3 Beautiful Angels

We are really enjoying our three beautiful daughters. They are such good babies that it makes this experience so enjoyable. My parents have been unbelievably helpful which has made this whole thing manageable. This week our niece Katie (Dennis' brother Michael's daughter) is here to help out and she has been great with the girls. Katie is the only girl in her family of four and she has 3 boy cousins - Matthew, Daniel and Brian Sullivan so she is thrilled to finally have some girls join her in the Sullivan cousin pool.

We had a pediatrician appt. last Thursday and the girls have grown to the following weights:

Molly - 6lb, 12 oz.

Madeline - 5 lb, 12 oz.

Tess - 6lb, 1 oz.

Madeline is a little behind now (her and Tess weighed the same last time) which could be due to her spitting up/throwing up. The doctor has prescribed her with AXID because it seems she may have acid reflux and we're going to see how this medicine helps her over the next two weeks.

Here are some pictures of all of us around the house and trying to catch naps when we can (do you think we look tired?)

Molly, Tess, Madeline (L to R):

Molly:

Madeline:

Tess:

Katie and Tess:

Father's Day

My first Father's Day, pretty cool. Too bad it's not a work holiday but I'll take it.
It's been almost a month since the babies came home and it's been great. We have them all on the same feeding schedule (every 4 hours; at 2, 6 and 10, that's A.M. & P.M.), which has been working out so far. The 2 A.M. feeding is a little tough but we're lucky that they usually fall right asleep after we feed them.
We had a busy week with visitors. First my friend Carlo from Venezuela was in NY for a few days and he came over a few times with his sister Nicole to see the babies. Some of Jen's work colleagues stopped over to meet the babies. Then Jen's dad, grandparents and aunt and uncle were here over the weekend. The babies had a lot of attention, and they loved it.
Here are some pictures from the past week.

First picture of mom and dad with the babies.

Great Grandma (Bhag) Donohue

Great Grandpa Donohue

Courtney (Carlo) holding the babies

Family Visit and Survival Week

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan came to visit along with Aunt Kathy Stiles, Moira and Larry and my brother Kevin. My sister and father and mother were already here so we had lots of company which was nice. The girls enjoyed all the extra holding and cuddling. Also, the O'Loughlin crew came for a visit on Sunday (Sean, Becky, Will and Finn). It was a nice day so we all went for a walk to the park and then my parents offered to watch the girls while we had lunch. It was so nice to be outside and to sit down for a lunch outside.

The weather has been so nice down here the last month that we've been able to get out of the house for walks quite a bit. The pediatrician's office is just 3 blocks away so we just walk over with the stroller and then go for a walk afterwards since we already have them out. On Sunday evening we also brought the girls down to my sister's house which is just 7 blocks away and had a BBQ on her new deck. I am so glad I had spring babies so that we can get outside when it is nice out and Hoboken is perfect for walks. It is like strollerland around here with all the new parents that live here.

Dennis had to go to Chile for work Sunday evening until this morning (Fri). It was the one trip he has to take all year which they postponed from April on his behalf so he had to go. It was very sad seeing him say goodbye to the girls (including me). He said it was one of the saddest days of his life. It was tough timing to have him gone but both of my parents stayed with me and we survived. They were a huge help! The week actually went by fast and we managed to do two nights of baths (they handled one night all by themselves while I did some other things around the house). We had two good nights and two bad nights in terms of the girls sleeping well vs. being fussy. Dennis thinks they were just missing "Daddy" which could be the case because they have been sleeping all day since he got home. It was a tough week also because we had completely gone through our freezer supply of pumped breast milk last weekend so I was breastfeeding all three all week and that of course takes longer and then also pumping during the day to try and get a supply going again in order to do some bottles. There was one night where I changed and fed all three girls by myself for the 2am feeding for the first time. It just worked out where they weren't all fussing to be fed at the same time so I just did one at a time and was done within an hour and a half. I was proud to know that I could do it if I have to but it is much better to have the help so that I can be feeding while someone else is changing, etc. The twin feeding pillow arrived and it works well so I am able to do 2 at once if needed. I really prefer feeding them one at a time though if time allows (meaning they aren't all screaming at once to be fed).

After talking to a few people today, I am just a bit concerned that solely breastfeeding them might not be enough. The woman who came a few weeks ago offered to come over tonight to weigh them and it seems they haven't gained as much as they should be. So, she suggested I introduce formula if the breast milk bottles are not available so that one baby will not be breastfed at each feeding. So, that is what we will do just to be safe. I wanted to make it through the first month to 6 weeks with just breast milk and it will be a month tomorrow so I guess that would be okay. I may still be able to get to 6 weeks by pumping, but if not we'll start to use formula this week.

The girls were much more alert this week and really starting to focus in on things. It is amazing how quickly they change! I can't believe tomorrow will be 1 month. We might have to pop open that bottle of champagne that has been in our fridge forever and celebrate. Well, we are happy to have Dennis home safe and sound and hoping for a peaceful night with the girls. Here are some pictures from the past week: