3 weeks old

The babies are 3 weeks old!  It does not feel like it's been 3 weeks.  They've gotten so big, but they're still so tiny!  Emily is still the fussy one, Ella still smiles constantly, and Tripp is still the calm one.  We have been putting them together in the pack n play during the day and it is so fun to watch them together!  I've noticed that even if they aren't right next to each other, they reach their arms out and are usually all 3 touching each other.  It is so cute! 

Both girls were being really fussy so we put them right next to each other and they calmed down and went to sleep like this

Tripp and Emily talking to each other

Then he tried to eat her hair

We've noticed that Emily has a very strong neck for being so tiny.  Even in the NICU she would hold her head up on her own.  I decided to prop her up on a Boppy to see how she'd do.  She did great!

Then we tried to prop Ella up in front of her to see if they would stare at each other.  Ella's neck is not as strong as Emily's so she just cried.  We turned her over and they had sister time while brother was sleeping.

This is our baby train that we set up

The girls with their headbands :)

Even though Mark was disappointed that Tripp doesn't "drink like a Beyer man," they still had a sweet moment!

Today I was thinking about how I don't know what we did before the babies were born.  What did we do when we weren't changing diapers and feeding babies every 3 hours like clockwork?  Then I remembered... we slept.  I slept a lot.  Mark didn't sleep as much, but still more than he does now!  Not that I would trade them in for sleep, but the lack of sleep does start to build up.  I wish it was as easy as just waking up every 3 hours at night, feeding babies and then going back to sleep, but it isn't.  After the feeding is done, I have 30 more minutes before I can go to sleep because I have to pump.  Pumping exclusively is not easy.  I've tried to breast feed but the babies get impatient and then I give up and just give them a bottle.  I try to give them breast milk in each bottle, but it is usually mixed with formula.  I am producing a lot more, but still not enough for each baby to get 3 full ounces at every feeding.  They seem to be doing fine with it and they aren't as constipated as they were before, but I am still trying to figure out if we need to change their formula.  I will talk to the pediatrician about it next week.  For now, this is what I do every 3 hours:  pump and try to find another chore that I can do while sitting there pumping.

On a very positive note, I have lost 55 pounds in the past 3 weeks!  I was having problems with my blood pressure for 2 weeks after they were born and I was still swollen but for the past week the swelling is gone and I'm dropping weight pretty quickly.  I'm not dieting, so I think it's just all of the pumping that's helping so much.  And of course the fact that I'm not carrying 3 babies anymore.  I'm hoping to be back into my normal clothes soon.  Right now I'm in this awkward stage where my regular clothes still don't fit, but my maternity clothes are really big.  Luckily I don't leave the house very much so I can just wear yoga pants and tank tops most days!

I will leave you with this picture.  I wanted to try to get one of me with all 3 babies.  It's not easy when they can't hold up their heads!  This is the best we got!  It's hard to believe that 3 weeks ago they were all inside of me.  They've gotten so big since then!