Some positivity

Well I thought I'd make a post this week that speaks to the good parts of being a triplet mom.  I felt like last week, and for many of my previous posts, I focused on the negatives so I thought I'd shift gear for a little while.   While there are many difficult days when you're raising multiples, there are moments of pure joy.  When I go get my sons in the morning, not only do I get one amazing smile, I get three little angels smiling up at me.  That has to be the best moment of my everyday, no matter what kind of night I had or what kind of day yesterday was, those smiles erase all the negative and boost me up to do it all over again.  Zachary is almost always awake when I walk in the room while one of his brothers has been crying because he wants to get up.  He's just laying there in his crib, not saying a word, just looking around and then I go see him to ask if he had a good night's sleep and he just gives me the world's biggest smile.  Coming from my most serious boy, that is one precious smile.  Samuel, whether he has his thumb in his mouth or not, will smile at me before he even sees me.  Jacob, with his big beautiful eyes, waits for me to flip him over on his back and gives me a huge gummy grin.  Those smiles almost always bring a tear to my eyes.  That's when I know I've been blessed...  It also makes me happy to know that when it comes to soothing a non-soothable baby, I'm it.  Mamma's got the touch.  If you know me or anything about me, you know that I have a hard time believing people when they say they care about me and knowing that I have three beautiful sons who will always love me no matter what is the best feeling in the world.  I am their mamma and will always be the first person who loved them and I will be one of the only who will love them unconditionally for the rest of their life.
Last week I mentioned how hard life can be when you have multiples and as I was talking to my chiropractor who also has three kids who were born not too far apart it got me thinking that I'm lucky... I'm lucky that the diaper stage for my three children will end almost all at the same time.  I will only have to go through potty training hell once (hopefully they'll potty train at the same time!!).  I only have to remember one birthday. (HA! As if I couldn't remember three...).  My family is done in one shot, it's like we walked in to the fertility clinic with a Johnny two for one Coupon and got a bonus prize!  I'll get the best cuddles when they're old enough to want to cuddle on the couch or bed with mommy (and for however long THAT lasts... 7, 8, 9, 10 years old?!?)...  They can share clothes!  Their developmental stages are all happening at the same time, so I don't have to worry about where my other children are supposed to be as they are all following one another.  My boys will be (I hope) as close as brothers can be and I know that they will always have a friend.  I won't have to worry about my child feeling lonely as they will always have at least two friends.  I know that they may not have the same friends and may drift somewhat apart, but they will always be brothers and that means something.  They will have a bond that can never be broken.  On that same train of thought, very soon they will have each other to keep entertained.  Mommy won't always have to be on the floor trying to make faces, singing ridiculous songs, etc. They will soon entertain each other... sure, that will one day include throwing stuff (including punches) at one another, or having some wrestling tournaments, but at least they'll have fun!  They will learn to share and to be patient at a very early age and they should also develop a sense of independence from an early age which will make my job a lot easier!  It'll be interesting to watch my boys, brothers certainly, but very different in their own right, grow up to be different people.  I'm amazed everyday by how different they already are.  I also think school will have it's positive sides as they'll be in the same class so hopefully they'll be able to help one another (and NOT COPY!!).  It's a good thing they have a teacher as a mom as I'll always be a hawk making sure they follow the rules, but I'll also encourage them to help each other out to understand concepts that may be more difficult for one of them.  Of course, some of you may be reading this and thinking to yourself: "she's dreaming!" but I prefer thinking about the positive things that my boys will be privy to and we'll deal with the negative IF they happen!  Now I don't want anyone thinking that I'm taking away from having a singleton baby, I've never experienced it but I know by knowing my friends and how much they love their babies that a singleton is just as precious as anything, I just wanted to share MY thoughts about MY experience, so please don't get mad!!

Here are some quotes of my triplet momma Facebook group about why they think having triplets is a wonderful thing:

Kristin - Six little eyes looking up at me, six little hands stretched out and my heart explodes. Not many have the opportunity to feel so much love at one time or to feel three little bodies wiggling around in your tummy. I can't imagine it any other way, and now I'm crying because my heart is so full 

Jennifer  - When I check on them at night and they are cuddled together sleeping soundly.

Bonnie - I love having multiples because it's a built in play date everywhere we go. I love watching them interact with one another. How they make each other laugh, wrestle one another, and work together. They'll always have an extremely special bond.

