9 Weeks to Go?!?!

22 Weeks, 5 Days

My babies turned 23 "weeks old" on Tuesday. 24 weeks is a milestone, so I'm told. My brother works at a fancy university with a bunch of fancy doctors who are all at the tops of their fields, so of course he tells them about me from time to time. One of them told him 24 weeks was a big milestone and that every week I could give them in the womb thereafter was a gift to them.

I saw my regular OB this week (I see either my high risk or my OB every Tuesday) and he told me some interesting news. He said he and my Peri had been discussing my pregnancy and were pretty sure that they will take the babies at 32 weeks - not 36 weeks like they had previously told me. That would put the babies being born the last week of August. I asked if we could pleeeeease wait until September 1st, for two reasons:

1) My new insurance doesn't kick in until that day, and....

2) I like sapphires soooooo much better than the peridot and you KNOW I am going to be getting myself some sweet mothers' jewelry (rephrase: my HUSBAND will be getting me some mothers' jewelry, with the help of my carefully placed and incredibly detailed hints).

Don't worry, I only mentioned reason #1 to my dr. Don't want to appear vain or anything! Yes, Dr. G, my delivery date is entirely based upon the jewelry I want to wear.

He said "Well, we can try but you may not have a choice."

It seems they are worried about me developing preeclampsia, since from what he told me, most triplet pregnancies result in the mother developing that at some point. He basically said it would be one of those issues where the babies would be safer on the outside. They took a bunch of blood and I got to do my second, super fun 24-hour urine test. They will run tests to see if I am already developing it (shouldn't be, my blood pressure is fine), and to have a baseline to compare against when I inevitably am tested for it again in the next month or so.

There appears to be a good chance of hospitalization in my future, probably for the last 2 or 3 weeks of the pregnancy. I have no idea what I am going to do with my kids. That will be the beginning of the school year, the busiest time for everybody I know, and especially my husband, who is a teacher.  I know it will all work out, but the unknowns right now are concerning to me.

But, thinking that I may be in the single digits for my "weeks to go" countdown IS a little exciting!  I am growing more tired of being pregnant day by day (yes, I'm complaining. Yes, I know how annoying that is. Sorry. Better written on a blog than me calling you up and moaning and groaning personally. Though my husband, mom, and my best friend have to hear it both ways. They should be sainted for putting up with me.). I am not one of those women that revels in the joy of being pregnant. I hesitate to say that out loud because I've had women in the past make me feel less motherly or feminine because I said that ("Oh, I loved every minute of being pregnant!" Really....you enjoyed throwing up several times a day?). But it's true. I miss being able to walk without pain. My back hates me, my belly itches and wants to tear apart. I miss being able to breathe and eat without it coming back to haunt me. I can't wait to sleep lying down, and without 7 pillows and 2 comforters, again. I long to go a day without coughing (my second pregnancy was the same as this....bad cough for the last 3 months. Went away the minute he was born.). And the scary part is, I know I'm just going to get bigger and more uncomfortable! But, at the same time, I want the babies to stay in there as long as possible so they can be as healthy as possible.

OK, I'm containing the complaining to that paragraph. Let's think positive. What do I like about this pregnancy?

-crickets chirping-

Haha, just kidding.

I like:

• Watching my kids' faces light up when they feel the babies. They get SOOOO excited. 
• Watching my husbands' face light up when HE feels the babies. He always talks to them and I love that.
• Talking to my babies when I'm by myself, and being able to tell which one is kicking me at that moment. I wish I could sing to them but my singing voice hasn't returned since the bronchitis.
• Having friends bring me dinner several times a week. I am so grateful for their help. And for the new menu ideas I am getting from all these wonderful meals.
• Getting to see/hear my babies every single week. For a worrier like me, it's nice to have that confirmation that all is well every 7 days.
• Shopping (online, alas) for all sorts of fun baby stuff and cute baby clothes.
• Having a perfectly good excuse to sit and watch HGTV and the Discovery Channel all day long, and having people applaud me for my laziness!
• Speaking of laziness, I LOVE not doing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms....
• That I am gaining weight very slowly. I have barely budged in the last month even though the babies are growing ever faster now. I know there's a huge weight gain coming towards the end, but it's been nice to keep it to a minimum this time.
• Though this pregnancy may not bring out the best in me, I've noticed it brings out the best in everybody around me, and that seriously helps me get through every day. So many kindnesses have been shown to us, people have been so loving and concerned. I read triplet mom blogs about how people shun them for carrying three babies, or ask cruel questions, and we haven't had any of that. People make jokes, but I am totally okay with that! I have no problem laughing at myself. But for the most part, people are just concerned and helpful and I am so grateful for that.
• I like that this experience has greatly increased my testimony that the Lord is ever present in our lives, that He watches over me, my family, and these little pre-born babies constantly, and that He trusts me enough to carry three of His precious children. I pray I don't let Him down, now or ever. I am very aware that I am carrying three pieces of heaven in my belly, and even though I am in pain most of the day, there is also this feeling of peace and calm that I have. It's tough to find words for it, but I guess it really is the feeling of heaven inside of me.

