A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BEING A MOTHER OF TRIPLETS

Many people ask us what our days are like...........so I thought I would explain it in detail.

Starting in the am, our first feeding of the day is around 2am, then 5am and then again at 8am it switches over to every two hours during the day and then back to every 3 hours at night. The first week we had to feed them every hour and a half. To feed all three by yourself, it takes about 45mins to an hour............so, that meant if you were feeding them all by yourself, by the time you were done with all three, you had about a half hour till you started your feeding cycle all over again. Thank God, after our doctors visit this week, we got to switch back to every 2 hours during the day and 3 at night, because we got all three to gain about a pound from birth, which was a great accomplishment.

So, feedings start every three hours at about 8pm.........therefore, our nights are very very long. Up at11pm, 2am, 5am and then again at 8am. Not to mention that Ivan wants to be fed at around 6:45, so we are up for him too.

To keep our sanity, Ali and I have been switching back and forth, taking shifts at night to get through each night. Lucky for us, for the most part the babies sleep in between feedings fairly well, and seem to eat and sleep on somewhat of a schedule together. Trust me, we have had our nights where we were both up and thought we would never get back to sleep.

It seems like Reese and Declan are the fussiest at night...........and feed off each other. If one starts crying, the other one starts too. Stella just sleeps through it all. It is amazing that you can already tell their differences in personality, even at such a young age.

As far as how many diapers we go through in one day, well WHO KNOWS. I feel like we are constantly changing diapers and onesies. Not to mention doing loads after loads of laundry and we are CONSTANTLY washing bottles........and CONSTANTLY warming formula.

In the end it is all worth........we have three AMAZING children and we would go through a thousand sleepless nights for them. It is so worth it!!

TRUE LOVE...........

WE ALL ARE HOME SAFE AND SOUND

Sorry that I haven't written in awhile, but I have a very good excuse......we are trying to get in a routine with three babies, while at the same time trying not to neglect three dogs. NOT EASY!!!! All babies and Ali were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. The fact that the babies were healthy enough to stay in Ali's room in the hospital and now come home when she does, four days later, is truly a miracle. Our first public appearance pushing the triplet stroller was leaving the hospital and we didn't get far before we were asked questions and had many people starring at us. We have come to realize that it takes us about 10 mins to get in a car and about 10 more to get unloaded and out. We figured we are bound to be late for everything from here on out. :) At least we have an excuse. As for the dogs......our initial introduction was a lot easier than we thought. They barked, sniffed and got over the babies real quick. NO BIG DEAL. They actually have been pretty good and if I had to guess which one is taking it the hardest, I'd have to say it is Striker. She seems a little bit off lately, but maybe she'll get over it. When I have a chance, I'll update the blog with some videos that we took of the babies. Tomorrow is our first doctor visit, so hopefully all goes well. Thank you again to all our visitors and all those who have made us dinner and all. We appreciate your love and support, and especially.......your cooking. :)

NEWS FLASH!!!!

All along, Ali and I said that we wouldn't name the triplets until we met them and their names fit with their little face and personalities. We wanted to wait for something to jump out at us.....well something did, but it was after I had posted the three names yesterday. After spending many long hours with Baby "C" we realized that "Quinn" didn't quite fit her and we kept coming back to this one name. To make a long story short.......I would like to announce her FINAL and new name.......Baby C is Stella Pauline It fits her perfect......she looks like a Stella and it is just a beautiful name. Sorry for any confusion Love you all!

THE NAMES ARE IN.......HERE ARE THE FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES

BABY A - GIRL- REESE MARGARET (MARGARET IS MY MOTHER'S NAME) BABY B - BOY - DECLAN ALBERT (ALBERT IS ALI'S FATHER'S NAME) BABY C - GIRL - QUINN PAULINE (PAULINE IS ALI'S MOTHER'S NAME)

A and B are set but we are stuck with baby C's name.........

NAMES WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY 12 NOON TOMORROW!

STAY TUNED FOR WHAT OUR THREE LITTLE MIRACLES WILL BE CALLED.

PICTURES BY THE ONE AND ONLY...BRANDI FITZGERALD.

Brandi, these pictures are just amazing.............thank you so much!

