Hello Everyone! I am new to the forum and have enjoyed reading your posts and replies and have found many to be quite helpful. I started bedrest Dec 20th and if it weren't for this laptop, I would be crazy by now!

My question is this: Everyone has told us we will need a LOT of help once the babies have arrived. We have family in the area that will provide around the clock help for a month or so, but after that, I'm not sure what we should be looking at. I don't think we want live in help, such as an Au Pair. Did anyone have success with nannies, nurses, etc. I'm really not sure where to start...

Thanks a bunch!

Christine K
Trips EDD 5/8/04

Christine K
3/25/04 Birthday (34 weeks)
Maris Elaine
Lillian Rae
William Ellis (Wilson)

Wow! I just logged on to ask almost an identical question! I, like Christine do have a lot of family and friends around to help, but also plan on hiring someone, for the first few months, mostly at nite.

I hope to hire a nite nurse for the first while, though in my area they run approx. $28.00/ hour, minimum 8 hours. Then I was thinking about hiring someone to help out from 3 pm - 10 pm (not sure if this person exists).

I'd love to hear peoples experiences, what worked, what didn't.

I heard from 2 separate sources that some social welfare agencies will help pay for help to people having triplets or more, but have been unable to get any concrete information on this.

Thanks from me too!

Jami

mom to fairy-girl & spontaneous b/g/g triplets born at 36 weeks.

Christine,
My question is who is "everyone" who says you will need a LOT of help? My guess is that it's people who have never taken care of three babies before. Lots of us have taken care of our babies with no help. I never considered getting help as I really wanted to take care of my babies (and my 7 year old at the time) by myself. From what I've read from other people's experiences, it really boils down to what type personality you have. If you are organized and like to do things on your own, then you will probably do quite well on your own. Don't let anyone tell you that your babies won't get enough attention if you don't have help. My babies just had my husband (when he was home from work) and me, and they were happy, content, well-loved babies. I devoted myself to them all their waking hours, and they were not neglected. In the end, it will be what you are comfortable with. I just want you to know that it is doable without hired or volunteer help.

Good luck and congratulations!

LCN
21 year old college senior
14 year old bbg triplets--teenagers!

Ditto!

Rochelle, mom to
Raven 2/26/02
Jackson, Alexandra, Savannah 2/14/03

Hi Christine and congrats on your pregnancy. Sorry about the bedrest, but you WILL get through it. I was "down" for three months and while it seemed to go by slowly at the time, it was definitely worth it.

We are very lucky like you and have family in town. My DH stayed home for the first two or so weeks after the babies were born and then went back to work. My mom and dad helped out pretty much every day, and it was a godsend to me. I am positive I could have done it alone if necessary, but the help was wonderful (most of the time - LOL!!) We also indulged and had a night nurse. We had her come 7 nights a week for the first four weeks and then 4 nights a week until they were 10 1/2 weeks old. It was very expensive, but we were able to pretty much sleep through the night (I did get up once per night to pump), and we were so well-rested during the day to take care of the babies. If you are able to swing a night nurse for any period of time, it does help you get some much needed rest. I found mine through our local multiples group, so you could start there for some names. You definitely want someone with experience with multiples!! You also want to try to find someone whose philosophy is to get the babies sleeping through the night as quickly as possible versus prolonging her job as long as possible, so that should be a question you ask when you're interviewing.

Good luck!

Susan
b/g/b born 1/7/03 at 34w6d

Susan
b/g/b born 1/7/03

Hi and good luck with the bedrest, try to enjoy it because its the last good rest you'll ever have, trust me! LOL

Okay, everyone told me too that we would need tons of help, ofcourse they didn't have triplets and they arent' like me, I have loved every minute of taking care of my three! Yes the first 2-3 months with little sleep is hard, don't get me wrong, but you'll get used to it and just know that its only temporary, you will sleep again!

My babies now sleep thru the nite, started at 3 months and I have friends with singletons older than mine who still eat at nite! Really it depends on your babies.

