Missing - one daddy

This week was a tough one at chez Cunnington as daddy Cunnington went away on training for work. This left mummy Cunnington at home for four days with three babies who were missing their daddy.

Thank god for friends is all I can say! Monday and Tuesday Andrea and Lily came to help with bedtime. The trickiest things with baby triplets is feeding time. I'm sure there will be trickier things later but three babies, two hands is a conundrum.

During the day I get all three lined up in their bouncy chairs and either prop feed all three or prop feed one and hold bottles for the other two. I'll add a picture so you can see prop feeding at work.

The bedtime feed is upstairs with no chairs so you really need at least two people which is why I was so grateful for the help.

Wednesday, thanks to a bit a miscommunication, I ended up with three screaming babies to feed alone at bedtime. This was not fun but I pulled on my 'mummy can do anything' jacket and figured it out. It involved pillows and tears (not all of them produced by babies).

Thursday daddy came home and the sheer joy on the babies face was only matched by my own - and his!

I'm on a triplet group on Facebook and some mummy's moan about how little their fellas do. I don't join in or boast but I know that without Matts help running the triplet zoo would be an awful lot harder.

So raise your glasses ladies and gents to a wonderful daddy (who also happens to be 40 in a few days).

Pictures are:
Me looking very happy Daddy is home
The babies prop feeding
The babies facing each other - they all turned away! There must have been a falling out in the baby zoo

Space the final frontier

Last weekend Uncle Andrew and his girlfriend Jackie came up visit - and they brought toys! It was lovely to see them, meet Jackie and watch the babies interact with them.

As usual they loved the attention! Uncle Andrew also helped Matt shift furniture around. As we can't afford an extension the only option left has been getting rid of furniture.

We sold a double bed and armchair on eBay which meant the house could be shifted about a bit. Somehow the loss of one chair downstairs has created more room in all three rooms! It's a space creating miracle!

The babies room has floor space now thanks to the loss of the double bed. It does mean the tiny box room will soon have an extra thin single bed in it for grannys. Lucky grannys.

The living room too has floor space and the combination of that and new toys has kept the babies wriggling.

Since then we've just been enjoying the new space and - another miracle - Charlie slept through last night!!!!

Just one to go. Please Lex don't let us down.

Pictures are:
Playing with their new toys and Jackie
Beth with a fetching new hat
Beth after a bath (photo requested by aunty Bex)
Two photos of the trio - Lex, Beth, Charlie (from left)

Holiday!

When the babies were in hospital I told the sister that I planned for us all to go away in September to a log cabin in the woods. 'You'll never do that !' she said, 'You'll still have the boys on oxygen. It'd be a nightmare.'

Well initially it was a bit of a nightmare but not because of that. The weather was awful! We were due to leave on the Monday and was raining so hard that Matt had to change his waterproof coat after loading the car because it wasn't waterproof any more.

We were all for going the next day but Granny Cunnington was determined 'You'll be glad once you are there.' she said so we jumped into the cars and off we went.

I was leading the (two car) convoy. The road between Sheffield and Baslow was a paddling pool. It got interesting when a van came the other way...

But we got there in the end and I was very relieved. The cabin was great and the complex was really good too. It stayed rainy for the next day or so but we still got out and about.

On the Wednesday the sun came out and we went for a bigger forest walk. It started off well then we reached a very large stretch of mud - not so easy to get through with a triple buggy.

Luckily Orson Welles appeared (or someone who looked a lot like him) and he carried the buggy through the mud lake with Matt. He then strode off - cigar in mouth.

We rounded the next corner to be greeted by another lake of mud! Oh dear - we couldn't go forward or back. Then we noticed a stile to our left leading out to a country road. So over we went - babies first then buggy. Granny Cunnington is strong!

All in all a dramatic holiday (in a small way) but we had a great time and even better Beth decided to sleep right through the night.

It's been a whole week so far. Go Beth!

The boys are still waking once to feed but last night it was 5am so we are getting somewhere. Woohoo!

Today we went to the hospital for the babies 6 months check up. The doctor was really impressed with them and their progress.

We also saw a physio who checked the babies and advised us on what to do to encourage the babies to roll over.

So this evening we put the babies on the floor (as we have done before) and put Beth on her front. She rolled straight over! She did it again later too so it wasn't a fluke. Good girl!

Pictures are:
Beth planning her next move
The cabin
Charlie with a monkey
Cross eyed Lex
The babies
The woods

Sixmonthaversary

Today the babies are six months old. Where did that time go? It feels both like ages and seconds. It seems aeons ago that the babies were in hospital but seconds since I first saw them.

