Urban Trek

Today we journeyed into the big city to take the babies to their NICU follow-up appointment for a full developmental evaluation. The day started at 6:00am when we started feeding the babies. After they were fed, the babies took a cat nap while I prepared the diaper bag. This is where I put in a good word for the Skip Hop Duo Double Deluxe Edition diaper bag. It is AWESOME! It has all kinds of pockets to put all the goods in and the bag also attaches to our double stroller. Anyhow, by the time I got everything ready to go, it was time for the babies to eat again. Once the babies had their fill, we got them buckled into their car seats and hauled them one at a time, with monitor in tow, out to the van. We got in the vehicle and were already exhausted before even going anywhere! This included the babies, who went to sleep immediately and stayed asleep the entire car ride.

So it took us about 45 minutes to make it into the downtown area and we had to park in the parking garage for the hospital, where the appointment was located. We pulled the triplet stroller frame out of the back of the van and loaded up the trio. Our Peg Perego "triplette" is great because the car seats latch right into the frame. Eric especially likes it because it has a steering wheel! It is definitely the Cadillac of strollers! We had fun manuevering the stroller into the parking garage elevator.

Once to the ground level, our plan was to move as quickly as possible since we knew we would get a lot of attention, based on stories we've heard from other triplet parents. We were right! Within a matter of seconds, we saw heads turn, some doing double takes and people saying things like, "Is that triplets?" and "Wow, you've got your hands full!" It was a beautiful 80 degree day today so there were a lot of people around, many trying to stop us, even though we were plowing through the crowd. Even though we expected this to occur, it was a strange feeling getting so much attention! It made us feel a bit uncomfortable to say the least with people pointing, talking to us, talking to others about us, and so forth. I wonder if we will ever get used to it all? We finally braved our way through the crowd and made it to the lobby of the hospital and up to the fifth floor for our 11:30am appointment.

Each baby got weighed and got their length and head circumference measured. Here's their latest stats:

Krista- 11 lbs. 15 oz., 23 in. long, head cir. of 15.4 in.
Jamison- 12 lbs. 6 oz., 22.5 in. long, head cir. of 15.8 in.
Kiera- 9 lbs. 8 oz., 20 in. long, head cir. of 15.0 in.

Then the Neonatalogist looked at all of the developmental domains and evaluated if they have met the milestones for a two month old. This is their adjusted age since they were born 8 weeks early. She determined that all three babies are doing great! They are on target for everything except for visual tracking vertically, but they do track horizontally so they are well on their way! Krista and Jamison are above average for their weight and length on the premature babies growth chart and even though Kiera is still small, she's doing well too! At this time, there are no major concerns but we were given some "homework" to do with the babies: more tummy time, massaging of the arms and legs to increase flexibility, and continuing to work on visual focusing using toys. We are set to return in four months to see how they are progessing.

On our way back to the parking garage in the hospital lobby, Eric ran into a former co-worker, which was a surprise, since she was unaware that we had triplets! After our brief encounter with her, we headed back to the van, continuing to get looks and comments the whole way back. By this time, it was almost 3:00pm! When we finally made it home around 4:00, everyone was ready for nap! It was a long day but we survived our first urban trek with the triplets.