Cows in Muskegons

This past Saturday we drove all the way to Muskegon for our cousin's open house. It was another long trip, but the kids did so well only needing to stop once each way. The kids played with bubbles from a bubble machine, ladder ball, and they were very intrigued by the pool. Malachi even tried, and nearly succeeded, to climb the side of it twice. The kids seemed to most enjoy this little calf statue in the back of the yard. Each one took their turn climbing up on it and of course I had to snap a few pictures. We had a great time and it was so wonderful to see family that we hadn't seen in awhile. It was also fun to experience that "Oh my gosh are those triplets?" remark from some people we didn't even know. It cracks me up when people say that and we don't get it much around our town any more because people see us so frequently. We look forward to heading back to Muskegon in July for the family reunion.

Lastly, this is what happens on Sunday after you don't get home until nearly midnight on Saturday. Daddy and Maddie enjoyed a Sunday afternoon nap on the couch. It was so cure, I just couldn't resist the picture. Please also note that the sunglasses that Josh is wearing belong to the kids. :)

A Little Bit About Madelynn Mai

A little about Madelynn, our second born. Daddy chose her name because he wanted a little girl he could call "Maddie" spelled exactly that way. Her middle name, Mai, came from Grandma Callahan and Grandma Ketola's middles names. Grandma Callahan's s May and Grandma Ketola's is Mae. We didn't want to show favortism so we went with the same name, different spelling. Perfect for our only girl.

She looks like he daddy and acts like her mommy. That's a perfect combination! :) Madelynn loves to dance and can be quite the comedian at times. Like in the picture of her using two sippy cups as binoculars. She does this in the bath tub also with the cups the kids play with. She loves to jump after her bath before you can dry her off and dress her. She is beginning to like Dora, which mom isn't overly thrilled with. She loves her magna doodle that Aunt Janet bought her for Christmas. She knows nearly all of the letters of the alphabet both upper and lower case. She even knows the sound for H and will often say the sound before the letter. She loves dresses and sometimes throws a fit if I try to dress her in something besides a dress. She loves shoes and shopping also. We are going to have a ton of fun as she grows up. The boys and daddy can do their 'boy' things and Maddie and I will go shopping and max the credit cards! :)

Madelynn loves the new wagon. She has chosen the first car to be hers because it's purple and anyone who knows Maddie, knows that anything pink or purple belongs to her....only her! She kicks her feet up on the sides and enjoys the ride. Her newest picture face is really cheesey and she squints her eyes so much they close.

She's the big sister, the little mother, the helper, the cleaner, the one who almost always listens and follows directions the first time given. She's a good eater, a great hugger, and a princess.

An Exciting Weekend!

What a weekend! On Saturday, we went to the Mark Schultz concert (see previous post). Sunday we drove all the way to Rittman, Ohio to pick up our new toy...a choo choo wagon! I've been wanting one of these for awhile but was unsure if it was worth the money and if it would work for our family. I guess I thought about it too long because Step 2 stopped making them. Immediately the prices on Ebay and elsewhere shot up to $500 and more. We certainly couldn't afford that. Then I found this one on Craigslist for a very good price. We drove 3 hours there to pick it up. The family who owned it before us has 4 year old triplets (GGB). They invited us to get out and stretch our legs since it was such a long trip and they completely understand how hard it is to travel that far with little ones. We played in their back yard for awhile. Malachi loved their dog and she was great with him. Apparently the dog was used to little ones crawling all over her and poking her! :) Anyways, then we went to Burger King with a playground and used some more energy before heading home. The trip home was....long! We found a quicker way to get back to the highway, but then then got stuck in a traffic jam once we got there. There was a car accident that put us at a complete stop for over an hour. Surprisingly the kids were great while we sat there. Me...not so much. As many of you know I get car sick. Between the fumes from the semi's around us, the stopping and going as we moved mear inches at a time, and my stupid attempt to read a magazine while sitting there I wasn't feeling so hot! We ended up stopping at a gas station to get me something to settle my head and stomach down so I could make it home. We finally arrived home around 10:30 Saturday night. After using the wagon on Sunday, we decided that Sunday's adventure was 100% worth it!

Even Brooke, my great neice, loved the wagon. She played in it a lot on Monday.

