'Triplets Kerala' - back at home from NICU

So we - 'Triplets Kerala' as I call them now, and us, and my parents- are back at home from NICU. Things should have been much easier. But we are totally off-balance now. We are all hoping that these hectic days will be over soon.We are starting a new life. Many relatives and friends come everyday. A pleasure to see them. Feeling blessed with their love in our lives. 

We have a single floor independent house with two bed rooms (one attached), a living cum dining room with a prayer space, study space and common toilet, an entrance room which can also function as office space, kitchen and work area. It is a nice house.  A few years back when both of us were looking for houses to buy we stumbled upon this one. This was unwanted by many because it does not have direct car access, you can come till the previous compound in a car but then the way is too narrow for a car. There is no hope that it will ever change or widen. Another thing is that there is a sarpakkavu (a sacred grove where snakes are worshipped) right in front of the house. 

The Sacred Grove in front of our house

In fact one generation before the house was part of a large area which contained many big trees, two big ponds, two sacred groves etc. There was only one house at the time- the owner’s- and the rest of the area coming up to around 2 acres was covered by these trees that it was very dark even during midday. There was a lot of wildlife including snakes, Asian palm civets, mongoose, and a variety of birds. People rarely disturbed the area. Then it was partitioned into various plots, some of the trees were cut down, most areas of the ponds were filled.(These were not completely filled as there is a belief that water bodies when filled should have some kind of an outlet- so tiny ponds of around 4 sq.m area was left open with walls and steps around. The plots were sold, for very good prices, as the land value was shooting up to the sky. One brother did not like another and wanted to trouble him, and so the right of way to the plot was only 4 feet wide. Later the plot was sold to another person who built the house and from whom we bought it. The sacred groves were both intact, but a lot cleaner and accessible and thus less sacred. Some of the wildlife remained too. We liked all these aspects, except the inaccessibility by car, but let that go, as we got the house of 1200 sq ft area and land of 6 cents in the heart of the town at an unbelievable Rs.9 lakhs in 2004. We park our car in the neighbour’s plot, for a small monthly rent. The house is deemed very lucky. The previous owner was very poor and jobless when he bought the land before land prices were shooting through the sky, with some money he got from his ancestral property. But after buying the plot and building the house as per Vaastu, he got many new projects and in six years he bought himself another plot with car access, close by, and built a mansion. After we bought the house I got my Government job, we had our first international tour sponsored by Ramesh’s office, and presently we got our three darlings. So we love the house.

But it seems a little crammed now, with seven of us living here. Mili was an integral part of our daily life before the pregnancy. She used live indoors, used to even lie down in the kitchen while I cooked. Now that the babies were home, my parents insisted that she be sent out, to sleep in the dog house or on terrace, else her hair might cause allergy. I tried to explain to them that it is good to be in close proximity with pet animals during babyhood, and it will lessen the chances of future allergies. But they were adamant, and I really did not have many options. We placed a table next to the dining table on which the feeding bottles, formula, bibs, water etc. are kept. The multivitamins and other emergency medicines like Paracetamol, Neosporin, cough syrups etc. are kept in the drawer. The master bed room with attached toilet and a small dressing area is our bedroom. The other bedroom next to it is being used by my parents, and they use the common toilet. The ironing table in the dressing space doubles up as diaper changing and oil-massage table, half of it being covered by a rubber sheet. Babies have not started taking baths. Once they start it, the oil massaging will no more be there. We are planning to bathe them in the counter slab of the work area, so we do not have to bend.

The feeding schedule for the triplets is synchronised now- every two hours they are given 30/40/50 ml of formula, the first feeding of the day being at 6.30 am. The intake varies sometimes as little as 15 ml only they drink. Multivitamins (especially vitamin D), iron and Calcium supplements are given at 10.30 am and at 8.30 pm. The olive oil massage is at 11.30 am, after which they have their formula and sleep soundly. They pass stools twice or thrice a day.  Baby-C usually passes stool after every meal. He cannot resist hunger for even a minute, and every two hours he starts crying and keeps crying till the milk touches his lips. Baby- A has bright green stool, it is slightly worrying, but doctor said that is not a problem as long as there is nothing wrong otherwise. He sleeps quite a lot during the day, but at night, he keeps me up till 3 am. Baby-C cries the most, followed by Baby- A, the other boy. Baby- B, our little girlie, does not cry at all, unless absolutely required. She smiles quite a lot, watches people moving around from her position on the couch in the hall. We show off by making her smile when guests come, and they enjoy it we think.

