So, i get asked quite a bit about how Katie and I are able to take care of 3 newborns by ourselves. "You have to be exhausted" or "How do you find time to do everything with three" or "I can barely do it with one I have no idea how I would survive with Three" are some of the most common comments heard. Well, I decided to take a few home videos and post them so people can get an idea of exactly what we do on a daily basis to take care of our little baby angels. In particular, these videos will focus on the night time routine.
Boiling it down to just numbers the night time routine can take anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours. During our routine we have a number of different phases or steps that we have to go though. Those steps are as follows:
1. Get Bottles and Oatmeal Ready for the babies - The babies will eat between 2-5 scoops/Tablespoons (guess who gets the 5) of Oatmeal and between 6-8 ounces of Formula. This usually takes about 10 mins
2. Feed Oatmeal to Babies - (They get their Oatmeal only one time a day and its before their baths) This usually takes between 30-45 mins
3. Bath the Babies - Directly after feeding them their Oatmeal its off to bath time. We usually will bath whoever if fussiest first because the baths sooth them and relax them. This usually takes 30 mins or so for all three
4. Bottles - This is the babies last feeding of the day and the will not eat again for 10-11 hours so we want to make sure they have enough sustinance to sustain them till the next morning. (otherwise, we will be up all night with hungry babies - AKA Larkin) This usually takes 30-45 mins
5. BedTime - This is where we take each baby, put them in their sleep sacks, lower lights, turn on music and rock each to sleep or till they are almost asleep. It usually takes about 5-10 mins for each baby to finish this step. However, we can expect for at least one and maybe all three to wake up within the first 15-20 mins and need some soothing or a binky.
Once done with all it is usually about 8pm. Katie and I would have been on the go since at least 6 am (Not including getting up in the night with them if need be) and are ready to crash out. We are usually asleep within the hour or sometimes 2 after the kids are. then its time to get up and do it all over again.
Take a peak at the videos below. I've limited each video from about 3 mins to 9 mins so you may not get the whole idea but I think what is on these will at least open the door a little to our world for everyone.
Enjoy
P.S. I have a tendency to talk in baby talk in this video just because i've done it so much with them. Please don't judge me. K? Thanks :) Oh, and I'm not a good film maker so if you get sick from all the bobbing up and down I apologize in advance :(
Step One Bottle Prep
Bottle Prep Cont'd on To Oatmeal
Step 2 - Oatmeal
Step 3 - Bath Time
Step 4 - Bottle Time
Step 5 - Bed Time
Step 5 Bed Time Cont
Step 5 - Final Bed Checks
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I feel like I may due for a blog posting. As most of you know, my husband Rhett is "King of the Blog" which I am very thankful for because without him a lot of the first 6 months would not have been documented. I have every intention of doing a scrapbook for each one of them because I cherish the ones my mom did for me as a baby/child BUT with triplets.. time is my biggest obstacle. I still haven't given up on doing the scrapbooks... I just have not started yet :)
So I thought I would give you an update on what is going on in our world. I went back to work 3 days a week in December which I thought was going to be the most difficult thing ever. And even though I cried the entire day before my 1st day back to work .. I actually did pretty well. I work as a nurse practitioner and love what I do which helps. Plus I work with such amazing people who have been so supportive. Having a little time to do something other than complete baby care really makes me a better mom. I used to feel a little guilty saying that but the truth is I don't get burnt out as easily with the tedious, repetitive job at home. Plus I miss them so much while I am gone.. I have nothing but excitement when I get home to do the bedtime routine which includes cereal, bath time, bottles and rocking x 3! So in other words, when Rhett and I get home from work we don't stop working until about 8:00. This is actually an improvement because until about 3 weeks ago we were still feeding them 5 times a day and not getting them to bed until about 9 or 10.
The other thing that makes a HUGE difference is Grace. She is our nanny who I absolutely LOVE. She is young, energetic & great with the babies. Peace of mind when you leave your children with someone for the day is truly priceless. I will without a doubt have a small breakdown if she ever leaves us.
So lets talk about the most important thing for parents of infants.. I don't care if you have 1 or 3 babies.. SLEEP is by far the most important word in your vocabulary .. well at least it has been for me for the last 5 1/2 months. One of the most challenging things when you are trying to help multiples learn to sleep is that one will wake up and you spend 15-60 minutes getting him/her back to sleep and just when you think your job is done... another one wakes up. There were many nights I would just lay on the nursery floor hoping it was the last time I had to put a pacifier back in a mouth and praying Maggie or Larkin did not wake up Kade.. because he was by far the hardest to get back to sleep. And just when you think you are at the end of your rope and you start looking up the effects of sleep deprivation on the Internet.. they start sleeping!! and not only that they started sleeping for about 10-11 hours. Now don't get me wrong.. we often have one culprit (Larkin) that wakes up about 1 time a night but he goes back to sleep easily and it really is a huge improvement from being awake for hours trying to get everyone back to sleep. Plus even when they do sleep all night.. (like last night) I still wake up about 3 am thinking I should hear someone and then going to make sure everyone is okay.
