They're Here!

The boys decided to make their appearance Tuesday night. 27 weeks, 6 days gestation. We almost made it to 28 weeks. I'll start with what everyone wants to know - they are all doing great. Me too. Not on Tuesday night though. We had a true emergency c-section delivery. It was probably the scariest hour or so of my life so far. But it's so worth it. We now have 3 beautiful baby boys!

The Birth Story:

I'll start with Tuesday morning. We had an appointment with Dr. Dora Tuesday morning. Everything was going great. My blood pressure was good, babies' heartbeats were good, and Dr. Dora seemed optimistic about our progress. I actually went to work and worked a full day. Luckily, Jack and I spent most of the day going through our client list and created a master to do list. So I feel pretty comfortable where I left things at work. As far as I knew, I was in good shape to make it to at least 30 weeks, maybe 32 weeks. Boy was I wrong!

Later last night, around 6 or 7, I started cramping pretty badly. I basically stayed on the couch and just tried to get comfortable. After dinner, I had a feeling that something wasn't right so I had Brian call the after hours number for the doctor and hospital. I have a really high pain threshold and I was in some serious pain. At that point, I was just cramping. They told me to come on in and let them check me out at the hospital. We sent Addison to the neighbors' house (thanks Don and Tracy!) and started getting ready to head to the hospital. Then I started bleeding. So we moved a little faster! 

Luckily we went to the hospital when we did! We got checked in and they sent us to triage. My pain was really bad at that point. Then they sent me to give a urine sample and my water broke! I knew what that meant. I also started having really strong contractions. Really strong to the point that I thought Mason was coming out right then! I was so scared! Brian kept his cool (in front of me).

They rushed me to the OR. Dr. Dora's husband Michael was on call and he delivered the babies. We were in such a rush that we didn't have time to give the babies steroids to develop their lungs. We also didn't have time for an epidural. They had to knock me out completely with general anesthesia. Brian didn't get to come back to the OR at all. I was really scared because there were so many people working on me and I didn't know what was going on. What I did know was that Mason was really trying to get out and I really needed to keep him in until they had me prepped for the c-section. Luckily I had a medical resident who sat right next to me and held my hand to keep me calm. 

Brian stayed with the neonatologist (premature baby doctor) and nurses during the c-section. He saw each baby as he was born too. Apparently Brian was freaking out too. I wouldn't have known this at all except that he told me.

So the babies were born around 9:45 pm. They came out in order, Baby A, Baby B, and Baby C. So Baby A is now Mason. Baby B is now Logan. Baby C is now James. Mason weighed 2 lbs. 2 ounces. Logan weighed 2 lbs. 4 ounces. And James weighed 2 lbs. 6 ounces. They are all doing great!

The Triplets' First Day

All 3 babies are doing great. They didn't get any steroids for their lungs because when they decided to come, they were ready to come NOW. Despite that, Mason and James had their ventilators removed this morning already. Mason and Logan have the same blood type so they MAY be identical. We won't really know without a DNA test, which is not necessary at this point.

Mason - The Oldest and Smallest

Mason is the leader of the boys as of right now. He's is pretty bruised up from trying to come through the birth canal. Apparently the doctor seriously considered delivering him vaginally but he chose against it because we would still need a c-section for the other 2 babies. His doctor put him under a light to reduce the bruising. He seems to like it.

Logan - The Middle Baby

Logan is our blond-headed middle boy. Logan was Baby B - the baby who lived in my ribs the last few months. He's also the one who refused to move his hands away from his face during the ultrasounds so we couldn't really see his face. Now he likes to sprawl out. He's having a harder time than his brothers but he's doing great too. He had to have a second dose of medicine to develop his lungs and is still on the ventilator. But he did great with the second round of medicine. Hopefully he'll get of the ventilator by tomorrow.

James - The Baby Baby

James was Baby C. If you remember, he had the most room out of all 3 babies. Now he's the calmest one and probably the most easygoing. He is definitely fraternal. He likes to sprawl his arm over the side like in the first picture. 

Addison got to meet her brothers this afternoon. I asked her what she thinks. Her response was "they're tiny!" She loves them already I can tell! Me too! 

I'm doing pretty good so far. My c-section went great and I'm recovering nicely so far. I should be at the hospital until Friday. 

And last but not least, for your viewing entertainment, here's my weekly picture - post-delivery.

The babies may be here until their 40 week due date - July 23. I'll post more updates soon! Thanks everyone for all your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. 

27 Weeks - We Have 2 Lb. Babies!!

27 weeks today! We're getting close! According to my weekly email the babies should be "almost 2 lbs. this week." This is the weight of a head of cauliflower, another food that we don't eat in my house (Brian hates it; I think it doesn't have much flavor. Either way, we don't eat it). The babies should  be about 14-15 inches long. Getting huge!

We had another ultrasound this week. We apparently have some overachievers! Baby A and Baby C weigh about 2 lbs. already (more than my weekly email said). Baby B is our little guy. He weighs about 1 lb. 13 oz. this week. He's also the only one who showed his face this week. Here's his picture:

 

He's a little blurry because he actually had his hand in front of his face (like every time) and the ultrasound girl had to "look through" his hand to see his face. Baby A and Baby C didn't want their pictures taken this time. But everyone is doing great! We saw Dr. Wendel and he is happy with the babies' growth and mine too. The babies all measured within a few days of each other, which is perfect. They all have strong heartbeats (all 148) and plenty of fluid. And they have eyebrows now (or eyelashes. I can't remember). Baby C was even doing his practice breathing. This gets him ready to breathe for real after he's born. 

Me? I'm hanging in there. I still feel pretty good actually. I have started having trouble sleeping and just getting comfortable in general at night (I'm usually ok during the day when I'm staying busy). And I get heartburn at night. Yuck! I feel bad for people who have heartburn all the time! I also woke up with a monster cramp in my calf yesterday morning. Apparently this is normal. But I'm pretty sure it is the absolute worst way to wake up ever!

I'm feeling bigger by the day. Dr. Wendel said I'm the size of a 38 week single pregnancy now! That means that the only place I have to grow is out. I can't even imagine how that will work. We'll see I guess!  Here's my weekly picture:

Yes I did wear this to work today! Yoga pants and flip flops are perfect lawyer attire. At least at my office they are! Lucky me! Oh and yes I'm still working for the time being. I guess Dr. Dora will reevaluate next week. Dr. Wendel did say to avoid all stress. Most people have stress just going to work because they have to (1) get dressed up and (2) get there on time. I don't have these issues luckily! I did scare Jack today when I was a little late though! He called to make sure everything was ok! Oops. 

We had a great Easter and a pretty relaxing week. Well I did. Brian stayed busy! We had our first Easter at home because we couldn't travel. But we made the best of it. Addison and I made Easter dinner. I've never made a holiday meal before because my mom or Brian's mom always does the cooking. First time for lots of things this year! Addison made the green bean casserole all by herself! And it tasted perfect! My in-laws will be happy to know that I even made gravy (the kind out of a little package where you just add water, but still gravy). I do not like gravy but I made it just for Addison because she doesn't like mashed potatoes (unless Nina makes them and they have gravy). I couldn't be Nina but I could make gravy. Here's our spread complete with the gravy:

Then we had a nighttime Easter egg hunt. Even though we didn't have any plans on Easter Sunday, we somehow didn't get around to hiding eggs until about 9 pm. Addison had fun though:

And she gets all the eggs because she's the only one to find them. Belly did try to eat one egg but I heard the crunch and stopped her just in time! The Easter bunny also hid eggs (filled with candy and money of course) but she found those in the morning. Here's a picture from Addison's morning Easter egg hunt:

In case you're wondering . . . no, Addison did not break her arm. She sprained it during her soccer game on Saturday so she gets to wear this awesome splint. She feels cool wearing it I think. Luckily she's doing much better and it doesn't even really hurt anymore. So she'll be back on the soccer field this weekend.

Finally, did anyone see Parks and Recreation this week? If not, stop reading so I don't spoil it. If you don't watch Parks and Recreation, you should. It's hilarious. Well this week, the episode title was 1 in 8000. Guess what that means?! Even without reading the title, I already knew because several people said something to me the night it aired or the next day before we watched it. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Leslie (Amy Poehler) found out she's having triplets! 1 in 8000 (really 1 in 8100). Just like us! If you watched the show, you now have a pretty good idea how we reacted to the news. I was like Leslie (kind of). Excited and optimistic (but terrified). But not as cheery as her because that's not normal. Brian was definitely like Ben. Very overprotective and scared of everything - from work to sleep to food. He's still like that but he's tuned it down some. Thank God! I may have strangled him by now! Just kidding (kind of). I know he meant well.

