Tag Archives: tahoe triplets

February 4, 2016 · 5:19 pm

Just Like That!

Everyone says your kids childhood will go by fast. It has, but fast is inevitable when your birthday is in months. But amazingly, I looked at the date today and realized I’m only 37 days away from my breastfeeding goal of 1 year. WOW!

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These guys are just over a week away from 11 months old!

I’m very goal-oriented. I used to keep track of all my ski days with my goal being to ski at least 100 days a year for 5 years. When I accomplished that, I got a bit more lax about my records and, during my 7th season in Tahoe, Scout ate a few seasons of my ski journal and I just stopped keeping track. I only skied 11 days last year due to the triplet pregnancy… but rebranding myself as a skier mom made me curious about how parenthood impacts my days on the hill. This season, I’ve adopted the motto “quality over quantity.” A lot of long time skiers or ski professionals have this motto. In the past, I was sure I wasn’t a good enough skier to be selective about the days I skied. I needed 10,000 hours to master this sport and was far from it having grown up in the flat lands! There’s no time to relentlessly improve my skiing, only time to have fun in the mountains and, if I think about it, it is still a luxury I’m fortunate to have.

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Yeah, I’m thinking this will be a high quality run.

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Another one of the quality days I had this year. Photo by Matt Bansak

Thanks to the Vail Resort Epic Mix app, I was able to figure out how many resort days I had this year: 32 days split between Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Breckenridge. Next up, I had to figure out my backcountry days – I went through my phone and had usually taken a photo so I noted all these dates. Then I tried to rack my baby brain for when I had not taken photos – too cold, windy, alone, etc – I counted 13 backcountry days. So 45 ski days this year as a mom of infant triplets – not too shabby! Of course, I couldn’t have done this without my amazing husband, my own mom, my in laws, my forever Swedish friend, and our new au pair! It takes a village – and I’m not talking about a cookie cutter ski village!

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New years day and some of the best turns I’ve ever had!

Who knows, maybe I’ll get 100 ski days in this year!

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When your kids spend Christmas at the ski resort, you could say you’re pretty dedicated to skiing!

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Outdoor lovers already, next up walking, then skiing!

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July 12, 2015 · 12:13 pm

The New Normal

Four months in and having triplets is starting to feel normal. I’m starting to look like myself again. The remnants of a multiple pregnancy are clearing up and I only have 5 lbs left to lose. I credit my attempt to provide breast milk for three babies with the weight coming off quickly. The sight of my stomach guarantees I’ll be in a one piece this summer, but I’m hopeful that goes back to “normal” too someday.

Trip to the Carson Valley Swim Center with the crew!

Trip to the Carson Valley Swim Center with the crew!

The boys are doing great. They get more fun everyday. We’ve completed two trips with them. One “practice trip” to the Eastern Sierra over Memorial Day weekend where I got to ski! And one longer trip just a week ago to Hood River, Oregon for a wedding. They are good travelers so far, but the logistics are exhausting. It forces me to slow down a bit and try to do just one thing a day. At the end of the day, I feel the energy has been sucked from me because if breast milk is energy, it literally has been.

Triplets at the top of Mammoth Mountain

Triplets at the top of Mammoth Mountain

At the Watchman's Tower at Crater Lake

At the Watchman’s Tower at Crater Lake

Declan and his dad in Hood River

Declan and his dad in Hood River

Now that I’m back to work, I have much less time for recreational pursuits. While on leave, I was running, riding bikes, or swimming at least 4 times a week. Now I’m lucky if I get in one bike ride in a month. I’m considering selling my Santa Cruz Bronson because most days I’d rather hang out with the boys anyway (or catch up on some sleep)! My new go to work out is “housewife hill” or the Old Meyers Grade. Pushing 2 out of 3 triplets up that thing is a legitimate work out. A friend pushes the odd triplet out and we spend time catching up. Yep, I’m a total mom.

Top of Meyers Grade with our favorite walking buddy

Top of Meyers Grade with our favorite walking buddy

A few days ago, around 10 pm, I came to the realization that I’ve never tried so hard at something in my life as I’ve tried to be a great mom, which is saying a lot, because I’ve done quite a few really hard things! Luckily, many have helped prepare me for this ultimate challenge.

How could you not give 110% for these guys?

How could you not give 110% for these guys?

To keep up on the triplets, follow @tahoetriplets on Instagram. I really want to get on the Ellen Show! Let me know if you can help make that happen!

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April 13, 2015 · 7:30 pm

The First Month!

