30w2d...only 6 weeks left!!!

Derek and I took advantage of the beautiful day today and went and attempted our maternity pictures. I can't believe I am putting them up for everyone to see, but ce la vie. Perhaps you will enjoy them. And yes, I edited out my stretch marks. I'm allowed :)

The babies are doing great. Moving and rolling all over the place. It cracks me up to look down and see how asymetrical the belly gets depending on who is where. Emma has been boxing my bladder. I'd like to say it is comfortable, but i'd be lying.

29 weeks and 4 days

Well, I believe week 4 of bedrest officially begins on Friday. Some days are rougher than others. Some days i'm quite lonely and get really under the weather. You would think oh...bedrest. That sounds fun. I can sleep and watch TV. Sure, it was fun for the first couple of days, but not so much after that. However, i am managing. I'm trying to stay optimistic and positive for the babies. The better my over all mental state the better off they will be. After all, it is all about the beans.

Last weeks doctor appointment went well. I lost a few pounds. Which means the fluid is leaving my tissue and there was no protein in my urine. That is good news. It is a sign I am thwarting off the toxemia. The blood pressure was the same. I'll take it! The same means it didn't go higher. I've put myself on a little stricter bedrest than the doctor prescribed. I've also really been trying to watch my sodium intake. I've also upped my fluid intake. It is so dang hard to get all 84 ounces of water in a day, but I do it most of the time. I let myself change it up with milk atleast once a day. Whooo....i'm living now. Today I had orange juice.

Tomorrow is my first NST (non-stress test). I feel so bad for the poor nurse who will be hooking me up. It should be sporty. As much as these guys move and wiggle. Monitoring them for a full 20 minutes should take some serious work.

For the most part I feel okay. It is getting harder to do silly things like get in the car. I get winded much easier. I'm managing though.

And because I know you all want to see...here is the belly shot from today. Derek and I will be doing ourselves a little maternity shoot, but I want to wait another couple weeks. Yes, those are some stretch marks, but considering there are 3, i'm thinking not so bad.

29w4d

By the way, the babies are pretty smooshed up in there, so there may not be ultrasound pictures of them anymore. They haven't been able to get shots of their profiles or faces. Poor babies.

Sigh...

This week marks the beginning of the weekly doctor appointments. I really need everyone to do some serious praying. The BP is still high and I'm scared. I think I am more worried than Dr. Stewart. I came in with elevated blood pressure. When I said to him last week..."i've never had hypertension" his response was, "Well, you have never had triplets either."

So, I did some google'ing and found that watermelon, citrus, and potatoes are suposed to help with hypertension. So, I will be gorging myself on those peticular foods. I am also eliminating every bit of salt I can in my diet. You don't realize what contains salt until you start trying to remove it. I've never been a fan in general, but that means no more pizza, chinese, etc. Derek may starve.

Aside from the hypertension the doctor appointment went well. It was a growth ultrasound. The highlight of the hour and 45 minute scan was seeing little Luke yawn. I have a picture of it, but I still haven't installed the new scanner. I'm so lazy. Anyway, Luke yawned. Little Emma looks great and our little bean David/Katherine is being squished. He/she is the still the smallest. The gap has gotten a little bigger. However, I still technically have over-achievers. They weigh 2lb 8oz - 2lb 13oz. "C" is in the 58th percentile (compared to a singleton) and the biggest of the three is in the 65th percentile (compared to a singleton).

My goal is still to keep them in until 36 weeks. I really do not want them to go to the NICU. For several reasons. Some obvious and some selfish. I will have to go back to work 8 weeks after they are born, I want to be able to spend every single second with them before I go back. I'm going to miss so many things when I go back. I can't stand the thought of it. It makes me queasy thinking about it.

I will be 29 weeks on Thursday. I will update you guys after the doctor appointment. Next week we begin non-stress tests. That should be sporty. As active and wild as these three are...oh that poor poor nurse who has to hook me up.

No more excuses....

I have no more excuses for being behind on the blog. I'm on modified bedrest as of last Friday. I knew it would happen, but I was hoping for atleast another month at work. I wanted to get through Nephrology training. But, we all know that things don't always work out that way. I'm determined to keep these guys in until 36 weeks. I will do whatever the doctor says. I will hang by the ceiling by my ankles if I have to. I will say, since laying on the rear end my legs and feet aren't nearly as swollen as before. And most of the swelling goes away now where before it really never did.
So far on bedrest I have watched endless hours of television. Lots of TLC, Discovery Health, and Food Network.
Okay, the pictures I am posting of the babies are about a month old. We go next week and I am hoping to get more of the 3D pictures. Also, keep in mind that I took a picture of the pictures. I haven't installed the new scanner on my laptop. The picture of me was just taken. I'm 27w1d.

27w 1d
Baby A (I believe this is Emma)

Baby C (as Bert calls "Mystery")

Baby B (I believe Luke...atleast that is the name today)

Whew...23 weeks!

Well, as you see i'm a little behind (again). This working 50 hours a week stuff sucks!
It's hard to believe, but it has already been two weeks since my shower. I had such a wonderful time at home. I really miss my family and my friends. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends in Oh and in Tx, but I really miss my mom. In just a few weeks it will be 9 years since I lived at home. Strange how things change.

Anyway, the shower was wonderful. Jenny, Keri, and Cass did a great job. The theme was "3 peas in a pod". Jenny's husband made some very delicious food. We had stuffed clams, a delicious summer salad, tomatoes stuffed with chicken salad, veggies and dip, pretzels, and fruit salad. It was delicious.

