Triplets

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Garin

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May 31, 2011 - Baby Shower Change

Due to the flooding, the baby shower has been moved to Optimus Park in Bismarck, which is located at N 17th St and Spaulding.  Thanks!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

May 26, 2011 - Flood Update

Just thought I would give everyone an update on the flooding (or what we know of it) in Bismarck.  If all of their calculations are correct, our street will probably have water as well as possibly some into our yard.  I hope these predictions don't change as we can live with what they are expecting now!

Thank you so much to Grandpa K, Uncle C, and my wonderful hubby for getting everything at the house up as well as over at Craig's shop.  They put in a long day of hard work, but hopefully all of our belongings will remain high and dry!  Thank you to Grandma N for packing up G man, myself, and our pets and bringing us all up to Garrison where we can stay out of the chaos of it all.

I know many of you have been asking if there are colors I prefer or a theme for the babies bedroom, and I have to admit that I haven't thought about it.  We had a plan for boy/girl combinations which we were sure was going to happen.  We didn't think about if they were all of one sex, and especially not ALL GIRLS!  I am trying to do a little searching on the internet to see what I can come up with now and I'll let you know as soon as we figure it out!

Thanks again to everyone for the calls about the flood!  We appreciate everyone thoughtfulness!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

May 24, 2011 - And we're having...

Sorry to everyone who has been checking and checking the blog to see what we are having.  They announced that they are increasing the outflows from the Garrison Dam over the next few days and of course, we live in south Bismarck!  The level they are predicting the river to hit seems to be increasing throughout the day, so I have been busy trying to figure out what our elevation is and figure out what our plan is at this point.  If anyone is around and willing to help, we would appreciate any and all help during this time.

Ok, so onto the big news!!  It was quite a suspensful day yesterday as the ultrasound on each baby took about 45 minutes, so it was approximately 45 minutes between finding out what each baby was.  After lying on a table from 9:30-1:30, yes, 4 hours I was glad to be done with this ultrasound!  So I am going to try to replay our day for you and include some photos as we do this...

We started with Baby B, who was very restless and not so cooperative at getting good pictures taken.



You can see the little skeleton face (a little creepy, if you ask me).

And a foot!


You can see the head, back, arms, and legs.  To the right are parts of other babies body parts.

And some legs in 3D!

Ok, this is really neat too!!  It is a 3D video of Baby B kicking in uterto.

And Baby B is a GIRL!!!

Now...onto Baby C....

A cute little profile.

And a big yawn!  We saw lots of these.  We must have a sleepyhead!

Another yawn, but in 3D this time!
Here's a face shot with the arms, legs, and even the umbilical cord showing!
And Baby C is a GIRL!!!

And onto Baby A...(not sure why we didn't do them in order)

Another skeleton face.

Cute little 3D face.
Yes, that's a thumb's up!

Yes, that is Baby A kneeing Baby C in the head.
At least they'll know how to fend for themselves after being in my belly!
And Baby A is a GIRL!!!

So, just to clarify...and make sure you read it all right...3 GIRLS!!  I am not sure what Craig and I are going to do with all of these girls!  Craig was sure to tell me that they need to learn to change the oil and change a tire, so they aren't going to be 'girly-girls!'  So much for saving all of G's old clothes!  That poor boy doesn't have a clue what life will be like with 3 sisters!  We figured we would end up with a combination of boys and girls and never thought that all 3 would be the same - what are the chances! Anyways, it should be fun and add to all of the excitement as now we can plan out their room and figure out some names.

On another note, they measured my cervix after 13 days of bedrest, it measured 3.5 cm.  It slowed down...yeah!  It is inevitable that it is going to thin as the pregnancy progresses, but at least we've slowed it down (last time it measured 3.9 cm).  So the plan is to continue resting, but I am finally able to join my family for meals and be up a bit during the day.  I do get to enjoy being pushed around in a wheelchair now if we go out anywhere.  It isn't ideal, but much better than starring at the walls in my house everyday!  Although, I never realized how fast leaves grow as there were no leaves on our neighbor's trees when I started on bedrest and now they are thick and full.  Bedrest definitely is not a walk in the park (as many people have said they wished they were in my shoes), but it is really helping me remember how simple life can be.  This is probably a good thing before your life gets bombarded with three baby girls!

Thank you to everyone who has sent emails, texts, phone calls, etc.  They definitely help the days pass by!  I know many of you are new to blogs, so I will give you a little update.  You are welcome to make comments on the blog, which we and everyone who reads can see.  If you would like updates as to when I put an update on here, you can sign up with your email on the right side of this screen.  It will then email you everytime I/we make a post.  Hopefully we will all see you soon at our open house shower!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

May 18, 2011 - One week of bedrest down!