Next up - Dr. Dora next Tuesday. I'll keep you posted! 

Feeling Lots of LOVE This Week

26 Weeks! Yay! I feel huge this week (like I have the last few weeks, only bigger). This week the babies should be about 1 2/3 lbs. each (about 1 lb. 10 oz. if you don't want to do the math) and they are about 14 inches long. This week's food comparison is a scallion. I assume this is for length only because a scallion weighs about 0 lbs. In baby development, they should be able to hear voices (not just mine). I think they can because it feels like they kick in response to sounds sometimes.Yesterday 2 of them started kicking when Addison sang at the school talent show. So cute (Addison and the babies). Their man parts are also developing this week. It's still weird to me that I have 3 sets of man parts in my belly!

We've had a super busy week this week but we are feeling so loved. First, my mom and aunt Lou Ann came in town on Friday and painted the nursery. I love it! Here's a preview:

For now I'll just say that I love it! I love the navy wall and the stripes! I could never paint stripes on a wall, much less 5 stripes (and I would never try) but my mom is very talented and patient. Those stripes took a lot of time! Thanks Mom and Lou Ann!

I'll do a separate blog post just about the nursery once it's finished. We ordered a glider and a dresser over the weekend so we should have all of the furniture in about 2 weeks. 

We also had 2 baby showers this weekend. Thanks so much to everyone who came and made both days special for us! We got lots of baby gear so we're well on our way to being ready for the boys to make their appearance.

The first shower was my mother in law's friends (who are also the teachers from Addison's school). They are professional shower throwers! Thanks Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Veach, Mrs. House, Mrs. Mentzer, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Poldrack, and Stephanie. And thanks to Meredith Snape for making the cookies! Here are a few pictures from the first shower. The family and the cookies. These are the only pictures I got!

We had a second shower on Sunday. Here are a few pictures from the second shower. Thanks Shannon, Shay, Veronica, Kacky, and Lizzie (and your husbands too)! We had lots of fun and you did a great job with the circus theme! This one was a family shower so Brian got to come too! 

I came home to 3 more gifts on my front porch today! I love coming home to packages on my porch! Thanks everyone! We really appreciate everyone thinking of us!

I also saw Dr. Dora this week (yesterday). She said everything is positive! I passed my diabetes test. I gained another 13 lbs. this month. That's 42 lbs. total if you're counting. I think the trick is lots of granola bars and absolutely NO exercise. (Unfortunately this 42 lbs. has not helped my bony butt at all as I learned last night sitting on bleachers for 2 hours). My blood pressure is still normal. And the babies heartbeats are still good. Yay! I get to keep working for now too because I haven't had any contractions or other signs of problems. From here on out I'll probably see either Dr. Dora or Dr. Wendel every week so they'll reevaluate every week. 

Here's my weekly picture. Getting huge!

Next appointment is Monday with Dr. Wendel. We should get a full level 2 ultrasound with pictures then! 

Finally, Addison went to her sibling class today at the hospital. She learned how to change a diaper and the right way to hold a baby. Good stuff that she'll need to know! Here's a cute picture of Addison and Brian at the class. 

I know that was a lot for one post! I wanted to break it up but didn't have time to do anything else over the weekend. 

Again thanks to everyone who has supported us during this crazy and exciting time! It means the world to us!

I Can't Reach My Feet Anymore!

25 Weeks today! And I feel fantastic this week! I really feel like I can make it at least 5 more weeks. But I'm still praying, keeping my fingers crossed, and all that good stuff. Thank you to everyone else who is doing the same! We really appreciate it!

The babies seem to be doing great too! This week they are supposedly the size of a . . . wait for it . . . rutabaga. Really? If you're like me, you have no idea what a rutabaga is or what it looks like. Lucky for you, I googled it. A rutabaga is "a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip." If you want to know more, click here to get some good ole Wikipedia info, where I conduct my research for most important facts (but not at work. Before anyone thinks I'm committing malpractice, I assure you that I use Westlaw for that). I would post a picture but the rutabaga is probably the ugliest vegetable out there (it does look kinda like a turnip). I will probably never try this one out. Now back to the babies. The babies are really growing now! This week they should be about 13.5 inches long and 1.5 lbs each. Apparently the rutabaga also weighs about 1.5 lbs. Hopefully that knowledge will be useful to someone someday. Probably not though. 

I don't have any new baby pictures today, but here's a picture of my biggest baby - my little princess. She may kill me for saying that because she is way too cool for princesses. BUT she'll never know!

