10 day Milestone Surpassed!!

We are so excited that we have passed the 10 day mark with no major complications. Ok, so a brain bleed or two and a heart surgery are definitely "major," but as I looked at these little babies today, I can confidently say they are doing terrific! Actually there really isn't a whole lot of new news today other than a few cute milestones. Both of Claire's eyes are now open, however now that they both are, the Dr's have filled them with gunk so you really can't tell. They use this gunk in all babies and it should be gone in a couple days and then we should hopefully see her with both eyes open, we are really excited. Slade too has opened one eye and they figure he should have both open and filled with gunk in the next 24 hours. Miss Ella is trying as hard as she can but with the ventilator and pain meds I think she may take some extra time. But it is cute to watch her lift her eyebrows wayyyy up trying her hardest to break that seal. She is still ventilated but again they have turned down the pressure so hopefully by the end of the weekend she'll be back to the Cpap machine like her siblings. Oh and finally, all three babies have now exceeded their birth weights (like any full term baby, they lose a little before gaining again)! Its not much but I love to know they are growing and that one day they will get to come home sometime this year, we can't wait!

Below are short video clips of each of the babies on their 10 day milestone (for those who don't remember the Dr's told us that 80% of the severe issues happen in the first 72 hours and the remaining in the first 10 days).

Miss Claire


. Slade

Miss Ella

Quick Ella Update

Just wanted to pop in real quick and let you all know that Ella's surgery went just as planned and she is doing just fine. We got to see her right after the surgery and even saw the incision which is tiny. The sedative should wear off by evening although she will be on pain meds for a few days. The next couple of days the doctors said she will be sicker than usual (breathing issue, blood pressure and heart rate drops) but that is completely normal as her body gets used to these "new settings." Depending on how she is doing will determine how long she is on the ventilator. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I will try to write more this evening after I get updates on the other two. Oh...and Claire opened one of her eyes all the way today, it was sooo exciting for me to watch!

My First Ella Touch & Heart Murmur Update

Today was a bittersweet day. While Slade and Claire had a few too many beeps on their machines while my mom and I were visiting, they were minor beeps for things like oxygen dropping 1 pt to high or too low. However, it quickly was always able to resolve itself. Claire has been eating and digesting well and they were planning on starting Slade's feeds back this evening. The reason Slade gets to try eating again is because his echocardiogram came back and the medicine healed his heart perfectly, yippppeee!!! On the other hand, while Ella's was improved, it did not seal the opening as they would like. Therefore, tomorrow at 11am Ella will be having a minor heart surgery to correct the issue. You ask how I say "minor" and "heart surgery" in the same sentence and all I can say is that's what multiple Dr's and nurses have told us. In total the surgery takes about 30 min. and they do these approximately 4 times a day. So while we wish the meds would of worked on her as well, at least this procedure seems extremely common. Afterwards she will be on sedatives and a ventilator for anywheres from 3-5 days while she recoups. She will stay in her same house in the same room so we will be able to visit her whenever we like. Please keep her in your thoughts as she undergoes this procedure and gets to start eating and fattening up again real soon!

Below is a video of the first time I've gotten to touch Mrs. Ella. My hand looks huge and while it is quite swollen it should give you a good idea of her size.

Yeah for an A+ day!

So today we decided it was an A+ day because all the news leaned to the right direction. After two doses of the heart medicine, the Dr. said he could barely hear Ella's murmur anymore and could not hear Slade's murmur at all, yippee! They have one more round of meds tonight and will have another echo cardiogram tomorrow to check and see if its been resolved. Next Slade & Claire are handling their lights being off very well, and its just so awesome to see their little eyes. I just can't wait until their eyes defuse so I can see their little eyelids open and shut, soooo cute! All babies had very few apnea's today although Claire has tuckered out a bit more and her rate was increased by 5, which in the scheme of things is really not a big deal. Being the only one eating due to the heart meds, Claire is creating a name for herself as quite the champion eater and ummmm after eater:) Tomorrow we are hoping the echo's come back with healed hearts, Ellas's lights go off, and all babies begin eating and breathing better and better each day! Way to go babies!

As for me and Brian we also had a good day. To start off I had no fever and was able to visit the babies twice. Brian had to go back to work but was also still able to go visit them. My wonderful sister in law, Amy, babysat me all day so I felt really good (thanks Amy)! At the NICU I noticed that Ellas eye patch had shifted down and when I told the nurse she said, "well reach in there and fix it." Ummmm... little eyes with my big pain pill induced fingers... this shot terror through me but with a steady hand and happy heart I completed my first mom task! I then got to cup her little bottom with my hand to help settle her down and I truly never wanted to leave. Brian had the privilege of seeing Slade yawn which he said was really awesome. So all in all a really great day!

