31 Weeks

Here is my 31 week belly. These little ones are growing.

Yesterday marked 31 weeks of this triplet pregnancy journey. I am feeling good. I am still hoping for 35 weeks. I feel tired and my body feels a little funny, but otherwise all is well. I will go in for a checkup on Wednesday.

30 Week Update

Today is 30 weeks and 3 days. Today was a quick cervix check. Good news, my cervix is still 5.6cm long. The babies are active and looking good.

I am still having a lot of contractions, though they are not shortening my cervix which is great to hear.

I am feeling good. Sleeping is difficult, but good. I received some great advice it was to install a rope hanging from the ceiling to help move and get out of bed. We need to get it installed.

Today was the first day we went car shopping. I really think a full sized van is our best option. We looked at a few minivans and they are so small. I just keep hoping Mercedes will knock on the door and say here is a brand new Sprinter-Enjoy!

Well since that is not going to happen we need to keep looking. We will look at a few tomorrow and we hope to find something. I want to ensure we find a vehicle before the babies come.

The doctor told me that if I went into preterm later they probably could not stop it, but could hold off labor for hopefully 2 days. She said that in those 2 days steroids would be given to help lungs mature and Magnesium to help prevent complications.

I really hope these little ones wait several more weeks. We really want to get to the end of August.

I am hoping we have everything we need for these little babies. We have bought a lot of gear. We have three car seats, 3 swings and 2 bouncers. We received a lot of great gear at our baby shower too.

Now we need to line up more help. My Mom, Brother and Aunt should be able to help a lot, but I think we will need more.

I know we will need help with the household and our older boys more than help with the babies. I was told to put signs all over the house so if folks come over they need what we need help with. An example is a sign to invite folks to the laundry room and if they feel inclined to help with diapers.

I think keeping Kai and Kian loved and entertained will be something we need help with.

The plan is to nurse the babies every 3 hours and try to keep them on a schedule. We never did that with our other two boys, I know I will not feel comfortable letting the babies cry and if they are hungry in between the 3 hours I will definitely nurse them. It seems cruel to tell a baby that they are not hungry and to wait until it is convenient to allow them to eat. We will need to get a lactation consultant here once to babies are born to help with nursing three.

Well this went a little longer with ramblings than I expected.

We had a fun day. Great doctor appointment. The boys had fun in tennis class and we had a chance to look at vehicles.

Wish us luck as we finish up with all we need to do.

Almost 30 weeks pregnant with triplets

Here are a few snapshots from the ultrasound. Only baby C made an appearance. Baby A and Baby B were hiding facing my spine.

Baby C had his foot up above his head.

29 Weeks Pregnant with Triplets

Here we are at 29 weeks and 3 days. This journey has been so wonderful, exciting and a little frightening. The thought of caring for 5 children after having 2 is a little daunting, but we will take it day by day and find our families rhythm.

Today was the 29 week checkup. We began with a non stress test. It was wild. We were there for over an hour and the nurse was trying to monitor each baby individually all at the same time. Each babies heart rate had to be recorded simultaneously in order to know they had them all on the monitors, otherwise she said if they do them individually they may repeat the same baby. It was tricky. Sidney, the nurse and I all held onto the monitoring device to try and get their heartbeats. Those little guys were moving all over and the tracings were very spotty. The nurse did a great job and got what they needed.

Then we had a growth scan here are the results:

Baby A: 3 pounds 1 ounce

Baby B: 3 pounds 6 ounces

Baby C: 3 pounds 4 ounces

It was very exciting we were able to see baby C so well. We saw him inhaling amniotic fluid and the Ultrasonographer got some fantastic 4D images of him. He was resting his little foot on his forehead. I will try to get some still shots from it up here tomorrow if I can find the time.

I have included a 29 week photo from tonight. I am having a really hard time finding shirts that will cover my belly. I think I have a few more weeks with that yellow one.

My cervix measured at 5.63cm. I was very happy to hear this. I have been having so many contractions, especially yesterday. I got a bit worried wondering if had changed. The doctor also did a Fetal Fibronectin test. I asked her to do it to reassure me that I was not going to deliver in the next two weeks. It measures a level to see whether or not there is a likelihood for delivery in the next two weeks.

