I know I'm a bad blogger!

Well, it’s been awhile since we last posted but since we had triplets 11 weeks ago I think we get a pass. The fact that we have time to write at all is a testament to how things are finally starting to “normalize”. (So future triplet parents there is hope!) Going to try and get everything caught up on our happenings but I’m sure we will leave out stuff and have to do follow ups.

Let’s start with stats
Bottles: from birth to 2 months they were on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule @ 4oz, so doing some quick math that’s 24 bottles a day and 96 oz of formula a day. Each can of formula makes 90 oz so we used a little more than a can a day. Now we are finally on a 4 hour feeding schedule and what a difference that makes! (Sleep/Free Time) They have upped to 5 oz now so that factors to 90 oz a day, which is weird but they are still gaining weight.

Diapers: I can’t believe it but we are in a size 2 diaper now, these kids were suppose to be preemies but you wouldn’t be able to tell based on their weights! Georgia recently moved from size 3 to size 4; give Sophia a few weeks and she and Georgia can share diapers.  We change the babies at the same time that they feed, unless there is a blow out, which is frequent so we go thought about 150-160 diapers a week just for the triplets. We are up to our eyeballs in poop!

The Nights

Here’s the rundown: Danielle is awakened by one or some of the babies, she beats me until I get up and begin changing all three diapers. She runs to the kitchen and makes bottles then hurries back to prop the bottles. I go back to bed and fall asleep, she beats me until I get up to help burp and put them back to bed. We do this exact process about 1-3 times a night.
The nights have started getting better, every once in a while when they are feeling generous they will go 5 hours. We shoot ourselves in the foot most nights because they will go to bed around 9-11 and if a feeding is coming up rather than sleep we will stay up and of course that’s the night they want to give us a little extra sleep. Which has led us to our QVC addiction, their chatter and back and forth provides us a good laugh  (I’m pretty sure I could sell the crap out of some QVC) but one night their “Today’s Special Value caught our eye and our viewing addiction turned into a financial one. Future triplet parents, our Keurig has saved our lives, and with easy pay anyone can afford it! At night the schedule goes out the window and we don’t wake them until one of the babies sounds the alarm. In an effort to be completely honest in this blog I have to admit that the first few weeks Danielle and I were verbally abusive to each other at night. The lack of sleep was intense and we were doing it all alone. It’s an embarrassing truth but it is what it is. If you were a fly on the wall you would have thought divorce (or murder) was imminent but alas the babes are sleeping “somewhat” through the night and so are we! We have been together for 12 years and been through much harder times than this so I’m glad to announce yet another hurdle surpassed!

Public Outings

Before we had our 1st outing I was excited about taking the girls out, after all I’m very proud of my 4 girls and love showing them off; that quickly changed about 4 minutes after our 1st time out with the triplets. We aren’t private people, we don’t mind answering questions and I can talk about my girls all day long. However there are those “crazies” with no manners that ruin it and make outings very stressful and overwhelming for us. There are people that come up to us look and ask, they don’t touch and don’t ask what I have deemed to be stupid questions that people ask when they are too shy to ask the real question they want the answer too; this is the good bunch. The other group will come up and touch, move blankets, take pictures, or want to chat when you can clearly see that we are having issues and need to move on. Another thing that just drives me crazy is when people are talking about within ear shot but not too you, I have my routine down, if you don’t ask me direct then when I walk by and you are talking about us don’t expect me to answer, I put on my “I’m looking really mad/constipated and will study whatever product may be on the shelf on the aisle we are on and act like I don’t see/hear them“. There are even people that will run over to where we are and “act” like they are looking for something that just so happens to be covered by the girls.

We have a twin Snap N Go stroller and a baby sling, I push the limo and wear the baby so the attention is on me since Danielle doesn’t like it on her, plus she is more likely to stop and let people touch, hold and kiss them, since she has a problem being direct and rude when needed (I don’t). I cringe when I hear what starts every encounter “Oh my god twins, how sweet! Oh wait you’re wearing one, TRIPLETS?!!!!! Then the questions/comments start:
All boys? - No all girls, notice the pink car seats, bows, and pink dresses
How do you do it? - How do I do what?
I bet your tired- What makes you say that?
Are they natural?- What they want to know is if they were test tube babies or spontaneous but don’t want to just ask; so I answer yes, they are real babies, although I want to answer no they are aliens.
Do triplets run in your family?  - Ugh does that even happen?
The worse of all is “Better you than me”  - Ummm having triplets isn’t a tragedy, we love our girls and yes we are glad its us and not you too! (But we don’t say that cause duh we have manners!)

Baby Stats -

Here are their 2 month stats,

Harper - The Oldest (Harpsicle)

Harper is….high maintenance, she is the oldest triplet so she is the boss, and we usually follow her lead. She was the 1st to roll over, doesn't like to sit still, she’d rather be bouncing or sitting up and looking around. She has great head and neck control. She likes to look back and forth really fast which we find ADORABLE! She has the most beautiful complexion and no cradle cap at all! Her skin just glows and her cheeks are rosy. Her hair is blonde and her eyes are blue.
2 month - 10 lb 12 oz 22.5 inches

Sophia - The Smiley Chunk (Sop or So-fee-na)

Sophia is always smiling and so happy, until she needs a pork chop (I mean bottle) and then her scream is straight from her gut! She was the last to roll over, partly due to weight issues, but loves to just be talked too, or she loves watching her best friend- the ceiling fan. She hates being on her tummy, again maybe a weight issue? Sophia is the only one with my blood type and her family names are from my family in Hawaii so it would figure that she would be the chunky baby. AND she smiles all night in her sleep. She has cradle cap but not too bad. Her hair is dark brown and she has blue eyes. (Georgia’s best friend)
2 month- 11 lbs 6 oz 22.75 inches

Emma - The sweetheart (Emi Claire)

The youngest and the sweetest of them all, I think she can tell that she is the baby of the group. She is my soul triplet and she has the saddest cry you have ever heard! She too doesn't like tummy time and she quickly rolls over to get back on her back and look around with her big blue eyes. Danielle thinks she looks like a turtle because of how she moves her head, although when hungry she will strike like a viper! Although the smallest she did all her growing in length and is the longest. She has the worst cradle cap of the three but still not too bad. She has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.
2 month 9 lbs 12 oz 23 inches

These girls have really tested our endurance and pushed us farther than we ever thought we could go. We are blessed and so happy they are ours forever. Our marriage is stronger now because of the struggle to have our family and I wouldn't change anything. As a matter of fact we are so happy and in love with our kids that it isn't hard for us to picture having more. Maybe not for a few years but it’s definitely not off the table.

PS- Keurig if you're feeling generous we love our Vue!

31 Weeks Picture and Monitoring

Danielle had her non-stress test and BP monitoring yesterday and an ultrasound on her legs to check for clots. While Danielle was doing that I took Georgia “I can’t sit still for 2 seconds” Vereze to Chucky Cheese for some running around fun and pizza. They said everything was fine, BP was a little high but I think with us gone Danielle can relax so it goes down! Waiting for some results to come in tomorrow and then we are set for our 32 week appointment with Dr. C on Monday.

31 Weeks!



At the point of no return…

OK,it’s been awhile since I have posted an update, so this post willbe very long since we have a lot of topics and pictures to post.

Let’sstart with Dr. C’s routine OB appointment at 23 weeks. Babieslooked great, all three had very strong heart beats and were as usualfighting with each other. Dr. C and Dr. Z decided that it was timefor us to start seeing Cutler every 2 weeks for a checkup, and cervixcheck. Talked to Dr. Cutler about how the delivery would work if wewere to deliver at Texoma Medical Center, he said that we would needto be at 35 weeks (9 weeks away) and the babies be at 5 pounds each.(Which really is almost unheard of…but keep reading) Our concernwas that there would not be enough staff to care for all of the girlsbut he reassured us that there would be numerous nurses and severalpediatricians on hand for the delivery.

Dr.Thyroid – Well after waiting a month to have her thyroid biopsy,the doctor’s office called to confirm a follow up appointment.Problem was that we hadn't even had the biopsy yet! So they rescheduled for the following Monday. I know that people makemistakes; I get it, but come on. (Another reason we steer clear ofWNJ) It’s just a good thing that they talked to Danielle and notme, I have a very short fuse right now! Biopsy completed, notsomething that you want to have done, it was quick but kinda painfulbut it may have taken some of the focus off of her back for a day.The results came back and everything is great! I think they want tosee her again around the end of September but that’s baby time sowe will try to slide that in somewhere down the line, but as of now Ican cross Dr. Thyroid off the list.

Wehave reached viability! Once we hit the 24 week mark we officiallyhit viability, a major milestone in pregnancy, so to celebrate weunpacked car seats, and the pack-n-play. Georgia loves playing withthem and putting her babies in their seats, and then kicking them outof the seat so she can get into it herself.

Weare getting excited about Danielle’s baby shower on the 15^th, I would think that she would be happy about seeingpeople and looking at baby stuff, but this momma has 1 thing on hermind…and that’s food. She doesn’t care about anything else butfood, so if you’re coming Danielle will more than likely be the onehovering at the food table. Dr. Z told her that she has a freelicense to eat (what, when, how ever much) he wants fat babies.

TheState of Texas has determined that Danielle Vereze is now officiallyhandicapped! The explorer has a new decoration hanging from themirror. Which to be honest we really need, Danielle is ok for veryshort walks, but anything too long she starts having contractions. SoI also ordered her a wheelchair so that she can keep getting out ofthe house and shopping but doesn’t have walk or use the electricchair. Believe me folks, don’t let Danielle drive the electricwheelchair! She used it at Wal Mart in Sherman a few weeks ago, andgot stuck in the baby department, so she backed up and rammed her waythrough to get out, I couldn’t even look at her for the rest of thetrip. The explorer is out of cargo room with a stroller andwheelchair in the back which is a good and bad thing, good becauseit’s less things that she can buy and bad because it’s lessthings that I can buy.

Tothe Nay Sayers- This time around, if you want to get Danielle going,tell her “you don’t look very big to be carrying triplets” thiswill send her right over the edge and I have to hear about it fordays later. We are going to start putting up bi-weekly belly shotssince Dr. Z confirmed Thursday that she is measuring full term and isonly 25 weeks. I really don’t know how she is going to go 9 moreweeks I think she looks like she did when Georgia was born, and shewas almost 9 pounds!

MyGeorgia Bear will be turning 2 in 3 weeks (July 30^th)and she is getting so big. Everyday she is doing something (good orbad) that makes me laugh and realize that all this is worth it. Hernew favorite thing to do is get in trouble (not hard) and run to theother parent, and fake cry and point and say “they mean”, I can’thelp but laugh when she does it. She has also learned one of the mostdreaded words for parents “Why?”. I don’t know if she knowswhat she is saying, but she sure will tack it on to the end of anyrequest! Sometimes when thinking about what’s going to be happeningin a few weeks, I get so stressed out and nervous, but I just have toremember how great life became when Georgia was born, and how muchhappiness and fulfillment we have gotten in just 2 years, and that’sabout to be multiplied by 4. I really don’t think we could do thisif we hadn’t already had Georgia to guide us.

Ohand our blog is also now on http://www.multiplesandmore.com/blogroll/  under blog roll and expecting parents. I think we are one of the fewon there that are still blogging and updating.

Also, I just want to show how many pictures we get from Dr. Z when we go to appointments, and we have gotten this many every time we go! The DVD wasn't as good this time around so the pictures of the girls that we get aren't there, so I had to take pictures of the ultrasound shots to post. 

