Maybe 35 weeks is good enough...

I don't know if it is the size of the belly, the annoyingly itchy rash she's developed on the bottom half of her belly, sheer fatigue from carrying three babies for 33.5 weeks, or a combination of all three, but Michelle is done.  She is having such a hard time getting comfortable and adjusting positions is such a monumental task, that it's starting to feel kind of like a repeat of that terrible week of zero sleep.  Michelle has a giant pile of pillows next to her side of the bed and for months she has gone through 3-5 different pillow configurations throughout the night.  Well she's now hit a point where it seems like none of her tried and true positions are comfortable. And changing positions or rearranging the pillow puzzle takes a ton of effort.  She can only sleep on her sides (even with a wedge pillow her belly is just too heavy for her to be on her back) and half of the time when she lays on her right side now baby C is jamming up under her ribs and causing pain, so then it's back to her left side.  Add to that, the fact that she pees at least once an hour, and you aren't looking at much, if any, quality sleep.  Last night she hadn't slept at all when I got up to pump at 3am, but fortunately had fallen asleep by the time I got back into bed.  Tonight she gave up around 2:30 and ran a warm bath to see if that would help.  I'm hoping she's asleep when I get back in the room again, but I'm not holding my breath.

Every time she tries to change positions now it sounds so effortful and I wish I could just pick her up and do it for her, or better yet, just take the babies from her for these last couple of weeks!  When she rolls from one side to the other she literally has to lift and pull her belly with her hands.  And when her shorts get twisted in the process it's a real bummer because she can't just lift her hips and fix them anymore.  Tonight I could not only hear the effort, but could tell she was on the verge of tears.  I told her that it is completely fine with me if she wants to call Danville in the morning and see if they could move the C-section date up to October 9th, or exactly 35 weeks, instead of waiting until 36 weeks.  The OB in Danville told us that was a possibility when he was asking us when we wanted to schedule so I think it is definitely worth a serious day time discussion.  I just HATE seeing her so miserable and I feel confident that we have three strong and healthy babies in there.  I'm sure they would do fine if they were born tomorrow, but at 35 weeks there is a chance we could avoid the NICU and have what the call "take home" babies so it would be great if we could make it that far.  So we'll see...but I will bring it up with her again in the daylight and see what she says.  It might at least be worth a phone call and maybe a discussion with one of the MFM docs to at least weigh pros/cons. 

Our Grand Adventure (ie Going for a Walk)

Thought we'd share some pics from our little adventure this evening.  It was another beautiful fall day here so around 5, we decided to go on another "walk & roll" so Michelle could get out of the house and enjoy the weather.  Humphrey has been dying to get away too, looking forlornly at the car when I leave lately, so we figured we'd bring him with us.  Only problem was where the heck to put him!  We now have three car seats installed in the back seat and the cargo space is full with hospital bags and the wheelchair!  So I told Michelle she could drive and Humphrey could sit in the front seat with me.  Well, that was not a brilliant idea and Humphrey was super freaked out when I tried to convince him of the idea.  You can see our initial attempts at this below and appreciate why it's a good thing it was me and not Michelle trying to share the front seat with him!  He desperately wanted to jump into the back with the car seats, but I don't know where he thought he was going to go!  Eventually he did rearrange and settle himself so he was literally laying on my lap with his head on the window.  We tried to get a picture of that, but the sun was in a bad spot and it didn't turn out.  Luckily, the stroller is smaller than the wheelchair so I think if we bungee the stroller in the cargo space Humphrey will still fit back there because the whole ordeal of sharing the front seat is less than ideal!

desperately trying to climb into the backseat...no clue where he thought he'd fit with the three car seats!



me trying to wrestle him into some sort of workable position so we could leave the house!

My first thought for a place to walk didn't pan out because it was bigger chunks of gravel than I remembered and that is no fun for either of us--too much work for me and too bumpy for my passenger.  So we drove a few miles to the Spring Creek trail and took a nice "stroll."  It was a great opportunity to get Humphrey used to walking next to something with wheels since he is generally such a chicken.  He actually did really well and would heel right next to the chair when we asked him to and go explore just a bit when given permission.  In the past, walking next to a stroller or a bike has been really tough for him.  Hopefully this is a good sign that he'll have no issues walking next to the stroller!  For part of the walk Humphrey was doing his classic "rub my face in the grass" move followed by a quick roll before running to catch up and repeating the same move.  We really tried to capture this on video to share with you, but failed.  It was pretty cute and funny. =) 

33 weeks...and now 3 visits a week

With as many "3's" as we've had popping up on our lives this year Michelle and I both said we wouldn't be surprised if these babies decided to come at 33 weeks. Yesterday was 33 weeks, 3 days and no sign of babies!  We both had moments yesterday where everything kind of hit us. At breakfast, I looked at her giant belly with a sense of awe and just said, "wow! In 18 days we're going to have triplets!" (And was appropriately terrified!). And on our way home from running errands Michelle said, "sometimes it still doesn't feel real to me that I actually have three babies in my belly...I mean, I know I do, but sometimes I still don't believe it!"

We are feeling bummed that we don't have a Danville appointment this week because we're both anxious to find out how big they all are now. Our next visit isn't scheduled until the 7th...bummer dude. That's not to say we don't have appointments this week! With twice weekly non-stress tests and one regular OB visit, we're looking at around five hours a week of baby checking visits. Oy! That'll certainly cut into our productivity!  

We did our first routine non-stress test on Friday. We have to go to labor and delivery at Mt. Nittany hospital to do them because the local OB only has a single monitor.  And because we require two monitors we have to call every time before we plan to go to make sure they have a bed for Michelle and two available monitors. Friday we planned to go at 11:30, but they didn't have a bed so had to go at 2:30 instead. 

In order to "pass" the non-stress test they need 20 minutes of continuous monitoring of each baby. This is no easy task and for a good chunk of the time Friday there were two nurses holding monitors on Michelle's belly.  It took over two hours for all three to pass! This time it was baby C who was being the most difficult and not staying on the monitor at all. Baby B was a little tricky to find,as usual, but once they found her, she was pretty cooperative about staying on. Baby A definitely won the easiest baby award Friday and had already passed before they got B hooked up.  Michelle continues to have low level contractions that show upon the monitor, but that she doesn't feel.

