Merry Christmas from the Trioux

What a wonderful Christmas! The babies first Christmas could not have been any better! It all started on Christmas Eve we took the babies to the Eastern Shore Center to meet Santa for the first time. It was pouring down rain and cold. To make it worse, Santa was in a pavilion outside. We got there when he first arrived so we were the second ones in line. We were about to run them up, take the picture and get a print in under 10 minutes!!! I think we did pretty well.

When we got back from Santa, we cooked and cleaned house for all the company we were going to have. Later that afternoon we went to my dads to exchange presents from him. We figured the babies had already had an adveturous day, so we left them at hime. As usual my dad went over the top! He got us three cases of D batteries (for their swings), three cases of formula, and a new Flip HD video camera!!!

Christmas morning was no exception! We had all of the family in town and got to spend the whole day playing with babies, cooking, eating, and oh yea, opening presents!!!! The Trioux RACKED up! I have a strange feeling that these babies are going to be spoiled by their grandparents pretty bad! I am an only child and as a result, these will more than likely be the only grandchildren my parents will have. These are Crystal's parents first grandchildren too!

Now on to my first attempt at loading a video to the blog. More pics and video to follow later today or tomorrow.

Halloween to Thanksgiving

I am almost there catching you all up on this blog and our life! Just a little more and I can start making entries that are current and not a month past due! Hopefully by the time I finish this post I will be able to start posting regular updates.

The past months have flown by and the babies are changing almost daily. It is a little hard to notice how much physically they are changing when we are with the every day, but when I start looking back at pictures of them to post on this blog, I really start to see the changes. It is AMAZING! Here is a great example of what I am talking about. The first picture was taken the week before Halloween and the second was taken last weekend.

Addi, Jack, Kate

Jack, Addi, Kate

We have had a lot of fun over the last few months now that we have settled into life with a family of five. We have been trying to take the kids out for walks as much as weather permits. We live on a very quiet street with only a few houses on it right now, so we don’t really have to worry to much about traffic for now. We have also been taking the kids with us to SAM’s whenever we need to go. For you triplet families out there, you know how those trips go, especially in a triple decker stroller. It has taken some getting used to, but so far it has not been that bad. The worst comment I have heard so far has been “Triplets, wow! I would kill myself”. Second worst: “Triplets, better you than me!” I have not had to cold cock anyone yet for trying to touch the babies, but have come close. What is it about babies that attract people to touch them!!! The hardest ones to control are other kids and the elderly. Those are the two groups that you really have to watch out for when in public. Crystal and my mother were actually brave enough to take them on a trip to Wal-Mart. I was smart and went to play golf (first time since Crystal went into the hospital). So far they have done great on our trips. Only once have we had a meltdown and luckily it was when we were leaving.

Halloween was a very fun weekend. Crystal’s parents came down from Atlanta and my mom came in from Jackson, MS and we had a big cookout. I decided to do some ribs on my Big Green Egg and we just spent the day playing with babies, taking picture, cooking and drinking a few PBR’s. Below are a few pics from that weekend. Next year will be a much more eventful Halloween. We can start to dress them up and have fun with them

The Big Green Egg Setup

Little Addi "Bones"

Our Jack "O-Lantern"

And Kate "BOO"

Thanksgiving has always been a pretty special holiday for me. I always look forward to getting all the family together and celebrating all that we have to be thankful for. This year was even more special now that we had a complete family of our own. The only dull spot on this holiday was the fact that my mom could not make it because she had to work. I really wish she could have made it. We had a good weekend though. We had almost everyone in town for this feast. It was Crystal’s parents, Keith and Paulette, her sister Marianna and her boyfriend Barry and my dad. I tried not to put too much pressure on myself and decided to cook the beloved Thanksgiving Turkey on the Big Green Egg. I had never done anything that important on the egg before. I was a little nervous and scared that I would ruin Thanksgiving if it didn’t turn out. Well, it was MUCH better than I would have ever expected. It was OUTSTANDING!!!

The bird about mid way thru cooking

The finished product

The war zone!

Our attempt at their first Christmas picture. I took this one on my iPhone while they were taking the real ones.

Later on that weekend Crystal and I went out to dinner at Stix to have a date night. After we finished eating, instead of going to see a movie, all we could think about was going home, locking ourselves in our room and watching a movie in bed ALONE! We made it almost to the end of the movie and couldn’t take it anymore. The babies were getting real upset and we had to go and help! We did get to sleep thru the night though and let the grandparents take the late shift.

This should be good for now. Next update will be all the milestones they have reached. Hopefully I will be able to get to it this weekend so the blog will be completely caught up by the end of the weekend. Now for a few more pictures of life at home with the TRIOUX.

Little Addi and Hogan napping on the couch

Addi in a milk coma

Like Father Like Son... So true!

Jack can sleep in the strangest positions! Notice the foot sticking out of the leg of the pj's!

Kate in her Bumbo. I think she is going to be our serious problem solver.

Kate passed out in the feeding boppy.

Now my favorite picture... Making bottles with Kate. I have to have my own bottle while making theirs!

Life at Home

I have been thinking all day on how I should start this and what all I should cover and have not been about to come up with very much. I am not a very good writer at all and don’t want to bore people with my rambling so I sometimes have a hard time coming up with what to write on here. Once I get the pressure off of myself of trying to get everyone caught up in our crazy life I think it may come a little easier.

September 17th was the day that our lives completely changed forever. That was the first day that all three were at home together. It was a little strange because that first night it was just the five of us and it was actually a little quiet. We were very fortunate the first month and a half to have someone there with is almost every day. Between Crystal’s mom, my mom and my dear sweet Aunt, we had it pretty easy at first. Looking back on it, it would have been very difficult without them. It also helped that Crystal didn’t have to go back to work until November so she had plenty of time at home. Having all the help allowed us to get into a pretty good routine without killing ourselves or each other.

The first couple of weeks were a bit of an adjustment, but I think the real adjustment came when it was time for all the help to go back home and it was just Crystal and I, That all happened just before Crystal was to go back to work also. Needless to say, Crystal was under a lot of stress and pressure. From the beginning our plan was to take the babies to daycare. We found a great daycare that was going to cut us a great deal and give us a good price, but after a lot of thought and talking to our doctor, we decided to go with a nanny. We just felt it was the best decision for the babies. They were so small and fragile we just couldn’t bring ourselves to expose them to all that comes with a group daycare. We ended up going thru a nanny service and fell in love with the first person we interviewed with. Her name is Tammy is she is wonderful with the babies, it doesn’t hurt that she is also a nurse!!! Talk about peace of mind! She has been with us now for over a month and has been great!

Well I guess that is enough of my rambling for this entry. On to what you came for... The pictures!!

Crystal with Addi, Jack and Kate

Me with Kate, Jack and Addi

Notice Jack keeping an eye on anyone. Already protecting his sisters.

(Addi, Jack, Kate)

The multitask double feeding. Crystal is much better at this than me!!

Everybody in their Bumbo's for the first time (Addi overlooking everything)

Trying to keep them quiet between feedings

Kate loves watching TV with mom

Daddy's little princesses! (Addi, Kate)

Three happy little one's!

Homecoming

As I said earlier, our NICU experience was pretty easy and was not that long. That being said, most of this post will be in pictures. I figured that would be easier than describing all the details.

Our homecoming adventure was a little strange and was an emotional rollercoaster. All three came home at different times which was a little hard. Seeing as Crystal and I are new to this whole parenting game, that kinda made it a little easier. We got used to one and then another one came home, and then another. It was VERY hard every time we left the hospital with one and had to leave one behind. Jack had the shortest stay of 16 days followed by Kate at 18 days. Addi was the last to come home at 20 days. Leaving her behind after bringing home Kate was the absolute hardest thing. Luckily they were all only two days apart from coming home.

Here are some great pictures of the Trioux’s Homecoming:

September 13th, 2009: Jack's Homecoming

September 15th, 2009: Kate's Homecoming

September 17th, 2009: Addi's Homecoming

Everyone Reunited and all in one place!!!

NICU Experience

Since this is where Crystal left off when she abandoned the blog (Just kidding!), this is where I will begin to catch all of you up on our adventure over the last three months. As I said earlier, I am going to try and keep this as short as I can and only hitting the high points.

As a lot of you know, the NICU is a strange place that can often times be very intimidating and scary. Luckily for us it was a pretty uneventful experience. Not to say it was not hard as hell to leave the hospital without our Trioux, but overall it was not that bad. Ours were mainly there to grow and learn how to eat.

At first, Kate was the sluggish one to breath. When she first entered the NICU she was put on a CPAP. Jack ended up on one a few hours later. Not going to lie, that was hard to see. I know it is nothing bad, but the first time I saw it, I was a little freaked out. Addi was the strongest in the NICU. She was on room air from the beginning. They were all moved to isolettes within a few days and transferred from the Level III down to Level II. They only stayed in those for about a week and then they were in open cribs. Our hospital just changed their policy about co-bedding, so they were each in their own cribs. It was pretty cool though, we almost had our own wing in the NICU.

