...where did all this sappiness come from? 
Anyway, my New Year's resolution is to dress my kids up and torture them as much as possible.  Here's exhibit A:

Ben-Eli-Nate-Sam

Eli chose the 0.

Check out the thighs on the twins...Holy smokes!  Sam's been eating

his green eggs & ham...