Getting older, getting dumber

It's still Wednesday, right?  Good.  I'd hate to slack on my goal of weekly Wednesday entries on the first try.

I've known for quite awhile that I'm not as bright as I used to be.  The condition is certainly related to me aging, but exponentially worsened by the number of children I've had apparently.  Yesterday Grandma Marsha came to watch Axel, Eero, and Rex while Magnus and I headed into Willmar to run errands, grocery shop, etc.  I made my list of things to get, clipped a couple coupons, packed the diaper bag, and loaded Mags and all he requires into the big rig and drove to town.  As I put the car in park at Menards I realized I had forgotten my purse.  Can't do much shopping without a purse.  Since I had gotten the babysitter and loaded everything in the car, I drove back home, got my purse, and drove back to Willmar.  Dumb.


Even with just one little baby I draw attention to myself it seems.  People see Magnus and ask if he is brand new - not exactly, I say, but he's one of three and the smallest.  Oh my gosh... and we start that whole thing again.  I try hard not to stereotype, but there was even a large man with a big mustache and a leather Harley jacket in the grocery store who stopped me and commented on how little and cute Magnus was, and then I had that conversation with him.  My dad probably sent him to make me smile.

Magnus is officially done with his caffeine.  He's been home for two weeks and hasn't had any of the breathing spells, so now hopefully we are on the way to being done with the monitor, too.  A week from now the apnea program that monitors him will download his data from his time with us and then a neonatal doc will determine whether he's ready to be rid of it.  He's generally a very pleasant kid and doesn't give us much trouble at all.  He spends a lot of time in the baby bouncer seat, which is at a comfortable angle to help control his reflux.

If all babies were like Eero people would have more babies.  He is so content and easy to please, as long as he's not hungry.  He's really filling out and has big chubby cheeks now and at least two chins. 

If all babies were like Rex people would think twice about having more babies.  He's really a dear, but likes to be held most of the time.  Like the NICU people told us, he just has a lot to say about things and crying is the only way he knows how at the time.  He would eat round the clock if we let him, so his big cheeks will probably keep getting bigger, as will his growing belly.  It's so exciting to see fat on these previously skinny boys.  Even Magnus is looking so much healthier, and his skin doesn't just hang off him like it did after birth.

We've acquired quite a support team without trying - the Blue Cross insurance nurses call regularly to see how we're doing, as do the public health nurses and of course the apnea program nurses.  I spend a lot of time on the phone with these people. . . they probably have no idea each other is calling, but I would think they'd realize that someone sitting at home with 9 week old triplets doesn't have time to small talk with someone she's never met.  I hardly get to speak to the people I'd like to talk to.

This past weekend we loaded up the car and went to New Richland to celebrate Easter with my family.  The trip from Kerkhoven to NR takes about three hours without stops; we usually figure in an extra 15 minutes for a bathroom break.  This trip took six hours.  It doubled.  By the time we stopped to eat lunch, fed everyone, stopped for gas and a car wash, and ran into Target and fed everyone again then headed on to NR, it was six hours. Hope we can improve that number so we can continue to visit down there.

I must go to sleep now.  I've got two guys sleeping in bed next to me and three more next to my bed, so I'd better close my eyes, too, before someone is awake again.  Hope you all had a lovely Easter. Come on, Spring!

Now's the time to roll out the barrel. . .

. . . because the gang's all here!  A week ago today we were able to bring home our youngest and smallest, Magnus Arthur.  What a thrill to be done with that phase of our life and have all of our children home with us.  Mags was still having his little breathing spells, so they put him back on caffeine and released him with a home monitor.  They said that was the only thing keeping him there, and we'd get him home a lot faster if we were willing to use the monitor, so we agreed.  We attended a special training to learn how to operate this thing, which monitors his heart rate and breathing.  So far it's only beeped at us a couple of times when his heart rate went either high (getting his diaper changed and a little peeved) or low (just very relaxed, I guess).  Oh, and if we accidentally unplug it or the leads come loose - that's usually the case.  And this thing is frickin' loud, so we try not to do that.  He'll do the caffeine for two weeks and the monitor for a month, and if things are looking good he can be done with that and go on as just a regular wireless kid.

