When you are expecting a baby, you get a lot of advice from people. Mother's want to share their experiences. Grandmother's want to tell you how it was back in the day. All this advice can be overwhelming. It can also border on annoying. Carrie and I do our best to grin and say thank you. We hear a lot of stories about babies, multiples, and triplets. Here are a few quotes and how we would LIKE to respond. We don't. We contain ourselves.....most of the time.
Quote: You two are going to have your hands full!
Response: Really! That hadn't occurred to us. We thought since there are three of them, they could just change each others diapers and they would figure out how to feed themselves. You might be right. We better rethink this.
Quote: That's a lot of diapers!
Response: Not going to use them. We are going to suspend them in a tub full of water up to their necks and wash it out twice a day. They may look like prunes, but hey, we'll be saving money!
Quote: Is Carrie eating well? She really needs to concentrate on her nutrition.
Response: Not at all. Just Twinkies and Dr. Pepper for her. She also smokes a lot. It hadn't occurred to us that she should be eating for four. Thanks! We'll look into that.
Quote: I'd kill myself.
Response: That's probably a good idea. You have that face and we just have triplets. The triplets will grow up and be on their own. You will STILL have that face.
Quote: You aren't going to sleep much.
Response: Why not? We plan on just shutting the door when they start screaming. They can work it out on their own. I don't plan on missing much sleep because of this.
Quote: Those babies are going to need to eat.
Response: Wow. Hadn't thought of that one. Better get a job. Are you hiring? Know anyone who is?
Quote: Your life is going to change.
Response: Why should three infants change our lives? Should be business as usual around the house. Thanks for the warning. I'll write it down. "Life is going to change" Check.
Quote: You may want to ask your Doctor, but when I was pregnant......
Response: Doctor? You need a Doctor for this? We should have thought of asking our Doctor questions. We'll get a Doctor ASAP!
Quote: Have you thought about the delivery?
Response: Nope. Not at all. I guess that will happen. Maybe I should watch a C-Section on You Tube. Hey, I got it, I could talk to our Doctor when we get one.
Quote: I have friend that had twins. You should talk to them.
Response: Thank You! It had not occurred to us to talk to other people that have had multiples. That's a great idea. We can probably get some useful information there or some free stuff! Sweet.
Quote: Were you on fertility drugs?
Response: We were both so drunk it's hard to remember. We had done a LOT of drugs, but I can't remember if we popped any fertility drugs.
Quote: Do triplets run in your family?
Response: They usually crawl first, then walk, after that they run.
We realize that most people are just being helpful, and just want to throw in their two cents. It's funny to us, because we hear the same things over and over, and we realize that people don't realize that. We also realize that if this wouldn't have happened to us, we would be saying the same things to anyone else going through triplet terror. We laugh a lot. We are going to have to get used to the fact that the three of them are going to attract lots of attention. I just feel sorry for the first person who tries to touch them or say something rude. They are going to get Carrie's hand upside their head.
10 comments:
You ain't seen nuthin' yet - wait until you try to step outside the house with the babies in a huge honkin' stroller, or try to go grocery shopping, or Costco (an AMOM favorite for traffic stopping comments) ! That is when the real fun begins, and it will test even your fantastic sense of humor!
I love your response to the fertility drugs.
And there are always grandparents for them to stay with for a couple days or years.
I've never commented on a blog before! I didn't know what to do in the 'Comment as' section. Just wanted to say that this blog is great. It makes me laugh and cry. And I'm running into the unsolicited advice thing also. People keep talking to me about sleep. Things like, "enjoy it while you can", and when I have trouble sleeping at night, "it's practice for the rest of your life". Your responses are much nicer than the ones that pop into my head. Love you guys and hope to see you soon!
Wait till you get "are they all yours?" no.. i just like to take care of random babies, want one?
Shopping with multiple are a lot of fun, my wife could not understand why it bothers me to have people asking are they twins ? once I answered nope we are polygame thanks god both of my wifes got pregnant at the same time ... but yes it gets anying to some extent ... once in a while someone figure it out thought ... but the killer so far have been thanks god we have not been stupid enought to have twins ... made my wife happy that day
I can't go anywhere with my 3 boys without someone saying to me "boy, you sure do have your hands full", and mine aren't even triplets. It mostly happens in the grocery store. I feel like saying "no shit, Sherlock". I can't even imagine what it will be like when you guys take the three of them out in public. I think poor Carrie's patience will be tried :) I think I will get her a taser for a baby shower gift so she can keep all the crazy people at bay.
Staci Byers
Another AMOMer here, love your blog! The attention can get annoying, and then you start to expect it, and then it seems to mellow out. And you start thinking..."wait, some of that attention was fun"..people doting over your precious babies, who doesn't want that! LOL! Just keep smiling. My response to "you have your hands full" has become "yes, but my heart is so much fuller than my hands", with a big smile on my face. They usually don't know what to say to that. The shock of having multiples never wore off while I was pregnant. Even at the end when I was hooked up to monitors for nonstress tests I kept looking at the monitor and thinking "that's two heartbeats, there's two babies..." Love hearing dad's perspective. Your household will be so fun with your sense of humor!
LOVE this blog!
We still get (12 years later) "Where's Charlotte?"...We go bug-eyed and yell "OMIGOD, she's on the roof of the car!!! Thank God you said something..."
Ah this blog brings back memories for me. The funniest questions we got was 'Are you sure they're not identical?'. Pretty sure, ya.
When people asked 'Were they natural?' my response was always 'Nope, by c-section'. You know the person's being really nosey if they reply with 'No, what I meant was...'.
And the most common comment was 'I'm so glad I'm not you' (mostly from men).
The craziest thing that was ever said to me was at the grocery store. A lady walked up to me and, in front of my two year old identical twins, asked me which one was my favorite. I couldn't help myself, I said, "Well, to tell you the truth, I'm really not able to tell them apart yet, so who knows!" The look on her face was PRICELESS!!! :)
Steph Bogenhagen
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