6 month update!

The babies are now officially 6 months old! It is so crazy to think how much our lives have changed in such a short period of time!

All 3 are growing like weeds; we had our 6 month checkup last week. It’s so great to see how much weight they have gained, but man, having 3 babies get their shots all at once is very, very hard on mom. Luckily, the crying didn’t last too long, for mom or the babies, but it was still hard on everyone.

The babies had a very busy past month. On Saturday May 12^th the babies were joined by many family and friends as they were baptized. It turned out to be a great day, the weather was amazing and no one cried as they were getting baptized. This past weekend they also tried their first bit of rice cereal. Maddy did the best with eating it, she opened her mouth and seemed to enjoy it. Dylan did ok at first, but he got mad that we didn’t get it into his mouth fast enough. Mason wasn’t quite sure what was going on, and we think he was too hungry, as he had a complete meltdown and wanted his bottle instead. It was quite comical, but we will keep trying until they all get a good rhythm down. The babies also had their 6 month pictures taken by our good friend Katee at Elegant Pear Photography. Mason did the best and Maddy wasn’t quite sure what to think, but the pictures turned out great! See some previews below.  All 3 babies are starting to notice Kita a little more. I don’t think they are quite sure what to think of the furry little guy that comes around them once in a while, but anytime they see him they just stare at him and try to figure him out. Each day brings more and more smiles from the babies. We have even been lucky to get all 3 of them giggling at the same time. It truly warms your heart when you hear them giggling away. Here is an update on each of the babies over the last month:

Mason James

Mason continues to be our little snuggle bug. He is still very content with hanging out in someone’s arms, the swing or just laying around on the floor. He has rolled over from his belly to his back just once, but we still counted it even though we think it was an accident =) He is also still our big boy, weighing in at 17lbs 12 oz, so close to being 18 lbs! it’s amazing how going from holding him to one of the other 2 makes such a huge difference. We had taken him into see a specialist at Children’s hospital to have his hemangioma looked at, along with another doctor to make sure it is not affecting his vision, and based on the findings we are going to wait it out a couple of more months to see if it keeps growing in size or starts to go down. Some of the treatment options have scary side affects, and we don’t want to have to go through surgery as he would need to be put down, so for now we are going to wait it out. The eye doctor said his vision is in no way being affected, so we will just keep a close eye on it. This past weekend Mason learned that he could scream out, quite loud in fact, and he did it all weekend long. We think he loved hearing his own voice, even if this morning it scared Dylan and made him cry =)

Dylan Patrick

Dylan continues to be our very independent and roly-poly. He doesn’t stay in one position for very long, and is the only one that we currently have sleeping un-swaddled at night.  He loves to stand up either by being held or in the jumper we have for him. He also puts absolutely everything he gets his hands on directly into his mouth. We have a feeling it won’t be long before he, or any of the babies for that matter, start getting some teeth. Dylan also is our most sensitive one, any loud sounds seem to scare him a little more than the other two, so we have to console him a little more if there is too much noise around. He loves being held up in the air and is our super happy go lucky boy.  Dylan is now over 2 feet tall, but he is our skinny little guy weighing in at just 15 lbs.

Madelynn Grace

Oh Maddy, where do I begin with her? She continues to be the princess of the house, again keeping us on our toes as to what she will do next. She still keeps us all in check, for sure letting everyone around know if she is in any way not happy at all. She has rolled over a couple of times for us in the past, but this weekend she made a show of it rolling from her stomach to her back a bunch of times over and over again. She is also proving to catch up to her brothers in weight, as she is now weighing in at 13.5 lbs. Not much longer and we are thinking she will be catching up to Dylan. She definitely does not enjoy going down for naps, as she is scared she will miss out on something that is happening out in the living room, but once we can get her settled down she is down for the count. On the babies baptism day, Madelynn carried on a tradition that I hope one day her daughter will carry on for her, as she wore the very same dress that I was baptized in when I was a baby.