Today I share with you pictures of their diapers vs. that of a regular newborn diaper to show how little they truly are(thanks for the pic Holly). Also here is a picture looking out from our hospital room that I thought was nice. More baby pics are soon to come, just have to figure out how to take them without their lights on now but still not use a flash...

Happy 1 Week Birthday Babies!!!

So today for me was another day on the NICU banned list and while it wasn't what I wanted, I did get some much needed rest. Now the good part is I didn't have a fever all day however I just took my temp and it was 99.5, is that a fever? I guess I'll call in the morning and find out, I sure hope its not!

As for babies, all of their biliruben lights were turned off since their labs had all come back good (to learn more about some of these terms, visit (http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/growing/preemies.html?tracking=P_RelatedArticle). Slade and Claire handled it great, however Ella's had to be turned back on. The good part of these lights being off other than the great development, is the fact that their eye masks are gone and you can see their little faces (so Brian tells me). All of them were able to tolerate their last feedings and all have gained a couple of oz. of body weight (still not back up to their birth weights yet though). Slade had another head scan and the dr.s and radiologist now consider him "normal" without any bleeds, yipeee! And finally since the babies are 1 week old, they are decreasing the humidity in their houses to start them on the path to normal outside air rather than "womb" like air. S0 that's the good news for today, and we love it!

So now for the less good news. Slades rate had to be increased to a 40 on his Cpap machine due to too many breathing episodes. The dr. said he is doing much better at this rate. However, after 40 the next option is using the ventilator, so we are really hoping he starts breathing better. Claire finally tuckered out a bit on room air so she also had a rate added in of a 20, which they expected would probably happen at some point. As for Ella's bleed, they retested and the good news is it does look like its improving. However they tell us that while that is a good sign, any damage is already done so we will have to keep a close eye on her and her development over the next 2 years. It also turned out that both Slade and Ella have the heart murmer flap thing and have begun medicine to help it heal. It turns out it is very common and in 80% of cases the meds take care of it and no surgery is needed. The good part is, fixing this issue can dramatically improve breathing function which Slade could really use. While its not something you ever want to hear that your child has to have, I feel very positive about it (another triplet mom in Buda had the same with one of her little ones and she is doing just fine now). So thats that, the sky didn't fall and our wonderful little ones made it through a roller coaster of a week. Happy Birthday Ella, Slade & Claire!!

Oh, here is a description of the heart situation and below is a short video where the nurse showed me Claires eyes for a moment a few days ago. Enjoy!

Patent Ductus Arteriosus
The ductus arteriosus is a short blood vessel that connects the main blood vessel supplying the lungs to the aorta, the main blood vessel that leaves the heart. Its function in the unborn baby is to allow blood to bypass the lungs, because oxygen for the blood comes from the mother and not from breathing air. In full-term babies, the ductus arteriosus closes shortly after birth, but it frequently stays open in premature babies. When this happens, excess blood flows into the lungs and can cause breathing difficulties and sometimes heart failure. Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is often treated with a medication called indomethacin or ibuprofen, which is successful in closing the ductus arteriosus in more than 80% of infants requiring these medications. However, if medical therapy fails, then surgery may be required to close the ductus.

Babies, Fevers & Bra's

For the most part today was a good day but had kind of a sad ending for myself and my fever escapade. The babies again have been doing well with very minor issues thus far. Due to my fever being gone I got to go see the babies, yipppeee!

Ella: Today did great with zero heart rate or breathing issues! Also they began her back on 1cc feedings and she tolerated it great both times! I got to watch Brian change her diaper and she was actually very calm compared to what I had witnessed with Claire.

Slade: This little boy just makes me so nervous all the time. While he did well with his breathing again today, he had several heart rate drops which scares us. The nurse said that just his "MO" and needs a little help each time to get it back up. The good thing is his oxygen level stay high so it doesn't really affect anything except Brian and my heart rates. He tolerate about half his feed but they tried again this evening and so far so good. I got to touch him today and although it was with gloves it was nice to actually touch a baby finally!

Claire: As usual Claire did great with here heart rate and breathing and tolerated her feedings for the most part. The only issue she had was low blood sugar today for which they gave her some insulin. The nurse tells me this is in no way related to diabetes but rather just her pancreas learning how to work... "not something to be worried about." If Claire continues to do so well, next week Brian will begin what is known as "kangaroo care" with her. This is when he holds her bare chest to bare skin daily. It has been proven that babies who do this thrive and gain weight much faster than those who do not. Brian is very excited but nervous to hold his hopefully by then 2lb daughter (I can't do this until no fever for a week, sad).

