Feed, Change, Sleep, Feed, Change, Sleep!

As the weeks went by we became better and better at the schedule. We were on a 3 hour schedule and it continued for 5 months. The hardest part was the nights. Cutting back the 11 p.m., 2 a.m. feeding were hard. But worth every minute. We did it by being on "Binky Patrol". That is right. We rotated who was on-call for popping the Binky back in their mouth. As long as they had the Binky they were fine. Every once in a while one would wake up fully and need a bottle.

Once we got past the overnight feedings everything got better. They started eating baby food by 6 months. It was great to see them evolve so fast. We started with the baby cereal but they did not enjoy it as much. They were on stage 1 foods for only a month or so. By 8 months they were gobbling down stage2 foods easily.

We cut back on the amount of formula we used, only 4 bottles per kid per day. But they were now eating 5 containers of baby food per kid per day. That is equal to 105 per week, 420 per month .The cost was $46 per week or $186 per month, for beechnut baby food purchased at BJ's. They sell them in boxes of 18. So I get 7 per week.

Formula is still very expensive. One is having Alimentum which costs $9.00 per day, the others are on Enfamil Lipil for $7.00 per day. That is equal to $112.00 per week or $448 per month.

But we can't forget the diapers. Each box of 200 diapers costs$45.00 We go through almost 1 box per week. So that would be $45.00 or $180.00 per month.

Are you adding it up? Well the total bill is:

$203.00 per week

or

$812.00 per month

This is only on food and diapers. Every time we go to the doctor with the three girls it costs us $60.00 in co pays. Plus clothes, baby gear, toys and snacks (Gerber finger foods).

So where are we now?

To be continued..........

Home Sweet Home

The triplets were home faster then we expected. It was really a blessing considering all of the things that could have happened. We were really fortunate to have very healthy strong kids. Once they were home we just picked up where the hospital left off. We followed the schedule they had in place, the processes they had already created, and improved on it day by day.

We had family helping us everyday, so that was a plus. We were on a three hour feeding schedule with three kids that meant we only had 1 and 1/2 hours between the last kid and the first kid. Not enough time to do much. It took us 30 minutes to feed each a miserable 2 ounces. Really! 30 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes.

We changed diapers every time we fed them. That translated to 8 diaper per kid per day, total of 24 diapers per day, or 168 diapers per week, or 720 diapers per month. We are now down to 5 to 6 diapers per day per kid. So it does get easier with time.

Two of the girls were on breast milk, and one on special formula. She has milk protein allergies, which is more common then most people think. So we save on formula for a little while. But that did not last long.

The girls were sleeping most of the day. Which help a lot. But they did not sleep for more then 3 hours each. We were on a constant rotation at night. Early shift 3 a.m. wake-up call, late shift 3 a.m. bed time. So I would go to bed at 3 a.m. and my husband would wake-up at 3 a.m. to be with the girls.

Are you tired yet.... We have only started the journey....