We were quite the celebrities with the nurses! I think five or six different nurses came in just to meet us. They don't see triplet moms very often there. One nurse said she'd worked L&D for 14 years and had only seen one other triplet mom!  Everyone was very nice, which helped, but two hours in one position is no picnic for Michelle, so she is really not looking forward to having to do this twice a week now. But, at the most, it will only be six visits I think, and I'm hoping we can get out of one early next week since we'll have our big ultrasound at Danville on the 7th, but we'll see...

Random musings on technology

Today as I watched Michelle get prodded and pushed on with the ultrasound wand for 45+ minutes just to get three heart rates my gratitude for the stellar ultrasound machines at Danville grew and grew. I'm also thankful for the mad skills of the MFM ultrasound techs who manage to get all the necessary anatomical measurements to let us know how big our babies are. As usual the tricky one to get is baby B, aka Ninja baby, because she is so deep in Michelle's belly and hides behind her siblings.  Having gotten to 'see' our babies so many times throughout this pregnancy, I can't quite imagine having triplets sans technology...

Of course, technology can also be maddening like it was for us last night trying to get the pictures formatted for the blog! Sometimes it seems like such simple things are ridiculously challenging and that's when I get so frustrated. While last night I wanted to throw in the towel, really, I do love this blog and being able to share our experiences with our friends and family. I also think it is pretty cool that when they get older our kiddos will be able to read this too. And like we said when we started this blog, it's been really nice to read other triplet blogs as we go along, so it's kind of cool to think about other triplet moms-to-be reading our blog when they're up in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.

Our frustration with the blog last night was exacerbated by difficulty getting our fancy baby camera to work remotely. This foscam camera was like our one little 'baby splurge' because it lets us pan and zoom from our phones so we can see all three babies in their cribs. But we can't get it to work outside of our wireless network. If any of our readers have experience with port forwarding or are good at network set up, we would love a consult to see if we can get this to work!  I would love to be able to peek in on the babies napping when I go back to work and would also like to be able to use this when I'm out in the yard or garage where our wireless signal doesn't reach.

I think it will be a constant parenting challenge to figure out the 'just right' balance when it comes to the role of technology in our lives.  I know that Michelle and I sometimes get to sucked into our phones or computers and have to check ourselves so I'm sure it won't be any different for our kiddos. There are lots of cool tech things out there for kids, but we're planning to be very intentional about our kiddos' use of technology. And when I say technology, in reference to kids, I'm not just talking iPads and apps, because so many kids toys now have so many bells and whistles that it is overwhelming. I'm not saying our kids won't have any toys with lights and sound, but it will definitely be minimal. (Grandmas, aunts, & uncles to be...take note! Traditional, no tech toys for birthdays & Xmas please!) I'm also not saying they won't ever play on our phones or iPad, but that will mostly be reserved for rewards and other special times. Do I think it will be tempting to over use technology? Yep! Do I think we will occasionally cave to preserve our sanity? Yup, I'm sure we will! 

A couple of non-tech related thoughts now that the OB appointment is over! Quick update...they want Michelle to go for twice weekly non-stress tests as part of routine care for multiples. This meeting will now have three regular appointments every week!! And although these are supposed to be quick, like 20 minutes, we know that is really never the case because it's hard to find all the babies and get them all to stay on the monitor for the right amount of time. So that's not no fun, and not really a productive way to spend our time, but I guess we need to do it just in case...

33 Weeks & Still Going Strong!

We did it! 33 weeks! Other than our one little blip on the radar that gave us a weekend away (in Danville), our three little ones seem pretty content where they are. Michelle continues to be a rockstar prego triplet mama. Sure, she has her bad days (or more accurately times of day) where she feels pretty miserable, but overall she is still doing great! She gets really tired very easily and has to drag herself out of bed after her naps each day, but she's still plugging away with school and going to class as often as she feels up to it. And I've been plugging away on our pre-baby to do list.

I feel like we are more ready and some days I find myself wishing these babies would just come out and meet us already! But then one second later I think "oh no, not yet!" We both wish we had another Danville appointment sooner than October 7th because we want to know how big they are and we aren't feeling patient! Tomorrow is another local OB appointment so we'll at least get a quick look at them when they do the ultrasound to get heart rates. But honestly, the ultrasound equipment here is so sub par compared to Danville that it's a little hard to see much! I can tell you for sure that they are getting bigger because we can see baby B move daily now, baby C jams up under Michelle's ribs more, and when baby A kicks her she winces! 

As you can see from the picture below, I've been stocking the freezer and figure I better quit now so there's room for the food our parents make for us when they're in town! We've gotten a couple of freezer meals from folks already which is awesome. We also wanted to thank people who have given us gas cards recently. We got one anonymous gift card in the mail the other day--if that was you, please let us know so we can thank you!

I don't feel like I have a whole lot to say today so I'll just let you see the progress! We've fnally given in to the demands for weekly belly pics.  (Big thanks to Kat who helped us rescue the text from this post so I didn't have to  recreate it!!)



32 wks

33 wks



   

birthday scarf!



Almost full freezer!

            

For those who were curious about induced lactation...

After my post about the pediatrician visit, I had more than five people email or message me about how the heck this whole "breast feeding without being pregnant" thing works exactly.  So I thought I'd write a really quick post about it with a link to more info for anyone who wants more information.  There's a long history of native cultures inducing lactation, including some grandmothers.  It's interesting that you can induce lactation even after menopause. Here's a link to the protocol I followed to make this happen for anyone who wants more info: Newman-Goldfarb protocol.  It isn't exactly a barrel of fun to have to pump every few hours, as any working mother who is breastfeeding will tell you, but it's worth it for these kiddos to be able to hopefully avoid formula.  Although I've been building up a stock of milk in the freezer for our babies, I still wasn't sure if I would be able to produce enough milk to make a meaningful contribution, but then Michelle sent me this picture she found on pinterest and I felt a whole lot better about pumping 8-10oz in a day! I know that there will be challenges with breast feeding, but I'm excited to be able to get to have this experience with our babies when they are ready, which I know might not be right away if they are preemies!

cool visual

The pre-baby milk stash so far...