It was a long appointment and we missed the boys. Mom and Uncle Shawn stayed at the house and watched them. They all had so much fun. When we walked up to the house we heard all of them playing hide and go seek.

Sidney and I were able to go out and have a nice dinner on our own. It is our second alone dinner in 5 years. I love our little boys and love spending time with them. I missed them, but it was fantastic to have Sidney all to myself. It was a great day.

28 weeks Pregnant with Triplets

Here we are in our 28th week. It is one of the milestones that we were told about. I am so excited to be here and we are looking forward to growing these little ones as long as possible.

The babies have all changed position. Before I could clearly feel who was who and which baby was moving. Before they were like a triangle with baby a near the bottom and baby b above a and baby c to my right. Now one of the little ones is down at the bottom laying across my belly and the other two have their heads up near my ribs with their legs downward. I am not able to feel them as much. I guess they are finding their most comfiest place in my belly. I was having a lot of contractions last week and felt different. I went in and my cervix was 5.22cm, which is great news. I guess the new discomfort was because they changed position. We are hoping for 7 more weeks to grow these beautiful little ones.

Last weekend was so much fun! My Aunt Sharron threw us a baby shower. We had a great time. All of my Aunts were there, some cousins, my mom, sister and a friend. It was lovely. Sidney took the day off and was so happy to be there. We felt so loved and taken care of, it was a spectacular day. We received so many lovely gifts. I am so grateful for our family.

On the 4th of July Sidney worked a second shift and missed the fireworks and little Kian fell asleep a few minutes before they began. I missed both of them, but it was a special time for Kai and I. Kai and I took some comfy chairs out to the deck and watched the fireworks. As the fireworks began an eagle flew from a nearby tree over the house and off to the water. It was lovely. Kai took a lot of pictures and video. It was nice to spend some alone time with him.

The Wonderful and the not so wonderful...

It is so wonderful being pregnant with these three little ones. We are so excited about their arrival, though we do want them to hold off for another 8 weeks. The boys are getting more and more excited. Sidney and I are still really nervous about how we will make everything work, but we are so happy and so in love with this trio.

It is such a nice feeling to feel them all moving. I am able to distinguish each babies movements from each other. Baby A is in the breech position. She is the most active and the strongest. She is on my left side all the way at the bottom. Baby B is up near my ribs, her bum is at my sternum, she is more relaxed and more rolly than those strong movements of A. Both A and B have their heads next to each other. Then Baby C is hiding in a spot near my spine on the right side. He is a little mover, though not as strong as his sister. Sometimes all is quiet then one baby moves and the others follow in a lovely flow of movements. They love hearing their brothers talk and when Kai and Kian sing and play the guitar they dance to the sounds. Sidney's warm hand on my belly is usually received with a movement of hello. We are all having so much fun!

Today we went in for a checkup, all was well. My cervix is measuring a bit over 5cm. The doctor put me on nifedipine, and it is yucky. I was feeling great today until I took it. It have given me a headache, nausea, taken away my energy and made me dizzy. There is no way I can take this medicine and continue with all I do everyday. Some days I rarely have contractions and we do so much. Other days I have a lot of contractions and I sit around the house with the boys. The doctor thinks this medicine is a good insurance policy in case the contractions start to shorten my cervix or cause dilation. He said my uterus thinks it is full term and does not know I am only 27 weeks along. I am hoping they will reconsider and think it is safe to stay off it and just keep checking my cervix. In two weeks we have a very long appointment probably 4-5 hours. We will have a checkup, growth scan and non stress test. It should be fun.

Fun with the boys..

We went to a fun day at the museum of flight last week. I was feeling good with minimal contractions and was able to walk around for almost 3 hours. That is pretty good. It is funny how some days I feel great with not too much discomfort and other days I have so many contractions and it is uncomfortable to even walk to the bathroom. I wish most days were the easier days, but they are what they are.

Back to the fun. The boys were so happy to go to the Museum of Flight, it had been at least 6 weeks since we had gone. It was the day of the annual Firefighter Day. There were tons of firetrucks, an ambulance and a few Sheriff vehicles. The boys had a chance to get into every vehicle and meet lots of rescue folks. Afterwards we went for a quick little walk in the museum. It was a great day!

I am 27 weeks along and feeling pretty big. We go for a check-up tomorrow I will update afterwards.