Day 9

Our feet hit the floor at 6:00am. The girls slept all night - not a peep. We do the usual of getting them up and dressed and fed. Then I shower and get ready for work and then Pete does the same. Donna came today so she was here around 6:30. She's a huge help because she reads to the girls and keeps them occupied so Pete and I can get our day started. She even changes their stinky diapers if they need it (that's a true friend right there!). Pete's mom is coming here today so there's no hurry to get out the door.

I leave for work at 7:30 and get there on time (an unusual occurrence these days). I'm anxious all day because I know a friend is having a baby today and I'm just waiting to hear the news.

Nothing eventful happens at work. Pete and I email about how we need to buy the girls an indoor playscape type thing so they can get out some of their energy during the colder months. Oh - I went to the mall during lunch (a frequented place during my lunch hour). I also got a call from Sarah at MyGym and she has rearranged her Saturday schedule so that we can fit the girls into one of the classes there. Pete and I talk about whether we want to spend the $ on this and we decide that we do. It cost $126 for 4 classes (plus we get one free). That's the total cost. Each class is an hour long. So in the end - it's just over $10 an hour per child. I think that's totally worth every penny. They gave us a huge discount - full price for one child, 20% off the 2nd child and 3rd one free. Not a bad deal and I was very impressed with this place during the open house. We'll see how it goes - we start classes this Saturday.

After lunch I get an email from another friend that she heard our friend had her baby and both mom and baby are doing well. So excited for her!

I leave work at 3:30 to go to school. Ugh...school is really torture for me but whatever. I get though it. I call Pete during my break and he says the girls did well today. They were sleeping when I called - so that's good. I got out of class around 9:00...drove home and here lots of peeps coming from the girls. They're restless for some reason. Unusually restless...not waking up fully but just kind of whining in their sleep. Teething? Upset stomach? Sick? Your guess is as good as ours. Just hope it's not a long night.

With my friend having her baby - it brought back so many memories of when the girls were born. I remember so vividly the days and nights spent in the NICU. How tiny they were. How they couldn't be out of their isolettes for more than 15 minutes at a time because they would lose their body heat and burn too many calories trying to stay warm (unless I was doing Kangaroo Care with them). The planning of people to come and visit. These are things people take for granted. If I knew someone was coming to visit the girls - I wouldn't hold them or take them out of their isolettes...I'd let whoever was visiting hold them. The exception was Hailey. My peanut was too small for even me to hold for a while and when I finally was able to hold her...I was the only one. She didn't like to be held either...it was too overstimulating for her. I'm so glad those days are over and so glad my friend won't have to go through those days herself.

Sometimes I use these very memories to get me through a rough day. Other times I just reflect on them and how lucky Pete and I are to have 3 healthy baby girls. And deserving. And yet there are other times when I can't revisit these memories. It's almost like - when I'm having a rough day - the memories bring me back to reality and remind me that things could be much worse. But when I'm having a great day with the girls...if those memories come to mind for whatever reason - it reminds me that things were much worse. I don't know how to put it into words really. When people ask how we do it - it's simply 'one day at a time' but looking at those days...even Pete and I don't know how we did it.