8.17.09: The big move

Today was a big day for us in Chicago. We got word last night that the boys made it safely to Pasadena and now we (Bonnie, Kelly and I) were up for a huge adventure taking two-month old triplets onto an airplane from Chicago to LA. The morning started off very early with Bonnie, Kelly, Evan and I scrambling to get everything ready for the girls and our imminent departure. Not only did we need to pack up our camping space and equipment and clear out the apartment but we also had the girls and all their necessities to cram into luggage (perhaps pre-packing a bit more might have been a good idea). Evan had stayed the weekend to help us with the girls and ended up taking on a majority of the housework that we didn't finish before we needed to leave for our flight. Of course the weather was rainy with lightening and thunder nonstop....isn't it August in Chicago? After loading up one car with the girls and some luggage Evan and I departed for the airport while Kelly and Bonnie took a cab with the remainder of the luggage.

Upon my arrival at the airport, Kelly and Bonnie had luggage carts, a clear idea of how to check in and had already befriended the agent supervising the 45+ minute check in line. Once the agent saw the girls she immediately asked us if we like to check in 'promptly' - of course we said yes and we were whisked to the front of the line where she recruited a separate agent just for us. Normally I would refuse such special treatment, but if you saw us - you'd know we needed it. In addition to the three girls in their car seats we had 6 checked bags and probably 5 carry on bags - we were a mess, an organized mess, but a mess. Security wasn't a big deal, I think the agent thought each of us had one baby as he didn't seem to understand the triplet thing, but I wasn't about to correct him. O'hare has a family screening line so we took over that for a good 15 minutes while everything was inspected, breast pump, breast milk, formula and all - it was an experience....but we passed.

Now off to the gate, which of course seemed to be as far away as possible, even through the colored tunnel for those who are familiar with O'hare. Upon arriving at the gate, we see a sign for Baltimore - our gate had been changed during the time it took us to walk from security. I nearly fainted with exhaustion upon realizing that we needed to go all the way to the other side of the terminal. Thankfully (I think) our flight was delayed so at least we had time.

Upon arriving at our new gate (and checking every single monitor on the way) we took over a corner of the waiting area. This is where IT happened.....my first public pumping. I had to do it - I can only go so long. Thankfully I have a 'hooter hider' that my sister made so it was pretty discrete - I think. Besides if anyone looked over they were enamored with the girls and obviously not bothering to figure out what I was doing.

After several delays, our flight was finally boarding. I just assumed that since we were travelling with infants we would get to board near the start but turns out United doesn't do family boarding - so we waited until the very end to get on the plane. It was hilarious with all three of us carrying on a baby (minus the car seat since the plane was at capacity). Each person we walked by had fear in their eyes, avoided eye contact, or just gave a look of wow hoping that we didn't sit near them. Once we reached the back of the plane, we found our seats and tried to make nice - this was a strength of Kelly and Bonnie and less so me as I was still fearing the take off and landing.

The flight went REALLY well - no major meltdowns and very little crying. In fact one fellow passenger said the man snoring in front of her was noisier than the girls - so I took that as a compliment. I was even able to pump on the airplane something I would rather not do again.

Upon arrival in LAX we were greeted by Brant and headed to our new home. The movers were just finishing up and everything (and everyone) had made it safely. We all had a very successful day. The girls were wonderful (as good as one can ask for) on their first plane ride...all my anxiety for nothing - I was SO lucky and obviously couldn't have done it without my travel buddies.

My sister wrote up a great slideshow of our adventure while she was visiting. Slideshow link to see all the pictures

8.15.09: Let the camping begin

Friday morning went pretty well. We hired movers to put the boxes into the truck and after some debacle about arrival time, they came and accomplished their mission (minus the boxes Brant and Kelly already lugged into the truck). After picking up the trailer for the car, the boys took off for their cross-country road trip leaving Kelly and I to 'camp' with the girls.

Anything left in the house was either being brought with us via airplane, given away or tossed. Needless to say this invoked some challenging living conditions. I must admit, I thought I was a reasonably tough person as far as camping goes at least, but trying to camp with three newborns was a bit more than I would prefer to do again. Thankfully Brant's mom and brother arrived on Saturday to help us take care of the girls. After one evening and morning of my sister and I living on a blowup bed with no other furniture we realized that we must acquire some camping chairs - something to sit on for the next couple days besides the hardwood floors. Bonnie brought some and we borrowed a couple others from Kelly's friend who lived nearby. Things were still not ideal, but sitting on camping chairs rather than hardwood floors was definitely a luxury that I didn't previously appreciate.

The big milestone for the day, was a trip out to Dairy Queen. I needed to get comfortable going out in public with the girls and since I had my two travel companions (Bonnie and Kelly) with me it seemed like the perfect time for a small adventure using my wrap and two others that Kelly borrowed from her friends. Once Dan, Nicole and Peter arrived all of us walked over to DQ. I did have a few freakouts about cars driving by and people touching the kids (or trying to) but overall it went well. Dan and Evan were our security team while the ladies each held a child (ours + Peter). After the blizzards were eaten, we returned home where I was relieved to know that it was possible - we could leave the house with the girls and go into a public restaurant - but how far could I push my luck?

8.13.09: Welcome visitors

Brant parallel parking a 26 foot Uhaul in front of our Chicago house

The past couple days were crazy. Not only were we trying to figure out how to manage taking care of three newborns with just the two of us, but we were also desperately trying to finish up packing our house. Chaos had truly ensued.