On Monday we had a cook out at Janet's house. My Uncle Dan and his friend, Dee were visiting from California. He is my mom's only brother. It's been at least 4 years since I've seen him and he's never seen the trio. I was excited to see the kids interact with him, especially Aiden, because he looks just like Uncle Dan's baby pictures. It was a great day...beautiful weather, great family, and delicious food. Who could ask for a better day??? Here are a few pictures from Monday.

Mark Schultz Concert

Last night, Josh and I got away for a couple of hours to go to a Mark Shultz concert at the Christian Family Center here in Adrian. Lots of people from our church were there, including Josh's mom and dad. It was great fun! I would totally see him in concert again if I had the opportunity! It was also fun to get away with my hubby without the pitter patter of three little ones. We actually got to enjoy ourselves without worrying about the kids, who were safe and sound with Grandma Callahan (my mom). Thanks mom for watching them and putting them to bed for us. We wouldn't have been able to go without you helping us out. Click here to view Mark Schultz's website if you're interested in learning more about him and his music.

More updates coming later tonight. :)

The Eye Doctor...and some pictures

It was suggested at Malachi's team meeting that his eyes weren't focusing together. The crazy lady waved a tiny block quickly and closely to his eyes and simply said to Josh and I, "his eyes aren't focusing together!" I was initially very concerned thinking, "Great! Another thing wrong with my child!" As time went on and I was able to process things a bit, I thought that maybe the lady should stick to being an occupational therapist and not an eye doctor. I couldn't have focused on that block with as close and fast as she waved it. Josh and I have NEVER noticed anything that was concerning about his eyes.

Not wanting to create another situation of putting Malachi behind (just like his hearing) I made the appointment at our eye doctor. I called on Wednesday and they had a cancelation today at 8am. We took it...can you believe how quickly we got in. Some one is watching over us.... Malachi's eyes are perfect! He was an angel for the doctor and she was super good with him. She said that his eyes were slightly far sighted, but that is NORMAL for a 2 year old! I, of course, asked for it in writing so when we have our meeting for Malachi to determine his services I can show that crazy lady that my son's eyes are just fine. I'd like to also mention that she's a little cooky and then wave that tiny block in front of her face! I know....not very nice!

Malachi's appointment was exactly what I needed this morning. Someone to tell me that my child was perfect! I had a great day and I hardly got stressed. The times I began to get stressed, I just thought of him being perfect! It puts a smile on my face every time! :)

Here are some more fun pictures of the kids playing in the water table and with the hose. Aiden is soooooo funny. He chases everyone around spraying them...even mommy who is trying to take the pictures with a NON water proof camera! Josh and I laughed so hard yesterday while playing with them. It ended with daddy getting the hose and spraying the heck out of the kids. They loved it!

Look Mom, No Hands!!!!

The good Lord works in mysterious ways! That's for sure! Just when I think that I've hit rock bottom emotionally regarding the recent developments of Malachi, something comes along to make me have a more positive look. Tonight at dinner Malachi was eating with a fork! I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but Malachi very rarely, if ever, uses silverware to eat. He always shovels it in with his hands until his mouth is way too full. He was using his fork tonight and taking 'normal' bites, chewing, swallowing, and then taking another. This is amazing and definitely what I needed! I'm so proud!

Also, he signed for more food and wasn't being promted to do so. And...he was also making excellent eye contact today! These are all great improvements and a bit of hope for mommy. I guess the Lord knows when we've had enough and can't possibly take on anything else. He shows you the blessings in your life and make all the bad go away.

Tonight, I shed tears again, but I'm not crying for saddness. I'm crying with happiness over how proud my little boy makes me!

Our new water table and other news...

For Easter, the bunny got the kids a water table filled with goodies. Because the weather was still chilly, we put the water table in the garage. Today, after a long walk, we were hot and sweaty so I got it out. The kids LOVED it! We also left the hose on so they played with that too. Aiden especially loves the hose. He's figured out how to spray it and he gets a little silly because he doesn't always know which way it is spraying. Here are a few pictures from all the fun this afternoon.















Aiden, Madelynn, and Malachi enjoying the watertable together. Imagine that...they were sharing! :)














The boys filling up the water table again. They kept dumping all the water so we needed to fill it up multiple times.














Aiden waiting for Samantha, their cousin, to spray him. He kept lifting his shirt so she could spray his belly.














Aiden and Madelynn getting sprayed by their cousin, Samantha.

