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Her kiddos call her Mom, Todd calls her wife, you can just call her Astrid. After enduring the heartbreak of miscarriage and struggles of fertility issues, Astrid and Todd finally realized their dream of having a baby: in triplicate. Between pumping sessions to feed her triplets with mother's milk, Astrid enjoys crafting diaper cakes, creating homemade baby food recipes and carving out time for a shower.
I’m not sure where I got the idea.
Maybe I saw it somewhere?
Pinterest?
Who knows.
What I do know is it had to be done.
I had to get my wedding dress out and get photos of the kids with it.
You know, the ultimate dress up session.
Mommy’s wedding dress + triplets + Candace + sunset = PERFECTION.
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Isn’t this the most gorgeous shot?
I am completely in love with these 3 children.
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Gabi is our China doll…such a perfect little face! Read the rest of this entry »
Today was Spirit Day at school.
The kids looked adorable!
We got tons of compliments on the dresses.
Best part is they are comfortable, like wearing a big shirt.
And I had an excuse to use the chalkboard again.
Read the rest of this entry »
It is official.
We survived our first family vacation.
So you understand, the thought of taking our triplets on a
16 hour road trip was less than appealing until this summer.
Why 16 hours?
Because that is how far my parents are away.
In Colorado.
Up in the mountains.
Way, way up.
This is the year we decided to tackle the challenge.
And the kids did beautifully.
Except for the occasional temper tantrum
but that could have happened here at home as well.
I’ll be sharing some pics over the next few days.
These are some of my favorite moments.
Daddy and son…together.
My boy trying to be Read the rest of this entry »
We promptly went to Hobby Lobby the next day for magnets. Then to Target for cups. I even let the kids pick their own cups, and they were horrible, but that is another story.
I always thought “they” were crazy.
Who in the world would want to run further than a few miles?
Not I…well, in a way I did.
In my mid twenties, I started jogging.
Nothing big, a couple of miles about 4 times a week.
I stopped for a while.
Trying to get pregnant & jogging didn’t fit well together.
It wasn’t even a thought until about 1.5 yrs after the kids were born.
Of all months to start, I decided July was the best.
Don’t ask me why my brain thought July.
Guess if I could run during one of the hottest months
of the year, I would maybe stick with it.
I did well for a while.
Ran about 2.5 miles per day, 4-6 times a week.
But once again, had to stop.
This time the culprit was the knee.
So I substituted w/ Jillian.
But it just wasn’t the same.
So again, I chose July to start running.
2.5-3.5 miles.
I was upping the mileage.
And then Diana came in to my life.
She is my BRB (best running buddy).
She is the reason I go on days I don’t feel like it.
But best of all, we motivate ONE ANOTHER to keep going.
We started tackling the miles.
3 miles 3 times a week & then a longer jog on Fridays.
There was talk of signing up for a 10k.
By that point, we were running a 10k on Friday runs.
It wasn’t a challenge.
Then she proposed a half marathon. Read the rest of this entry »
Why do the terrible 2’s exist? I’m telling you right now, the 3’s are much more challenging.
Preschool has been fabulous. The kids absolutely love going. It was the best decision we could have made. They talk about the letters they are learning. About all their new friends. They love the activities they do. The playground is the highlight of their day. Going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday seems to work very well. They get all their learning in, and if they get sick, we have 4 days to get over it before they have to go back.
Speaking of sick… The 2nd week of school, Gabi brought home a tummy virus. The kind you don’t want to come home., Vomiting for 6 hours and then diarrhea. She started on Thursday night, 11:30pm, and we thought we were scott free. HA! Sofi started on Saturday at 2:30pm. Then Ian at 6:30pm. It gets better… I started at 8:30pm. And we thought Todd would get away from it all. Until about 5am Sunday morning.
5 days of vomiting.
1 week of diarrhea.
It.was.absolutely.horrible. Worse than I could ever imagine. But we made it through.
That’s not all. Last Friday, Gabi started with a fever. Then Ian. His went up to 104.4. Scary, and yes, we were in the tub. I say we…Ian & I. Todd sitting next to us. No fun. But it is all worth it. The kids’ immune systems are getting tested now rather than when they get to kindergarten. And they are happy about school. So, that’s what we have been up to.
It can be done. Granted, there will be many hurdles to jump.
BUT… it is possible. Take it from me. The girls got mommy milk until 13 months old. Ian went all the way to 20 months, and he chose by himself to give it up. I think the peer pressure got to him. After all, his sisters were getting milk in sippy cups.
