15 Weeks: Mumus and Granny Panties

This week's Developments:
* The babies are around 4 in long crown to rump and 2.5 ounces each- the size of apples!
* Air sacs in the lungs are beginning to develop, taste buds are forming
* Eyelids are still fused shut, but they can start to sense light now

Today I had my 15 week check-in with the OB and he determined on his mini ultrasound machine-"They are still alive!" which is pretty much all you can tell on those little things, but I'll take it! All day Sunday and Monday I was completely blood-free and thought I may finally be done with all of that- but the wee hours of Tuesday morning proved me wrong. At least it was much less than in previous occurences, but is continuing to linger still. I also let him know about some painful cramping that accompanied the bleeding this time and at other times periodic feelings of tightness in my lower abdomen and pressure deep inside. He said all of these sensations are normal and that I would have a lot more in the coming weeks. I wish I knew how to distinguish between what feelings are normal and what are cause for alarm since all that "bad stuff" seems to be a normal occurence in high order multiple pregnancies! He said he still feels that I am doing great considering and "look at you, you are half-way through the second quarter already!"

After my OB appointment, I stopped by my office to fill out some paperwork and was able to catch up with several ladies, which was great. I have read some horror stories about women in similar situations who faced a lot of animosity from their  bosses when announcing they had to take off unexpectedly for long periods of time, and I feel so blessed to work with people who truly care about the staff on a personal level. 

This week has been pretty stressful dealing with FMLA, trying to figure out how to deal with the loss of income, contacting the student loan companies to discuss putting loans into forbearance, and the arrival of several insurance claims- especially the one for the ER visit ouch!  We just  keep trying to remind ourselves that God will get us through all of this and the only thing I should even consider worrying about is these babies!

So lets get to the title of this post! My normal lounge-around-the-house wear has always been old size small T-shirts and Brent's old boxer briefs, but the shirts have slowly been getting shorter and tighter in the mid-section and the elastic on the briefs too tight around my waist. Yesterday I declared to Brent that I would be much more comfortable if I had some mumus and granny panties to wear instead. He said "great!". "I don't suppose that is an errand I can send you on?" I asked. "No way in hell, Honey." It was pretty much what I expected :) So after my visit to the office I stopped by Wal-mart on the way home and picked up some comfy short and long sleeve "sleep shirts" aka mumus, a soft fuzzy bathrobe, and several pairs of roomier comfy underwear. Brent doesn't seem to mind my new bed-rest wardrobe so far (it may even make following doctor's orders easier for him anyway :) ) and I am SO much more comfortable already.

16 Weeks Picture (131 lbs this morning-15 lb total weight gain)

14 Weeks: Officially into the Second Trimester!

Today marks 14 weeks! Here are some fun facts about the babies this week:
* They can squint, frown, and grimace!
* Their kidneys are producing urine, the liver starts making bile, and the spleen starts helping in RBC production
* They can grasp and suck their thumbs (we thought we saw them trying to do this on Monday)!
*  From head to bottom they measure about 3 1/2 inches (the size of lemons) weigh about 1.5 ounces each

Tuesday night I had another red blood gush- and who am I kidding- no matter how often it happens it always scares me! As usual, it had turned to brown "old blood" by morning, and my OB's office said to stay on "pelvic rest" actually laying down (not in a recliner) until my appointment this morning. Pelvic rest also refers to other activities, but we have already been restricted from any "extracurricular activities" from the OB since the first bleeding incident (sorry mom :) ). I have read numerous accounts of triplet moms who had continued significant bleeding that was unexplained throughout their pregnancies and ended up with three healthy babies, so I really feel that it can be a normal part of a high order multiple pregnancy, especially in first time mommies because things are stretching at such a faster rate in there.

I was anxious to see my OB today because since I won't be seeing the specialist again for 7 weeks (at around 21 weeks) I wanted to make sure that somebody would be monitoring me closely, especially with regards to my cervical length since I have heard of so many triplet mommies whose cervixes became dangerously short well before 21 weeks. His response was that "everybody is different," that I shouldn't read to much into other people's experiences, and that he trusts the specialist's judgement. The point I did agree with was that internal exams of the cervix can actually cause complications so it is best to limit them as much as possible. He did agree to do another official abdominal ultrasound in 2 weeks, though, on which they can try to estimate my cervical length again. My first "official" measurement with a transvaginal ultrasound will still not be until I see the specialist, however. He wants to see me weekly for now due to the continued bleeding and because he said "I know you will go crazy if you don't come in each week." He already knows me so well! He also wants me to continue with the modified bedrest at least until I see the specialist again to see what she thinks at that point,  but most likely for the remainder of the pregnancy. So I will see him for a regular appointment again next Thursday, and then the following Wednesday. It is possible that we could determine the sexes at that time if the babies are VERY cooperative. Brent and I were always the kids that would try to sneak peeks at presents before Christmas and hate waiting for surprises, so we would be SO excited if we could find out the sexes that soon without having to wait until November 21st! 

