Tired

First thing's first. The kids are doing well and gaining weight. Today at the doctor, Lila weighed almost 6 lbs, Brandon weighed about 5 & 1/2, and Alex weighed about 5 & 1/4. We were surprised by this and, frankly, we think the scale was off... because Alex feels closer to Lila's weight then Brandon's. But who knows. Scroll way down for pictures, or keep reading for my random, early morning thoughts.

Wow, just... wow. I'm staring down my 12th or 13th 2 a.m. shift in a row. About 5 nights in, I realized it was more of a shock to my system to sleep for 2 hours (between the end of the 11 p.m. feeding and the beginning of the 2 a.m.) then wake up, then it was to just stay up the whole time. Or maybe I just like the relative peace and quiet of this time, when the kids are mostly settled from the last round, Abby is asleep, Milo is curled up next to me, and it's just me and my coffee. And my laptop. And iTunes.

Speaking of which, I discovered a series of albums from a group called Rockabye Baby. They do lullaby versions of music from a wide range of bands, including -- I kid you not -- Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, The Beatles, U2, The Beach Boys, Coldplay, Pink Floyd and others. Honestly, they are super, super cool. I'm playing this stuff all the time now. There are no lyrics, just the melodies in the style of traditional lullabies. You'd be surprised how soothing Master of Puppets sounds in lullaby format. I think I'd go insane listening to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for hours on end, so this is a phenomenal way to go. My thanks go out to Abby's sister's friend Jill for sending us the entire Rockabye Beatles CD -- we all love it.

Anyway, back to the night shift. Basically Abby has been going to bed around 9, leaving the 11 p.m. to Grandmom Deb and me. Then Abby gets up and meets me for the 2 a.m. I crash after that (3:30ish). She tries to go back to sleep, but often the kids aren't having it. Then she meets Grandmom Deb for the 5 a.m. In theory I'm supposed to then make the 8 a.m., but in practice I'm not coming in until near the end of that round. Thankfully they cut me a lot of slack, because they catch up on their sleep during the day while I (with significant help from others -- particularly my Grandmother Carolyn, who rocks) hold down the fort during the day.

Unfortunately, Grandmom Deb has to fly back to the Sunshine State on Sunday, so we're going to have to figure something else out for the nights. It's not easy for one person to feed 2 preemies at once, but I think that's a skill we're going to have to pick up. Otherwise you're feeding all 3 separately and it will take you almost 2 hours. At least, that's what we're seeing. Grandmom Deb has been a huge help, and we really appreciate everything she's done.

I mentioned (Great) Grandmother Carolyn -- also thanks to A & Q, and J & G who stopped by to help out a couple of evenings recently. It really, really helps. More of you are coming soon -- including a number of first-time visitors. We're looking forward to seeing you all. Just remember to wash those hands!

So, it's a busy, crazy life. Already. But it's also a lot of fun. These kids are just adorable, and you never know what they're going to do next. They keep you on your toes. Just when you're certain you can predict, oh, that they're going to be so cranky at such and such a time, sure enough they are sleeping soundly. And vice versa. Etc.

I think about how far we've come in such a short time. From being completely terrified to even hold these fragile little 3ish pound babies in the NICU, to walking around the house holding one of them one-armed (our arms, not theirs) while completing some other task with our free hand. Wow. The # of bottles per day is 24, the loads of laundry per day are 1-2, the diapers are... well, there are a lot of them. The smiles are many, the tears are few. The fatigue is ever-present, but so is the joy. And, hey, at least I can listen to Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins and Metallica (all lullabies, of course) all day without Abby hassling me! Rock!!

Lastly, here are some pics of the kids all dressed up for their first sibling doc's appointment.

Does anyone else look at this and think of Walk Like an Eg-yp-tian?

Alex (right) is a close talker.

That's Alex in the middle and Brandon on the right.

Lila's catching just a few more zzz's before we leave.