this is ground control to major tom...

helmets oh helmets...the helmet appt was today and it was 3- yes you heard me- 3 hours...can you say ugh...I was not prepared for this so we screwed up our nap schedule and didn't bring enough food...talk about a recipe for disaster...First little Mike decided that he was starving and ate all of Konrad's food in addition to his own before I noticed how much he had eaten there was only 1 ounce left then Zachary ate all of his 7 ounces right away...since when do we eat 6 and 7 ounces boys?? So we were out of food immediately...the helmets got tried on then adjusted for 10-15 minutes then tried on again then adjusted then tried on again...each time getting the helmet on and off the boys weren't entirely happy about it. Also no one mentioned that the helmet was going to make them overheat, common sense maybe but when packing up triplets for an appointment it is not the first thing on my mind this morning so they all overheated in their helmets and it didn't help that it was 77 in the office room...2.5 hours passed like this and the boys escalated each half hour that passed the less consolable they became...we walked them in the hall we rocked them we let them play on the table..Chris and I baby juggled our little hearts out...it got so bad at one point that Konrad got himself into such hysterics I thought he was going to explode with his little face so red...I was desperate and had to go into the bathroom and try to fill the bottle by hand expressing my milk into the bottle, it was quite ridiculous actually, but I managed to squirt 2 ounces in there (and all over myself) and that took the edge off for him a little bit. They were all SOOOO overtired by the end of the appointment. We go back next week for adjustments and then every 1-2 weeks after that. But we got the helmets..they look okay...I am not coping as well as i had hoped, I want to snuggle their little heads and kiss them and nuzzle them and now they have helmets on their heads, one more barrier...grrr...they look like dark helmet from space balls, heh heh, or  little astronauts and so the entire drive home we were singing a bit of "this is ground control to major tom"...we are so easily entertained but really if I didn't laugh I would cry...

Mikey in his helmet-doesn't he look just disgusted

Zachary in his helmet

Konrad in his helmet-oh boy, was he complaining

We finally got home, yay!

Chatter boxes

The boys have all found their voices and lately they like hearing themselves talk...it's a toss up as to which parent they got that trait from...they also have started really noticing each other which is very cute and sometimes not as cute. They definitely know when we are holding someone else and sometimes they don't like it. Zachary is extremely aware of bottles, surprising I know, and he gets very excited when it comes toward him and he knows that its time to eat but this also means that when I am feeding one of his brothers he tends to get a bit cranky, especially if he hasn't eaten first. Although all of the boys' cries are very distinct, Konrad and Michael have the same little voice, or very similar, when they are talking to themselves and so sometimes it is hard to figure out who is gooing and yesterday they were laying next to each other on their sides looking at each other gooing to each other in their baby language and they had a ten minute conversation...I think they knew what they were saying...I couldn't believe how engaged in each other and interested in each other's talking they were. Zachary talks to himself constantly but he has a completely different voice and makes completely different noises when talking to himself or to us...its definitely interesting. They all laugh now and it is so funny when you get them all going with their belly laughs. Lately they are really into "Boo!" and then they all laugh but I have to be really careful that Zachary knows its coming because if he gets startled or scared then he starts hysterically crying and he is inconsolable and then Konrad starts crying because he is so sensitive to his brothers' cries and then it is not so fun anymore. Konrad is wonderfully ticklish on his feet and belly and if oyu catch him in a patient mood he will laugh and play with you for a long time. Mikey just wants to sit up and stand up and so he is a bit high maintenance right now, I think he would sit on your lap all day and just look around...he is so nosey. Mike is not the only one into standing, they all love to stand up and jump with their legs and they are starting to use the excersaucer and we are thinking of trying the jumperoo soon. We go get out helmets tomorrow...I hope it goes well...I hope it isn't too traumatizing for them or me. Next week is appointment hell with their 6 month check up on Tuesday then Mike's cardiology appt on Wednesday then their eye doctor on Thursday and somewhere in there we have to fit in a helmet appt! I will try to keep the blog updated. Wish us luck.

Mike and Konrad talking to each other

Amber is helping to keep them entertained!

Konrad found his thumb

Helmet heads-The Scan

The first step in getting our helmets was seeing the neurosurgeon, which we did last week. the second step was to get all of the boys' heads scanned with a laser machine that maps them out and determines whether they need the helmet and what the mold for the helmet will look like. We had our laser scan appointments today. They put a nylon sock thingy over their head, then they take some measurements and pictures and then put them in the scanner for the laser reading...the catch was that the baby had to not move even a little bit or the laser scanner would fail to get the recording. This sounded torturous to me because they said that each boy could take up to an hour each but actually the boys did really well and none of them needed more than two scans! Next week the helmets will come in and we will go to have the boys fitted and then we will start the wearing schedule (5 hrs a day then 7 hrs etc up until 23 hours per day). Then we go back again a week later for another fitting and recheck and then we go every 2 weeks for the next 4-6 months or until the boys' heads are where they need to be. The bummer about that is that the orthotic place is in Livonia which is about a 40 minute drive with no traffic back ups, ugh, but I know that things could be worse and we are blessed that all we need are helmets so I don't want to complain too loudly...I just hope that this whole process isn't to hard on the boys, but they have been so resilient so far that I think they will be with this as well.

