Pictures!

Babies with Mummy hanging out on the floor - Colin is in the blue and Keith is in beige (PS - you can click on the pictures to enlarge them!)
Our brood!
Sprocket and Colin exchange pleasantries
Me, and my new secret weapon. This only works if they're hungry at the same time. Sprocket is supervising.

Happy Due Date... Evelyn!

Evelyn, weighing six pounds twelve ounces
Evelyn, on September 25th at two pounds thirteen ounces

Our Sweetest Baby C! Evelyn never misses a beat. She is incredibly curious, and will often cry if you place her on your shoulder - she'd much prefer to sit on your lap, facing out, so she can watch the world go by with unending interest. She spends a significant amount of the day awake in her crib, sharing quiet confidences with her audience of Monsieurs Monkey, Giraffe and Teddy. She isn't usually the first to cry, but when she does she makes her displeasure known; loudly! Our littlest redhead is very good-natured and even-tempered. She loves to smile at her adoring fan club and has a quiet, Teutonic efficiency when draining her bottle to the last drop. She loves a warm lap and a soft touch, and when she is fussy, a spin in the rocking chair calms everyone's frayed nerves. We think she likes storytime - she's usually fast asleep after the first paragraph, contentedly snuggled on Daddy's shoulder.

We love you, Evelyn!

Happy Due Date... Keith!

Keith weighing in at almost eight pounds
Keith on September 25, at three pounds fourteen ounces

The Bestest-Ever Big Baby B! Born with a full head of blonde hair that caused quite a sensation in the Special Care Nursery, Keith loves to be the centre of attention and has a larger than life personality. Loud, boisterous and very vocal (even when he's asleep!), Pumpkin has an opinion on everything. In Keith's perfect world there would be no baths, no diaper changes and endless rivers of food; he would - and does - finish every drop. Keith can be in mid-wail but the moment the bib goes on he grins from ear to ear. He is quick to upset, but just as quick to settle. He loves his bouncy chair and of course, his goat. He likes to ad lib during story time and talks with his mouth full and arms akimbo. He simply must have the last word and makes us laugh at every turn.

We love you, Keith!

Happy Due Date... Colin!

Crying babies can wait for another occasion, because Edward and I would like to take a few moments to congratulate our brood on their due date: they are full-term (ie. 40 weeks old) today!

Colin on Friday night, tipping the scales at approximately seven pounds, three ounces
Colin minutes after birth on September 25, weighing in at two pounds, twelve ounces

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Our Amazing Baby A! Although he was The Instigator who broke his water that Saturday morning we have forgiven him, for he is a very content and mild-mannered Monkey. He spends a lot of time quietly lying in his crib, with his face a reflection of perpetual wonder - and worry! Colin is prone to a furrowed brow and seems to be a sensitive soul. He may be the first to cry, but he will often put himself back to sleep while waiting to be fed. When Colin REALLY cries, he attracts quite a crowd because it is such an unusual occurrence. The metamorphosis of his soft little snorting/bleating/mewling cry to a shriek means that something is seriously amiss in his universe, and it's often his tummy - it's either too full, or too empty! Our strawberry-blonde cuddlebug loves his bedtime stories, and will often settle with a smile on Daddy's shoulder for a snooze in the rocking chair. He is very alert, and will reach for his pink pig, monkey and giraffe to engage in a contemplative study. He has an amazing range of facial expressions!

We love you, Colin!

Another Day in the Life...

This is what Colin thinks of this post... too much blather and too few pictures! Yaaaaawwwwnnn

Many people have expressed an interest in our daily schedule... what is it *really* like living with triplets? Well, we might be masochistic, but every day is a joy. I do get to cuddle each one of them, they are held, sung to, read to and kissed only about a thousand times a day. So my initial fears of not being able to spend one-on-one time with them have yet to materialize. They have been adored, fed and snuggled by their grandparents, great-aunt, the doula, our friends, neighbours, and soon, their aunties. It is taking a cast of many to ensure they get the love and care they need and that we get to keep a tiny shred of our sanity.

The schedule below reflects our daily life without any assistance - just the two of us... obviously, with more hands on deck, we can feed, burp, change and cuddle the babies in a shorter amount of time. With one person feeding them (the 1am and 4am feeds), it takes about an hour and a half. With two people, about an hour; and with 3, forty-five minutes. We have had people shopping for us, bringing us food, clothes, doing bottle prep and assembling baby paraphenalia as well. We are so very grateful for everyone's help, and we truly couldn't do it without you.

Without further ado:

1 - 2:30am: Edward feeds babies

3am: babies usually fuss an hour before/after their next feed - LIKE CLOCKWORK. Up to soothe.

3:45am: babies are hungry and let you know it! Bottles are heated up.

4:00 - 5:30am: I feed babies

6:00am: fussy, fussy!

6:45am: bottles to warm

7:00 - 8:00am: Edward and I feed babies

8:00 - 9:00am: I usually go back to bed for an hour; Edward gets the dog up and has breakfast

9:00am: Fuss! First load of laundry

9:45am: Bottles heated

10:00 - 11:00am: Feed babies

11:00 - 12:00pm: Restock nursery, I have breakfast/lunch; I try to pump; dog gets out for a walk; grocery shopping?

12:00pm: Pay attention to ME!

12:45pm: Bottles to warm

1:00 - 2:00pm: Feed babies

2:00 - 3:00pm: Pump; eat; try to get through some correspondence; return phone calls

3:00pm: Upstairs for the 45th lost pacifier expedition... babies fussy; second load of laundry

3:45pm: Warm bottles

4:00 - 5:00pm: Feed babies

5:00 - 6:00pm: Pump; feed/walk dog; dinner prep - sometimes we get to eat it. Start to wash and sterilize bottles

6:00pm: We're hungry... already!

6:45pm: Warm bottles

7:00 - 8:30pm: One baby gets a bath; feed babies; read a bedtime story

8:30-9:00pm: Formula prep

9:00pm: Fussy! Third load of laundry

9:45: Bottles arrive upstairs ready for hungry mouths

10:00 - 11:00pm: Feed babies.

12:00am: We're up and ready to be entertained!

12:45am: Warm bottles

1am: Repeat

This doesn't take into account the trips to the doctors (ie. we have one appointment on Friday, and one on Tuesday), the times where they just won't settle (when it's one, it's usually all three) or time for personal hygiene... :P However, they are so much fun and we do have a lot of help, so there aren't too many days we don't have an extra pair of hands or two.

For our next post: A video of 3 babies crying simultaneously. And the riveting strategies of who you feed first... stay tuned!

A Day in the Life...

Our first baby, Spocket. We had such a gorgeous and warm afternoon that we bundled the babies up in a sling and their new-to-us double stroller and set out with my mom and the dog for a walk. The wind was a bit chilly, but the pediatrician assured us that it was fine to introduce them to the outside world. They fell asleep, and we think we'll repeat our experiment tomorrow!
Colin and Evelyn get cosy with Edward. After Colin bashed her in the head with his flailing arms, they *almost* held hands.

This should be enough to instill fear and trepidation in any man.... prepping 24 bottles a day! Edward does this in the evening to get ready for the day ahead. And this translates into about 210 diapers a week, and hmmm... two to three loads of laundry a day! Colin's bottles are green, Evelyn's are purple and Keith's are blue. They need to be colour-coordinated because Keith is on a different formula, and all three receive different amounts.

Wherein Keith Talks to a Goat

But first, before Keith's cinematic debut, here is Miss Evelyn snuggled with Edward this afternoon after a very satisfying meal. She is the quietest of the three - unless she is unhappy, and then she has a cry that sounds like an air raid siren - and is very content to curl up with whomever has a blanket and a heartbeat (but most especially Daddy)!

Here is Keith chatting up his goat and monkey... sort of. Of course, the moment you grab the camera (this wasn't shot on our new camcorder), it tends to put a damper on things. Just imagine him doing this for longer, much louder and with a bit more panache. Keith is our melodramatic, very talkative baby (gee, I wonder who he takes after?!) who wears his heart on his sleeve and lets you know EXACTLY how he feels. About pretty much everything. In fact, he may be telling his audience how much he misses his hat, which has a habit of escaping him every time we put it on. It fits, but given how much he moves, it just doesn't stay put.

Colin will get his own post at a later date!

We're Hanging In!

Yesterday was one of Those Days... it started with the dog making a rather stinky mess on the living room carpet, and ended with me stepping barefoot in dog pee as I crawled into bed sometime after midnight - just in time for the 2am feed. The dog is housetrained... he's just having adjustment issues now that he's realized that those squawking interlopers aren't going anywhere.

In between, there was an overtired Monkey who spent the entire day either eating or in someone's arms, a fussy Pumpkin who screamed himself hoarse and a Sweet Pee (Pea?) who lived up to her name and then some. On the bright side, we got to try out the Blue Celery sling on Colin, who absolutely loved it. The downside is that I'm still getting the hang of putting it on, so in the interests of preserving a few remaining braincells, a verrry tired Mummy would rather carry Colin in her arms than fiddle with loops and criss-crosses and tutorials. I ate my first dinner one-handed with a baby (Keith) on my lap, and true to his Hungry Hippo-esque persona, he watched me eat with rapt interest, eyeing each forkful, mouth agape.

So yes, yesterday was officially fired. Things crescendoed at around 2am when everyone presented me with a dirty diaper and very hungry dispositions. But, we persevered, and after our 15th rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (it's got to have more than one verse?!) and their other favourite, the 60s Civil Rights anthem We Shall Overcome (it's on their Ipod playlist) everyone managed to drift off to sleep including me. In spite of it all, I wouldn't change it for the world.

We're operating on the premise that today must be a better day, and so far it seems to be heading in that direction. The sun is shining, the dog and Edward are out for a walk, babies are slumbering, laundry is done, the house is reasonably tidy and I'm having breakfast - what a novel concept! I'm basically down to one meal a day (dinner) with snacks grabbed when possible. While this isn't the best for breastmilk production, it is our reality - which reminds me, I must head off to pump before the 11am feed!

Pictures to follow... at some point ;) We finally got our camcorder, so we're hoping to upload a few videos, too.