She's a professional flower girl. This was her third time! She loves it! And she definitely knows what to do. I'm a little sad that she won't get to do it again and that I won't have any more little princesses who can be flower girls. I guess the boys can be ring bearers. But that will be an interesting wedding that needs 3 ring bearers. Maybe they don't each need to carry a separate ring? 

Here's a few more pictures from the wedding. Congrats Niki and Kyle! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Thanks Amy for the dress! Buying a maternity dress for a wedding was not something I wanted to do. And this one was perfect. I felt like the prettiest pregnant girl at the wedding! And that's not gratuitous or anything because I saw at least 3 other pregnant girls. I wanted to have this conversation with them: "How many babies are you having? Oh just 1? I'm having 3." Just to one-up everyone else. Then just see how they respond. But I didn't do that. I would never. But it's fun to pretend sometimes.

I got an at-home pedicure this week too. Brian cut my toenails for me (I'm sure that's something he never thought he would get to do). And Addison painted my toenails. 

She did a great job! I can only reach about 2 of my toes now so it would have not looked very good if I did it myself! 

So as you may have guessed, I can't reach my feet anymore. This makes for some difficult times getting dressed and undressed. Especially because it's still cold outside and I have to wear socks still. I also have trouble taking my maternity jeggings off sometimes so Brian gets to help with that too. He's such a good sport about all of this. He also gets to pick things up when I drop them. This happens a lot. I especially like to drop the Apple TV remote in the couch (which means he has to get under the couch to find it. And it's tiny so not easy to find). And he just came home with flowers so I guess he enjoys doing all these fun things for me! 

Here's my weekly picture. I'm pretty sure the only thing growing is my belly. And I'm not sure how much more it can grow!

I've been having a little trouble sleeping and getting comfortable at night lately because either my back or my ribs hurt depending on my position. But Brian got me another special maternity pillow (this is the third one) so now I have my snoogle and a wedge pillow for under my belly. I sleep much better now that I'm surrounded by pillows.

Next doctor's appointment is next Tuesday with Dr. Dora. Hoping for a good visit. I really want to keep working and just doing what I've been doing. Time has been going by pretty fast which is great. I can't wait to meet these little guys (but I do want to wait at least 5 more weeks. Hopefully at least 7 more weeks).

24 Weeks

Huge milestone this week! The babies are now considered "viable."  That means that they have a 50/50 chance of survival if they are born now! Obviously we don't want them to come this early but it's still a huge milestone, especially for multiples. According to Dr. Wendel the next 4 weeks are very important. 

This week the babies are almost a foot long and should weigh about 1 lb. 3-4 oz. That is right on track with their measurements last week at the ultrasound. (If you missed my post about the ultrasound you can read it here.) The babies are supposedly the size of an ear of corn. That's the length comparison. Sometimes it feels like there are 3 ears of corn in there. Especially in my ribs!

The babies are moving a lot now! According to my internet resources they should be the most active over the next 4 weeks. I love feeling them kick so I'm pretty excited about that. But I have started having trouble sleeping and staying comfortable in general because it feels like my ribs are going to break! Front and back! I wish Baby B would just turn sideways like his brothers! I think he's going to be my stubborn one. 

The babies made it into their first family tree today too. Addison had to make a family tree for Spanish class and all the babies are included. I love it!

Not much new to report. In other news Addison came home on Sunday! Yay! We missed her a lot! A week alone is not the same as it used to be for sure. Plus Brian was gone one night too so I was home all by myself. I didn't know what to do with myself! 

We had some family time on Sunday after Addison got home. She had a soccer game. And she played every position and scored a goal! So I lost $5 because she gets paid for goals. (Yes. I bribe my child to play hard. This backfired on me the first week we had this deal a few years ago because she scored 4 goals that day!). Then Brian and Addison cooked dinner. Aren't they cute in their aprons?

Brian's pleather is a little disturbing I know. He likes it though. And he doesn't wear it out of the house or backyard so it's fine with me. 

We also got these last week. 

Another surprise delivery! We now have 3 carseats! Thanks Tim! 

Here's my weekly picture. 

I feel huge this week! I know I'm supposed to be big but my face is starting to look big too! I made Addison take several pictures before I settled on this one. I told her they made me look huge and she asked me how to make me not look huge! I don't know the answer to that unfortunately. Oh well. It's all for my boys!