Keri made the cutest little potted flowers. The pots were little white picket fences. So adorable.
Cass (and Derek) gathered a ton of pictures of me from when I was a baby. I only had one emotional outburst. A picture of me with my grandparents popped up. Cass pointed it out, I lost it. You would think that wouldn't happen. After all they have been gone for years. But, aside from just having the crazy hormone imbalances, I really still do miss them. But, these big life events make it harder. I wonder fairly frequently what they would be saying about the triplets. And now of course...the tears come.

Jenny had a friend make my cake. It was adorable. The topper was a pea pod with three little heads. So freaking cute.

Oh and a huge thank you to Jenny's mom and dad. They allowed the shower to be hosted in their brand new home.

I loved it. They really had me in mind when they were putting everything together. I'm so glad I have them as friends. I really am a lucky lucky girl.

The "big" ultrasound was last week. I'm happy to report that all three have 4 chambers of their hearts, good outflow vessels, nicely forming brains, 2 arms, 2 legs each, closed spines, and 3 vessel umbilical cords. We did get confirmation that one is a girl, one is boy, and one is our "surprise". The little girl has long legs and the other two have Derek's arms. Long monkey arms.
In the past two weeks I have started feeling them move. I can see my belly poke out with some of their moves. Poor Derek hasn't felt them yet. They stop moving the second he puts his hand on my belly. My mom has gotten to feel them and a co-worker has. Not Derek...poor daddy.
The other night I was laying on the couch with my feet propped up (it's the nightly ritual). I had the remote laying on my belly. Someone was not happy about the remote invading their space. It was hysterical to watch them kick it. I know I layed there for 20 minutes just giggling watching them and feeling them kick it. I'm not a fan of the rolling. It kinda takes your breath away.

I know my belly is getting bigger and rounder (had to buy new underwear), but since I see it all of the time I didn't realize how much bigger it has gotten. Until..I was looking into my cell phone. I send Cass a picture every other week of the belly. Well, I looked at a picture taken on the 16th. Okay, definately a round belly there. Then looked at the picture from Wednesday. Holy moley...it has really grown. My mom and Mike came up to bring the shower gifts up and to try and finish the new bathroom. They both commented how they had just seen me 4 days before and I had grown more since they saw me.
Does anyone know how to lessen the swelling in the legs and feet?

We bought a new scanner, so hopefully I will get some new baby pictures up soon. For now, enjoy the shower pictures.

Me and Keri
Jenny, Jenn, Keri

Three Peas in a Pod Hershy Miniature

Three Peas in a Pod Cookie

Casserole and Jenn

Opening Gifts

More Gifts

Posing with the cake

Food

The Three Peas in a Pod Cake

We're Half Way There....

20 Weeks!

It's hard to believe I will be 20 weeks tomorrow. I've started to feel them move around a bit. What I find fantastic is last night I went and bought the new Sarah McLachlan CD (we know I love her). Well, when I put it in my car that was when I felt them move really well for the first time. They love Sarah too!!

I have pictures from 19 weeks, but our scanner is broken, so I can't upload them :(

I will tell you we did find out we are having one of each. We will get confirmation of that on Wednesday at our "Big" ultrasound. This coming ultrasound will be atleast a 45 minute scan. They take all of the measurements of each baby. They look at the things I care about. Heart, brain, abdomen, etc. I will be so relieved to hear they have 4 chambers of their little hearts. I'm terrified of having a hypoplast. Not saying it would be the end of the world, but I don't want that for them.

So far, all is good. They seem to be quite happy in there and growing well.

This weeks development says:

Lanugo forms from sebum and skin cells to create vernix. This creamy white substance is believed to help protect the baby. It will cling to the lanugo and in the creases. This is also something that can be seen sometimes after the birth. Rumor has it that nursery nurses use it for hand lotion, because of its smooth, protective quality.
You may be aware of sleep wake cycles in your little one. The weight is now up to 10 ounces (283 grams) and the baby measures about 25 cms total length, about 9.8 inches. Many moms have an ultrasound at week 20. It may be your first peek at baby.




I hope to see everyone next week when I am home for the shower!

It's gonna be a long summer...

17 weeks!!! Wooooo Hooooo!!

I've decided Derek has pregnancy brain. He was getting me a glass of ice water just a bit ago and I heard the microwave go off. I assumed he was warming up a cup of coffee. Nope, he put my ice water in the microwave.

I broke down and turned on the air conditioner this week. The temperature has been getting up to about 80-83ish...now, prior to being pregnant it would need to get up in the the 90's before I would turn on the dreaded air conditioner. Not so much now. I get hot, my feet swell up. And no matter how naked I lay on the couch it isn't cool enough. So, I turned on the air. And a new and strange thing has began happening. I eat and my nose gets stuffy. Today I feel like the inside of my nose is swelling shut. Kinda freaky.

The belly is certainly getting round. When I went to the doctor on Wednesday I had gained a total of 14.5 lbs. I'd like to subtract one of those becuase by the time I got to the doctor I had already eaten my whole grain flat bread with peanut butter, and 40 oz of water. None the less, I'm not gaining a ton of weight. Certainly not so much for having triplets. I wonder if I will be kicked off my flight for the baby shower for being "too fat to fly"...hmmm

Let's see what is going on with the munchkins this week:
Your baby is forming brown fat deposits under his or her skin, by the end of pregnancy this will account for 2-6% of their total body weight. This will help them maintain their body temperature when they are born. The baby weighs in at about 5 ounces (142 grams). This means that the baby now weighs more than the placenta. No new structures have formed. Loud noises outside may actually cause the baby to startle.

Baby A--if you look you can see my hand on my head. I'm a little dramatic already.

Baby B-- See my nose, lips and chin and my cute little round head.


Baby C--Hi, I see you...can you see me?