The featured blogger this week is Kristen of The Favia Family! Kristen is the proud MoM of one year old triplets, Nathan, Kylie and Brianna (the girls are identical).  Kristen’s blog is full of pictures of her seriously adorable triplets and definitely worth a visit!

When did you start your blog and what made you start it?

I started the blog in October of 2009 right when I found out that we were expecting triplets. There were so many people in our lives that were interested in the day to day life of carrying triplets, so I decided to create the blog in order to keep everyone up to date.

Were you surprised to discover you were pregnant with triplets?

My husband and I were completely shocked when we were told that we were expecting triplets. At the ultrasound, the technician showed us the first baby and then continued to look around. She then came across another baby and asked us if twins ran in the family. We were not too surprised to be expecting twins because they do run in our families. Then, she continued the examination and said that there was a third baby. My husband’s responded by saying, “You are joking, right?” My response was, “Please tell me there aren’t any more!”

What was your pregnancy like?

I started to feel sick right around 4 weeks and that was part of the reason why I took a pregnancy test. I was extremely nauseous the entire pregnancy and could not keep my food down, so gaining weight was difficult. I was put on bed rest at 20 weeks in order to prevent pre-term labor, but never experienced any complications. Looking back, I feel very fortunate that the only side effects of being pregnant with multiples was the nausea. My favorite part of being pregnant was feeling and seeing the babies kick and move around. It was awesome to see them all bouncing around at one time!

Brianna has had some problems since she was born, can you share a little about this and offer advice for families who may be going through something similar?

The reason that the Dr. decided to deliver the babies at 34.5 weeks is because of Brianna. She was not gaining any weight in utero, so they decided to deliver them early. She was born at 2 pounds, 14 ounces partly because her umbilical cord was not inserted in the center of the placenta. Thankfully, she was just born tiny and needed to grow and learn how to suck in order to be released from the hospital. When she was in the Infant Special Care Unit, they did find that she had a congenital heart defect. Brianna was born with a hole in the septum between the heart’s two lower chambers, which is called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). It was very scary delivering three tiny babies and then finding out that Brianna might need open heart surgery to close the VSD, but we did not let ourselves think about what could happen. My husband and I just concentrated on spending as much time as possible with the kids and figured we would deal with the surgery if it became necessary in the future. After monthly visits to Children’s Memorial Hospital, we have learned that the hole is actually getting smaller and Brianna might not need to have surgery. We are still hoping that the hole continues to close completely though! Brianna was the baby in the center of my belly the entire pregnancy, so she was a little tight on space. She was also in the hospital for 6 weeks, so she had Plagiocephaly, which is just a misshapen head. One side of her face was more forward than the other side, so she required a DOC band for 7 months. I felt terrible that she had to wear the helmet, but her brother and sister did not need one. I thought she was going to be more affected by the band, but she honestly did not even notice that she was wearing it. It was such a relief when she did not mind having it on her head and she actually looked cute in it. We are thankful that we did go ahead with the DOC band because it has corrected her head shape and it also prevented any eye damage from the uneven facial features. I would highly recommend using a DOC band to correct a misshapen head because it quickly encourages the head to correct itself and does not negatively affect the child! 🙂

What are some of your favorite memories from the first year of your kiddos lives?

I loved the moments that I was able to hold all three babies at one time because those times do not last that long. It was so special when all three of the babies smiled and laughed for the first time as well. I just remember how excited they were when they did something new (ate solid food, rolled over, crawled, etc.) and how happy I was to watch them experience everything for the first time. It is amazing to watch a baby investigate the world around them and learn new things on their own.

What are some of your favorite things to do as a whole family?

Our favorite thing to do is go to the pool or play with the water table. Nathan, Kylie, and Brianna love to get in the water and splash around. They are becoming great little swimmers and light up whenever they see the water. It is such a fun thing to do with the entire family! Our family also enjoys going for bike rides, walks, and to the park. They love looking around outside and feeling the wind blow in their hair. Our favorite indoor activity is going to Kohl’s Children’s Museum and playing with all of the toys. The kids love to stay busy and we enjoy doing different activities each day! 🙂

What question(s) do you have for the other families in the community?

  • What age do you think has been the most fun for your family?
  • I would also love to find other families in my area with multiples at a similar age to our kids!

Be sure to leave your answers to Kristen’s questions in the comment section and then head over to The Favia Family to leave some bloggy love!