One Day at A Time

I am writing tonight after one of the most trying days so far with the girls. Dennis took the week off because he had some vacation days to use before the end of the year and we wanted to give my mom a break to spend some time in Binghamton. So, it is great having him home all week but probably not what you would call a vacation for him. The girls were just not happy campers and it felt like they were crying the majority of the day. Their naps were unsuccessful for the most part, there were several times where all three were crying (loudly) at the same time. These crying stints are usually balanced out with some cute playful times but those were minimal today. I think we owe our neighbors a bottle of wine at the least. It is hard to know what the cause is so we are questioning everything and trying everything to find the answer...is it teething? are they coming down with a cold? are they just hungry? are they overtired? Is it Madeline's Acid Reflux? Is it Gas? Do we give them Gripe Water? Do we give them Tylenol? What should we do if it is teething? But, we got through the day and they went to bed by 8pm and have been sleeping peacefully ever since (cross my fingers). We are hoping for a good night to make up for this stressful day. This was one of those days where we weren't able to shower, let alone get out of our pajamas, eat much of anything, make the bead or brush our teeth before 3pm. Dennis said at one point, "how much is daycare?". But, this is to be expected with triplet newborns and we know we just need to chalk it up as just one of those days. Yesterday on the other hand, was a great day.

Yesterday, we had the third day of taping for One Life to Live and afterwards we walked through Central Park which is just a block away from the ABC Studios. It was a beautiful day and we ate lunch in the park and took some pictures. It was crazy, because we had gotten engaged 4 years ago around this time and spent the day in the same part of the park that we happened to be in yesterday. So much has changed! It was interesting how many people stopped us to take a picture of the girls. All these tourists with their cameras viewed us as another attraction to capture on their trip I guess. It seemed that a lot of them were Europeans so I guess triplets are even more of a rarity to them. It was nice having the studio so close to Central Park because on the first day my mom and also brought the girls there for a walk. The weather this fall has been so nice. It has been great being able to still get outside for walks.

The One Life to Live tapings went pretty good overall. However, it isn't as glamorous as you might think or that we thought it would be. This is the soap opera business remember. The first day went well as we had 2 baby nurses to help us and we were only there a few hours. Madeline and Tess didn't hold up so well on the set, so Molly sort of stole the show. She was in some nice close up shots where the actresses and actors were holding her. I still have to find out the exact air date because the people we asked weren't sure. The next day our "call time" wasn't until the afternoon so by then they happened to be running behind and we had a long wait until the scenes came up that the girls were in. They do give us a room but it is small so we can't really fit much in there so we don't have the bouncy chairs, swings, etc. like we do at home to set the girls down in. So, we were holding them for about 6 hours straight and they were really out of sorts that day. We also only had 1 baby nurse that day. Also, they don't provide food so you are on your own and we couldn't really get out to go get anything so we had no dinner and were starving. Tess was first up that day and they had her on the set in a hospital nursery scene where she was in bassinet and she was doing so good. She was smiling and babbling and being very cute but they ran into some glitch with the lighting so after a half hour, she lost her steam and just as they were about to start taping she started crying. This is when you hear over the intercom "baby #2" so then we rushed Madeline up there and she wasn't up for it, so then it was on to "baby #3" which was Molly and they got a couple takes with her in it. Madeline and Tess did get a few scenes but I believe Molly got more especially on the first day. On the last day, they were shooting another nursery scene so they used all the babies in this one but it was mostly just background shots. At the end they zoomed right in on Tess who had fallen asleep (her and Maddy both took naps on the set with all these bright lights and hustle and bustle..unbelievable...it must have felt like they were back in the NICU or something). Anyway, she looked so sweet and beautiful and everyone was like "awwwh". But, they felt she looked like too much of a doll so they swapped her out for another person's baby who was awake so that it would look more real. Bummer. Most of the people that work on the show were really nice and treated us and the babies great like the director, producers, stage managers, etc. Some of the actresses were a bit much but others were great. The baby nurses were a godsend and I wished we could take them home with us. The last day took only 2 hours so that was quick and easy. It was pretty cool being on the set watching how everything gets done. When you aren't on the set, you can watch the taping on the TV's in the room and lobby. Dennis and I both got to go on the set yesterday and we were holding our breath hoping the girls hung in there and didn't cry too much. It was a little nerve wrecking when they are trying to get through a scene like the first day where the actors were holding them and trying to remember their lines and then if the baby cried they would have to cut and re-do it, etc. So, I would be standing there watching in the back, crossing my fingers, sweating it out like "please don't cry right now". But, they all understand that they are only babies and it is to be expected. I'm not sure if they will be needing us for any more episodes in the future but it was a good experience and overall worth it.

Last weekend we had a great fall Saturday up at the Bear Mountain Octoberfest with Dennis' family and my sister, Steve, Henry and other friends. It was a gorgeous day and the girls were so good and there was music and German beer and a good time. We changed and fed them when we arrived out on the lawn and then we didn't need to worry about it for another 3 hours so we could relax. We went back to Moira and Larry's afterwards with everyone and had a cookout and spent the night. On Sunday, our church here in Hoboken threw us a shower and collected diapers and gift cards to present to us. It was so nice of them and they had us bring the girls up to the front of the church during the mass for everyone to see them. Afterwards, we had a really nice brunch with the Sullivans and my sister and then hung out back at our place. The girls did so great all weekend so I guess they are allowed to have a bad day like today once in awhile. Dennis' parents stayed over on Sunday night to help me during the day on Monday while Dennis was at work and my mom was in Binghamton. We managed to get out for a walk since it was yet another nice day and we stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the Waterfront. Only this time the girls weren't so into it and wanted out of their carseats/stroller. One day last week my parents and I took the girls to watch the Intrepid pass by Hoboken on the Hudson River and afterwards we met up with Carolynn, Steve and Henry. It was late enough in the afternoon so we decided to go out to lunch and do our feeding for the girls there at the restaurant. It actually worked out great and although my mom, dad and I had to eat our lunch with a baby in our lap, we still enjoyed it. We have all gotten use to eating standing up with one hand and a baby in your other or on your lap, eating really fast (I could compete with some of those guys in food eating contests), eating meals at odd hours (lunch at 3, dinner at 9pm), or just not eating.

Anyway, I just really want to do normal things as much as we can and don't want to be afraid to be out in public because of how hard it can be with triplets. It is certainly a lot of work getting out the door and getting around and just managing any type of outing with them but we always walk away from the experience being glad we did it. I never thought we would have been able to do the things we've done with the girls so far and I am so glad we've been able to do them (eg., the pool this summer, the lakes, Bethany Beach, sleepovers at Moira/Larry's, bbq's at Carolynn's, visits to Binghamton, Octoberfest at Bear Mountain, festivals in Hoboken, out to lunch in Hoboken, NYC, etc). The girls never cease to amaze us at how well they adjust and behave for us so we find ourselves saying "I can't believe how good they did, that was so worth it" a lot. We seem to go into these outings with our fingers crossed not knowing what to expect and almost expecting the worst but then it always seems to turn out okay. So, I hope we can continue to keep pushing the envelope and being brave enough to try to do normal things that people with one baby do.

We are heading to Binghamton either tomorrow night or Friday morning for the long weekend so please come by and see us at 3 Millard for those of you reading from Binghamton.