Why we need sleep

The boys went to sleep at 8:30pm and didn't wake to eat until 7am! So you'd think we'd feel more well rested, but we were both up settling one of them at 10:50pm, 2:30am, 3:30am, and 5:30am before they were awake and ready to eat. We are working on breaking them of their swaddle habit, and giving them a little prune juice so that they will be a little more...er...comfortable. So that should help with their non-hungry fussing at night.

And for your amusement, we've learned not to write thank you cards when sleep deprived. Or else you write things like "The boys also enjoy playing with their balls - they are the perfect size for their little fingers."


Sorry about that Stephanie and Steve!

Sleepy 1, Sleepy 2 and Sleepy 3

So the boys went to sleep last night around 8pm and didn't wake up to eat until 3:30am! Unfortunately, we didn't fully take advantage of this and go to bed early. But we will tonight!

They then proceeded to take a 4.5 hour nap after their 8am feeding, to our amazement. I actually had to wake them up, and even then only Winston woke up to the sound of my voice. So he got to eat first, while Sleepy 2 and Sleepy 3 well, slept.

So they've now slept for 16 of the last 21 hours. Let's just hope "sleep begets sleep" or we'll be posting to the blog at 2am.

Drumroll please...

We are back from our 4 month pediatrician appointment. The boys are officially off of the high calorie Neosure formula, and we don't have to fortify (add formula to) their breast milk anymore. Yay! So now we can actually buy formula in bulk at Costco!

And they are off the high calorie formula because they have grown so much...each gained nearly 5lbs in 2 months. What is amazing is that these growth chart percentiles are for their actual age of 4 months - not their adjusted age of 2 and half months! You'd never know they were 4lb preemies!

Winston
13lbs 14.5oz - 29th percentile (2 months ago he was in the 8th percentile)
24 inches - 16th percentile (2 months ago he was in the 3rd percentile)

Wesley
14lbs 1.5 oz - 33rd percentile (2 months ago he was in the 8th percentile)
23.9 inches - 14th percentile (2 months ago he was in the 2nd percentile)

Charlie
14lbs 7.5oz - 41st percentile (2 months ago he was in the 9th percentile)
24.2 inches - 22nd percentile (2 months ago he was in the 9th percentile)

Other than that, Charlie and Wes have a little eczema, so we'll need to lube them up with some Eucerin. Win will get this as well since what one gets, all get. Reflux is the culprit for their poor eating (which you'd never know with how big they are), so we were given increased Zantac dosages. She also encouraged us to stop waking them for their nighttime (midnight) feed, but to let them sleep through. They'll probably need to still eat in the middle of the night, but it's good that they wake themselves if they need to. But again, what one gets, all will get. The boys are also getting smart and learning that if they cry, they will be held. So she told us that we need to stop rocking them completely to sleep, but put them to sleep a bit drowsy and then the dreaded "cry it out" and to not pick them up in the middle of the night (like settling them, putting them in the swing, etc). We'll see how all that goes...

Ava Marie

Our dear friends Mark and Lesa came by with their beautiful daughter Ava. She is the first baby the boys have met. She was born a week after the boys were due - so they are all right around the same age. The boys were enthralled with their new girlfriend, and we loved our time with her parents! Although, it's really amusing when you have two new moms with their baby brains trying to hold a conversation.

Lesa made Wes feel so safe, he fell fast asleep in her arms!

Mark holding Ava and Charlie. Charlie looks like he was caught by the paparazzi.

Holding Ava. She came to meet the Bunnies in her bunny outfit - complete with a cotton tail!

Checking out Ava

4 months old

The boys turned 4 months old today! So we stripped them down for some 4 month photos. They are all smiling now - and even finding their voices. Win and Wes will "hoo" loudly to talk to you, while Charlie will carry on a quieter, but full, conversation of sounds with you. Win even started squealing with delight today. We got such a kick out of putting the boys together today. They will all smile at each other, and lean with all their weight towards the others in order to be as close as possible. Charlie would stare intently at his brothers and literally try to eat them, while the W's (or the "Brownheads" as they are sometimes called) would play with him while also engaging with us. But Charlie was all about his brothers!

Here are a few favorites. (L-R Winston, Wesley and Charlie)

More giving of thanks

The boys slept in my old crib, in my old room. It was such a wonderful feeling, sitting in my old bedroom with my husband and sons. It was that same bedroom that as a young girl, I used to think it would be great to have triplet girls so I could name them Holly, Molly and Polly. Seriously.



Poppy and Wes

Grammy showing Win the backyard

Charlie. "Nobody puts baby in the corner."


We have so much to be thankful for. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. He has worked through doctors, family, friends, strangers. The outpouring of love and support is overwhelming, and know that we are thankful for each and every one of you. We are thankful for the doctors that cared for us during the pregnancy, who brought our boys into this world, who cared for them in the NICU, who cared for my health and saved my life. Thank you.

Thanksgiving fun

We spent a wonderful weekend with Grammy and Poppy, to celebrate the boys' first Thanksgiving. This was also their first night away from home and they did so well! Enjoy all the photos.

Table for 5, please.

