Today’s Featured blogger interview is with Katrina, of Party of Five! She’s the mom of 2 year old fraternal triplets, Xander, Hayden and Lily. Katrina is a fearless, energetic mom that handles being a multiple mom like a pro! Read on to find out more!

L: Tell us a little about Xander, Hayden, and Lily:

K: Xander is all boy; a bit light on talking, but big on action. He is always trying to get into stuff, and doesn’t easily give up even if it’s obviously not going to happen. Little man is a bit of a toy thief and is already showing signs that he will be good at wrestling with his patented sister take-downs. We have never had to worry about his vision, the boy has better eye sight than an Eagle, he does not miss when something has been left open or within reach. He keeps us on our toes.

Miss Hayden is a funny girl who loves to dance and entertain, once she gets over her temporary shy moments. She can be tough and does have a bit of a temper, this one is quick to retaliate if she feels someone was out of line. On the other hand she has her sweet side and sometimes blows us away with how she interacts with Lily. Hayden is a bit more independent, however when the mood strikes she is an A+ cuddler…she is also a Daddy’s girl. A future soccer star, the girl has been kicking balls since she could walk.

Lily Bug is our chatter box, she has lots to say and much to point out to us about everything. She is a very sweet girl, Bug has always been our most clingy child…now she is the most giving with kisses and hugs. Lily is more of a pacifist and will give up a toy instead of fight over it most times, though our little red head can be fiery if pushed too far. She has the memory of an Elephant and is already quoting lines from her favorite movie. Hayden and Lily both are crazy for Tinker Bell and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse LOL.

L: What was your pregnancy like?

K: We found out at 6 weeks that we were having 3 babies, my morning sickness,(well more like all day and night sickness), started right away. I put up with it until about 9 or 10 weeks then told my Doctor how sick I was and got Zofran, ahhh how I love you Zofran. I did really well after that, except for a couple trips for IV fluids and horrible heart burn which became acid reflux (that sucked, trying to sleep sitting up is no fun). I started feeling braxton hicks contractions so at my 25 week appointment my Doctor admitted me for what was supposed to be just a night of observation. That night for some reason I went into preterm labor, they went through 3 or 4 different meds trying to stop my labor, then came to me and said they were going to try Magnesium Sulfate as a last resort as nothing else was working. I got my first steroid shot and Jason and I cried…going from having no problems to all of a sudden looking at having the babies at 25 weeks we were really scared. It made me sicker than a dog but the Mag worked and they got my labor stopped, thank goodness. That stuff is just awful though, I ended up having too much of it in my system, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t use my legs…it was a really tough 3 days. I was then off and on oral meds to control the contractions that would come and go for the remainder of my 6 week hospital stay. At 31 weeks I was told I could go home if I wanted, we were so tired of the hospital we couldn’t pack fast enough….not our best decision. 24 hours later I was back because one of the babies broke their water. The Doctors decided to go ahead and do my C-section, so just after midnight at 31 weeks 2 days the triplets were born, Xan was 3 lbs 12 oz and 16 1/2″ long, Hayden was 3 lbs 15 oz and 17 1/2″ Miss Lily Bug was our smallest at 3 lbs 7 oz and 18 1/4″. They spent just over a month in the NICU and thankfully are totally healthy HUGE 2 year olds today. (Click here for the birth story post!)


L: Did you and your husband have a lot of help when the babies were first born? How did you “survive” those early months?

K: Jason and I did it pretty much on our own, we had offers of help but I wanted to do it myself, after all they are my kids. Jason was new to his job so was not able to take time off work when the babies came home. I was on my own every day until he got home from work, thankfully he is a very involved Daddy and everything is 50/50 when he gets home. He even got up with me the first few months for the middle of the night feedings even though he had to work in the morning. The first month home was a complete blur, I was so tired I think half the day was spent in my bedroom just feeding and changing and then all of us going back to sleep LOL. By afternoon I would make it out to the living room just in time for Jason to get home and help. We were in survival mode until the trio were about 4 months old and started sleeping for 6-8 hour stretches. Then at 5 months they started sleeping 12 hours through the night and everything has been peachy ever since.


L: Do you work outside the home or stay home with your kids? If you stay at home, what did you do before you had Lily, Xander, and Hayden?

