Six weeks already

I can't believe the babies will be six weeks old tomorrow...where does the time go? I haven't been very good about updating this blog, but life has been just a little busy. Even as I type this I'm jumping up to settle Michael down so he can rest while his brother and sister do the same. Thank goodness for swings, bouncers and Boppies!

As a recap: we went in to the hospital for my C-section on Wednesday, July 15. The babies were born at 8:26, 8:27 and 8:28, and were quickly whisked away to the NICU. Adele weighed 5 lbs 12 oz, Samuel weighed 5 lbs 9 oz, and Michael weighed 4 lbs 7 oz. Mat went to be with the kids while I went into recovery. The babies were all under observation in the NICU but were doing very well. Samuel had an IV briefly because he had some issue with his blood sugar and Michael had a bit of trouble keeping his body temperature up, but Adele was just fine. She was actually released to join me in my room on Wednesday evening. Finally Grandma and Grandpa were able to hold her! The boys had improved enough to be released from the NICU to the nursery on the labor and delivery floor (kind of a transitional nursery) on Wednesday night as well. Samuel's IV was gradually decreased and removed, and both were checking out fine by Thursday morning.

The doctors released both Sam and Michael to join us in our room on Thursday mid-morning, but we had to wait to be moved to a larger room. No way we could have fit all of us in the tiny room we had! So the boys joined us Thursday afternoon, and from that point on they've been with us. We heard repeatedly from the nurses that having all three triplets in the room with us so quickly is very unusual, and after hearing stories of other triplet births we understand just how lucky we have been. We were able to spend two to three days in the hospital as a family, just waiting for ME to be released after my C-section. We had lots of family and friends visiting and assistance from lactation consultants, nurses, etc. It's ironic that we had a more traditional 'baby' experience in the hospital with triplets than we did when Maggie was born.

After coming home we've started to settle into a bit of a routine. My family (especially my mom) has been such amazing support for us. They're here almost every day and keeping our house running--I'm rarely alone with the babies when it comes time for feeding. My parents also spend the night a couple times a week to give Mat and I a break. It is challenging for one person to feed all three--it really takes at least two sets of hands. I'm breastfeeding, pumping, and supplementing with formula and the kids eat about every three hours (we make sure they're all on the same schedule). They've lately been stretching to four hours at night, with is a nice treat. We can usually feed them all in about an hour to hour and a half, but sometimes the feeding stretches longer.

We got weights on all three of them yesterday, and Samuel is tipping the scales at 8 lbs 11 oz. Adele is 8 lbs 9 oz, and Michael is 7 lbs 5 oz. They're starting to get chubby cheeks and thighs, and are doing all the things 6 week old babies should do. Samuel is the bruiser who always wants more to eat and pushes his way past his brother and sister. Adele is the 'good' one, who sleeps longest and is the easiest to put down. When she's mad, though, she goes from mellow to screaming mad red face in two seconds. Michael is more of a watcher and sometimes just sits quietly observing the others.

That's about the highlights for now. I'll post some pictures when I download them from my camera. They're all pretty cute!

Here come the babies!

Yes, we are still on track for July 15. My surgery is scheduled for 8:00 am, so with any luck the kids will all be born by 8:30 or so. From that point our adventure really begins, both in the short and long term. We really don't know how many (if any) of the babies will be in the NICU, or how many will be in the room with me. We don't know how many (if any) will be able to come home with us when I am discharged (probably Saturday). I really want to believe that they'll all be good sized and over achievers...breathing well, keeping themselves warm, etc., but there's no way to know until they actually arrive. Mat and I are both excited to finally SEE the kids--figure out what they look like (are the boys identical?)---and get to know them as little people.

I had my last Ob/Gyn appointment on Friday where the doctor told me in this surprised voice, "your cervix feels....well, about the same as last time". Apparently without doctor intervention, these babies would NEVER come out! Otherwise my blood pressure is good, blood counts look good, and aside from a couple of enormous ankles, I am plugging along. I could go longer than Wednesday if they asked me to, but I have to admit that I'm ready to get some mobility back and recognize my own body again. I have one last BPP ultrasound on Monday and then I'm done with Dr. appointments until Wednesday morning.

I actually think that we've very close to having everything ready for these kiddos to come home, whenever that is. Our nursery is all set, with quite a stockpile of diapers. We've even been able to fit a double bed in the room, where Mat is currently sleeping because I snore so loud. We put all three car seats in the van today, convincing Maggie that now that she's 3, she 'gets' to sit in the way back. She seems excited about it...go figure. We have some food in the freezer, formula in the cupboard, and a diaper bag packed for the hospital. Luckily we live about 3 minutes from the hospital, so if anyone needs more clothes we're in good shape. Here we go!