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Last night Michelle referred to today as "the dreaded day of 3s!"  Now, initially you might think she's just lamenting getting older, but really she's just hoping to avoid having three babies on her birthday, which this year is chock full of 3s. Today, 9/21/13 is Michelle's 33rd birthday and to Michelle the fact that every part of the date is a multiple of three or has a three in it is too much. I am also hoping to avoid having the babies today, but that's just because I think it would be weird to be the only one in our family with a different birthday!!

Yesterday evening Michelle was whining a bit about being stuck at home and on such limited activity. It was a beautiful day and she just wanted to go for a walk, pick apples, and make an applepie with   crumble topping!  I was just getting ready to start some productive project but instead decided that I could find a way to make Michelle's wish come true. So I told her to get dressed because I was taking her on a spontaneous pre-birthday date!  Our first stop on our date was Dicks Homecare where I rented a wheelchair for two weeks. It's only $15 which I thought was a pretty good deal. Next stop was Sheetz for a frozen pumpkin pie latte for our drive to Way fruit farm for apples! After we picked out a bushel of apples and a gallon of apple cider, we headed home. 

On our way we stopped to go for a "walk & roll" on a paved path to enjoy the lovely summery day. Michelle and I have run on this trail a number of times, but I'd forgotten about the little hill down to the path! That was a little tricky, especially since I was wearing flip flops!  And coming up the hill at the end was definitely a bit of a workout for me, but it was totally worth it!  After we got home we heated up some leftover mexican spaghetti squash for dinner and made chai spiced apple sauce and the apple pie she wanted. Only problem is that, apparently, with the move cross country last summer, we somehow went from two pie plates to none! So our pie is a little non-traditional in the 8x8 square dish, but it's still tasty! It was so nice to just spend the afternoon and evening together.


our "square" pie =)

Pushing four people up the hill...no easy task! =)

This morning we had a little surprise birthday brunch with a few of Michelle's classmates which was nice. Started the day with an hour of homework, then brunch, then a PSU rugby match for me, a nap for Michelle, and dinner at home. It is a rainy rainy day today so I'm glad we got out and about yesterday to enjoy the weather!!  And no sign of babies on this "dreaded day of 3s!"  :)

32 weeks!!! We made it!

Hooray!!!  We made it to 32 weeks and the babies are still cookin'!!! This is average gestation for triplets, so as this weekend made clear to us, we need to be ready at any time.  Based on our chats with the NICU docs, this is am important milestone for the babies.  The risks for brain bleeds goes way down at 32 weeks.  In fact, if our little hospital adventure had happened this weekend (knock on wood) instead of last weekend, they wouldn't have given her the magnesium sulfate.  The "mag" as it's known to the L & D folks and other preemie moms, is given because it provides neuro-protection for the babies, and is only given before 32 weeks. 

Tonight we met our kiddos' pediatrician.  She's a doc who refers a lot of kiddos to early intervention, especially preemies, so I told Michelle I thought I'd like her to be our pediatrician.  But we wanted to meet her first so we scheduled a little meet & greet visit.  We were warned that she's a "straight shooter" and she is; she's blunt, but I think we're going to like that about her.  She said she was excited to have a new set of triplets because one of her sets of triplets she's been seeing just went off to college!  Dr. Brink was totally on board with the two of us breastfeeding and said she felt a lot better about having two people to feed three babies than one.  She also works in the pediatric intensive care unit at Danville some Saturdays and said she's working there on October 18th so if we make it to the scheduled C-section date, we should page the PICU and let her know she has babies to come visit in Labor & Delivery. =) 

Okay, I should get to bed so here's the 32 week belly pic.  I'm telling you...the tank top is slimming! =)  I also included a picture of the cookie I made Michelle tonight to celebrate making it to 32 weeks!  She has been craving cookies and cake for two days now, and I figured this was a good reason to celebrate.  She can have cake on her birthday, which is only a few days away now!

30 weeks

32 weeks

Celebratory cookie(s)!

 

Adjusting to being home again

I know it seems weird that it is an adjustment to be home when we were only gone for two days, but it kind of is.  In the hospital, other than the hour or so yesterday when I was making contingency plans for work, the only thing I had to think about was Michelle and our three munchkins. Now that we're home I have to think about work, getting and making meals, cleaning, taking care of the animals, marking things off the pre-baby to-do list, and making sure Michelle is as comfortable as possible.

The drive home today made us both realize just how tired we were  so the first thing we both did was take a nap. It was lovely to be in our bed and neither of us wanted to get up. I got up and went on to work to see one kiddo and take care of a few paperwork things and then went grocery shopping afterwards. But before I left for work I put the ted stockings on Michelle (which was quite the feat), macgivered a "work station" for her on the couch, and made us both a quick late lunch.

Being in the hospital all weekend sure makes it tough to roll right into the week because we missed our usual meal planning and grocery shopping time. So off to Trader Joes I went...and boy did I buy food. I broke our record for money spent in a single transaction today. Check out that receipt and counter full of groceries!  Having had the scare we did this weekend I was on a mission to find some pre-made food to help stock the freezer for post-baby homecoming and to find meals and snacks that will work for me the next time we're back in Danville, which hopefully won't be for another month!

Michelle is also adjusting to being home on a new level of restricted activity. I think they called their recommendation "limited bedrest," meaning she can walk to the bathroom and around the house a bit, but no shopping or housework. It's not really that different than what she's been doing, but a little.  She says she feels like such a bum, just laying around all the time. And it's tough to find good positions where she can actually do schoolwork without sitting at the kitchen table, which we're trying took avoid because then her legs are down and likely to swell even more.  I need to take a picture of the swelling for you tomorrow so you can appreciate it. The swelling is starting to cause her some pain in her knees and just adds to an overall sense of discomfort and immobility.  The docs don't seem too concerned about it, saying its a normal part of late pregnancy, but I don't like how quickly and intensely it came on. She went from very mild ankle swelling only at the end of the day to pitting edema (where if you push down with your thumb on her skin the imprint stays for a bit) of her whole legs. So we are doing what we can to manage the swelling so it doesn't keep adding to her discomfort. Her stomach/digestive system has also been giving her heck today so that stinks. I think it's just getting so squishy in there that it's tough for the system to work normally. But the annoying thing is that the heartburn means she needs to be more upright rather than laying down, which would help her legs!  Oh well...we do what we can. Here's a pic of her work station. :)

I know that Michelle and I are a good team I general in life, but having her not really be able to contribute much to the day to day running if our household has really made me appreciate just what a good team we normally are.  It's a lot to manage all the "chores" and just day to day things by myself and I generally just miss having a buddy to do things with like making meals. Michelle feels really bad that I have to do all of this myself now and hates just having to sit around and hates having to ask me to get things for her or help her move. But of course, helping her is a main priority for me and it doesn't bother me at all because I feel bad for her not being able to be well and generally being so uncomfortable. Lets just say we are both very empathetic about what the other person is going through in this home stretch before the babies arrive. 

