Surprise! You're Having Triplets!

March 3rd: The day we received the most unexpected news which would change our lives forever. This is the day, last year, that we found out we were having three babies.

It seems that through my reading of blogs and associations with other multiple moms that we all have very similar experiences and emotions after finding out; that the 'day' will be forever vivid in our minds. I remember our 'day' like it was yesterday.

A couple weeks prior to the 'day' I had been feeling slightly sick, no throwing up, but had a lot of abdominal tenderness. I went to the doctor to have a blood test done to detect a possible pregnancy. The doctor called me later that evening to confirm my suspicions that I was indeed pregnant. My day 13 HCG level was around 160 mIU/ml. He said that was a bit high but nothing unusual. Although uncertain, he suspected more than one fetus but said lots of women sometimes have high HCG levels with just one. I went back to the doctor two days later to do a repeat blood test. This time to make sure the pregnancy had really stuck. My levels were now around 420 mIU/ml! Typically the HCG hormone doubles every 48 hours once pregnant. Mine had more than doubled and was already high to begin with. My pregnancy was a definite positive at this point. Doctor said congrats and I planned to see him in a few weeks for an ultrasound.

I honestly don't remember the next couple weeks leading up to my ultrasound other than I got sicker and sicker by the second. I was also becoming increasingly nervous about my doctor commenting that there might be more than one in there. Of course I shrugged those thoughts aside and believed I'd have a regular, complication-free pregnancy resulting in one healthy baby.

So the morning of my ultrasound arrived. I was taken into the sonogram room very quickly but waited for the nurse for almost 30 minutes!! I was so anxious. At this point I had convinced myself I was having twins because of how sick I felt. Double the hormones right? That makes sense. The nurse came in and started the sonogram.

There it was.

One little sac with a strong heartbeat. It was incredible that a little human had been created and was starting to grow. Then the nurse excitedly announced there was a second sac with a heartbeat! "Congrats! You have twins!" were her words. I said thanks but kept staring at the screen because while she was looking at me lending her congratulations, her hand had moved.

I had seen it. The third sac. She saw my face and asked, "aren't you excited about your two babies?" I told her to look at the screen and pointed at what I saw.


Then she was silent. She was no longer offering congratulations. At this point I knew she was checking to make sure she wasn't looking at one of the first two sacs, just at a different angle. Still silent. My heart was beating out of my chest at this point. I asked if it was a third sac and she finally answered and carefully said yes. In situations like mine, doctors/nurses are VERY careful to declare things before knowing for sure. However, there was indeed a third heartbeat. Ok....this is a joke right? This only happens to OTHER people. Not me. I laid my head back on the table and covered my face with my hands. Just breathing and thinking. It's amazing what happens to your mind when you find out news like this. It spins a million miles an hour. Then I asked, "can we make sure there are just three?" Don't worry, she started looking and suspected one more sac but couldn't tell!!

Oh gosh.

Again, she was not declaring anything because she wasn't sure. I was only five weeks along at this point so things were hard to see. She said it might just be a pocket of fluid but would have the doctor take a look. Suddenly I was annoyed at her lack of urgency. I wanted her to run out of the room and grab the doctor IMMEDIATELY. She proceeded to shoot the breeze with me talking about a past patient who had quads and all four babies survived; however, that mom was a lot taller than me. Hmmm...that's nice I guess. Didn't know what to say to that. Then she left, I got dressed, and sat there for another 20 minutes! Clark was not there because he had started into a busy time at work. Thinking it would be a regular ultrasound we didn't worry about him coming. So I called him, gave him the news, and he said, "don't joke." I told him I would definitely not joke about something like this. Then the nurse came in so I had to hang up quickly. I can't imagine how he was feeling getting that news then being hung up on.