Here is a 14 week pic (that was technically taken on Monday- 3 days shy of 14 weeks, but I haven't changed much since then, promise!)

13 weeks 4 days: Another Sigh of Relief :)

Brent and I are feeling much better after our appointment with the specialist. We were there for almost 4 hours,  so I apologize for the delayed update!

First we spent at least an hour in an ultrasound with a nuchal translucency screening to check for Down's Syndrome markers since the usual blood tests that assess risk would most likely give a false positive with triplets. Everything measured within normal limits and all babies were first and foremost still alive! They were kicking up a storm waving their tiny hands and feet. You will notice that I refer to Baby A and B as he, and Baby C as she. We DO NOT know sexes. It is just a feeling that I have at this point that Brent shares.  Baby A was the most cooperative and also the smallest located underneath B and C closer to my cervix. According to the doctor, it is common for one baby to be "the runt" and only time will tell if that turns out to be a problem that could potentially result in unplanned early delivery or other issues. Baby B was not so cooperative for the measurements-squirming all over the place before eventually turning his back on us and not coming back even with jiggling and prodding by the ultrasound tech. Baby C was was arching her back and squirming repetitively as if trying to push down on her lower bunk sibling and expand her tiny sac, but eventually gave up and settled down. All three waved their tiny hands to us at one point or another. The ultrasound, though long, flew by because Brent and I would watch them and laugh at their mannerisms all day if we could

In this first picture I labeled my belly with baby locations to help you visualize:

Baby A (heart rate: 141 bpm, length from crown to rump: 6.48 cm)

                     Close up facial profile of Baby A (above) and Reclining (Below)

                      Baby A Waving (Below)

Baby B (141 bpm, 7.45 cm)

                           Only one shot of Baby B who quickly turned his back on us!

Baby C (153 bpm, 7.54 cm)

                            Baby C waving! (above) Reclining (below)

Following the ultrasound we gave our histories to the PA and then met with the specialist who we found to be incredibly friendly and easy to talk to despite her reputation. I had brought a notepad and pen with my questions and notes from home and Brent tried to take it from my lap to take his own notes but I held onto it tightly. The specialist smiled and noticed our tug-of-war and sent her assistant off to get Brent his own pad of paper from the front office :) They were unable to tell the specific cause of the bleeding again, but she said that was not uncommon earlier in pregnancy and frankly did not seem all that concerned about it since the babies appeared to be doing very well. She did say that anytime there is bleeding, however, I should rest for at least a week with no further bleeding before increasing my activity level again. She said that while I am having recurrent bleeds, I will need a rhogam shot every 2 weeks, so they gave me another one in the office today as well as a flu shot. She reiterated that on average triplets are born at 31 weeks and that she considers 35 weeks term for them. She said they would schedule the C section by 35 weeks as long as I haven't had to deliver earlier already for any number of possible complications or pre-term labor that may arise before then.  For those of you who will be able to visit the babies, she emphasized strongly the importance of having a whooping cough (pertussis) booster up to date and flu shot before coming into contact with the babies. Brent and I are both not up-to-date on the booster so will looking into getting that soon. She said that I will not need to see her again until around 20 weeks when they will do a very long anatomy scan and cervical assessment and after that I will see her every two weeks. I assume that in the interim my OB will still want to see me every 2 weeks, and am scheduled to see him again this Thursday too. I am slightly anxious that I won't see her again for 7 weeks, but trust her as she comes with the reputation of being an excellent perinatologist. Their office is definitely busy right now with one other set of triplets, 12 sets of twins, and numerous cases of singletons who are high risk for many other reasons.

Again, thank you all for the prayers. They keep working!

13 weeks 3 days: The Good, the Bad, and the Bloody

TMI Warning: I will warn anyone reading to skip this blog if you don't want to read about blood. But I did vow I would "keep it real" with this blog so that it may help other ladies going through similar situations to know they are not alone.


