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humans, and they are so good at their jobs.
babies
don?t come with an instruction manual, but in my case, mine did. ?ey put my
babies
on a schedule that i stuck to religiously, taught me how to do everything for them from bathing and feeding to umbilical cord and circumcision care. ?ey charted everything for me and sent each baby home with their own binder. sara: all of our
babies
were in the same suite which made visiting easy. because the
triplets
were very healthy, they were in the
nicu
for growing, feeding, and learning to regulate their body temperatures. while we were there, the nurses taught us how to feed our preemies, which was more challenging than we expected and left me feeling defeated. it?s hard as a mother when you feel like you cannot successfully feed your kids and someone else has to take over for you. but the nurses were so positive, helpful and reassuring during this process. krystal: our
nicu
experience was nothing short of amazing. although the girls were born at 32 weeks, our pediatrician referred to them as ?super
babies
.? ?eir stay in the
nicu
was a relatively short one, considering a premature baby usually stays in the hospital until their actual due date. but our ?super
babies
? stayed less than two weeks in the
nicu
. my
triplets
were my second pregnancy. hunter was not quite two when we brought the
triplets
home from the hospital. we try to make sure he feels special by giving him one-on- one time and acknowledging him when people ooh and aah at the
triplets
. if your
triplets
have siblings, how do you try to make sure they feel special, too? katie: after the
triplets
? first birthday, i found out i was expecting my fourth child. eighteen months later, we had four children under the age of two?two girls and two boys. my older son is the most doting brother and never once has my youngest not felt like he was a triplet too. i suppose, at some point, we are going to have to break the news to him. krystal: kathryn was four years old when they were born. adjusting to three
babies
taking over the house and everyone?s attention can be hard, but we?ve always made sure that she has her own special time with us. she takes part in fun activities like soccer and dance. she spends one-on-one time with each of us. when we are out in public and someone asks us about the
triplets
, we make sure to acknowledge what a wonderful big sister kathryn is to her little sisters. i find myself questioning if i?m doing the right thing as a parent of
triplets
. when they were smaller and we were in survival mode, i would realize at the end of the day that maybe i didn?t hold one of them as much as another one and become really emotional about it. now that they are in school, i have questioned about keeping them in the same at that very moment. i couldn?t believe what i was hearing or seeing. but there they were up on the screen?three little heartbeats. never in a million years would we have ever dreamed we?d have
triplets
, but god had other plans for us. my shock lasted for months. one of the first things that was unique about having
triplets
was getting used to leaving them in the
nicu
. it was a completely different experience having children with developmental delays, but we adjusted to our new normal. tell me a little about your
nicu
experience. katie: i am thankful for the time my children spent in the
nicu
. it takes a special person to care for these pint-sized duhe family howell family n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 | b r p a r e n t s . c o m 4 7
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