Heather - I think I appreciate the quiet moments rocking each one more than I did my singleton. I savor those times because they don't come often enough in the chaos

Jen - I love all of the smiles when I go in to wake them up in the mornings and all of the extra love they give 

Jillian - I love watching them interact, the way they reach for one another, smile when they see each other, it just melts my heart. I am an only child so that might have something to do with why I am so amazed by their bond.

Gabe also wanted to say his piece this week, so here's what he had to say about the joys of having our triplet boys:

So this week for the blog my wife wanted to write about the positive things about having triplets so I decided to do a little writing of my own without talking it over with her and writing out some of the positive things I think of when I think of having triplets.

For me it's the morning smiles you get from babies. We get that every morning X3 and I think it's great. Pick up a baby, get smiles anywhere from a couple minutes to ten minutes and then you get to do it over again with the other two. That's a lot of smiles to fill your heart first thing in the morning and I love it! No matter how groggy or tired I am it makes it really worth it. 

I also love discovering with them x3. You know how much fun it is to discover what makes your baby smile and laugh but we get to do this with 3 babies. I know other people have more than one child at different intervals and get to experience this with all their children but at different time intervals. We get to do it in very small intervals. I am completely fascinated watching their little personalities develop. What makes which baby laugh and how the same thing doesn't make all the babies laugh. I love how Samuel is 95% smiles with us but is often teetering between laughing and crying. He's almost always content hanging out on his play mat grabbing at the bugs that dangle or looking at himself in the mirror or chilling in his swing. But then Zachary doesn't like the swing so much. Likes to hang out on the play mat for a limited amount of time and then starts to make a noise similar to a whiny cat which means I’m bored and on the verge of getting upset so please come pick me up so you can distract me. Now he's a very serious little boy but if you know the right combination you can get the cutest smiles from him and since last week some laughter, cooing, and some squeaks. And then there's Jacob who also gives great smiles and is not a big fan of the whole sitting thing. He prefers to have his legs straight most of the time so lying down is good as well as trying to stand up but he is very limited in his sitting time. He's usually pretty agreeable and easy to distract but lately when he decides he wants to eat (usually the 6:45pm feeding that we have slowly brought to an earlier time because of him) he screams inconsolably at the top of his lungs...until he gets a bottle in his mouth at which point he is content again...that is until you take said bottle out to burp him and he starts to scream again. Insert bottle after burp and we're good to go.
So as I said I just get fascinated watching them and learning everything about them and like I said parents with 1 or more babies also get that experience but we get it x3 which makes for an interesting combination of who likes what, when, and where.

People ask us all the time if we started noticing differences in their personalities and to be perfectly honest we could see the differences in their little personalities as soon as we started to pick them up and hold them in the NICU and spend time with them. When they where only between 3-4lbs and only about 6-8 inches from their little bum to the top of their head. I would say at about two weeks old we could already see that Jacob, despite being the smallest guy, was the strongest guy. We knew that Zachary was a very serious little man and had particular eating habits. And Samuel...well he was just an easy going, go with the flow happy go lucky little man.  We are so lucky that life turned out the way it did...  

Gabe

Now for news of the week...

This week was great, I had a lot going on but I like being busy so hopefully the boys will soon realize this and every slight change in routine won't bother them too much!  On Monday I went to visit my school to talk to a class about my adventures but the moment I walked in the room, with 10 minutes left to class, there was no time for me to speak as all they wanted was to see the babies (who could blame them?!?).  I got to see a lot of people I missed, including students who meant a lot to me.  Being back in that place made me realize how much I miss the hustle and bustle of a high school.  I wanted to know all the gossip!!  The boys were great!  They attracted lots of attention but it's ok, that's why I brought them, I wanted to show them off!  Jacob started crying when it was time to leave.  I think he realized he was in a high school and already knew that he would hate it! lol...  He cried all the way through the halls and all the way home... poor little man!  He really doesn't like his car seat!!  The public health nurse came on Wednesday and is pretty impressed by their development.  They are growing like weeds!  Jacob is about 10.5lbs and Zach and Sam are both about 12.5lbs.  They barely fit into their three month clothes!  They will be 5 months old on the 21st and they measure at about the 4 months mark.  They're catching up quick!!  We also went to the chiropractor on Wednesday to make sure that all was right with the boys.  Some people, I'm sure, would question my decision for bringing them there but I've heard many good things about what a chiropractor can do for your child.  I was worried about Jacob being so stiff and hating being in his car seat so I thought that I brought Jacob, I better bring the other two just to make sure they were ok too.  He quickly evaluated Jacob (which included holding him upside down...eeeeek!!!) and knew right away that he had discomfort in his pelvic area.  He did a quick adjustment and when we put Jacob in his car seat, he didn't even make a squeek!  Now I'm not saying it was a miracle because Jacob still isn't a fan of his car seat, but it's much better than it was before.  He's going to go again in a few weeks just to do another round of adjustments and he should be good to go!  Zachary decided to have the biggest poop of his life right there in the fancy chiro's office... Here I was, cleaning a HUGE poopy diaper right on the adjustment table with wipes... This was a poop where I would have normally said "F-THIS" to the wipes and plopped him right into the sink to clean him up but that wasn't going to happen in the super fancy "I shop at fancy places" sink in the room!  Now this poop was so bad, it was all over his pants and shirt and the shirt was still stained the next day after I washed it... haha...  It's a good thing I had a change of clothes for him!

