Three baby car seats sit underneath the kitchen counter in Pam and Lee Wolbeck’s rural Sauk Centre home. Across the room three highchairs line the south wall. On Monday, March 8, Adam, Evan and Ryan Wolbeck sat in these highchairs as they dug into cupcakes that each held one candle. It’s the day these triplets turned one year old, and big brothers Zachary, 10; and Mitchell, 6; watched in delight. “Mitchell had a countdown until they were one,” said Pam. The past year has had its ups and downs; thankfully more ups than downs, according to Pam and Lee. “You will make sacrifices and re-prioritize your life, but you won’t regret it,” said Pam early Tuesday morning as she watches Lee holding Adam, while Evan and Ryan crawl around on the livingroom floor. Crawling is a new venture for Ryan, while the other two have started walking around furniture. “He (Ryan) can’t quite figure that out yet,” said Pam grinning from ear to ear. Besides that at 25 pounds Ryan’s got a little more body to pull around, compared to Adam weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces and Evan at 20 pounds. Watching them grow and do things has been one of the many rewards the Wolbecks have been subject to in the past year. “Most people say ‘I can’t imagine.’ We would not have ever imagined this either, but the rewards are endless and we’re only one year into it,” said Pam and Lee. “We know the 'ride’ has just begun.” One year ago That ‘ride’ started on March 8, 2003, when the triplets were born 11 1/2 weeks premature; Adam at 7:45 p.m. weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces; Evan sat 7:48 p.m. weighing 2 pounds, 13 ounces and Ryan at 7:49 p.m., weighing 3 pounds, 2 ounces. They came home on May 9, each weighing close to 5 pounds. All three were on separate apnea monitors which monitored their hearts and breathing. Unlike in the hospital when they shared the same bed, at home they each had their own crib because of the apnea monitors. Lee and Pam and family members were trained in infant CPR because there was a possibility of a monitor going off alerting them that their heart or respirations were high, low or not recording. “We could not leave the babies with anyone who had not also been trained in infant CPR and the usage of the apnea monitors,” said Pam. Feedings were every three hours those first weeks at home. That meant sometimes only an hour or less in between feedings—24 hours a day. Then sometimes in-between the monitors would go off and would require one or both of them to get up and check on the boys. “Sleep deprivation was one of the major challenges,” said Lee, “but we were so happy to be home and not driving to Minneapolis every day to see them.” Close to the four-month mark, Adam, Evan and Ryan were taken off the apnea monitors.“They also started sleeping more hours at a time during the night, sometimes even all night at that point,” said Lee. Getting more sleep made the daily routine easier. As each baby boy grew, they became stronger. “It was reassuring to know that if they did get sick, they were not as fragile as when they first came home and would hopefully be able to fight it off without hospitalization,” said Pam. Doctors' visits were more frequent those first months as their growth was tracked. Medical staff also kept an eye on their heart murmurs, eye prematurity and apnea activity. “At six months of age we received great news. The heart murmurs were gone and their eyes had all reached the normal level and showed no prematurity,” said Pam. They have had their normal baby checkups and immunizations with a pediatrician and there have been no concerns. They have each had some of the normal "bugs" this winter and have responded well to medications given orally or with a nebulizer. Each month, since October, they have each received a Synagis shot to prevent RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), with their last shot scheduled for early April. RSV to a premature baby is potentially deadly and would almost certainly have required hospitalization. They also have a 12-month appointment with a neonatologist to follow-up on their growth and development. Baby, times three When people ask what it’s like raising triplets Pam and Lee say “it’s like an assembly line.” “You give one a bath, you have two to go. You feed one, then the next, then the next, and hope that they are patient about taking turns,” said Pam. When they buy diapers and formula, they buy three times the amount you’d buy for one baby. In one-week's time they go through about 90 diapers, 105 bottles, 35 jars of baby food and one large box of baby cereal. “It’s pretty much three times everything. Instead of one teething toddler, we have three teething toddlers. And on the positive side, instead of one smile, we have three, plus the older two, that’s five,” said Pam. The worst days have been when they were sick. For the most part it has been the common baby illnesses such as colds, ear infections, etc. “That's when our incredible support system of our wonderful parents, Jerome and Phyllis Messer and LeRoy and Irene Wolbeck, and our families, who have always been willing to help us out, come in,” said Pam and Lee. “Our moms have been like angels to us. They’ve been here on good days and not so good days, helping with the babies, the laundry, the meals, our older boys or whatever we needed at the time. Without all of everyone's help, encouragement and prayers, we wouldn’t be where we are today with these three.” Pam and Lee are firm believers in the saying by Mother Teresa, "God does not give you more than you can handle. I just sometimes wish He didn’t trust me so much." She thinks of conversations with other mothers she has had. “I remember talking to Fern Meyer in the grocery store shortly after the babies came home. She said that when her children were small and her husband was gone a lot working, she would get stressed and she would pray to Mother Mary and ask her to help her. And she also said, ‘I figure, she’s a Mother, she understands,’” said Pam. The Wolbecks have learned to take life one day at a time which enables them to enjoy what’s new that day. “When that’s too much we’ve taken it one hour at a time,” said Pam and Lee. They admit “sometimes it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the stress or hectic life-style of raising multiples plus two other children. Like with Zachary and Mitchell, they cherish the times when Adam, Evan and Ryan smiled for the first time, rolled over and crawled. “Only this time it’s times three, and we wonder which one will be first and fastest,” said Lee. They are amazed how the baby brothers interact with each other. “From the very first days at home they would squirm closer to each other, when on a blanket, until they were touching each other. They would make little noises in their sleep as if they were checking to see if they were all in the room,” said Pam. “Now they’ve gone from those sweet little noises to smiling and giggling at each other, crawling after each other and touching each other. It is the neatest thing to watch them.” The Wolbecks feel fortunate that they were able to continue to have Maria Rieland as their day care provider so Pam could return to work at Independent Community Bankers of America and Lee at Bayer Built. They hired a full-time helper to assist Maria. “Maria is another one of ‘our angels.’” said Pam. Family life Balloons with birthday written on it floated to the ceiling early Tuesday, March 9. Zachary and Mitchell brought each one down and explained which one was given to which brother the day before during the birthday celebration. Pam smiles as she remembers an often made comment by their older sons that “they never thought they’d have three more little brothers.” Lee and Pam are trying hard to maintain some normalcy in their lives while taking into consideration that Zachary and Mitchell have been forced to divide their time with them. It’s taking a team approach to make it work. “When we all pitch in, we can get a lot done,” said Pam and Lee. Pam said Mitchell is the most playful with the babies. “He loves to get right down on the floor and roll around with them. They really respond to him,” said Pam. Zachary helps with their baths and feeding them and has also been a big help with chores around the house. “Both help keep ‘tabs on them,’ now that they are all three crawling,” said Pam, adding the big brothers love their baby brothers. And when Adam, Evan or Ryan “jabbers” something new, Zachary and Mitchell get so excited. “They are excited to play outside with them this summer and talk about how much fun it will be when they can play baseball with them,” said Lee. “They will probably put them all in their wagon and pull them around the yard this summer.” They are already making plans this summer for camping trips. “So we’re in search of a screen tent with a floor in it so we can take them with and keep them out of the sun and bugs,” said Lee. "Peace and quiet--that's something that rarely happens these days in the Wolbeck household. Pam and Lee have been able to get away for a few hours, here and there, thanks again to their support system. “We’ve definitely learned to appreciate a few hours. Even one hour is great,” said Pam. She and Lee have learned to keep their relationship and communication going by taking care of each other so they can care for their children. “Be strong, in every sense of the word, and keep a sense of humor. Be willing to make sacrifices for your babies’ well being,” said Pam offering tidbits on raising multiples. "Be willing to stay home often when invited out to avoid exposure to crowds and possible illnesses." “And trade your car for a van; you’ll need it," she added. Unique personalities Pam and Lee are quick to point out all three one-year-olds are “individual little people." Adam and Even are considered identical. They can see some of Mitchell in Adam and Evan who have blue eyes, while Ryan has dark brown eyes and resembles Zachary. “Adam is very active, very determined. He has a spark in his beautiful blue eyes,” said Pam. “They say it is very common for the smallest of a set of multiples to be the achiever because they have had to fight the hardest for survival. That’s Adam.” “Evan has the most ‘attitude’ at times. He’s also very active, but usually second to do things. He’s very loving. He crawls across the kitchen chanting ‘mum mum mum,’” said Pam. “Ryan is a teddy bear. He loves to be held and has a very serious studying personality until he warms up to someone new in the room,” said Pam. “Ryan is content with watching his brothers learn the hard way as they both learned to crawl several weeks before him.” On Tuesday morning Ryan tackled standing by an end table before landing on his behind where he was content to stay put. Nearby, Adam played with a new birthday toy. That is, until it was time for their dad to place them in their car seats for the ride to the baby sitters. Meanwhile, Zachary and Mitchell finished saying their morning prayers as they head out the door on their way to the bus. A few minutes later Evan, sitting on a changing table in his bedroom, watches through the window as the bus drives down the road with his older brothers inside. It’s a bedroom with three cribs, each with a homemade quilt flipped over the foot-end, baring the names Adam, Evan and Ryan in a teddy bear. Above the head-end of each crib hangs a cross for each of these “gifts from God.” “These babies are three little miracles. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves how far we’ve come by looking at pictures from one year ago and seeing how tiny and fragile they were,” said Pam and Lee. “We would not want to relive this year, but wouldn’t give them up for anything.” “Children are such a precious gift.”
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, May 28, 2006
Article comment by:
ThomasP. Luker
My fiance and I found out that we are frat.triplets just 3 days ago! I am trying to read all the material that i can find on the interent. I was wondering if you had any additional sites or articles on the subject of triplets.
