Well, all my angels are sleeping...and that includes Clark. Poor guy. He is working very long hours right now and barely has time to cuddle all three babies before he hits the pillow and starts all over again.
He luckily has been able to find time on the weekends to get out on some good bike rides though! He and a friend rode over 100 miles this past Saturday up to a lake that borders southern Oklahoma. I know, crazy. When they reached the lake they were feeling really good and had made it in about 2.5 hours. Then I didn't hear from him for another 5.5 hours. Those are the times when I start to panic. Apparently they rode against the wind on the way back and stopped at several Sonics to cool off. They made it though! Now he's trying to talk me into a long ride. I just tell him we need to wait until I can at least bend my knees again!
The babies are starting to become more awake and alert which means any free time between feedings is getting shorter and shorter since they are needing more attention. Starting at 8am (and every three hours after), Miss Leah gets fed. Then Zachary at 8:30am and Caleb at 9:00am. By the time everyone is happy and settled, like I mentioned before, we only have about an hour until we start over (If we're lucky and everyone has cooperated). We have to choose our interim activity wisely. Mine usually is mixing milk or showering. Mom's usually is a walk down the street or cleaning. Either way, the trio can't be fed in tandem so it still takes a while. We could feed them in tandem during the day but that would throw off their night feedings when only one person is awake doing it. They still have to be watched closely for choking/breathing/swallowing coordination too so feeding two at a time could be a problem. They are getting better everyday though. Point is, the three-hour schedule comes around quickly.
Went to the pediatrician this week because Caleb had a 'rash' on his upper chest, neck, and shoulders. He also had crusty eye issues and congestion. Doctor said not to worry about any of it and he just had a clogged tear duct and baby acne. I knew both those things already but when I called to ask the nurse about them, she insisted I come in. So whatever. Because we went though, Caleb got to be weighed. I'm happy to say we have an EIGHT-POUND baby! I was shocked! He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz at six weeks old (38 weeks 5 days). He is gaining around 2 oz a day. He feels like a monster compared to the other two but I didn't think he was that big already. No more preemie diapers for him. Here he is trying to escape this crazy place...
There is a wet bar right in the center of our house that we never use. When trying to figure out how we were going to work everything when the babies came, we decided to turn it into a 'baby bar.' The babies sleep in the dining room right off the kitchen and everything they need is in the bar. We turned the counter into a double changing table and have clothes, diapers, bath stuff, etc... in all the drawers and cabinets. Seems to be working good so far. Once they move back into their cribs I'm not sure we'll keep the baby bar going.
Here is my laboratory each night when I prepare the next five bottles for each baby. Lots of measuring and mixing and organizing bottle parts and labeling bottles. Took me almost an hour last night. Thank goodness we have the counter space.
I've started mixing half breastmilk and formula. This went fine for about three feedings then I think they caught on and wouldn't have anything to do with their bottles. Hopefully there aren't other underlying issues going on and they just don't like the taste or something. Next feeding I'm going to do exclusively formula and see if that's the case or if we need to gradually work with them.
Zachary had his eye exam last week. My 'mama bear' came out when I showed up to the office 45 minutes early (his eating time) in order to feed Zachary before the exam. They told me they like them to have empty stomachs so they don't throw up while laying down flat. I was super annoyed that no one told me that because I planned the exam around his feeding and can't get off schedule with two others at home. Obviously I told the receptionist that and how annoyed I was that this wasn't communicated. Everyone in the waiting room was looking at me and probably wondering why I was so mad about postponing his bottle 50 minutes. They said usually they tell the mothers that information but forgot to tell me. Hmmm... We got in right away and I just fed him afterwards which was fine. Usually I don't act like that in public so I was surprised and honestly, I didn't care what anyone at that office thought. I felt inconvenienced by the whole appointment anyway. That's the lack of flexibility coming out in me again. Zachary passed his exam with flying colors. I didn't watch but apparently they pried his eyes open and took a sterile paperclip to look behind them. They were looking to see if his retina was developing properly. I sat in the corner and luckily it only took about a minute. His eyes were all puffy and dilated but here he is with a nice post-bath comb over later that day. Clark refuses to let me comb his hair like that if he's around.
I don't know what it is about laying two babies in a boppy together but it always proves to be entertaining in one way or another.
This last picture is just cute. I'll keep the baby's identity anonymous since he/she wouldn't want a picture of their backside on the blog anyway. :)