The good??? Bosley is cancer free according to the biopsy results! He should not need any further surgery unless the growth starts to bother him, which it hadn't to this point at least. What an answer to  prayer :)

The Bad? More blood I am afraid... Quite a bit more than from the last post. This past Thursday-my 13 week mark- I awoke around midnight to some bright red blood when I went to the bathroom. I laid back down hoping it would stop, but when I awoke again at 4:45 am it had increased in flow to the amount you might expect to see with a very heavy unexpected menstrual cycle. I immediately called my (very sleepy) on call OB,  who thankfully was my doctor that morning. He told me that unfortunately, even if I went to the ER again, there is nothing they can do this early in a pregnancy to prevent an occurring miscarriage. He said all anyone can do is to check the babies to see if they are still alive and that he thought I would be much more comfortable doing that later in the morning at his office than in the the ER again. I definitely agreed. Brent held onto me tight back in bed. I got barely a wink of sleep the rest of the morning,  and the 30 or so minutes that I managed I ended up waking both of us up crying out in my sleep from a nightmare. In it, I was having my ultrasound and all three babies looked fine. One was even holding both feet up to his face gleefully sucking on a big toe. Soon  after,  though,  my joy was shattered when we saw three deformed evil gremlin looking creatures in there with him that were cloning themselves for the purpose of harming the babies and me.  Thankfully,  the ultrasound revealed that all babies were still measuring on target with good heart rates,  and they were alone in there! My cervix was measuring a little on the short side at 32.8 cm, but  they were unable to pin down a specific cause for the bleeding via the ultrasound and pelvic exam. My OB told me to plan on indefinite modified bed rest at this point, or at least until further notice. I had originally thought I would definitely be able to work through October, and most likely through November so this was not good news, but I will do whatever I have to in order to keep these babies in there to term, and I hope that this will be enough. Friday in the wee hours of the morning I had some more red blood loss, but not as much as before, so I notified the OB office, and as usual, all they can do is tell me to keep taking it easy. The rest of Friday, Saturday, and most of today had been going well (just some brown blood-which indicates it is old and leftover from a previous bleed). Then tonight, about an hour ago, I got up from lying in the recliner for awhile and felt a warm gush down my legs in my baggy sweatpants. I admit I let out a few expletives as I rushed to the bathroom, only to find that it had indeed been a liquidy blood mixture that had coated my thighs and pants. It seemed to immediately slow down as if it had been pooling for awhile before I stood up. I called my OB who was on call again tonight to let him know, but already knew what he would say. "Lie down, hang in there, and go to your appointment tomorrow." He also playfully said "I really wish you would stop doing this!" You and me both, doc!

So tomorrow-FINALLY- is my first appointment with the high risk specialist that will be very in depth lasting 2-3 hours. I have a list of questions ready for her. I hear she is one of the best out there, but is very blunt and will probably scare me. I don't think much more can scare me at this point after having multiple blood gushes while pregnant with triplets, so I hope she is up for the challenge! I really hope she will be able to tell me what is causing the bleeding and can outline a plan for how we are going to give these babies the best chance of making it.

Again, thank you all so much for the prayers and support- and please keep the prayers coming. I will update again tomorrow after the appointment with hopefully good news!

12 Weeks: The Case of the No Good Very Bad Week

Well this week has not been the greatest. It started out when we brought my not quite 2 year old boxer, Bosley, to the vet to examine a hard lump on the outside of his left front leg near the "wrist" joint. The vet determined with x-ray that it was not bone and he wanted to remove it. While under the knife, he discovered that the growth is deeply adhered to the bone, and thus he did not want to remove it unless absolutely necessary so he took a punch biopsy. After looking at the sample under the microscope, he determined it was made up of a lot of "abnormal" cells that he could not immediately identify which concerned him and caused him to think it may be cancerous. The results of the biopsy should be back early next week. If it is cancerous, Bosley may lose his leg-or worse- and will need to have surgery immediately. I got this news over the phone from the vet and we were not going to be allowed to pick him up until the next morning so I couldn't even snuggle my little guy. Brent was not yet home form work, so I curled up with Harper and cried for awhile worrying about the fate of my sweet, young, energetic boxer who still has so much living to do and love to give. I want our babies to grow up playing with him. Bosley is home now and a bit out of it. He is taking it easy (for him at least!) and we are spoiling him every chance we get! We will consider ourselves blessed to have had him in our lives whether that is 10 more years or a couple months, but we will do everything in our power to keep him happy, healthy, and with us in the mean time.