Mikey in his head sock

Mikey in the scanner

Konrad in his head sock

Konrad in the scanner

Zachary in his head sock (he didn't like it so much)

Zachary in the scanner

Rolling over...aren't we big

Little Mike rolled over from his back to his belly for the first time about a week ago, of course then he got stuck there on his stomach and he got really, really mad because I was feeding one of the other babies and could not flip him back over right away. He is definitely a rolly-poley when he plays on the floor and he rolls himself from side to side by lifting his legs up and waiting until he falls to the side. He hadn't rolled over all the way since he did it the first time but today he did it again AND he rolled back from him stomach to his back again! So I was very impressed with his rolling and then righting himself. After that he rolled again to his belly but he couldn't fix it this time and he complained until I finally gave in and rolled him back over again. Konrad was playing happily this whole time that Mikey was rolling around and after Mikey showed off for a few minutes Konrad, never to be out done, followed with his first roll over from back to stomach! Konrad was very pleased at first until he realized that rolling over meant that he was on his stomach and then he was red faced and mad right away. I rolled him over to his back and he smiled and spent the rest of play time lifting his little legs and rolling to the side trying to get back onto his stomach again. Zachary is a bit stiff and not very flexible, we are working on it, and so he is behind in this area. He is still getting the hang of getting his legs into the air to roll to his side. But he did manage to almost get onto his side by himself today, although he was using his head as well as his legs but he managed to get onto his side.

Other news...we started physical therapy for the boys this week...interesting but not sure how helpful yet because it was mostly a therapist going through a packet of exercises and showing me all of the things I need to be doing everyday at home versus working with them there like I thought but such is life...We made a cardiology appointment for Mikey for the first week in August and I will update after the appointment. The boys go to get their helmet fittings this Monday, the 21st which will be a very long, long day and we will have many more helmet related appointments in the very near future I am sure. We are meeting with the priest of our new church next week to discuss baptism now that we have finally decided to have it over by our house versus at my old church in Brighton...we would have liked to have it sooner but the doctor said not until after April because of too much risk to the boys and then my sister graduated and then my brother got married and then our cousins children got baptized...etc and so now it seems that August or September is our month...we will see.

Last week when they were sick, the boys decided that schedules were for the birds, not babies and we have had chaos ever since. They have also decided that an afternoon nap is a good idea...except they want to sleep all afternoon and then not at night...boo. Needless to say, we were enjoying our newfound 4-5 hour blocks of sleep at night and going back to 2-3 hour blocks has been quite painful. The past couple of days, we have been trying very, very hard to get the boys back onto a schedule. Enforcement has been strict...kind of...there has been some complaining which after a while makes enforcement less strict but I am trying...we also put black out shades in the boys room for daytime nap darkness...this seems to be helping maybe...and we are playing around with bed time to see what works best..so far nothing...score as of this moment..babies 3 - parents 2 - sleep 0.

Waking up from our morning nap

Belly time x 3 - Aren't we strong!

Doing our morning exercises with mommy
(for those of you who can't see the video)

Video of us doing our morning exercises

4th of July celebrations

This 4th of July weekend was a busy one for us, we once again over did it. On Friday we spent the night at Angie and Aaron's house and had a great time. The babies were entertained and enjoyed all of the extra attention and then went to bed early and mom and dad got to enjoy a bonfire,  s'mores and a night time pool swim...it doesn't get much better than that! Then of course the babies woke up at 3am which would have been great if we had gone to bed at 9pm instead of 1am, but it was worth it...and then they woke up at 6am...still worth it...and mommy and daddy were up for the day in the wee hours of the morn'. Then we made breakfast and hung out until noon or so and then headed over to Ore Lake and Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had good food and lawn games and Mike and I mostly baby handled but we had lots of help from Aunt Kathy. Everyone stopped in to see the babies who were hanging out in the bug tent or in their stroller and by late afternoon we were all ready to go home. The babies have changed everything, which I sometimes forget until we go somewhere, and parties are not quite what they used to be for me. Sometimes it feels like it's just the same thing (baby handling/wrangling) somewhere different and without all of our accessories from home.  I did not see fire works this year but I wouldn't trade the babies for the world and I know that there will be other years and the boys won't be babies forever. So anyway, we packed up and drove home and then Saturday night it became apparent that the Mikes had a cold and then Sunday morning everybody had it...boo. So we had a snotty but semi relaxing Sunday and then the week started again... 

Our Little 4th of July Pirates

Outside with our Bug Nets

The Whole Family

The Mikes

Helmet heads

We went to our helmet appointment this morning thanks to the help of Grandpa Tom who went with us. The neuro doctor evaluated all three babies and suggested that they all get the helmets due to various head molding issues on each baby and potential developmental impacts if we don't get them. So we will have three little helmet heads for a while. We go to our next appointment July 21st. It is in Livonia and the appointments are 1 hour each, ugh, and each baby gets their head graphed by a laser machine that maps out their heads and plans the helmet. This should prove interesting...

mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

We took the boys to the doctor this morning just to make sure that there wasn't an ear infection or some sort of similar issue. All of their ears look good but they definitely have some sort of upper respiratory/sinus virus. So we are home using nose suckers, saline drops and humidifiers to battle it out with this bug. The boy are being good sports about it except for the nose sucker parts and the eating while trying to breathe out their mouths parts. So far they are getting enough to eat and staying hydrated and their fevers aren't going over 101 degrees. Michael weighed in at 15lb 1oz, was 24in long and had 16.25in head circumference; Konrad weighed in at 13lb, was 23.5in long and had 16in head; Zachary weighed in at 15lb 12oz, was 24.5in long and had 16.5in head. They were very welled behaved at the doctors as usual. The only other thing that came up is that Mikey has to go see a cardiologist because he gets some mottling or discoloration in a venous pattern on his right underarm and shoulder when he is in certain positions. It goes away when he is on his stomach or in other positions but it is quite prominent when he is on his back or sitting in certain ways and so we have to get it checked out because its weird and because he was a preemie just to make sure that something cardiac/vascular isn't happening with him. So let me tell you, the first week of August is an exciting one. We still have the helmet evaluation appointment to go to this week on Friday and then our first physical therapy appointment next Tuesday so I will update once we know anything.