We get to go home!!!

Hooray!  This morning we got the good news that we get to go home!  Yipee!  Michelle's 24hr urine test came back okay, her cervix hasn't changed since yesterday, and the periodic monitoring of the babies looks good.  So now we just wait for them to complete discharge paperwork.  We want to make sure we can talk to the docs before we go though because we want to have a clear plan of attack for any future episodes of contractions.  I think our plan of attack will likely just be to come back here, but would like to get clarification on that.

I've packed up all our bags and am realizing I'm going to either have to take two trips or be quite the pack horse on the walk back to the car. =)  I think we're both happy and a little apprehensive about going home.  I think we will both feel better if we do get a really clear plan from the docs re: the care going forward.  Should she be on modified bedrest?  Should we just come straight here with any sign of contractions recurring or could they give her the meds that stopped them this time at home or locally?  If so, at what point do we come here?  Should we be scheduled for weekly non-stress tests (monitoring)?  Michelle's legs continue to be very swollen, to the point where the swelling limits her range of motion in her knees and ankles a bit.  So we also want to know what we can do for that.  We've asked to take a pair of ted stockings home so we have that option. Hopefully, we'll be able to get clear answers to all of our questions before we leave.  Getting to go home today should mean that Michelle gets to celebrate her birthday at home this weekend!  =)

packed and ready to go home!! (for now anyway)

 

Triple threat fan club

Wow!  We've had over 1,000 page views of our blog just this weekend and we're closing in on 15,000 total. This weekend it's been a nice distraction to read the comments on the blog and Facebook.  We really can't tell you how much it helps to know we have so many people pulling for our soon-to-be family of five. A handful of folks near and far have asked what they can do to help or what we still need for the babies.  The easiest thing you can do it keep us in your thoughts and just keep those prayers, positive energy, etc headed our way.  As far as "stuff" goes, we are really set.  As you know from reading the blog we are planners and had the nursery ready by about 26 weeks.  We have gotten enough clothes given to us that we shouldn't have to do laundry super often.  I am pretty sure we are totally set on clothes until at least this time next year!  I was trying to think about what would be a help to us now and in our first few months home and came up with a few ideas.

 Like I said, we don't need anything, but things that would be helpful when we get home would be having people come over to help with household chores like cleaning, mowing the lawn, helping with laundry (or gift certificates for a cleaning service!) or the usual, bringing meals that we can freeze or make fairly quickly.  My dietary issues make the latter much more complicated because I am sensitive to, and therefore minimize the amount of gluten and cow's milk dairy I eat (butter seems fine & goat milk/cheese is also fine).  So I know that is trickier.  Fortunately, we're moving into a good time of year for that because soup, chili, stew, etc are usually pretty easy to make GF & mostly dairy free.  Trader Joes gift cards would also help us stay nourished because they have some frozen meals that I can actually eat.  It would be hugely helpful to have some more easy meals in the first month or two. 

Speaking of meals, for local friends, if you are making a batch of chili or soup and wanted to share a single or 2-person portion of it with us, that is something I could bring to the hospital with me and heat up in the microwave in the "family pantry" across the hall from our room. The pantry is nicely stocked with crackers, cereal, drinks, frozen pasta meals, pudding, yogurt, etc--99% of which I can't eat.  But I can put a little food in there with our names on it in the community fridge and that seems to work okay.  So, if you are a local friend and would like to share your leftovers with me that would be awesome.  Feel free to email, text, or FB message me and we can figure out a plan.  The other thing I thought of that would be helpful during our stay in Danville is gas cards.  But like I said, really, just keep those positive vibes and prayers headed our way, along with random funny anecdotes, silly stories, goofy dances via FaceTime, or whatever you come up with. =)  Thanks again for all your support! I'm starting to doze off writing this post so I think it's time for a quick nap.  I will let you know when we know more!!  For now the babies are staying put (see how powerful your collective "stay put" energy was!!).

Feeling like a real person again

Michelle is resting now and I'm happily watching the Packer game on TV & thought I'd write a quick update.  Michelle is now completely disconnected and wearing her own clothes again!  They finally got all the babies monitored for the time they needed and she was able to get off all the monitors. She got to walk to the bathroom (not taking that for granted any more!) and actually take a shower with a glove on her left hand to cover the IV port.  She even got the okay to do a lap around labor & delivery.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the okay for me to push her in a wheelchair for a stroll off the floor. =(  But she ordered a pretty tasty panini for lunch along with a chocolate chip cookie.  She also ordered some hummus and veggies and chips for me to snack on. 

Our little walk around the hall wiped her out so she's sleeping now.  She's feeling pretty good, but her lower legs and feet are pretty swollen and I don't like that one bit.  (swelling can be associated with preeclampsia)  =(  But we'll see what the urine test says and just roll with the punches.  I chatted briefly with my boss Annie this afternoon and she's being super great.  After the game I need to go to the grocery store and then bring my file box in to get some paperwork organized and make a tentative work plan for if Michelle has to stay.  I'm going to hate to leave her here at all, but I think we need me to save as many paid days off for when the babies are actually here.  So I'm going to look at it and see if I can maybe do some shorter days so I can spend nights here, or maybe something where I plan to work a long day, spend the night at home, work the following morning, and then head back here.  I really need to get to the library to get some good books on tape.  We're going to be spending a lot of money on gas over the next few weeks in this scenario, but we'll figure it out.  Of course, all of this is up in the air based on what we learn tonight and will be "play it by ear" each day because I'll only leave if Michelle is doing well. 

