Noah And The Trio: January 2015

It's hard to believe that Cadence, Aria, and Jude are 6 months old already! And, I had my official "in and out day" last Saturday, on January 24th. Basically, all the triplet moms in the forum I belong to celebrate this day by putting up their last belly shot picture and a picture next to it of their babies at the same age outside the womb. Mine, of course, was in and out at 26+2. The babies are doing great! They are now down to six bottles a day- 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. Notice that they go from 9pm-6am? They are sleeping through the night! I can't believe it! I followed the Babywise method. Somehow I don't think it was all me. I think the nicu out them in a nice 3 hour routine and I have them to thank :) They drink 3-4oz bottles (2/3 breastmilk, 1/3 formula) fortified to 24 calories. The babies are so in sync with each other that they always poop on the same day, too, sometimes even the same diaper change (they poop every 3 days or so). They have lost all their baby hair and now their new hair is coming in! has been so fun watching each of their little personalities develop. Here is a low down of how each baby is doing:

Cadence- Nicknames include "Cadee Cakes," "Cadence Rosie," "Coo Bear" and "Chubs." She is 11lbs 12oz. On the adjusted growth curve for weight she is in the 29th percentile! She loves to smile and coo and make laughing sounds. She also liked to repeat after me and imitate my sounds. She is my future singer. She is also the ring leader and is always the first to wake up for her bottle. I sometimes have to put her in the mamaroo in the middle of the night with a binkie to hold her off. She hates tummy time so we are working on getting her to like it. She recently started grasping a ball and smiling at herself in the mirror. She went to the cardiologist this week and praise God her PDA and ASD closed up! So, that means no heart surgery! Also, I noticed that she has her first tooth coming in on the top!

Aria- Nicknames - Ari, AhWeeAh (like Aria in a baby voice), Little Girl, Miss Ari, Little Lamb. Aria is our little peanut and currently weighs 10 and a half pounds. She is a good little eater and kills her bottle most of the time. She sometimes out-eats her siblings even though they are bigger! We also call her our "Champion Burper" because she is so easy to burp and she always lets out a big, loud one. She likes to sleep a lot which only means she is growing like a weed. She is excellent at holding her head up and doing tummy time. She was the first one to start smiling and has the cutest dimple on her left cheek. Her eyes are still a grayish/green color, and her hair is coming in kind of reddish. She is the quiet one of the bunch, and is very easy going. I hear that she is the most photogenic baby ever and cannot take a bad picture (according to her professional photographer and Auntie, Maria).

Jude- Nicknames- Mr. Jude, Juju, Big Boy, Jude Bug, Bugey- Jude is doing very well and is almost 12 pounds. We are happy to say that he is almost 100% off his oxygen! We are supposed to keep it on only at night but he almost always manages to remove it from his nostrils so it's like he doesn't have it at all and it shows he really doesn't need it. He always sats at like 95 with it off. We are also happy to report that his PDA and ASD in his heart has closed! I'm guessing that this is why he does not need the oxygen anymore. We are finally getting Jude's reflux under control with Zantac, Mylanta and positioning. Unfortunately, because his reflux is so bad and we try not to move him too much, his head is a little flat and he has a preference to looking to his left which means his neck is pretty weak. We are starting physical therapy this week and hopefully we can correct this but I have a feeling he may need one of those helmets. He is an easy going fellow and has the sweetest smile (he had daddy's thin lips).

Noah- Nicknames- Nono, Mr. No-it-all, NahNah, Tutz- Noah is doing okay with his new brothers and sisters in the house. He was doing really well, then he got pretty jealous and it all came to a head around New Years Day. Thankfully, we are on the upswing and his behavior has been much better. I can't wait until the jealousy phase is over and for Cadence, Aria, and Jude to start playing with him!

Tim and I are doing pretty well. We hired a friend to help with the babies 4 days a week for 4 hours and it has been huge! It has alleviated so much stress and she is awesome. My mom still helps in the afternoons which has been such a blessing. We are so thankful for all the help we've received the last 6+ months. I'm putting a + because people started helping is well before the babies were born.

I'm feeling more at peace with delivering Cadence, Aria, and Jude at 26 weeks. I feel that God has given them and me an amazing testimony. I have been talking to an old friend who became pregnant with triplets whom actually just delivered at 28 weeks and she said that I made her feel better about delivering early and that "things are meant to be." I questioned putting in 3 embryos but now I so glad that I did because Ilove those babies so much and they were meant to be triplets. I chose NOT to do selective reduction and I was greatly rewarded. Thank you, Lord for helping me to keep my eye on the prize. Thank you for trusting me to be Noah, Cadence, Aria, and Jude's mother. Lord, please continue to watch over my family and keep is all healthy. That is my prayer.

Matthew 25:23

23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’