Echocardiogram for 3 please

Hey Ya'll
I thought I would update everyone on the boys.   First of all, being a mother to triplets has been a fantastic experience.  I have learned to multi-task tasks that I never dreamed of.  I can pump/nurse while giving one of the boys a binkie or rocking his bouncer, I can make myself a plate of lunch with a baby in my hand, everything is done in tandem.  The most difficult part about taking care of the boys for me is that you simply can't respond to everyones needs immediately.  You always feel guilty that one is crying as you feed another, so even when you are taking care of one, you feel you are neglecting another.

Yesterday the boys had their cardio appointments at Bethesda.  The boys each have small heart murmurs so they all needed EKG's and possibly echocardiograms.  The EKG's were done while I held each of them, they were wailing so we fed them each a bottle.  Unfortunately, they all had abnormal EKGs so they each needed to have echocardiograms.  When I was pregnant, I had an one of these...and it only took about 20 minutes.  With wiggly baby boys they take about 45 minutes each!!  So I held each boy while he squirmed and fought and eventually succumbed to sleep while the doc put the little gel probe over their little hearts.

Fortunately, things are pretty normal with the boys.  They all have small holes in their hearts but nothing to be overly concerned about yet.  Caleb and Gideon's hole are in the upper chamber and Ezra's is in the lower chamber.  Ezra's hole requires us to follow up at 1 year, the doc says it is normal and nothing to be alarmed about and hopefully the hole will close up by about 8 years of age.  Overall the visit took about 5 hours which was much longer than I thought.  Judging by the boys behavior they are pretty tired and so is mommy!

Besides the heart stuff, we also got each of them weighed.  I'm to the pont where I don't even remember their exact weights.  But Caleb is now the biggest and weighed about 9lb 8oz.  Ezra was close to that.  Gideon has fallen back a bit and only weighed about 8lb 8oz.  Unfortunately, he spits up so much of his "meal' due to reflux I worry he might not be getting as many calories as the other guys.  We are gonna talk to the doctor about changing his formula or maybe even trying soy milk based formula.

A

We're Still Alive...

Greetings Everyone!
Well...I noticed the other day that I hadn't updated in over a week!  It seems like the gaps between posts are growing bigger and bigger.  I don't mean to blow off updating things...I really want to record things as they happen.  Unfortunately, in a life full of triplet babies with diapers, feedings, bottles, fussiness, and all of the other little baby things...plus homework...and whatever else comes our way and updating the blog falls down on the priority list.

So...with my excuses complete...the boys are doing well.  We just said good-bye to Claudia and Lanny and they were a tremendous help the past two weeks.  It was really great getting to know them a bit better...and their own grandparents experience helped all of us manage three growing boys whose cries and "demands" also increase with their size.

Now that they are 2 months old...they are starting to show some of their individual personalities.  Caleb is setting himself up as the demanding one.  He is almost always the first one to wake up hungry and he is more than willing to let us know when he is ready to be fed, held, swaddled, or whatever else technique is needed to settle him down.  He has a distinctive "yell" followed by silence for 3-5 seconds.  If his "demand" is not met...he yells again and the next wait is a bit shorter.  After 3-4 attempts to gain attention...he simply starts crying!!  Caleb also seems to want to be held the most.  In fact...Lanny seems to be Caleb's best friend because every time I came home Caleb was sleeping on top of Lanny.

Caleb with his best friend, Lanny

Gideon seems to be Caleb's opposite when it comes to fussiness.  He is almost always quiet and the only time he really fusses is when he has a bad episode of reflux or is really hungry.  This has caused us to move him to "third" in the feeding order because he seems most able to deal with waiting a bit longer if things are going slowly.  Besides being the most "calm", Gideon's eyes are the biggest, and when he is awake he just can't help but look around at all there is to see.  Sometimes it is hard to get him back to sleep after feeding because he just wants to hang out and see what is going on.  That usually merits him some "Daddy" time and we'll just watch TV while Caleb and Ezra are sleeping upstairs.

Gideon with "Mr. Frog"

Ezra is our baby and I think that no matter how hard we try not to, we will treat him like the "youngest."  He is adorable and has a quintasential "baby look" about him.  I guess you could say he splits the difference between Caleb and Gideon's personalities.  He can be quiet and cute...or he can be fussy and demanding.  He also struggles with reflux the same way Gideon does.  He also has the most frequent "tummy aches" that we give them Gripe Water for.  That usually works pretty well.

Ezra loves his binky!!

That's about it for now.  Little voices are starting to stir upstairs...

Have a good night!!

J

Tim the Cat...AKA Timmy Huffman-Kaldahl

If I hear myself say the things I am thinking...I realize how silly it seems to care so much about a pet.  Especially considering the fact that I have the three most beautiful little boys sleeping soundly right upstairs who will undoubtedly bring us infinitely more joy than Tim could have.  Still...I feel so sad saying good-bye to Tim.  We had such a strange relationship...but over time...we became each other's "best bud" when it came to hanging around the house.

I met Tim the first time I went to pick up Autumn for a date.  I didn't know it at the time (not the best first date material) but she'd received him as a V-Day gift many years ago.  And if you know anything about Autumn's dating habits...you know that she was rarely on time.  So Tim and I met as I was waiting for her to get ready.  Like anyone else...I couldn't help notice that he didn't have a tail!!

It's a breed thing and we always joked that he was really sensitive about the "tailless" topic.  He pretty much hated me at first...and when Autumn and I hung out together he was never around.  When we got married...I quickly learned he was a night animal because he would wake me up every night meowing...playing with the blinds...basically going out of his way to keep me awake.

I'm a really light sleeper...so the noises he used to make drove me crazy.  I can recall numerous times when I would chase him around the house at 3am trying to get him to shut-up!  I would toss rolled up socks at him...even shut him behind other doors just so the noise would stay at the other end of the house!!  But...I would always feel guilty and let him out a few minutes later.  Needless to say...at first...I didn't like him and he didn't like me.

But as he grew more used to me...and I more familiar with him...we began to get along great.  Tim wasn't the kind of cat you could force to love you..he had to choose you.

Over time...Tim realized I wasn't gonna smother him...pick him up...I was just gonna let him come to me.  Strangely...that seemed the best way to get his affection and after awhile he would hang out with me for extended periods of time.  Not long periods...but long enough to know he'd warmed up to me.

The past year or so...Tim became my real buddy.  Autumn is my best friend...but Tim is the "guy" who hangs out with me when I watch TV...or who would jump up onto the bed when I would call...he would harrass me to feed him his wet food...or jump up in front of the computer monitor when I was working..just so I would play with him.  More recently...he began crawling onto my lap without any encouragement.  He would just sit there and purr.  If you knew Tim...you know he just didn't do that.

I'm gonna miss Tim.  It is already hard walking around the house expecting him around every corner.  But the family life was not for him.  The boys freaked him out pretty good (he wouldn't go upstairs where they were for an entire week after they got home!)...and living with 3 toddlers chasing him around was not gonna be good for him either.  So I guess...if this had to happen...I'm okay with it happening now.  It was hard giving him the attention he grew to need and enjoy.

Tim was a great cat.  He wasn't super affectionate like Teddy...and he wouldn't force you to pay attention to him...but he did make you earn his trust.  And with that trust...he gave you the love, admiration, and respect that made it all worth it.  Good-bye dear friend.  We won't ever forget you!!