So more of the same...just wait & see & hope =)

p.s. GO PACK GO!!! =)

 

Today is a new day

I can't say we got a whole lot of sleep last night, but I think if you added up all the little chunks we probably got around 4 hours.  Could be worse and hopefully we'll nap some today.  The good news is that the contractions have stayed away for the most part over night except when her bladder fills up.  So about half an hour ago the docs took her off the magnesium sulfate and IV fluids so that is one less thing she's hooked up to.  This makes it easier for her to get comfortable on her left side so that's good.  This morning they wanted to get a solid 20 minute tracing of the babies heart rates which is no easy feat.  Michelle had to hold pretty still to reduce the chances of losing one of the readings, but I guess they got what they wanted and the babies are still doing well.  Now that she's off the magnesium they want to try to get two more hours of good monitoring of the babies and then, if all looks good, then she could come off the baby monitors too and they would just check the heart rates every so often.  Once this two hour monitoring is done she should be able to get up and walk around and even take a shower.  She can probably put on her own clothes too, which I'm sure would make her feel better.  They're also going to do one more dose of Indocin and then try taking her off of that to see if the contractions stay away.  So she'll be off the baby monitors, but stay on the contraction monitor (though it sounds like she could take break and still get a shower).

Michelle's nurse Tina has now been trying to get all the monitors on for about 40 minutes.  Babies A & C are generally pretty cooperative and not too hard to find, though they've both had their moments.  Baby B, on the other hand, is a true ninja baby-constantly moving and playing hide and seek.  She's probably going to be our wild thing baby. =)

The only not-good news today is that Michelle's blood pressure continues to be elevated.  For now she has the diagnosis of "gestational hypertension."  Her 24 hour urine collection will be done at 4:30 this afternoon and we should have the results of that evaluation later tonight.  So far her bloodwork has all come back fine, but the fear is that she may be developing pre-eclampsia.  The risks for pre-eclampsia are increased with multiples and with first pregnancies so the doc said it wouldn't be surprising.  Here's a link to more info about pre-eclampsia.  Honestly, it scares me and I really really hope she doesn't have it, or develop it.  I asked the doc what the plan would be if it turns out she does and she said they would try to manage it with blood pressure meds for as long as we can (34-35wks) and monitor closely for any maternal or fetal complications that would indicate the need for earlier delivery.  In other words, if she does have pre-eclampsia, we're here until the babies are born. 

I asked the doc for best-case scenario (ie. contractions stay away & blood pressure comes down to normal levels--off all meds), then we could probably go home on Monday.  But the doc said "just don't get it in your head that you're going home Monday."  I said, "I know.  I just like to know what to hope for!"  =)  So we will try to prepare for the worst (pre-eclampsia & babies born before 32 wks) and hope for the best (discharge Monday and babies make it to 35+ weeks).

Sometimes it's the little things...

I just finished writing the big update with all the medical info and I guess I talked about how physically miserable Michelle has been, but this is tough for both of us emotionally too.  No matter how many books you read, people you talk to, or blogs you peruse, nothing can really prepare you for how emotionally trying it is to have a complicated pregnancy.  We have been so fortunate up until now that this pregnancy has been about as uncomplicated as a triplet pregnancy can be.  But now that we're in the complicated phase, it feels like the overall threshold for emotions is lowered.  A lot of the emotional stuff is closely tied to the physical though.  When Michelle physically feels miserable, she feels more down; when Michelle is hurting and down, I feel sad and helpless.  So we are thankful that she is feeling better now.  But it's funny how even when we're feeling better, little things can make your eyes start to leak. =)  Michelle read a nice comment on Facebook in response to one of my blog posts and started tearing up.  For me it was tonight when I went to the cafeteria.  It was pretty much deserted and I wandered around figuring out what to get Michelle for dinner (food service stops at 7 and we got the ok for her to eat at about 7:15) and see if there might be anything I could eat (gluten & cow dairy free) and felt like eating.  I got some pasta for Michelle, but was less than enthused about my option of salad and cold deli meats.  Anyway, I decided to just eat the little bit of kale salad I'd thrown in before we left this morning and call it good.  But as I was wandering I saw that they had candy and they even had peach rings, which is one of Michelle's favorite candies.  I was so excited to be able to get some for her as a special treat.  I put the bag under the dispenser and four peaches came out.  I tried and tried, but short of being the crazy person shaking and pounding on the machine, they just weren't coming.  This silly and stupid little failure almost brought me to tears.  I recovered, added some Swedish fish to the bag, and headed back to the room.

Shortly after I got back Michelle got up to use the bedside commode (no more walking to the bathroom allowed on the magnesium drip) and then just sat up on the edge of the bed for a bit.  We actually had like 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to just chat.  It was nice.  We talked about how we're both are still hoping to make it to 32 weeks with the babies still inside, but will take each day as a small victory.  We might be here the same amount of time either way because the earlier the babies come, the longer they'll be in the NICU and if the best case scenario doesn't happen, then we might be here keeping labor at bay until 34 or 35 weeks.  We're hoping for scenario number two if our "best case" doesn't happen.  We both have a feeling that the babies will be okay no matter what at this point, but the longer they stay in the better we'll feel.

Hopefully there will be no excitement tonight and maybe we'll both get a little sleep which will help us withstand this rollercoaster.  We've asked if they might be able to take the baby monitors off for the night and just put them back on if the contractions get worse; Still waiting on that answer...  On a positive note, the intensity and number of contractions does seem to be decreasing which is great news.  On a less great note, Michelle's had a few high blood pressure readings so now they are collecting all of her urine for the next 24 hours.  The resident didn't sound too concerned about the likelihood of pre-eclampsia, but with even two high readings in 6 hours they have to do the urine collection.  Hopefully that all comes back clear or that will change things once again, and not for the better.  So now we can start sending relaxing vibes to Michelle's uterus and circulatory system. =)

Here are a few pics...

Lots of "stuff" in this room!  You can see my blogging spot with the computer on it

My bed for the weekend.  Sooooo much better than sleeping on the couch in here!

24hr pee collection has to be on ice which I think is funny!

Time flies when you're having fun!!! (said in the most sarcastic voice ever!)

