Doctor Visit and Being Home Alone

As you can see, it has been a little while since my last post, AGAIN! This is starting to become a bad habit! Sorry! Well, it has been a pretty crazy last week and a half. Just a quick summary:

We went to their 4 month check up last Tuesday and it is official: We have very short well proportioned babies!!! Neither of the three we even close to the growth chart in length. Mind you that is with no age adjustment. However, their weight to height is right around the 80% which I think is pretty good. Overall the doctor has told us not to change anything and to continue exactly what we were doing. She did give us the go ahead to start introducing rice cereal with a spoon into their diet. Will have another post dedicated to that one later. They are developing exactly as they should be.

Our beloved nanny Tammy had a pretty tough week last week also. She had been trying to fight off a wisdom tooth coming in for a few weeks. We were trying to get to the 21st so that Crystal’s parents could come down and stay with the babies so that Tammy could get her tooth taken care of and I would not have to take off from work. Well, things did not go to plan! Her husband called me EARLY Thursday morning and told me that it could not wait any longer. He told me that she was trying so hard to come to work but he had to step in and say no. That meant that daddy had to stay home for two days ALONE with the Trioux! I was pretty intimidated at first but when I actually did it, it was pretty fun. We watched TV, played, CRIED, ate, CRIED, played some more, CRIED, cooked dinner together, CRIED, and napped (them one at a time). Oh and did I mention CRY! Thursday was fine. Everyone did great. Friday was the day I almost lost my mind! Addi’s reflux was acting up very bad, Kate was teething like something fierce, and Jack did not want to lay down by himself. There was at least one baby crying at any given moment during the day! I didn’t eat lunch until 2:00 PM, didn’t brush my teeth until 2:30 and didn’t get a shower until later that night! I have a new found respect for all you out there that stay at home with your kids! As tough as it was though, I had so much fun and actually enjoyed it.

This past Tuesday was also a pretty interesting day. Monday afternoon Crystal informed me that she had to go to something for work and would not be home until around 8:30 or 9:00. Normally this would not be a problem. I would do their 6:00 feed by myself and then wait fro her to get home to bathe, feed and put to bed at 9:00. Well, this past weekend we changed them to a 4 hour feed schedule and took out the 9:00 bottle. Now they feed at 7:30, 11:30, 3:30 and then final feed at 7:30. So now I was left to do it all by myself!!! Again, I was a little intimidated but pulled thru just fine. Got all three bathed, fed and off to bed and only 30 minutes late! Not to bad if I say so myself.

Now for just a little update on each of the Trioux:

ADDI:

Our sweet and fussy little Addi. She has been the one with the most stomach problems. She has some pretty severe reflux going on. Right now she is on Enfamil AR and Zantac twice a day. Some days are good and some are very bad. Her bad days really tear me up! I hate so much to listen to her cry in pain. When she is not being affected by her reflux, she is one of the sweetest things on earth! She has the most beautiful little smile and little laugh. For the longest time she was WAY behind in the weight department. She was always at least two pounds less than Kate. Not any more! She has almost completely caught up to Kate. She is our little feisty one!

JACK:

Jacks skin seems to be getting a little better. Poor guy has been fighting eczema for the last couple of months. He has all the typical red spots all over his body. The worst part is his scalp. He looks like an old man with really bad dandruff. We have started using baking soda in his bath and it seems to be helping. He is starting to really hate his swing and loves to be in the middle of everything. He is starting to show some signs of teething, but none of the pain yet. He has no interest yet in rolling over or being on tummy time, but in the middle of the night, he ends up on his side and all turned around in his crib. He does have one of the most infectious laughs I have ever heard. Once he gets going in is HILAROUS!

KATE:

Kate is the epitome of happy baby! She is usually the one that laughs and smiles the most. She is also the most talkative lately. Sometimes I almost feel like I can have a complete conversation with her. Here lately though, she has been having a VERY rough time with teething. She has it pretty bad!!! Sometimes I will see her put her entire fist in her mouth trying to chew on it. It is pretty funny when she gets it there. Kate is leading the pack in firsts. She is the first to discover both sides of her hands and the first to roll from front to back. My money is on her to be the first to cut a tooth also. She is getting very strong and is showing that urge to try and crawl. We will see.

AS you can tell they are really growing and developing pretty fast. I am amazed everyday and the changes in them. You hear the old adage “they grow up so fast,” but you don’t believe it until you actually see it. I can remember when they were no bigger than a bag of flour. I am just trying to enjoy every minute of it! I love being a Triplet Dad!!!

Here are some more pictures of our life at home. One day I will update this blog and actually put pictures from our digital camera on here and not pics from my iPhone. It just so happens that I update this blog from work a lot of the time and those are the only pics I have available! (Don’t tell anyone about blogging at work!!! LOL)

Kate, Addi, Jack lined up ready for thier first rice cereal feeding!

Kate's not sure what to think about this whole thing.

Jack just chillin in his bouncy (notice the homemade step).

Brother and sister napping (Jack & Kate)

My FAVORITE picture of Addi

Reflection of the year that was 2009

“You never know how STRONG you are until being strong is the ONLY choice you have…”

WOW! If that doesn’t sum up the year 2009 for the Boudreaux family, I am not sure what would. What a life changing year it has been. Crystal and I went from a 2 person family with two dogs, a mortgage, student loans and no car payment, to the extreme opposite! I never thought my life could change so drastically in one year. It is AMAZING.

The beginning of last year is a stark contrast to the beginning of this year. This time last year we had been trying to have a baby for almost a year and a half. We had been getting very serious about it for about 6 months and started to see a fertility specialist. This was tough on both of us, but more so on Crystal. It really started to take its toll around the new year because nothing up to that point had seemed to work. Not to mention how much money we were spending. We had gone through the Clomid and started Follistem (for those of you that have taken that, you can attest to how expensive it is and for those who don’t, we met our prescription deductible in the first week of 2009). Financially it was VERY tough. We racked up some serious credit card debt quickly, but our doctor had a good feeling about it and so did we! I will never forget the day I think it happened. We had to go in for an ultrasound on a cold and rainy Sunday around the middle of January. Her numbers looked great and the doctor told us to take the trigger shot. Well as you can tell by now, it sure did work!!!

The beginning of February is when we actually found out we were pregnant. It was one of the happiest days of my life! I was actually boarding a plane for a business trip trying to get a hold of Crystal to find out if it was true. I had to wait until I landed in Dallas to find out. I will never forget when the text came across. I yelled in the plane and people cheered. It was like a scene out of a movie. Then about a month later we went in for our first ultra sound and our lives changed forever when we saw this…

Needless to say it was rather shocking when we saw that for the first time. We had no idea what we were in for, or how tough yet rewarding it was going to be. Like the quote says, I had no idea how strong I could be when I had to be. During this pregnancy, Crystal ended up in the hospital three times with major complications. Once for complications from the Follistem and twice for a cerclage. The final one landed her in the hospital for the duration of the pregnancy.

This was the hardest thing I had to do in my entire life. There were nights or mornings when I left the hospital that I would cry the entire 45 minute drive home wondering if I was strong enough to get through this. Watching Crystal become more and more miserable in the hospital nearly killed me. I wanted to be there with her all the time and help make her feel better. It took all I had to be the strong one in front of her to help give her strength and not show her the I was about to crumble, but I knew that was what I had to do. The last few weeks actually got a little easier. We had almost settled into a routine and were getting pretty comfortable.

The closer we got to Crystals birthday the more antsy I got. When we found out we were pregnant, we were given a due date of October 17th, which is a full term 40 week pregnancy. Well, as most of you know, the national average gestation for triplets is 33 weeks. Crystal’s birthday was one day shy of 33 weeks. From the beginning, I had a strong feeling that these kids would be here right around her birthday. I joked from the beginning that if it was her birthday, I would only have to remember two dates the rest of my life, their birthday and our anniversary. Well, that prediction came true! Two weeks after the doctor finally set a c-section date, the Trioux decided to give mommy the greatest birthday present ever, their arrival! By far the greatest moment of my entire life!!! Worth all the time driving and all the money spent. Nothing can compare to the feeling of having three lives in your hands!

Now that we have settled into our life at home, we could not be happier. There are many times I sit back and wonder what it would be like to only have one or two but all it does is make me appreciate the three of them more! I can’t imagine not having 6 little eyes looking up at me, or 30 little fingers grabbing for me. We do look forward to all the challenges that we will face over the next year. Should be fun and interesting!

Well on to 2010! I am going to try and start posting every other day or so. Today we have our 4 month appointment so I will have stats in the next few days. One thing that I can say about the last few days… TEETHING SUCKS!!! Especially times three!!!

Take care and until next time here are a few pics for your enjoyment.

Merry Christmas Mommy (Jack)

Little Addi after her bath

Jack being silly after his bath

Jack passed out in daddy's lap after a teething bout

Finally, daddy's Christmas present to the babies

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!!!