Today I am 19 weeks and 3 days.  It was a week ago today that I went in having contractions and was placed on bedrest.  We've made it through a week of it now!  I definitely say 'we' because Craig has to do almost everything around the house now (not to mention all of the amazing help that Grandma N has been giving us with little G man and chores around the house).  It has been an adjustment for us all!  I appreciate all of the phone calls from friends and family as those really help pass the days around here too!

Well, in 5 days we should be able to figure out what we are having!  We kept saying that everyone around us was more excited to find out than we were, but I think there are a lot of anxious nerves around here as that day approaches!  We will get it posted after we return from our trip to Fargo (that is where the closest high-risk pregnancy specialist is).

Here is another belly picture from last night.  I hit 44 inches around!
Now, I think that's big, but I don't even think I know what big is going to be!!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

May 11, 2011 - Change in Plans

Well, we are at 18 weeks and 3 days and we didn't have the smoothest morning around here.  I was struggling with my back pain yesterday and last night which caused me to not sleep very well as well.  Early this morning I was feeling a lot of pressure at the bottom of my belly with pain that got intense and then let up several times.  After a short period of this, I told Craig that we better call and get this all checked out.

We arrived at the hospital about 6:00 am and they put me on the monitor right away to see what was going on.  Shortly after we found out that I was indeed having contractions.  They were not very intense and sporadic in the time between each of them.  They ordered a urine and talked with Dr I (the OB) who ordered yet another ultrasound.  About 10:00 am they finally came with the ultrasound and we were very relieved to see as each baby squirmed around!  I wasn't into keeping track of heart rates today, but they were all around 150 beats per minute which is around what they have been running.  So we figured the babies were all ok!!  Whew!  So next was checking out that wonderful cervix.  Surprisingly all of the SOB (sitting on my butt) over the weekend worked because there was no additional change since last Friday (5 days ago)!  Hooray it's working!!

So we still couldn't figure out what was causing the contractions other than that is what the uterus naturally does as one progresses through a pregnancy.  They said that they would send me home on 'modified bedrest' as well as some Procardia to help stop and control the contractions.  So the new plan now is to keep in lying flat or in a recliner for most of the day including mealtime.  I am allowed a hall pass for bathroom privileges and to grab some food or snacks.  Thank goodness they give me 15 minutes to take a shower everyday as well!  What fun we are going to have this summer!  She also gave me some lovely knee high TED hose that can only come off for 15-60 minutes a day.  G man really likes these since they have a hole under my toes.  He keeps playing "This little piggy..."  I also picked up a wheelchair so I can be pushed around the block for a walk from time to time.

All of these things seem to have gotten me down a bit today (not to mention the stress on Craig and Grandma N who was home with G), but I/we have to keep looking at the bright side.  Everyone is healthy and growing!  This is just one of the hurdles we have to jump over to bring these munchkins into the world.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

May 7, 2011 - The baby (or should I say the babies'?) bump!!

Ok, so many of you have been asking about this crazy baby bump that I have going!  So here's some photos please note that sometimes I didn't want my head in the photo as I looked oh, so lovely (especially during all of the nausea):

April 3rd, 2011 ~ 13 weeks ~ 40 inches around
(at my belly buttton)

April 18, 2011 ~ 15 weeks and 1 day ~ 42 inches around


April 24, 2011 ~ 16 weeks ~ 43 1/4 inches around

May 1, 2011 ~ 17 weeks ~ still measuring 43 1/4 this week!
I love this pic as Garin is so happy to hug that big thing! 

That's all I have for now.  I know earlier this week I past 44 inches,
so I will post some more photos of this week later!

Friday, May 6, 2011

May 6, 2011 - 17 Weeks & 5 Days

So here we go with the first post to this blog!  I wish I could have gotten this up and running earlier, but between the nausea and running after G man there hasn't been a whole lot of time!! 

So today, we hit 17 weeks and 5 days!  (A couple weeks ago we had to go celebrate at the DQ when we hit 16 weeks since that was halfway to an average triplet birth of 32 weeks!)  It has been just over a week since I quit doing child care in our home and life is getting a little easier!  See, I started getting this insane back pain that seems to get worse the more that I walk and lift objects (i.e. kids) so I had to hang up the towel for a while.  Now that I am not working the pain seems to be much more manageable, which was the goal.