Wow, this post was longer than I intended. Will I ever be able to be one of those short, sweet, to the point types? Errr....probably not.

Lastly, here are the 22 week ultrasound pictures. It takes me forever to get around to scanning them! Truthfully they still wouldn't be done if it weren't for my husband!

I feel such love for these boys already! I had a dream during my nap this afternoon where I was holding one of them. Of course they didn't look a thing like either of us or my kids, so it's possible that the dream hospital sent home the wrong boys, but it was a fun dream anyway!

Baby A:

 Baby B:

 Baby C yawning:

Week 22 Appointment: Mostly Good News!

21 weeks

Today we had our 22 week ultrasound at the perinatologists' office. I think this is the first ultrasound where I was more nervous for myself than for the babies. I have been in a lot of pain from the bronchitis (don't you just LOVE how the cough hangs on, and on, and on.....). My belly has been screaming at me for the past week, threatening to rip completely apart with every cough.  Add that to the normal growing and stretching discomfort and you have the perfect recipe for pain.

So this morning, when my 3 year old sweetheart climbed into bed with me to snuggle and gently started caressing my belly with his little hand and the slightest touch had me cringing, I really started to worry about how on earth I was going to make it through this appointment today. I knew it meant baring my belly to be poked and prodded for an hour and the thought of the pain that would accompany that had me fighting back tears - no kidding. I'm such a wimp.

I said a lot of prayers, took some cough medicine and some Tylenol, and headed off to my appointment.  I was worried all morning for nothing. There were only a few moments of discomfort, and only one time when I had to grip at something to prepare for the pain. But my sweet tech (LOVE HER) saw it and immediately softened up.

The "singleton", Baby A, weighed in at 1 pound, 3 ounces - so he's grown 6 ounces since the last ultrasound. Baby B's stats were the same. I knew they must have grown because I have been feeling their movements so much more frequently the past several days. Baby A is really low and breech. His kicks tickle a bit. Baby B has shocked me a few times with his strength. I love it.

And then on to Baby C. Ah, that baby. I worry about him so. He's given us a real run for our money this pregnancy. He grew only 3 ounces and weighed in at 12 ounces. He should be at least one pound at this point, so he's 4 ounces smaller than average and 7 ounces smaller than his brothers. Again, the tech confirmed it had nothing to do with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and everything to do with his velamentous cord insertion. I nearly guessed his weight. I figured it would be 13 ounces because I feel him move about as much as I felt his brothers moving two weeks ago when they were 13 ounces. One ounce off, not too shabby.

I find it ironic that usually when I'm pregnant, I am spending my time worrying about how big the babies are - my oldest was just shy of 9 pounds at 38 1/2 weeks, and my son was 9 lbs 5 ounces at 38 1/2 weeks (it's my husbands' fault - he was about a 12 pound baby. Had I known that before I married him you might not be reading this blog right now!). Worrying about a baby being too small is a completely new ballgame for me.

The biggest worry to me, though, was his heart. The tech said she wanted to keep an eye on one of the vessels in his heart - she didn't say which one, but did show me on the screen. She said the blood was flowing through it properly, a good sign, and that it wasn't something I needed to worry about right now. She just wanted to make sure to keep checking its size and right now with him being so small it makes it more difficult.

Telling me not to worry is like telling a toddler to be quiet in the movie theater. It just ain't gonna happen. But I am trying not to jump to conclusions, and I am NOT googling it. For the record, I haven't googled the velamentous cord insertion either. My doctor already warned me that it's mostly doom and gloom in the search results, and that he really doesn't foresee it being much of a problem. So Google Search and I are not currently speaking, for the sake of my sanity.