We have been very, very lucky to have such great babies. All 3 seem to be sleeping very good at night (our last feeding is at 7 pm and they can make it usually anywhere from 4-6 am without having to eat again) and continue to be very, very healthy. Knock on wood, we have yet to have anyone with any sickness at our house! We can not even begin to count the blessings and joy these 3 amazing little babies have brought to our family and we can not imagine our lives any other way. It is hard to believe that in just another 6 short months we will be celebrating their birth as they turn 1 years old!

This year definitely marked the best Mother's Day I could ever ask for. It is hard to believe that in 1 year we have learned about and had these 3 little miracles!

We hope everyone has a safe and fun start to their summer with a great Memorial Weekend coming up!

S&B+3



1 Year Ago Today...

1 year ago, Shawn and my life changed completely; we learned I was pregnant. Little did we know, that just 18 short days later we would learn by how much! It is truly a miracle that we have been blessed to be the parents of the 3 sweetest little babies anyone could ever ask for. It actually brings tears to my eyes as I write this, to think about everything we have been through in the last 2+ years. As you are growing up, you always have a plan to get married, have kids and live life to the fullest with your family. You never plan on the thought of not being able to have children, or even thinking that you would have to jump through a year of hoops to achieve it. It was truly an emotional, physical and mental rollercoaster. You tell yourself every day to not get your hopes up that “this time” you will get the phone call with the positive pregnancy test results, but yet time and time again, we did. After 4 rounds of IUI with negative results, we decided the next best step was to try just 1 last time and if that did not work we would have to give IVF a try. At this time, I was giving myself shots in the stomach every day to help stimulate my ovaries, and for those of you who do not know, I have an EXTREME fear of needles. I still remember the day I had to go into the clinic to learn how to give myself these shots, and they would not let me leave until I could prove to them I could do it by injecting myself with just some water. I seriously sat at the table and cried for a  half hour, but in the end, it ended up being not as bad as I had thought. Now how many months later, with my belly covered in bruises from the needles, I was happy to hear that we would be moving on to the next step.

On Friday April 22^nd, I went in for the 5^th and final round of IUI. Shawn and I had already counted on this not working, so I think this was the one time I actually did not get my hopes up, at least not as high. We had planned to try this one last time, take the summer off due to the 9 weddings we had and so we could save up for our first round of IVF in the fall. 2 weeks later on this exact Friday (it was May 6^th) I went in to the clinic for my normal 2 week blood draw before work. It was around 11am when I got the call from the clinic, the call that anyone going through fertility treatments can tell you they dread, but so look forward to getting just so you have an answer. When I answered the phone, and the nurse asked me if I was sitting down, I was almost sure it was going to be a no. She immediately blurted out, Your Pregnant!!! I literally almost fell out of my chair. She then proceeded to tell Happy First Mother’s Day, as that coming Sunday was indeed Mother’s Day. She gave me my blood results, and sure enough we were REALLY pregnant!

Looking back, I still question as to why God wanted us to go through this. I always asked Him if I had done something in the past that he had wanted me to make up for, but in the end I know it was all a part of His plan. If anything, I should be thankful, because without this experience we would probably not have our 3 little peanuts, who I would never want to be without. It is hard to imagine life not as a triplet mom, with all the fears and joys we have had this far. I think God just wanted me to learn to be a little more patient, as being a mom of triplets you definitely need a whole new level of patience. I also remember towards our last IUI telling Shawn that after we got pregnant, I wanted to be done with having kids as I could not handle the emotional rollercoaster anymore. God must have heard me, and that is why I think he blessed us with all 3 at once.

I can not thank all our family and friends who helped us and supported us through this journey thus far. I know I will never be able to repay you for it, but please know that you are all very, very dear to us and you will always hold a very special place so close to our hearts. We so look forward to all the memories and adventures that all our families have together in the future!

Love always,

Beth