Warding off RSV in the cold

Yesterday the boys had their monthly appointment with Pulmonology to get their Synagis shot. The Synagis shot provides antibodies that will help the babies ward off or fight RSV if they were to get it. Hopefully with the monthly Synagis injections we will be able to avoid RSV all together or if not, maybe it will not require a trip back to the hospital.

The injection the babies get is based on their weight and the needle and amount of Synagis seemed much bigger this month than it did in December. It's a great sign that they've gotten bigger since last time, but it made me a little nervous to see the bigger needle. Overall the little guys were champs and did pretty well. They definitely cried when they got the shot, but were able to be consoled within minutes and slept the whole drive home. The rest of the afternoon went pretty well, and they didn't fuss too much, which is good, but when Ryan had a big spit up right before bed we thought the day's action and the Synagis may have been partially to blame. I will take their temps sometime today to make sure they don't have a fever or a negative reaction to the injection. Last month they were able to get the shot with no issues and I imagine this month will be the same. So far today they are acting just fine.

While we were at the appointment, we got updated weights and measurements on the babies. YAY! I love this part and enjoy getting to see the growth the babies are experiencing. So without further ado...

Stokes - 10 lbs, 6.1 oz and 21 3/4 inches

Ryan - 9 lbs, 15.4 oz and 22 inches

William - 10 lbs, 6.8 oz and 22 1/2 inches

So as you can see, our littlest baby, William, is now our biggest baby! Way to go, William! He has become our best eater and often his bottles have more milk than Stokes and Ryan's bottles. He just seems hungry all the time! Ryan definitely seems smaller and lighter than his brothers, so I was relieved that he was in the same vicinity as the other two.

I should mention that we have having a major cold spell here! We set record lows two days ago (taking the record from 1892 or something - ha!) and it feels brutally cold out there. I am glad not to live in the Northeast right now! Anyway, I was concerned about the boys being cold going to and from the appointment and made a point to bundle them up. They wore a long sleeve onesie, a footed sleeper, a jacket, a hat and had a blanket over them in their car seats. I also pulled the car seat shade over their faces to avoid any wind. They slept right through the transportation to and from the car so I think we accomplished the goal to keep them from getting too cold. The hats that I put on Ryan and Stokes were the CUTEST things I've ever seen. I snapped a picture of Stokes in his hat that I could send to Thomas really quickly, but sadly didn't take a picture of William wearing his hat. Unfortunately, we only had 2 of the super cute hats and poor Ryan just got a regular hat. It's ok because he's adorable anyway and he didn't care which hat he wore!

Thomas's aunt Fifi is here this week and was able to help me with the appointment. It would be so difficult for me to maneuver all 3 babies in and out, not to mention getting them all undressed and dressed again during the appointment as well as consoling each of them after their shots. I was so glad to have an extra pair of hands there with me helping out. The nurses kept calling Fifi "grandma" and neither of us corrected them. I think Fifi liked being mistaken for the grandma of these sweet angels! Oh yeah, and the nurse practitioner came in and told Fifi that she didn't look like she had just had triplets. She thought Fifi was the Mom initially right when she walked in. What an awesome compliment for Fifi and a testimony to how young and good she looks! ;)

We experienced another milestone yesterday as well. I had William and Stokes on a play mat doing some tummy time (diaperless, so we could let their bottoms get some air and hopefully clear up a little diaper rash we've been fighting). William got a little fired up and was crying and moving all around. When William gets on tummy time, he isn't able to actually "crawl" yet, but that doesn't stop him from getting around! I am constantly repositioning him on the blanket, mat or towel because he can move...and quickly! Anyway, he was a bit mad and was pushing his legs up and flexing all his little muscles and managed to roll over from tummy to back. TWICE. Good job, little....or should I say BIG...buddy! I immediately texted Thomas to let him know the update. So right now we have two babies that can roll over from tummy to back. I'm a proud mama!

Nursery

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while, but I had to make time to be sure the nursery was clean and picked up, I had my camera (with memory card inserted!) and the babies were taken care of for a few minutes and didn't need my attention. So I finally got all those pieces together a few days ago, and voila - here are nursery pictures!

I am definitely not a decorating guru and actually really struggle with decorating my house. We moved in over two years ago, but it's far from being "complete". But I am very pleased with how the nursery ended up. It doesn't belong in a magazine or anything, but I think it's really cute. I took pictures so that you can see what it looks like as though you're turning around in a circle. I hope that makes sense!