Until this morning, I had not experienced any concerning complications in my pregnancy. I woke up to some bleeding- a scary sight for any pregnant woman. I called my OB's office and his nurse told me that he was in surgery, so she wanted me to just go straight to the ER. Intuitively, I did not feel that anything was seriously wrong, but due to the high risk nature of a triplet pregnancy, I will do whatever the professionals tell me to do and err on the side of caution. I had never been to the ER here before and had a picture in my head of a crammed waiting room full of wailing children and severed limbs spouting blood, but when I arrived I was the only one there and had the feeling I was in a hotel lobby. I explained what was going on to the lady at the front desk. A tech asked if I needed a wheelchair, I told her I did not think so, and her superior said "oh yes she does!" so into the wheelchair it was. I was wheeled into an intake room where the typical identifying and medical history questions were asked. Brent arrived in there shortly after parking the car. From there it was back to the waiting room. Brent was supposed to wheel me back out there, but couldn't figure our how to release the breaks. "It's like a lawn mower" the nurse said, which was all he needed to hear so he squeezed the two handles together and off we were. Brent must have forgotten that usually you don't have precious cargo like me and 3 unborn children riding on top of the lawn mower, however, and nearly gave me whiplash when he released the break in the waiting room before coming to a stop and the chair came to an immediate jerking halt. I was quite pleased with my ER experience, though. So far. I figured I would get a quick ultrasound to check the status of the babies, and if all was well I would be out of there and back to seeing my home health patients in an hour or two. Not So.  They took me back to the examination room where they put an IV line in to draw several vials of blood and explained that to do the ultrasound, they would catheterize me and pump my bladder full of fluid to improve viewing since I am only 12 weeks. I explained that I have already had 2 ultrasounds abdominally without such drastic measures (one was 4 weeks ago when the babies were only 9 weeks along for goodness sakes and there had been absolutely no problem seeing them!) but they still insisted that it was ER protocol for "early pregnancy" ultrasounds. The ER doc did a pelvic exam and said the cervix was closed and there did not appear to be any bleeding anymore. The nurse came back in with the catheter equipment and youch!  no fun getting it put in, but the worst was the HORRIBLE burning pain (perhaps from the betadine?). Although my bladder was emptying, I still felt like I had to use the bathroom and was in so much discomfort I couldn't keep my legs still. Eventually I was  taken to the ultrasound room where they had to switch my outtake tube to an intake one to pump up my bladder. During the tube switch, the tech managed to leak my own urine all over my leg and gown while unscrewing one and attaching the other. My bladder immediately began to fill and stretch- I thought it was going to explode. He cut off the flow after a minute and said "wow- your bladder filled up fast." I am guessing he didn't mean for me to take in quite so much of the fluid. The ultrasound took FOREVER. I would not have minded if I got to see the babies, but he had the screen positioned so that I couldn't get the slightest peek. The whole time my bladder was filled beyond capacity and he was pressing on it. Torture. He said all of the babies' heartrates looked good and they were all measuring very closely and jumping all over the place. So that means I can get this catheter out and go back to work now, right? Wrong. Even though everything looks great, he still had to write an official report that had to be reviewed by the ER doc before I could get discharge instructions. So after being wheeled back to my room and sitting for several minutes still no one had come to remove my catheter. Finally I hit the call button and someone came to tell me they would go get the nurse to take it out. Another several painful and uncomfortable minutes passed (not to mention smelly from my urine coated hospital gown) and finally it was out and I was rushing to the bathroom to relieve my bladder and change back into my clothes from the dirty gown (even though no one said I could). That felt great except for the insane burning from whatever damage that catheter did on its way in and out. It didn't help any that I KNEW that my babies were clearly visible without all of this catheter madness.

AND THEN. After ALL of this. I received a phone call from my OB's nurse (over 2 hours after she instructed me to go to the ER) saying that she just heard back from my OB and he wanted me to go to their office INSTEAD of the ER. Are you kidding me?!!!!  By then it was way too late and the ER was not going to release me as they had already done all of this testing and admitted me. So after a lot more waiting, and 4 hours after going in, I was free. And you can bet I am not letting any nurse tell me to go to the ER again until they actually speak with one of the OB's in the clinic.

