Middle of Week 27

I am still plugging along. I spent the whole day at school on Monday 5/4 (no students; it was a teacher workday) entering CRT scores (the district mandated tests) for my students. It was exhausting, but I loved seeing my friends at school.
Tuesday 5/5 I had my doctor's appointment. Still no signs that I need to be put on any IV meds to stop contractions. So I have dodged being hospitalized for at least another week.
This was an exciting appointment because they took measurements of the babies. The two girls are weighing in around 2 lbs 1 oz each. This puts them in the 25 percentile for singleton babies. The boy, my little piglet, weighs 2 lbs 8 oz! He is in the 78 percentile for a singleton baby (basically he would be considered big even if he were in there on his own, so for a triplet he is huge)!
It was also very exciting to see that the boy was practicing his breathing. You could see the rise and fall of his chest during the ultrasound. The ultrasound technician told us this was a very good sign. What a little overachiever :)
Both girls were very active and healthy. Once again they were not able to get pictures of the girls. They are movers and shakers, and do not hold still long enough to get clear images. I can't believe that they still weigh exactly the same size.
I am still hanging in there. I am increasingly tired, and moving much slower, but considering I am pregnant with triplets, I can't complain. Only seven more weeks to go!

I included a picture of Will in his bicycle helmet. He is really enjoying playing outside now that the weather is warmer. The other picture is a 27 week belly picture.

Doctor's Appointment

My appointment today went very well. The bed rest and medication are working just as the doctor had wanted. Things seem to have stabilized, and even improved.
I have only been on bed rest for one full day (yesterday) and already my blood pressure was nice and low, and my heart rate was the lowest it has been since my early weeks of pregnancy.
It is very difficult for me to give up my job that I love, I already miss my students, and my teacher friends. It has been even harder to watch Steve (who does SO much already) do everything while I sit idly by. Most of all my heart feels heavy when I have to miss out on doing things with Will.
It is going to bed be difficult to be on bed rest, but to get the news that things are looking better was very uplifting. Now, if I can make it about ten more weeks and have three healthy babies, it will all be worth it!

Bed Rest

Well, I have successfully made it to 6 months (24 weeks). I was able to narrowly reach my goal of teaching until spring break. I was even able to go back for 3 days after! Unfortunately I got the news Tuesday afternoon at my doctors appointment that I had been dreading. I have been having contractions, and things had changed dramatically enough since last week, that I have been placed on total bed rest with bathroom privileges for the remainder of the pregnancy.

The perinatologist prescribed medication to stop the contractions. I have to go back for another appointment tomorrow to make sure that things have settled down.

All three babies are still healthy and active. I did get a few new ultrasound pictures, which I will add to this message, but it is getting harder and harder to decipher what's going in these images. It is like taking the Rorschach inkblot test! The first picture is of Baby B's face. He has his arms up by his head. His head is to the left of the picture. The second picture is of Baby C. Her head is to the left and her torso is to the right. There are also some parts of another baby (baby A?)underneath. Baby A had her face to my back, and they were not able to get any images of her.

Will and I checked out some books from the library last Friday. One book is about a boy who's Mommy is going to have a baby. At the end it shows Mom, Dad, and Big Brother at the hospital. Big Brother is holding the baby while sitting next to Mom on the hospital bed. Will looked at the picture for a long time and finally turned to me and said with confusion, "They only had one baby?!?!?" He seems very aware and excited about the triplets. He is continually asking me questions that start with, "When the babies come out.......?" Will said that he wants to feed them bottles and give them "binkies." I am sure he is going to be the best big brother ever. The triplets have tough act to follow!

Happy Easter

NEW BLESSINGS:

We have had the most wonderful things happen in the past few weeks. Number one, my amazing, beautiful, handsome, nephew Ben Samuel Farrington was born on the first of the month to Sam and Steffen. He weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and was 20 inches long. We were excited to welcome him to the world, so we ran up to the hospital to meet him. He was bright eyed and alert. I forgot what it was like to hold a newborn baby. (It has been 6 months since my last nephew, Luke (Seth and Ruth's son), was born. Luke has grown so quickly I don't remember him being newborn!) When we asked Will what he thought of baby Ben, Will simply said unenthusiastically, "He's cute," and then he went on and on about how much fun he had with his cousin Annie, Ben's big sister.

Also,......Steve's cousin Abe and his wife Lindsay had their baby, Ethan Farrington, on April 7th. He weighed in at a whopping 10lbs 14 oz and was 22 inches long! (No, that is not a typo.)

MINNESOTA TRIP:

In other news, I was on Spring break last week, so Steve and I decided to try and take advantage of the opportunity to go to IKEA to pick up the cribs we wanted for the babies. So on Friday April 3rd we headed up to Minnesota. Will enjoyed watching "Finding Nemo" over and over again on the new DVD player in the Expedition. (Yes, we have other movies. No, he did not want to watch them.) Steve enjoyed playing with the navigation system. I enjoyed seeing both of my guys having fun with their toys.

Will was very excited about staying in a hotel with a pool. When we pulled into the hotel at midnight, Will rubbed his eyes and asked, "Are we going to live here now?"