We made our first public appearance with all three of them on Sunday, attending church.  It required us to get up a good hour before we usually would to make the 8:45 service twenty minutes away, but we made it.  There was a mini assembly line of feeding, undressing, bathing, redressing, etc., and once we had that system figured out it went pretty well.  Today we took them to their two month check-up already; can you believe it?  Me neither.  Anyway, we seem to draw attention to ourselves everywhere we go with a crazy-haired three year old hanging off one of us and three infant seats, plus a diaper bag and Magnus' monitor.  We probably won't be venturing out too much for awhile!  There's no extra room in the Escalade, that's for sure.  We'll be heading down to New Richland for Easter this weekend, so we'll test their long range pleasantness on the road.  Will be interesting. . .

Check-ups were a process but everyone is fine.  Eero is up to 7 lbs 7 oz, Rex is 7 lbs 2 oz, and Magnus is 5 lbs 7 oz.  He doesn't care if he eats as much as his older brothers, so the doctor suggested we wake him up sooner than he requests and feed him more often so he can continue to gain and catch up.  Both Eero and Magnus prefer to lay with their heads on the right sides which is causing them to be a little flat, so we've been given some tips for physical therapy that will encourage them to use both sides and round out their heads again.  And a public health nurse is coming every Friday to check their weights and make sure they're growing so we don't have to repeat the process of bringing them to the doctor once a week.  Nice.

Having four kids under the age of three does rearrange a person's world quite a bit.  Housework suffers, as does personal hygiene occasionally.  We are definitely sleep-deprived.  After Axel was born I remember marveling to myself on how little sleep I could actually function.  In college I totally would have skipped all my morning classes with this lack of rest.  Shout out to Eric and Heather Hendrickson, people from my hometown who also welcomed triplets in November - their feature in the New Richland newspaper quoted them as saying they'd be bored with just one baby.  I laughed then, but they've got a point.  I don't know if we'd be bored, but we have kind of adjusted to chaos as the norm.

Axel is a terrific big brother.  I would have bet with confidence that he'd put pillows in their faces when they cried, but it's quite the opposite.  The other morning as one of them lay on the floor crying for a bottle I was preparing, instead of yelling himself or trying to shut them up, he just lay down next to him and looked him in the face.  It was like an unspoken, "I'm here for you."  Super sweet and frankly unAxel-like.  He's full of surprises.  Lately his life is a musical; he sings half his words, albeit offkey, but still hilarious.  He also repeats commercial jingles, e.g. "Save big money at Menards," and "We are Farmers, bum buh bum bum bum bum bum."  It's possible we watch too much TV.

Jesse is, I think, really going to enjoy having four boys here with him - what a great excuse to play video games and watch sports.  The unfinished basement will probably turn into a boy zone soon, and they can all head down there and fart and talk about boobs and cars and I will never have to hear any of it.  Hooray!  I am actually loving the idea of having "a boy house", as one of my nurses called it.  I can have more of the haircare and clothing budget to myself.  Plus, as my uncle Curt so wisely advised me, if you have a boy you only have to worry about one penis; if you have a girl you have to worry about them all.

Last night I ventured out alone for the first time since having four kids in my house.  It was such a treat just to be in the car by myself and blast the radio!  I went to get a much needed haircut, my last one being in December (yikes).  My usual stylist is on maternity leave so I had someone else do it.  It's just a trim, I thought, pretty much anyone can do that.  This woman, who had clearly spent a fair amount of time in the tanning booth and was a lovely shade of orange, told me her motto is "The higher the hair, the closer to God," then literally backcombed that theory on to my head.  After sleeping on it, I was able to tame it down this morning, and it's not as scary as I originally feared.  Whew.

If you've called, emailed, or texted us in the last couple weeks and we have not returned your message, please do not be offended!  Just try us again if you would.  We're getting better.  I'm going to try to be better at this, too, as the story is not over.  My goal is once a week, and since this is Wednesday, I will try to write on Wednesdays.  I get the feeling people are checking the blog for progress reports which I have not kept up on the last little while, but promise to improve.  Wednesdays.

Here are some new pictures - first the peaceful sleepers. . .

Eero

Magnus

Rex

Then you can see what a time we will have over the next several years trying to get everyone to look at the camera for a decent picture. . .

Not bad . .

 Axel's been our little guy for so long but compared to these squirts he's just a big kid.

Thanks again to everyone for all the well-wishes and prayers the last few months - surely they've helped us and we're grateful for everything you've done.