Dr.Zaretskys' Ultrasounds- Great news! The hole in Harper's heart iscompletely gone, like it wasn’t ever there! The Ultrasounds arestarting to get very hard to do, since there is so much baby hangingout in there, and getting good pictures is near impossible. Harper ishead down so no more face pictures of her since she is pressing onDanielle’s cervix ready to go like she is the only one inthere. Dr. Z was thrilled with the babies and couldn't have beenhappier with the stats. He called Danielle a “Baby Making Machine”and wanted her secret (Lucky Charms and Sweet tea....and a lot ofeach). Babies should be a little more than 1 pound right now, but ourbabies are almost 2 pounds and each are measuring larger than what asingleton would be right now. So back to Texoma Medical Center'srequirements, it looks like we may have a fighting chance to get tothat mark, Dr. Z is confident that we will hit the 32 mark, but as hesays “his crystal ball gets fuzzy after that” So the next time wesee Dr. Z, unless there is a complication, is 30 weeks which isalmost baby time!

Harper-25w2d 1 lb 13oz

Sophia-25w1d 1 lb 12oz

Emma-25w5d 1 lb 14oz (once the smallest)

Emma's 25 Weeks

Sophia's 25 Week

Sophia kicking Harper in the butt! Pay back!

Sophia

 

20 Week Update

Had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday with Dr. Zaretsky and it’s amazing how much bigger the girls are and what personalities we can see in them now. Harper is the most active and is either beating up Sophia or hugging Emma. Poor Sophia is constantly getting beat up! Surprisingly all the babies are measuring 20 weeks and all are 13 oz, normally by now one is starting to slow down and get smaller, but they are all keeping up which is great news.

Harper – 21w0d 382g (13oz)

Sophia – 20w2d 359g (13oz)

Emma – 20w6d 382g (13oz)

Danielle’s cervix is still very long (4.3cm) and high which is great, so no cerclage. Really honestly everything is going great, and our doctor’s couldn’t be happier with the progress of the babies and how well Danielle is doing with the pregnancy. The video that we got is great, and really fun to watch, they are to the point now where you can tell what’s going on and what is what (although you may not know which baby is which). I’m going to edit it down, right now it’s at 30 minutes and I’m going to label it and post it later. So for now enjoy the pictures below, next appointment is in 2 weeks with Cutler to check the cervix again.  



Group Picture 20 Weeks
B  C  A



Ms. Harper Ann 20 Weeks

Harper's 3D, 20 Weeks



Harper has a very, very, very tiny hole in her heart, but the doctor’s think it will close up and it’s very common.



Ms. Sophia Grace 20 Weeks

Sophia 3D 20 Weeks 

Ms. Emma Claire, She was laying under both her sisters so getting a good pic was very hard. 20 Weeks

Emma Claire 3D



Our 1st Trip to Labor and Delivery

Early Saturday morning (2:30 am), Danielle woke up in a lot of pain suspecting kidney stones, so we did the drink a gallon of water and warm bath method to try and ease it, however she was still in pain. So we called L/D around 3:45 and Dr. Cutler called us back at 4:30 and told us to come up and be watched. Everything small that we would encounter in Georgia’s pregnancy is a big deal during this one. So we were put into a room (not the triage room), monitored, pee tested, ultrasounded, and waited about 5 hours.

Turns out Danielle has kidney stones (small) in both kidneys and a bladder infection, so antibiotics and vitamin C. Appointment tomorrow with Dr. Z to see the babies for the 20 week scan, which will be even longer than the normal 2 hour appointment. (So lots of updates on babies and pictures and maybe some of the video tomorrow)  



Baby Momma Thyroid Drama

Well the results from the blood work and ultrasound came back as a mixed bag. Blood work all looked normal (well as normal as a triplet pregnancy can be), however the ultrasound showed that there was a goiter on the left side of Danielle’s neck that was large enough that the doctor wanted to biopsy. We were very concerned because we found this news out last Wednesday, and Friday he was leaving to go out of the country and wouldn't be back to do it until the end of June. So WebMD to the rescue! All that really did was make things way worse; research shows that when goiters are found during pregnancy there is a higher risk of it be cancerous. (so after of day of Danielle making her end of life preparations) I called the doctor and spoke to get more details, he said that since the blood work was good, and the shape was round he believes that it poses no threat. So repeat labs and biopsy at the end of June. 


