Week 16 with Triplets

Week of October 18, 2021

The babies turn four months old!

The triplet have hit the four month milestone, which means they’re starting to get really exciting.

Sleeping through the Night

Both girls slept through the night for the first time this week. This does seem more like a major milestone for their parents, especially since mom goes back to work in a couple weeks.

About mid-week the girls slept from 7:00pm to 7:00am! The boy is probably not far behind but he’s been battling a cold and isn’t sleeping quite as peacefully as his sisters.

Rolling Over

Baby C was the first to roll from stomach to back during tummy time a few weeks back. He’s continued becoming more intentional in this move and has progressed to rolling from back to side.

Baby A was the next to roll from stomach to back earlier this week, and Baby B suddenly made the roll late in the week. Because Baby B tends to be rigid most of the time, her biggest challenge is making the roll without her head hitting so hard.

Four Month Checkup

At this age it’s time for a milestone visit to the pediatrician.

This gave us an exciting update on their weights. Both girls are tied at 12 lbs. 10 oz., but the boy shook the scales at a whopping 15 lbs. 3 oz. I’m quite tall and his dad has an athletic build, so this little boy could be next level.

Sadly this also meant another round of shots. I’ll be honest, I had a terrible time changing diapers the next day and avoiding their injection sites. Even leaving the band-aids on as a reminder, we had lots of cries for Umpa.

It’s also worth noting the stress of these doctor visits on their mother. Although she’s always had someone with her (me or her husband), there’s so much going on during the appointment. She’s still working on how best to make sure all her questions get asked and answered.

Adding Cereal

At four months of age it is also normal to start introducing cereal (rice or oat) to the babies. This, however, did lead to an interesting conversation with her pediatrician — and again, every doctor has different opinions.

The pediatrician said that introducing cereal to babies at this age is really unnecessary. The babies get all their nutrition from breast milk or formula during the first year. If anything, the cereal can make the babies constipated, which is not ideal.

She also made the comment that oat cereal is preferable to rice cereal. To paraphrase the doctor; rice cereal contains arsenic, although at FDA approved levels, but I’d rather err on the side of no arsenic.

Date Night

Friday night was a big moment for everyone. The triplet’s parents asked to have a night out with another couple, the first time since the babies were born. Not easy for any parent to be away from their little ones.

This meant Mimi and Umpa got to officially baby sit the three. I help mom during the day, so obviously I’m familiar with their daily schedule. The evening routine, however, is entirely new territory.

Their parents have done such a wonderful job of establishing a schedule. The babies knew what they were doing, we just had to follow our instructions without deviating and messing things up for their parents.

Everything was going fine until we started the final evening feeding process. The babies wear Owlet Smart Socks to monitor vitals overnight. This entails an electronic sock that transmits to a base station (three in this case), which in turn talks to an app on their parent’s phones.

I keep forgetting that there is a limited range on the Owlets. Where I normally feed them is out of range.

Mimi finished getting Baby A changed and ready for feeding. She is now starting on Baby B while I start feeding Baby A where I normally do. Suddenly we get a text from mom that there’s an alarm on her phone… I’m out of range.

There’s no real urgency at this point, but I move the baby and her bottle upstairs. The problem is that I’m now someplace that we didn’t prep to feed three babies. Keep in mind that Baby A is in feeding mode and doesn’t want to be interrupted, but I’ve got another baby on the way and then Mimi has to start on Baby C.

As quickly as possible, I optimistically put Baby A in charge of prop feeding herself. Rushing back downstairs I grab all the normal feeding stuff I can carry and sprint back upstairs. I get Baby A re-settled in proper feeding mode just in time to get Baby B started with her bottle.

It was the only hectic moment of the night and we successfully got all three off to bed for the night. Practice makes perfect, and the babies will get easier over time (right?).