As for me, while I was soooo excited to see the babies and get released from the hospital, my joy was short lived. I woke up from a nap around 6:30 with the chills and a 101.4 fever again. We called the Dr. and she said to hold off coming in unless it reached 102 and otherwise we will just run some more tests on Monday. It fluctuated on and off all evening and is now gone, but so is my opportunity to go see the babies tomorrow. You cannot have a fever and go to the NICU within 24 hours. So sad and just really hoping I can keep from getting one tomorrow and can see our babies again on Monday.
On another note, Brian and I had made so many jokes about the contraption below when looking at pregnancy magazines. We thought it had to be a joke/gag gift. Well after almost a week of pumping, I am now a proud owner and think it may be the best invention in the world:)

Diaper Change!

Well, I'm not even going to give today a rating because we had mixed feelings all day. However, I can say that right now I'm just on cloud 9. Today I have had 6 bags of IV antibiotics and will have two more in the middle of the night as well. I haven't had a fever since around 7pm yesterday so it looks like its working, yippeee! Chest xray was clean so as long as I don't have a fever by 9am tomorrow, I get to go home. The best part of all of this was I got to go see the babies this evening and it was great!!

Before I get into my visit, my afternoon update, while not bad was not spectacular either. All three babies were having a hard time tolerating their food and so the Dr. stopped their feedings until tomorrow. They have IV calories so its ok, but we always hope for things to get better and better and its hard when you have a little setback. Second, Slade & Ella had alot more breathing issues today than typical. In fact Slade had more "apnea's" this morning that he had in the previous 24 hours. So they increased the amount of oxygen pushes (still not on ventilator though) and gave them some caffeine. Since this, Slade has had one small episode and Ella zero, so we are soooo pleased it is working. Claire's breathing as usual is doing fine and we are so grateful! The only other kind of negative today was that there was a new neonataligist and he leans to Ella's brain bleeds being on the higher side than the previous doctors. However, the majority still says its lower grade so we are leaning with them for now. All three babies will be rescanned next week to see how they are doing. So as today seemed liked a small step backwards, the past few days they've been taking several steps forwards. Hopefully tomorrow will be a step in the right direction.

As we were visiting with Slade this evening, we actually heard Claire crying from about 15 feet away in an enclosure (the nurses were right she is quite noisy). So we ran over there and got this video of her diaper being changed (you may want to play it and do something else and then replay once fully loaded so it doesn't end up jerky). Please excuse the terrible music as its the only song my computer was letting me attach. Also below is a picture of Slade since I haven't posted one in awhile. All the babies are so long and skinny and we just can't wait for them to get some meat on their bones!!!

Day 5 - New Bows & Bloodtypes

Today again I would say is a A type of day. The babies are doing terrific and have all had their amount of food given per serving from 1/2cc to an entire 1cc. While this is not a ton of added nutrition, it helps their digestive system to develop (the remainder of calories is given via IV). So far they are handling the increased food well so hopefully we'll be able to increase that dosage every few days. The only new item was the Dr. thought she might of heard a slight murmur when listening to Slade's heart. She said that that was extremely common in preemies and in most all cases they resolve themselves on their own. They will keep an eye on it but for now she said it was a "non-issue" (but they are required to tell us everything). Otherwise, they are going strong and while there wasn't much news today to report, we now have realized that is exactly what we are looking for, no news is good news!

As for me, I'm another story. I did really well overnight and the labs that came back, came back normal. I lost around 4 units of blood during the surgery and they think that it may take a few months to regenerate it and that can lead to me being so exhausted and dizzy. However, they didn't know what was causing the fever so I am still here in the hospital. Around 4pm today I woke up with the chills again to discover I had a 102 fever after having nothing all day, so annoying! So they are still awaiting some more blood cultures and have started me on IV antibiotics. The worst part of all of this is I can't see the babies and its now been almost 2 full days, sad! In addition, they have had to move the babies to milk donated from the Mothers Milk Bank since my milk is "tarnished." So hopefully, these antibiotics will work and I can go see them sometime this weekend and start being able to provide for them again.

Oh on another note, we found out that ALL the babies have Brian's blood type, O+!!! I know it doesn't matter, but I sure was hoping for one A+ baby:)

One of the respiratory technicians in the NICU had some extra time on her hands and made Ella & Clair hair bows.... sooo cute!

72 Hours are up!

Yippee we have all survived during the 72 hour period where most preemie babies have the most difficulty if there is going to be anything. Now the next 10 days are important as well, but the 72 milestone is HUGE!

