Well we made it through our first year. Some days were hell, I'm not gonna lie, but we are happy that the kids are healthy and growing at a good rate for their prematurity. Here are their stats:
Adalynn- 18 lbs. 8 oz. 28" long
Landon- 19 lbs. 14 oz. 27.5" long
Marek- 20 lbs 29.5" long
So the doctor said everyone is looking pretty good other than Adalynn's ears. She had tubes put in her ears this past Wednesday, so hopefully this will allow her to pass a hearing test in that left ear as well as keep the ear infections down. We have also been given the go ahead and feed the kids table food and vitamin D whole milk. I am actually kind of clueless as to what to feed them, so i cheated and bought some of the premade dinners for toddlers and starting off slow with soft vegetables and fruits. Hopefully the transition wont be too crazy and the triplets will be getting enough to eat. The pediatrician also said to start brushing their teeth. Dear lord one more thing to keep up with. I can barely remember to brush my own teeth, and don't even get me started about how I never floss. I don't even have tooth paste for them yet. poor kids-good thing the baby teeth aren't permanent or I would disfigure them for life. I'll leave the teeth for their Dad who keeps a much healthier teeth regimen.
The tooth brushing thing isn't so bad after a while. You can start with giving them just a toothbrush to chew on after they eat. Just for a few minutes. Just with water first, then with just a tiny bit of toothpaste...like almost none...and let them do anytime they are in their triplet table. You might want to do the same thing...then take them all away until next time. Or make a singalong as you do it. They won't know what is up for a while but if you and Aaron take them into the master bathroom while you are brushing, etc., so they can see you guys doing it. They don't have many teeth yet but it will make a dent on them...I swear it will. Anything you do early on is helpful to when they really have a mouth full and have to brush for real. Baby teeth cavities are still bad though because there is no root on a baby tooth and it can impact the teeth that will be coming in. Just another "something else" times three for you. And as to the food, if I had to do it over, I would have kept my son on store bought baby food as long as I could because Mommy and Daddy's "table food" isn't usually something you want them to have as babies. So I would keep as much on hand as you can and feed them the graduated foods that are perfectly nutritional for them and actually super easy for you still and portable if you are out, etc. Here's the real kicker, if you phase them out of it they won't like it any more. So, it's not like you are doing anything bad to get some help. They start to taste lots of spices in adult food and if you find they are starting to reject the baby food, maybe you can sprinkle it with a wee bit of something. Remember, they are only 9 months to the rest of the world and you need all the help you can get. Fresh fruit is perfect...grinding up chicken is fine...but save yourself one of my biggest regrets and go for the nutritious and convenient commercial stuff. Oh! And I learned from a friend that she never heated their bottled food too much. Of course, this was because we didn't have microwaves, but if you start feeding it like WE would like it, they won't like it out of the jar if you are out and about.
ReplyDeleteLove you guys! Erin