Random musings on technology

Today as I watched Michelle get prodded and pushed on with the ultrasound wand for 45+ minutes just to get three heart rates my gratitude for the stellar ultrasound machines at Danville grew and grew. I'm also thankful for the mad skills of the MFM ultrasound techs who manage to get all the necessary anatomical measurements to let us know how big our babies are. As usual the tricky one to get is baby B, aka Ninja baby, because she is so deep in Michelle's belly and hides behind her siblings.  Having gotten to 'see' our babies so many times throughout this pregnancy, I can't quite imagine having triplets sans technology...

Of course, technology can also be maddening like it was for us last night trying to get the pictures formatted for the blog! Sometimes it seems like such simple things are ridiculously challenging and that's when I get so frustrated. While last night I wanted to throw in the towel, really, I do love this blog and being able to share our experiences with our friends and family. I also think it is pretty cool that when they get older our kiddos will be able to read this too. And like we said when we started this blog, it's been really nice to read other triplet blogs as we go along, so it's kind of cool to think about other triplet moms-to-be reading our blog when they're up in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.

Our frustration with the blog last night was exacerbated by difficulty getting our fancy baby camera to work remotely. This foscam camera was like our one little 'baby splurge' because it lets us pan and zoom from our phones so we can see all three babies in their cribs. But we can't get it to work outside of our wireless network. If any of our readers have experience with port forwarding or are good at network set up, we would love a consult to see if we can get this to work!  I would love to be able to peek in on the babies napping when I go back to work and would also like to be able to use this when I'm out in the yard or garage where our wireless signal doesn't reach.

I think it will be a constant parenting challenge to figure out the 'just right' balance when it comes to the role of technology in our lives.  I know that Michelle and I sometimes get to sucked into our phones or computers and have to check ourselves so I'm sure it won't be any different for our kiddos. There are lots of cool tech things out there for kids, but we're planning to be very intentional about our kiddos' use of technology. And when I say technology, in reference to kids, I'm not just talking iPads and apps, because so many kids toys now have so many bells and whistles that it is overwhelming. I'm not saying our kids won't have any toys with lights and sound, but it will definitely be minimal. (Grandmas, aunts, & uncles to be...take note! Traditional, no tech toys for birthdays & Xmas please!) I'm also not saying they won't ever play on our phones or iPad, but that will mostly be reserved for rewards and other special times. Do I think it will be tempting to over use technology? Yep! Do I think we will occasionally cave to preserve our sanity? Yup, I'm sure we will! 

A couple of non-tech related thoughts now that the OB appointment is over! Quick update...they want Michelle to go for twice weekly non-stress tests as part of routine care for multiples. This meeting will now have three regular appointments every week!! And although these are supposed to be quick, like 20 minutes, we know that is really never the case because it's hard to find all the babies and get them all to stay on the monitor for the right amount of time. So that's not no fun, and not really a productive way to spend our time, but I guess we need to do it just in case...