Expecting triplets - here to say hello! - Page 2

[lilmom]

EMAYA!!!! Another BSL friend popping to say congrats my friend!!! I am soooo thrilled for you! That is absolutely wonderful news! I wish you the best with the pregnancy and raising those little ones! Get plenty of rest!!!

[Emaya]

Hello again all MOMs! Just wanted to report back that everything went really well with the birth - it was a c-section but not at all as bad as I had imagined. Babies came at 36 weeks and were healthy and "big" (for triplets - boys over 4 lbs and girl just over 5). After about a 30 second check-over by three pediatricians, they were on my chest as they sewed me up and haven't left me since. They (and we) were extremely lucky and needed no NICU time -- we were at the regular live-in hospital care with the midwives for one week to get the hang of feeding and caring for 3 (and the midwives were so awesome, they would wheel out the bed that the babes shared every night around midnight and care for them for 5 hours so we could sleep and I could recover a bit that first week). I LOVE SWEDEN: Guess how much we paid for the birth and the five of us to stay at the hospital? About $120. And our daughter could have stayed with us too, but she wanted to hang out with her grandparents.  They all tried breastfeeding and had mild success, but I've been almost exclusively pumping and supplementing with formula, about 50/50 (they're three weeks old now).

We're tired, but I must say, things are easier than they were with my dd, at least for now before my dh has to go back to work in about a 6 weeks. I give myself one 5 hour stretch of sleep every night without pumping or feeding, and my husband takes one too, and then we both get a nap sometime during the day. Then there's coffee.

I continue to comb through these multiples threads gaining wisdom :)

[mylilmonkeys]

Wow!  Congratulations!  I hope it continues to go well with you.  I love all the support you are getting.  Wish I could have had half that with my twins. :)

[speedfunk]

Congrats to you and your family!  That's awesome you all made it to 36w!

[ladydodson]

oh congratulations!!! those are some well-grown babies. good job, mama!! xoxox. share some pics if you get a chance!

[Emaya]

Thank you lillmonkeys, speedfunk and Becky! Here's a pic from when they were sewing me up during the c-section. They put hats with numbers on them directly to keep them distinguishable (though the girl is easily identifiable ). We've painted little Eugene's big toenail as we can't tell the boys apart yet. They were just 30 grams apart at birth, and have grown at the same rate since then... I'm glad they shared their placenta so well, but I hope they start looking a little different soon so I don't have to keep putting the same color on Forest (green - I know, it's kind of cheesy). 

[charis4]

Congrats on your triplets!!! My GBG set just turned 1 and I finally have a little more time so I'm on this board again, I'm a little behind the curve. :) That's so amazing that you were able to make it to 36wks and take them home!!!

How are things going now that they've been home for a while? Haha, if you even find the time to get on here anymore. :)

[Emaya]

Thank you Charis4! Wonderful to see another triplets mama here -- and nice to hear that you have a little more time with your babies being 1 now! I figured that this was the easy part, the first few weeks when they sleep so much. I read in your other post on the Quadruplets thread that you exclusively breastfed for over 6 months and I'm super impressed! All the pumping and bottle washing has me tuckered out, and I'm still only doing about 50/50. But that's what I've decided I can do, and it does allow me to get a 6-hour stretch of sleep at night (my husband takes the 8p.m.- 2a.m. feedings, and I take the 2 - 8 a.m. feedings and then we share during the day, taking naps when we can -- he's on paternity leave as all Swedes get a ton of paid time off from work when they have a baby or three ). I got one "bad" boob that only makes half as much milk as the "good" one. I suspected as much when I was bf-ing dd, but now it's clear as day with the equal pumping on both sides with my hospital grade medela pump. They just passed their estimated due date if they had gestated for 40 weeks and weigh almost 8 lbs each so I'm very very happy.

[lesliesara63]

Congratulations Emaya! Glad to hear everything went so well & no NICU time was needed. Good luck getting settled & used to feeding and caring for three babies.