41. 6 weeks, pram problems and night time horrors.
The babies had their 6 week health visitor check this week, and she had to weigh Will a second time to double check that she hadn't got it wrong. They have all piled on the pounds and jumped 2-3 centiles each, both in weight and the circumference of their heads! It's apparently not uncommon in pre term babies, but it clearly came as a bit of a surprise for her.
Will and Sam both weigh 8lb9 and Robin is 9lb4. We thought Sam would be closer in weight to Robin, so we were surprised with the result. William is still the smallest, and we thought he was a lot lighter than Sam, but Sam is a bit stronger than Will. Will still feels very floppy in comparison to his brothers, so this will probably make us handle him slightly differently, and therefore he probably feels lighter and more fragile. Robin is solid now and supports his head and back really well, Sam isn't far behind in his strength, but Will still needs quite a bit more support.
Out and about challenges
I've been looking into mum and baby pilates classes. I did one after I had Jack and it really helped me to build up a bit of strength and confidence to get back to aerial. I didn't go for long, but this time I am pretty sure I will need quite a lot more time to build up strength.
The class I did last time won't work as it falls on a day Jack isn't in nursery. There are 2 possible places I have been looking into, but neither have guaranteed parking outside.
This is where my main issue arises. If I can't be right outside the door, I won't be able to ferry the babies inside in car seats. I won't want to leave them unattended. I'm sure once I have been and met people, it'll be better. But the thought of going into a room and putting my baby down to then go outside and collect the other two, is a bit scary!
I can obviously bring the pram in the car, but I need to make sure that I can, a. Fit through the door with the tank of a pram, and b. Store the pram somewhere inside. Lots of baby groups don't allow prams inside due to space and cleanliness. They won't want dozens of prams wheeling muck all over the floor where babies will be crawling around.
Another challenge I only thought about this week, is the supermarket. I know I won't get trolleys for 3 babies, twin mums online complain enough about this for me to know. When Jack was a baby, I would sometimes just take a bag and use that instead of a basket and keep him in the pram.
I was considering taking the trio to the supermarket on my own earlier this week. We only needed a few bits, so how difficult would it be? But then it dawned on me, I don't think the pram will fit through the checkout! 😱😱 I will have to do a supermarket recce to see which I can get through, and if not, I might just need to block the self checkout isle while I pay. Haha, all of these simple things I will need to forward plan for. When they are a bit stronger, I will put one into the carrier, and make the pram a twin, so at least we will be able to get in and out if most places.
A huge issue for prams in general is kirbs. A lot of the time with Jack in his single pram, I would need to go into the road to get around parked cars. The main road from our house to the village has a kirb on one side of the road, and the hedge (which is full of brambles and thorns) is often so overgrown, which meant we regularly weren't able to fit on it, so we would need to walk in the road. With this pram, it will be impossible. We did attempt it this week after it had been freshly cut and it was a real squeeze. Its a 30mph road, but it's also the rat run between towns, so we get some people flying down the hill at terrifying speeds. It's not ideal to walk in the road.
It's funny thinking about the future with them. As they get bigger, some things will get easier, like transport options for them. Carriers, a stroller wagon rather than a massive pram, and eventually, just a bunch of leads!
But at the same time, things will get more difficult. Right now, we just pick them up and put them where we want them. Before we know it, they will be moving around and refusing to get into the pram, then they will be walking and refusing to do anything we say. But at least we won't need the pram any more. I'm sure I will be dreaming about the convenience of the pram in 2 years.
Jack started walking just before his first birthday. He had mastered it in a couple of weeks. I kept going out with him in the "Jackpack" right up until a couple of weeks after I had the miscarriage, which is when I felt too poorly to carry him. At this point, I just took him for short walks where he could toddle himself. This allowed him to find his legs, and therefore, we stopped needing the pram. This will NOT be happening with these three. They will be contained for as long as possible! At least I hope they will! Who knows what they will dictate, because, let's face it, they will be in charge!
My healing
Last week, after walking to the village and back with the triplets (and Lynda to help with the pram), I felt really rough for a couple of days. I put it down to doing too much too soon. I was borderline feverish. Very achey all over, exhausted, nauseous and a screaming headache. My belly was also more tender again. At the end of last week, Jack picked up a nasty cough and cold from nursery, and generously passed it on to James, who was really rough with it too. Amazingly, the babies and myself have managed to dodge it. I'm now wondering if my couple of down days was more of a bug than healing. Anyway, whatever it was, I'm feeling much better again. I've skipped a few daytime naps and felt fine. I've been feeling much more energised, as much as can be expected while having broken sleep and feeding babies constantly. I've also managed to have a little walk these last couple of days with the babies and Jack. I am confident now that I'll manage a short walk alone with them, and not be broken afterwards. The weather has also had a drastic turn for the better, which I am sure has had an influence. There is nothing better than a beautiful spring day to inject some energy.