So the most common question I get is.. "How do you do it?". My standard.. (obvious) answer is "I don't have a choice"... but that is probably not the answer people are looking for :)
The real answer is:
- with an amazingly helpful and involved husband,
-with a huge amount of support from family,
-with a mind set that .. "don't wish away this time because it wont ever happen again and will pass too quickly anyway",
-sticking to a schedule,
- And last but not least.. you do it because you love them more than anything in the world and seeing their smiles and hearing their laughs makes it all worth it
The 2nd question I get a lot is "so how are they?" pretty generic question.. my standard answer.. "they are awesome!" Sometimes I feel guilty with this answer.. like people are expecting me to say "it is the hardest, most difficult thing I could ever do & I am barely keeping my head above water" .. So that answer could be appropriate on some days but overall they really are awesome! Yes.. it is, without a doubt, a lot of work but isn't that the truth with most all great things in life?
Now check back when they start crawling.. because my answer may be different
KT
So I thought I would give you an update on what is going on in our world. I went back to work 3 days a week in December which I thought was going to be the most difficult thing ever. And even though I cried the entire day before my 1st day back to work .. I actually did pretty well. I work as a nurse practitioner and love what I do which helps. Plus I work with such amazing people who have been so supportive. Having a little time to do something other than complete baby care really makes me a better mom. I used to feel a little guilty saying that but the truth is I don't get burnt out as easily with the tedious, repetitive job at home. Plus I miss them so much while I am gone.. I have nothing but excitement when I get home to do the bedtime routine which includes cereal, bath time, bottles and rocking x 3! So in other words, when Rhett and I get home from work we don't stop working until about 8:00. This is actually an improvement because until about 3 weeks ago we were still feeding them 5 times a day and not getting them to bed until about 9 or 10.
The other thing that makes a HUGE difference is Grace. She is our nanny who I absolutely LOVE. She is young, energetic & great with the babies. Peace of mind when you leave your children with someone for the day is truly priceless. I will without a doubt have a small breakdown if she ever leaves us.
So lets talk about the most important thing for parents of infants.. I don't care if you have 1 or 3 babies.. SLEEP is by far the most important word in your vocabulary .. well at least it has been for me for the last 5 1/2 months. One of the most challenging things when you are trying to help multiples learn to sleep is that one will wake up and you spend 15-60 minutes getting him/her back to sleep and just when you think your job is done... another one wakes up. There were many nights I would just lay on the nursery floor hoping it was the last time I had to put a pacifier back in a mouth and praying Maggie or Larkin did not wake up Kade.. because he was by far the hardest to get back to sleep. And just when you think you are at the end of your rope and you start looking up the effects of sleep deprivation on the Internet.. they start sleeping!! and not only that they started sleeping for about 10-11 hours. Now don't get me wrong.. we often have one culprit (Larkin) that wakes up about 1 time a night but he goes back to sleep easily and it really is a huge improvement from being awake for hours trying to get everyone back to sleep. Plus even when they do sleep all night.. (like last night) I still wake up about 3 am thinking I should hear someone and then going to make sure everyone is okay.
So the most common question I get is.. "How do you do it?". My standard.. (obvious) answer is "I don't have a choice"... but that is probably not the answer people are looking for :)
The real answer is:
- with an amazingly helpful and involved husband,
-with a huge amount of support from family,
-with a mind set that .. "don't wish away this time because it wont ever happen again and will pass too quickly anyway",
-sticking to a schedule,
- And last but not least.. you do it because you love them more than anything in the world and seeing their smiles and hearing their laughs makes it all worth it
The 2nd question I get a lot is "so how are they?" pretty generic question.. my standard answer.. "they are awesome!" Sometimes I feel guilty with this answer.. like people are expecting me to say "it is the hardest, most difficult thing I could ever do & I am barely keeping my head above water" .. So that answer could be appropriate on some days but overall they really are awesome! Yes.. it is, without a doubt, a lot of work but isn't that the truth with most all great things in life?
Now check back when they start crawling.. because my answer may be different
KT
Sunday, January 15, 2012
2012 - 1st Pics
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| Mama and Larkin |
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| Kade, what are you doing in your brothers bed again??? |
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| Don't look at me Daddy. It was mom who put me in this ridiculous outfit |
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| I feel like a circus animal daddy. Should I learn bark on command or learn to swim with people on my back? |
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| So, they got you too huh Kade? |
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| Watch out brother this sista's bout to blow!!! |
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| Seriously, do you really have to take my picture in this thing? |
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| At least they let me keep my cap on instead of the Hoody with the horns |
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| Really, Really!!! Even cousin Kenzie thinks this thing is ridiculous |
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| Waaaaazzzzzzuuuuppppp |
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| "You could get Drunk! You could get Addicted" Were they referring to Mario Brothers by chance b/c Katie hasn't put the controller down since I brought it home 2 weeks ago! |
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| Kade fell asleep in Will's lap |
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| Seriously, this kid sleeps in the strangest positions |
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| Look what i can do mommy!!! |
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| Big Boi getting ready for his bath with Mommy |
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| Look who learned to roll over and sleep on his belly! |
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