Win, Wes and Charlie stretching after the big meal

Daddy and Charlie

All smiles in front of the fireplace with Grammy

Poppy, Grammy, Wes, Charlie, and Win

Filling the crib!

There is a big difference in terms of how much space the boys take up now (nearly 4 months) and their first day home (12 days old). The funny thing is that the outside temperature was about 90 for one of the photos and 40 for the other. Can you tell we were worried about their ability to maintain their body temperature as newborns?

More smiles

Grammy, Poppy and I took the boys on a nice long (chilly!) stroll on Sunday. The boys were so exhausted, they took a nice long nap afterwards. They were probably hibernating.

A smile from Wes to go along with the Charlie and Win smiley photos.


Best comment heard on the walk: "Triplets? Ahh good thing there are 3 of you!"


Charlie and Poppy


Grammy and Win


Wesley and Poppy

Two firsts

Winston rolled over today! He nearly landed on Charlie, but I was able to move him just in time. I've now successfully missed capturing all of these moments on video...

And today was the boys' first snowfall. I don't think it made much of an impact on them as they were toasty inside. But it was an amazing site to look out the window and see the snow falling on the bright, colorful autumn leaves which were still on the trees.

We spoke with the pediatrician about Charlie and they are increasing his Zantac prescription, thinking that all this lack of eating is due to reflux. We are also trying a Dr Brown bottle and both seem to be doing the trick (for now)!

Happy Birthday Poppa! We'll see you in a few weeks! Thank you again to Nana for coming up again and helping last week and to Grammy and Poppy for your help this weekend! We don't know what we'd do with all of the love and support.

(I'll hopefully post photos tomorrow.)

The Bunn boys

Wouldn't you know that both the camera and video camera were out of reach when Wesley rolled over today! They are inching closer to getting mobile (eeek!).

Charlie continues to refuse the bottle. We have tried everything to get him to eat: swaddling, only breast milk, tylenol, laying down, upright, in between, singing to him, quiet, feeding with a medicine syringe, different nipple size, etc. Our worry is that he is losing weight, but the pediatrician doesn't seem concerned yet (nor does she have any answers). It is slightly improving, but still a major challenge. Even though he struggles through it, he will flash you smiles during this struggle to help relieve the tension.

Win is continuing to give us great big smiles! (He missed out on tummy time today because he fell asleep, but he won't be far behind with his rolling.)

In a wonderful answer to prayers, Rob did tremendously well on the GRE. During the entire test, he felt like he wasn't doing well at all. To the point that he almost didn't submit the test prior to finding out the score. It is a good thing he did. He scored 800 on the verbal and 790 on the quantitative section. He credits God entirely, knowing that this score is in no way a reflection of him and something he himself accomplished.

Smiles and giggles

You know, I leave the house to get a new monitor (ours decided to stop working - not good when you need to listen for babies), and look at how distraught the boys were. Wes was sound asleep, but Win and Charlie were full of smiles and giggles for Grammy, Nana and their Daddy.

Precious!

Gruncle and the Baker

Uncle Raymond came back for his second tour of duty. Not only was he a tremendous help with the boys (he said that the nighttime help is his favorite because he has the boys all to himself), but he managed to befriend folks in the neighborhood. He became a regular at our neighborhood pastry shop a few months back. This time, however, he had an entirely different experience. The baker apparently has a thing about clergy who do not know their Scripture, so he put Uncle Raymond to the test.

Imagine the venerable Bishop of Boykins sitting on a stool in the bakery's kitchen being grilled on Bible stories! Answer a question, get an eclair! Needless to say, he came home with a HUGE bag of goodies for us to share. We are glad he knew who made the axehead float.

Having Uncle Raymond back gave Rob a much needed chance to start cramming for the GRE, an exigency because he takes it on Tuesday. Rob was ebullient to be able to spend so much time studying and the alacrity with which Uncle Raymond tended the boys made it easy to commit them to his care. It is not hyperbole to say that he was indispensable over the last week. [Can you tell who wrote this??]

Gruncle with Win, Wes and Charlie



Floor time for all the boys


Each one is now about the total weight of all 3 at birth!


By far, the funniest photo we've seen of Wes. We swear he doesn't weigh 400lbs...

Bath time fun

I just can't resist their adorableness. (Yes, their Bunn-y towels match their Bunn-y hats...) Bath time was so much easier last week with all the help. When I bathe them myself, just imagine me with one baby in the tub in the sink, while bouncing one in a bouncy seat with my foot, just hoping the third one doesn't start fussing.

On a side note, Charlie had a Dr appointment last week and was weighed and measured. With his clothes on, he weighed a whopping 13lbs 6oz and was 22 inches long. Even if his clothes added a pound, he is still well over 12lbs. This means they more than quadrupled their birth weight in 3 months. Most babies double theirs by 6 months. Our boys are certainly growing!

Wesley

Charlie

Winston

Grammy Spa time Complete with moisturizing massage and manicure (well, an attempt to file down their claws). I try to explain to them how lucky they are to have this luxury!

Poppy holding a clean Charlie

Gigi holding a clean Wes