Six weeks already

I can't believe the babies will be six weeks old tomorrow...where does the time go? I haven't been very good about updating this blog, but life has been just a little busy. Even as I type this I'm jumping up to settle Michael down so he can rest while his brother and sister do the same. Thank goodness for swings, bouncers and Boppies!

As a recap: we went in to the hospital for my C-section on Wednesday, July 15. The babies were born at 8:26, 8:27 and 8:28, and were quickly whisked away to the NICU. Adele weighed 5 lbs 12 oz, Samuel weighed 5 lbs 9 oz, and Michael weighed 4 lbs 7 oz. Mat went to be with the kids while I went into recovery. The babies were all under observation in the NICU but were doing very well. Samuel had an IV briefly because he had some issue with his blood sugar and Michael had a bit of trouble keeping his body temperature up, but Adele was just fine. She was actually released to join me in my room on Wednesday evening. Finally Grandma and Grandpa were able to hold her! The boys had improved enough to be released from the NICU to the nursery on the labor and delivery floor (kind of a transitional nursery) on Wednesday night as well. Samuel's IV was gradually decreased and removed, and both were checking out fine by Thursday morning.

The doctors released both Sam and Michael to join us in our room on Thursday mid-morning, but we had to wait to be moved to a larger room. No way we could have fit all of us in the tiny room we had! So the boys joined us Thursday afternoon, and from that point on they've been with us. We heard repeatedly from the nurses that having all three triplets in the room with us so quickly is very unusual, and after hearing stories of other triplet births we understand just how lucky we have been. We were able to spend two to three days in the hospital as a family, just waiting for ME to be released after my C-section. We had lots of family and friends visiting and assistance from lactation consultants, nurses, etc. It's ironic that we had a more traditional 'baby' experience in the hospital with triplets than we did when Maggie was born.

After coming home we've started to settle into a bit of a routine. My family (especially my mom) has been such amazing support for us. They're here almost every day and keeping our house running--I'm rarely alone with the babies when it comes time for feeding. My parents also spend the night a couple times a week to give Mat and I a break. It is challenging for one person to feed all three--it really takes at least two sets of hands. I'm breastfeeding, pumping, and supplementing with formula and the kids eat about every three hours (we make sure they're all on the same schedule). They've lately been stretching to four hours at night, with is a nice treat. We can usually feed them all in about an hour to hour and a half, but sometimes the feeding stretches longer.

We got weights on all three of them yesterday, and Samuel is tipping the scales at 8 lbs 11 oz. Adele is 8 lbs 9 oz, and Michael is 7 lbs 5 oz. They're starting to get chubby cheeks and thighs, and are doing all the things 6 week old babies should do. Samuel is the bruiser who always wants more to eat and pushes his way past his brother and sister. Adele is the 'good' one, who sleeps longest and is the easiest to put down. When she's mad, though, she goes from mellow to screaming mad red face in two seconds. Michael is more of a watcher and sometimes just sits quietly observing the others.

That's about the highlights for now. I'll post some pictures when I download them from my camera. They're all pretty cute!