So I'm giving today an A day. It would of been an A+ day but now I'm causing the problems. This afternoon I began feeling very warm and then had uncontrollable chills. They took my temperature and came back with a 101.3. They gave me a combo of percocet, Motrin and Tylenol to reduce the fever however it did not work. To make matters more fun, my blood pressure was elevated and my resting heart rate got up to 133...yikes! So they drew a ton of blood which is funny since they said I lost so much during the surgery and they took a urine sample via my favorite tool, the catheter:) Anyhow, we are now awaiting results and I am already feeling a lot better. My temperature is down to 99.8 and my heart has stopped racing. I will post more when I have some results, but for now my doctors best guess is either a kidney infection or milk issues. So now lets get to the good news, the babies!

Starting with our rock star, Claire has done just amazing once again today. They have stopped pushing oxygen for her so she is now breathing 100% on her own the oxygen that naturally flows. Second, her blood levels have continued to be so steady that they have removed her from antibiotics and have also removed the IV that they were using to take blood (now they just prick her foot). The nurse told us she has never heard a baby this small, cry so loud and its just a great indicator of her lungs. Finally, she was being a little rambunctious so the nurse asked Brian to cup his hand around her rear to calm her, it was soooo sweet (the nurse took a shaky video below)!!!

Next our little fighter, Slade, has also done remarkably well today. He too has had his antibiotic and IV line removed due to fantastic blood results. In addition, he is digesting food very well and has had another bowel movement. The coolest part is that today Brian was allowed to change his diaper TWICE including using a wipe, soooo exciting, I wish I could have been there (can't go to NICU with fever).

Finally, little Ella also had some great reports for the day. The new brain bleed scans came in and what they thought yesterday was a possible 3 & 4 level bleed have now been diagnosed as a fading level 1 and a borderline 2/3 bleed. The Dr's and us were so pleased!! However, because the two tests were soooo different, they will retest again in 2 days. Regardless, it seems its alot more common to see shadows or blood that isn't there than to have a clear scan and actually have a high grade bleed. So we are soooo thrilled and this has taken a huge weight off our shoulders.

The only "incident" type occurrence that we are beginning very soon are giving the babies extra blood via transfusion. They have to run so many tests and the babies only have limited amounts of blood so while this sounds scary, its actually protocol. Brian is in talks with the NICU regarding using his own blood for the babies that have O+ (We know Claire is the same, but are waiting on the other babies.) I think this is just so neat and hope that we can work it out!

Thank you again for your prayers and well wishes, today is a very good day!

The Trio - Day 3

Well we are rating today a B+ day. The babies have all done very well, still not on ventilators and still handling their food well. Slade did have a drop in his heart rate and they had trouble getting it up for nearly a minute which is scary, however another thing that is very common in babies of his size. The good news is, his oxygen level remained high during this drop and therefore shouldn't of caused any permanent ill effects, just super scary. On the good side, he had two bowel movements, so he has officially joined the digestion club! Clair was deemed a "rock star" and is increasingly doing well with no incidents to report. The nurses tell us Ella was as active as ever and while she had a couple breathing apnea's, their was nothing serious and overall she had a good day.

So as for the brain bleed scan, we received good news for the most part. We were aware that any baby born before 28 weeks has a very high chance of having some sort of brain bleed whether it be mild or major. They rate these bleeds on a number scale from 1-4 depending on the severity. A level 1 or 2 is nothing to really worry about as most babies with these levels are able to heal on their own and almost always develop normally. A level 3 can turn out to be fine, or it can lead to developmental delays, its a coin toss. Level 4's "are at higher risk of having developmental delays, cerebral palsy, or learning disorders, and a few may not survive."

So... we were amazed and so happy to report that Claire actually had ZERO bleeds which is soooo rare in an infant of this term! This is a very very good sign for her future. In addition, we were thrilled that the tiniest little baby, Slade, was diagnosed with a small level 1 bleed, which again is a very good indicator that he will have no increased risk of developmental delays. Now the part we didn't like. Two of the neonatalagists and the radiologist could not agree on Ella's rating, however there was definitely a bleed in the 2-4 range with them leaning towards a level 3 bleed. Now with that being said, they did say that sometimes really active babies can skew the scan and therefore they are redoing it tomorrow morning until the three of them can agree on an accurate consensus. So we are definitely hoping that tomorrow she returns with a level 3 or below... the lower the better. Overall, we are happy with the results knowing how fortunate we are that 2 of them had such great scores. With that being said, it sure would be nice to have a better report tomorrow:)

The Trio - Day 2 (plus video)

Well today is another glorious day as the trio has continued to thrive. At one point Slade did have too many breathing episodes and was temporarily put on a ventilator but this morning was taken off and since then all three are only on the Cpap (A nasal CPAP device consists of a large tube with tiny prongs that fit into the baby's nose, which is hooked to a machine that provides oxygenated air into the air passages and lungs. The pressure from the CPAP machine helps keep a preemie's lungs open so he or she can breathe. However, the machine does not provide breaths for the baby, so the baby breathes on his or her own). The babies have also been treated with some caffeine to also help with their breathing. Otherwise, they are doing great. All three babies are tolerating feedings well and both the little girls have had bowel movements which is a great sign. The NICU doctor today reinforced how great they were doing especially considering they were triplets (typically you may have one or two trips doing well, but not usually all three babies).

So we are past the 36 hour mark with great success, we just need to keep the momentum. Tomorrow morning, all three will have brain scans to determine if they have any brain bleeds, which are very common with premature infants. If they have any 0, 1 or 2 level bleeds, there is no increased risk of any serious developmental consequences. However, if there are higher levels, there can be future issues anywhere from wearing glasses to cerebral palsy. So please again keep us in your thoughts as we await these very important results.

Oh, and Claire has opened her eyes! We are still waiting for the other two, but it should happen within the next few weeks.

Thank you all again for your prayers and well wishes, we appreciate it! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Below is a short video that Brian and Doug took today of Ella. She is our active baby although you can't really tell from this video.

The Trio has Arrived!

Hello friends! Well we are surprised as can be that our little ones were born so soon. I had my cervix checked Friday at 4:30 and it was still in the 4's and perfect. Well Saturday night at about 6:30pm I had a few back spasms. Then they started to get more regular and hurt so we decided to go to l&d to get some pain medicine. I was having zero tightening in the front areas at all. At the hospital the monitor showed I was not having any contractions but the pain was getting worse and worse. She said she'd give me some meds and prob. let me go home but first would do a cervix check... She felt a head! They started me on steroids and magnesium (to stop the contractions that the monitor said I wasn't having) right away and after two hours and a double dose of mag I had ZERO response. I also had zero response to the morphine..fun. She checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 4, so they decided my only option was an emergency C Section. I was given steroids immediately to help develop the babies lungs (a miracle drug).

The C-section went well and our little girls and boy were brought into this world. The Dr's. were very amazed at their weights (1lb15oz, 1lb11oz & 1lb7oz) and said it was very good for 25 weekers. In addition, they have not needed any ventilation and have been breathing oxygen on their own via cpap which is amazing (so said the doctor). As of this evening they were doing so well, the NICU is giving them a small amount of my colostrum to help even more. The next 72 hours is very important in regards to brain bleeds but at this point they have said the prognosis is very good due to the advanced sizes and lung capability of the babies. They figure that they may still need to be ventilated at some point but aren't too concerned. We are of course nervous but optimistic and trying our bests to believe all of the Dr's and nurses positive outlook. We have named them Ella (1lb15oz - 13 inches) Claire (1lb11oz - 13 inches) & Slade (1lb7oz - 12 inches).

Please keep our little babies in your thoughts that they make it through this crucial time and continue to amaze all the doctors.

These pics are immediately after delivery and are in order by Ella, Slade & Claire. More pics to come now that the babies have been all cleaned up!

Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy

If you can say that title three times fast, I'll give you a dollar... Just kidding. So unfortunately the liver test that I wrote about in my Baloo post came back positive and I have the extremly rare (about 0.01%)pregnancy condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy or ICP. This is a bad thing for sure. You can google it for more information but basically its when the pregnancy hormones cause the liver and gallbladder not to work properly and your bile acids flow over into your blood stream. It is much more common in pregnancies with multiples and women of Scandinavian decent, both of which I am privy to. The symptoms of this disease of course are severe itching and sometimes jaundice (appears two weeks after the itching, so I'm still hoping I don't get this part). The only "cure" for this condition is to have your babies. However, at this point the babies are still safer in my belly than out, so that's not happening...yet. Unfortunately, the real problem is that these bile acids are extremely dangerous to the babies because their placentas cannot filter them. Therefore, it causes an increase in preterm birth, fetal distress and raises the rate of stillbirth 5 times that of a normal pregnancy. To make matters even more fun, it also makes it difficult for my body to absorb Vitamin K which makes the blood clot, thus leading to an increase in maternal hemorrhaging during delivery.

