Where Do I Begin??

I started this blog by saying that I wasn't sure where to begin and now I feel like I am in that same place again. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. My last blog was 2 days before their surprise birth and I didn't know at the time everything that was about to take place. I wanted to start from the very beginning and tell you all the story of their birth, the story of trying to find Naomi's heartbeat, the amazing story of how Dr. Bellardo came to my rescue, our journey through the NICU, the sleepless nights, the heartache of leaving our babies in the hospital while we went home, the joy of bringing home three healthy babies, the fret of making sure they are growing properly, the extreme exhaustion, the constant worry that they will get sick and giving the stay-away look to anyone who even looks remotely sick, the screaming stage, the first time they smiled and then laughed at us, trying to keep the fingernails trimmed of three babies, their baptism, Ethan's non-stop talking, Levi's infectious smile, Naomi's sweet smile and disposition, feeding 2 and 3 babies at a time, feeding them cereal for the first time, surrendering our home to the babies and ALL their stuff, the first time Levi rolled over, the struggle of finding a balance in life, the struggle of even having a life outside the home (it's still non-existent), the joy of providing breast-milk for three healthy, growing babies, and the list goes on and on. I wish I could write about all of those things, yet since I am working on a schedule and the babies will soon awake--I have to write fast :) 

I don't even really know where to begin but tomorrow the babies will be 24 weeks old! Crazy! It is amazing how fast the time has gone and how slow it has gone at the same time. Some days I feel like I am in time warp and everything just stops once I am inside our home. There will be weeks when Sunday will come and I realize that I have not stepped outside all week. However, my greatest joys are inside the home. I never knew that I could love three little people as much as I love these babies. Michael and I cannot express how much we are in love with them. They continue to amaze us with their progress and if you were to see them today you wouldn't imagine that they were hooked up to oxygen and their bodies were so little. I give all the credit to God for taking care of them (and the beloved/scary Dr. Haynes) and that God has blessed me with the ability to supply our babies with 100% breast-milk. I haven't accomplished much in my short-life, yet I think that of everything I have (and probably will) accomplish this is something that I am the proudest of. I love that I am able to provide for our babies in this way and to know that all the weight they have gained is a direct result of me. It would of definitely been easy to quit and many said I wouldn't be able to do it yet I am continuing to take it one day at a time. There might come a day when I have to supplement a little yet I am giving this all that I have. 

A popular question that everyone asks us, "How do you do it?" My response: we schedule everything. We feed every three hours during the day and at night they are allowed to sleep as long as they want. In the beginning we had to wake them every three hours no matter what, yet thankfully with time they are now sleeping through the night. So, here is a little bit of what our schedule looks like:

7:30am: Wake-up and eat. We play on the floor or sometimes they sleep again
10:30am: Eat and get dressed. If the weather is nice sometimes we go for a walk or go to the store
1:30pm: Eat
2-4:30pm: Levi takes a nap and I try to convince Ethan and Naomi to sleep as well 
4:30pm: Eat and play (sometimes a little nap)
7:30pm: Eat (at this point NO ONE is allowed to sleep anymore)
8: 45pm: Eat cereal
9:15pm: Take a bath (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
10:00-10:30pm: Feed for the final time and rock everyone to sleep

*If I have help (my mom or Michael) then they feed Ethan and Levi and I feed Naomi and pump at the same time (thankful for whoever invited the hands-free pumping bra). If I am alone then I feed 2 or 3 babies at a time and then pump while finishing up the 3rd baby. After every feeding we also wash and sanitize all of the bottles and I make bottles for the next feeding.

So there is how we do it :) It's the same schedule every day yet it is functional for us and you never know what will happen in the middle of it all :) However, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. God has continued to bless up and someone the ends get met each month. I am continually surprised (I am a worrier by nature), yet somehow something always pulls through.

Our lives have forever been changed by these three precious babies and we couldn't be happier for it. Sometimes I think about how the fertility center told us about selection after we found out we had all 3 and we responded that we were keeping all of them and that we were blessed with them. I couldn't imagine life with any of them. A dear friend, Dr. Cox, comes and helps me on Mondays and she told me that she thinks it all has to do with our outlook. From the very beginning we termed these babies "our triple blessing" and we have continued to make it through every day because of how we view them. That's not to say there aren't some rough moments where I just want to sit on the floor and cry with the babies (which I have done) or wondered how I am going to make it another moment. We are making it through each day though and I couldn't have made it this far with my amazing husband as my partner. We couldn't have made it without my mother either who gave up her sleep as well to get us through those sleepless nights. There are many other amazing people who brought us meals, showered us with gifts, and prayed for us that we are eternally grateful for.

I wish I could write more, yet I am currently typing and holding Ethan at the same time. He woke up from his nap early and wanted me to hold him :) I hope to post pictures soon...we have SO many pictures of them yet they might be 3 before I get that far...ha! I hope to write again soon yet I can't promise when that will happen. I write blog posts in my head yet this is the first one I have actually been able to write (or finish writing--I have a couple drafts). I want to include you all in their lives as Michael and I wouldn't be who we are without you all :)