Week 5 @ home ~ Establishing a routine... not as easy as you would think!

So this week we decided it was time to establish a nightly routine for the boys so that they would get some sense of normalcy at night and this in turn might make it easier to put them down.  The first thing we decided to do was to put them in their cribs during their daytime nap so that they would know that their crib was their sleeping place and not the couch, swing, arms, etc... Although I miss having them sleep in my arms and staring at their amazing little faces, I knew I would be doing them a dis-service if I kept doing this as it would make it harder and harder for them to sleep in their cribs and eventually bed.  Weirdly, it was Zachary who took to his crib the best!  He was always the most fussy one to get to bed but he's been loving his crib, so a plus there!  Jacob is not liking it so much and he's taking a bit more time getting used to this new daytime sleep routine, but he's getting there.  Samuel is my "I don't want to miss a thing" boy so it takes him a while to fall asleep as he just lays there and looks around but eventually drifts off into dreamland.  
In the evenings, after their 6 pm feeding and one of the boys has had his bath, we put them around us and Gab plays/sings them a few songs and then I read them a book.  At first, I'd read them a book out in the living room, but I've started going into their rooms once they are in their cribs because I figure eventually I'll be reading them a book in their bedrooms when they can actually appreciate the fact that I'm reading!  Right now, only my ever awake Samuel seems to appreciate what we're doing but eventually, it'll become something they love, I'm sure.  We are trying to develop their sense of rhythm and their love of books early on in their lives :)  

We had been noticing that their most fussy times in their cribs was after their 10pm feeding, which was the first time they had been in their cribs all day.  Now, if they have a fussy time, it's after the 6pm feeding time and at least then, we're awake and we can deal with it better than at midnight every night.  This seems to be working as the babies are starting to really appreciate their cribs.  We found this to work for our boys because they were used to being left alone in their NICU cribs and left to fall asleep on their own without having to be soothed to sleep.  This, of course, wouldn't work for every baby, and don't think that I say our way is the best way.  Like I said in last week's blog, I haven't come across the magical book that knows what's best for every single baby so I took what I've read and what I know of my boys and I'm applying it.  We have also started, after speaking to a nurse who had worked as a baby nurse for 35 years, to let them cry it out, just a small amount, never more than 10 minutes and never if they're really crying way too loudly.  This has also been working for us, for now.  We may find out in a few weeks time, probably after my mom leaves and I'm left alone at night, that this is just not going to work for them anymore.  Luckily, this is working for all three boys!  Jacob is having a harder time with it than the other two but he's slowly getting there.  
We've had a few disruptions to our nightly routine, or things that have thrown the boys off schedule so we haven't had a flawless week... On Thursday, they had their 2 month immunization shots, three shots in the leg, per boy.  It was the first time I saw them cry so hard they actually had tears coming out of their eyes... I cried with them, of course, and I had to go through it three times... so sad!  This threw them off for the next few days and today, we put them through a 5 hour photo session.  Newborn photo shoots are normally done within 10 days of a baby's birth but since they were premature, we wanted to wait until after their due date.... Well like it or not, the babies still had two months of living under their belts and weren't as easily manipulated as an actual newborn.  They were so upset by the end of it all... To top it all off, they didn't eat when they were meant to, they didn't get their normal formula, because in our haste, we forgot their bottles and had to stop at a drug store to get them formula and of course, they didn't have the one we needed so we bought a different kind.  

I don't think they'll ever have a flawless, super on schedule week but this week was pretty crazy and it's not over!  The week coming has another round of shots and another eye exam, speculum included... January was really overwhelming for my boys... Since coming home they've had 5 shots each, have visited 3 different doctors, have been visited by a public health nurse every week and have had to get used to being humans!  My poor little babies... I'm quite glad the month of February is coming and they don't have much going on in their lives until the end of the month.  I'm also glad my mother was here during all this time when I don't think I could have handled all those appointments by myself.  As I write this, my mother is feeding a very sad and unsettled Jacob... we don't even know if he's truly hungry or if he's just confused about the day.  All we know is that he just needs some love.  The other two are still dead asleep after this tough day.  He's also been farting, so he's probably not liking the formula we gave him today... Although it was the same they had in the hospital, they've been used to a different one at home and it's probably upset their stomach... shame on us... we'll just have to plan better next time and not be in such a haste!  I swear I forget to pack something different in that diaper bag every time we leave the house!  I swear one day I'll forget a baby! haha...  