I went into the Doctor's private office and he said congrats...that I should be excited I was pregnant!! I don't think I replied. He explained that the fourth baby was just fluid but we'd know for sure next week at another ultrasound. Again as other multiple moms can relate, the doctor immediately started talking about fetal reduction (as if it's supposed to make the news less shocking)...reducing the amount of fetuses down to two or even one. Doctors typically recommend this procedure with higher order multiples (three or more) because of all the risk involved for the mom and babies. The actual reduction procedure isn't performed until around 12 weeks because doctors wait for the possibility of the body naturally reducing the number of fetuses on its own. In my case there was a 33% chance of natural reduction, or miscarriage in other words. The doctor kept talking for about 20 minutes and I just got lost in my thoughts. For a moment, reducing became a real possibility because I just wanted all this to be reversed and changed so I was pregnant with just one. So I could just be normal. All the sudden I had lept into a world of high risk and abnormality. All the unknowns, the risk of early delivery, the risk of premature disorders, the risk of bedrest, babies in the NICU, the risk of pretty much ANYTHING! Doctor was still talking. Then I distinctly remember having an overwhelming feeling and thinking, "if my Heavenly Father wants to send us three babies....then I'll do what I can to make that possible."

Decision made. My moment of insecurity had passed and I told the doctor I was not interested in reducing. Even though those calming thoughts kept coming back of this being what God wanted for Clark and me, there was still no feeling of settlement. My mind was reeling. I left the office and on the way out everyone there hugged me. They said congrats but in a consoling kind of way like they really wanted to say, "I'm sorry" as well. I quickly got in the elevator and barely made it out before bursting into tears. These were not tears of anger or sadness. It was just my way of feeling all of that emotion. Being totally blind sided and completely overwhelmed in a matter of minutes. I had a long walk to my car and once inside I locked the doors and just sat there. Not moving. Not crying. Just frozen. This went on for about an hour. I did talk to Clark but I don't remember that conversation. Once I regained composure, the first person I called was my Mom...then my oldest sister. When I told my sister the news she simply said, "well, you'll do great."

Nothing more....just that. I guess that's all you can say to news like mine. So there was no where to go but forward. I actually appreciated what she said and that she didn't get all crazed. It kept me calm and grounded. I went home and, like other newly pregnant women, hung the ultrasound on the fridge. I ignored it though. Just noticed it when opening the fridge door; still in denial that the sonogram picture belonged to me. If I looked at it for too long I would just get all worried about the endless possibilities mentioned earlier. All the hormones weren't helping either. At one point I actually turned the picture around. I got a few more pictures the next week to add to the pile and I think those got stuffed in my purse. The doctor talked about reducing again but I emphatically reminded him we were keeping all three. I got sicker and sicker as the days passed and more overwhelmed at our imminent future. The news didn't get any less shocking over the next eight weeks. We did announce the pregnancy at ten weeks although I was reluctant because of the lingering possibility of miscarriage. People knew something was up though because of my behavior and sickness. It wasn't until about 12 weeks (when I knew all three babies were here to stay) that the reality punched me in the face and I knew we needed to get on the ball with preparation. When the shock finally subsided, excitement and anticipation set in. We had so much to do and I was in no state to do any of it! We got three cribs, prepared the house for my possible bedrest, and started buying diapers. However, just a short ten weeks later, I entered the hospital on strict bedrest and fully realized what type of sacrifice was going to be required to get these babies here.

I think back over and over to this day and all the emotions experienced. I'm still in awe that it happened to us. Then I think of our three sweet miracles and tears fill my eyes because I CANNOT imagine life without them. They all wanted to come together apparently and we just got lucky because we were able to meet three of our angels at once. We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for them and know it is by His hand they they are here in our family. Our 'day' was and still is unforgettable.

Four Month Developmental Update...

Well the big developmental appointment has come and gone. I'm still recovering and I even had a helper with me! :) Taking the babies out for more than 30-45 minutes at a time is a task and requires lots of prep. I was so anxious about the appointment that I woke up an hour before the babies, 5am, and started into overdrive. The prep and organization that went into the appointment didn't cause nearly as much anxiety as worrying about their naps. They really needed to be well-rested and naps don't go very well at our house. SURPRISINGLY, all three babies slept for about two hours that morning which was great because I was able to get SO much stuff done and they were definitely ready to go and show off for the doctor.

The babies corrected age is almost six months but since they were born early, developmentally their age is adjusted to be four months. When they all discharged from the NICU they received a referral to see a developmental pediatrician. There are NO shots given at this appointment for which I'm grateful. Those will be coming in a couple weeks. This particular pediatrician spends individual time with each baby and tests different areas to see where each baby is at according to their adjusted or corrected age. The different areas are gross/fine motor and receptive/expressive language.