Malachi enjoying playing in their new toy. He tried to climb in, but didn't get away with it. :)

Just a short note on Malachi's evaluation today. He did pretty well and we're happy that he'll be getting the services he'll need. He will for sure qualify for speech and occupational therapy along with getting a sensory diet. Many of you are probably wondering what that is. I know a little about it based on working in a school, but I'm going to find our more about this tomorrow from one of the ladies I work with. Her job is to provide these sensory breaks for certain children so she will hopefully help me to understand this a little better. I'll post more on it later. They did also mention that Malachi may not be focusing on objects very well and that his eyes may not be moving and focusing together. Josh and I haven't noticed this, but I'm going to error on the side of caution and make him an eye appointment. Considering everything else he's been through, I don't want to waste any time!

Madelynn's speech evaluation will be on Friday, May 29th. She and Malachi will have the same speech pathologist. That's a bonus! Then on Tuesday, June 2nd, Josh and I will meet with the team that evaluated Malachi and discuss what services he'll get and how often. Then if all goes well, he'll start getting the services the following week. While I don't have any official news and results, I can say that the ladies I talked to today thought the best way for Maddie and Malachi to recieve their services was through an ISD toddler playgroup. It's about an hour and a half long 1-2 times a week. There will be a speech pathologist, ot, and pt there during that time. I also asked about whether or not Aiden could tag along or if I needed to find a sitter and they thought it probably wouldn't be a problem for him to come along. What a relief. Early On and the Young Children's Program through the LISD doesn't usually move this fast, but fortunately, the Lord is on our side and providing these opportunities for the process to move right along. I'm so thankful! They've really been great to us so far in this process. Oh, and I should add that Aiden's Early On evaluation came back great! He's at or above his age level in all areas except speech. He's a tiny bit below but doing playgroup with kids who are his speech level and higher will help him. No services needed and he'll get interactions with other kids when he tags along with his brother and sister.

Overall, I'm trying to stay positive and look for the good things. Someone is finally listening to me and we're heading in the right direction. I hope and pray that my little boy catches up to other kids his age, but regardless I'm proud of who he is and how far he has come. I do ask that you pray for him and our family. I'm struggling right now being on the other side of the process of a special needs child. I'm used to being a teacher and on that side, but it's so different being on the parent side. I pray that some day I'll be able to look at Malachi the same way that I see Aiden and Madelynn. I do hope that day wll come....

Say a little prayer....

I haven't got much to say tonight, but I wanted to ask for a few extra prayers for my Malachi. We have his evaluation tomorrow at 10:30. A little prayer for mommy and daddy would be wonderful too. :) I'll post more tomorrow afternoon or evening. I hope to have some results to share, but I'm not sure on the time frame for this whole process.

I hope to have some pictures too...

New words and signs

Wow! Where has the week gone? It's been busy around here. I've been working late and we've had lots of things to do around here to get ready for another open house. Let's hope someone shows up this time! Last time our realtor sat here for two hours by himself. At least the cats kept him company! :)

Anyways, I've calmed down a bit about Malachi's evaluation. I'm still upset but I'm beginning to process things. A big thanks to my friend Chris who called the other night and let me cry my eyes out. She has experience with these types of things and was a huge help for me. Chris, I wouldn't be at this point if it weren't for you! Thanks also to the other people who have sent me kind words. It's great and comforting knowing that we have so many people out there who love us and are willing to offer any help they can. I love you all!

In other news, Josh and I have decided to start teaching the kids (and ourselves) some basic sign language to help them communitcate their needs until the speech therapy kicks in and they begin talking a ton more. We started with 'more' because it was one that I already knew the sign for. Besides that it allows the kids to ask for more milk, food, or whatever else. Aiden picked it up with a few hours yesterday evening. Madelynn began using it a bit later and was consistantly using it today. Malachi didn't take to it and although it was frustrating for all of us, we kept trying. He suprised us tonight at dinner and made the sign for 'more' and then pointed to the cantelope we were having with dinner. He already had some on his plate but OF COURSE we gave him more because we were so proud of him! He has also been using three news words the past few days. They are 'up', 'arm', and 'house'. I'm still concerned about him and have lots of anxiety about his evaluation on this coming Tuesday, but I continue to be proud of him and pray that he'll make greater improvements with additional help.