Wednesday marked 4 years since Gabe and I had been together and we normally go to this amazing bed and breakfast to celebrate but this year, we decided that we'd at least like to go out for a nice dinner.  Our friend Tracy had given us a gift card to Moxie's when we had the babies to make sure that we took time for us so we decided to go there.  My mother and my step-father graciously offered to come babysit with a little help from my father in law.  It was nice to get out and just be us again.

The boys had their 4 month shot on Thursday and as hurtful as it was for them, it didn't really affect them after they got over it.  They may have been a tiny bit more irritated or we noticed that they spit up a bit more but whether it was a side effect of the shots or the chiro adjustments, we don't know.  All we really noticed is that they seem to be a little bit more clingy this weekend.  I hope this doesn't last because I can't have three clingy babies on my hands all by my lonesome!!

On Saturday, I got to go to my step-brother's girlfriend's baby shower in PEI.  My in-laws were nice enough to come help Gabe hold down the fort for the day while I went away with my sister, my nieces and my mother.  It was a really fun road trip, it had been a while since we spent time with just the girls.  I missed the boys like crazy especially since the hall was filled with babies about the boys' age!  We also had a real nice time at the baby shower where I ate way too much!  How could I not with all the amazing goodies they were serving?!?  They even had free booze!! I only had a glass of wine... but that was only because I didn't want to fill myself up in liquid calories when I could eat more!! haha.... I totally regretted it on the drive back, I was NOT feeling too good... haha.  It's always worth it at the moment, but you almost always regret it after!  Speaking of my addiction to food... I started a work out this week called Focus T25.  It's only 25 minutes a day, so it's perfect!  I do it while the boys are taking their morning nap.  It gives me just enough time to do the workout, shower and relax a little while the boys are sleeping.  I started Wednesday and I thought I would die during the first workout!  I used to be in great shape, like I could've, at one point, have kept up with the high intensity person on the video... NOT NOW!!! I was barely able to keep up with the modified person... I even had a hard time doing jumping jacks.... JUMPING JACKS!!! C'MON!!!!  Oh well, I gotta start somewhere!  I hope to get better and better everyday... we'll see what happens next week.  With the weather getting warmer, I'll also be able to go for more walks so hopefully soon I'll be able to slowly phase out my pregnancy clothes and start wearing real clothes again!!

Today Gabe and I dropped the boys off at my mother's (I know, I left my boys for two days in a row.... I'm awful!) and went to look for a rocker recliner chair as the chair I use to rock my boys in the living room is squeaking like crazy and if I can't change it, you may see a picture of a chair going through a window.  Thankfully Gabe found a temporary solution because the chair we found that we both actually like is going to take 6 to 8 weeks to come in... BOOOOO!!!!  My in-laws offered to lend us their rocker recliner until we get ours but hopefully we won't have to deprive them of it if Gabe's temporary solution lasts.  So far so good...

As far as Roxy goes... the person who had offered to take her can't take her after all so that made our decision for us.  She'll be staying with us!  Hopefully I'll be able to take her for more walks and maybe once the babies grow up a bit she'll be more interested in them and them in her... Or maybe some other kind soul will offer to take her.  It's a bittersweet feeling to know she's not going anywhere.. yet anyway.