She tested how well the babies tracked objects, how expressive they were with smiling/laughing/cooing, how they interacted with her and if they paid attention to her while she spoke, whether they turned to the sound of a bell, their ability to hold up their heads, roll over, sit, and whether they grabbed/reached for objects hanging above them. Then she did height, weight, and head measurements. I had fed the babies pureed carrots a couple hours before the appointment but all the josseling around during the evaluations caused all of them to spit up what they had eaten. So they had carrots and formula all over themselves. Gross. That's why they wear onesies everyday at home instead of actual outfits. The spitting is out of control. That's also why I have considered wearing a poncho because I am CONSTANTLY covered. I have more laundry then they do usually. Anyway, I kept apologizing to her that they had carrots all over them like it was some big deal or something. Obviously it wasn't. I want my babes to be in pristine condition when we go out! I'm learning that is not a reality. :)

Moving on. Here are the results of the evaluations. I feel they are more subjective than anything. For example, Caleb goes to town underneath the activity gym with grabbing everything that is hanging. When she dangled a red ring above him he just layed there. Like he was totally not amused by her toy. So of course he scored low in that area when REALLY it is probably one of his strongest areas. He's so good with his hands. It was hilarious though. Just totally gave her a blank stare.

Their weights were taken WITH clothes and with FULL diapers which, I believe, can add at least a few ounces. Also,the percentiles are with their corrected age.


CALEB:

Gross Motor: 5 months
Receptive Language: 5 months
Fine Motor: 4 months
Expressive Language: 4 months

Weight: 18 pounds (50-75th percentile)
Length: 25.5 inches (10-25th percentile)
Head: 45 cm (90th percentile)

His height is no longer keeping up with his head growth. Ha! Yeah he is almost hitting the weight limit on his car seat. I'm looking into buying another one. NEVER thought that would be the case.


ZACHARY:

Gross Motor: 4-5 months
Receptive Language: 5 months
Fine Motor: 4 months
Expressive Language: 4 months

Weight: 13 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile)
Length: 24 inches (10-25th percentile)
Head: 41.5 (50th percentile)

We did talk about the shape of his head and the fact that his ears are not even. She didn't seem concerned and made no recommendations for him to be evaluated by a cranial specialist. I mean, I'd like him to have a nice head shape just because he's a boy and won't have long locks to cover up irregularities. I'd like him to be able to shave his head and not feel weird that one side of his head is flatter than the other. HOWEVER, I sleep him on the side that isn't as far forward and it has helped IMMENSELY in evening him out. His unevenness used to be much worse so I'm happy with the progress and all we can do it keep working with him.


LEAH:

Gross Motor: 4-5 months
Receptive Language: 5 months
Fine Motor: 4 months
Expressive Language: 4 months

Weight: 14 lbs 10 oz (50th percentile)
Length: 24 inches (50th percentile)
Head: 41.5 cm (90th percentile)

I'm hoping she grows hair soon because she has an unusually large head. She does have ONE REALLY long hair. Don't know how or when that happened but I hope it is a sign that more hair is coming! She hasn't really found her voice yet and SOMETIMES gives me a laugh. Other than that though she is very observational and quiet.

Basically all the babies are making steady gains in growth and nice progress with their development. Keeping right up with their adjusted age of 4 months. No further evaluations were needed and we'll go back at their one year birthday to see how they're doing. I'm definitely happy with the results and am constantly impressed with how quickly the babies learn and how much they absorb from their environment. She did encourage us to use their names as often as we can and also work on their sitting abilities as they are all getting closer to sitting on their own.

Here they all are in the octopus outfits showing off their Bumbo skills before the appointment. Lighting wasn't good because it was 6:30am. I thought I'd get more pictures at the appointment but that didn't happen. Plus they had carrots all over themselves which doesn't make for a very cute picture.


Lastly, I have a serious question. Are gowns for boys more on the....femmy side? I'm never sure but sometimes they seem to look so comfortable so why should the boys miss out?? I'm really am curious though if gowns on boys are kind of weird.

