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...

25 Weeks & A New Home

Today I hit 25 weeks and considering recent events, our big goal is about 30 weeks. I was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday at the request of my doctors. I actually received a phone call around 9am asking me to pack a bag and come on in for the duration of the pregnancy. I was given an IV and started Terbutaline injections. I was also given Betamethasone injections (the steroid which helps the babies' lungs produce surfactant in case they are born early). My contractions were 1 to 2 minutes apart when I was admitted and slowed to 6 to 8 minutes throughout the day. My cervix still measured over 4cm and the babies weighed in at 1 lb 9 oz to 1 lb 11oz, all within a week of their due date. On Wednesday I was given ampicillin via IV every 6 hours. Then on Thursday my high risk doctor made a visit and switched everything up. They removed the IV, d/c the terbutaline, started Indocin, d/c ampicillin, and I have been doing that ever since.

Sleeping has been nearly impossible with all of the pain I have had (pain from this horrible bed)...I have even been taking Ambien and it barely helps. My mom offered to buy me a memory foam mattress yesterday and I was able to sleep for 8 hours last night! I feel fantastic today for the first time all week!!! I did start contracting again in the middle of the night, so they gave me one terbutaline injection, but things have been great all morning.

So other than just sitting in bed with a belt wrapped around my abdomen measuring uterine activity, I'm doing pretty well. My nurses are fantastic and I am being well cared for, as are the babies. With any luck, we'll sail through the next 5 weeks in this hospital and maybe even buy ourselves 3 or 4 more. Hopefully I won't go crazy in the meantime.

Growth Scan & Other Updates

Our high risk doctor did a growth scan on the girls yesterday and they are all measuring about 1.5 lbs. He estimated that to be the 35th percentile, but from what I have read, that weight seems a bit more average than that. It's hard to say, though, because the ultrasound measurements offer a weight that is rarely consistent with reality. In other words, it's a good guess, but not entirely reliable. The main thing is that the girls are all about the same size and growing well.

We were able to see the girls on the 4D ultrasound, but only one offered us a profile shot. It's not very good, but I'll try to load it on the computer for you to see. In another two weeks we can take another look and see how they cooperate.

As for names, they are possibly changing. After seeing his girls yesterday afternoon, Paul decided that we needed to reconsider some of the names. At this point I think we will be keeping them to ourselves...and honestly, I'm not entirely convinced we will finalize them until the girls arrive. Prior to learning that we were having triplets, I had wanted to only create a short list of names and decide after giving birth which name to choose. However, knowing that triplet pregnancies are such high risk, I changed my mind and decided that it would be nice for the girls to all have names in the event of a poor outcome. In mentally planning for the worst, I at least wanted my children to have names while alive (alive being in my uterus and possibly during birth). Now that they are all viable and have an excellent chance of coming into this world full of life, I don't feel so desperate to call them by their names while in utero. All of that said, we are going to take our time in making our final selections and will share the names with everyone when the girls make their debut. For now, we will go back to Baby A, B, and C.

To those of you whom I have neglected communication-wise, I apologize. One would think that bedrest would increase one's desire for social interaction. Soooooooo not true in my case. I avoid phone calls, often because I'm too sleepy or depressed to have a conversation. It's nothing personal...it just takes a lot out of me to be social right now. As for emails, I love reading them, but typing is hugely difficult. I have mentioned before that the only comfortable position for me really is lying flat on my back. In order to type, I have to open my laptop up almost 180 degrees and prop it just below my belly, on my pelvic bone. But if it rests on my body at all, Baby A gets all pissy and starts kicking it (no joke). So I have to use my hands to elevate the computer and attempt to type at the same time. It's all doable (obviously...I'm updating this blog), but I procrastinate for obvious reasons. So I'm not ignoring your emails, I'm just dreading the workout of responding and the back pain that ensues thereafter.

That's all for now.

24 Weeks!!!!!!!

Big, fat, huge milestone!!! Our babies are viable and have a 70% chance of survival if born right now.

At our ob/gyn appt on Tuesday we toured the NICU. I didn't expect it to affect me so much, but the minute I turned the corner and saw those tiny little babies I just burst into tears. I can't believe our girls will be THAT small, all alone in their little isolettes, possibly with tubes coming out of them. It's one thing to see pictures of preemies, but it's an entirely different thing to see them in person. My sadness doesn't come from guilt that my body can't carry them to term. I am really good about not blaming myself for anything that has happened during this pregnancy. I'm just sad that these girls will likely come into this world fighting harder than any baby should. I guess I am also sad that I will not be allowed to see them for the first 24 hours. Paul can visit them as much as he would like, but I must wait a full 24 hours after my c-section before I can be wheeled in to meet my little girls. I'm sad that I will barely be able to touch them for the first few days...and may not be able to even hold them for a while. I'm sad that they will be fed through a tube at first, and that it may take days or weeks before we can try breastfeeding. But through all of my sadness I am thrilled that they will receive the very best care and that all of these sacrifices will be distant memories as the weeks and years progress. I'm sure this will be a rough ride at first, but I am confident that Paul and I will handle everything as well as two people can. I couldn't ask for anyone stronger, kinder, or more loving than my husband to take this journey with me. So in that respect, I feel very fortunate.

