Loving the Manning Triplets: August 2013

I was at the hospital feeding Keira last Tuesday and out of nowhere the nurse says to me, "She should be ready to go home in about 24-48 hours and her sister shouldn't be too far behind." What?!? Panic ensued. I was sure that it would be another couple of weeks before anyone would come home. I wasn't ready. I had a diaper bag to pack, swings to set up, car seats to install, pictures to hang. Not to mention the hospital required 4 hours of training videos that I had to watch before I could take anyone home. On a side note, the videos were ridiculous. How to Install a Car Seat (an hour long!), How to Not Shake Your Baby, etc.

I stayed and watched all of the videos on Tuesday night, then got up very early Wednesday and began preparing just in case Keira came home. When we went in Wednesday night, they informed us that Keira would be ready to come home on Thursday. Also, Violet hit the 4 lb mark so she was eligible for the car seat test and could come home as well if she passed. Two babies!! At the same time!! I was so excited I couldn't even focus.

Thursday was a whirlwind. I had my 6 week post-op appointment and was cleared to exercise in whatever ways I feel comfortable. Then I headed to the hospital with Ryan to get the girls. I was so excited until the reality hit that I was going to be leaving my son in the hospital alone. After we strapped the girls into their car seats, I just held Lincoln and cried. Before when I left I knew that the kids had each other. I also knew that I could come in and visit them whenever the mood struck. With two girls adjusting to life at home, it was going to be very difficult to return to the hospital. Because we had to leave one child behind, the homecoming was bittersweet.

Little Lincoln man has been struggling with eating. He has only been taking about half of his feedings by mouth and the rest by G-tube. For the last week it hasn't seemed like there was any improvement. On Saturday, his regular nurse noticed that he was more lethargic than usual. Recognizing lethargy in Lincoln is tough because he has always been such a chill little guy. He rarely cries or fusses. Then, he had an episode where his breathing stopped and heart rate dropped dramatically. In very early preemies, this is normal. In a baby Lincoln's age (he would be 37 weeks gestation if he were still in the womb), it is a sign of infection. They decided to do a battery of tests and start him on antibiotics as a precautionary measure. Turns out, our little guy has a urinary tract infection. After being on the antibiotics for about a day and a half, he began to eat all of his food by mouth. If he continues to eat and doesn't have anymore episodes, he could be home by the end of his seven day course of antibiotics. If you're the praying kind, please say a prayer that Lincoln heals and can join the family soon.

The last week with the girls has been good. The first night was tough, but now they are really getting into the groove of our routine. We keep them on a three hour schedule. Eat, play for 45 minutes, nap. They are like little clocks now. At night, we don't set any alarms. We just get up when they cry which is at 1:00 and 4:00. Ryan does the 1:00 feeding and I do the 4:00. This way we each get about 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. (Unless one of the girls has a bad night). So far, the worst thing has been managing the oxygen tanks that they came home with. It's a challenge to keep the cords from tangling up and they keep ripping out the nasal cannulas. I swear they're out of the noses more than they're in.

We're far from perfect, though. We've had a couple of mishaps along the way. The second day they were here, I was trying to feed Keira and she would suckle like a ravenous beast then pull away and start screaming and crying every time I put the bottle in her mouth. The more I tried to feed her, the louder and more unhappy she got. If I put her down she screamed and put her hands in her mouth cuing for food. Finally, after 10 minutes of being screamed at I realized that the bottle nipple had no hole in it. Poor baby. She was starving and getting no food at all. We've also had a couple of dogs in the diaper trash can incidents. Why do dogs like poop so much? First the litter box, now this? Gracious. We'll come up with a good solution soon I'm sure.

To wrap up, I thought I would list some parenting nuggets from my first week as a mom:

1) BabyWise is the bomb-diggity. (Yes, I realize no one says that anymore. But I'm a mom now, I'm not supposed to be hip to the lingo.) Following that book is seriously saving our sanity.
2) Pandora has a lullaby station and it's magic.
3) The MamaRoo is amazing for soothing a fussy baby. I wish they made one in my size.
4) WubbaNubs are completely unnecessary, but my babies look stupid cute sucking on a pacifier with a cute little animal attached to it.
5) The "seatbelt" on the diaper changing pad is worthless. Whose idea was that?
6) Boppies (I guess that's how you spell the plural of Boppy...#motherofmultiplesproblems #Ihavenoideawhatahashtagisfor) are perfect for extending lap surface area for holding multiple babies.
7) When using the hospital's bottle nipples, always check for a hole.
8) Jogging with a double stroller should be an Olympic sport.
9) There are no longer simple errands. They are now events. When Lincoln comes home they will become circus acts.
10) Feed, change, play, snuggle or sleep. Those are the only options.