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Well it was....now it's in the 70's this week. Hallelujah! We've had strange weather recently here in Texas. With all the ice, snow, and rolling blackouts, we were all pretty much home bound. We don't go anywhere anyway but the fact that we COULD NOT if we needed to was depressing. I don't get cabin fever very bad compared to Clark who gets ancy with one day not going anywhere (guess it's probably good I was the one lying in the hospital bed for over two months :) but all this cold weather has definitely given me a bad case of the fever. To top that off, the babies refuse to all be sleeping/awake at the same time so even going for a drive can get tricky with their naps. Luckily RSV season is soon to be over and good weather is on the way. I don't think I could stay cooped up for much longer. I'm hoping they will become better nappers as the time goes on too. Who knows.

SO...

since we were all iced/snowed in, I decided it would be a great time to do errands! These are house errands and the babies actually enjoy it. I put them all in the triplet stroller and push them from the living room to the kitchen to the bedroom to the family room to the laundry room doing all sorts of tasks and errands on the way. We stop and they look around while I do whatever I'm doing then we go to another area. I think they like looking at something new once in a while.

Here's the mammoth triplet stroller. I love, love, love it! It was GENEROUSLY given to be by a member of my church who didn't have triplets but three small children. I am SO grateful because these things are not cheap. The trio isn't quite ready for it yet because they have to be able to sit up but around the house it isn't a big deal. I just prop with blankets. I can't wait to take this thing out regularly! That is Zachary in front. Don't be confused by the pink blanket. I grab what is within my reach. Leah second, Caleb third.


While we were already trying out some new fun things, we decided to try out the triplet table too!!! Get excited for lots of pictures in this thing...


Again, they aren't quite ready for it, plus they aren't eating solid food anyway. They kept throwing their heads around and hitting them on the plastic seats. We'll try this again another time. :) Fun to see what's ahead though. Great Grandma and Grandpa got this for the trio and we think it is SO awesome. The babies did too.

We also tried out the Bumbos! We have put them in occasionally to see how they are progressing with their head and back strength. During the snow days they were looking pretty good! They do fatigue pretty quick though so we don't do the Bumbos for long.




The temperature was seriously so cold here for a few days. Our home is old and drafty so I was worried that the babies were too cold. Because I swaddle the heck out of them at night I don't dress them very warm for sleeping. But during the day we busted out these fleece sleep sacs which were PERFECT for the cold days. My friend who also had triplets gave these to me. She had two girls and a boy...hence the colors. Zachary wore his yellow just fine though!


The babies liked to keep up to date with all the snowfall other places. Caleb got online to see what was going on and couldn't believe the snow in Chicago. CRAZY!




The babies also liked chillaxing in the swings. I put Zachary on a silk blanket in the swing and came back to this...

He was almost out! He's a little squirmer.


We also did lots of reading. This picture is not a great representation since it is VERY rare to have all three babies awake the same time and have them be alert also. Usually one is tired or eating or whatever. So when they are all awake it's fun to read.


Now that the weather has turned around, we ventured in the backyard and sat under some umbrellas. Leah and Zachary are terribly sensitive to bright lights so I had to use dark blankets over the umbrellas. That seemed to do the trick. They all liked being outside though. Caleb laid out there for almost an hour! Leah was just concerned about getting a little sun to her legs. She's got to get ready for swimsuit season!


The babies wanted to wish everyone a happy love day! Three times the love here at our house (Caleb has serious camera phobia. He has the CUTEST, gummiest smile but as soon as the camera appears, his smile disappears).

Five Months...