Today we had another appointment with Dr. I (our OB) as well as an ultrasound.  They have been doing ultrasounds every two weeks to keep track of the growth of each of the munchkins as well as keeping a close eye on my cervical length.  Unfortunately, we found out that they can no longer measure them from head to butt, so I put in their measurements from the last ultrasound.  In a couple weeks, they will start measuring the size of the head, chest, and femur (thigh) to estimate each babies' weight.  So the update from today is:

Baby A:
153 beats/minute (heart rate)
(2 weeks ago was 10.55 cm, which was about a week ahead of schedule)

Baby B:
148 beats/minute (heart rate)
(2 weeks ago was 10.77 cm, which was about a week ahead of schedule)

Baby C:
145 beats/minute (heart rate)
(2 weeks ago was 10.63 cm, which was about a week ahead of schedule)

Overall, we couldn't really tell what was going on with these babes this time!  It honestly looked like a mess of baby on the ultrasound screen.  Watching it you could occasionally make out a head, backbone/ribs, arm, but you could no longer see the entire baby on one view of my belly.  I know she said that poor Baby A is located at the bottom nearest my cervix (that is how they always name them, start at the cervix and go clockwise) and bully Baby B was sitting on A's little face!  I'm sure we will see much more of this as they continue to get squished into my ever expanding belly!  Everything looked great with the babies and that was the most important part!!

I did do a little harassing to see if they could tell what we were having yet.  After a couple times of asking, the ultrasound tech tried to do a little searching!  She was having a hard time keeping her eye of Baby B as he/she was jammin' out in there and busy moving!  One of the babes she finally got the right angle, but she said she could never get a clear enough look to tell for sure one way or another...bummer!!  We don't know which baby it was, but Craig and I talked afterwards that as she was looking you definitely couldn't make out any family jewels...so all of you who have started to give to the triplet clothing supply and in PINK might have your wish!!  Craig and I are only hoping for healthy babies, so we don't have much for predictions of what we might have in there.

Cervix:
3.9 cm
(2 weeks ago was 4.7 cm and about 2.5 weeks before that was 5.5 cm)

So, here is where our problem is.  We have been figuring for the last couple weeks that this was going to be my issue.  With little G, I didn't have problems with blood pressure or diabetes so we figured I would be good with these ones as well.  But, as you can tell there is a trend happening here that is in the negative direction.  :(  For those of you who don't know as much about anatomy (as I didn't prior to this) the cervix is the located at the bottom of the uterus and is the opening in which the baby would travel through in a normal vaginal delivery.  In the middle of this cervix is a mucous plug, which is meant to close off the opening until time of delivery.  Now that your anatomy lesson is done...the doctor said that at 24 weeks will be put on some restrictions of spending 2-3 hours 3 times a day either in a recliner or in bed to relieve the pressure on that cervix.  She also stated that this would happen unless my cervix continues to thin or I start having contractions.  Yikes, we are way too early for any of this!  She said at 3.2 cm she will begin putting additional restrictions on me as well.  I have been worried about this for the past couple weeks and was trying to get more info on the internet about it.  I read that somewhere between 2.2-2.5 cm that hospitalized bed rest would be ordered (I sure hope I am wrong!).  At the rate I am going I would hit about 3.1 cm at 20 weeks and 2.3 cm by 22 weeks.  If these babes aren't coming until 32-35 weeks, I really do not want to spend 10-13 weeks on hospitalized bed rest!

So what do we do now?  Well, the doc says that rest and 'taking it easy' (my most hated saying about this pregnancy) is the best thing!  Thank goodness for my amazing mother who will be coming to take care of G man during the week while Craig works.  We don't know what we would be doing right now if it wasn't for her!  I have decided to call this my SOB Plan - sit on your butt plan!  (I'm trying really hard to make fun of the situation instead of thinking about how difficult this is all going to become!)  I will be much more comfy at home than in the hospital so we are really hoping that this will slow down the deterioration of that cervix.  I guess it is just like Dr. I said today too, with three babies in there, something has to give!

The hardest part about it all is that for the first three months I was so nauseous that I could have begged for someone to tell me to SOB (sit on my butt - remember?).  But since I stopped working a week and a half ago, I have actually started feeling really good!  My PT gal this morning even said that my hips and back seem to be so much more in alignment this morning too!  So I don't feel like I want to sit on my butt!  I see all of the things that we need to get done to have our house ready for these babies and I want to work on it - not to mention getting out to enjoy the spring weather and play with my little G man!  Needless to say, it has been an emotional day as I think this appointment was my 'wake up call' that somethings with me have to give too if I want to bring three healthy babies into this world!  The day we found out about the triplets, the first thing my doc said was get comfortable with asking for help.  I just didn't think it would happen this early on!

Thanks for reading our first blog post.  I guess I got a little winded as I explained everything, but I am a detailed person, so I guess that is just what we will get!  We will post again after our next appointment in Fargo on May 23rd.  They will be doing a very detailed anatomy ultrasound of all of the babies, so hopefully we will know what sexes we will be having at that point!!