WOW!! Long post!!  Ok... I know this is what you really want... PICTURES TIME!!!

Uncle Eric with Zachary and Samuel

Samuel looking quite comfy in Matante Cindy's arms! 

Pretty damn cute! 

Gabrielle loving cousin Jacob

Visit from my aunt Diane and my uncle Marc

If you think she looks comfortable, you're right!  My aunt is a foster mother who has raised more babies than I can count... Her biological children are in their twenties and along the way, she found in her heart to adopt a little girl and two little boys and is constantly looking after babies who have nowhere else to turn... She is definitely one of my heroes!  

Amazing visit from Auntie Ainz!  

Jacob just looking so darn cute in his monkey overalls!!! 

C'mon! Look at that butt!!! 

Don't you just WANT to hug him???

My sleeping angels... 

Isn't he though? 

Fun times at Mamie's and Papie's house... photo shoot with Matante Cindy

Jacob

Zachary... looking like a bunny himself! 

Samuel

Road trip to PEI!!! 

Can you tell my sister loves road trips??

One of the best pics of the day!  My step-bro with my nieces Gabrielle (r) and Alexie (l)

Mommy and Daddy to be!  Can't wait to meet you in early May little one!! xox

Until next week!! 

Wishes

I love my sons, don't get me wrong, they are my world, their smiles are what bring me up when I am down, their faces are the last thing I think of before I fall asleep at night and holding them close to my heart is the greatest joy in my life... but sometimes I wish it was easier... I wish I could just grab a baby and go for a coffee, go shopping, or even just go visit a friend.  With three it's not that simple.  First of all, it takes me a minimum of 30 minutes just to get them ready and into their car seat and out the door so it's never as simple as grab and go.  Secondly, carrying three babies around a store is quite challenging in itself.  Trying to fit three car seats or my huge stroller in a change room to try on clothes?!? HA!  Those are the times I envy my friends who have just one baby.  The times when I look around at my three crying babies and know that there is only one of me and I can only comfort one of them... The times when I have to say no to join some mommy groups because I can't take care of my three babies without all the comforts of home around me.  The times when I'd like to be able to leave the house in less than 30 minutes.  Where going to a doctor's appointment would be a "breeze" and the thought of a fire going through my house wouldn't require planning to put my three babies in a laundry basket and hoping for the best... but then I look around at my babies and know that I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I'll put up with all the difficulties that come with being a triplet mom to have them in my life.  Things that would make my life (and I'm sure everyone's life) easier: a MAID!!!, a cook, a nanny (to have at least a second pair of hands), maybe a sister wife or two (haha) and magical super powers.  I would like to be able to have a bottle ready in the blink of an eye (it now takes about 8 minutes to get a bottle ready and when you have a baby who wakes up thinking the world is going to end if he doesn't eat in the next 2 minutes, 8 minutes is an eternity).  I would have a third arm to make feeding all three at the same time easier, and another two arms to burp the babies while I can still feed the other two.  I currently prop two and manually feed one when I'm alone but the one who gets manually fed gets pretty upset when I have to burp his brothers.  I always try to find a way to prop three of them, but having them on the floor makes my back ache and having all three on the couch always leaves one of them out of reach... anyways... just saying that if I could have 5 arms, that would be great.  I would have three heads so that I could sing and talk to them individually as they quickly lose interest when I look at one of their brothers when we're playing.  Oh well... I make it work.  It's all worth it!   All I gotta say is THANK GOD for evenings and weekends as my husband is one amazing dad and makes my job so much easier!  One small thing that'll make life easier is the fact that I no longer need to sterilize!!! No more washing, rinsing, boiling nipples.  We can even finally start using the dishwasher as it's meant to be used!  We can mix our dishes with the bottles! WHAT?!? The paediatrician finally approved it.  It'll save us some time, which is precious in a household with children!   

