The days are all pretty much the same as the next... I basically feed the babies, change the babies, sometimes bathe the babies, pump, feed the babies, change the babies, do laundry, pump, feed the babies, change the babies, pump, eat, feed the babies, change the babies, pump, etc. Some days a pediatrican appointment is thrown in there just for fun. Last Tuesday I took all three babies to the pediatrician all by myself for the first time. The catch was that I couldn't bring a stroller because I had a rented van (my van had been hit by a drunk driver on Halloween while it was parked on the street and was in the shop) and the triplet stroller wouldn't fit in the van I was renting!! (Nevermind that the triplet stroller wouldn't have fit through the hallways in the doctor's office anyway) So I wore one baby in the Moby Wrap that
arosoff gave me and carried the other two in their car seats. This was totally manageable until you added in the diaper bag and Ellie's monitor, which made the balancing act slightly more precarious, but that's okay... I still made it work.The appointment went well. The appointment was ostensibly a weight check for the babies, but the rest of the appointment was with the nurse practitioner/lactation consultant to deal with some of the feeding issues they've been having, which was really helpful. They had all grown, but Ellie less than the others. Sam was up to 6lb, 2oz (up from 5lb, 4.5oz two weeks prior), Ellie was 5lb, 12 oz (up from 5lb, 6 oz), and Abby was the winner at 5lb, 7oz (up a whole pound from 4lb, 7oz!!). Ellie had only gained 6oz in 14 days. Babies at this age are expected to gain about an ounce per day, but the minimum acceptable weight gain is half an ounce per day and she was just under that rate. So the NP wasn't worried yet, but definitely wanted to keep an eye on it. By Sunday I was sure she still wasn't growing, so I called in during call-in hours and brought her in to be weighed. Sure enough, she was still 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Since she was hungry (FINALLY...she tends to go on hunger strikes) I fed her there in the office and weighed her again just to make sure that she really was actually nursing effectively. She definitely does nurse well, because she ate almost 4 full ounces! So that's not the problem, but we don't know what the problem is. We'll go back on Thursday for their already-scheduled appointment and check again. If she's still not gaining weight, we'll talk about other options. Sigh.
In other weird news, Abby was approved for Synagis, the RSV vaccine. Sam and Ellie, however, were still denied. This is a bit weird and troublesome, because it's a monthly shot for the season, which means dragging two non-vaccinated babies into a doctor's office with sick children and germs for Abby to get her vaccination. Even the doctor wasn't sure what the best course of action was. Ultimately, we decided that the babies will be there so often anyway for their regular check ups that it's worth the risk since Abby does have a slightly higher risk of getting RSV, but it's still a phenomenally stupid decision on the part of the insurance company.
I have to go... Ellie is crying and that's not normal. She's normally my quiet one. Later I'll try to update about how Julian's doing.
