Wait! Did I Mix That Already?

It is that time again already?! How has it been three hours? Yet, here we are, time to feed the triplets again.

Think about when you go to feed one baby. If you are breastfeeding, you grab your baby and get situated. Some grab gear to make it more discrete to others around you. You might have to go into the nursery or a special place to rock them while they feed. If you are pumping and feeding out of bottles, that is also a lot of work. You have to grab all of your pumping supplies (in hopes they are already washed and ready for use), make sure the baby is content so you can pump uninterrupted and then sit there attached to the wall for an extreme amount of time. Now some might think formula is the way to go. It isn’t as exhausting for the parents and it doesn’t take as much prep time. As true as this might be for some, let’s just pump the breaks a few times. If you are in my situation, that is definitely a false statement. I have gotten used to our routine, but it is quite a process. One that many don’t have the patience to learn. Let me explain in greater detail, that is if you are willing to listen.

All three of my babies are on different formulas. This isn’t the worst thing, but just you wait…it gets better. Natashia is on Similac Alimentum because she is MSPI (milk, soy, protein intolerant). I fortify hers to 24 calories and she has thickener added to hers to help her keep her food down.

Arya is on Enfamil AR. Some say that stands for Added Rice while others say it stands for Anti Reflux. Now I know both of these are true, so who’s to say what is correct but either way, I have to fortify hers to 22 calories.

Trae is getting ½ breast milk which I fortify to 22 calorie and ½ Enfamil Neuro Pro formula which I fortify to 22 calories. There are lots of babies out there who prefer fresh breast milk over frozen breast milk. Trae, of course, happens to be a little boy diva, so the formula helps hide the taste of the many hours I slaved over my pump to allow him to receive as many nutrients as possible.

I catch myself constantly asking if I already mixed in the appropriate amount of formula. If I didn’t count the correct number of scoops, should I dump it or hope for the best? Should I be tasting it so I can tell the difference? Can you tell the difference? Wait, whose bottles am I making?

Now when it comes to amounts, those are all different as well. Natashia used to be our peanut which is why hers is fortified to 24 cal, but she eats 150ml or 5oz. every three hours, seven times per day. Arya eats 170ml or almost 6oz. every three hours, seven times per day. Trae is our tank. He eats 190ml or a little over 6oz. every three hours seven times per day. To make life easier, that number is always changing. The rise of their weight means more food. Yay!

“How do you keep their bottles separated since the amounts are so close?”, you might ask. Well, that has a process as well. Natashia’s bottles are pink. The bottle, inserts, lid and cap are all pink. Arya’s bottles are pink and teal. She gets the blue and white inserts with the square white lids and white caps. Trae, of course, has blue bottles with green inserts, round white lids and clear caps. All three of them are on meds. Natashia and Trae are on the same meds. Arya is on those meds plus a couple of others. But how do you know which bottle has the medicine? That too is color-coordinated. Natashia gets a red lid. Arya has a blue cap and Trae gets a teal lid.

Now if you are still with me, you know what is entailed in making bottles in our house. Piece of cake! But how do you feed three babies at the same time who can’t hold their own bottles? That definitely took some trial and error. One would think by now we have it down to a science. I wish I could say we do. They are constantly progressing in their development, which is fantastic. However, it continues to keep both myself and their father on our feet. When we started to feed the trips, we would hold them like a football on their side (this is so they were able to handle the input and not gag on the bottle) and carefully feed them one at a time. This would have worked if we just had two children. Since we were outnumbered from the beginning, the one who wasn’t getting fed would cry the whole time. There had to be room for improvement.

A few weeks later I remembered we had received boppy loungers from family as a shower gift. Once we introduced those we haven’t turned back. They are AMAZING! A blanket is placed over the boppy for extra protection in case they get sick or spill. The babies are placed on their sides and we prop the bottle on their burp cloths. These are placed under their mouths and bottles for when they dribble. A rolled blanket is put under the bottle to help keep the bottle propped up. This setup was great for when they had to eat on their sides all the time. We are even using this position today when it is time for bed. For most of their feeds though, we have altered the positioning even more.

Once they started getting big and strong, we introduced the bottle pillows. These have been a lifesaver. I saw them online, but they were too expensive for me to purchase three. I just couldn’t justify spending that much on something that wasn’t going to be used forever. So, I made my own. They aren’t the prettiest because let’s face it, I am no seamstress. However, they get the job done and that is what matters most. Thankfully I was able to choose three different fabrics so I can keep them straight as to who's is who’s.

Talk about bottle pillows (picture below)...

This is currently how we handle most of their feedings. We help place their hands on their bottles to show them they can and should be holding their bottles on their own. They have yet to figure that out, but we are making progress. Trae is moving right along and the girls aren’t far behind.

In the meantime, Aerol was at it once again being handy and coming up with some concoction. Since the tribe was squirming all over and it was/is almost impossible to keep them in one place without coming off their pillows (which I might add is not the most graceful act to watch).

Anyway, Aerol saw a video of a dad of five feeding his children. He took the dad’s idea and made a few of his own alterations to create a new bottle holder. With PVC piping, Velcro and a few ponytail holders, he created bottle holders to place while they are in their bouncer chairs. This too worked marvelously until the day came where they learned if they batted the bottles with their hands, they would swing everywhere. The best part is milk would be spewing out all over them and their surroundings. As you can imagine, this created quite the mess, so we packed those up pretty quickly. Until the day comes where they mainly hold their bottles while eating, those mechanisms will stay at rest.

No matter how your baby or in my case, babies are fed, be that with breast milk or formula, breast or bottle, held or propped, a fed baby is a happy baby through and through!