Speaking of making things easier... we're starting to consider letting go of Roxy... I know I know...Tears have come to my eyes as it breaks my heart just even writing about it.  She has been my baby for the last 5 years but  the poor girl has been neglected ever since the babies have been in the world.  She's constantly being reprimanded at for being in the way when all she wants is love and attention and she hardly ever gets out for walks.  Even on walks she gets in the way of the huge stroller and I'm always scared that I'll roll over one of her paws.  The people who have offered to take her live in the country and they are always out walking.  She'd be so much happier there than here.  I'm being really selfish in wanting to keep her here with us.  She doesn't even care for the babies... If she was one of those dogs who'd love to be around the babies and would act as though she cared, it might be different but she couldn't give a rat's ass if the babies are around or not.  She'll completely ignore them and if I try to get her near one of the boys, she'll smell him quickly and walk away.  She spends the majority of her days on her bed looking at the door hoping someone, someday will come take her for a walk.  The boys are just going to be more and more demanding of my time which will take more and more away from her.  This is just an idea, I haven't even really talked to the people who initially offered to take her so it's not a done deal.  I don't even know if I'd have the heart to do it... 

I know you're all worried about Zachary... he's doing much better.  He still has a few set backs but for the most part, he's really good!  He's been sick this weekend, I think he caught what Samuel had (still has a bit of a cold himself).  They have all been feeling a little bit under the weather this weekend.  It's been quite a trying weekend with a lot of holding and rocking and babies sleeping in our arms.  Right now as I write this, my MIL (mother in law) is walking around with a cranky Jacob, my FIL is entertaining Samuel and Gabe is trying to make my sickly sad Zachary smile even for just a second....  Thankfully, it hasn't changed their nightly habits.  They still sleep really well at night.  I just hope that this weekend was a fluke and that I won't be wishing for those magical powers tomorrow.  At least my mother is back home now and I know that she's just a phone call away.  I'm supposed to go to my school tomorrow to give a presentation to a child studies class... As much as I want my colleagues and my former students to meet the boys, I'm scared that they will still be feeling sickly tomorrow and I'll have three crying babies on my hands...  We'll see... I would hate to cancel at the last minute but my boys, of course, will have to come first.    

They are playing lots more on their play mats.  They have even started grabbing at the various rings, play bugs and toys that hang above their heads.  I've tried them in the bumbos... they're not quite sure what it's all about and not sure they like it!  It's really cute to see their development day by day.  They are just starting to show signs of laughter and giggling.  The day they start giggling will be a good day, I'm sure :)  I can't wait to be able to bring them outside to play... I'm so sick of old man winter!!  Even this week, my friend Véro and I wanted to meet up to go for a walk as the weather was finally turning and there were no places to walk!!  Everything was either too muddy, too slushy, or the sidewalks weren't cleared.  Of course, we could have gone inside somewhere but what's the point of enjoying the nice weather if we're inside?!?  We made our own path on random streets and around the Dieppe market parking lot, etc. as we are both getting cabin fever and we just needed out!!  Why can't the city offer just ONE outdoor paved trail??  If that exists, please tell me where it is, or even if you know of a trail that would be clean enough for us to walk with a stroller without having to play mud hero just to go 2 feet??

So I dropped the nap routine... it just wasn't going to work... I know I know, it's about consistency and resilience but I truly believe the babies weren't ready.  I talked to a bunch of mommas and the collective agreement is that, at their age, they are still too little to have a consistent nap routine.  I've started letting them tell me when they are tired and that's when I put them in their cribs.  Once in a while, they'll end up sleeping on their mat, in the swing, on the couch or in my arms, but I try really hard to get them to nap in their crib.  Their morning nap is ALWAYS in their crib and it normally gives me at least 45 mins of solid "mommy time" to clean up bottles, load the dishwasher, do a load of laundry, shower every once in a while, drink a hot beverage of some sort and have breakfast.  I don't try to keep them up, as they are normally all ready to go back down for a nap about one hour to one and a half hours after they got up so they normally nap from 8ish to 9ish.  The 9 to 11 stretch is pretty long to try to entertain them but I'm getting better at it.  After their 11 am feed, they are normally ready to go back for a little nap at around noon and then anytime after that in the afternoon is fair play for naps.  We've discovered that they need a third nap sometime before their 7pm bottle or they become inconsolable.  Jacob has developed this screeching type of crying that gets into the deep of you and when he's super tired or hungry, there's no soothing him!  

So a fellow NICU mom had to take her daughter to the IWK this week, please keep her in your thoughts as they try to figure out how to help baby Emery.   If you'd like to follow another amazing blog, here's the link: The Rugrats Chronicles.  (http://therugratchronicles.wordpress.com) Not only does she have her beautiful daughter Emery at the IWK, she's got two boys at home who are cute as buttons.  She's a super strong woman and my hat is off to her.  Go Jill!! 