Now, with all of that really bad news, if you search a little deeper into the google database you'll find that first the risk of me actually dying during birth is extremely rare and that they can give me a shot of vitamin K first to ensure my blood clots (thanks goodness for modern medicine). Second, while the risk of the babies dying nears 10%, almost all of those cases are when the mother chooses to wait until after 36 weeks for the babies to be born, which we certainly are not going to do.

So what are we going to do? First, they started me on ursodiol acids yesterday that will help decrease the amount of toxic bile in my system and help the placentas to keep these away from the babies. Second, I will see the high risk doctor on Tuesday and then every other week from now on to make sure the babies are growing OK and that their fluids are OK. Third, beginning at 28 weeks (they can't do this earlier) I will begin doing a Non-Stress Test (NST's) on the babies weekly to bi-weekly to make sure the babies aren't in any sort of danger in regards to their hearts, reflexes or breathing. Around this time I will also begin taking steroid shots to develop the babies lungs quicker in case of an emergency delivery. If any of these test show fetal distress, we will do an immediate C-Section.

So while this is definitely not something we could of ever guessed would happen, we were aware of the high risks that came with a triplet pregnancy. We too were aware that it wouldn't be very comfortable. With that being said, I did think uncomfortable was due to being so freaking big, not because you had severe itching that even extended inside your ears and throat...ah live and learn. But we can handle this. The outcome prognosis is very good if all the proper precautions are taken. I will say though, officially, that I am DONE being the less than 1%, I don't even want the winning lottery ticket, I just want this pregnancy to work out with three healthy babies.

Hooray 25 Weeks & Babies all still in the Belly!

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture. Heartbeat can be heard through a stethoscope or, depending on the position of the baby, by others putting an ear against your belly. The structures that form the spine start to form around pregnancy at 25 weeks, and blood vessels in the lungs continue to develop this week. Other things that are shaping up during pregnancy at 25 weeks include our baby's nostrils, which may open up by the end of this week. As your baby becomes more dexterous, he will be able to touch and hold his feet. Babies also begin to prefer their left hand or right hand at this time. Because babies settle into routines of sleep and activity, you might begin to notice these patterns as well.

Due to it being triplets, I cannot get a 3D ultrasound done, but if I could, this is a picture of approximately what it would look like at 25 weeks...

The Bear Neccesities

Lately, I cannot get this song out of my head...the simple bear necessities, forget about your worries and your strife...hmmm hmmm hmmm... This is not due to my love of Baloo or my dreaming of a trip to the tropics, but rather that scene where Baloo is singing this song and rubbing like crazy up against a tree because he is sooooo itchy! For about a week now, everything itches... well except for my stomach and the bottom of my feet. I've even woken up scratching my own palms, eyebrows, you name it. I've tried the Aveeno oatmeal bath, the Dr. Palmer's lotion, Benedryl and nothing gives a bit of help. Its funny though because I almost didn't tell the Dr. the other day because typically when I tell them of some new discomfort their response is, "yeah, well, being pregnant with triplets is going to be uncomfortable." But this time I mention it and I see her ears perk up and she acts like I should of brought this up much earlier. Turns out it can actual be a liver function problem that appears in pregnancy especially with multiples. So they ran a blood panel and I am awaiting those results. Honestly, I hope its negative and its just all the increased blood flow that I also know can cause itchiness, but I guess we'll see. How about you other preggers out there, did you experience this at all during your pregnancy???

Head to Head

Well I think this is the longest time I've had between posts, however there isn't much going on...thankfully! I've been keeping busy with vistors and my sister has actually spent the last few nights. I got to see my nieces which was great, although I'm sure they are starting to think I'm awful boring (however they still pretend that they think I'm cool). My mom has been keeping me fed with omlets and Brian with baked potatoes. Now if I could just find someone to bring me a midnight snack each night (haven't gained any weight in 3 weeks now and drs. tell me I must eat more, as if the 4000 calories a day I'm supposed to eat is easy to obtain)!

I have also started to get quite uncomfortable. I mean I've been kind of uncomfortable for awhile but this week I started to find it hard to sit correctly or lay on my left side. It felt like the baby that was on my bladder had scooted over to the left and was pressing into my pelvis/hip. Well today I go to the Dr. and sure enough he/she had and to make it even better, baby B has flipped and now is also head down. So basically I have two large heads squeezed between my hip bones, so awesome:) To make me feel even less crazy for feeling so uncomfortable, today I measured a humongous 43 weeks large (a women usually gives birth when she is 40 weeks with one baby)! All in all it was a good visit though with everything looking great! My next appt. is Tuesday where they will measure the babies again. So now its just a matter of trying to get as comfortable as I can and trying to limit the whining as much as I can (I'm not doing a very good job with this one as of late).

Here is a picture of how the babies are laying approximately, enjoy!