Ugh, this stinks.  Seriously, really, truly, honest-to-goodness stinkiness here.  The contractions have not stopped and now Michelle is feeling them.  I think in a word, she is miserable.  They started her on magnesium sulfate, which is used to help protect the babies from brain hemorrhages if they're born before 32 weeks and may also help with the contractions.  They also gave her a medication orally called Indocin (sp?) that is supposed to help with the contractions.  So far, no dice as the contractions seem to be coming more often than when we got here.  In addition to the IV Michelle is hooked up to all four monitors which are not easy to get arranged.  The babies are little ninjas and they are moving around or hiding from the monitors.  So then the nurse has to come in and try to get them back on.  Once they are on, Michelle doesn't want to move, but then she gets uncomfortable not being able to move.  So then she moves and we start all over again with the heart beat hunt.  Ugh.  Because the magnesium sulfate is supposed to relax her muscles, she's no longer allowed to walk to the bathroom and has to wear leg cuffs to prevent blood clots.  She will have to pee in a bedpad or on a commode chair near the bed and if she can't do that they'll add a cath to the mix of things she's hooked up to. 

As I'm writing this Michelle is chatting on the phone with her good friend Laura and that seems to be helping distract her for a bit.  She wasn't sure she was up to chatting, but I'm glad she decided to call Laura back because I can see it taking her mind off of everything else for a few minutes.  But now the doc is back for a cervical check so I'll be back...

Okay, I'm back.  In the real world about an hour has passed, but that hour went really fast for those of you just reading this now.  I have a feeling that's how blogging is going to go now...in fits and spurts.  So, since I've been gone...the doc came in and did another exam.  Good news is that her cervix hasn't changed.  Contractions are ongoing, but there's good news there too in that Michelle isn't feeling them as much now.  Based on the monitor readings it does seem like the contractions have at least settled a bit in intensity and the drugs are probably helping her not feel them.  Overall, she seems at least less miserable and her face is more relaxed, though I wouldn't go so far as to say she's comfortable.  So at this point we're onto the next round of "wait & see."  Best case scenario is that the contractions stop, they take her off the meds, the contractions stay away, and we get to go home on Monday.  Worst case scenario, the contractions don't stop, her cervix progresses (ie. she officially goes into labor), and they have to do a C-section.  Hopefully, the babies stay in until at least tomorrow afternoon because she got the last steroid booster early this afternoon and it has the most impact after 24 hours.  So let's all keep pulling for best case scenario and see how long we can keep these babies cooking.  They seem perfectly content so I don't think they are in a rush to get out, but Michelle's uterus is rebelling against that idea.  So we just need to talk her uterus down off the ledge...  In between monitor adjustments I've been trying to whisper sweet nothings to her uterus to see if I can help make that happen. =)

Thanks to everyone who is reading this blog and either commenting here or on facebook...it helps to know that we have a lot of people pulling for the five of us!  So keep those comments, prayers, and positive vibes coming our way!

First (hopefully not THE) trip to the hospital

Just a quick update to keep everyone in the loop.  Yesterday evening Michelle had another bout of cramping so we called Geisinger again.  We called the local OB office, but the doc on call was in a C-section. while we waited for a call back, it got a little worse so we called Danville.  The person there recommended that she contact the local folks again and that she be evaluated again.  When we did talk to the local OB on call, he again said just to rest and drink fluids. But after another night of not sleeping and two more bouts of moderate menstrual-like cramping for about an hour each, we decided to call Danville again in the morning.  They recommended that we come in for monitoring again.  So rather than go to Mount Nittany and potentially get transferred via ambulance, we decided to just take our time getting ready and drive ourselves to Danville.  So we got some more things together including our list of last minute hospital packing, like pillows, snacks, etc., ate some breakfast, and I picked up a bit. Oh yeah, and we both realized that I hadn't gotten a haircut I desperately needed and Michelle was like "oh, no problem. I'll just do it quick before we go!"  So that was kind of hilarious, but it looks and feels so much better! :). Then we hopped in the car and headed here to Danville.

We got to Labor and Delivery and as so as we said, "we're having triplets and..." they said "oh, yeah, we've been expecting you!"  They walked us right back to one of the double rooms and said that since we are having triplets and will be using both monitoring machines, that we won't get a roommate, which is great.  The resident on call is very nice and said we would be here for a minimum of two to three hours for monitoring, but that they might want to keep her overnight just to be cautious.  They had to do a speculum exam which was very painful.  They said she's about 1cm dilated and 70% effaced.  The attending didn't seem too terribly concerned about her 1.4cm measurement from yesterday, saying that at 31.5 weeks with triplets, it could've been like that for a while.  They will check again in two hours to see if there are any changes.  She is all strapped up to monitor for contractions like yesterday but they're also monitoring each baby's heart rate so now she has four straps.  The attending said that given the whole picture (us living far from here, having had fibroids removed, etc) that he would prefer to be cautious and keep her here over night.  So I'm glad we packed to stay, just in case.

We've been here for almost three hours and Michelle is already sick of it and done with all the medical procedures! :( She is hooked up to the monitors, has an IV in to giver her fluids, and has gotten a second steroid shot (ouch!), a few tubes of blood taken, and had to give a urine sample.  Oy! What we have been told so far is that if her cervix is changing she will be given magnesium sulfate via the IV to help protect the babies from brain bleeds and hopefully stop the labor to keep them in there for a while longer.  They may give another drug to help stop the labor too, but did say that nothing has really been proven to stop labor once it is going.  If her cervix isn't changing we will likely go home tomorrow and this is just be the beginning of what the resident called a "frustrating road" of contractions and trying to know when to come back to the hospital, because she could have contractions off and on for a while.  No fun.  I think from this point on, our anxiety level is certainly going to be elevated no matter what happens...  Please feel free to send lots of "babies stay put" energy our way!

She is smiling in this picture, taken within the first half hour, but there have been plenty of tears too! But overall Michelle continues to be a trooper!

All hooked up with monitors

Emotional rollercoaster...

Well, we were definitely on an emotional high after Tuesdays visit to Danville where everyone was just pleased as punch at how big the babies are and how close they are in size. Everyone seemed pretty confident we'd make it to the scheduled C-section on October 16th.

