Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Bringing up Triplet infants

Bringing up triplets infants and toddlers had its own advantages, although I shudder when I think how I managed at the time. I did feel like a cow trying to produce milk that should not end. Sure, I was grounded most of the time at home, and weekends were best spent buying groceries, but I was in a trance at the time, a beautiful feeling that I cannot explain or reproduce now. Hubby dear would usually make sure that there was enough supplies for the kids to last the week. At one store when, my husband picked up all the formula that was available, the lady at the counter inquired if we had a store of our own. The best of the outing we did sometimes was a drive to the local Idly place , where the kids and myself waited in our van while , Hubby dear ordered and brought the food to the Van. Then we had the food in the van right on the parking lot of the restaurant while the babies had their milk from their bottles.

The trio were so convenient in terms of entertaining them, they had friends by birth! They didn’t need me to entertain them. I just had to tell the story once for all for them to enjoy. On the flip side, being premature, the kids were prone to any infection. So, we couldn’t socialize for a whole year after they were born, to keep contact to the minimal.

It was amazing to watch them reach different milestones. Especially, P and N, since they are identical. They almost reached them together, although both of them had their own ways approaching it. K usually reached it later by about a month. It was so amazing to see K crawl. Actually, she never crawled, she started to walk on her fours and then, her two's. The walk on her fours used to be so fast. Like if she didn't slow down it appeared as though she was heading right into whatever was in the front, but, she was in total control of her movements. Sometimes I did see her put her knees on the soft carpet, but as soon as she walked past the carpet, her knees would be up and she would be on her four's. Her knees were so delicate. P was the chubbiest of the 3 and had a very very cute crawl, like of a toy elephant in an animated movie. Her body used to sway from left to right and back.

Even as the kids grew, their respiratory system was so prone to infection that they got sick easily. I was so scared when it was time for winter and used to envy the kids who would be out playing in the snow. If one of them was sick which would usually start with a little cough, inevitably, all the others followed her. There were countless trips to the ER. Cannot forget the time when N came down with pneumonia and was hospitalized. The other two followed in getting sick too, although didn't need hospitalization. Those experiences could make a books material all in itself.

2 comments:

lakshmi said...

Oh My Gosh! I always did wonder how you managed with the triplets. You might have been in awe seeing them growing up and at the same time a small fear lurking in the corner of the heart about their fragile condition esp during the first year! I think motherhood teaches you everything.

Gayatri said...

Hi Lakshmi, Yeah..your right about the fear. Luckily, now they have come a long way from there.
They were born 2 months pre-mature but they did well in the NICU and were able to come home quickly. Actually, this reminds me of their days in the NICU and the delivery. Good material for another blog.
Motherhood teaches all us moms so much..because, everyday its a new situation. The learning curve is sharp but still not enough.