Well I would like to proudly say that by five months (14.5 weeks adjusted age), all three babies have slept 12 hours at night twice. HALLELUJAH!! Naps are a different story and I'll touch on that in a different post. Soooo we've hit a great milestone here at the Rudd house! Every night is different with problems like Zachary waking up for a pacifier several times, Leah waking up because her one good nostril is clogged, Caleb waking up at 4am and wanting to play, etc... but we can finally see some light and hope that in the next couple months the babies will be more consistent with their sleep durations. Unfortunately I have had to stay up all night, many nights, working on the babies sleep patterns these past few months. Once I would get one down, another one would wake up an hour later. Or if I was encouraging a certain baby to sleep rather than eat, I had to be fully awake on pacifier duty while possibly soothing and feeding another. LUCKILY I have NOT been undertaking this monstrous 'sleeping through the night' task alone. In fact, I have not been without help since the babies came home four months ago! There has always been an extra set of hands whether it was my Dad, Mom, Clark's Mom, the night nanny, or Clark (all at separate times), so that come 6am I was able to crawl into bed and sleep for 5-6 hours while one of them would take baby duty. We were sure sad to see our night nanny go after six weeks that's for sure! When she left, we were JUST starting to encourage Caleb to sleep for four hours at night rather than three. Wow. Seems like eons ago. Point is, there is NO WAY I could've cared for three babies, stayed up all night with them, and started all over the next day without help. No way. Clark and I are so grateful for our family members who have sacrificed their time, sleep, and money to come to Texas and jump into the chaos going on here. We can truly never repay them because seriously, it was pretty crazy around here for a while. My mom was reminding me what life was like for the first few weeks after the babies came home and honestly I hardly remember any of it!!! It is such a blur now and I'll be honest again, I hope to never have to experience the first few months with three babies at the same time again! HA! I'm SO glad we are finally at this point. The guest room is empty now with the exception of Clark's sisters coming in a few weeks. I'm so excited for what lies ahead in the coming months and all the milestones the babies will reach. They truly are amazing human beings and I can't believe we have three of them. Really....I still can't believe it. :)

By the time I finally got to working with Zachary and his sleeping through the night, I started to get real inconsistent with when I fed him overnight, how long I let him cry, etc... I think it was because by the third kid, I was just so anxious to get him to 12 hours that I skipped a lot of vital steps I practiced with the other two. I showed a lot of consistency with Caleb and Leah and they were having successful stretches of sleep right away. We had one REALLY bad night with Zachary. He slept from 6-10pm then cried from 10-12am, then woke up and cried at 2am, 4am, and 5:30am. The next night.....he slept from 6pm-4am, the next night he slept all the way through! This was all the while Caleb and Leah had been sharing a room. Apparently Leah is a loud sleeper. Typically from 5-6am she thrashes and groans but is still asleep. Unfortunately this would wake Caleb and he would start to cry which woke Leah all the way. So for three nights they were up crying around 5am. Yuck. Caleb is now in our closet and doing much better. Fortunately for him he'll move into the guest room as soon as Clark can move the crib. You'd think a four bedroom house would be big enough for three kids!! Nope, someone still ended up sleeping in a closet. :) We actually don't mind him in the closet because he is so quiet. He does sometimes wake up in the 5am hour but just lays there quietly. Such a sweet boy.

It's so interesting to think back to when we were house hunting. We were surprised at how few homes there were to choose from and the ones that were available in our price range weren't in the condition we'd hoped. So we viewed our current home the first day it had been on the market and didn't actually have it on our 'to look at' list. We put in an offer that night, as it was in our price range, with someone else's offer and luckily ours was accepted! It had four bedrooms which was kind of awkward because it was just me and Clark. We planned on having a workout room, sauna room, candy room, theater, etc... You name it, we were going to have it in one of our many rooms. Sadly, months went by and nothing happened with the rooms. We got lots of questions about why we bought such a big house and we always answered that it was just put right in front of us so we couldn't pass it up. Little did we know all the rooms would be filled a little over a year later! Strange....we know this home has been a HUGE blessing in all of this though. Crazy how things work out.

Here's some other five-month tidbits. Not much has changed since their four month mark. I've tried several times again to do rice with Zachary but he is clearly not ready. Oh, he is still eating fine and we are still using the Simply Thick. I'll probably change over to rice cereal as a thickener here in another month or so. Leah could really use a thickener in her bottles as well (I've been using half Simply Thick packets for her) so I'll probably use the rice cereal in her bottle soon. She does eat some vegetables at night with Caleb. All we've tried so far is squash. They seemed to like it all right but I know their little bodies are having to adjust to food which makes for some uncomfortable gas at times.

This past month a record was set in our house....

I changed FOUR dirty diapers in about 30 minutes. Seriously? They decided to make my life really interesting all at the same time.