As far as funny things that have happened this week... I hit my nose pretty bad when bringing the car seat handle back, I forgot to move my face out of the way!  It came back so quick that it almost knocked me out...my nose still hurt three days later!  My mother has had trouble with milk bottles... twice she's poured milk in a bottle without a bottom and just yesterday she was trying to hurry and put the top on wrong on one of the bottle and when she went to put the bottle in Jacob's mouth, the top fell away and all the milk went on my son, the blanket, the pillow and the couch they were on... my poor little man almost got drowned in milk!!  Gab still wakes up thinking he's got a baby in his arms when I wake him up at night and gets almost angry with me when I ask him repeatedly to get a baby as he thinks he already has one... Just last night, he had a pillow in his arms and was rubbing its "back"... haha... I always catch him rocking or rubbing something random.  The other day, he heard a baby cry and started rocking the laptop that was on his lap and yesterday, he was rubbing his lip for some reason... As for me, I often find myself swaying back and forth even when I don't have a baby in my arms.  

I went to my book club meeting this week and as amazing as it was seeing some of my best girlfriends, I felt guilty the whole time I was there...  I laughed and had a really good time but I had this invisible string that kept me tied to the boys and as much as I was glad I got out, I was having a hard time being present.  I know I'm going to have to go out by myself for my sanity but it'll take me a long time before I actually start craving time away I think.  

This week is going to be tough for me, and tears are coming to my eyes as I think of it... my mother has become like a third parent to my boys and I've come so used to having her here that having to say goodbye won't just be hard emotionally because she's my mother, but because she's become a constant in my boys' lives and we'll all miss her.  Nevertheless, she needs to get away because one, I need to figure out how to do this on my own and two, she needs to get back to her own life and take a break from this crazy life.  She adores the boys and I know she's feeling  bitter-sweet about leaving us, but I know it'll do her good.  My sister, bless her heart, was meant to go to Florida with my mother but had a change of heart and will give up her Florida vacation to come help me out a few times a week instead.  I've had people offer to help me and I think it's amazing that there are so many people willing to lend a hand, but I don't think I could have "strangers" in my house.  I'd feel like I'd have to entertain them and I think I'd feel uncomfortable in my own house... I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone else but me... 

Anyways, here are some pics of the week:

Looking a little bigger than their one month pic (the day they got home)

They still look so tiny in their cribs!!! 

Jacob, like his brothers, love sleeping face in my chest! 

Our first family pic... we all look so tired I know...
They're getting harder and harder to hold all three at once... this never happens! 

Zachary looking fabulous 

Live, love, laugh my friends... life is too short... xx

Week 4 @ home ~ Due date & Visitors

Coming up to a month home with the babies and I'm still not sure I know what I'm doing... but will I ever??  It's funny because I often hear "Well they say that you should do...", my question is: WHO IS THIS OMNIPRESENT THEY??  Who is the mighty authority on baby raising and have they met my babies?  I understand that "they" all have doctorate degrees and have studied the art of baby raising way more than me, but each book has a different "they".  Whether it be the neonatologists, the NICU nurses, the L&D nurses, the discharge nurses, the public health nurse or the nurse practitioner at my family doctor's office, there is a different opinion on the details of child rearing.  Then who the heck do I listen to?  I know I know, I listen to my gut, but I've never done this before, how do I know that my gut is right?!?  Just like the other night, Zachary decided he was going to give me my first sleepless night and poor little buddy cried and cried and cried... I decided to try to let him cry it out a little, maybe too long... he finally fell asleep and the next day I knew that I had made a mistake because he didn't feed well all day as he had spent way too much energy crying all night.  So now I've learned that my babies are still too little to cry.  It broke my heart to do it, but again, I tried to do what my gut told me, and my gut was wrong... case in point!  The only way he would sleep that night was on me, so I let him, and I fell asleep with him on me.  Again, many would gasp that I slept with my baby on me... what if he fell off?  What if he rolled off and his face ended up in the blankets and he stopped breathing?  What if, what if, what if?  My son needed sleep and I, trying to be a good mom, gave him what he and I both needed... Now, I won't let him do that all the time, I still put him in his crib whenever I can so that he doesn't think that mommy's chest is where sleeping happens but my little man was in pain so I comforted him, sue me!  I know I sound angry and defensive but I just needed to vent and this seemed to be the appropriate forum as I now many of my readers are parents and have felt the way I'm feeling.  If you haven't, please tell me your secret!  I didn't read any books while I was pregnant and I made it through my pregnancy and gave birth to three beautiful boys.  I'm not currently reading any books as I know that every book I read will say different things, so I rely on my Facebook triplet momma group (you mommas rock btw) and on my mom friends and even there opinions vary on what worked for THEIR baby.  I'm sure I will read some literature when I am truly lost (I'm most likely going to buy "The Wonder Weeks" as I hear nothing but good things), I'm not against studies nor do I want to come across as belittling the doctors, dulas, nurses, etc. who have spent their lives studying babies... but I'm not sure I can follow one person's view or opinion on how I'm going to raise my boys. I plan on taking it all in and hope that I make the best decision based on my gut and as previously stated, sometimes my gut will be wrong, but I think that 90% of the time, it'll be ok.  This week was the first week that was really trying; on me, on the boys, and on my relationship but I think that I need tough weeks to help me really understand my boys.  I'm scared about when my mom leaves, but the next few weeks are going to be about trying to make my life easier when I am alone.  We are going to set me up to feed three babies at once, we are going to try to get Zach and Sam to skip the middle of the night feeding (not sure if they're ready, but we'll see, it can't hurt to try).  I've been told by a "they" not to wake a sleeping baby... well this "they" has never raised triplets!!  I can't imagine going on demand for all three babies!  I would really never sleep so now I'm still waking the other two up once one baby is crying just to keep my sanity and some type of schedule.  So this week we will try dividing and conquering... I've asked a friend of mine to lend me a bassinet and I will separate Jacob from the other two boys (as Jacob is still too little to skip a feeding).  My mother will have Jacob in her room and will feed him right there when he wakes and I will try to let the other two sleep... they haven't been sleeping too well but it doesn't hurt to try.  If it doesn't work the first night, we'll wait a few days and try it again.  Anyways, wish us luck!!  Poor Gab will have to deal with me getting up and going back down over and over again... oh well, hopefully he can sleep through it!
I believe the hardest thing will be when I have to bring the boys to a doctor's appointment by myself or when they are crying all at once and I can only get to one, maximum two babies at the same time.  I'll make it through, it'll be tough, but we'll make it.  It's a good thing they're so freaking adorable!!
The best part of this week was being able to share them with friends... it was their due date on Saturday and we decided to let people in, well healthy people in anyway.  I was sad when some of my friends couldn't come because they, or someone in their family was sick and they respected me too much to risk my boys getting sick.  Of course, I can't protect them from every virus out there as I go outside of the house, my mother goes out of the house, my husband works outside of the house and visitors may have unknowingly come into contact with germs that will get to my babies, but I won't welcome them with open arms!  It was a good weekend filled with love and laughter as I missed my friends too and it was great to spend time with them, but we are all exhausted, boys included.  They gave us a few "bad" nights in a row and we're in the process of trying to find out why... we think they may have been going through a growth spurt and "they" (haha) say that it can last up to three days.
We have been so tired that strange/funny things have been happening... Here are just some examples: my mother burnt not one, but two of my pots, forgetting she had put them on to boil... my husband, thinking he had one baby when he had another, tried to lay Samuel in Jacob's bed, and thinking Jacob was a blanket, laid him right on top, only realizing it was a baby when the "blanket" started moving...  feeding the wrong bottle to the wrong baby, changing a baby twice, forgetting dirty diapers EVERYWHERE, my mother falling on her ass after putting a baby in the swing, etc.  It makes for some tear filled laughs when all we want to do is cry sometimes...
As far as the boys' development, they are eating more and more, sometimes I think I'm feeding them TOO much, but if they're drinking it, they must be hungry right?  Especially when Jacob spills at least half, yes, he still hasn't learned to probably suck... poor little buddy!  They're growing like weeds!  On Thursday, Zachary was 7lbs 10oz, Samuel was 7lbs 4oz and Jacob was 6lbs 5oz.  Zachary is getting soooo big, I'm sure at least he had a growth spurt!! I keep lying to myself and saying that their cramp smiles are actual smiles and their passing glances are eyes that are focusing, but soon right?  I can't wait for them to start responding to us!!
So yesterday was their due date... I can't believe that as they've already been in our lives for 2 months!!  If they had gone to their due date, there would have been over 22lbs of babies in my belly!!! That's nuts!!  I'm so glad to have had them in our lives already for 2 months, we have cherished (almost) every moment!

Here are some pics of the week:

Babies enjoying Papa's guitar 

Zachary after a bath

Papa taking care of all three... this was after a very difficult few hours... 

Jacob chillin' in the bath

Zachary's shifty eyes... this is a total "Caption This" photo! 

Naked and waiting for the doc... Jacob seems to love being naked! 

Cutest little bums around! 

This is the face Samuel gives when he says "I'm done, stop trying to feed me!"
The true story is that he does this for about 5 minutes and then screams at the top of
his lung as if to say "WHY AM I NOT EATING ANYMORE???"

My beautiful 18 week pregnant friend Josée and Samuel taking a nap, she's ready!!

Our friend Meg holding Samuel

Our friend Liam and Zachary hanging out... I swear, Zach was really comfy! 

Our friend Becky chillin out with my finger eating Jacob

Gabriel's Goddaughter LOVED that she was allowed to hold a baby!

Until next time my friends, as always, live well, love much and laugh often...

xox

Week 3 @ home ~ Daddy's back at work

Well this was another trying week for our little family as Gabe had to go back to work.  Since he drives for a living and I, of course, want my children to keep their dad, am not letting him get up in the middle of the night to help with the feedings.  I'm just glad that my mother is still here to help me until the end of the month.  I am hoping that by then, the boys will either be able to skip their 2AM feeding or I'll have figured out a way to feed all of them at the same time.  Can you say challenging??  Well if you know me, I'm quite determined and I will figure it out.  Zachary is getting better at feeding with the help of the bottle prop so I will work on the other two.  I still have a few weeks to figure it out so I'm sure I'll come up with some sort of plan.  I think what will be the most challenging will be when I am truly alone in the day time (because I'm sure if it's truly terrible at night, Gabe will get up to help).  It'll break my heart if they all need comfort and I can only get to one, maximum two at a time!  A lot of people have offered to come help, so if I find it too hard, I'll accept the help that has been offered to me.

I'm starting to feel more and more normal which means that my weight insecurities are starting to creep in.  Trust me, I know and realize that I've just had triplets, but it doesn't mean that my health has to suffer for it.  During the pregnancy I basically ate what I could handle and after I had the babies, eating healthy was not on the top of my priorities list as you can imagine.  I went for my first walk this week and my muscles have become so weak that a 15 minute walk was all I could handle.  My lower abs hurt the whole walk and the next day, my quads were actually hurting, after a 15 minute WALK!!!  I have always been someone who was in shape so to start back at zero is no fun, but I gotta start somewhere right?  So here I go!! I went to see my OBGYN for my 6 week post op visit and she cleared me to start little by little. Eventually I'll be able to take the babies out for a walk so that'll be nice, for me AND for them!  Talking about my doctor's visit, I had the most wonderful surprise!  I was sitting there waiting to go in to see the doctor and who walks in but Josée, one of my best friends.  Neither of us knew of our common appointment times and I've hardly left the house so to see her there was great.  We hugged and hugged and had the most wonderful conversation.  She's 17 weeks pregnant and she has the cutest little non-belly!  I remember my 17 week belly...HA!  It was nice to see a friend and get out of baby talk for 10 minutes, although we did talk about the babies!

A public health nurse came over this week to check up on how we were doing and on the babies; she weighed them, measured them and did some tests to make sure they were developing as they are meant to.  Zachary weighed 6lbs 13oz, Samuel was 6lbs 11oz and Jacob was 5lbs 14oz, he's getting closer and closer to 6 lbs and it's starting to show as he is finally starting to outgrow some of their 7lbs pyjamas. Zachary and Samuel are on the 40th percentile as far as their growth curve and Jacob is at around the 15th.  I'm just glad they're on the curve!

The boys are requiring more and more love (that I truly mind giving...NOT!) and attention.  I'm always worried about one noise or another, always wondering if it's normal or if I should truly be worried. I'm part of a triplet support group on Facebook and it has been a Godsend.  Anytime I have a question or I'm worried about something, there is always someone who has been through the same thing that answers my worry within minutes of my posting about it on the group's page.  I can also repay the favor and I have even been told that this blog is helping some of the newer mommies with their worries.  The wonders of social media!! Connecting triplet mommas from all over the world and making us feel like we're not alone after all!  
So we've decided to start letting our good friends meet the boys little by little starting next weekend when they reach term.  I've had to convince myself to let that happen as I would shelter them for the next year if I listened to my heart.  We are still in the middle of cold and flu season and with all the new cases of H1N1 being reported, I'm petrified to let the outside world into ours.  Of course, I know my friends would never jeopardize the health of the boys simply because they wanted to see them but it's still possible that some of them would carry a virus even if they felt fine themselves.  I realize that I can't shelter them for life, but I wish I could put them in a bubble so that when people came to visit, they would still be protected.  I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but I guess that's part of being a mother.  We let Zachary's Godmother and Godfather visit today, I think it was good to start small to help me be more and more comfortable with visitors and people holding the boys... Here they are holding the babies for the first time, they didn't mind one bit!  Serge even got to feed his Godson.

Serge and Samuel

Marie-Christine and Zachary.

So yes, I'm scared but I have faith in our friends that they will make my boys' health priority when making the decision to come visit.  I have asked them to keep their children at home for this time to make myself a little less nervous... at least until flu and cold season has come and gone.  We are so lucky to have such good friends that none of them have ever questioned any of our decisions, no matter how batty I may have sounded (well at least not to my face...haha).

So next week is a week full of appointments, the public health nurse is coming back, they are seeing their paediatrician (Dr. Mud if you recall) for the first time since leaving the NICU and my (and theirs now I guess) family doctor.  I'm glad I'll be seeing their paediatrician as I have lots of questions!  I'll be asking him when I can start trying to make the boys skip their 2AM feeding (hopefully before my mother leaves!) so that maybe, just maybe, once in a while, I can get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time... but I'm dreaming right, that probably won't happen until they're 5!!! haha...

Here are a few pics of this week...

Zachary sleeping

Samuel sleeping

And our little guy Jacob sleeping

Jacob looking great in green

Samuel not sure how he feels about the swing

They are not loving tummy time just yet, so I've started them on their backs... they're still not sure

Mamie falling asleep rubbing Zachary's head (he also fell asleep as you can see...)

Mémère & Pépère Arsenault showing Jacob some love

Brotherly love

We are truly blessed... 

Until next time, as always, live well, love much and laugh often... xox

Home Week 2 ~ A day in the life

A day in the life of a triplet family
Many people seem to be curious about the amount of different items we go through in a day/week so I thought I'd share that to begin this week's blog with, just to give you an idea what a day in our lives looks like now.  So we feed the babies every 4 hours or just about; there is always one starting to fuss at about the three and a half hour mark.  This makes 18 bottles a day that we normally try to prepare daily.  In order to heat the bottles to room temperature, we put the bottles for 10 minutes in the Crockpot that we keep on low all day long.  This goes much faster than the bottle warmers (we found anyway).

This is 15 bottles so this is for 5 feeds, there was one feeding warming in the crockpot. 

We do at least one load of dishwasher a day, one to sterilize the bottles and then every once in a while we make a load for our regular dishes as we can't mix the two.  We were so happy earlier in the week when we discovered that our dishwasher sterilizes as well as cleans as long as we wash them all separately from the regular dishes and we use the pots and pans setting.  Prior to finding out this amazing information, we would rinse the bottles when the feeding was done, later we'd wash everything by hand (remember there are many different parts to a bottle!) , then rinse (again), then set a huge pot of water to boil, then boil for two minutes, then wait for the water to cool down then lay everything out to dry... what a process this was... EVERYDAY! Now we rinse out the milk quickly, load up the dishwasher and lay out to dry... so much simpler!! I still thank my dishwasher fairies everyday!  With the feeding comes the diaper changes, so we change the babies before each feeding and sometimes in between if they've cooked us a smelly surprise, so this makes about 20 diapers a day. We calculated 144 diapers last week.  Feedings also come with about 54 burps a day (not counting Daddy's...haha) and countless farts (ditto).  Two just farted as I wrote that last sentence!  We thought that we would see a lot more poopy diapers but honestly it's not as bad as I imagined.  It's bad when it's present and they smell soooooo bad when they fart but I imagined way worse!  We do at least one load of laundry a day, one for the babies and a few times a week for our own laundry.  We sleep at night when they sleep; we get anywhere from 6 - 7 hours of sleep a day, in 2 to 3 hour increments.  We tend to stay awake during the day, going to bed after their 10:30 pm feeding.  Sometimes I take a nap right before that feeding so that I can stay awake while I feed them.  If I don't take a small nap, I get restless legs and it feels like my body is going to shut down if I don't lay down and I'm sure you can imagine that feeding a baby while laying down is not the easiest!  I normally get up shortly before their 10:30am feeding as I still think that 10am is "sleeping in"...  Luckily for Gabe, he can nap later in the morning as he stays up in the evenings when I nap.  Well, this is only going to be true until Tuesday when he has to get up at 5:45 for work.  At least he'll be able to set me up with two babies to feed before he heads out the door.   My mother is currently living with us, acting not only as our feeding helper, but our housekeeper, cook and of course, cuddler :).  It's a real Godsend to have her here and we're lucky to keep her until the end of the month, especially with Gabe going back to work on Tuesday (Eeeekkkk!!!!).  My mother went home last night to get a good night's sleep and this gave me an idea of how the night feeding would go with two people... it actually went quite well, of course, this is because the babies ate well.  This is not always the case.  One of us sets up the other one with two babies to feed and then tackles their own baby.  Feeding two at once works pretty well... it's the burping part that is not the easiest!  My babies will learn to be patient very quickly.  Of course, the only two that we can feed at the same time are Jacob and Samuel as Zachary is a baby that we need to coax all the time through the feeding or he'll fall asleep!   Well that's a typical baby day... on top of that you can't forget that we have to upkeep the house, eat, entertain the dog, etc...  It's busy  but with three of us including my mother who is a super efficient woman who doesn't know to sit down unless I force her to (and I have to sometimes), it's not too bad.  Ask me again in a month when my mother is in Florida and I have to spend my days alone with my babies!

Rest of the week...
We had our 2nd hospital visit this week, well really our 2nd, 3rd and 4th as the babies had three appointments in one morning.  Now this would not be easy with one baby needing to feed every 3-4 hours so you can just imagine how fun it was with three!  Again, thank God we had three of us as doing this alone would have been a nightmare especially when the babies needed to feed mid-way through the morning! To top it off, the eye doctor didn't want us to give them their full feeding because they didn't want the babies throwing up when he was examining them.  Their first appointment was at the discharge clinic where they questioned us about their feeding habits (which we are nailing :) ), and they weighed them.  They all gained an appropriate amount of weight!  Zachary came in at 6lbs 2oz, Samuel was 5lbs 15oz and Jacob was 5lbs 5oz, good job babies!!!
The second appointment was for their second RSV shot, they were troopers, crying only when the shot went into their leg.  Their last appointment was the eye doctor where they put drops in their eye to dilate their pupil and then insert a speculum in their tiny little eyes to shine a bright light in order to examine the back of their eye to ensure that their nerves were growing properly.  Poor little buddies... I was holding their legs, a nurse was holding their arms and a doctor was shining a bright light in their forced open eye... broke my heart as they cried their little heart out as they tried relentlessly to close their eyes.  Needless to say they had quite a rough day and night after that morning!  The next morning Gabe played guitar for them for the first time to try to calm them a little and they seemed to like it quite a bit.  We discovered that they only like when he plays in a certain key, they're not fans of high keys... particular musicians already haha!

We keep getting goodies from people... this week, our friend Becky made us tons of snacks that we can just grab while we have 10 minutes to spare.

Amongst the treasure you can find fruit, guacamole and chips, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, hummus and pita... she is an amazing person!!! 

New Years Eve was spent with my little family.  Gabe, my mother and I shared a nice lasagna (given to us by our friend Alicia) and a great bottle of red wine (Apothic... same wine my bridesmaid Ainslie had bought for the night before the wedding that I couldn't drink... try it, it's great!).

As far as development for the babies... they're moving a lot more, especially Jacob, he's quite a little wiggly worm!  We're having to strap them in the swings now as they end up looking like this...

They've grown out of their preemie clothes (yeah!!) and we are seeing more and more leg chub which is so friggen cute and squeezable!!  They are continuing to develop their own little personalities.  They are starting to focus a little bit, giving us microseconds of focus at a time.  They are now turning their heads towards voices they hear, which is adorable.

The boys had a few more visitors this week; family only still as I'm sticking to my guns about not letting visitors in until their due date.  I'm getting pretty antsy as I can't wait to share my love with the people who love me and can't wait to shower our boys with hugs and kisses!

Here are some pics of this week...

Cousin Gabrielle showing Zachary some love

Pépère Arsenault holding two of our boys...

Matante Marie finally got to meet her little nephews

Cousin Tanya lovin some Jacob

Most beautiful pic of the boys... From left to right: Zachary, Jacob and Samuel

We have to keep Jacob in the middle or he may wiggle his way on the floor! 

Until next time... live well, love much and laugh often