I may have spoke too soon about quitting my second job as a doctor finder because it’s a full time job keeping up with all these appointments with all the different doctors we have on the roster. We are entering the 20th week, which means that we are at bi-weekly appointments with Dr. Z, monthly (I guess we really don’t know) with Dr. Cutler, and monthly with Dr. Endocrinology (bi-weekly at 30 weeks). 


Dr. Z is Tuesday June 5th, so 2 hours of facetime with Harper, Sophia, and Emma; very excited to see how much they have grown, so a lot more updates then and pictures, and I may post a highlight video. 

Well it’s the middle of the road...

It’s our 17th week (I’m posting a week late because we have been so busy) and it’s the middle of our pregnancy (34 weeks)!


Topics to blog about:

• We have finally have a solid answer on baby names (and some meaning behind them)
•  Danielle’s thyroid issue that is putting a kink into things,
• Our obsession with watching “Making Room for Multiples” 
• Danielle’s Torpedo Belly
• Our entry way/Nursery 
• Georgia’s 2nd Birthday 

Baby Names! 


From this day forth Baby A will always be Harper Ann, HAV for short because (writing all these kids names will take too long). Harper is unrelated, but Ann is for my mother-in-law, her middle name is Ann, and her mother’s middle name is Ann, and since Georgia Lynn is after my mother, she has already laid claim to baby A’s middle name. (I just broke my rule) Harper’s middle name. 


Baby B will be Sophia Grace, SGV, Sophia is somewhat of a family name, one of my favorite* aunts in Hawaii is named Sophie (well Auntie Sophie), and doesn’t Grace just sound great with it. 
*Disclaimer: All my aunts are my favorite 


Baby C will be Emma Claire ECV. Emma is my late grandmother’s name and a name that we always wanted to use and we are now able to do so. She also reminds us most of Georgia via ultrasound than any of the other babies, so she may turn into my Mini-Georgia. 


Thyroid Troubles 


Second round of testing came back bad for Danielle, so we have added another doctor to the list of doctor’s that we have on our vast list of specialists. We were told not to worry about it because the test was taken too early from the Medical Center of Plano doctor, however when we did it at the correct time the numbers were completely different however still abnormal. So, Dr. Cutler sent us to an Endocrinologist for more testing and ultrasounds, so we will find out this week if she has to take any medications. So, we are just going to have to research what we should be checking this month and telling them what to do and be our own advocate for care. This issue may force us to have to be hospitalized for a time before the triplets are born. We should know more this week, but with multiples everything can change in a week.


Thank you TLC for “Making Room for Multiples”


We have the DVR set up to record every episode of this show, granted we delete the twin shows, but we study and re-watch the triplet one every time one is on. We watch how they look, what medical issues they are having, when they are born, how long they spend in the NICU, what they drive, how much do they weight, what they wear in the NICU, what car seat they have, where they sleep, and how messy their house is after they are all home. We literally break everything down in order to “try” (I just Lol’d when I typed that) to get ready for life to come. It’s becoming very clear that even at 34 weeks that every triplet that we have watched has had to spend time in the NICU, so we are starting to think that having the triplets at Texoma Medical Center may not be possible, and we are really thinking about opting for Presbyterian Plano when it comes down to it unless we can get to the 35-36 week mark. Planning is part of my nature and it’s something that I do to try and have some control of this situation, however it’s becoming more and more apparent that I can try all I want, things are not in my control! 


Danielle’s Torpedo


Danielle has that pregnant look to her, and I guess she should she is pregnant with triplets! I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a jerk and I of course think my wife is beautiful always, but she is over the top when she is pregnant. It’s a look that just suits her to a tee! Danielle refuses to have a picture taken of her right now so pictures to come later. 


I should buy stock in Graco


Our entry way has become a stock room/nursery! I really need to move my office so that we have a place to put everything, even though I think that room would still be too small! We have three car seats, a pack-n-play, a dresser and Georgia’s birthday gift. So we are slowly building up stuff that will one day seal us into the house, LOL. This week the three bouncy seats will be here so I have got to get some solution together this week. 

