By JENNIFER LATSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 21, 2010, 6:39AM
Brett Coomer Chronicle
BY THE NUMBERS
At 1 year old, each set of triplets has gone through roughly:
7,300 diapers
4,745 bottles of formula
730 loads of laundry
$18,000 in expenses, not including nanny services or one-time costs such as strollers, cribs, etc.
Source: estimates by the three families
They didn't unwrap ties or enjoy breakfast in bed — no time for that. They didn't even get a day off from diaper duty: When you change 20 or more a day, there's never a break from diapers. But for three Houston-area dads, Father's Day brought at least three big reasons to celebrate.
Hugo Estrada, Justin Lacombe and Troy Elmore each spent the holiday with their own set of triplets, all born just over a year ago on the same day - June 11. In the past year, their triple-bundles of joy have taught them lessons about patience and time management. On Father's Day, the dads said the greatest gift was that their babies are healthy and thriving.
"We've come a long way," said Elmore, who doesn't even remember last Father's Day. He was caring for his oldest daughter, 5-year-old Brooke, while his wife remained hospitalized and the triplets - Reagan, Paige and Kara - were in intensive care after being born six weeks premature.
This Father's Day, Elmore played with all four girls in a corral constructed of couches at his mother-in-law's Deer Park home. He and his wife, Heather, are staying here while they have a home built in Friendswood.
"From them being in the hospital last year to having our dream house built - it's a great Father's Day," Elmore said.
Today, the staff who cared for all three families at The Woman's Hospital of Texas will host a birthday party for the babies, who weighed between 3 and 5 pounds when they were born at 34 weeks, all by cesarean section.
Parents are a team
Though the mothers get credit for most of the hard work in bringing the babies into the world - each endured some form of bed rest before the babies were born and suffered complications from high blood pressure to partial paralysis - the fathers do their share of the daily work of triplet-rearing.
"We're outnumbered," Stephanie Lacombe said. "You kind of have to work on it as a team."
At bathtime, one parent holds the babies while the other washes, she said, then one dries and one puts on the diapers. At meals, one parent prepares the food and the other one feeds it to the babies.
Now that the triplets sleep for longer stretches and eat less frequently, it's a little easier, said Justin Lacombe, the father of a girl and two boys: Emma, Noah and Carter.
"The first three months was a blur. We did feedings every three hours, and the feedings take 30 to 45 minutes," Lacombe said. "I don't even know how we made it on three to four hours of sleep a night, not to mention teething and reflux."
The trick is a combination of military discipline and laissez-faire flexibility: You have to schedule strictly and plan diligently but not be fazed when nothing goes according to plan.
"We just try to say it's controlled chaos," Lacombe said. "It's like working security at a rock concert: Even if they're all screaming, it doesn't matter. It's all fun."
Babies in rhythm
Some things are easier with triplets. They can entertain each other endlessly, and their biological clocks tend to sync up: They eat at the same times and nap at the same times, which is when parents can catch a rare moment of quiet.
"It's a lot of work, but I enjoy every minute of it," said Estrada, who spent Father's Day watching his three boys - Robert, Brian and Anthony - play at their Porter home while the TV broadcast a World Cup game.
"Last year the babies were still in the hospital. I wanted to hug them, but they were in the incubator and couldn't be touched," he said. "Now we can hug and play and everything."
jennifer.latson@chron.com
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