I have been trying a couple different formulas. I used up all my free Enfamil, and since it is more pricey, wanted to change to a cheaper brand. I tried Costco and felt like it was such a thick, frothy formula. Enfamil was so smooth and I was obviously used to that. So I trialed Walmart Parent's Choice and that seems to be comparable to Enfamil's consistency although it smells so weird. I can't hardly smell it once it's mixed and wonder how these babies want to drink it every four hours. They do though. That's all that matters I guess.

We're moving along though and six months will be here before we know it! Here's some five month pics... The third one isn't that great of Leah but it makes me laugh. Check out their new five-month picture on the sidebar too!






*Photos courtesy of Gram

Blog Book and Another Pic Week

Remember a REALLLLY long time ago when I said I started a blog book?? Well the project was started last May when I was really becoming immobile and needed to stay off my feet. I had finished quite a bit at the time I was admitted to the hospital but unfortunately could not work on it there. Had to be on our home desktop. So the project went on hold and was FINALLY finished the last day of 2010. Because I was so anxious to finish and order, there are some editing mistakes that will bug me forever but other than that, I LOVE the book and am so glad we have all the memories and pictures from our first five years of marriage. The boys took their turns reading it and enjoyed seeing how relaxed and stress-free their parents were before they arrived. :)



Monday: Everybody seated and ready for a walk! We've only had a couple nice days here in the past few weeks which is a bummer. On those days, though, we try to get the babies out! Considering the babies never go anywhere, they are rarely in their car seats. So when we do strap them in, they hate it! Zachary cries in the car and while on walks. I don't know, maybe the bumps aren't as soothing for him. They are all so relieved to be freed and just lay out on the floor when we get home.


Tuesday: Instead of walking around the neighborhood, we loaded up the babes in our van (I know, we got a van so I could at least bring my purse and diaper bag when we went anywhere! Didn't have any room otherwise :) and headed to a nature reserve just 10 minutes away. It's pretty funny to look back and see three car seats. The reserve is SO quiet and there is a little lake. The paths are smooth so Zachary was pleased but nothing is green right now so the scenery stunk. At least we found a little place to go on walks though!


Wednesday: I went and bought a six-month onesie for Caleb because he has currently outgrown all the onesies we have. It looked huge in the store but when I brought it home.....fit perfectly! Oh boy! I loved the irony of him wearing a shirt that said little brother. Technically he is. Sooooo, went and bought some 12-24 month onesies, washed them, and they fit much more comfortably!


Thursday: We had a wrestling match before baths to see who could go first. Leah pinned Zachary in no time again showing that Baby A will always get to go first!! She LOVES her baths and inevitably cries every night when I get her out. I've resorted to Baby Einstein just to entertain and calm her while we bath the others. Don't worry, they both hugged and kissed after wrestling.


Friday: I got this picture from my Mom's camera while she was here. I just love it! My whole family was together for Christmas and we video chatted with them Christmas Day. My brother was running the chat while all the girls in the family and my Dad gathered around to see the trio. I'd like to know what we were saying or doing at this moment!


Saturday: The babies third nap of the day....stinks. It's never restful or long and they just whine and cry. They all end up in the swings because it keeps them quiet and allows them to take a short cat nap before we start our bedtime routine. By that time of day we are just tired of walking back and forth to the bedrooms to put binkis in so the swings work quite nicely! This video represents about 5 minutes of quiet time. Because right after I stopped recording....they woke up.

Caleb's Turn

I have to give credit where credit is due.

A Simply Simple Answer...

So I've mentioned in previous posts about our little man Zachary and how he has eating issues. Well even after visiting the pediatrician at his four-month appointment, she said he just needs to grow out of the reflux and to continue on with his medication. Well that advice does me no good considering I'm the one at home feeding him! Ironically, the week following his appointment, the symptoms progressively got worse.