Two weeks and counting

Here we are finally in July. Can't believe we've made it this far! We had our final ultrasound to measure the size of the babies this morning, and it was difficult for the technician to get good measurements with how crowded the babies are. He estimated that Adele is 5 lbs, 8 oz (plus or minus 13 ounces), while the boys are 4 lbs, 12 oz (Sam) and 4 lbs, 2 oz (Michael). The technician thought Adele's size might be a bit of an overestimate, but regardless we feel confident that they're all at or over 4 pounds, which is great. I would be ecstatic if they were all pushing 5 pounds when they are born, and it looks like that could actually happen. Our perinatalogist is very conservative but he told us today "you know, you might be able to take all three of these babies home with you from the hospital". We've been quietly hoping for that from the beginning but don't want to have unrealistic expectations. As with everything so far, we'll see what happens and deal with surprises as they come.

My blood pressure is good, cervix is fine, weight gain is about 35 pounds, and ankles are moderately swollen. I've spent a bit of time talking to a lactation consultant about how to manage breastfeeding three babies and they've been very helpful in talking through strategies for success in that arena. Obviously the kids won't all be exclusively on breast milk, but we need to find a good compromise that gets the babies the nutrients they need and keeps me sane. Not sure where that will land yet.

Maggie seems to be doing well with the promise of brothers and sister, though she's admittedly more focused on her 3rd birthday next week. She thinks everyone gets three siblings at once, so this isn't such a big deal to her. I wish I could say the same for us!

Next week I have two more bio-physical profile (BPP) exams and one appointment with the OB/GYN, then the following week is one BPP exam and delivery. It's so crazy to think that!

Doctors, doctors, doctors....

Today we're at 32 weeks and things are still looking good. I'm not officially on bed rest, but definitely spend less time on my feet than I have been. Keeping the pressure of three babies off the cervix is becoming more and more important as they get bigger. I certainly feel like I'm carrying a lot of baby in my belly, and am earning these stretchmarks. Other new symptoms of late include periodic numbness in both arms and hands (from swollen joints), mildly swollen ankles (much less than with Maggie though), very itchy belly, and heartburn. None of these have been too bad yet, so I'm hopeful I might escape with only a week or two of being very uncomfortable before the babies come.

The frequency of doctor visits is also increasing---my perinatalogist has requested that I get a Biophysical Profile (BPP) of the babies twice a week. This involves anywhere from a 30 minute to 90 minute ultrasound (depending on how cooperative the kids are) where they check each child's heart rate, breathing motion, muscle tone, the amount of amniotic fluid in their sac, and a couple other parameters. They're trying to make sure that each baby is getting enough oxygen and isn't stressed...and they can't use the same belly monitor that they would for a single baby. In addition to the BPPs, I have weekly appointments with my OB/Gyn and/or perinatalogist to check my cervix, and next week have a full anatomy ultrasound to check the size of the babies. The BPP today was fine, and showed that all three of the kids have a lot of hair that is visible through the ultrasound. Maybe that's the Greek in them?!?! Hopefully it's only on their head...

So we're still planning on July 15 for the premier, hoping that a positive attitude will keep the kids in as much as anything. The closer we get to 36 weeks the better we are with regard to lung development, so we'll take all the help we can get at this point!

30 weeks

Another update on the babies from our ultrasound today. We hit 30 weeks on Tuesday...it's hard to believe that the three of them will be here in less than 5 weeks. I kept telling everyone early on that I was focusing on staying healthy and strong through the pregnancy...but now that I'm getting closer to the end I'm starting to worry again about how we're actually going to manage three newborns. I think we just have to wing it, trust that we'll work out a system and after a while won't know anything different. I hope so.

All three of the babies have their heads at the top of my uterus and Adele and Samuel have their feet down. Michael is "transverse"--positioned sideways behind the other two. Adele weighed 3 lbs 8 oz today, Samuel was 3 lbs 11 oz, and Michael was 3 lbs 5 oz. There's some +/- in the weights, but either way I no longer have to feel like a wimp if I need help getting off the couch. They're all still in the average range for single babies and the weight difference between the largest and smallest is less than 10%, which makes the doctor happy. My cervix hasn't changed and my weight gain isn't out of whack (probably about 28 pounds right now), so everything continues to look good.

Doctor appointments get a little more frequent for me over the remaining weeks. We have another ultrasound scheduled in 3 weeks to measure the siz of the babies, and weekly appointments for blood pressure, cervical length, etc. We're entering the home stretch now so it's just a matter of staying rested, eating well, and keeping in good spirits. And hopefully finding some bigger maternity clothes since mine don't cover my belly anymore!!!

Delivery date

At my doctor appointment today the nurse turned to me with a little grin and said, "So, do you want to know when you're going to deliver?" I was a little taken aback and said, "Ummm, I guess...." She told me that they've scheduled our C-section for July 15 at 8:00 am. They wanted to make sure that both my ob-gyn and perinatalogist could be there, and they're going forward with the plan to take the babies out at 35 weeks. I have to say that my heart started racing a bit when she told me the date and I took a few minutes to adjust...it's funny to think that we will get to see the babies on (or before) the 15th. Of course there's a lot that could happen between now and then, but I'm going forward with that date in mind. Maggie will turn 3 on the 8th of July, so that will be a busy month for us from now on.

I had another ultrasound yesterday and everything is still looking good. We have to wait a couple more weeks for an update on the size, but the heartbeats were strong. Onward!