*GASP*
That was that. Fortunately, I was comfortable with his decision. Not that I wasn’t sad. I did cry about a million & a half tears, most of them because it was the end of our breastfeeding relationship, the other part because I knew I would never have this opportunity again.
I was reminded this evening by a great online friend, Renee, how important this relationship was to me. How much I sacrificed for my kids to get the goodies from mommy. She even wrote a little shpeel about it on her blog.
Most triplet moms don’t even think it is possible. Some run in to supply issues. Others run in to health issues. I can speak from experience. I had mastitis a total of ELEVEN times in 16 months. Yes, you read correctly. And if you have had it, you know what I sacrificed to keep going.
This battle was in my heart. I already gave my children a disadvantage by knowing they would be born premature. This was my way to give them back a little something. If you doubt the fight is worth fighting, I encourage you to find a La Leche League near you. They are a wonderful support group. If anything, they will provide a comfortable environment where you can ask questions and receive educated answers.
If in doubt, just know that this triplet momma, that didn’t have a nanny and did days by herself, could manage to breastfeed and pump over 90 oz of milk on a daily basis. So if you think you can’t…
YOU CAN.
Sorry for my extended absence. Gabi started running a fever on Sunday. Never got over 101. Meds took care of it during the day. The fever would disappear at night, but it would always come back 9ish every morning. Very frustrating, especially since she had NO.OTHER.SYMPTOMS. Seriously, nothing. She had been acting completely normal. Then came the slightest of coughs. Nothing that would alarm you. Nothing you would even notice if there wasn’t a fever.
By Wednesday, when the fever finally decided to go up to 102, it was time to put in a call to Dr. N. I said, “We are probably coming in for you to tell us it is a virus.” The nurse said that’s what it sounded like. So, off we went, Gabi & I. Dr. N started listening to her lungs, kept asking Gabi to take deep breaths. Then she looked at me.
“I hear wheezing. Left lung.”
Huh?
What?
Excuse me?
Can you please say that again?
She said she definitely had bronchitis, probably a touch of walking pneumonia. Caught early.
Um, thankyouverymuch.
Now, on antibiotics & an inhaler, albuterol, and on a regiment, she is on the mend. She is still acting completely normal. The only time you know something is wrong is when she runs for a bit & starts to cough, trying to catch her breath. It has been a very, very long week. Waking up twice a night to fight a 3 year old to take inhaler puffs is not so much fun. Fever care, not so much fun. Restless sleep, not so much fun.
Reminds me of the days when they were itty bitty.
Aye.
The procedure took 26 minutes. I’m not even sure she was asleep for that whole time. That’s just how long we weren’t with her. It was that quick, an now she has a new belly button.
Yesterday, she was very uncomfortable. She didn’t want to walk or straighten out. We have kept up with her pain meds, as suggested. It seems to keep the discomfort away. I think by this evening, we will have her on ibuprofen.
She seems to be doing very well with it. She wasn’t even afraid when they took her away. Todd & I really worked on not making a big deal out of it. We told her she was going to get a new belly button. She chose to have a PINK one and made sure Dr. B knew. Nina, the anesthesiologist, came to explain to Sofi that she was going to breathe in pixie dust & feel like she was flying. The mask even smelled like bubble gum. And had glitter. AND…was full of stickers! She thought it was the coolest.thing.ever. They also gave her a teddy bear & Dora stickers.
This girl was in Heaven. I’m telling you, she loved the attention!
She was wheeled out to recovery, and we were literally back there within a minute to see our baby girl. She wasn’t crying too much, although she was fussy. Todd cuddled her a bit, and then I picked her up & rocked her.
After we felt she was “awake” enough, it was time to get her in the car and home to rest. She fell asleep in the car after some apple juice & a few crackers. From that point on, it hasn’t been too difficult. Gabi & Ian have been very attentive to their sister. They understand she can’t play. Because she isn’t allowed to climb stairs, we have an air mattress downstairs that she & I slept on last night. Daddy was on the couch, not too far away.
Not a bad experience at all. Thank God!
This is going to be short. She has a very small herniated belly button. Not really anything that is a big deal. We were hoping it would close on it’s own. It didn’t. Go figure.
After a 2 year wait, we are having it fixed. Tomorrow at 8am, we will be at the surgery center.
Please say a little prayer for the surgical team, for my little girl, and maybe a couple for Mommy & Daddy.
Oh, and how in the HELL am I suppose to keep her from playing for the next 2 days? And no climbing? Or taking the stairs? GEEZ…someone give me a tranquilizer.