Cormac, Declan, and Beacan, aka the Tahoe triplets, were born in that order on March 12th via scheduled Cesarean. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty scared of this surgery in the weeks leading up to it. I actually read 2 books on C-sections which may or may not have helped. But the morning of the delivery, I was strangely calm, I mean, these babies had to come out some way! And come out they did! In a bright white room of 20 nurses and doctors, the boys were born one by one, each screaming and peeing on the doctor that delivered them. As they called out their identifier – Baby A – 5 lbs 13 oz, Baby B – 5 lbs 13 oz, and Baby C – 5 lbs 1 oz, I was elated to find out they were all above 5 lbs! The glimpses I caught of them proved that they looked awesome! Normal looking healthy babies! Yep, love at first sight. If you knew me before all this, that was a huge relief… not being “a baby person” I wasn’t really sure I’d like them. Yep, I was obsessed with them in 5 seconds.

This picture of Baby A is hilarious. He looks like Simba from the Lion King.


Here they are! The Tahoe Triplets, just 20 min after birth!


They were all healthy and so they only spent a brief time in the NICU – by 11:30 that morning, it was game on! We were now responsible for 3 tiny humans. I was still in bed and not allowed to move according to the nurses, but I felt fine and kept pushing to get up and move to speed up recovery… learned that in a book! They didn’t let me sit up until that afternoon, but as soon as they gave me the go ahead, I was moving around and taking care of babies. I knew I had a job to do!

The first days of life are so dramatic for these guys as they were poked and prodded a number of times, but on March 15, we got the green light to go home and after 28 days in the hospital, we loaded up in the minivan and headed home to Lake Tahoe. It was a liberating feeling, despite the fact that I now have 3 sons to care for for the next 18+ years.

Because these guys are multiples, it is critical to have them on a schedule. Our night nurse at St. Mary’s helped us with that and we came home on a 3 hr eating schedule. We were supplementing at the hospital with donor breast milk and this was one of the main reasons I was scared to leave, however, right before we left, a woman from the Reno twin club gave us a cooler full of frozen breast milk. It was a huge relief!

Breast milk – it’s kind of all I think about right now. In fact, as I write this, I am pumping, 1 of the 5+ hrs I spend per day doing that. I’m literally a human dairy farm. Providing solely breast milk for them has become an obsession for me. I can’t stop trying. It’s really the new skiing in my life. I spend the day eating oatmeal, taking fenugreek, and drinking mother’s milk tea and gatorade. I chug protein shakes in the middle of the night. I’m 100 percent dedicated and trying to not get discouraged. My success now comes in ounces. Yeah, what happened to Meghan Kelly Teles… maybe this should be renamed Meghan Kelly Pumps.

Clockwise starting at 12 – Beacan, Cormac, Declan. Just about 8 days old


The boys are great and thriving though. They’re up to 7 lbs. We can tell them apart, but we did paint a toenail just in case we mixed them up. They have distinct cries and behaviors. Two of them have already rolled over. I’m still totally in love with them.

1 month old!

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March 5, 2015 · 4:05 pm

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I’ve been living at the hospital for 16 days. I wonder if it’s harder to live at the hospital as a sick person or a completely healthy, albeit overly pregnant, person. I’ve had daily visitors and sometimes it’s felt like a party. It’s a different way to live, that’s for sure. We do things like play Scrabble and complete puzzles. I’ve learned 3 songs on the ukulele. Yesterday a kind nurse escorted my mom and I outside because of hospital policy and told us about the pool on the campus across the street. We stopped in and found out that there is a special program for preggos with a doctor’s note – $5 for water exercise. I was in… especially if I could swim laps. So we went to work and got a note from my doctor and all I needed was my swimming stuff which another friend kindly dropped off. Then… the supervisor rained on everyone’s parade. Even the nurses were sad. She said it was against hospital policy for me to go. Wah wah.

I've come a long way since getting here... they used to only let me leave in a wheelchair! Pushed here by another pregnant woman.

I’ve come a long way since getting here… they used to only let me leave in a wheelchair! Pushed here by another pregnant woman.


Not to be discouraged, I decided to try on my maternity swimsuit (which is now a very suspect fit) and do a little experiment. I like to refer to it as “hospital adventures.” So I walked over there (illegally) and gave them my doctor’s note and they said only the class is $5, not lap swim and classes were already over for the day. PLAN FOILED! But it was still an adventure and broke up the day. There’s always tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next edition of “hospital adventures.”
Another type of "hospital adventures" - walks around the floor and coming up with funny captions.

Another type of “hospital adventures” – walks around the floor and coming up with funny captions.


So, what is the plan? Well, I’m on the schedule for one week from today if all continues to go well. That would be 36 weeks along plus 1 or 2 days depending on who you talk to. I’m trying to enjoy the quiet as I’m about to be overstimulated for the next 15 years at least.

