Loving the Manning Triplets: September 2013

It’s been over a month since I last posted. At that time, it was just me and the girls at home. So many things have changed. First and foremost, Lincoln is HOME! Little man joined us at home exactly one month and one day ago on August 24^th. After his urinary tract infection healed, he began eating better and finally worked up enough strength to come home. His discharge weight was 6 lbs 12 oz. As expected, he is thriving at home.

I went back to work on August 20^th. If you’re taking note of dates, you’ll notice that I had to go back to work while my son was still in the NICU. Emotionally, this was a really difficult time for me. Although it was only four days, each evening I had to go home and take care of my daughters and feel guilty about not being able to visit my son. Ryan made it a point to go to the NICU every night during this time, so Lincoln was not forgotten. But my heart ached to have the family whole.

Shortly after Lincoln arrived home, Ryan and I were put into crisis mode over a huge childcare dilemma. Due to their premature status, the NICU doctors advised strongly against taking our children to daycare. We had already put ourselves on the waiting list at the Air Force Academy’s on-base daycare center, so we had to forfeit our three slots and seek an alternative. We decided to tighten our purse strings and hire a nanny. Before Lincoln came home, we interviewed and hired a lovely woman to nanny our children. She was everything we had hoped for in a provider for our children and she was due to begin when my parents left, on August 28^th. On August 22^nd, she called to tell me that she was unable to accept the job because her mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and she needed to take care of her. My heart sunk and I began to panic. Over the next five days we began an intense nanny hunt involving multiple ads, sifting through applicants, phone interviews, and in-person interviews. Thank God my parents were there or we never would have been able to cope. We narrowed it down to three candidates by August 26^th and hired one nanny to be trained in the evening on August 27^th and begin work on the 28^th. An hour before she was scheduled for training, this nanny called to say she was unable to take the job due to a family emergency. This is the night before we needed a nanny. After we both flipped out, we called our second choice nanny and she arrived at our home within the hour and began work the next day. Turns out she should have been our first choice all along. She is amazing with the kiddos and takes such wonderful care of them. I never have to worry during the day.

Taking care of the girls was tough, but when they awoke at night we could divide and conquer. Each of us changed and fed a baby then returned to bed. When Lincoln came home, our situation became exponentially more difficult. For the first few nights, my parents were there to help us get through it. Unfortunately, they had to leave after only four days of Lincoln being home. The next few weeks were extremely taxing. Feeding three babies with two people two times per night means virtually no sleep. Lincoln was still not a strong eater when he came home, so one of us would feed him while the other fed both girls. With all of them still being new at eating by mouth, it was important for us to give each one our undivided attention while they were being fed. That meant we would often sit there in our sleep-deprived state trying to focus on the baby we were feeding while the third cried. When you’re already worn out, that’s a difficult thing to handle. Twice a night. Every night.

Finally, the day came that I broke down. It was the day after a doctor’s appointment that had lasted nearly all day. It threw the kids off their schedule so badly that they cried all night and I didn’t even get the three hours of sleep to which I had become accustomed. When I got to work that day, I was scolded for not contacting the proper people the day prior when I was at the doctor’s office. Also, I had been five minutes late that morning. In my fragile emotional state, I couldn’t take it. I was a wreck all day long after that. By the end of the day, I decided I needed to do something for my sanity. I elected to take one day off a week for the next four weeks to rest and recharge so that I could work and give my kids the love and attention they deserved while I was home. That has helped tremendously with my sanity.

A couple of weeks ago, two wonderful things happened simultaneously. The children began occasionally waking up only once at night and my mother-in-law arrived. She has been cooking us meals and helping with bottles and feeding the kids with us at night. Now they are consistently waking up only once at night between 2:30 and 3:30 for food. It is starting to feel manageable. The thing about triplets is that it’s a constant job. It never ever stops. Right now, the kids are tiny and need to eat every 3 hours. That means we clean and make 24 bottles every single night. The washer and dryer seem like they are always going with the constant barrage of towels, sheets, blankets, clothing, and diapers. Someone’s almost always wanting attention when they should be napping. Sleep when they sleep? That’s cute. I know that someday soon, they will begin sleeping through the night, they will eat fewer times in the day, and they will be able to communicate a little better. Until then, we’re trying our best to enjoy their sweet innocence without wishing their little lives away.