I am not allowed to go back to work until Monday (as long as the bleeding does not persist or worsen). My OB called me about an hour after I left the ER and told me since I am O- he wants me to get a rhogam shot ASAP. He said if blood leaks from one of the babies' sacs and is +,  my body could attack it. So I have to go to the hospital again for that tomorrow morning.

I am ecstatic that the babies appear to be ok,  don't get me wrong. I am frustrated, however, at the fiasco I was put through this morning and the lingering pain from the catheter (not to mention the bills we will be receiving) when it all could have been avoided if my OB's nurse had just told me to come straight to their office, which was ultimately what my OB wanted me to do anyways.

To top it all off, when we got home, I went with the dogs to the backyard while they relieved themselves since Brent had to head right to work. When we tried to come back into the house, the door was locked. You have got to be kidding me! Brent, out of habit,  had locked it before leaving. Thankfully, I had my cell phone, so we were rescued about 20 minutes later. I just had to laugh about it when I tugged on the door and it did not give... Just one of those days I guess.

Ultimately we are just so grateful for these babies and that they appear to be doing well, but I think a little venting was in order after the morning we had :) We are hopeful that this will turn out to be an isolated incident, and are praying that our sweet Bosley will turn out perfectly fine as well. Thank you all for the continued support and prayers!

11 Weeks and Kickin'!

So the babies are figs or limes this week at about 1.6 inches long! I went in Wednesday for another checkup and my OB used a very small portable ultrasound to check on the little ones so unfortunately I won't have any printed pics to share this time! One thing that is so amazing about being pregnant with multiples is how often you get to peek into their world and see their progress firsthand. I could not BELIEVE how much bigger they looked and they lost their stubby little gummy bear limbs and now have long legs and arms and distinguishable little hands and feet flailing around that are visible even viewing on such a small screen. The first one we zoomed in on was jumping all over the place and I thought to myself- "There is Brent's multi-event track and field athlete!!"  Brent was not able to come to this appointment, so I could not wait to tell him. Of course, being the concerned papa he is he immediately asked what did I do to the baby to make it jump all over the place like that. I had to explain that it is normal and good at this stage for the babies to be moving around. All three were moving around some and we were able to see all of their heartbeats still which is always hugely reassuring. We are still waiting for a call from the perinatologist to schedule our first appointment. It seems to be taking quite awhile because, being the only specialist for the entire hospital system, they are incredibly busy. I can't wait for that appointment in part because they will spend around an hour on an incredibly detailed ultrasound with high tech equipment and I would stare at those babies kicking around all day if I could! As of right now, I will be going back to the OB in another 2 weeks for check-up and viewing on the small machine.

Here is the 11 week pic from yesterday with my oldest fur son :)

I am still fluctuating between 9-11 lb overall weight gain so far.

Last week, I saw an adorable 'three peas in a pod' necklace on another triplet pregnancy blog and my husband got it for me:

You can get this necklace with anywhere from 1- several peas in the pod and it can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/sudlow     I love it and wear it proudly!

10 weeks: My baby is the size of a huh?

Well today marks 10 weeks, and according to my Babycenter app, the babies are about 1.2 inches long and the size of 'kumquats.' Am I in the minority if I had no clue what a kumquat was?? Well I looked it up and here they are:

What's that you ask? Did I search google until I came across the perfect picture of EXACTLY 3 sibling kumquats? YOU BET I did :) Such a cute fruit with a cute name, I must say! My Bump app said they were the equivalent size of prunes. If only these babies were more prune-like, I might not have so much immobility down there if you know what I mean, sigh. At least I know that my body is working hard to sap every last nutrient out of my food before finishing with it!

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of going to my first local monthly Mothers of Multiples meeting. The twin mom's I met with in my small group were great, answered any question I could up with, laughed a lot, and really helped me to release some anxiety. I look forward to getting to know them better! I'm also doing weekly prenatal yoga on Thursdays now but am restricted from most of the positions in class since I am still early in my pregnancy. So while everyone else is balancing on one foot and sticking their head between their legs, I am perched regally in 'Queens pose' (basically a reclined stationary relaxing seated position). While it is nice to relax, I look forward to being able to join in on more of the positions in the next couple weeks.

My next OB appointment will be Thursday at 11 weeks, so I'm  looking forward to at least hearing the heartbeats again even if I don't get a full blown ultrasound. With a little extra coaxing from me, my OB has finally sent a referral to the perinatologist so I am hoping they will contact me soon to set up my initial consult.


Now for the 10 week pic with my sidekick: