19 Weeks: Another Week Bites The Dust!

This Week's Developments:
* The babies should weigh in at ~8.5 oz each and 6 inches long head to bottom (about the size of large heirloom tomatos)
* Sensory development is exploding with the brain designating areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch
* They can probably hear our voices now! We're going to have to start putting quarters in the curse jar! ;)
* Arms & legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of the body
* I'm feeling a lot more pokes and little kicks-especially as I'm typing right now!

I apologize if I am not the most upbeat blogger today. I received some disheartening news from my company's corporate office today that conflicted with everything I had been told in the past. The representative apologetically told me that I had received misinformation before, and that after my FMLA ends on 12-21-2012, whether or not my leave of absence is extended will be solely decided by someone at corporate who has never met me. They will consider the length of my leave request, my medical documentation, and either say 'yes' or 'no.' Since I really love my job, co-workers, and patients, and my family (which is about to grow by 3!) is dependent on my income, this news did not come easy. I am praying that the decision comes back in our favor, but the not knowing is scary! After I called my husband to let him know, he texted me a few minutes later: 'I love you so much. Stay strong for the family. God will provide.' God, I love this man! I am so blessed to have him to hold my hand through this journey (as well as to clean, cook, shop, and do laundry!!).

The past few weeks I gathered information on potential nanny candidates for when the babies arrive and I return to work (hopefully with my company!). I narrowed it down to 5 or 6 and interviewed 1-2 a day at my home this week. There are a few who I really liked with good experience and references, so Brent and I will deliberate this weekend and I will call them back next week. All of the finalists are Christians, and I am praying that God will guide us to decide on the best fit who will care for our babies with the most competence and love possible!

Today I saw my OB for a check-in visit. He only listened to the heartbeats on the doppler again and measured my uterus which is measuring at 29 weeks today- 10 weeks beyond where I am actually at in my pregnancy! Next Wednesday I will see the specialist again for another cervix check and the all-exciting growth anatomy scan of the babies. Brent will come to that one because it is always exciting to see the babies for the 1+hour ultrasound and find out how exactly they are progressing.

On a more positive note, I have been feeling the little pokes and kicks more and more lately and can usually feel them externally if I get my hand in the right place at the right time. Brent got to feel a little kick for the first time last week, too :)

Onto the pictures:

19w1d

Total Weight gain: 22 lbs

Brent is on his way home now and is going to take me to get Andy's Frozen Custard to cheer me up. I will probably be measuring 30+ weeks after I get done with that! :)

18 Weeks: Someone Hide the Candy!

This week's developments:
* The girls are about 5.5 in long now and weighing about 7 oz each (the size of bell peppers). I have almost a pound and a half of babies in there!
* Ears are in their final positions
* Each uterus and set of fallopian tubes are formed and in place
* A protective coat of myelin is forming around their nerves (a process that will continue throughout the first year of life)
* Bones are hardening, including the inner ear- they may be able to start hearing my tummy growling and my heart beating

I finally decided yesterday, after getting a lot of advice from other triplet Mom's in a private facebook group, to go ahead and call the perinatologist's office about my contraction symptoms since my OB was not concerned and had not looked into it at all himself.  I was pleasantly surprised that the NP at their office agreed that it was something to be checked out ASAP and scheduled me to come in this morning. This was my first time meeting the NP and this particular ultrasound tech and I loved both of them. They both seemed incredibly knowledgeable and open to me calling any time something seems amiss. A major concern for triplet mommas is the development preeclampsia (high blood pressure) so I am always pleased to hear that mine is still very low- an inheritance from my Father. Today it was 88/44 :) Thanks Dad! We started with an abdominal ultrasound and I could not believe how big (and cramped!) the babies are getting already. I told the tech "I won't mind if you happen to see the sexes while you are there since they weren't 100% sure at my last ultrasound." She chuckled and after checking their heartrates peered between each of their legs (they were all very cooperative little angels today-just like their mama ;) ) and sure enough, definitely all girl parts in there! I was a little worried when the tech looked concerned when she angled the shot at my cervix and said she would need to do the trans-vaginal after all and get the NP to come in, but when they went in to look at it, the cervix looked perfect- closed and 4.1 cm long (anything under 3 cm becomes worrisome). A's head is shoved right up against it, however, which probably explains the pressure I am feeling on my cervix. The NP said gravity is going to be a big factor from now on, so it is still best to avoid a lot of sitting up/standing/walking. She eased my mind further by saying they wanted to see me in the ofice to check my cervix every 2 weeks from here on out, and every other appointment they will also do a long anatomy scan ultrasound on the girls to assess that they are all growing appropriately and in conjunction. Here are a few shots from today's ultrasound:

Baby A Reclining- Heart Rate 133 bpm

(The big circle on the Left is Baby C's head- trying to steal the shot!)

Baby B- HR 133 bpm

 Baby C- HR 136 bpm

So last year, Brent and I had so many trick-or-treaters that we ran out of candy and ended up having to dig through our cabinets to hand out fruit snacks, individually packaged dried fruit strips and whatever else we could scrounge up. That prompted us to buy 2 extra large bags of candy from Sam's Club this year with some backup Reese's peanut buttercups (those would be Brent's otherwise- his favorite). Now, I have craved fruit and sweets pretty much this entire pregnancy, and for awhile there in the beginning fruit was the only food I found appetizing. I was always a salty before sweets person prior to conceiving, so I am definitely a believer in girls causing sweets cravings! So when Brent packaged all of the candy 5 pieces to a bag to hand out for Halloween I was very concerned for 2 reasons- 1) What if we run out since he is lumping so many pieces together for each child 2) What if we run out and I don't have any candy to eat?! Brent assured me that we would not run out and if we did he would buy me the children more candy. Much to my surprise, we had MANY fewer trick-or-treaters this year and I am stuck with WAY more candy than I ever anticipated. The kids we did get were very excited about the amount of candy we were handing out- good job Brent!  I am torn between 'get it out of my house before I eat it all!' and 'stay away from my candy if you value your life!' Amazing how hormones and pregnancy can change you!

In order to get my blog posted sooner, I took my own pics in the mirror instead of waiting for Brent to get home, so here they are!

Total Weight Gain: 20 lbs

First Front Shot

Again, thanks for the continued prayers. They are working!!

17 Weeks: INSOMNIA

This Week's Developments:
* Babies weigh in around 5 oz and are around 5 in long- The size of turnips (not exactly the cutest fruit/veggie thus far!)
* Skeletons are changing from soft cartilage to bone
* Babies can move all of their joints
* Sweat glands are developing
* They have mastered swallowing, sucking, and blinking reflexes and might even get hiccups!

I had my 17 week check-in today with my OB. Unfortunately, he didn't even use the mini portable ultrasound today and just used the doppler listening device for the first time. He placed it in different spots on my belly and we heard a heartbeat in each spot. I'm not entirely convinced it was a DIFFERENT heartbeat in each spot. I mean, everywhere he put the thing on my belly we heard a heartbeat.  He was running late, though, since I had to be squeezed in last minute because the scheduler had messed up and put my weekly appointment 3 weeks after my last appointment instead of today in the system- and thus, they were very surprised to see me today! I did get my uterus measured again and it is measuring at a whopping 26 weeks- which basically means it progressed to 3 weeks larger in the last week alone. How appropriate with triplets. I am now measuring 9 weeks ahead of a singleton pregnancy. I don't think it will be long before I will feel like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

 

I voiced to the OB my concerns about pretty frequent contractions that I have daily, but he just said- "I'm sure it's fine." He also maintains that I will probably gain around 30-40 lbs total with this pregnancy. My research tells me that my contractions should be monitored to determine if they are in fact "real" and causing changes to my cervix, and that I should be gaining a minimum of 50 lbs. I am beginning to think that I know a lot more about triplet pregnancies than he does. I don't blame him considering it is my 24/7 job to link with many many other triplet mom's and forums online and read books exclusively on the subject when he has only had one other triplet pregnancy in his office EVER (I'm not even sure if it was his patient) and that was over 7 years ago. I have decided to try to keep better track of my contractions over the weekend and call the perinatologist's office next week to see if they have a different take on it at all. For now, I will just drink a lot of water and lie down a lot to  limit them, and hope they are just harmless Braxton Hicks.

I tried to con my OB into giving me another ultrasound before my next one at the specialist's office in 4 weeks, but he said I would not need one before then. I told him we really wanted to make sure all the little girl parts still look like little girl parts (I mean, I'm trying to plan a nursery here, doctor!!) but he didn't find that to be a valid enough medical reason for another ultrasound. Oh well, worth a try :)

Onto insomnia... Due to the fact that I am incredibly inactive throughout the day (not by choice, believe me!)  and constantly have a million things running through my mind either directly or indirectly related to my precious trio, sleep evades me at night. I often don't fall asleep until 3 or even 4 am, and even then it is fitful. Brent can attest that I am always grumpy and mean beautiful and refreshed in the morning, however. Right, honey? 

I love the cooler weather, but my dogs use it as an excuse to literally lay on top of me this time of year. I took this picture around 3 am this morning (with all of you in mind) to illustrate my limited sleep space (it is that little square of orange sheet below my pillow and above Harper's face): 

Also with my faithful readers in mind, I voice recorded my husband loudly snoring last night with me chiming in in the background "shut up. stop snooorningggg" as he continued to saw away. We both found it very entertaining to listen to today, as he had never heard himself snore before. Unfortunately, I cannot find a way to upload this type of file to my blog, much to Brent's relief. I will just have to remember to video record it next time ;) To his credit, though, I can usually get him to stop snoring easily with a hard smack gentle nudge.

17 Week 1 day Belly Shot 

Current weight gain: 18 lbs

16 weeks: Daddy is Officially Outnumbered!

This week's developments:

* The babies are about 4.5 in long and around 3.5 oz each (according to my ultrasound they were measuring ahead at 4 oz!) and the size of avocados

* Their legs are much more developed, heads are more erect, and eyes and ears are closer to their final positions

* Toenails have started to grow and the patterning of the scalp has begun

* Their hearts are now pumping 25 quarts each of blood per day

On Wednesday, we had our highly anticipated ultrasound in which they measured various points on the babies' bodies to assess development, and we got to peer between their tiny little legs to determine the sexes! Before we left in the morning, Brent said to the dogs, "don't worry boys, the only way we will be outnumbered is if there are three girls"- like THAT would never happen. The funny thing is that our very first predictions right after the IUI were that we would end up with all girls. I had prayed a lot throughout the 'trying to conceive' journey, and had asked God for a sign when we got pregnant- specifically that he would show me a balloon if I were pregnant and that it would be pink for a girl/blue for a boy. Through several months of failed cycles I did not see a SINGLE balloon anywhere. And believe me, I would scour the streets as I drove all over several counties for my home health job. I had shared this prayer with several people including my mother and husband. This cycle, however, within a couple days of the IUI, Brent, my Mom and I were riding bikes down a busy street by the ocean and all of a sudden, out from an alleyway,  shoots a single pink balloon right in front of my bike- bouncing across the pavement as it was blown by a breeze. I pedaled hard to reach my Mom who had gotten ahead of me while I had stopped to watch the balloon in awe, and exclaimed, "a pink balloon just bounced out into the street in front of me!" She knew exactly what I was talking about.  I was filled with hope that this cycle was going to result in pregnancy. Brent and I shared what had happened with his Mother who was coming to the beach to visit us. When they were leaving the hotel to head back to New York, she called to tell us that on their way out they had seen a car FILLED with pink and white balloons. Another sign? Maybe my womb is FILLED with baby girls? That had me convinced for quite awhile that we were having a girl, and after the first ultrasound- that we were having all girls! Over time, with a little wishful thinking and good 'ol statistics, we changed our minds and thought we were having a mixture. My cousin sent us this chart after finding out about the girls to illustrate the possibility of the different sex combinations with triplets:

As you can see, odds are much higher to have a combination of sexes with fraternal triplets. That being said, this ultrasound was not unlike our very first one when she saw not one, not two, but three heartbeats!  Instead this time she saw not one, not two, but three girls! To be completely honest, we did experience a few minutes of "are you kidding me?" all over again. What parent wouldn't hope for a combination with triplets when they have no other children, and will not plan to have anymore after this? But after that few minutes of initial shock, we were right back to being ecstatic that we still have 3 healthy babies in there, and could not be more excited to being having 3 beautiful girls. God's plan is perfect, and if he is giving us three girls, neither of us would change that for anything.
Needless to say, I had to spend the last few days going through all of the boy clothes I bought at the Just Between Friends Sale to determine which could be unisex (most can, thankfully) and re-working our Amazon.com  registry to reflect a lot more pink! Below are some shots of the girls' girl parts from the ultrasound (which are very hard to see uploaded on here-there is a small arrow in each image pointing between the legs):

Baby A

 Baby B

Baby C

This one wasn't labeled so not sure who it was:

Baby A's heart rate was 143 bpm, Baby B-140, and Baby C-120. My OB was not concerned over Baby C's HR, stating that it was within normal limits and was probably lower because she was not being as active as the other two this morning. Baby B had been kicking up a storm most of the time! All three were measuring in at 4 oz, which is perfect. From the abdominal ultrasound, they did not see any evidence of cervical funneling and it appeared longer than at the last ultrasound (4.06 cm- up from 3.28cm 3 weeks ago) so it seems that the bedrest has been helping that, at least. He measured my uterus for the first time and it already measures 7 weeks ahead- at 23 weeks- and is likely to just grow exponentially ahead of a singleton uterus from here on out! 

As many friends and family know, Brent and I have been discussing baby names since long before we got pregnant. We settled on first names for 2 girls and 2 boys after learning that we were having three since we knew that most likely we would have a combination.  After the appointment, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Pretty much the whole lunch Brent spent on his phone looking up baby names and tossing some out there with a lot of "No's" from me. You knew we were getting tired of discussing names when he started suggesting objects in the room and random items that popped into his head.  "Aquafina?" "No" "Lamp?" "No". We ended up keeping only one of the two girl names we had settled on originally, Michaela, and adding back in the first one we had ever loved but had strayed away from- Hayley- to the list of possibilities. Kennedy came up on the phone search and we thought that wasn't bad. I called my sister to see what she thought. Since she is expecting a little boy, she whipped through a list of girl names that they had considered. Of those, Reagan really stood out to us. It didn't take long to determine that we couldn't have a Reagan AND Kennedy, unless we wanted to name the third one Hoover or something. We decided of the two, Reagan was our favorite. Late into the night we pondered middle names. We really wanted to have a theme like Faith, Hope, and Joy, but after throwing around the many combinations, decided that Grace is also a wonderful virtue and sounds better with Reagan-at least to our ears. To make it officially official (since we had gone back and forth so many times in the past- we decided to 'kiss on it' and announce it on facebook). The funny thing is, it took us around 10 minutes to just agree on the wording of the facebook post to announce the names. It really makes you wonder how the two of us EVER agreed on 3 combinations of 6 names!

16 Week Picture:

I have heard many people are wondering how Bosley is doing. As you can see, he is doing great-completely back to his bouncy mischievous self. I removed his stitches last week and his ankle has healed up nicely- he doesn't pay it any mind at all :)

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!