View from the door right when you walk in

 

The door with an adorable wreath my friend Stephanie made! I love that she color-coordinated with my nursery theme.

 

 

Wall with one side of crib #1 and the changing table, which was a gift from my Aunt Alison and Uncle Wells. This thing came from IKEA and has been the PERFECT changing table. The height is great and there is a lot of drawer storage, which is definitely needed for 3 babies! We don't have an IKEA in Greenville so my Aunt Kathy bought it in Atlanta and my Uncle Duncan drove it up here. You may remember this post from a while back when Uncle Duncan and my dad were assembling it. 

 

Crib #1 - this is a hand-me-down from my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Duncan. They had twins about 12 years ago! The crib was originally a natural wood color and they painted it white to match the look I was going for. They're pretty much awesome. :)

Wall with window and rocking chair (in between crib #1 and crib #2). Please notice how adorable the curtains are and how perfectly they match with the bedding! The boys' Aunt Ashley made these curtains. She is so incredibly creative and talented. I absolutely love them (and her)!

Crib #2 - this is where all 3 boys are currently sleeping. It's the only crib that we bought new.

Wall with one side of crib #2 and with crib #3 and our tall chest. There is also a small chest/nightstand on this wall. While the boys were in the NICU, Thomas and MaSha painted the tall chest and the nightstand white in keeping with the matching theme within the nursery. Keep in mind that painting was done in the garage and this was during the heat of the summer so it was a true, sweaty labor of love. Crib #3 was given to us by the boys' Aunt Ashley and Uncle Zack. At least one of their cousins, Taylor or Anna, or possibly both, slept in this crib.

This is a close-up of the diaper cake that sits on the tall chest. The babies' Aunt Tara made this for my baby shower in Virginia. I know I need to use all the awesome things on here (including the diapers!), but it's just so cute that I am having a hard time with the thought of taking it apart. Since this picture was taken, however, I did remove the Wubbanubs for use with the boys. FYI - the Wubbanubs are the pacifiers with a small stuffed animal attached. We thought it might help William keep his paci in his mouth. Well, it didn't, but they're so darn cute so we like it when the babies use them! Haha!

Wall with closet

Inside of closet. Again, thank you to all that have passed along hand-me-down clothes and given us clothes as gifts. We are so fortunate and blessed!

NICU milestones that hang on the wall - our nurses in the NICU put these together for the babies. Each time they met a milestone, the nurse would get a cut out of that milestone, put the date on it and add it to their ribbon. Examples of milestones - the first time their Dad and I changed their diaper (please note how small these teeny, tiny diapers are), the first time we kangaroo cared with them, when they hit the 3 lb mark, etc.

Crosses that hang on the wall that were given to them by one of my BFFs, Colby.

 

Close-up of the knobs that are on the changing table and the nightstand. These were given to us by Aunt Ashley - she ordered them on Etsy. :) They match the nurse theme so well and are so cute!

I got put on hospital bed rest unexpectedly and much earlier than I had anticipated going to the hospital. That being said, the nursery was a COMPLETE mess when I was admitted to the hospital. We had just had our baby shower in Virginia 3 days prior and had gifts scattered around everywhere. I also had not gone through any of the clothes and baby items that had been given to us in the months prior and everything was just kind of stacked in the nursery. It looked as if a plastic bin and gift bag hurricane hit the room. When I thought about the nursery while on bed rest, it gave me a headache. I also knew that I would most likely be in the hospital until the boys were born and realized that the nursery would not be "done" right when the boys decided to enter the world. This is another way that my pregnancy was so much different than a typical one. Most pregnant moms get the opportunity (and enjoy!) working on, decorating and putting together the nursery in anticipation of and before having their baby. I realized that my nursery work would be done out of order and it's much harder to work on a nursery once the babies are already born. I mean, who has time for that?!?!? But here is an example of a silver lining for a NICU stay. I also knew I would have some time to work on it before the boys actually came home from the hospital. Not tons of time, mind you, because I felt like I needed to spend most of my time at the NICU while the boys were there, but I could work on it a little here and there before going to the hospital. Anyway, I have such kind in-laws that did put some man hours (well, actually woman hours) into getting the nursery in better shape for me to come home to. My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law spent a lot of time going through clothes, washing and organizing them, putting gifts away and getting them organized, etc. When I came home after my C-section, the room was in much better shape than how I had left it. I appreciated all their work so much and would have been completely overwhelmed had I come home to its original state. But I also felt like I hadn't had anything to do with the nursery at that point. I didn't have any of my "touches" in there. Other than picking out the bedding, I had very little input up to that point. I really felt like I needed to do something so that a piece of me would be in the nursery. I was looking on Etsy for wall art and came across some really cute designs and the thought occurred to me that I could actually paint their wall art and that would give me a feeling of wholeness and inclusion in the nursery. So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some canvas and paint and looked around for other things that I could paint or craft to help decorate the room. Here are close-ups of my "artwork". :)

This was the idea I got from Etsy. Shhh...don't tell that I copied it. I drew the alligators to match those on the bedding. These canvases took some time because I had to get out the ruler to draw the lines. They're definitely not perfect, but I don't mind because they were made with love! These hang on the wall with crib #3.

 

I also painted this South Carolina flag canvas to go over crib #2. The reason I chose the SC flag is because we're proud that the boys are South Carolinians and because I was trying to think of something that would go with our colors (navy, white and lime green) and something that I could realistically paint without messing it up too much. The SC flag met the navy and white criteria and I googled the flag and was able to recreate it.

I needed something to go on the wall above crib #1. I found this cute alligator that was already painted at Hobby Lobby so I got a piece of blank wood and painted it navy. Then I hot glued the alligator on it and added the green ribbon to make it more decorative. The ribbon was leftover from the curtains so that is matchy-matchy, too. Yay!!!

I knew I wanted to put up some white shelves on a wall in the nursery but didn't know what to actually put on the shelves. I found these cardboard numbers at Hobby Lobby and decided to paint them, too. The #2 is supposed to be a chevron pattern....hey, I tried!

 

 

I also reused the wooden P that I used to trace the "P" on the alligator canvas and painted it navy to prop up on a shelf.  

Reminder of what the wall with the shelves looks like, including the "P" and the 1, 2, 3. I saved you some time so you didn't have to scroll back up. You're welcome. :)

All in all, I am very pleased with the nursery. We actually weren't sure if we would be able to fit 3 cribs, a rocker and a changing table in the room. Although it's a decent sized room, that is a lot of furniture! While in the hospital, we "white boarded" it out to determine a good layout. What we thought was a good layout didn't actually work and we had to move stuff around and reconfigure the room a few times until we found something that did work. It's a little crowded and there is no unused wall space, but it works for us and I think it's the best use of the space! I am a little bit wordy about this room, I mean, it's just a nursery, but like I said, I am pleased with how it turned out and pretty proud of myself. The boys totally love their room and have told me several times! ;)

Holiday recap

Happy New Year! 2014 will be a big year and will see a lot of "firsts" for the boys. Our New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful, but we were awake at midnight! That was mainly because it was time to feed the babies - haha! We didn't "see" any fireworks because it was cold and I was tired and didn't want to go outside (wimpy, I know!), but we heard them and could see them in our minds. Thanks for the beautiful fireworks displays!

The boys on their activity mat last night

 

Today we're going to eat the traditional collared greens and black eyed peas. Don't they say those are for health and wealth? We could use both in this upcoming year so cheers to that!

The boys are enjoying the first day if 2014! Plus they look so preppy and adorable in these cute Polo sleepers they got for Christmas from some thoughtful friends of ours that I couldn't help but to get their picture. Thanks for the outfits, Pamela & Barry!

 

Overall the holidays were very happy for our family. Since the boys have come home from the hospital, we've had the good fortune to have lots of sweet and loving family members come stay with us and help with the triplets. It's amazing what a difference it makes to have another set of hands around to feed a baby during feeding time, do laundry, wash bottles, soothe a crying baby, help with household chores, cook dinner, etc! It was also so helpful for me to have someone around to go to doctors appointments with me if I had to take all 3 babies, or to stay home with some of the boys if I had an appointment for just one baby or needed to run some errands. I think I have included pictures of most of the people that have been here helping but here are a few more pictures that I haven't posted yet that include some important family members!

Aunt Fifi, Grandad and GranO

My cousin Meg from NYC

My Aunt Mary Nell (boys will call her Nana 1)*

My Aunt Wanda (boys will call her Nana 2)*

 

*Nanas are named courtesy of my adorable niece, Kaitlyn!
 

