3 Weeks Old - Recent Pictures

Well, we've survived the first week of all three being home and it actually went better than we could have expected. It has been a lot of fun for the most part having a full house of babies. I'm sure this is due to the fact that we had a lot of help between my parents all weekend and Dennis being off work Fri-Mon. Having four sets of hands makes a huge difference when it comes to feedings/changing and being able to get out of the house. My parents even stayed with the girls for a bit while Dennis and I went out for lunch one day and downstairs to our neighbors BBQ one evening. It is nice when they sleep so much at this age! We took them all out for a couple walks over the weekend because the weather was so nice and it generated a lot of attention. People were slowing down in their cars and saying "god bless" out their windows and in awe walking by us with the triplet stroller. It is quite a sight that truly turned a lot of heads.

They are becoming more and more alert each day and starting to focus in on things. We think that Madeline looks like Dennis, Tess like me or some variation of a Burns, and Molly must be a mix. There are some unique traits we are noticing about each one such as Tess being the night owl all bright eyed and wanting to play at bedtime (she'll probably be the one keeping them out till the wee hours when they are older), Madeline crossing her legs at the ankles when she eats (so cute) and making lots of noises, and Molly loving her sleep time and being mostly laid back (except she has a set of lungs on her when she is being changed or bathed). We had a pediatrician appt. for all of them on Friday and they are gaining weight. Molly was up to 5lb, 2 oz and both Madeline and Tess were 4lb, 6 oz. We go again this Friday so they should all have gained about 7 more oz. each by then. Over the last week, we've had them on a 4 hour schedule meaning that we change/feed them at 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, and 2am. This has worked out pretty well for us and seems to be manageable (especially because my mom is staying with us and getting up with us for all the feedings). We each take a baby to change and feed and try to be done within the hour. I also have to pump milk afterwards so that takes a bit of extra time. I have only been breastfeeding during the day feedings (1 baby per feeding) since the nurses thought it was best to give them the breast milk bottles at night to make sure they are getting enough. But, once they get a little bigger I may start to breastfeed at night as well. I am also waiting for this special pillow for breastfeeding twins (not the Bobby pillow) which will hopefully help me be able to breastfeed two at once so that the daytime feedings can go by a little faster when it is just my mom and I here. We'll see how that goes.

I am feeling completely recovered from the surgery now and having lost 40 lbs of the pregnancy weight feels really nice. I guess all this pumping and breastfeeding is helping. I certainly don't look good by any means, but I feel a lot better. The days seem to just fly by where I feel like there are just not enough hours in the day to spend quality time with each baby and get things done around the house. But, so far so good. Here are some pictures of the girls:

Our first bath with our monogrammed totals (thanks Jodi, Amy and Sheila!)

Cozy with Grandma and Grandpa Burns:

In our PJ's (Madeline, Tess, Molly):

Madeline Rose:

Molly Claire:

Tess Elizabeth: