"Tough times never last, but tough people do!"

Welcome back, friends! With things changing daily, we're back to share the newest accomplishments, speed bumps, and hurdles from "the spa". We hit the 5-week mark and are all stronger than ever! 

Three peas in a pod

Pounds

Hello everyone! Jaxson here, and it's great to chat with you again. We're another week older and another week stronger. So I've been waiting all week to tell you that although the grass outside isn't growing and it's turning brown, we're doing the exact opposite...except, I guess we're not turning colors! That's probably a good thing. Since being born 36 days ago, we've all put on at least 1 pound. By we, I mean us triplets...and daddy. Yes we're all growing. We are now at a combined weight of 10 pounds 14 ounces. Can you imagine if we were still in mommy's tummy?!? I am guessing daddy would be doing a lot more than just painting her toenails. I am holding strong as "the tank" of the group. I am weighing in at 3 pounds 15 ounces!! Ella is trying to catch up, but she's not quite there yet. She's weighing in next at 3 pounds 10 ounces. Finally, Charlie is still the littlest pea in the pod. She tops the scale at 3 pounds 5 ounces. We all continue to grow, so much that it's getting tough for mommy and daddy to "kangaroo" us. It's kinda sad! Don't get me wrong, we need to grow, but "kangaroo time" was so relaxing, comfy, and the best medicine. I guess it's time to grow even more so we can go home and cuddle with mommy and daddy whenever we want! The race is on to see which trip will be making the trip to our house first. Game on, girls!! Well, time to relax in the hottub for bath time. Thanks again for stopping by. I'll chat with you again next week. I love you all!! 

Bottles

Jeez, that boy is long winded! I thought it would never be my turn to chat. It's me, Charlie!! Do you remember me? I'm the one with beautiful eyes and a cute little nose. Now do you remember? Good! Well, it's great to have everyone back to visit. This week, it is my job to share about our input. Being a baby is tough work, you know? I mean, we are sleeping so soundly and then they wake us up to change us, clean us, poke us, and listen to us. It is a lot of work! When they are done with all the assessing, they usually hook us up to our tubes that feed us our "white gold". But now, something has changed in our routine. We still sleep, get cleaned, get changed, get poked, and get listened to. But now we don't get hooked up to the tube that feeds us. Not all the time, anyways. We are now able to drink from a bottle...EVERY feeding! That means that whenever we want, we can drink from a bottle, like "other babies" do. Can you sense my excitement?!? Did you know that it's a lot of work to suck, breathe, swallow, digest, and look cute? Well, it is! We are able to drink from a bottle every assessment, but sometimes we are just too tired to do all of that work. Instead, the nurses let us take the easy way out and hook the milk up to our tube. But when we take the easy way out, we don't get fed by mommy and daddy. They usually feed us, rock us, and cuddle us a few times a day. We are starting to like drinking from a bottle more and more. Hopefully next time we chat we will be eating more and more from the bottle and less from the tubes. Like Jaxson said, it's "tubby time". Time to get all beautiful again! Thanks for checking in with us. We will chat again soon. Love you guys!!

Cribs

Being the 3rd child is tough. I am the last one to speak and last one to share my story, but in the NICU I'm the first one to get the attention of my nurses, mommy, and daddy. I guess it could be worse, huh? Like Charlie and Jaxson said, it's been another busy week of new ups and downs. Our roller coaster is never a dull ride. The twists and turns are thrilling, but also terrifying. Speaking of thrilling, something pretty amazing happened this week. Jaxson and I got to wear our first article of clothing!! Our preemie clothes are so dang tiny, but so dang cute. But clothes aren't really the most thrilling part of the story. With clothes on, that means that we are able to maintain our body temp pretty successfully. Which doesn't sound too exciting, but the next part of the story is...! Jaxson and I are sharing a crib!!! A real, "normal baby" crib! We both were doing so well with our temperatures and layers of clothes, we were able to move from the isolette to an open crib. Charlie is still in her own isolette, which isn't the worst thing, really. It is noisy out here in the open crib, so Charlie's isolette keeps it a little less noisy for her. I do miss that part, especially with Jaxson moving and making noises in my ear all the time. How can a girl get her beauty rest?!? We do miss having Charlie with us, though. Since we're in the crib fully clothed, she can't join us. Hopefully soon enough, though. It's hard to be triplets without the third, little peanut. The funny thing about being in clothes and a crib, daddy has to relearn how change diapers. With us being known for "squirting", you have to be very careful...as one as our nurses discovered the hard way! Jaxson is always showing off his talents! Well, like the other peas in my pod said, it's time for a bath. You know, I'm not too big of a fan of this, but we'll see how it goes. Thanks again for dropping by to check on us. We think of you all often! Love and miss you!

Jaxson and Ella in their now home.