Bringing home baby (A . . .then B. . .)

That's right!  Don't know how many of you have heard, but we're gradually getting our family together at home.  Last Monday we were able to take Eero home with us.  We went on Sunday and spent some time with all the boys, had some visitors, and then took Axel to a hotel for one more night as a threesome and so he could swim in the pool.

He's been telling us for weeks that he "needs" to go to a hotel, even saying, "I feel I have to."  Since he felt so strongly about it, we figured we better take him!  He loves the pool, and suddenly thinks he can swim.  I don't have a swimsuit I'm prepared to wear in public, so I man the ground while Jesse goes in the water (sometimes Axel decides to run down the edge of the pool and wants to jump in the deep end when no one is there to catch him, and since he's not wearing floaties of any kind, that would be bad).  He swims/flails off by himself, which is terrifying for me because it appears he is just struggling to get above water, but when he comes up he's not coughing or spitting or anything, so maybe he is swimming.  At least he's not afraid of the water.

We were to pick up Eero after lunch the next day, and so, as I see happening many times in my future as the only girl in the house, we went to Hooters.  We then collected Eero from the hospital, and brought him home.  As we pulled away from the hospital Axel asked him if he liked to watch the airplanes in the sky, and of course Eero didn't answer.  A couple minutes later he asked him if he liked it when we went over bumps, and again, silence.  Disappointed, Axel finally asked, "Does he talk?" Teehee.  Eero has been a very good baby, unless he really needs something and then lets out a very high-pitched shriek that he must have picked up from the exotic birds in the room next to his at the hospital.  But otherwise good.

On Tuesday we got a call that Rex was ready to join his brother at home on Thursday, and so within a few days we went from a threesome to a fivesome rolling in the Escalade.  FYI, if you have an Escalade, people will stare at you as you drive through north Minneapolis.  Might want to lock the doors.  Anyway, we took off back to the Cities on Thursday and brought home baby B.  He, too, has been very good thus far, and is not as ornery as I expected him to be, yet anyway. 

Axel loves his little brothers.  He can't stop kissing them and wants to show them all kinds of things.  Within the first 10 minutes of Eero being home, Axel thought he would like to watch a movie with him, eat a mint, and look at the Walgreens ad.  We've finally got him understanding that he should not pick them up by himself, and it will be awhile before they want to pillow fight with him.

Leaving the hospital with Rex on Thursday was the hardest leave since the first time we came home, because this time we had to leave Magnus there all alone.  Before I took comfort in the fact that these three little jokers had each other, and even after we took Eero home Rex and Magnus were together, but now it's just him.  He's not ready to come home for a little while yet . . . he's had a couple little spells, where he decides not to breathe for a little while and a nurse has to stimulate him to remind him.  They want to make sure he's not doing that anymore when he gets home, where we won't have a monitor to be aware of the spells.  The doctors have noted that sometimes babies go home with monitors, but we'd kind of like to be done with all of that when we take him home.  No more monitors!

We haven't left the house too much since bringing home these two little boys, but when we do we turn a lot of heads.  People stop us and say, Oh, you had twins!  The rest of the conversation goes like this: Actually we had triplets, but one is still in the hospital.  Oh my gosh!  You're going to be busy.  Are these your first?  No, we have a 3-year old at home, too.  Oh my gosh!  You are really going to be busy.  Congratulations!  Wow.  Oh my gosh. . . and we part ways.  On Friday we had a few of these in Cub Foods, except one woman came back to the cereal aisle, handed us a hundred dollar bill and said, "You're going to need that," and walked away.  We tried to give it back to her but she just shook her head and kept walking.  I've heard of random acts of kindness, but that was really something.

On Friday Jesse and I will have been married five years.  It got me thinking about that day, of course, and then all the stuff that's happened in that time.  We got married.  Started building (and someday hope to complete :) ) a house.  My dad's cancer came back and he passed away.  We had a baby.  I'm two classes away from a master's degree and a teaching license.  We had three more babies.  And a bunch of other stuff, but those are some of the big points.  That's a lot of change in five years.  Think about the last five years . . . how has your life changed?  Maybe more than you think.

I'll try to update a little more - I've just been a bit preoccupied.  Honestly, though, taking care of two babies is so far not that much different than caring for one.  Check back in a few months when they become mobile.

Eero and Rex - enjoying each other's company on the living room floor.