Now all I have to do is find a website or book that provides us with more signs to teach the kids! Hopefully I'll have more to post tomorrow and I'll try to through in some fun pictures of the kids. Isn't that what you really want to see on this blog????? :)

Early On evaluations

This morning Early On came for the speech evaluations that I requested. I didn't know it but they don't just do a speech eval. The first visit is an overall evaluation. So they tested 6 areas, fine motor (fm), gross motor (gm), cognitive (cog), communication (com), social emotional (se), and self help and coping (shc). I was suprised by this overall testing, but happy to move on with it because it would give us much more information than we originally thought. The kids did pretty well. They did clam up a small amount, but the ladies that were here did great and took into consideration what Josh and I had to say about their "normal" behaviors. Here are the results for each of the kids.

Keep in mind that the kids are a few days away from 31 months. All results are listed in months.

Aiden: Aiden is the most advanced of all three just as we had expected.

fm: 33-36
gm: 30-33
cog: 33-36
com: 27-30
se: 33-36
shc: 32-36

Aiden's speech is his lowest area and that is mainly because he's not being challenged to up his level of comprehension and speech because Malachi and Madelynn's speech levels are lower than his. The recommendation is to provide more interactions with other kids besides his siblings. We are going to be sure to set up several playdates with our friends and we'll also be participating in playdates arranged with Lenawee's Child during the summer months.

They also did a hearing screening on Aiden. Not a normal test like Malachi has done. It just tests the functioning of the parts of the ear. His left ear didn't pass so they said they'd check it again in a few weeks. I chose NOT to wait and made him an appointment for a normal hearing test and an ENT appointment with the same doctor that has handled Malachi's hearing issues. This appointment is June 10th so more to come on that.

Madelynn: Maddie did well in most areas. Her lowest area is speech which is why we wanted her evaluated. It wasn't a suprise to us. We will sign a consent form next Tuesday when we meet to review the reports. Then she'll get an more indepth speech evaluation done. Speech will start some time this summer if she qualifies, which I'm sure she will. The only hang up may be that Early On thins their schedule during the summer so we may have to go through our insurance and to a speech clinic to get her the services she needs more frequently. I want her to catch up so we'll do whatever is needed. Here are her scores...

fm: 33-36
gm: 30-36
cog: 33-36
se: 33-36
shc: 30-36
com: This was broken into two parts because they varied. Expressive: 18-21 months and Receptive: 24-27 months. Her understanding of speech is better than what she's able to produce herself.

Maddie had the same hearing test as Aiden with the same results. She will join him on June 10th.

Malachi: Where do I even begin??? First let me say that the first time I saw him when they put him in my arms at the hospital, I had an uneasy feeling. I just knew that something wasn't right. First it was reflux, then problems with his circumcision (because he refluxed during the surgery), then he kept failing his carseat test, then more reflux issues, an upper GI, difficult feeding, then t moved on to gross motor development, but nothing else. He didn't respond to us or his siblings, he played by himself, he was just different. No one believed me. We always got the "you are just overwhelmed because you have triplets, nothing is wrong with him, you can't compare him to his siblings" and more along those lines. But still, every time I looked at him, I knew there was something that I just couldn't put my finger on it. Finally at his 1 year appointment, I convinced the doctor that something wasn't right and I didn't think he was hearing. She send us to the Toledo Children's Hospital and sure enough, he failed his hearing test miserably! We went to the ENT and a few weeks later, he got tubes. Instantly he could hear. So, he starts to hear, starts babbling, eventually moves on to real words. At 31 months he has a vocabulary of about 20 words. Josh and I are thrilled with his improvements, but knew his speech was still "a bit" behind...or so we thought! Here's where my anger and tears form...

THE 13 MONTHS I TRIED TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THAT MY BABY WASN'T RIGHT PUT HIM BEHIND 16 MONTHS!!!!!

My son's speech is at a 15 1/2 - 18 month level because no one would listen to me. Not only that, but his other skills are delayed too. Here are his scores...

fm: 24-27
gm: 30-36
cog: 24-27
com: 15 1/2-18
se: 24-30
shc: 27-30

Malachi didn't have his hearing tested because he was just checked at the ENT on April 8th. Both tubes are out and he's hearing in normal range. :)

We had out choice of what to do next for evaluations, just speech which he is VERY delayed in or do a 'team evaluation' which covers Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech, and Pyschologist to test his cognitive levels. We've chosen the team approach so that Malachi can recieve ALL the services that he needs to catch up. His appointment is Next Tuesday, May 19th. This is really fast, as they had a cancelation. Normally it takes up to a month or more to get this type of appointment! At least that is a plus that we're getting in quickly!