We had a great time on our trip, but we had a few minor snags. IKEA was sold out of the cribs that we went to get (Gulliver in white). Will was too afraid to swim after all, but remained very excited about the pool the whole time we were there and wanted to view it often. My horrible cold/allergies turned into a very painful sinus infection. I finally broke down and went to an urgent care clinic on Sunday for a preggo friendly antibiotic. With my allergy problems and not being able to take antihistamines OR decongestants, these babies are killin' me. I keep telling myself this part is temporary and it will all be worth it at the end.

In the end, the Minnesota trip was worth it too. We had a nice time meeting with my Aunt Pat at, my favorite, Carbonnes' Pizza! We were also able to find a nice changing table and dresser for the nursery at IKEA. Our brave son was able to stay at the IKEA play area and hang out in the ball crawl while we shopped. He begged us to take him there, and he narrowly met the requirements (at least 37 inches tall and totally potty trained) so we let him stay. I was very impressed that he was not afraid to stay without his Mommy or Daddy.

TRIPLETS:

My 23 week appointment went extremely well on Tuesday. Although, I have been dragging with my congestion, sinus infection, and leg swelling (I am now in compression knee highs all day every day) the babies were completely unbothered by my minor discomforts.

The doctor was very impressed that each baby was so big. He was also pleased that each baby was the same size, because this indicates that each is baby is growing well. Both girls weighed 1 lb 3oz and the boy weighed 1 lb 4 oz. Our doctor told us the boy weighed an ounce more because of his extra appendage :)

All three are so active, you can actually see them move through my clothing! One will kick and it will set off a whole chain reaction. Will likes to put his head on my tummy and "listen" to the babies and wait for kicks. Although he announced at dinner last night that one of the babies "tooted" because he heard my tummy gurgle.

EASTER:

The egg hunt pictures posted here of Will, Grammie, and Steve are from the Easter Celebration at Mommy's school put on by the the National Honor Society students.

Grandpa, Nana, and Uncle Bill came to spend Easter weekend with us. We had a wonderful time which included an early AM Easter egg hunt in the living room, dying Easter eggs, and eating a wonderful Easter dinner that my Mom made.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

21 Weeks

I had my 21 week visit on Tuesday. Everything looked great. The babies are getting really big. The doctor and ultrasound technician said that each baby is the same size as a singleton baby at 21 weeks! (This means that I am 3x the size of normal pregnant woman at 21 weeks.) The babies had healthy heart rates, and they are all very active.
I had one little scare after suffering from some gastrointestinal problems, and had to spend the day in the hospital Saturday being monitored to make sure I wasn't going into labor. I was feeling much better by Saturday night, and since I wasn't having any contractions, and the babies looked great, they let me go home. Will enjoyed spending the night with his Grammie and Grandpa Saturday night. Steve and I just enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
I will post some new pictures soon. (At this rate I am going to need a panoramic camera to get a belly shot!)
Steve and I are still having trouble thinking of baby names (one boy, two girls). I would love suggestions if you have any!

Week 19

My appointment went well. The doctor and the ultrasound technician still think that there is one boy and two girls. They have not been able to get a clear shot of one of the babies that they think is a girl. I wish I knew when they were going to know for sure! I don't like any ambiguity.

The babies all looked very big! I can't believe they will be growing for (hopefully) another 15 weeks. My heart rate was a little high (but the doctor didn't seem worried) and my blood pressure was just right. All three babies had perfect heart rates and were very active. This was my first ultrasound appointment without Steve. He stayed home from work and the appointment Tuesday to take care of Will who was home with pink eye, but is on the mend (although he screams like a banshee every time he has to have his eye drops, and then tells us afterward that it didn't hurt). He's a character.

In other news.....we bought a huge new (used) vehicle this weekend. We bought a white 2008 Ford Expedition EL (it is like a normal Expedition, but longer). We are getting rid of the Honda Pilot. We needed something big enough for two adults and all four car seats. It seats eight. I told Steve, "That's great! We can have two more kids after the triplets are born." He didn't think that was very funny.
















Will loves the new SUV/truck. Although on his first ride he asked where the DVD player was. (He has also asked about a DVD player on every subsequent ride.) Steve and I would like to have one installed. Will also asked if it was his "school bus." His Daddy proudly announced that it is not a bus, it is a truck. So...Will now calls it his "truckbus." I included a few pictures so you can see what our new ride looks like.

I didn't get any of the new ultrasound pictures on CD from my visit this week, so I will include a belly picture from week 18, (I am wearing the same outfit I had on for my previous pictures for objectivity's sake).

18 weeks

New ultrasound pictures:
1st- 4D image of face;
2nd-4D image of hand by face; legs crossed;
3rd- side shot; the dark spot in the chest is the baby's heart;
4th- a shot of the legs and boy parts;
5th- Spine and behind;
6th-the femur measurement of baby A and baby B with hands by face.
7th-Baby A and C with their heads together

The babies looked great. All three are very active. (I assume they are practicing so they can keep up with their big brother once they are born.) This time Dr. Robertson told us one of the babies is a boy for sure, one is a girl for sure, and the other would not give him a good look. The doctor took measurements of each baby, and they are all right on track.

When we ask Will if he wants a sister or a brother, he says brother. So, I am glad he will get a brother. Little does he know a sister is part of the deal, too!

He enjoyed playing with his cousins Annie, Nell, and Luke last Friday evening. He is pretty fond of his girl cousins, so I think he would like a sister more than he knows.