feeding charts

Back to School

~ flossie0808 ~ Leave a comment

red and me

I now have a totally new perspective on holiday season and see it all in a new light. I also have a new appreciation for January – who would have thought that a month that sees such depression numbers rocket could give me such joy!  But Christmas this year was unique and certainly not comparable to my normal flurry of joy.  I normally have my house decorated to an inch of its life, have cranberry sauce bubbling on the stove, bows and wrapping paper everywhere, the biggest Christmas tree I can find and to do lists galore.  This year I had triplets.

When juggling four children military timing is key.  Once you keep everything on a tight timeline, everyone is happy.  Deviate from this and it can tumble into chaos quite easily.  I knew the holidays was going to be a challenge.  Creche was closing, my minder was going home to her family and my own family were skipping off to the sun.  I had arranged a patchwork of help that was slightly fractured but very possible.  Unfortunately, I didn’t factor in a sick baby in hospital.

Isn’t it always the case, one thing goes wrong then everything goes wrong!  Its all a bit of a blur now but those two weeks were hell.  Poor little Abigail was in hospital with a bad dose of RSV Bronchilitis.  This has been a bad year for sick babies and Ireland’s wet, damp weather has not helped.  All my girls have had RSV and unfortunately it won’t go until winter passes and they are a bit stronger.  I have been in and out of doctors for weeks now and pretty much know all the signs.  Three things to watch out for:

  1. How is their breathing?  Are they panting?  When you look at them – does it look like they are using their rib cage to breath?
  2. Are they feeding?  Can they keep a feed down?  If vomiting, they can get dehydrated pretty quickly.
  3. Do they have a temperature?  When very small this can be quite serious and usually means they are trying to fight something.

abu

So January is here and I have never jumped out of bed with such a spring in my step.  2016 is full of promise.  The girls are just going to keep getting stronger and brighter every day (and maybe learn to sleep through the night!!!).  My little boy is full of wonder and vigor for life.  And I am reaching a very big milestone number this year- 40!! So yes it wasn’t the best Christmas in the traditional sense but wow – look where I am now.  Mum of four great kids who keep me on my toes and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Roll on 2016!

This month is all about sleep and stretching the night sleep.  The girls are doing fantastic so far and all the hard work is paying off.  It definitely pays to keep day as day! In other words, our house is not a silent place during the day, the girls get play time on their mat, change of outfit and nap in their bouncers.  I keep the cot for night sleep and have started diming lights from about 7.30pm to get the idea across that its sleep time.  We have a feeding frenzy every evening which is exausting and they can be very cranky.  However, once down, they get a dream feed at 11ish and sleep till 5.30/6am.  In the longterm this will be well worth it……

 

Juggling!!

~ flossie0808 ~ Leave a comment

Okay so now I get it.  I have been waiting all week for this madness that people expect with one toddler and three newborn babies.  Now I get it!  Saturdays and Sundays might just be my nightmare days.  I have planned for all eventualities but Saturday and Sunday mornings are just not going to be too smooth.  I have great help and support for the week.  The girls are on a great schedule, my son is in creche and I have extra help in the house.  All of this happens Monday to Friday.  By Saturday it all changes.

This morning it was just me and my four little goonies.  Rise and shine its 6am!  First breakfast for my son, get a wash on, get him changed and dressed, clean up the kitchen, empty the dishwasher.  Now this is nothing new!  Except from now on, on top of this there are three new mouths to feed.  So bottles to be sterilized, more nappies to be changed and two more hours of feeding.  Also playing lego, building train tracks, making pillow forts and driving cars all over the room.

I remember back to when my son was born and how calm it all was.  This lovely bundle of joy snuggling in my arms!  And how I never felt like I had a minute, how even boiling a kettle or having a shower was an achievement.  Now I am running a marathon!  While playing with my son down on all fours, I was also juggling at least one baby in a hope to get the wind up.  Feeding is now done with great speed and finesse.  With my boy, I have a stop watch – 20 minutes on each breast.  Burping was a leisurely pass time.  They say it changes with y0ur second  – this is so true and the third and the fourth!

So now I get it!

Home Sweet Home

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My three little ladies have arrived home and now our ‘normal’ can begin!

Our house is now full of muslin squares, blankets, baby grows, nappies, bottles and wipes.  There is a lot of paraphernalia when you have three babies but i am loving the chaos.  As someone who generally loves order this chaos could send me into a tail spin but god bless those love hormones.  It just doesn’t matter at the moment.  The most important thing is how all four children are doing.

Thankfully all are doing great.

My little boy headed off in his red dragon costume this morning, the girls have been fed and I have just had a cup of coffee.

Its the simple things.

Now that they are born I so much feel more human and have energy again.  That was a bloody tough pregnancy so it is great to be able to run up the stairs, jump out of a chair and run after my boy.  Christmas is only around the corner and I definitely think by then I will be ready to step out that door with my heels on, hair down and make up done. (Not yet though!!!!! – jelly belly from three babies and the hair doesn’t usually see a hairdryer these days)

Few tips that have helped me:

Feeding chart! – brilliant as long as you stick to writing everything down.  This includes times, amount and nappy changes.

Downsize! – Make one room your new home (for the moment) – we are literally living in the kitchen/play room.  The girls are in a cot, the changing station is here, their clothes are in a basket in the corner and the kitchen allows feeding of all! This allows us to live quite easily and no one is left on their own.

Swaddle! – premature babies are difficult to wind and are more used to being inside you.  There isn’t much room in your belly so like are used to being tucked up and cosy.  They tire easily and need a lot of sleep so wrap them up, put them down and let them sleep!  Don’t keep picking them up as tempting as it is.

Get help! – there is no point in being a martyr.  You will not receive any gold medals for doing it on your own.  All you get is absolutely exhausted!  I am feeling pretty calm these days because I have help.  Help is offered and I have learnt to accept it.  You need to find time for yourself, for your toddler and for your triplets – that is not possible without help!

While they are this size, life is pretty calm.  In no time we will be dealing with rollers and crawlers.  I am going to enjoy this phase first.

Getting excited!

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So i know its been a while since my last post but there have been times that i just didn’t feel the urge to put down in words how it was all going.  When you start sounding like a broken record to yourself you know it is not the time to share your thoughts.  Sufficed to say i am glad another month has gone by and i am now only 6 weeks away from welcoming the triplets into this world!

Sleep – well who needs it.  I have learnt to manage on very little these days, and although i get tired, i am learning to pace myself a bit better.  I am generally awake by about 3.30am and up by about 6.30am.  The 6.30am start is more due to the fact that my little 15 month old is not too keen on a lie in.  I usually get a yelp from the other room or a ‘Mama’ which means rise and shine another day is here.  We have had a couple of weeks of sleeping through the night – those mothers who love to tell you about how long their little one sleeps – i don’t listen to anymore! But there has been the odd night where, even after the 5 minute wait to settle, i have had to go in. We recently had another sinus infection to contend with.  The poor fella was miserable – as you would if not able to breath properly.  So after the 5 minute wait in i went to a very upset little boy.  I lifted him up and cuddled him for a little while. It was still pitch black in his room so i couldn’t really see too much.  As i sat there sushing him and letting him know everything was all right i leant down to kiss his forehead.  To my joy i realised that i had just kissed a lump of snot.  So while sushing and cuddling i was also gagging and desperately trying to get the snot off my lips.  This is all in the name of love and truly only something a mother would go through!

Went to visit a mother quads last week – best tip ever – get colour coded feeding charts!!!  I’m off to google a feeding chart!