Labor & Delivery - Trip 2

Yep, my joy of being 24 weeks was short lived as I ended up in the hospital at around midnight on Friday. Brian was out of town and my friend who was coming to stay ended up not being able to come until the next morning. So I was at home getting ready for bed when I lost a little piece of me that I didn't think I should lose for a very long time (for those who don't know what I'm talking about, you probably don't want to). So I called the Ob on call and they told me to come to L&D once again. So I packed up a bag, called my mom and off we went to St. Davids. I had a couple minor contractions but nothing crazy but they still wanted to monitor me overnight to make sure I wasn't in labor. From 3am until I left I didn't even have a single contraction so they were very happy. When morning came they had the on-call perinatalist come in to make sure the babies were still ok and to take a look at my cervix. Turned out it was my favorite MFM doctor and I was very happy to see him. He looked at the babies and they were all doing better than great. They had each grown 5-6oz in 1.5 weeks which is way above normal and their sizes, sacs and placentas were all great. He then looked at my cervix and it measured a 4.37 which is 1.37cm longer than the average for a triplet mom at 24 weeks (even the average for a single baby mom is only a 4 at this stage.) So he told me I was doing great and was handling the triplet pregnancy very well. Ummmmm if that's the case why in the hello kitty am I in the hospital again right? Well he said that losing that piece isn't necessarily a sign of impending labor in a triplet pregnancy and that it can regenerate itself (gross). He said I could still hold these babies for another 10 weeks regardless. However, he also said that every day is a new day in this type of high risk pregnancy and I could also have the babies tomorrow. So with that, they discharged me and put me back to 100% bed rest other than bathroom breaks and a shower every other day, fun.

So, today I am trying to stay happy that these little ones are still cooking and ward off the bed rest blues that are already starting to appear. So any hope, prayers, wishes you have to spare, please send them our way, these babies need every thing they can get!

Baby A - 1lb 9oz
Baby B - 1lb 5 oz
Baby C - 1lb 8 oz
Avg. weight of singleton at 24 weeks - 1lb 3oz

Yippeeeee 24 Weeks!!!!!!

Each of your babies now weigh over a pound and are approximately 12 inches long. Space is getting very cramped inside now and you most likely look like you could have the babies at any time! Week 24 marks a special time for you. This is generally the week that is considered the week of viability for the babies. Although your babies still need time to grow and finish the `final touches`, there is an 85% chance of survival if they were born now. Of course, your babies would need to spend a few months in a NICU for advanced care. However, almost half of babies born at this time will have some kind of lasting effect from being born prematurely.

Your babies will have periods of rest and awake times throughout the day, but they may not coordinate their schedules! You should be feeling them move every day at different intervals. The babies will bump into one another and nudge each other for some extra room! Sometimes they will all stretch their legs out in one direction and you will see an obvious budge on one side of your abdomen.

The membrane that separates the babies is amazingly elastic. Every joint in their bodies is flexed at this time. The chin is at the chest and their elbows are tucked at their sides. Their legs are often brought up to their chest and the feet are tucked under their bottoms. On ultrasound, you will often see that they like to have their hands up near the face. After delivery, you will notice that your babies keep thier hands clenched and often have their feet tucked upwards.

24 Week Belly Pics!

On the eve of my 24th week I present my most recent belly shots. I've decided to keep up with this every 2 week tradition even though these pics are even starting to weird me out a bit. However, as I want to print this blog and save it for the trio one day, I continue with the postings. These pictures are following a nap so there are all sorts of weird indentations and lines that shouldn't normally be there (ha ha that way the 2 stretch marks I have developed are also disguised)! Only a couple more months left! Oh and as of my drs. appt this week, I now measure that of someone who is 38 weeks with a single baby!

Grandpa Meets Babies

So today I had the honor of having my dad take me to my OB appt. I never ever thought I'd be going to the gyno with my dad before but it was a great experience. He was a great sport although I believe he was slightly surprised at the lack of male reading material in the waiting room. We thankfully didn't have to wait very long and were quickly whisked into the u/s room. Not sure what he thought of all the gunk the ob put on my belly but he was definitely amazed with the machine that did the actual u/s. All three babies put on a show for him, moving around like crazy. One baby who was laying on its back even turned its head to look at us and did what we could of sworn was a wave. Dad waved back:) We also got to see two of the babies kicking each other feet to feet so that was neat. Dad had quite a few questions and the OB seemed to really enjoy talking with him and even commented that she really enjoys explaining the intricate details to people who seem to care. She even discussed good career opportunities for my little sister with him. However, she did not know how much the u/s machine cost:) Overall, it was a great experience for both of us and I'm glad he got to meet them!