Here are some pics of the week:  

Starting to grab things.... such as socks from my brother's feet....

Zachary in a good mood!?!  Love it! 

Look Ma! I grab stuff!  

Trying, once again to prop all three at once... Jacob doesn't seem to like it (on the far right)

This is where we want to sleep momma... 

Or here, sitting down apparently! 

Jacob looking as cute as ever! 

A visit from another aunt!! Merci Matante Armance, c'était vraiment le fun de te voir!! xox

Just drinkin' my milk yo! 

First visit to Mammy and Pappy's house!! 

First time with Pappy in almost 4 months!!! 

Cutie pie Zachary falling asleep with his thumb still half in his mouth

Nap time!  It's been a rough weekend! 

Until next time my friends.... xox

One step forward, two steps back...

I was talking to a friend of mine this week who went through infertility treatments (she did IVF, I did IUI) and she said that her and husband sometimes talk about which egg was which baby (they had twins) and it got me thinking about the same thing... I'll explain what I mean... 

I know you all know about the ins and outs of baby making so I won't go through all that!  What you may not know is that before a woman produces an egg, she produces follicles.  These follicles need to be a certain size in order to produce an egg.  A woman typically only has one dominant follicle per cycle per ovary and that is the follicle that will produce a viable egg. These follicles need to be at least 18mm to be able to ovulate. When you go through fertility treatments (at least for what we did which is called IUI or intrauterine insemination), you are given a drug to help you ovulate, which means you produce more dominant follicles.  In Canada, the fertility treatments are strictly controlled and won't go forward with the insemination if there are three or more mature follicles (18 mm or more) produced.  When I went in for my check up after I had the drugs, they told me that I had many follicles (as a woman normally does).  I had many small ones which weren't going to produce any eggs and I had a 15mm one, an 18mm one and a 21mm one.  They told me that there was a small chance that I may have twins given the two follicles at 18mm and 21mm.  For this to happen, both mature follicles had to actually rupture and release a viable egg AND get fertilized.  What happened with me was that not only did this happen with the two mature follicles, but the 15mm one decided to grow to 18mm or bigger in only TWO DAYS and do the same.  So all three produced a viable egg, ruptured,  AND got fertilized!  That's what I call crazy!!!  Anyways, Gabe and I were talking and we are pretty confident that Jacob was our 15mm one who just said "WAIT FOR ME GUYS!!!!! I'LL GET THERE!!!!!!!!"  He's our smallest but our mightiest little guy!!  Since Zach was always the biggest and Sam was behind just by a little bit, I just assume that Zach was our biggest follicle and Sam was the medium one.  I just thought it would be an interesting story to share :)   Sorry for all the technical stuff!  I just like to clear things up because some of the people I talk to seem to think that "That's just what happens when you go through fertility treatments" and I get a little upset because our boys are truly miracles! 

Anyways... this week... 

Our poor little Zachary is still struggling with his supper time bottle.  It seems like he just really doesn't want it, but then he acts as if he's super hungry!  The moment I put the nipple in his mouth, he screeches!  I was at such a loss and I felt so helpless that there was nothing I could do to soothe him.  It took sometimes up to one hour just to get him to stop crying.  The wonderful nurse who came over on Tuesday reassured me when we talked about it.  She said that since he's taking all his other bottles no problem and he sleeps well and he doesn't spit up, she wasn't concerned.  It's just his fussy time and he'll get through it in a few weeks.  It's probably just a small case of colic.  Am I glad that there is only ONE baby with colic!  He did a little better by the end of the week.  Tonight, he didn't even cry when I tried to feed him!  HURRAY!!