My scar is also much better. Nearly all scabs are gone and the tenderness is so much less. I'm happy to balance the babies on my tummy now, and I'm not protecting myself when I'm playing with Jack any more. I'm careful about flying limbs, but not nearly as frightened about them any more.
Calmness
We are endlessly being told that we are surprisingly calm. It started when we were pregnant. I think people had been expecting us to be stressed and worried about their arrival. We weren't, we were genuinely excited. We knew it would be really difficult, but that's to be expected with a single baby. What's another 2?
We still haven't had half the visitors we thought we would have. So many people say they didn't want to intrude and thought they would wait until things are more settled. They are genuinely baffled when they come in and everything is "calm". Most of them say "you two are pretty chilled people". It's not something I really think about, and I certainly don't feel calm when all three are screaming. It's usually during a feed when I'm changing one, another gets trapped wind and the third pukes. They all scream the place down when we change them, and even more when they need a full outfit change. Jack was the same for his first few weeks, as soon as their skin is covered up again, they go quiet! The house is far from cold, and even on really warm days they do it. During these moments it's a case of prioritising. Usually the puker gets lifted first, then trapped wind, and finally, the changee is last. In the moment, every pore in my body is freaking out and my ears are burning, but I know I can fix it and that they will all be happy again in a few seconds. James has also admitted to flapping at these moments.
Unable to watch horror
I'm a fan of horror and curious about paranormal stuff. I used to take advantage of having a night on my own and watch a horror film because James can't handle them. Often parents say they are unable to watch any horror or child related since having kids. It wasn't the case after I had Jack. However, I didn't want to when I was pregnant with the triplets. I put it down to the weak stomach, and made the excuse of stressing myself out not being a good idea.
For those of you who have spent time with new born babies will know that they can be pretty damn creepy. They have this way of looking just beyond you, like they are looking at someone standing right behind you. They lock eyes on nothing and hold their gaze. It really can be very creepy. Sometimes they even give a little smile to this invisible human.
Last night, I was up feeding the babies and I was flicking around the crappy general TV night time rubbish, and came accross a program about paranormal caught on camera. I don't go for the ghost hunting programs and these "caught on camera" things, I usually just laugh off as people reading into things far too much. I put it on as background entertainment that I could have a giggle at.
Another thing about feeding babies through the night is the unusual noises. We are detached, so we can't blame neighbours. Every little tap or bump, I find myself focusing on and becoming borderline paranoid. I know I've locked up and that I would definitely hear if someone was trying to break in. It must be a newly found protectiveness. It started after Jack was born, but it's ten times worse now. I am on high alert so much of the time.
This high alert hit record highs after watching the silly paranormal thing on TV earlier in the week. I could not relax at all! Even my dreams were paranoid! It didn't help that Sam freaked me out big time! I was holding him on my knee so he was facing me. He was very sleepy and they all have lazy eyes when they are tired. He started to make a farting face, getting all scrunched up, puffy and red in the face, but he also opened his eyes a little and his they were rolled up and facing outwards a bit. Eeeeeeeesh, it made my legs tingle in a little panic. This is the moment I realised I can't watch these stupid programs any more.
Exhausted from nothing.
It's Sunday morning and we are planning a walk this afternoon and James is out after that. I have just sat down and realised I'm exhausted! It's been a standard morning for me except that James went for a nap just before a feed, instead of just after which is his usual routine. Jack was very energetic during the feed, so I was trying to keep him out of the way of the babies, but also trying to make sure he was being quiet for James, and having fun and attention from me. Once the feed was done, I was distracted by Jack, so burping wasn't as focused as it should've been. When james came down he was back and forth burping babies and making soup for tonight.
I put Jack in the bath and pottered about burping babies, emptying the dishwasher, gathering up laundry etc. The bath didn't work to calm him down and he decided he was the running man when he got out. I managed to bribe him to chill for a few minutes before bed with some tv and a snack. When he goes to bed, James is finishing the soup and I suddenly realised I am wiped out, so it's a 5 minute sit down before the babies are ready for the next feed, and in todays case, a bath. It's crazy how there's never much to do, but so much. It's all the little things that take up all the time, especially because I never really get anything finished. I start, get dragged away to settle a baby or do something for Jack, then forget about the previous task, so start the next job, remember the one I had started so go to finish that one. And so it continues.
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