On a lighter note, babies are still moving around like crazy and Peyton has gotten really good at kicking mommy in the ribs. My most recent craving for ice has been satisfied by Sonic, being that they actually sell entire bags of their crushed ice for just $1.65. I get a few glasses of ice each day and just eat it by the spoonful. Sick, I know.

Here are a couple of 24 week pictures:

23 Week Update

The girls are still doing pretty well in my belly and I am measuring 38 weeks pregnant (should I be carrying only one child). We got the report from the level III ultrasound and all are definitley looking great so far. At 21w5d their weights were:

Ashlyn - 15oz
Peyton - 17oz
Olivia - 14oz

I have started feeling a lot more movement this week, especially from Olivia. Peyton has quieted down a bit...likely because she has so much space over on my side. Ashlyn has been doing more than kicking, though, as I can feel a lot of movement from her...especially in the mornings. All of the girls seem to wake up around 7am to stretch and play "kick my sister in the head". I haven't yet been kept awake at night by their movements, so hopefully that's a good sign of things to come. I am, however, kept awake at night by my severe discomfort. I can't lie on my sides much and am most comfortable on my back, but my legs hurt so much at night that it's difficult to fall to sleep. I'm sure this will only get worse, so I'm trying to enjoy my sleep while I can.

As for how my body is handling things, my cervix is still 5cm. I also had a fetal fibronectin test this week, which came back negative...and that's good. Basically it's a vaginal swab and they look for fetal fibronectin, which should not normally be secreted after week 22 of pregnancy until very close to delivery. If the protein is not present, then one has a 99% chance of NOT delivering in the next 2 weeks. If it is present, there is a 30% chance of delivering in 2 weeks.

Next Saturday is the big 24 week milestone. Then I'll start focusing on 28 weeks, which is October 18th.

22 Week Update

I had a big, fat, level III ultrasound yesterday. The tech measured the girls' parts, looked at their brains, hearts, kidneys, bladders, spines, umbilical cords, etc. At first glance, they appear to be perfect!!! Now, we never did the down syndrome screenings, so we have no idea about that, but at my age, risks are low. As for the level III u/s, we won't get the final report until next week, but it really appears that all 3 girls are looking great.

I'm only 2 weeks away from the big 24 week mark. At 24 weeks the babies are considered viable. Our doctor said that our NICU has a 70% survival rate for babies born at 24 weeks. That goes up to 100% by 26 to 27 weeks. So while it's nice to reach that 24 week mark, I would hope that if we're going to have issues, that they not arise for at least a couple of weeks after that.

For those of you interested in my cervix, it's still holding out at 5cm. I'm hugely impressed with the strength of that sucker. I know Ashlyn's head is constantly hitting it, but apparently it doesn't matter. At what point do you think I should tell her that her first pillow was mommy's cervix?

Baby movement/kicking is in full force. I am 99% sure I can feel all 3 now. Peyton has planted her butt directly in my left side and Olivia's butt is up under my breasts. The u/s yesterday confirmed that Ashlyn and Peyton are still head-to-head and that Olivia is in perfect position to be kicked by the both of them. Apparently she kicks back, though...so it's nice to see her standing up for herself.

Here are my 21 week belly pics...

19 Weeks

About a week and a half ago I had a fun night in the hospital. Everything is fine, I just learned that I have an irritable uterus. Apparently it's pretty common for a uterus to get irritable when it has 3 babies to deal with on a daily basis. I was sent home on Terbutaline, which I couldn't stand, and fortunately my doctor approved its discontinuation. I won't go into details, but if you google it, you'll see why I was hesitant to remain on it. As a result of all of that, I am now on bedrest. I can use the restroom and shower...and I do a few other things, but for the most part, I need to take it easy. And that's fine by me b/c everytime I stand up for 5 minutes, I feel like I have to pee.

At my doctor appt last Thursday we learned that my uterus has now stretched to the size of a 30-week uterus in a singleton pregnancy. Yes, that does mean that my uterus will stretch well beyond a typical 40-week measurement by the time the babies are considered full-term. But for now, I'm 30 weeks...and I have to say, I don't look that big for 30 weeks. So I'll take it.