In addition to family visitors, lots of friends have come by to meet Stokes, Ryan and William throughout this holiday season. I want to thank you all for being so diligent about washing your hands when you get here, having your flu shot and canceling plans if you were feeling even slightly sick or had any sort of symptoms. We appreciate it so much! We feel your love and concern for the babies' well being. 

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of everyone that has come by, but here are a few! Sorry to our friends I have missed :( 

Matt holding Ryan 

Amy holding all 3

Jacqui hanging out with the babies and me in the nursery

Beth comes by on her days off work and helps me for the majority of the day - AWESOME!!! Love her!

My Mom's friends, Lisa and Terry

Terry holding 2 babies at a time! She's a pro

 

Wendy, Shea and Brenda came over to babysit one night so Thomas and I could go out!

Wendy

Shea

Brenda

Our dear close friend Carole

 

We have a few scheduled times in January for family to be here to help, but I will really be on my own most of the time. For doctors appointments that Thomas can't come to, I will call around to try to get someone to come and help me. I am not ready to try to take all 3 babies somewhere by myself unless I absolutely have to. If you have previously offered some help and assistance, don't be surprised if I call on you! And don't feel bad if you aren't able to do it. I have had lots of offers and should be able to get help when needed. 

We have really enjoyed the 2013 holiday season. It has been so different in so many ways than in previous years and we are trying to take it all in stride and to enjoy and appreciate all the small moments. Here's to a happy and healthy 2014!

We're kind of a big deal, part 2

The boys are famous! They've officially made it into a magazine! For you Clemson fans, they're in IPTAY's Orange: The Experience magazine, the December 2013 issue.

Here's the goods

Cover:

Spread:

Close up of the cuties:

So if you're an IPTAY donor check out the Peery triplets' print debut!

Monkeys & whales & monsters, oh my!

I love when the boys have coordinating or similar outfits! 

And since it's Sunday, aka NFL day, here's a shout out to the Buffalo Bills. We have some work friends from our office in Buffalo who sent these adorable onesies to the boys. Of course the babies like the Bills since CJ Spiller plays there! ;)

Can you tell William is a little upset?

Then Ryan started crying, too...oh well!

We are a house divided when it comes to the NFL. Obviously the babies like the Bills, Thomas pulls for the Redskins and I love America's team, the Dallas Cowboys! Here's a picture we took recently with our team shirts on. 

I should also mention that I like the Panthers and the Falcons, too. Guess I am spread pretty thin on NFL allegiances haha!

We stand united when it comes to college football though! Clemson tigers!

We have the Orange Bowl game coming up. We will need the babies to be good luck charms to help Clemson get the W.

We started taking down the Christmas decorations yesterday and today we're going to tackle the main Christmas tree. I sure do wish we could just leave it up all year! ;)

My friend Amy and her mom came by today to meet the babies. Amy had a little boy named Cole around the same time my babies were born. Cole is huge and is already wearing 12 month clothes! I look forward to the days that these guys can play with Cole and his big sister Elly. Hopefully they'll catch up to him size-wise at some point! Amy wanted to hold all 3 babies and get a picture.

 

In talking to Amy I realized that we won't be able to hold all 3 of them like this forever. At some point they'll just be too big. I am excited about the boys getting bigger and stronger and learning more things but that thought made me a little sad! 

Hope everyone has a good restful Sunday. 

This is the day The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

4 Months Old

Wow...the babies are FOUR months old, as of Christmas Day. They've been home with us for almost 2 months. Soon the NICU is going to feel like a distant memory. To be honest, it has already started happening.

Just the other day I did a drawer switch out and removed the newborn clothes and put in the 0-3 month clothes. These bigger clothes fit them great! They've also recently moved from newborn diapers to a size 1. They just keep growing!

Here is an update about each baby.