The babies have all been poorly with a cold but they are recovering now. There was a lot of snot there for a while and a worried mummy watching out for signs of chest infections. Unfortunately it has reminded me why we must avoid the babies catching any colds for the next few months. I shall have to remain a hermit until the flu season has passed.

Baby Pile on

We have had visitors - Aunty Bex came for a baby pile on. See the evidence. Aunty Anna came to pick up some baby stuff for her impending arrival.

Granny Cunnington is up at the moment and we are going away for a few days - are we crazy? Possibly! I can't wait as we are booked into a lodge in the woods - but mostly because for an entire week there will be three adults and three babies - that's a holiday for me!

However Matt has just informed me we are due a months worth of rain in the next 24 hours. That'll be fun!

Lex - 13 pound 10

We also had a weigh in this week. Lex is now 13 pound 10 and sticking to the 25th percentile. Charlie is 12 pound 3 and has moved up from the 2nd to the 9th percentile. Beth is 10 pound 11 and have moved from the 0.2 to the 2nd percentile.

Charlie - 12 pound 3

If you don't understand percentiles don't worry - the basic gist is that they are doing really well and to prove it the health visitor is not coming back until November.

So in six months we became parents, changed many hundreds of nappies, had many hundreds of cuddles, the babies all came off oxygen, out of hospital, learnt how to smile and giggle. So far it's been eventful and a total honour.

Beth - 10 pound 11

Recently there was a 'One Born Every Minute' programme about twins and triplets. One doctor (who we nearly saw) described multiple births as an 'unfortunate side effect' of fertility treatment. Feels amazingly fortunate to me (and he's an arse!).

Fun fun fun

The babies are just so much fun at the moment. They have all mastered smiling and giggling - plus they seem to think Matt and I are the coolest people ever. I just have to sing a song to get huge grins or blow a raspberry for giggles. The same goes for Matt (that they respond to him in the same way not that he is so easily entertained - just before you say it Gareth).

Weaning continues and the scores are:
Carrot 1 - broccoli 0
Mashed potato 0 - sweet potato 2
Banana porridge 1 - banana 2

Next on the agenda is meat so I have a chicken stew in the slow cooker (minus salty stock). We'll see what they think.

The babies are also making lots of new sounds. Lex squeals with delight, Charlie said 'yeah' at a very appropriate time, Beth has a new shout which sounds like 'maaaa!' which, I believe means - more! I described it to Matt as sounding like a lost parrot. I shall try to record these sounds at some point.

Charlie has an ear infection so is on antibiotics. We only figured this out when Matt noticed him shaking his head from side to side. I asked Dr google who told me it was either an ear infection or autism. Luckily the doc found a sore ear.

The next step is rolling over and we've caught all three on their side ready to go over but then they've rolled back. It's going to be very soon. We need to start thinking about baby proofing the house!

I've been getting out a bit more and met up with my fellow multiple mummy's this week in a nearby park. It does feel so nice to not be the only freak in the village.

On the same note we're off to millhouses park tomorrow to meet two sets of triplets and their parents. Can't wait! Is it bad if I hug them? Lol.

I'll try to get some pics and report back.

Pictures below are:
Lex
Beth
Charlie
Beth
Mum with the babies
Charlie
Beth
Lex

Things people say

Obviously having triplets we are very visible. When I'm pushing the triple on my own I'm extremely visible. People say all sorts of odd things.

Best things - its lovely when people say how gorgeous the babies are, how lucky we are. It's nice to meet people who have twins, or are one of twins (never met a triplet yet!) and get their perspective on being a multiple.

Most often heard - You've got your hands full! I hear this every day at least once. It isn't offensive but it does get a bit dull.

Funniest - the delivery men who said Matt should be very proud of having triplets - implying it meant he was the king of virility.

Rudest - worst ever goes to the man who said 'my sympathies' to me when I told him I was pregnant with twins. Honourable mention to the man this week who said 'you've got problems!' as I walked past him pushing the buggy.

People are odd and also lovely, depending on which one you meet.

Attached are photos to prove that no-one should ever feel sorry for us. We are blessed.

Pictures are:
Lex, Beth, Charlie
Charlie
Beth, Charlie, Lex
Beth
Beth and daddy
Lex
Charlie
Lex

Quilts!

Just a post to show off the boys new quilts from new zealand. As you can see Beth wanted in on the act.

Thanks so much to Matts Uncle John and Aunty Linda, I'm sure they will be treasured possessions.