Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Weight Check

The babies had a weight check yesterday at the pediatrician's office. They are all growing, but Ellie is definitely still a bit of a worry. My big boy Sam is 7 pounds, 14 ounces. He's so fat and cute and I love him (note: he's actually not fat for a normal baby, but compared to where he started? He's SO fat!). I love looking at him and his squishy cheeks and chubby thighs and thinking, "I did that! I grew that baby!" He is fed only breastmilk and takes 95% of his feedings directly from the breast, and it's amazing. I grew that baby on the inside and out, and it's an absolute miracle.

More miraculous was our not-so-little-anymore Abbysaurus. Abby weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces! She's so huge! Abby was our runt to start and it's incredible to see how well she's grown. She, too, receives only breastmilk, though she had extra calories added to hers until yesterday, and she refuses to latch on most of the time so she gets it in a bottle. Still, I did that! I'm growing that baby all by myself!

Ellie is also growing but at a much slower and slightly worrisome rate. She is now 7 pounds exactly. Considering that she used to be a full pound bigger than her sister, it's astounding that she's now 3/4 of a pound behind her. She gained only 4 ounces in 11 days (she goes in for more frequent weight checks than the other two). The good news is that her eating has improved somewhat and she hasn't been on a hunger strike in several days, so hopefully her next weight check will show some improvement. She also gets only breastmilk and takes 95% of her feedings from the breast directly, so I feel good about her, but I have a little bit of guilt that something's going wrong with her growth. Still, I don't think it's me, since Sam is so fat.

The babies are all absolutely delicious with their own personalities and their own ways of getting attention. J is fabulous with them, but having really serious adjustment issues at school. We're meeting with his teacher next week to talk about some strategies for helping him. Sigh. Hopefully things will improve soon.

Two of my pregnant triplet mama friends have had their babies recently, and I'm just so unbelievably happy for them. I know that the NICU time isn't the easiest (yes, I still plan to write about that experience at some point), but it will be over soon, I promise!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to read this post. You have done great x 3!

Carol said...

You are doing so amazing - making milk for all three babies! congrats!

Jody said...

That's great news on the growing babies. I know how easy it is to worry about slow-growing babies, and I won't bombard you with reassuring but meaningless platitudes because that would probably just be annoying! But I do think you're right to suspect that Ellie's slow growth is not about you. Because clearly, you ROCK.

The Murray Crew said...

Growin' like dandilions! Great work, mama! You are responsible for this good news!

Chris said...

You're doing such a fanastic job with those little (but getting bigger!) ones. Congrats!!

Caba said...

Sounds like they are doing so great! We worried a lot at the beginning because my son was a chub that gained so quickly, and my daughter just didn't get as big as quickly. But my pedi said it's hard not to compare when you have two at home (or three in your case!) but like you said, they are individuals and will grow at their own pace. Hang in there mom, you are doing AMAZING! I can't believe you are breastfeeding all 3. You deserve a medal and a day at the spa!

Tripletblessed said...

Good job mom!

Anonymous said...

Great job!

I am so curious to know about their different personalities. How neat!

Laura McIntyre said...

You are doing so well mommy, growing them inside and out is the perfect way to out it.

My eldest only got up to 8lbs around 2 months so some kids are just small by nature, your three sound like there growing great

Anonymous said...

I'm in the same situation Erica was with her two -- at a little over two months, my babies are 2lb10oz different in weight, having started out only 6oz different! It's worrisome, no doubt, but as long as the babies are gaining something, that's a good thing (versus what could be happening, right?), though we as moms want to be proactive and make sure that nothing goes wrong in the first place.

One question: How do you add calories to breastmilk? Feed it from a bottle and add a supplement of sorts? What kind of supplement?