We go to bed after the 12.30 am feeding.  In the first week at home Baby- C used to sleep in my parents’ bed. But he used to wake up and cry in the middle of the night, and pass stool many times, so this became too tiring for my parents already exhausted from all the days’ work. So we made a different arrangement. Baby- A (Raman) sleeps in the bed room with me. Ramesh works in the study area late into the night, sometimes till morning. So both Baby-B and C’s cribs are placed near the study area and Ramesh rocks them occasionally using chords tied to the cribs. They sleep without much fuss, and at 2.30 Ramesh feeds them both formula, changes diapers and rocks them to sleep again. Raman (Baby-A) is a fussy sleeper. I walk carrying him for hours sometimes, singing to him. He sleeps as late as 3 am, but then he sleeps soundly till late morning. Baby-C (Balu) wakes up early in the morning, closely followed by B (Kutty).

Ramesh sleeps at 3-4 am. Then he likes to sleep till 9-9.30 am, and then he gets up, freshens up and leaves for site/office. I sleep by 2.30-3 am, because Raman sleeps only then.  So I sleep late, getting up only by 6.30 am for the first formula feeding of the day. My parents go to bed by 12 am, late for their lifestyle, and get up by 5.30-6 am. Then my mother prepares breakfast. They also help with the feeding. Then we put them back to sleep. Things should be fine here, but then starts the crying. Balu and Kutty don’t want to go back to sleep, sometimes Raman too wants to stay up.  Waking up early is fine, but all three would want our full attention as well. All of us would be sleepy, exhausted, and wanting some peaceful time before the hard work begins. Tempers flare up. Voices rise.  And every morning at least once I wish I hadn’t done the IVF.

Things aren’t that bad after sometime. After the second feeding at 10.30, and after everyone has breakfast, things settle a bit. I put the babies on the mattress in the living room, and sit with them, show them the toys, which they try to gab and try to put in mouth etc. Their hand- mouth coordination is not developed yet, so they just try to grab the toys. They smile at the sounds of the toys. I show them pictures. Raman especially likes to look at pictures of people. I read that they can see things as two dimensional only at this age, that too, things at a distance of 25-30 cm from their eyes. So I draw human faces and keep them at a foot’s distance from their faces. I also read stories to them, which of course, they don’t listen to, but they like the sound of my voice talking to them.

We got a maid from an agency. She comes at 9 am and leaves at 4.30 pm. She babysits during mid-morning so we can finish our chores. Her pay is Rs7500/- per month, of which Rs.2500/- goes to the agency. We tried to get someone more professional- someone with a training in taking care of babies, but no luck there. This particular maid is good. Before her there were two other maids from the same agency, both of whom had no skill in looking after babies. So they lasted only about two weeks or so, each.

I still have no milk. We are sticking with the formula. Although I am hoping that the post natal care (prasavaraksha) might increase the milk supply. The babies sleep in the afternoon. Full credit goes to my father in that he made it a point to establish the routine of putting them to sleep together. Raman sleeps in my arms and I lay him on the bed. Kutty and Balu sleep in their cradles.  All three sleep at the same time. This gives a much needed break and relief for us. We have peace for about two hours in the afternoon. Ramesh comes by early evening, relieving my parents from baby duty to some extent. I am able to spend so much time with them because my mother completely does the cooking. Soon, in another three months it will be time for me to rejoin my post graduate course. I have no idea how this will work out.

17-03-2012

Our Triplets

We posted photos and news about the birth in Facebook. I had not told anyone except a couple of very close friends about the pregnancy, so everyone who saw the update got a surprise :)

Breastfeeding vs Formula
Triplets Feeding in the First Months
Triplets one month old