It was apparent he was hungry and would gulp down 1-2 ounces. Then he would arch his back, cry, scream, squirm, etc... It was a chore just to get another ounce down. He really wasn't eating that much to begin with so of course this stressed me out big time that he refused to eat. The most frustrating thing is not knowing how to help or what to do. I wished he could just TELL me! So after a week of his behavior worsening and him projectile vomiting an ENTIRE night feeding, I was feeling so defeated. On top of that, stress makes me break out. Although my acne has worsened since having babies, these past couple weeks it has really gotten bad. Just having ONE baby with eating issues is enough to make a mom go crazy. On a side note, I've started using anti-wrinkle cream. Didn't know wrinkles came with babies too. :)

SO, I tried thickening his bottle with rice cereal. I was really excited and thought he might like it. However, it was such a calorie boost that he wasn't hungry the next feeding. Also, the rice gets thicker as it sits in liquid so by the end of one of his bottles, I had cut through three nipples just trying to keep the flow good for him. Mind you there are still two other babies eating at the same time and needing attention. I started asking around my multiples group to see if other mothers had experienced this. Some had and surprisingly a couple moms brought up milk aspiration and a product called Simply Thick. I've heard of the product before and hoped I wouldn't need to use it because of it's non-caloric value and price. However, when I heard other babies acting JUST like Zachary, I figured he was probably having the same issues. Simply Thick is a clear, tasteless, liquid thickener that you add to 4 oz of any liquid. It is supposed to help people with swallowing problems but in babies with reflux, it helps make the milk heavier, helps it go down the correct tube, and helps it stay in the stomach. I think what was happening with Zachary was when his stomach would fill up a little, because of the reflux, the milk would start coming back up and irritate his esophagus. I called my pedi and asked about changing to a gentler formula, maybe with less lactose because his stools were so hard, and possibly starting on the Simply Thick. She gave the go ahead for the Simply Thick and said we'd wait on the formula so see if things changed. With trying to solve an issue like this you can only change one thing at a time to know what worked.

You would think that typical pharmacies sell the Simply Thick. Nope. Of course not. So I spent all morning calling around trying to find where I could pick it up. I FINALLY looked on the Simply Thick website to see where they distribute it and much to my surprise, there is a specialty pharmacy right on the corner!! I ran and got a few packs to try out with Zachary before committing to a whole box.

Oh. My. Gosh.

He's a different boy.

He drank his bottle and didn't cry ONCE! I probably cried with how happy I was. The following three feedings that day were the same and I couldn't believe a difference it made!! The thickener makes it hard to get the milk flowing so I cut some bigger holes in the nipples just like with the cereal. However, I could never get a perfect size and decided to just use a level 3 Dr. Brown nipple even though I felt like it took much longer for him. I think he gets tired of sucking so hard by the end of the bottle but he doesn't seem to mind that much anymore. He still does protest his bottle sometimes but I believe it's because he is actually full and not in pain. I've come to that conclusion because he is not screaming. Now we are just having to deal with how distracted he gets during eating. He would rather look around at anything instead of drink. Here's our solution...



I've heard that the thickener can slow the babies stools down even more so we've started giving him 1/2 oz prune juice at night with his vitamins. Seems to do the trick! The Simply Thick adds more volume to the bottle but he still drinks the same amount of milk as before. He is now drinking around 21 oz/day. Almost 3-4 oz more than when he was at his worst. Still not a lot but let's face it, he's just not a big eater. Anyone ever met his Dad? :)

I'm just so relieved that we could find a temporary solution until he hopefully grows out of this reflux thing. I know it will help when we start adding solid foods but I don't really want to go there for a while yet.

In other news that isn't so serious, here are some highlights from this past week:

• Caleb no longer fits into six-month onesies after they have been washed.
• Leah and Caleb now share a room since they are both sleeping through the night (however, this morning Caleb woke up at 5am subsequently waking Leah. Although I didn't go get them until six, their nap schedule has totally been thrown off).
• We took the babies mall walking, covered up of course, but it was nice to get out of the house. The mall we went to is NEVER busy so I wasn't too worried about germs. Plus, we didn't stop to talk to anyone. We have a double and single stroller and someone asked if we had quads. Funny. Like we had stuffed two babies into one carseat.
• We rescanned our television converter box and it finally picked up ABC! Now I can enjoy the Bachelor and Modern Family. Yes!
  
• The biggest highlight of all.......two babies rolled over multiple times on their own!!!

Caleb will hopefully get there soon!