When I think of the triplet's first year, many thoughts, emotions and memories flood my brain. Many things can happen in a whole adjusted year. Just add another 77 days, making 442 days, and you’ve got yourself quite the adventurous year filled with craziness, excitement, learning and love…lots and lots of love!
I would like to invite you to the world of my imagination. Let me set the scene. We are at an awards show. The announcer calls my name. The kind gentleman in a suit which costs more than I make in a year (funny since I am a stay-at-home-mom) helps me up the red-carpeted covered stairs to accept my award. I am standing on stage in my long elegant black fitted dress with my red-bottomed black heels. They hand me my award. Stop!
People think I do everything with the triplets on my own. I have no help and have become some kind of saint just because I birthed three children at once. Don’t get me wrong, I cherish the praise. In fact, it is what keeps me going on a daily basis. But if I stop and take a few minutes to review my days, there are many things I can’t do as easily without the help of my friends and family.
Anywho…so there I am standing like I own the stage in my black dress with my hair done and my makeup looking like a flawless model on the cover of a magazine. Not realistic I know, but anything can happen in my imagination. They hand me my award. As I reach my hands out to accept my award, I start to look around and realize I shouldn’t be up on the stage alone. I stand in front of the freakishly loud microphone and start my speech…
“There is the saying, “it takes a village” and they are not wrong...”
“From the very very beginning, I have not done it alone. With a little help from science trying to get pregnant, the Lord blessed us with a positive pregnancy test. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our time. So, we took a little break to grieve. After a while, I took another test and to our surprise, the Lord blessed us again. My husband and I gave the doctor a jingle and went in for an ultrasound. Little did we know our rainbow baby would actually be rainbow babies! My emotions were running wild. I just kept thinking, “What if it was a false positive due to the medicine?” I was anxious to see what our future held, nervous due to our history, thrilled to finally start our own family and yet if things didn’t turn out in our favor, I was feeling determined to keep trying, despite the ups and downs of our journey so far. I knew God had a plan for us. I had to keep positive. At that very moment, while my crazy head was spinning and I had tuned out everyone around me, the nurse came out and I snapped to when I heard my name being called. As we stood up to go back, I looked up at my husband and thought to myself, “this is the moment of truth”.
From the moment she said we were having three babies, my heart exploded with joy as if it were a balloon filled with helium. My voice went up 3 octaves when I expressed my excitement to my husband and our sonographer as if the helium from the balloon leaked out and filled the room.
As soon as the news was spread to our friends and family, they were there for me (after the initial shock of course). From baby showers to NICU visits to help me with daily tasks, we have had an extreme amount of support.”
As I am giving my speech, I look where I was sitting before they called me up on stage. I notice surrounding my now empty chair, the people I am thanking are yet again there to support me. They should be standing on stage with me. Their tenaciousness to assist and their eagerness to spoil both me and the babies with love and support should earn them a trophy more so than me. I pause with my rambling speech to invite those who are there to support me to join me on stage. As they are making their way to the stage, I continue my speech to talk about the trips.
Our firstborn (Baby A) is super smiley and cuddly. Natashia LOVES her daddy and lights up the moment she sees him walk into the room. She is a definite food monster. Nothing gets in her way when it comes to mealtime. If something does happen to get in the way, all 16 strong pounds of her will let you know all about it. When going down the line to feed them, she can hardly wait until her turn. You have to be focused and quick. Her fine motor skills are sharp. She is learning to wave when people say “hi” and “bye”. She knows how to say “all done” in sign language and is always willing to cheer someone on by clapping her little heart out.
Natashia will say “eh” a lot and prefers to blow raspberries. Otherwise, she is not into babbling. Just not her thing. She knows there are other ways to spend her time. She can work on plank scooting to her Zany Zoo activity cube or spend time in her ball pit. She is always trying to get snuggles in with her daddy and lets you know if you are not paying enough attention to her.
Next is Baby B. Even though she is our middle child (by one minute), she can hold her own. Arya is very adventurous and daring. When she is not busy attempting to stand on her own, she is crawling on top of plastic tubs and tearing up the foam floor mats. During all of her adventures throughout the day, she enjoys telling you about them by babbling or happy screaming. Not only is she very talkative, but she is also a smiley baby. Developmentally, she is currently leading the pack.
We are a little behind when it comes to health, but she is a 15 pound determined tiny trooper and doesn’t mind a bit of oxygen. She also LOVES her daddy. Thankfully she will tolerate her mother too. She will be waiting at your ankles for you to pick her up and spread your love.
Time out. My support group makes it to the stage. They are thrilled to have been invited up. They too, are sporting their evening attire and are looking like a million bucks. The rest of the audience is thrilled to see new faces on stage and not having to focus entirely on me continuing to ramble on about my children. While waiting for me to finish my speech, they are all tending to my triplets. Wait, didn’t I mention they brought them. Let’s be real, they are my support group. If it wasn’t for them, who would be helping with the babies!?
Finally, we get to Baby C, Trae. Our youngest by another minute. He is persistent and full of energy. Nothing will stop him from doing what he wants. Just like his sister, he is extremely daring. When trying to climb out of his enclosed play area, the word “no” doesn’t stop him. He is a very happy and content baby. When the girls are demanding attention and needing a little extra love, Trae doesn’t mind being left by them to play on his own. He will play for hours before he lets you know he needs to have a turn for attention. He is a solid 17 pounds and his eyesight doesn’t hold him back. In fact, his cute little blue glasses are his key to success. Don’t get me wrong, he is constantly pulling them off his face and letting you know how much he doesn’t like them.
Since the day he was born, he has been interested in how things work. By studying and exploring how things are made, he is for sure going to be one to watch out for. Besides the fact, he is continuously bullying his sisters to be a free spirit like himself, Trae is a mama’s boy, thankfully. Otherwise, I would feel so left out. He shows his affection by snuggles and lots of different babbles and noises. Fish kisses, which were taught to him by his grandpa, are currently his favorite.
The love I have for my children is beyond what I could ever imagine. It is such a deep and genuine love that has consumed my heart. They make my world happy.
As I am continuing to ramble on about my babies, the “you have talked long enough and need to be done” music starts to play.
So, let me just wrap things up by saying “THANK YOU!” “Thank you to those standing on stage with me who help with bath time, play with them, watch them and snuggle them when the crocodile tears start flowing so I can make bottles. Thank you for constantly being there for me. You are what makes triple the work made simple. I couldn’t do it without all of you. Thank you to those who are always praying for our family. Triplet life is no joke. We need all the prayers possible.”
I know if I don’t walk off the stage now, they will call security to assist my exit. I start to exit the stage and of course, my imagination has to have a touch of reality added, so I clumsily fall down. The audience in unison catches their breath with shock and holds it until I get up. Everyone on stage with me runs over to once again check-up on me and make sure there isn’t anything I need. I put my hands in the air to announce I am okay. They all sigh with relief. I continue off stage with as much class as I have left and think to myself, “What an overwhelmingly fantastic year!”
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