Today has been another story... Last night Michelle was having a hard time sleeping and just feeling generally uncomfortable. She was feeling anxious and down about it.  She also felt some cramping that felt like low level menstrual cramps. She'd felt something similar Tuesday morning and mentioned it to the Danville OB.  He said she should call if she felt that again, so we called this morning & they had us come in. The first thing the did was a physical exam and fetal fibronectin test. The doc said her cervix felt a little soft and open just a bit, but only on the outside. If the fetal fibronectin test is negative then I guess it's unlikely that she'll go into labor in the next two weeks. But we've read that this test isn't necessarily accurate with multiples so who knows. We won't get those results back until at least tomorrow.  

After those tests it was time for a quick ultrasound to check cervical length and the babies heart rates. Babies all look good, but Michelle's cervix has shortened a lot and is now only 1.4cm long. They'd really like it to still be about 2.5 cm.  So after the ultrasound they did a modified non stress test to monitor for contractions.  Usually during a non-stress test they monitor both the babies heart rates and contractions, but Grays Woods only has a single fetal monitor and had just looked at the babies on the ultrasound so we just used the contraction monitor part.  Michelle hung out in a recliner with monitor strapped on. There are some low level, fairly infrequent contractions but they didn't seem too concerned.  Michelle couldn't feel anything internally when the monitor showed the contraction and neither of us could feel it from the outside either.  The doctor called MFM in Danville and they just said to get the booster steroid shot today, no need to go to Danville.  They just recommended rest and lots of fluids. And obviously to call if she feels the cramping again or has any bleeding or fluid leaking.

So all that and nothing really changes, except that I think we are most definitely on higher alert now. In all likelihood, the babies would be fine even if they were born today, but we sure would like them to keep on cookin', at least for a few more weeks. I'm definitely feeling a little extra pressure now to get my files in order for work and to get a few more meals in the freezer. And I think we'll err on the side of caution and make sure Michelle is really resting and off her feet as much as possible over the next couple weeks. The OB in Danville said it is pretty normal for the uterus to contract a bit in response to this much stretching, but it still makes us a little nervous. Michelle is feeling down about all of this, wanting to be the "rockstar" triplet prego, but this isnt her fault and is out of our control! Plus, she already is a rockstar in my book!  Michelle's fundal height measured 47cm today so her body thinks it is 7 weeks overdue! So not too surprising that it is starting to prepare to get these babies out, but here's hoping it can hold out a while longer! Send lots of incubating energy Michelle's way over the next couple of weeks!!

Big Babies!!! Almost 31 weeks ultrasound pics

Hooray for big babies!  At the last ultrasound our babies weighed in at 2lb 12oz (A) & 2lb 11oz (B&C) which put them at the 90th percentile for triplets and in the 60s/70s for singleton babies.  We didn't want to set too high of an expectation and be disappointed, so going into today we were hoping to hear that the babies were all 3lbs 8oz which would be just over the 50th percentile for triplets (but of course hoping they'd be more closer to 1700 grams (3lbs 12oz) & the 90th percentile).  So imagine our delight when the ultrasound tech finished measuring baby A and said he's estimated to be 4lbs 5oz already!!!  That puts him in the 85th percentile for singletons!  And the even better news is that the girls aren't far behind weighing in at 4lbs 1oz (baby B) and 4lbs 2oz (baby C)!  There's only a 6% difference between A & B which is incredible!  Anything less than a 20% difference is good.  All the doctors were impressed and just said, "Hey, whatever you're eating or doing, keep it up!  You've got some big babies in there!"  The girls are putting on about ounce a day and right now our little dude is gaining even more than that each day.  If these babies keep up this weight gain and make it to their scheduled C-section, they could each weigh almost 6 pounds!  I was only 5lbs 14oz when I was born and we could have three babies all about that size!!  It's incredible!  But even if they make their appearance earlier than that, at least they are over the 1500 gram "very low birthweight" marker, which bodes well for good outcomes.

Our appointment with the OB went well.  He was nice and talked a bit more about what to expect during the C-section.  He said he would plan to schedule our C-section for exactly 36 weeks, which would be October 16th.  So unless they insist, these babies will all be born the morning of October 16th!  As it turns out, the MFM docs are the ones who cover labor and delivery on Wednesdays so it will be one of them that does our C-section, which was comforting.  But of course, when they actually looked at the schedule, it is the only one of the four MFM docs we haven't met yet who will be doing the C-section!  So they scheduled our next ultrasound/visit with her so we can meet her ahead of time.  I've heard good things about this other doc, the only female MFM doc, so that is good. But it will still be nice to meet her next visit and have her be a familiar face when the day comes.  Our next visit is October 7th!  We will be doing weekly OB visits here in State College, but the MFM docs see no reason to do more frequent monitoring since we've had such an uncomplicated pregnancy, Michelle's blood pressure is perfect (120/70 today), and the babies are all growing well. 

So all good news today!  Michelle did joke in the ultrasound room though that if it wasn't for the fact that the MFM docs deliver on Wednesdays she would change the day because "Wednesdays child is full of woe" and we can't have three babies all full of woe! =)  Hopefully that is NOT the case!  Buddhists associate being born on a Wednesday with the color green (one of our favorite colors) and with the idea of receiving.  And astrologists say Wednesday is ruled by Mercury and people born on Wednesdays are good communicators. So, ya know, it'll be fine, right?! =)  Anyway, here are the stats and a few pictures from today.  They're getting pretty squishy in there so it's getting harder to get good pictures...sorry!



Baby A's stats today!  He's got a big noggin & a big belly & short legs!

Baby B is proportioned similar to A with the short upper leg compared to the rest of her!

Baby C's stats.  She's always had a bigger belly & smaller head.  Funny how they're different.

This picture shows all three sacs & some various bit of each baby...you'll just have to trust us on this one!

Baby C was the only one giving up a really good profile shot today!  She's kind of off on her own a
bit on Michelle's right side so she's the easiest to measure and get pictures of. 

It's a little hard to tell, but that bright white area in the middle/right is Baby A's face and right next to his
forehead is Baby C's foot!  She's not even born yet and already kicking her brother in the head!