Lastly, I want to thank a bunch of people. My husband for taking care of everything at home and bringing me all the things I need at the hospital. My mom for flying out here to keep me company and staying for a while to help with the triplets. My friends who have taken care of Scout the puppy. And all my amazing visitors who have taken my mind off living in the hospital by accompanying me on walks, playing games, bringing me healthy and delicious food, and just making a lot of funny jokes. THANK YOU!

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March 3, 2015 · 12:26 pm

No, I Live Here

“Are you checking in?” a Labor and Delivery employee I haven’t met asks me. “No, I live here.” I’ve been “living” at the hospital for two weeks now. Nothing has really changed, except that it has become my new normal and I’ve accepted the situation. My daily highlights include any visitors, showering, and my daily jaunt outside. I had to fight hard for daily outside time, but I won. It’s the little things.

My friend Dane took this photo after a rousing game of Scrabble. We’ve had a few friends over to my new apartment for game night.

I’m still pretty mobile and healthy and the babies seem to be doing great. I’ve occupied my time with reading, watching Netflix, Hulu, and some of the movies a friend brought me, befriending the nurses and cleaning staff, doing a puzzle, and most recently, playing the ukulele. I tried the knitting thing, but it hasn’t stuck.

Baby monitoring selfie. They monitor the babies 2 times a day now just to make sure everyone is doing well.


The end is not quite in site yet, but I’m at least 1/2 way done with the hospital stay.

Here’s the nursery, pretty much complete, right before I left for the hospital. Awesome mobiles over the cribs courtesy of my baby shower.


Since going from zero to three babies will be shocking, at least returning to my own home will feel like a victory. Stay tuned!

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February 23, 2015 · 4:05 pm

A Few of My Favorite Things… #delusionaloptimism

I’ve been in the hospital for 6 days. The consensus seems to be that I have an overly cautious and pessimistic doctor who thinks I’m developing preeclampsia. Meanwhile, all my lab results are negative, there is no sign of labor, and my blood pressure is in the normal range. A nurse even tried to reason with him. It didn’t work. I’m here. I’m not going to lie, it’s incredibly frustrating and I’ve spent more than 20 hours crying, but it is time for an attitude adjustment and working on things I can control. Let’s not even get into the fact that I’ve lost control of my own health care.

I read this article today about how happy thoughts can help you be happier. Since my personal happiness is important for the health of the babies, I immediately started instituting some of the ideas… specifically: “Positive Mental Time Travel” and “Being Optimistic, Even to the Point of Delusion.” Positive Mental Time Travel is somewhat obvious, I think back to all the amazing places I’ve been and the good times I’ve had. Favorites include our Grand Canyon Trip in 2012, ski trips up north, or just time at the lake or on the beach. In all of these fantasies, I feel myself mentally transcending my body and I literally feel the happiness I felt at those times permeating through my body. It’s weird, but it feels great.

Wow, I look happy here proving TLC wrong. Let’s pretend we’re in Havasu Creek.

We’re so happy here! Let’s pretend the hospital is actually a backcountry ski hut in British Columbia! (photo by Emily Polar)

Delusional optimism involves mental time travel that includes the triplets. Examples include:

It’s 20 years from now. The triplets are fine musicians and performing on stage at Coachella and I’m right there – they give me a bit part playing some instrument. The crowd is loving it!

It’s 5 years from now and we scored a Grand Canyon permit! We bring all of our best friends and have a perfect time – costume parties every night, games at camp, great weather and hikes.

It’s 10 years from now. The triplets have become competent sailors. We decide to sail to Europe for the ski season so the boys can train under Austrian coaching. We spend the fall sailing and traveling and then spend the winter and spring living near Salzburg. We decide to complete our sail by swinging back around Iceland and I show them the Shifting Ice route in April.

The list goes on and on and it’s pretty fun!

Music, also music, like this performance by Solange. The dance moves cheer me up. I think the babies move more when I play this.

 

Upbeat pop music always lightens the mood.

I feel better already!

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January 26, 2015 · 3:41 pm

Tahoe Triplet Update

It’s becoming quite the scene to go out in public and I’ve decided the only acceptable thing to ever say to pregnant women is “you look great!” or “you’re all belly” or some variation of those and “let me know if you need any help.” Inappropriate things vary from “you’re about to pop” to “it’s Saturn without the rings.” It does seem that many people have an opinion to share about triplets or twins, like today at Trader Joe’s a woman told me her niece carried triplets till 40 weeks and they were born at 8 lbs each. Um, I’m pretty sure that was a blatant lie since I read this about some record triplets a while back – 22 lbs of baby to 36 weeks. Anyway, despite what you may know about me, this is not a competition I’m trying to win! I’m just trying to take the triplet pregnancy one day at a time. I figure that is good practice for raising triplets too.

So, how are those dudes doing? Well, today they all looked great. They are likely over 3 lbs each – they get a growth estimate next week. I’m doing very well, but had some tests come back that indicate issues to come in the near future, so I was told I may be hospitalized today. The good news is that I wasn’t, I just had to get more blood work and the doctor advised me to rest more, work less, and not swim or do any strenuous exercise. So it’s dog walks only for me.

Is managing 4 dogs under 3 years old similar to managing triplets? Probably not.

Two to six weeks left until they come. We’ll probably never be ready, but at least the nursery is coming together. And, I’m definitely ready to not be pregnant and start the road to recovery!

Super cool glider and poof my mom got for us from West Elm. And a perfectly sized changing table from Pottery Barn Kids courtesy of my Aunts.

Here are the 3 cribs with 3 handmade quilts from my friend Greta and cool decals on the wall from Etsy! Oh yeah, and my giant belly!

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December 23, 2014 · 2:48 pm

Introducing the Tahoe Triplets

One of the reasons I have not been regularly blogging is because I found out in early September that I was pregnant with triplets and it has been a bit overwhelming. We went through many of the stages of grief I guess – not because we were sad, just because it was quite shocking news to receive. While we were trying to have a baby, we weren’t trying to have 3 at once! After the news was broken to us at the 10 week ultrasound, I mourned the loss of skiing through my 7th month of pregnancy and really, just being a normal pregnant person! We’ve totally accepted the triplets now and are even excited (terrified, but excited!). It is quite a unique and special thing to have “spontaneous triplets.” Look that up if you feel the need to ask “are they natural?” It’s like being part of a special club? I think! Anyway, because I miss the old days of adventuring, I thought I’d make a list of all the cool things the triplets have done in utero:

1st Trimester

  • Rode Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Van Sickle, and the Bench
  • Downhill mountain biking at Northstar

I opted not to hit this jump at Northstar, but this girl styled it! I started practicing turning down unnecessary risk pretty early since that has never been easy for me!

  • 3rd Place at the 4th Annual Angora Lakes Triathlon

The start of this years Angora Lakes Triathlon

  • A lot of sailing on Lake Tahoe
  • Learned to be a pretty good waterskier!

I got to waterski about 8 times this summer/fall and really started to improve!

  • Wakesurfed

Surfing Lake Tahoe is always fun!

  • Whitewater kayaked a few Class 3 runs

This is my pal Amanda hitting up Hospital Bar on the South Fork American… I had hit the same line 30 seconds earlier.

  • Rode the Downieville Downhill

Riding the technical section of the Downieville Downhill the day before I found out about the triplets.

  • 3 day backpacking trip in the Hoover Wilderness

2nd Trimester

  • Ran 4 miles in the Chicago Marathon

I’m all smiles here, but a few hours later I realized I wouldn’t be running a lot during this pregnancy!

  • Surfed in Santa Cruz

Surfing at the hook on a mellow wave day. Best part was the sea otters swimming nearby!

  • Sailed in the SF Bay

Rachael Burks and I sailing in the San Francisco Bay. Photo by my buddy Greg Marsden!

  • Road bike ride in the Oakland Hills
  • Skied at Mammoth, Heavenly, and Kirkwood (7 resort days)

We hit Mammoth on opening day so I could ski as early in the pregnancy as possible! My jacket still fits in this photo!

  • Backcountry skis at Carson Pass and Echo Lakes
  • Swam a lot of yards – still doing this!
  • Mountain biked Corral loop, Tahoe Mountain, and Powerlines

Evening ride with preggo partner in crime Nira on Tahoe Mountain.

I still have a few weeks till my 3rd trimester as technically I’m 25 weeks pregnant, but things happen a lot faster with triplets. They say add anywhere from 10-14 weeks so if that is true, I look and feel like someone due in about a week! The goal is to make it as close to 36 weeks as possible. Most pregnancies are 40 weeks. I’m slowing down quite a bit and walking and swimming seem to feel the best at this point. But at this point, the triplets have been exposed to quite the variety of outdoor sports and should be pretty well rounded athletes! I’ve been debating whether or not to start a triplet specific blog or just momentarily cover this journey here. I think the most interesting thing will be the comeback so I’m leaning towards business as usual on meghankellyteles.com. If you have an opinion, let me know!

This is me just 10 days ago and just under 24 weeks along. Yep, super pregnant!

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