Family Pictures at the Bott Family Reunion!

At the end of August, we ventured up to Bear Lake with the girls for a Bott Family Reunion. We were so grateful that after a four-hour car ride, unpacking, and a meal the girls and Ellis were still able to be in good spirits for a family picture. The girls turn 1 on September 24th, and so in these pictures the girls were just about 11 months old.

From Left to Right: Annie, Daddy, Gracie, Ellis, Mommy, and Ruthie

Annie was happier standing

My four siblings each had a baby within 9 months of the girls being born, so at our family reunion we had 7 children under the age of one.

The Dangers of Three Babies in the Same Crib

After feeding the girls one afternoon, Annie kept crying. I went down to check on her and when I reached in to pick her up and try burping her again she let out a huge spit up all over Gracie. Gracie was sound asleep, but by the time I got the picture she was really crying. Annie had soaked Gracie's face, ear, onesie, blanket, and burp cloth we put under her head for any spit ups. A little of the spit up reached past Gracie and on to Ruthie.

Annie feeling much better after letting the spit up fly! Poor Gracie got soaked.

Here you can see where a little got on Ruthie and Ruthie's burp cloth under her head.

Telling the Identical Triplets Apart

We've found a couple of ways to tell the girls apart. We've learned to look at their right eyes and their right ears to tell them apart. Below are some pictures demonstrating the slight differences.

Ruthie on the left doesn't have any "stork bites" or the little red marks that came at birth above her right eye. Gracie has some stork bites above her left eye. Annie has some stork bites just below her right eye brow and when her eyes are closed, her right eye lid is red with stork bites.

Annie's fold of skin in her right ear just above the ear drum looks like it was pressed down with a finger in the middle.

Gracie's fold of skin in her right ear just above the ear drum doesn't look like it's been pressed down at all.

Ruthie's fold of skin in her right ear just above the ear drum looks like it's all been pressed down and is smooth against the back of her ear.

Their left ears all look the same.

This picture doesn't show this very well, but we attempted to show another way that we tell the girls apart. We have Gracie's toe nails painted purple, Ruthie's toe nails painted pink, and Annie's toe nails painted yellow.

Fun Pictures!

The past month has been so much fun!! Annie, Gracie, and Ruthie are growing well. Today we learned from our nurse that Annie and Ruthie measure in the 95th percentile of their gestational age of two months and Gracie is at 80% of her gestational age (gestational age is measured from their due date which was Dec. 8th). The girls are over four months old now from their actual birth date of Sep 24th and measure about in the 35th percentile from that date. Gracie weighs just over 12 lbs now and Annie and Ruthie are over 13 lbs.

The past week Gracie came down with a little cold and Annie and Ruthie sound a little stuffy as well, but we have the humidifier going in their room and the congestion has slowed and they all appear to be getting better.

The girls are eating so much now! They each eat about five ounces every four hours, but at the 8p feeding they eat about 10 ounces and then sometimes skip the 12a and 4a feeding. However, with triplets their is usually at least one that is hungry at the 4a (which really varies from 2a to 6a), so the girls sleeping through the night doesn't always happen. Thanks to Grandma and Papa who usually take the 4a feeding, Mom and Dad are getting some sleep to handle the day.

Ruthie, Annie, and Gracie. When Gracie has her oxygen off and they are in the same clothes, it's very difficult to tell them apart.

The swings (and vibrator on the right) are getting lots of use!

Annie, Gracie, and Ruthie during nap time

Ruthie and Annie getting ready to eat

Ruthie, Gracie, and Annie

Ruthie, Gracie, and Annie. So happy together!!

Ruthie, Gracie, and Annie

Ann-Marie's cousin Jeni came to help one morning with the feedings. We are so grateful for her and others' help, we just hope the girls don't wear them out!! Also, Colleen Skaines helped us a lot while she was here. Thanks, Colleen!

Sweet Baby Gracie

Annie, Ruthie, and Gracie in purple

How could a Daddy be happier?!

A familiar sight. Sometimes it feels like Ground hog day since we keep the girls on a pretty structured routine.

Synagis Shot and Girls Growing!!

We went to the doctor's office today for the girls to get a synagis shot. Very few people we've talked to have even heard of this shot, so if you're interested go to http://www.synagis.com/faq.aspx. This shot gives them antibodies to help them through the RSV season (through April). They each get a shot once a month and each shot costs $1,700 (thank goodness for insurance!) Insurance companies don't usually cover the cost of this shot, but because the girls were born so early, studies have shown the cost of the shot is cost effective as the girls will likely be in the hospital if they get RSV. RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus and is passed like a common cold, but it can be deadly to babies.

The fun news at the doctors office was their weight gain. We were pleased to see that Annie weighed 11 pounds 3 ounces, Ruthie 11 pounds 4 ounces, and Gracie 10 pounds 3 ounces!! We were surprised as that was a full pound more than we thought they would weigh. The doctor asked with a smile on his face, "What are you feeding those girls?!"

As for length gain, Annie measured 22 inches, Ruthie 22.25 inches, and Gracie 20.5 inches.

Their growth charts are amazing to see. They start out obviously much lower than babies born in September since they were so early, but they growth line looks almost vertical as they are quickly catching up to common growth patterns.

Gracie is on oxygen, but she is needing it less and less. Annie and Ruthie have been off of oxygen for about three weeks. All three girls are on the monitors as they need to show consistent breathing (no breaks as was common when they were in the hospital) and consistent heart rate (no drops as was also common in the hospital) for two months.

Gracie, Ruthie, Annie

Gracie, Ruthie, Annie

Family Photo Shoot

On December 20, 2009 we had a family photo shoot (thanks to Grandma, Papa, David and Karen who helped handle the logistics of doing so with triplets).

Ellis with Annie, Gracie, and Ruthie

Mommy with Gracie and Annie

Daddy with Ruthie, Mommy with Gracie and Annie, and Ellis with a great smile!

Annie, Gracie, and Ruthie

Annie, Gracie, Ruthie, and Ellis in their Christmas stockings

Ellis

Ellis with his gift for Mommy

Daddy with Ruthie, Annie, and Gracie

Mommy with Ruthie, Gracie, and Annie

Babies' First Christmas

Here are the girls on Christmas Morning. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we thank you all (including those we don't know who acted anonymously) for the kind gifts, thoughts, and prayers. We love and appreciate you!!