 

 

This video clip shows Baby C practice breathing.  It's hard to tell unless you're an ultrasound pro, but just right of center athe bottom is her heart beating, and then there is a vertical darkish line near the center that sometimes moves and we think that's it but it was even hard for us to catch it in person! (and during this clip you hear the tech saying "she stopped," so we might have missed it! Like I said, you gotta be a pro!)  But I thought I might as well add it here anyway.

 

 

 

Assorted pictures from the last couple of weeks

Tomorrow is another long day of appointments in Danville so I will of course be blogging tomorrow night with new pics, latest weight estimates, etc.  But I have a handful of pictures I've been meaning to post to the blog so thought I'd do that tonight before all the excitement of tomorrow.  Tomorrow we start the day with an OB consult in Danville.  We're a little annoyed about this appointment because we didn't know it needed to happen until last week.  Our local OB group in State College is part of the same Geisinger system as the maternal fetal medicine (MFM) folks in Danville, which is nice because they share an electronic medical record.  But the compartmentalization or specialization within the system has sometimes been puzzling and other times just plain annoying.  This is one of the annoying times!  At our multidisciplinary meeting last month they told us we would schedule the C-section at our next OB visit at Grays Woods.  But when we tried to do that the OB seemed perplexed and said "let me check on that."  Well, as it turns out, since we'll be delivering in Danville, one of the Danville OBs will be doing the actual C-section so we need to see someone there to actually schedule that.  It's fine, really, but we're kind of annoyed that nobody told us this until now.  We could have been doing OB visits in Danville this whole time and getting to know the docs down there and then just doing the "extra" appointments up here in State College.  Then Michelle would have been more likely to know the person who is going to be cutting her open.  Prior to this, I guess we just assumed it would be an MFM doc doing the C-section, but I guess they never actually said that.  So anyway, it's not that big of a deal, just a little annoying.  We're excited to see the babies again, though I know Michelle has mixed feelings about ultrasounds now since they aren't always comfortable for her.  We're really hoping that the babies are all around 3 and a half pounds now and that everything is still looking good.

I told you how Michelle threatened to put herself on bedrest right?  Well, today as she was bemoaning how hard things are now, I described this pregnancy using the analogy of climbing a mountain.  It's fairly easy going, though a little rocky at the start, then it gets progressively steeper but you can see the summit so it isn't too bad for a while.  Now she's on the last steep ascent to the summit where it's very slow going.  Soon, but hopefully not too soon, we'll be trying not to tumble down the other side with our three babies!

Okay, this is supposed to be a picture post so here goes...

went to dinner at a new friend's house with this amazing pond & view on Labor Day

Just a few of Jorene's lovely sunflowers

we realized we don't have many pics of the two of us with Michelle's big belly!

THE BELLY!!!  This makes it look even bigger
because I took it from below, but still a cool shot
and Michelle looks great!  She's a trooper, smiling
for the picture even though it's been a tough weekend

another great pic of my lovely wife and our garden
(I like the way the light is streaming in!)

Tomato soup & sauce made from Annie & Jorene's tomatoes
Ready for the deep freezer!

quite possibly my favorite "triplet-y" gift so far!
we're not big on matching, but coordinating is different
and this is just hilarious!  Definitely taking a pic in these!

Mommies' and babies' hospital bags are packed!
(they've been in the car for a month now, but this weekend
we re-packed them and added a few missing items.  They're
all set now except for the last-minute things we can't pack ahead)

 

Made it past Labor Day with no labor! 30 week belly pic!

We're now two weeks into the third trimester and it feels good to be in the "30's" now.  I think we're both breathing a little easier knowing that by now all the babies should be over the 1500 gram mark (3lbs 4oz), which is the designated weight for being very low birthweight and their lungs should be mature enough at this point.  The flip side of "being in the 30s" is that it is really setting in just how close we are to the arrival of these three tiny babies!  Statistically speaking, they should be born in two weeks, which is average gestation for triplets!  Did you catch that??? TWO WEEKS!!!  Now of course we are hoping to be well above the mean and make it to the 35 week mark, but even the very last possible day that these babies will be born is now less than six weeks away!!  October used to seem so far away!

Michelle is really slowing down.  This weekend after her afternoon nap she called me into the bedroom.  (At this point in the pregnancy, I always come when called!)  When I got to the bedroom she feebily lifted her head and in the most whiny, pathetic voice with the edge of a two year old temper tantrum in her voice, she said "I'm putting myself on bedrest! I'm never getting up!"  I couldn't help it, and laughed hysterically for the next few minutes because her delivery was so spot on.  It was so cute and pathetic, but really sums up how much these babies are drawing on her energy.  It's really tough for her to be productive and get a lot of schoolwork done now.  She usually sleeps in a bit, works for a couple/few hours, and then lays down for a couple hours in the afternoon.  Monday night was the first time we noticed that in the evening her ankles were both swollen and hurting a bit.  So she's been trying to put her feet up even more, but it's really hard to find a position where she can have her feet up and still be productive for school.  I might need to try to rig some type of table up for her this weekend.  

I've been a busy bee, which I'm sure isn't that surprising to anyone who knows me.  I spent some time working on slides to prep for guest lecturing in Michelle's class on Wednesday this week.  The talk went fine, but was a little rushed because class was interrupted by a fire drill about five minutes into my presentation!  I spent all day Monday working in the garden, trying to get a handle on the massive weed explosion.  And tonight I cooked up a storm.  We have generous friends with huge gardens who shared a ton of tomatoes with us so tonight I made a black bean, tomato, corn salad, a batch of homemade tomato sauce, and one of our standards, Tuscan tomato soup.  I put all the sauce and soup into jars, labeled them, and stuck them in the deep freezer so we can have some quick and easy meals post babies and get a taste of summer.  Next up is making tons of kale chips and maybe a kale soup because I have two big bags of kale from our friend Joreen to use up too!  

Okay, on with the pics.  These profile pics with a shirt on aren't as dramatic, but you can definitely tell a difference in size still from 28 weeks!

28 weeks

30 weeks

Michelle & our three pregnant friends in Penn's Valley in order of due date from right to left
(this was the last prego shot of Erin, in white, because she went into labor
on Labor Day and had her little boy at 33.5 weeks!  Mom & baby doing well now)

the fruits of my labor!