WE JUST HAD THE BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES

For all those parents out there that told us over and over again that you never knew how much you actually could love somebody until you saw your newborns face.........WE GET IT NOW. We feel like a new life has just begun today. 2 GIRLS and 1 BOY Whoever voted correctly..................GOOD JOB! What a long day it has been, but I just couldn't fall asleep tonight unless I updated you all. Ali was amazing like usual. Very rarely complained and in 8 months produced 3 of the most beautiful human beings that I have ever laid eyes on. So perfect........I know now what all you parents were trying to tell us all along. It's a love and a feeling that you can't just describe and I cannot believe we were so blessed and so lucky to have three healthy beautiful babies. Here are the details: (I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to text many people today......it was very busy) A was the first one out. 4 lbs, 8 ounces and is a GIRL B was the middle child. 4lbs, 9 ounces and is a BOY C was the last one out, 4lbs, 12 ounces and is a GIRL. All are breathing safely on their own and all seem to be doing just fine. Ali is recovering well and is in pain (which is normal) but is so far doing well. It truly was a miracle. More details: A is the peanut and has blondish looking hair. B is the boy with dark brown curly hair. NOT SURE WHERE THAT CAME FROM. C is the BIG GIRL, who has been the biggest all along and has light brown hair. All are so precious in their own little way. NO NAMES YET.........check blog tomorrow and we may have them posted by then.

THE TEST RESULTS ARE IN....

WE ARE A GO FOR TOMORROW!!!!

We had our amnio today to check the babies lung development. Not only did they pass, but the doctor said their numbers were through the roof and that these babies are ready to meet the world. At those words, Ali and I broke down in tears. I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like. For anyone going to the hospital, I apologize now for being a crying, slobbery mess. I'm the lucky one that gets to tell Ali and the family what their genders are. (that was our deal all along....you make them and I get to be the first one who tells you what they are) I know I probably will cry the whole time. We are so happy and so excited for tomorrow that it is almost impossible to put into words. For some reason, we were very blessed up until this point with such a healthy pregnancy and almost NO complications. We pray that it continues and thank you all for your love, support and prayers. Ali said today that she thinks we were destined to have triplets. I told her that she was destined to make babies.........maybe we found a new career for her. Who knew she was such a great baby making machine. She has amazed me many times in these past 5 years, but what I have seen from her in these past 8 months tops it all. Without complaining, and with a smile on her face, she just dealt with the struggle of carrying around almost 15 lbs of baby and totally giving up her body for months to create three lives. I admire her so much and I am so amazed at how strong she really is. These babies are lucky to have her and will be loved more than they can imagine. We both look forward to sharing their lives and experiences with all of you. 23 hours and counting....... TOMORROW AT THIS TIME WE WILL BE MOMS! :)

THIS IS IT!!!!

This week has been a busy one for us. Running around....(well, I've been doing most of the running, not Ali) ......trying to get all of our last minute things done. I feel like I've been going through the "nesting" period for Ali since she can't do too much these days. Even though she has spent most of the last week resting with her feet up, we have been soooooo fortunate to have made it this far without any major problems.

We saw the doctor on Tuesday and he is just amazed at how well she has done. He said it is really rare to have a mother of triplets make it all the way until her C-Section date.......never mind, make it the whole way without any real major complication or problem. Kicker is, our doctor only deals with triplets or more, so he works with a ton of mothers of multiples.

We got our last set of measurements on Tuesday. All seem to be growing well and the funny part is, is that our little peanut, "A" decided to make a big weight gaining push near the end compared to her brothers and sisters. "A" is no longer the small one, and had the most weight gain in three weeks, growing from 3.12 to 5.4. "B" on the other hand has now taken over the small category. He/she went from 4.5 to 4.11 and our BIG girl/boy of "C" has gone from 4.12 to 5.5.

So, in all: A=5.4, B=4.11, C=5.5 About 15 or so lbs in her belly. AMAZING!

IT WAS A SAD DAY........

It was a very sad day when we had to say goodbye to our cool, SUV and trade it in for a MINI VAN. (also know as a GROCERY GETTER)

One week later, we are over it and over the fact that we are now MINI VAN MOMS. :( Only thing we are not over is the color. Unfortunately we didn't get the color we wanted, but we are just glad we got the car we wanted. 5 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!

FALSE ALARM

This week we had a little scare..........on Wednesday, Ali woke up to an extreme amount of back pain and nausea. We were already heading to the hospital for our weekly check up, but this time we drove straight to the ER. The doctors were afraid that her back pain meant she was going into labor and said that they may do the C-Section right then if that was the case. That right there almost made me throw up. Neither one of us were ready for that news, but the doctors said that back pain is a sign of labor and if she was going into labor, then they wouldn't stop her. To make a long story and a long day short, all is good and the babies are still in the belly doing well and still growing. Back pain turned out to be growing pains for Ali's body. At least we got to see where the ER was, since we hadn't been there before. All the nurses were shocked that we made it to 35 weeks before having to go to the ER. She said that triplet moms usually start showing up at the ER at around week 20 or so. It was a scary day, but we are once again blessed that it ended in our favor. It also made us realize that these babies will be here before we know it. 7 DAYS FROM TODAY!! That is scary to think about and not really sure if it has sunken in yet. I feel like I'm going through the "nesting" period for both of us, because Ali can't do much. Trying to get anything and everything done before they get here...........but we are running out of time. We are still on for the 15th. 7 Days to go.....