So I will just continue to hope and pray that Baby C keeps growing and gains some ground and that his heart grows properly. He's certainly an active little bugger ("wild" is the word I think every ultrasound tech has used to describe him) so at least I know he's having a good time in there!

Oh, and for the cute factor this week - yesterday my son felt Baby B kick (his first time feeling their movement). With every kick he smiled big and said "I want to do that again!" It was adorable.

Hello Week 20!

Finally, week 20 is here! Not that there's really anything different about week 20, I am just glad to be out of the teens.

We had another ultrasound on Tuesday. They took a good look at their hearts, and thankfully they all have 4 chambers.  Baby C is such a little stinker - that child is going to be giving me heart attacks for the rest of my life I think. He's already given me way too many in utero! He was being WILD and the tech couldn't get a good picture of his heart for the longest time. I was starting to get really worried that it wasn't just the fact that he was moving all over that was keeping her from seeing those 4 chambers. We are talking 20 minutes have gone by and still no chambers. Finally she got a semi-good shot, and announced it was a picture of the 4 chambered heart. Sigh of relief!

Baby A and B are currently 13 ounces each, and Baby C is lagging behind at 9 ounces.  I do hope he'll start to grow faster soon. I asked my doctor if he felt this was Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, as my regular OB had mentioned that he was worried about it. He told me he didn't feel that all the signs were present for TTTTS and that he felt this was more likely just the natural consequences of sharing a placenta. I am sure his velamentous cord insertion isn't helping things either.

Oh, and apparently my babies are quite beautiful.The ultrasound tech said she was astounded at how photogenic they are. We are already fielding offers from modeling agencies. :o) 

Baby B in 3D/4D. The little blob sticking into his face is Baby C, trying to get in on the action. My boys are camera hogs.

I have been feeling the babies kick - mostly A and B right now as C is still small. Even my husband was able to feel them, and he was really excited. A's kicks tickle because he is so low in my abdomen. It's fun being able to feel them in there!

Personally, weeks 19 and 20 have been a doozy. I have been very sick with bronchitis and barely slept for days. I just assumed that there were not any medications I could take to help since I was pregnant, so for a week I just suffered through it. At my ultrasound on Tuesday, my doctor was so concerned about my health that he called my family doctor right then and there and asked her to see me immediately. We drove straight from the perinatologists' office to my family doctor and were seen very quickly despite the full waiting room (I could totally get used to the royal treatment!).  She prescribed me several things and I have noticed an improvement in the last few days. I just can't wait for the coughing to subside. Every time I cough I feel like my belly is going to tear apart!

I don't know if it's from the bronchitis and coughing or if this is just the natural progression in a triplet pregnancy, but my back is KILLING me. I spent most of yesterday sitting against a heating pad. I am hoping it will subside as the coughing lessens and that I will get a few more weeks of respite before the real muscle pain kicks in, but we will see!

My belly also feels really heavy, and that, combined with the aching back, make it really hard to support myself while walking. I find myself holding on to tables, walls and door knobs a lot. Again, I hope this is a side effect of the bronchitis and not a permanent thing for the rest of the pregnancy. Just in case, though, I ordered a maternity support contraption thingy called the "It's You Babe Prenatal Cradle", because I heard from a recent mother of twins that it was a lifesaver and really helped her in those last couple of months. If I am feeling this out of breath and this achy already, I will try it!

And now for my favorite part of this pregnancy: yet another small miracle happened this week.  My husband brought in the mail and found a hand-addressed card. There was no return address and the zip code didn't print on the postmark (yes, I am a snoop). Inside the card he saw a typed letter, opened it, and $200 fell out. We were both so deeply touched. We are so blessed to have loving and kind friends who sacrifice what I am sure are needed funds in their own family for us.

My ward family has also been fantastic. Members of my ward have brought dinner several times this week and they have had babysitters here every day that my husband is working (he works some crazy long hours in the summer). It has been such a blessing, especially being so sick. My dearest friend drove me and my kids to the pediatrician since the medicine I was on made me too dizzy to drive and both of my children came down with bronchitis too. My sister-in-law also just brought me dinner for tonight, which is awesome considering the aforementioned heavy belly and aching back. I am so lucky to have wonderful friends and family! I don't feel worthy to receive such blessings!

Babies B and C fighting for the spotlight