Stokes
Stokes is such a sweet baby. He was labeled as the troublemaker and fiestiest baby while in the NICU but seems to have really settled down. It is fairly rare for him to fuss or cry but when he does he is very easily soothed. His cry sounds kind of funny actually. He lets out these high pitched little squeals that sound like a pterodactyl. He also has a raspy sounding cry and sometimes even sounds like a cat. But like I said, he is easily soothed so he normally doesn't cry very long. I can just go and pick him up and shortly after he will just quiet right down. Nothing feels better to a mom than when you can soothe your upset baby. It's a little victory each and every time. It feels to me like he was just waiting for me to pick him up and snuggle him. Speaking of snuggling, this little guy is so squeezeable! He has gotten some rolls on his arms and legs. Sweet baby rolls are the best! He also has the most amazing cheeks. I can't help but to kiss them each time I pick him up. Actually...who am I kidding...I have to kiss those cheeks whenever I am even near him! One of my very favorite things about Stokes are his facial expressions. He uses his eyes and eyebrows a lot and makes the funniest faces. He keeps his dad and me laughing! Stokes came home from the NICU on a monitor that checks his heart rate and breathing. I will write a separate post about his monitor but for now the update is that he's not quite ready to ditch it yet. I took Stokes to the doctor on Christmas Eve after a call to the nurse to ask about a diaper rash that won't go away and a mention that I had heard him wheezing. When I heard the wheezing, I casually told Thomas that he may end up with asthma (common for preemies), but the more I thought about it, I got worried that my sweet Stokie may have RSV, which is a 4 letter word in our household. As soon as the nurse heard the word "wheezing", she recommended that Stokes and I get an appointment set. I have been paranoid about RSV and have read and heard about many preemies that have gotten it this season and had to go back to the hospital. It can be very serious. I actually have a friend with two kids (not preemies) who are both getting over RSV right now. The thought of my boys getting it really scares me. So we went in for an appointment to be on the safe side and he checked out just fine! No RSV, his breathing was good with no wheezing and we have got a new course of action for that stubborn diaper rash. Actually his doctor said he looked big and sounded great! He weighed 9 lbs, 9 oz. I am so proud!
Nicknames: Stokie, pterodactyl (or Terry for short), and the Emperor (there is a story behind that one and credit goes to Aunt Suzy)

Ryan

Ryan has the most laid back personality of the three. He is just so sweet and will calmly lay in his boppy and patiently look around when his brothers are upset or when he's waiting to eat because I am feeding someone else. When he does cry it is a funny howl-like sound. His eyes look so blue to me still and I think there is a decent chance that they will stay blue. Ryan loves to stare up at whomever is holding him. He will look up with these little blue eyes and looks like he wants to start a deep conversation. He looks very intelligent. He uses that time while being held to get an arm and neck workout. He will push his head away from you so he can look at you and make eye contact. I am glad he is "working out" because he does not care for tummy time. He has started to roll over from tummy to back so if he's not napping during tummy time, he just rolls right over! Ryan goes to sleep at night really easily and requires less rocking and patting than his brothers. He does take a pacifier every now and then and does such a good job keeping it in his mouth. He totally fits the "middle child", low maintenance stereotype. I still worry so much about his brain development since the neurologist noted some continued immaturity. I wish I knew what that really meant and what the outcome will be. I need to practice patience and just continue to pray. He just seems so smart to me that I can't figure how his brain is immature.

Nickname: Wyan (pronounced why-an) - our niece Anna doesn't pronounce R sounds yet and we love to hear her say Wyan so we started saying it and it kinda stuck! We also call him Ry Ry sometimes.

William

William is definitely our baby. He craves a lot of attention and wants to be held a lot. When he's not being held he's typically either sleeping or crying. That's a slight exaggeration (emphasis on the slight)! His cry can get pretty loud and we feel confident that he has a healthy set of lungs. William's cry is heart wrenching and he will even go so far as to throw in the lip quiver. No one can resist that! This smart cookie knows what he's doing and definitely gets held the most. He absolutely loves to snuggle and will burrow into your neck while you're holding him. One of William's best features is his eyes. They are absolutely beautiful. I think there is a hint of brown creeping in and they are so sincere and actually sparkle! The sparkle may just be leftover tears from his last cry. I kid! :) He has these long eyelashes that compliment his eyes just perfectly. And he has the cutest button nose. William is the biggest pacifier fan by far. He absolutely LOVES it! At times that he seems so upset and inconsolable, you can put that paci in his mouth and he's instantly silent. I need him to work on keeping the paci in his mouth though. He will suck on it so vigorously that it pops out. This translates to me putting it back in his mouth numerous times per day. William is our best eater and consistently finishes his bottle without us having to work with him much to do it. He's actually getting 10 ml more per bottle than his brothers and is probably not the smallest baby anymore. We will find out at their next pediatrician appointment in a few weeks. While on tummy time William can scoot himself partially off the blanket somehow and I have a feeling he might be the first baby to crawl. I love that he embraces the role of being the baby of the family and also when he hears me across the room and turns his eyes over to try to find me.

Nickname: Winky (not sure why because he doesn't actually wink!) and sweet pea