In the morning Grandpa arrived. The boys went to get the Uhaul truck in preparation for the loading and departure of the truck on Friday. After some deliberation we ended up with a 26 foot truck (a near semi in my book) which would also be towing our car. The boys were up for some driving challenges.

In the evening, Auntie Kelly arrived. Her role in the move was to help with the girls while Brant and his dad departed for CA with all of our belongings.

Help had definitely arrived, but so had the craziness.

8.11.09: Two months old

As of today, the girls are two months old. I can't believe they have already been here for two months. It feels like just the other day I was in the hospital as giant as a whale just waiting for them to arrive. Everyone is healthy and doing well so we are very thankful for that.

8.8.09: Grandy escapes

L->R Daphne, Stella, Fiona note: all the girls outfits were selected by Uncle Evan ;)

After a long visit, it was time for Grandy to go back to Seattle. We realized my mom had been gone from her own home since mid-June with only a short visit to Arizona in the middle of two stays in Chicago to help us take care of the girls. Everyone was sad to have her go. I know she was sad to go too, but I think the idea of a real bed rather than a blowup air mattress was rather exciting to her.

Uncle Evan was in town to help us take apart some furniture in preparation for our move next week. I spent the day watching the girls while the two of them took apart anything and everything they could. Since the girls never really took a liking to the crib, even that was able to be taken apart. The weekend ended with the realization that we were really leaving Chicago :(

8.7.09: Adventures x2

Today was a big day for us - with two outings from the house. The girls had their two month doctor visit (our final visit with the pediatrician in Chicago). Everything was going well and the girls are growing perfectly (Fiona 9lbs 1oz, Daphne 9lbs 5oz, Stella 8lbs 7oz) each almost doubling their birth weights. Due to this appropriate weight gain, I no longer need to supplement the girls breast milk with special formula to add calories - the girls get the pure stuff now. BUT one of the moments I had feared since becoming a mom had finally occurred....it was time for immunizations.

Now as I have mentioned previously, I am no trooper when it comes to shots, blood draws - really anything with needles, but I have learned I am even more of a mess when it happens to my children. Another key difficulty is that we had to go through this three times (one for each kid). So just when I recovered from one child hysterically screaming over the shots, it was time for another round. This was very traumatic for me, but thankfully Brant handled it as well as possible while I curled in the corner crying and covering my ears - you would think I was the one getting all the shots.

After turning our daughters into pin cushions, we realized that immunizations usually make kids irritable for the next couple of days - perhaps poor timing given our plans for the evening. Upon arriving home from the seemingly calm car ride (the first time I drove the girls by myself) everything seemed fine - until we had been home about one hour - when all hell broke loose. The girls (all three) starting screaming like I have never heard before (except from Daphne who really enjoys using her vocal cords). Our night adventure was at serious risk.

After some Tylenol (I hate giving the kids medicine - I feel like a drug pusher) and some serious determination from mom (and Uncle Evan) we put the girls in the car seats and somehow - for some reason - they started to calm down. We raced to put them into the car to meet Dad at Andrey and Alyona's house for a goodbye gathering. This would be the first time most of our friends met the girls. After the car ride the girls remained really calm - a wonderful treat. They were definitely on their best behavior napping most of the evening. They awoke just in time to be held by all those who were willing. Uncle Evan and I brought the girls home in time for their 10pm feeding while Brant continued to enjoy the evenings festivities.

Overall a successful day that could have been a disaster - we were really lucky.

8.4.09: Army crawl

All three girls have officially begun to army crawl. When laying on their tummies and having a barrier behind their feet, each girl will push themselves forward. If the barrier moves with them, they will keep going, even off the play mat. Of course, they haven't yet learned how to crawl (they aren't even two months old) but they do enjoy sliding their bodies and faces on the play mat using this technique. It is hilarious to watch with their butts in the air and faces smashed into the ground.

8.3.09: Whack-a-mole

Total chaos has erupted in the Robertson household. We have been desperately trying to pack our home while still adjusting to parenthood. Thankfully Grandy has been around to help watch the girls. One evening, Brant pointed out that watching the girls is sort of like whack-a-mole. Instead of bashing the mole with a mallet, you hold the baby until the next one starts scream louder and pickup/put down/insert binkie as necessary never knowing which baby will be next - it is a constant coordinated task to keep three babies happy at once. You are almost never free of a baby and when you are, the silence is amazing. Things are really crazy here (hence the delayed blog entries) but wonderful. The girls are starting to stare at things and even starting to touch each other - although I suppose the 'touching' could just be random arm movements, but for now I will declare them touching - it makes me feel better :)

7.31.09: Premies no more

Auntie Kelly got each of the girls a premie outfit which was worn when each girl came home from the NICU. Less than a month after all the girls came home, the outfits are too small. This is the first thing they have outgrown. The girls have long thin legs and arms but the bellies are bulking up. I thought it was hilarious to see their legs popping out of the pants and their bellies filling out the onesies. I am proud to say, they are premies no more. The girls have officially outgrown their first outfits and I couldn't be more proud.

ps - I promptly removed the girls from these outfits after the picture as I was worried Daphne would bust the seams :)

7.27.09: Robertson clan

Today was a special day for the girls. They met their great grandma Nana from Kentucky and Uncle Ragan and Christina who live in New York. They also got to see Uncle Evan and Melissa from Indiana who met the girls previously while they were in the NICU. It was wonderful to have so much of the Robertson clan around and the girls definitely had plenty of willing arms to hold them. The girls also got to celebrate Grandy's birthday (my mom) who celebrated with a late shift of watching the girls (2-6am) - lucky Grandy!