I read the book called "12 hours by 12 weeks" written by a self called "baby sleep coach" who says that's she worked with over 100 families with all sorts of babies and her method worked 100% of the time.  A lot of her philosophies fall in line with my beliefs so I was happy when I read it that I had finally found a book that spoke to me.  The way she coaches families to eliminated middle of the night feedings is exactly the way we did it (which was the way our paediatrician told us to do it).  Gabe and I sat down and we set out a plan to start changing their schedules and start sleep training them, naps and all.  We decided to start the plan on Thursday night by not waking up the babies for their 10pm feeding.  I went to bed at 9, confident that I would wake up again within 2-3 hours to feed the babies.  Gabe was going to feed the first one that would wake up and I would feed the other two.  He stayed up thinking they would start waking up at around 11.  At 10:30, he heard them start to fuss.  He thought I was sleeping so he didn't know what he should do (I would have let them fuss as they sometimes soothe themselves back to sleep).  He decided to feed Sam and then he came to bed (this took literally like 15 minutes max, go Sam!!).  I was awake and wondering why he had decided to feed a baby.  I thought he had done it so that he would get it over with and could come to bed... this made me a little upset because we had decided to let them go as far as they could.  He told me the next morning that he wasn't clear what was expected of him and he was sorry if he messed up.  He didn't mess up, more formula won't kill our kids!  I didn't get the other kids up, I just let them go and what do you know, they didn't wake up until 5:30 the next morning!  They slept through!!!!  I was awake all night always waiting for them to start crying, so I didn't sleep but they did!!  I thought for sure that it was a fluke and it wasn't going to happen again but they did it again on Friday where I got a full 7 hours of continuous sleep!  I don't think I've slept more than 3 hours in a row since I was 4 months pregnant so we're talking about 10 months here!!!  Last night was the same thing... GLORY DAYS!!!!  You would think that I would be well rested but I sometimes feel more tired than I did when I slept worse. That was the good parts of the week!   I also decided to try to start them on a nap routine.  Now we normally put the babies back to bed right after their morning feed but with this new schedule, I'm supposed to keep them up until 9 so they nap from 9 to 10.  Then for their afternoon nap, I'm supposed to keep them awake until 1 so they sleep from 1 to 3.  This has NOT happened yet, and I've been at it for 4 days but I gotta keep trucking!  The morning nap seems to be much better, but trying to entertain three babies for 1.5 hours when all they can do is lay down on the play mats is HARD!  I gave up trying to keep them awake after an hour when they would fall asleep even if I danced like a maniac with one of them in my arms.  This weekend, Gabe was here to help and we played musical instruments, danced and sang and we still had a hard time keeping them awake. The lady in the book suggests to go for a walk or something to keep them up but the moment they go in their car seats, they fall asleep!  The afternoon naps have been a nightmare... I tried to do exactly what she suggested to do.  They need to be in their cribs for 1 hour in the morning, no matter what and 2 hours in the afternoon.  Even if they're awake, they should learn to stay in there for the full two hours even just to rest if they don't sleep.  On Thursday, I must have spent 1 straight hour soothing one after the other after they had decided they were done sleeping after 1 hour of being in their cribs.  I'm such a rule follower and I know that consistency is key so I didn't want to give up.  The method says to let them try to self soothe and only let them cry for a maximum of 5 minutes.  So there was a lot of 5 minutes of crying during that afternoon.  It was the first time since they've been home that I wanted to leave them in their cribs, go outside to sit in my van and cry.  It was sooooo hard.  I tried again on Friday and it was just as bad...  Gabe and I tried again on Saturday and he just found it too hard.  I really didn't want to give in because I thought that if I stopped, I'd be taking two steps back.  Reluctantly, I agreed to talk to some people who tried to establish a nap routine and see what worked for them.  Most of them told me that they found that when they tried when the book suggested, they found their kids were just too young and just needed to sleep when they needed to sleep.  I know that my babies still need a lot of sleep and dictating when they should sleep may not be the right thing to do right now.  One of the women I talked to said that she just let them take the naps they wanted and it didn't affect their night sleep.  So today we decided to stick with the morning nap, which went really well, and let them take their naps as they wanted the rest of the day and see what would happen tonight.  I really hope that they still make it through the full night as I'm alone again tomorrow!

The boys weren't really in their best state today, I think they may have a bit of a cold.  Samuel definitely has caught a bit of a cough from yours truly.  I have no idea where I caught it but I know I gave it to my little buddy.  He coughs and then sighs really loudly... it's so sad but so cute at the same time.  He's not stuffy, he just has a cough so I'm not too worried.  He also doesn't seem to cough when he's sleeping and his breathing seems to be fine.  The other two aren't coughing but I don't think they were feeling the very best.  Zachary took an almost three hour nap on his feeding pillow after his mid-morning bottle.  They all slept a lot this afternoon so I'm really hoping that this didn't set them up to NOT sleep through tonight.  We'll see I guess...

