4/16/97

Luckily while our triplets were in the NICU, they were put on a strict 4 hour feeding schedule. This has enabled us to put them on the same four to five hour feeding schedule at home.

Zachary is the alarm clock for the three, as he starts to cry when he's hungry. He's usually fed first, Lindsey second, and Hannah (the quiet one) last. They are either nursed, or drink pumped breast milk or formula from a bottle depending on how our schedule looks. It takes approximately 1¼ hours to feed and change all of them. After they're fed, they usually sleep for 4-5 hours (hopefully), then the whole routine begins again when Zachary starts crying.

We try to feed them as close to midnight as possible, so we can sleep until 5:00 a.m. Afterwards we go back to sleep until one of them or Cleo (our dog) wakes us up, usually around 8:30.

It isn't as hard as we thought it was going to be. Other then the 1¼ hours it takes to feed them, the day is ours to do whatever needs to be done (usually Ricki naps and I work on the computer).

We have been doing it mostly by ourselves. Ricki's sister, Marnie, pops in every once in a while to help out with feedings and diaper changes. I thank my work for allowing me to work from home for 6 weeks, this has helped us tremendously.

We try and walk them and Cleo around the neighborhood at least once a day in the triplet stroller. We have taken the stroller out in public once and what an attention getter it was.

Last week we sent letters to companies asking for help and this week we started receiving tons of stuff (toys, diapers, coupons, formula, baby products, etc.).

Sunday we all went for Mother's Day Brunch. The triplets were a big hit and we had pictures taken with Donald and Daisy Duck. We look forward to taking them to the theme parks when they're older.

We're starting to take them out in public, and last week we went to the mall. The stroller was an attention getter, but most people respected our privacy. Their next doctor's appointment is on Wednesday. I should have their new weights and sizes posted shortly after and maybe even new pictures.

5/14/97

They slept through the night!!

I am starting to go back to work part-time and our niece, Julie, is going to stay with us for a week to help out.

After 2 years of infertility treatments and 7 months of the pregnancy, we need a vacation to regain our strength. For Ricki's birthday next month we've booked a 4-night Caribbean cruise. We're leaving the babies with Ricki's parents, and Julie will them help out. We really didn't want to leave the babies, but the timing was right for us to recuperate.

We have a 16 year old helper for the rest of the summer, her name is Ilana, and the kids adore her. We were supposed to have a doctor's appointment this past Monday (6/23), but it was rescheduled because the babies' are due for their 4-month immunization shots, and they don't turn 4 months until July 5th. The new appointment is July 11th. We are VERY anxious to see what their new weights and lengths are.

They're drinking between 4½ - 7 oz per feeding. Zachary's been having some tummy problems, so we've been experimenting with supplementing Ricki's breast milk with a soy and a hypoallergenic formula. They're sleeping between 8-10 hours a night.

I've modified our home page (i.e. the tabs on top of the triplets' page). Please email us at oct24@southeast.net with any comments or suggestions on the new layout.

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Zachary has been fussy with his feedings so we switched him to all breast milk; it seems to of helped. The girls are getting all formula. Hannah had a sore throat for a few days, but is fine now. The doctor said they might be starting to teeth. They are all talking a lot and are flipping over.

Ilana, our mothers helper, is fantastic with the babies and has helped us both out tremendously. She stays with Ricki and the babies from 8:00am to around 5:00pm. I don't know what we are going to do once she has to go back to school in August.

Since the day we found out we were having triplets we knew we needed a mini van and today we finally broke down and bought one. We bought a new 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager. The Grand is large enough to place the Ingelsina stroller in the back.

The babies are doing great! Hannah's in the middle of a growth spurt, drinking over 25 oz a day! Zachary's doing much better with the breastmilk and loves to nurse, as Marnie's boyfriend Allan put it, "he's a guy!" Lindsey is the "charmer" of the three, men are going to drop at her feet with one bat of her bright eyes.

Since Ilana's had to go back to school, our oldest niece, Jenny (Julie's sister), stayed with us last week. The babies had a wonderful time playing with their cousin. We now have a part-time nanny during the week to help Ricki with the babies.

Yesterday we started all three of them on rice cereal. They're each spoon-fed one feeding per day. They all seem to love it, and took to spoon-feeding very easily. Zachary eats every spoonful and doesn't leave a drop on his bib (he's got his daddy's appetite!)

The babies will be starting "Mommy & Me" class next Wednesday (9/10). It's once a week for 14 weeks, and will give Ricki and the kids a chance to get out of the house during the day.

Lindsey had a nose cold over the weekend, so she hasn't been her usual sweet self for the last few days. Their doctor's appointment is next Friday (9/12), so I will post their latest weights and sizes at that time.

Friday (9/5), they will be six months old and it will be one year to the day we found out we were expecting triplets. Boy, how time flies!