Don't get hung up on getting paid help, I have family that was coming over during the day for awhile but to be honest I was handling it all pretty well alone, it was nice to have my mom come over to hold the babies and feed one or two to give me a small break...I would rec. having family come over to help you with what you need to do, like grocery shopping, dishes etc... maybe to get a nap in during the day, I did that a couple times. As long as you can handle stressful situations okay, you'll be fine, it can get stressful if all 3 are crying to eat, or are bored, etc... but you'll learn how to handle that and do just great! I now truly believe God has chosen special moms and dads to be parents of triplets! Good luck!

Carol, Mom to Rex, Owen & Macy, 4 months old!

I am one of those that simply could not have taken care of my babies myself. It was a grueling first six months and I had a nanny that worked from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am five nights a week. She saved me. Even with the kids born at 35 weeks and on a three hour schedule I was always exhausted. It was much more difficult than I ever imagined and I so enjoyed all of the help that I received. Our family helped us out during the day (everyday) with all of the many tasks of running a large household. To this day, I have a nanny/housekeeper six hours a day to help with my children and I love her. It can really be a good thing to have help, but most of these wonderful moms have done it completely alone and I so admire them. I am just in awe and so impressed. I do think it is completely doable but you asked if anyone has had any success with nannies and I would say that I have been beyond successful---I am blessed!!!
Theresa
mom to Amelia-8yrs
Katherine- 6yrs
Sam, Jane, & Sarah- 5/26/01

Theresa
DD-9
DD-7
GBG- 3.5

christine- i found locating help extremely difficult. in the end i relied on family and friends more than paid help. at about week three i did have a night nanny come for a week because my hubbie had left and it was jsut my mom and i. it was good but i couldn't afford it for long- she was a live in temporary nanny. what would have been perfect though - at least it thought this at the time- was a night nanny about every other or every third night. this way you have at least two or three good nights of sleep per week and that is enough to function. i moved when my babies were one month old but for the fist month my church and friends had a rather causual schedule of helping during feedings. once i had a feeding schedule that is. i even had a couple of night owls who would come for the late night feeding. if you have the money and can swing a night nurse- give it a try. i would not contract for more than a few weeks at a time in case it doesn't work out or you want a different situation. good luck on your search. i spent hours hunting inthe northern va/dc area but didn't really come up with anything feasible for our budget or my needs. take care. terri

terri
mom to ian,wes,amelia (09/02)
leslie 12 years
micaela 9 years

Thank you for ALL of your responses so far! Terri, I too am from the Northern VA area. Perhaps that's the reason I am hearing how much I will need help. (It's so fast paced here and people are easily overwhelmed). I am pretty self-sufficient and even have a hard time asking for help when I'm on bedrest. I'm sure it won't change too much when the babies have arrived. These are our first children, so we have nothing else to compare this to and will be learning everything as we go! Thanks again!

Christine K
Trips EDD 5/8/04

Christine K
3/25/04 Birthday (34 weeks)
Maris Elaine
Lillian Rae
William Ellis (Wilson)

Christine!
Good luck on bedrest. I too was addicted to my computer!

It is good to think about help now while you have the time. After all the family goes home, it is nice to have some help.

We have an au pair and it is going quite well. There are probably nanny agencies, but you pay fees. You could also advertise at local colleges and get a college student, skipping the fee. The au pair route seemed to be a cheaper route for the hours than the nanny though. This is why we chose that option.

Best of luck!!! Kari and Erik

The way we have been able to work our schedules we only have a sitter one day a week. Everything else is done by DW and myself. Sure, it can be tough but we have handled it fine so far (going on 6mos). The key is if you work well together. Give eachother breaks. One person gets up at night for each feed, alternating so the other gets a decent stretch of sleep.

No time for slackers, lol.

M and K
Parents of "The Boys"
Dave,Eric and Sean
Born 07/15/03 at 32w4d