They have found their thumbs!  I know some of you may think that my method was a little crude but I do believe it has started to teach them how to self soothe.  Sometimes Samuel even wants his thumb more than his bottle!  He pushes at his bottle at about half way through with his tongue (which he has also found a use for) and finds his thumb.  When he realizes that there's no milk coming out of his tongue and he's still hungry, he starts crying!  So funny!

We got babysitters on Saturday night so we could go spend some adult time with our friends for our friend Chris's 40th birthday.  The children were invited but after last week's debacle, we decided that we weren't going to bring the kids to parties until they were older and we didn't have to have them in our arms or expect other people to hold them for us.  Also, it'll be much easier when they're able to play on their own a little.  So anyways, we went to spend some time with friends and it felt really good.  I laughed because we "partied" from 4:30 to 6:30...lol.  Not like the old days!!  A few of them were going downtown but that's even a word in our vocabulary anymore!  We also wanted to be back in time for the boys' last feed before they went to bed just in case Zachary gave my in-laws a hard time.  We got home and Zachary had almost finished his bottle, Jacob was done and Samuel was getting his bottle from Gabe's great uncle!  Talk about easy babies for babysitters!!! lol  I laughed because when we left, I left some instructions that the babies go in their PJs, we dim the lights and have quiet time and get all ready for bed before their bottle.  We got in the house and they almost start apologizing right away as the TV was on, not all PJs were on... etc.  It really didn't bother me, they were nice enough to come give us a few hours off, as long as the boys were fed and loved, I was ok.  They said they had to rush because they started to warm the bottles too late and there was a full on break down of all three babies because they were sooo hungry! haha...  We had a really good time at the party and coming home to babies happy and fed made my night that much better. Maybe it was also due to the two Coronas I had... trust me, when you drink as often as I do, two Coronas is all it takes to make you quite happy... just look at the picture below:

Good times!  Dan and I laughing at the "old" people in the room... 

All in all, it was a good week!  I got another afternoon "off" on Monday when my mother in law and her sister came back to babysit.  I spent it at the mall :)  On Tuesday, the public health nurse came over.  She is impressed with where the babies are at as far as their development.  She did a 2 month (as that's where they are developmentally) survey with me to see where they were at and we figured that they are lagging behind a bit in problem solving which is following objects with their eyes and reaching for them.  I worked on that all week and they're already much improved!  I read up online on ways to improve this skill and they suggested using a bright image on a cell phone or something of the sort.  I tried showing them the screen of my phone and they were mesmerized!  All three of them followed that screen from left to right and top to bottom like they were pros but the moment I showed them one of their toys, all they were interested in looking at was me!  I tried again and again and finally today, Samuel and Zachary followed one of their toys no problem!  I'm still working on Jacob but he must find me so pretty that he just can't stop looking at me! haha...

My sister and her family left for Mexico on Saturday, I'm glad they beat the storm!  My mother is coming home on Friday!!!!  I'm so excited to see her!  We've been Facetiming but she will be shocked at how big the boys have gotten and how much more they can do!  They'll be able to go into their bumbos and exercausers soon!  Jacob is the best at holding his head straight so I'll try him first.  He's also the closest to being able to flip over.  I give him a few weeks and he'll be flipping from his back to his tummy in no time!  I'm excited to see progress as I'm getting a little weary of the baby baby phase...lol.  Tomorrow the boys go in for what is hopefully their last RSV shot of the season!  I hate seeing them in pain!!

Until next week my friends!!

Getting ready for our Monday walk... Our only walk of the week due to the storm and the cold!! 

Stupid storm!  Poor birds who came back for Spring!! 

A confused looking Samuel on the left and my ever serious Zachary on the right

Selfie with mommy and Zach

Selfie with mommy and Jacob

Samuel and his thumb... he LOVES his thumb! 

Zachary's favorite position... it's about the only way he stops crying during his fussy time! 

New mobile

The boys loving the mobile! 

Mémère Arsenault and Sam

Matante Camilla cuddling with Zach

One crib, three boys... They still don't know that one another exists!  All they do is slap, punch, lick, and suck on each other... haha

This is when I was supposed to keep him awake...

He didn't want to stay awake...

Zachary found his thumb too!  

Daddy is tired too! 

See! I can almost roll over mommy!! 

Just cute! 

Tummy time! 

This is how they all wanted to sleep today...  see Zachary in the background?  That's where he slept for almost three hours!!! My little buddies were zonked!  

As always...

xox