Last night I think we may have finally agreed on name number 3. Problem is that now Paul wants to nix one of our original names; however, he cannot come up with a replacement. So we have agreed to settle on 3 names for now, and if Paul comes up with something better by the time the girls arrive, then we will change a name or two. For now, we have:

Baby A - Ashlyn
Baby B - Peyton
Baby C - Olivia

Middle names are pending.....

And now, a photo of me at 18 weeks with little Chloe in the background


And a 19-Week belly shot

17 Weeks!!! Nursery & Belly Shot

Here's my 17 week belly:



And here is the girls' nursery so far. There are still a few more finishing touches to add, but this is about how it will look:

Baby Videos

Gender Scan!!!

Well, the bummer news is that Baby A woulnd't give up the goods. We couldn't find the girlie parts, and we may have seen a nub...but that nub wasn't anything to write home about, so maybe it was just a bad image. Either way, the tech wouldn't make a judgement call.

However, Baby B and Baby C were both pretty girlie, and the tech said she was 85% sure they were girls!!!

So we should get another u/s in about 2 weeks and hopefully A will have sprouted a full on penis by then!

Here are some pics:

Baby Room

Here's an updated colorboard for the babies' room...

Baby Furniture!!!

We received our cribs and mattresses today and, of course, I have already started putting them together!!! Here are a few preliminary pics. My mom will be here for a visit at the end of the month and we plan to spend the week sewing. We're making the bedskirts, sheets, window coverings, blankets, changing pad cover, letters for the wall, and maybe some pillows. I found a few fabrics today, but the line is discontinued, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to track down enough of the same fabric to make everything...so the patterns may change. But for now, here is what we're looking at for the girls (if we have girls, lol).

Also, went to the doctor today and although I'm 14 weeks 3 days prego, my uterus is measuring 20 weeks! So all is moving right along with the triplets. Yay!!!

14 Week Fetus

Here's about what they look like today...

Belly Pic...

I just realized I haven't updated the belly shots on here. That's because there isn't much to update. This recent one was taken after a weekend of pigging out. Now, 4 days past the weekend, I'm smaller again. I've lost 15lbs this pregnancy, so my belly doesn't appear to be too different, but here you go anyway. Oh, and the babies are each about the size of a fist right now. I would think I'd be bigger...

13 Weeks


12 Weeks


7 Weeks

13w5d

Nothing new to report, really. I made an appt yesterday with a private ultrasound place to find out the genders of our babies. The appt is set for next Friday. Since I'll be one day short of 15 weeks, it's still a bit early, so the tech is just going to give us her best guess. So, basically "I'm 75% sure it's a boy"...something to that effect.

For anyone looking for a good puke story, I've got a couple. Let's see...Thursday night I crawled in bed around 12:30, I think. I felt kind of nauseated after lying down, so I turned over to sleep it off. Unfortunately, before I could even make it out of bed, I barfed. I tried to catch it with my hand, but all that did was splatter it all over my face and force vomit out my nose. Paul had to change the sheets and I had to shower at 1am. Fun!

Then on Tuesday I was feeling horrible all day with a headache. By 6:30 that night I was puking up frosted mini wheats. Not such a horrible thing to barf except for the fact that it was as thick as oatmeal. But, at least I made it into my bucket (yes, I now carry a bucket around the house)...more than I can say for all the other times. Gross!

I have to say, though, that our dog, Jake, is quite the caretaker. Everytime I barf he stands there staring at me....not sure if he's concerned for my health or if he's just looking for leftovers....

So, yeah, being pregnant is soooooo much fun...can't wait until December! I wonder, though, if by the end of December I'll just want to go back to being pregnant? What's worse: barfing all over myself or trying to calm 3 screaming babies?

12 Week Update

Tomorrow marks our completion of the 12th week! That's great news since the chances of survival are so strong after the first trimester. Of course, with 3 babies, anything can go wrong at anytime. The next big goal is to hit 20 weeks without any issues...but most importantly, 24 weeks. At 24 weeks there is a pretty good chance for survival if they are born. Not fantastic, but pretty good.

We had an ultrasound yesterday...just a very quick one to make sure all 3 were still looking good. We didn't get to spend nearly enough time watching them, but it felt good to know they are all still alive. We saw some giant heads, legs, arms, feet. One of them was bouncing all over the place and the other two appeared to be pretty calm. I wish we knew which was was doing what, but the doctor didn't tell us anything...he just did some measurements and shut off the machine.

So we don't have any new pics, but here's what our babies should look like right now:

9 Week Ultrasound

This post is long overdue, but here are the pics from our 8w6d ultrasound. The babies were moving all around and one even kicked his/her foot!



Baby A


Baby B


Baby C

First Belly Pic

7 weeks 5 days pregnant...starting to pooch out.