28 weeks

So finally we're at 28 weeks. At least Mat can celebrate with the champagne! We had a great weekend on Vashon over Memorial Day--Mat and Maggie explored the low tide and went for a ride in his kayak. We were up town at the bakery on Saturday morning and a woman overhead a conversation I was having with some people about the triplets. She asked if I'd had a preemie before (answer No) and said that her son is now 4 years old but was born at 27 weeks and about 2 1/2 pounds. I realized that our babies are all further along than that right now. It was a nice confidence boost!

I've got a busy week of doctor visits, but won't have any new updates on the sizes of the babies. Tomorrow I have to get blood work done, including the glucose screen to test for gestational diabetes. On Thursday I've another ultrasound to measures the babies' heartrates and my cervix, so not very exciting. And on Friday I have an appointment with my regular Ob-Gyn (as opposed to the perinatalogist) who does the routine things like take my weight (gasp!), blood pressure, and measure the height of my uterus. I also am Rh negative (meaning my blood type is A negative), so I have to get a Rhogam shot in case any of the babies end up with a positive blood type. I remember from being pregnant with Maggie that the shot used a really long needle and hurt, so I'm being whimpy about it.

Other than doctors appointments, we're moving a little slower around our house these days. We have a lot of 'stuff' ready for the babies when they come: three cribs, bouncers, swings, lots of clothes, diapers, bottles, carseats, a minivan. On the older child front, we've made a big push lately on potty training Maggie and I'm proud to say that she went to day care today in underwear (Cinderella underwear, no less), with a change of clothes. We'll see what she's wearing when we pick her up! We started giving her 2 M&Ms if she goes on the potty as an incentive, then added a one M&M clause if she at least tried...now she wants to sit on the potty every 20 minutes just to get an M&M. She's no dummy.

I'll update later this week after some of the doctor visits. I hope that they'll be unexciting!

They keep growing...

We had another ultrasound today to check the growth of the babies. At this point the ultrasounds get a little uncomfortable because I can't lay on my back for much time at all without getting lightheaded (those babies weigh on your major arteries). The ultrasounds are also kind of confusing, since we can't tell which baby is on the screen. It seems strange that the actual location of the baby doesn't necessarily match with where they're pointing the ultrasound wand on my stomach. Oh well, they all look pretty much the same at this point anyway!

The babes are all growing well and have good, strong heartbeats. Adele is a bit smaller than her brothers--apparently common for boys vs. girls. She's just under 2 pounds, which is the 30th percentile for single babies at this stage. Samuel and Michael are both 2 pounds 4 ounces, which is about 50-60th percentile if they were singles. If you're looking at my stomach, Samuel is on the left with his head down. Adele is in the middle and Michael is on the right, both with their heads up and feet down (breach position). My cervix is still long and my blood pressure is good, so our doctor is very happy with where things are.

I wrote before that 26 weeks was a big milestone, but today our perinatalogist said that 28 weeks is when you really break out the champagne. So at least that gives us something else to shoot for!

26 weeks

Seems like this is a good time to start our blog, because we just reached an important 26 week milestone. If the babies came today, they'd need a lot of medical help but their lungs are developed enough that they would be okay. I have every intention of keeping them in my belly for a while, but it's still nice to have made it this far.

My intent with this blog is to keep people informed about the progress of the babies and my pregnancy overall, and answer some of the common questions I've been getting. The most common one lately is "when are your due?", which usually comes from poor unsuspecting people behind the counter at the coffee shop or in the hallway at the daycare. Which then causes me to explain that I have three months left, but I'm carrying triplets (are you serious? you're kidding, they say) so they'll come early, blah blah blah. Then they look stunned and ask me what I'm going to do, and I say everything will be fine. Which then makes me realize (again) how far I am down the river of denial. Oh well....everything will be fine.

Just as a recap: We've got three babies in there, two boys and one girl. Each of the babies has its own amniotic sac and its own placenta, which is as good as you can get when it comes to triplets. There is a 30% chance that the boys will be identical, but I have a suspicion that one will get the Greek genes from Mat and be dark haired with olive skin, and the other will be a fair-skinned redhead from my mom's genes. Baby A is a girl (they all stay in the same relative position, so we know we're always talking about the same one when we refer to A, B and C), and her name will be Adele. Baby B will be Samuel, after Mat's grandfather and my grandfather, and Baby C will be Michael after my dad. Our 'official' due date is August 17 (at 40 weeks), but we've been advised that they'll probably do a C-section around 35 weeks. So I'm hoping to see the kiddos around (and not before) early to mid July.

I have another ultrasound this week, so I'll update on the size of the little ones then. A month ago they were all about 1.3 pounds, which was average for single babies at that stage. At some point soon we'll start to see their growth rate dimish because they're getting crowded in there. I certainly can report that they're active little buggers and might be kicking each other already. I have ultrasounds every 2 weeks to check the length of my cervix (long is good, shorter is not so good...so far mine is long which is probably too much information), and every 4 weeks to check the growth of the babies.