Thank You!

I just wanted to post a little note thanking all of the wonderful people who have driven me to doctors appointments and run errands for me thus far. Also, thank you to those who have brought me lunch and kept me company on some of my boringest of days, I really appreciate it! Finally, thank you to those who have offered to help in one way or another, If I haven't called in a favor yet, I probably will soon:)

Brian, Mom, Dad, Marsha, Debbie, Amy, Heather, Dusty, Dominique, Kira, Macy & Kaley, thank you so much for your time over these last few weeks!

Pool Bliss??

So last week my OB gave me the a-ok to go to the pool and sit for an hour (no actual swimming though was aloud). It has been said to be even better for your body than laying flat when you are extremely pregnant. So my mom picked me up and drove me the 2 blocks to the community pool at around 10:30am today. When I first got in the water I was a little concerned because I became a little nauseous as the water had waves due to the splash bucket things. My belly felt like it was moving up and down and up and down. That quickly faded and I began to enjoy the lightness and pain free sitting and walking that came with being in a gravity free environment. I'm already looking forward to next weeks hour! However, my one complaint was how cold it was. I keep hearing, "wahhh its sooo hot outside, " from everyone I know. I really can't relate because I sit here on this air conditioned couch all day. Well that was not my experience this morning. It was overcast and within the hour both my mom and I were shivering and had to get out of the pool. Was it just an unusually cold and overcast morning or is everyone trying to make me feel better by pretending that its ridiculously hot outside?? Either way, I really enjoyed myself and am excited about this new privilege!

Happy 31st Birthday Brian!

So today was Brian's 31st birthday and we had a ton of fun! All of the immediate family in the area (sans Kira plus Darcy) came over to enjoy some delicious cupcakes from "Hey Cupcake" and lemonade. We had all chipped in for some new irons for Brian however put him through some gag gifts before he finally realized what had happened. He began by opening a bag of candy from his sister, then some bb's from his dad for the bb gun he doesn't own and then some Pilate's DVD's from his brother. After we all had some giggles at his expense (sorry) we finally gave him the group card and the irons. He was sooooo excited and even asked if maybe they could sleep in the cribs tonight. All in all I think he had a really good birthday and is really excited about the trials and fun that being 31 will bring. Thanks for joining us family!

I hate Chairs...

So Thursday I didn't post anything because Brian and I were at a breastfeeding for multiples class. You see I signed up for this class when I wasn't very pregnant and had high hopes for breastfeeding 3 babies. These hopes soon ceased to be after doing a lot of research and speaking to other triplet moms. However, we decided we should still go to the class to learn about pumps and also see if there was a way to incorporate at least a little breastfeeding or at least how to do pumping.

Well first mistake was signing up for a 3 hour class. It was the longest class in the world and by the end of it I could hardly walk after sitting in the hardest chair for that long. Second, the class was extremely awkward. The teacher kept comparing the different ladies in the classes ta ta's sizes and then also used her own ta ta's for demonstration. Brian had an extremely difficult time knowing how to pay attention but also not stare at a 60 year old south African women's breasts at the same time. The teacher was extremly nice however just followed the outline exactly and we really felt we could of learned the same amount of information from reading the outline and other pamplets ourself.

Awkward. Finally, one part of the pumping section drove me insane and it was hard for me to move on after its discussion. You see the teacher was just thrilled about a new "preemie" program one of the pumps had that suctioned more like a preemie baby would rather than a full term baby. She said we just HAD to have it. So I ask the obvious question, "who cares whether the pump suctions like a preemie baby would versus a full term baby, the baby doesn't know how its milk was pumped right?" Her answer, "well you want the pump to have a preemie program because you'll definitely have a preemie baby." Seriously? That is not an answer. Can anyone answer this question for me?

Anyways, I did get out of the class which pump I want to use which was good. I also learned that my two outings a week will now be completely limited to either a short dinner out or visits to friends houses where I can just lay on their couch. I hate chairs.

Your pregnancy: 23 weeks!!!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about the lenght and weight of a Harry Potter book), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

At this point if our babies were born they would have up to a 40% survival rate. From this week until next week the survival rate increases approx. 3-4% per day. We are definitly getting closer to the safe zone, yipeee!!!

Gary

Well since soooo many people have been begging me to post another cat photo (OK so this is not the full truth), I decided with a lack of anything else to post today that I would do just that. It seems our other cat, Gary, has got on the pregnancy bandwagon and wants his own piece of the belly. This one is a little more unusual because typically this kitty only really likes to hang out with kids so I feel especially privileged!