29 Weeks - Is it time????

It's almost 6am. I have been tossing and turning since about 1am. I have been contracting. Big deal, doesn't really hurt. But the cramps have kept me awake. The back pain has kept me awake. Please hold. I need to lie back down for a minute and take a break from typing.

I spent Saturday (really, started Friday night) in tears from the pain. My doctor walked in on me crying. We chatted. He got nervous and ordered more blood work, a urine test, and at 10pm a NICU nurse came to visit my room to let me know what to expect after delivery. She seemed optimistic about the girls being born this early. I honestly didn't detect any worry. My doctor doesn't seem too worried, either. I mean, they would all love it if I could get to 31/32 weeks...but they seem so thrilled that I have made it this far. I'm not as thrilled. But I am in pain. Enough pain that I'm literally taking everything day by day, sometimes hour by hour, because I'm not sure how much more my mind and my body can take. Oh, and then there's the whole breathing thing. That isn't the easiest thing to do sometimes.

My doctor doesn't seem suprised that I'm in this much pain, though, for the following reasons:

1. Turns out my 4th fetal fibronectin test from last week came back positive (30% chance of delivery in 2 weeks)

2. I gained 9lbs in one week!!! Mind you, as of week 28, I was only up 15lbs from my pre-preg weight. It took me from week 24 to 28 to gain 10lbs. Then suddenly I shoot up 9lbs in one week! Something isn't right.

3. This could be the reason for the weight gain: Baby C has about double the amount of amniotic fluid that she should. She's floating in a damn pool and the other two are getting squished out...hence the reason baby B is stuck in my side/back causing me the worst back/rib pain of my life. The extra amniotic fluid may be no big deal. It could be a sign of a lung, neurological, or brain development disorder, but most of the time there seems to be no real explanation. We're too far in the pregnancy to do an amnio to test this b/c results would take 2 weeks anyway...and draining isn't the best option since the sac can just refill and I will likely deliver very soon anyway. So my doc says "lets leave everything as is and see how long you can endure the pain". And it's definitely painful.

What else is awful? Oh yeah, showers. I will now be requesting sponge baths. I thought my last shower was on Friday since it wiped me out, but Paul convinced me to give it another go last night. Uh, yeah, officially done with that crap. Felt like I ran a marathon after a 15 minute shower. I seriously thought I might pass out from breathing so hard. Probably not a good thing. So sponge baths. Really looking forward to those, lemme tell ya.

Aside from my discomfort, the babies really do seem to continue to thrive. There honestly doesn't appear to be much space for them, but their heart tones are good and they are growing.

Here are some 29 week belly shots and a couple of pics of two of the girls (Baby A is too low and face-down, so we can no longer get shots of her):

Baby B Profile & Baby C Yawning:


Baby C Face - Not sure if that's her Halloween face, but she looks pretty pissy...

28 Weeks

I'm still here. I just don't feel like typing much on the computer, so I haven't replied to many emails or updated my blog. It just hurts way too much to sit up and my belly is getting in the way of my short arms reaching the computer to type while lying down.

The girls are still growing and doing well. Last time they were measured they were all around 2.5 lbs each. That was a little over a week ago. I'm hoping they are around 3lbs at my next scan later this week.

I'm growing more and more uncomfortable. Over the past 3 or 4 days, baby B has moved further toward my back and into my right side. Everything on my right side now aches all day and night. Baby A has moved really far down into my pelvis...so far down that measuring her is difficult and she is lying right on top of my bladder. It's so uncomfortable that I feel like I need to pee all the time...think bladder infection urgency. Right after I go, I feel like I need to go again. Baby C is still in the same place and although I get slightly irritated by her position, it's not nearly as bad as the other two. Everything is so squished that when my stomach growls, I can feel it growling right underneath my left breast. Kind of odd. My doctor mentioned last night that he thinks it may be about two more weeks or so until I get to the point that breathing is difficult...and at that point, we will be delivering. Otherwise, if I can still breathe, then we'll just wait for something else to happen. It's all very unpredictable, really, but my body is definitely feeling the pain.

For those of you interested in my weight gain, I'm up 15lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. I had lost 15lbs in the first trimester, so technically I have gained 30lbs from my lowest weight. Not bad, though, considering I have 3 in there. I literally eat whatever and whenever I want, so I'm amazed that I'm doing so well. I'm very curious to see how much I lose after the c-section.

Here's my 27 week belly

Why the hospital can be so much fun...

...where else could a girl be asked on a daily basis about her bowel movements? On a positive note, we get to listen to the girls twice/day with the fetal monitor. Sometimes they are so active that it's difficult to locate the heartbeats. We have little gymnasts in there. I get an ultrasound at least once/week and the girls are always looking great. I get to order all of my meals off a menu if I don't feel like the regularly scheduled meal. That probably sounds a lot better than it actually is, though. I get my bedding changed as often as I want and there are people here who offer to bathe me every day (though I choose to wait for hubby and have him help me shower). There is probably so much more to brag about, but my mind is drawing a blank.

As of Tuesday, I have been taking Procardia for my contractions. It hasn't been holding me as well as the Indocin or Terbutaline, but so long as I have less than 10 contractions/hour, then we have no need to worry. Mind you, these contractions are really really mild. They don't hurt and I barely notice them anymore since I've been having them for weeks and weeks. Last night, however, I was having about 15 an hour. They are not regular, so they come every 2 to 6 minutes, apparently. And they are still plentiful this morning. So I have no idea what we're doing next, but I'm just hoping I don't have to get back on that nasty Terbutaline.

That's about all the excitement I can muster up today. I'll be 26 weeks on Saturday, so everything continues to move right along...