This just in, babies respond positively to American Idol

Which is to say, they're asleep. And anything that puts/keeps them asleep is okay in my book. Currently I'm perfecting the vaunted "No-Handed Forearm/Elbow Hold" with young Mr. Brandon while I mobile-type this message out. Triplets Lila and Alex are likewise couchside, about 4 feet north of us.

If the kids were awake, here's what they would have to say about the show so far.

Alex: Nobody has any business singing any song from The Police, unless it's Every Breath You Take, since that's far and away their most pop-oriented track. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was not a good choice.

Brandon: Guys should really stop singing Gavin Degraw's I Don't Wanna Be, thinking that its perfect balance of pop hook catchiness and parent-friendly guitar riffs is going to make them a lock for the next round. Besides, you won't top Bo's performance from a couple years ago. Also, the trailer for the new Wolverine movie is flat-out awesome. Dad might get to rent the DVD in 4 or 5 years.

Lila: Seriously, isn't The Mentalist on right now? Okay fine. My comment. To the guy who just sang Rock With You: Sir, you are no Michael Jackson.

Thanks, kids, for that imaginary commentary. And thanks to my lovely wife for making me watch Idol again. Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in...

Thanks to everyone who has helped out in the last few days or who is planning to. We appreciate it! Also, we keep receiving wonderful gifts of formula (we're using nearly a can of powder a day -- scary, isn't it?), diapers and more. Thank you all SO much. Lastly, a big Perry welcome to our new nanny Casey. We're glad you came back for Day 2!!

Help, Grandmom Deb is leaving

Well, sadly my Mom has to go back to Florida tomorrow. I do not know what we would have done with out her the past 2 weeks. We will miss her help, tips, cooking, cleaning and getting up in the middle of the night to help with feedings. What will we not miss? Her TV shows. Sorry, Mom, we love you, but who really watches 11th Hour, Mentalist, Flashpoint and NCIS? Sam had it right when he said it's a good thing you are not a Nielsen home.... or there would be no Lost, just CSI, 24/7. (Editors' note: Next week on the big Mentalist/CSI:Quebec crossover event, Patrick & Jean-Claude track a gang of rogue fur trappers who are cut off from society and still fighting the French and Indian War. Blast it! I swore I wouldn't get sucked in!!)

On a more serious note, we could surely use some help. If you are not sick and no one in your house is sick, then come on over. Sorry, only adults at this point, per doctors orders. We feed 3 babies 8 times a day. So really anytime you come is helpful, even if it is just to hold a baby or help make a bottle. Just call or e-mail first, but short notice is fine. Really, you can call and say, "I can be there in 15 minutes." Just a reminder, our e-mail addresses are samperry42@gmail.com and abbyperry88@gmail.com. Also, some of you have asked what we need. We are pretty set on wipes at this point (thanks G.GPA John and GiGi). But diapers and formula are greatly appreciated. Size 1 diapers, any brand. We're not picky. The trio are on Enfamil Enfacare formula (pictured above). It should say 22 cal on the label. It has a blue label, but so does the soy version, so be careful. We can't use the soy. It comes in a powder or a ready-to-feed option. Either one is fine. We have been able to find it at grocery stores, Babies R Us and Target (we cleaned out the Target at 106th and Michigan, so don't bother with that one for a few days).

And if you help, you may even get your picture with all 3 babies, like the one above :-)

Thanks everyone, we really appreciate all you do!!

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.

Three's a charm

Brandon came home today! He is not quite 5 lbs yet, but he should hit that mark in the next week. We have a bunch of doc's appointments in the next couple of weeks -- follow ups, developmental checks, pediatrician, ophthalmologist, etc. -- so we're definitely keeping busy. As if just having 3 kids at home wasn't enough, we have to take them places too!

Here are a few pics, I'm sure there will be more to come!

Mom getting Brandon all strapped in.

Ready for the car!

Welcome to the living room, Mr. Brandon.

Nana Bonnie (Brandon), Mom (Lila) and Grandmom Deb (Alex)... with the 1-month birthday cake in the foreground.

Dad (Brandon), GrandpaDave (Brandon) and Grandmom Deb (Lila).

GrandpaDave becomes only the second person to master the simultaneous triplet hold.

We love our new play mat!

Annie Leibovitz ain't got nothin' on Dad.

Home, sweet home.

Record video turnaround

I fast-tracked some of today's footage so that I could post this clip ASAP. It's actually been a fairly quiet evening. Let's hope that continues!

2 down, 1 to go

Alex is home! Unfortunately he did not get discharged as early in the day as Lila did, so we just got home at about 4:15. But we're here now, and everyone seems to be doing well. We're really glad he's home. All we have to do now is get Brandon here, and then the semi-controlled chaos can really begin. It's their world, we'll just be living in it! It's time for our first dual feeding, so I'd better go. Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

Daddy's getting me all strapped in.

I'm excited. Really, I am. No, seriously, I'm just giddy with anticipation.

Mommy's going to keep an eye on me, lest I try to hop up front and wrest control of the car from Daddy.

(In my best Stewie voice) -- I order you to carry me inside! Yes, that's right, you are under my control. Victory is mine!

Hey, I remember you...

So, like, what's the deal with this place? Food any good? Do they have Wii?

I agree, let's just pretend the Star Wars prequels never happened. On another topic, I was stuck in the NICU last night. What happened on Lost?

This entire stack of envelopes came from Anthem. Today. By the way, doesn't Abby look great?

Lunchtime update

First of all, thank you to everyone for all the well wishes on bringing little Miss Lila home. We appreciate all the posts, e-mails, texts, calls, etc. Speaking of communiques, did I tell you that my friend Justin actually sent me a telegram after I pleaded for one a couple of weeks ago? Dude, you are the man! Turns out Western Union stopped delivering them 3 years ago (ending 155 years of continuous service), so he found a way to send one via an Australian company. Now that's commitment.

As for Lila, she is doing great. She's been taking nearly 2 oz. at each feeding (every 3 hours). We estimate that she must be close to 5 lbs. at this point. She has her first doc's appt. this coming Friday, so we'll find out for sure. By and large, she sleeps soundly between each feeding. The first night, Abby took the 2 a.m., I took the 5 a.m. and Grandmom Deb took the 8 a.m. Last night, Abby and I switched it up (although I was too tired to actually stay up until 2; I crashed for 90 minutes first) and Grandmom Deb kept the 8 a.m. slot.

Mr. Alex is nearly 5 lbs. and has been out of his isolette for 2 days now. However, a few times a day, his monitors indicate that his heart rate exceeds what they like to see (the max being 200 BPM, give or take). This is known as tachycardia, if you're keeping track at home. The docs are not super concerned about it, thinking that it might correlate to when he's being "bothered" (e.g., changed, having his temp taken, etc.) -- but they want to hang on to him a little longer. Today they defined this as 1-3 more days. The bottom line is that Alex is right on track -- in reality, Lila was simply ahead of the curve, even for preemie girls.

Mr. Brandon has been gaining weight as well and now weighs just a little less than Mr. Alex. But he's moved back into his isolette as he was just too cold in the open crib, even all bundled up. Again, this is not something that's of great concern -- it just goes along with being a preemie. As of today, the docs estimate that he might be released this coming weekend, provided his weight gain continues and they can get his temp under control.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print. Er, type. We're enjoying having Lila home. We're calling it our transitional period!