So, here's my thoughts and feelings. I'm thrilled with Aiden's abilities and Maddie's too. She'll most likely get speech which is what I expected. I'm truly disappointed with Malachi's results. It was a real slap in the face for me because I didn't expect him to be low across the board. I'm a teacher. I know the services available and how much they can help. I know the speech that teachers and service providers give to parents. I know all that, but I'm still pissed off! He's my baby. I want him to be perfect but he's presented with another problem. I feel like the world is pooping on my son and don't know what he or I ever did to deserve all of this. I don't handle things like this well at all. I look up to people who have children with many more difficulties than my own, but still I feel like someone is out to get my little boy. I believe he'll be fine after he recieves the services. Hopefully he won't need them when he gets in school. If he does, we'll deal with it. I certainly want whats best for him, but how/when do I reach the point when I can look at him and not see him as broken?

Feel free to leave comments asking any questions if you have them or you can email me.

Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing mom's I know, especially Janet, Brenda, Diane, and my best friend....my mom! I love you all and are glad you joined us today.

Mother's day this year was celebrated at our house with a small cookout with my sisters, mom, and mother-in-law and their families. We had so much fun and a ton of food! It was a relaxing day of chatting, eating, playing games, and playing with the kids. I couldn't ask for a better day!

I didn't get any pictures of the kids and me together because I'm behind the camera nearly 100% of the time, but I did get a few of the kids that I LOVE.


Aiden Cooper


The first picture shows him trying to be cute and do something he's not supposed to. The second shows him after I caught him. He's been such a mommy's boy lately with huge anxieties when I'm not close enough for him to touch. I sure hope this phase doesn't last long. I love my happy Aiden Cooper and I don't like to see him so sad and upset.

Malachi James


The first shows Malachi after attempting to chew on sticks and eating sand from the sand box. The kid will eat anything! We are constantly telling him, "NO EAT". He usually smiles and does it anyways. Some day he'll realize how gross it is. Malachi got me a mother's day card that says "Mom, you've always given me good and sensible advice...and believe me, one of these days I'm gonna use it!" Some day he'll thank me for telling him not to eat the things he does. :)

Madelynn Mai

My little Diva! She walked around all day with her new fairy skirts from Aunt Janet and sun glasses from my nephew. She owned the world today! There was no stopping her. :) The second pictures shows Maddie's determination. She was

playing in the sandbox all by herself. She was content,

serious, and didn't even know I snapped this picture.

Stay tuned for another update on Tuesday. We are having Early On come out and evaluate the kids for speech. More to come.

One of the sweetest things I've ever seen....

Aiden and Madelynn......

Happy 30th Birthday Josh!

Happy birthday to the love of my life!

Yesterday was Josh's 30th birthday. He finally made it into the 30's and can't make fun of me for not being in the 20's anymore. For those of you who don't know, I turned 30 in February and Josh reminded me whenever he could that I was in a different decade than he was! Anyways, we had a famly dinner at Applebee's to celebrate the day. I made the waitstaff sing to him (for the kids of course). :) The kids love it when they clap and sing, but I'm not so sure they were thrilled with it that up close. We all had a great time!

Now for some pictures. The ones of Josh and Malachi didn't turn out so well but I got cute ones of Madelynn and Aiden.

The First Dentist Appointment!

On Thursday, April 30th I ventured to the dentist for my cleaning and the kids' "fun visit". I took my sister, Janet and neice, Samantha along to help with crowd control. Malachi loved being there. He climbed into the chair and rode it all the way up. Do you know how high dental chairs go??? I was uncomfortably close to the ceiling! He also got to play with the spinning tooth brush and loved every second of it. He started moving it around his whole face! Very cute! Malachi's teeth look great but he does have a cross bite meaning that when he puts his top and bottom teeth together, his bottom front teeth don't all go behind his top front teeth. Half go in front and half go in back. It's nothing to worry about for now. We'll see how his adult teeth come in.

Madelynn also did a fabulous job! She had no hesitations at all. She let our dental hygentist look at her teeth and even clean them a little bit. She has some staining on the back side of her bottom front teeth so our dental hygenist brushed them a little bit. Maddie didn't mind at all and loved the bubble gum flavor tooth paste. Unfortunately the staining didn't come off, but Maddie will have a real dental visit in November and we'll try some more scrubbing to remove it. We didn't want to tramatize her on the very first visit.