K: When we found out we were having triplets we did the math and it would have taken every cent I made at my job just to pay for daycare, couldn’t see the point in that so we decided I would stay home. I can’t say I mind, while I did like my job as an Admin. Asst. for a steel company, I have never really enjoyed being a worker bee LOL. I love being a SAHM, I never dreamed I would love it as much as I do.

L: So… anything exciting going on in your life right now? Any special news to share?

K: Jason and I are expecting baby #4 in December! I knew very early that I didn’t feel our family was complete, in fact the trio were still in the NICU the first time I told Jason I wanted to do it all again. I am sure many think we are nuts, I am just waiting for all the comments once the belly starts really showing. Like it’s so absurd that anyone would want more children after having triplets. (Click here to read the pregnancy announcement post).

L: Are you SURE it’s just one this time? Hypothetically, how would you feel if at your next appointment, the ultrasound tech told you it was multiples again?

K: We have had 5 or 6 ultrasounds so far and there has been just one baby in there every time, so yeah I am sure 🙂 Actually before our first ultrasound we thought it was twins, I had 2 mature eggs at IUI, got an early + on an HPT and my beta numbers were high enough to support the thought. I was a little bummed when we found out there weren’t 2 babies, I think I had gotten my heart set on the idea and that is the way I envisioned things going so it took a day or so to adjust to the news. We would have been totally happy to have twins, triplets again would have been crazy but we would have made it work.


L: What do you look forward to most about having another baby? Is there anything that you are nervous about?

K: I really look forward to being able to enjoy and relish the whole experience…not just survive it. Everything has been so much more “normal” with this pregnancy, I hope birth and infancy will be too. It will be nice to sort of have a do-over and get to have things go the way they are supposed to, you know not waiting 4 days to hold your baby, not waiting over a month to take them home…all that stuff. The only thing I am nervous about is having things not go “normal.” With the triplets all that missed time and NICU stuff was expected from the beginning so I had time to adjust to it. This time I think if we ended up having a repeat of all that it would hurt even more because it is not expected at all.

L: What is your favorite thing to do as a family?

K: We are not too picky, and as corny as it may sound, anything we all do together is wonderful. The zoo has always been fun, when we took the kids to the beach we had a blast, OMSI is great now that they are a tad older, just chilling in the pool works too. The only not fun part is the meltdowns that happen when it’s time to go home….yikes!

L: What kind of bonds do you see forming between your triplets? Do they each seem to have a unique relationship with each other?

K: I am very close to my brothers and sisters, and I really hope the kiddos grow up knowing how important they are to each other. Right now Xander and the girls are in pretty different places, I think they view him as almost a pest much of the time. They do have their moments where they all play together and run around the house laughing and screaming, we love seeing that. Hayden and Lily are already really close and have the cutest little sister bond going. They are almost always playing together and if not actually interacting with each other they are playing on their own but near each other. They all show concern for each other, if someone falls the others will go to their fallen sibling and ask “OK?” and if someone is crying the others try to pat their heads or give them a kiss…it’s really sweet to see them care for each other.

L: You look absolutely amazing! In fact, if it weren’t for your belly pictures on your blog, I would kind of find it hard to believe that you gave birth to triplets:) What is your secret?

K:I gained a lot of weight, even though I didn’t really look all that huge, I gained around 70 lbs. Now that we have come through everything and I am at peace with my experience I can joke that Hayden was worried about her Momma’s figure which is why she broke her water 9 weeks early. I think being somewhat tall helps a lot, 5’8″ isn’t overly tall but I think it helps things spread out a bit LOL. My Dad and one of my sisters is also tall and thin so some of it is probably genetic too. I did my little “nothing that blinks” diet, I gave up meat (except for seafood) for 2 months and it helped me lose the last 20 lbs of the pregnancy weight. I think it was just keeping me away from the fast food that did the trick. Momma says fast food is the Devil 🙂
(Click here to see Katrina’s belly progression video!)
__________________________________________________________________
Katrina’s Question for the Multiples and More Community is:

…what are your favorite (2 year old friendly) crafts to do with your kids?

Thanks to Katrina for sharing your story with us! Please stop by Party Of Five and say hi today!