Georgia’s 2nd Birthday


The big day is quickly coming up and it’s bittersweet, I can’t believe she is about to be 2, although I’m ready to leave the terrible twos behind and get to another stage with her. We are getting everything ready for her party which will be done in Curious George. She demands that we watch the show ALL DAY.


Also I fixed the blog so you can leave comments now without having to have an account. Until the next Dr. Z appointment on June 5th everyone have a great day!

So….what’s new? A BIG NOTHING!

The babies are the size of a lime! Well four limes! Drink anyone?

Giving a 12 week update, since we will be completing our 1^st trimester this week, and we are trying to think about what updates we can give out. We haven’t been to the doctor yet, and at our last appointment with Dr. Hermann, it was just a quick, “ok, good luck” visit. It seems like forever since we have gotten to see the quads and check on them, Danielle is scared to death that when we do get to go it will be bad news. This seems to be a theme for our pregnancies- DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP. But we keep reminding her that it will all work out like it’s suppose to, and there isn’t anything she can do different now to change that outcome.

Our 1^st appointment with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine doctor is April 9^th, which just so happens to be my mom’s birthday (so Happy Birthday, and I hope that brings us some good luck). We will be going to see Dr. Michael Zaretsky at Children’s Medical Center Legacy in Plano. That in it’s self was a major project, finding a doctor that would take you with quads, that takes both insurances, delivers at your choice hospital, and has a highly rated NICU for the babies. It was a full time job, and once you finally get everything ready and you have your selected doctor, you just have to wait, because they don’t see anyone before you 12 weeks. Also we may get to find out some of the sexes of the babies at this appointment.

We have really been lucky in the fact that almost everyone that has had quads, has a blog, so we have been able to read, read, read, (at least 2 blogs start to home coming a day), it’s really given us some insight for what is going to be happening for us in the upcoming weeks. We had some hesitation with opening up for everyone to see, but if it wasn’t for people like that we would be in the dark about a lot of things, so expect us to be completely open from cravings to constipation. (Speaking of cravings, I have been woken up by Danielle the last week around 4 a.m. each morning with a new one, the last one that I can remember is the 4 a.m. wake up for McDonald’s French fries.)  We have so much to do, but we are frozen, we don’t want to start doing anything because we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves and something happen. One thing is that our Explorer that we bought 3 days before we found out we were having quads will not fit our family, and it appears that a family of 7 with a triplet stroller and a twin stroller will not fit into anything other than a small bus…frankly I don’t think I can do it!

About Us

Our 1st post...so where to start. We are Josh and Danielle Vereze, we are high school sweet hearts and were married October 30, 2004. Since then we have been on a crazy trip. 

It was six long years of trying to have a child, we sought the help of a fertility specialist in October 2008...Round 1 was a failure, Round 2 was a failure, and Round 3 was a success, we were finally pregnant. After countless negative pregnancy tests over the years, we finally received a positive. We were jumping, screaming, and over joyed, words can't explain how that felt (I think we told everyone we knew within 15 minutes). We discovered that we were pregnant with twins, however we were already having complications, and around nine weeks, we miscarried both babies.We were destroyed, our world fell apart.


We decided to try one last time, our 1st round of tests showed that the procedure more than likely didn't work. Well it worked, however we weren't able to enjoy this pregnancy at all, we were stressed out the whole time and bracing for another miscarriage. 9 months later our lives changed forever, Georgia was born July 30, 2010, perfect and healthy.Since her birth she has become the center of our world and we wouldn't have it any other way. 


Attempting to catch lighting in a bottle again we went back to the fertility doctor to try again...did the procedure and WHAM! Pregnant. Our numbers (betas) were very high which our RE (fertility doctor) thought there were two settling in. Well based on the title of this blog, you can tell there was more than one, two, or even three. There are four! Our fertility doctor was shocked, we were shocked, our OB/GYN was shocked..(and I'm using shocked as a nice term). So here we are, the start of a new journey!