Aiden didn't like the visit at all. He was perfectly happy watching but wanted nothing to do with the chair or anything else. We'll try again in November. Each of the kids got a brand new tooth brush and a sticker so they were happy in the end. We all go back again in November for real visits and hopefully Aiden will be more interested. Next time I'll take his favorite blanket!

A day at the zoo

On Sunday, April 26th Josh and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We decided to load everything up and take the kids to the Toledo Zoo. We have a membership so it's a pretty inexpensive thing for us to do. :) The kids really seemed to have a good time. It was the first time that we'd been there where the kids were really showing some interest. Before they didn't notice the animals as much as now. Malachi loved the penguins and would have jumped in with them if we'd have let him. Thank goodness he was buckled in his stroller. The child is a climber and could have easily climbed that little rail dividing us from the penguins. I meant to get a picture of him watching them, but as I turned my camera on it needed new batteries. :(

Aiden was all about the snakes! He loved the reptile house and kept pointing to the snakes saying, "nake". It was very cute. Maddie was into the fish just like her daddy. It's amazing how much the two are alike...scary sometimes. I can imagine that she'll be the one going fishing with him all the time. :) I did manage to get a few pictures. The first one is of the kids with daddy. Maddie and Josh in the back. Malachi (green) and Aiden (blue) in the front. The other three are of the kids on the way home. They were exhausted.




Malachi


Aiden


Madelynn

The Beginning...

To my family and friends, this may serve as a reminder to the difficult years that we struggled to have a beautiful little baby. To my new friends, this is the beginning of my story. I was married to a wonderful guy named, Josh on April 26, 2003. It was a perfect day and the start to the rest of my life. In September of that year, we began trying to have a baby. We tried for nearly a year and then decided to seek medical help. I started on Clomid and did that for quite some time. The doctors also added in estrogen and a hormonal cream. I experienced months of medications, negative ultrasounds, and much disappointment...much of this on my own. I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting pregnant! I was the youngest of 7 sisters, none of which struggled to have a child. I was jealous, mad, angry, and I experienced feelings of hatred towards others who were getting pregnant around me. I wanted what they had. I felt that God was punishing me for something I had done wrong.

Finally after over another year, I was sent to a fertility doctor. He did one ultrasound and determined that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom, which meant that I couldn't/didn't ovulate. I didn't produce eggs large enough to fight their way through the tough layer on my overies. The doctor had me do the Follistum Pen. This was a series of shots that I had to give myself (or be given by Josh) to make my eggs grow. It involved shots and ultrasounds for 10-12 days and then once it was determined that I had the right amount of good sized eggs, I was given another shot of a hormone to make me ovulate. I did two rounds of this. The first one felt like something was actually happening. I was in tremendous pain! It was the first time in 26 years that my body had ovulated! Unfortunately, it didn't work. I was left with disappointment again. After a month break to clean out my overies, I did a second round. I felt nothing! This was right around the time of my 27th birthday. I remembering answering Josh's question of what I wanted for my birthday with, "all I want is a baby". That year I got a great digital camera from him. A few days after my birthday I began to spot around the time I should be getting my regular period. I didn't think anything of it because I was convinced that this round was unsuccessful. On March 7, 2006 I went in for a blood test to see what was up. I got the call around 4pm that I was indeed pregnant! I had gotten what I wanted for my birthday...just a few days late.

A week later I was in for an ultrasound where the doctor found not one, not two, but three little beans! Josh and I laughed all the way home! We couldn't believe what we had just heard!

My pregnancy was great for the most part. I experienced BAD morning (all day) sickness for the first 16 weeks! I couldn't even hold down water which resulted in a loss of 19 pounds. Then one day it stopped! Hurray!!! I only had one overnight visit to the hospital for observation and one er visit. I made it (easily) to my scheduled C-section on October 18, 2006 at 36 weeks, 1 day. Our babies were born close to 1:00pm. Malachi James at 12:56pm (6lbs, 10oz), Madelynn Mai also at 12:56pm (5lbs, 10oz), and Aiden Cooper at 12:57pm (6lbs, 3oz). All were healthy and doing very well. They spent 20 hours in the NICU because of maintaining their blood sugar levels and then moved to my room and the 'normal' nursery. We all came home on their 4th day of life. We consider ourselves to be very blessed to have perfect little babies with no medical complications, which is fairly rare for triplets.

Now my babies are 2 1/2 years old! Boy, has time flown by....

Feel free to leave comments. I'd love to hear from you!