Just hours after they were born:

Addi

Jack

Kate

Their little "mini houses!"

And Finally, Open Cribs:

I think the hardest thing about being in the NICU is that it kinda makes you feel like an outsider in your own child’s life. You can’t be there constantly and someone else is taking care of your children. It was also hard having to drive 45 minutes just to visit our babies. Crystal was really having a rough time of it. As some of you know, she was on hospital bed rest for over 80 days! Between being sedentary for so long and recuperating from c-section surgery, she had absolutely no stamina or energy. There were days where we could only go to the hospital once (during the 4 hour visiting time) during the day. It just took so much out of her.

Like I said our NICU stay was pretty brief in comparison to what it could have been, but we had some great things come out of it. For starters, we met some of the most amazing nurses. I truly believe that NICU nurses are chosen by GOD to do HIS work. Everyone was simply amazing. We met two nurses that both have had triplets. One of them is selling us her Choo-Choo Wagon! For those of you with triplets, you know what those things are worth!!! We also met our Nicole. She was our primary nurse in the NICU and we were her first primary babies! She has become a very close friend of the family and comes to visit every now and then. We also received a donation from a former triplet family. We received a Peg Perego triplet stoller!!! I still can’t believe that someone donated that to us! There are truly some great people in this world.

Next up… Homecoming!!!

New Sherriff in Town

Hmmm... How to to raise this blog from the dead? Where do I begin? Let me start off by saying thank you everyone for keeping an eye out on this long lost blog. As you can probably guess, Crystal and I have been a little busy lately. Can't imagine why, but that is no excuse.

I have made an executive decision. From here on out, I, Brian Boudreaux, will be taking over this blog and keeping it updated! I make a promise to all of you out there that I will try my best to keep you guys up to date on the happenings of the Trioux. As you can see, I have already made a few changes to the look of the page. This will be a work in progress.

Over the next few days, I will be updating with entries to catch up on what all of you have missed. I will also include pictures of how we got to where we are now. It is A LOT but I will try to keep it short and too the point. It has been a fun and tiring last three months (hard to believe that they will be 3 months old Saturday!!!).

Thanks again for your patience!

Really Late on This!!

Okay, so I am WAYYY behind on this! Our babies were born on August 28, 2009 at 12:00, 12:01 & 12:01. This also happens to be my 29th birthday! It was amazing.
The night before, the nurses hooked me up to the monitors as usual. I fell asleep, crazily enough without any sleeping meds which was the first night in forever that that had happened. Brian was also asleep on the cot in my room. I woke up to several nurses in my room and a resident. Then they left and came back and said that my doctor had said to move me to labor and delivery so he could monitor me from home. Luckily at that point, my wonderful nurse gave me something to calm me down!! I was wheeled around to l & d and the night of hell began!! My l & d nurse was not very nice!! I was up all night!! Apparantly, during the monitoring, I had some contractions, lasting about 7-10 minutes each (as was the norm for me) and Jack and Addi reacted poorly to them. Addi's heartrate went to 215 and Jack fell to 55 and they stayed put the entire time. My doctor ordered the OR be set up in the middle of the night and told the nurses to get with the NICU to make sure everyone was ready just in case. All of our parents were called in the middle of the night and all drove and arrived by 7 a.m. It was insane! My doctor came by that morning and said that I had had no more contractions so we could make the decision to have the babies that morning or wait the next week for when our c-section was planned. We opted to go ahead and have the babies. In our minds, there was no way to know if this would happen again and the worrying was too much for me!!
So, the c-section was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. I walked in the OR around 11 and our beautiful babies were born right at noon. Addi was born at 12:00 weighing 4lb.2ou; Jack was born at 12:01 weighing 4lb.4ou.; and Kate was born at 12:02 weighing 4lb.1ou. Addi was on room air from the beginning and was carried to the NICU by one of the nurses. Jack was on room air but later was put on the C-pap for about 6 hours to give him a rest. Kate was put on C-pap in the OR and stayed on it for about 12 hours. I only got to see Jack in the OR. When the nurse put him on my shoulder he stuck his toungue out at me. It was the cutest thing ever!! I could see Kate to my left but Addi was in another room. All of our parents were outside the OR and saw the babies come by on the way to the NICU.
And this was the beginning of our NICU experience...