Our Three Blessings

I had another appointment today. I'm happy to still be impressing my doctor with how well I'm doing. My body is holding up great and the babies just keep growing right along. I'm feeling great still other than my hip is still really hurting (where Ethan has taken up residence). I guess having hip pain isn't normal, not even with triplets. So it's just me and the same issues I've always had with my hips, knees, and feet...yaa me. Only Seven more weeks. They did a weight scan of the babies today. Baby 1 (Ethan) - 3 lb 2 oz Baby 2 (Leah) - 2 lb 13 oz Baby 3 (Logan) - 2 lb 12 oz They gave us pictures again from the ultrasound, but they are getting really cramped in there. Baby 1 Baby 2 - you can kind of see her spine and head, but not much of her profile. Baby 3

We had a great day yesterday visiting with family. I can't believe how warn out I got after just sitting around all day at other peoples houses, but it was fun.

There are two things you can count on every week...Me getting bigger and the Lions loosing. I guess cheering them on and wearing our jerseys hasn't helped. Unfortunately my jersey really doesn't fit any more. I'm excited to be in my third trimester but over the last week I've been getting stretch marks. I'm happy, because it means the babies are growing...but the'er stretch marks. At least I can't see them myself without having to look in a mirror, I can avoid mirrors.

Moving right along. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are flying by and before we know it there will be 3 babies around here...9 more weeks! The babies are doing great and wiggling all over the place. I've felt the 2 boys have the hiccups so far and Leah is still trying to break out thru my nonexistent belly button. We got to see the babies again yesterday at the dr . Everyone is still looking good and doing well. The pictures we ended up with this week are neat. They definitely take after me with their big cheeks. Baby 1 (Ethan) - Those big cheeks are cute, and it's neat to be able to see his eye lids in the picture. Baby 2 (Leah) - She's so cute already, watch out boys! (and dad) Baby 3 (Logan) - He wanted a profile instead of a front view of his face, but we did catch him with his mouth wide open and we can see his little nose.

Over the weekend Eric's Mom and neighbor Robin came over and decorated our house for Christmas (Thanks!!). It turned out great and the tree looks better than anything we've ever done ourselves. It's nice having the house look so festive since I'm here all the time. The show we've been having also helps make it feel festive. We made Missy stay out side a little longer than she wanted...but we got a cute picture.

I'm so excited, the cribs, changing table, and chair finally got delivered this weekend. We spent a whole day after that trying to find the dining room again, it was the temporary storage spot for all the shower gifts. For starters we are keeping one of the cribs in our room and they will all bumk together for a while. Then once they get a bit bigger we'll move the 3rd crib into the room with the other two... They are going to be cozy all in the same room together. We still need to put up the curtains, a ceiling fan, and get everything organized. Here are the latest photos of their room and ours.

I had another dr apt today. They did the weight scan to predict the weights of the babies. They are doing great! I guess the 40 pounds I've gained so far has been put to good use towards the almost 6 pounds of baby already. I also took my 1 hour gestational diabetes test and passed with flying colors. I'm really happy I don't have to watch what I eat and eat and eat... Baby 1 (Ethan) 2 lb 1 oz It's definitely getting more cramped in there, you can see someone elses foot in the background. Baby 2 (Leah) 1 lb 15 oz Baby 3 (Logan) 1 lb 13 oz

Tonight we started our Lamaze class. The class seems like it's going to be good, they teach Eric how to massage me and I get to just stair and breathe. Eric wasn't excited to see the birth video, but it wasn't too graphic. I think they show more on Baby Story (TLC program) than was shown in the video. Plus after getting to experience the birth of Pinky's 3rd baby and stay in the room and take pictures was more amazing than any video would ever be. I'm so happy now that I was able to experience that birth since I'll be having a c-section myself. One of the women in the class, who is 36 weeks, thought I was due right around the same time as her because of how big my belly is...then everyone was surprised to learn how much farther I have to go and that we were having 3. I think I've gotten used to the fact that we are having three because it surprises me some times the shock people get when they find out there are 3 little ones growing in there. Here is my late...

Wow 24 weeks! With triplets 24 weeks is one of the first big milestones. The babies are now viable if they were born...but we are going to keep them in for another 12 weeks to grow them big and strong. I had another doctor appointment today. Everything looks great. My doctor said I finally look like I'm pregnant with triplets. I think it was because I was a bit tired from the shower and all the fun yesterday and I'm used to sleeping in till around 10 or 11 am and the appointment was at 8:40 am. Or it could be my big belly. The pictures didn't turn out as well this week, they are definitely running out of room in there. We did get a really neat picture of all three of them again. After today's ultrasound when the teck was going to get the prints I told her that we forgot the pictures from last time. So she printed them off for us. They turned out great. Here are the pictures from 22 weeks.

On Sunday the girls from the sorority threw me a baby shower. It was so nice and great to see everyone. I'm moving slower and slower but they came and set everything up and took care of all the food and games, it was great. I had so much fun, I was exhausted after wards and slept, but it was fun. The cute cake All the girls

I guess I'll end the suspense for those of you who don't already know. We are very excited to be expecting 2 boys and a girl . We couldn't be happier to have a good mix of both genders. We were even able to decide on 3 names already. I'm pretty sure they will stick, I've gotten used to them already and like them. So if you look back through the ultrasound pictures: Baby 1 = Boy (Ethan Clarence) Baby 2 = Girl (Leah Anne) Baby 3 = Boy (Logan Wayne) The boy's middle names are after their Grandpa's and Anne (also my middle name) is from praying to St. Anne for help getting pregnant...and a couple months later it actually happened. After the shower last weekend we came home and took some nice pictures while we were still dressed up. Below is one of them:

Today was our baby shower. It was so nice getting to see everyone. We were definitely showered with love, blessings, very generous gifts, and snow! Everything outside was beautiful and white, I'm glad I don't have to drive so far to work any more. Our Mom's and Eric's Sister did a great job with the food and organizing the party, and my Sister in law helped shuttle Grandma and the Aunties back and forth. They definitely made it a special day for us. The beautiful cake Mom, Grandma, and Me Eric's Mom and Sister with us Eric excited for the new toys Quilt from Grandma B. a special delivery from Illinois

I had yet another appointment today. All 4 of us are doing great! Today was a quick appointment, they just checked the fluid around the babies and how my body is doing. But the ultrasound and laying on my back isn't getting better. I swear the tables are out to get me. I last a few minutes and then start to get dizzy and feel bad. They really have to figure out a better way to do those things. So after getting all dizzy again I forgot about the pictures and the tech didn't bring them to us...so no new mug shots today of the babies. Over the weekend I did photos for a family and since everything was set up took some fun belly pictures. They didn't turn out too bad, but it's always fun playing with the studio lights and background.

There have been a lot of changes so far my shape, energy level, emotional stability, and now my car. Three years ago I got a new Escape (which I loved) expecting it to work well when we started a family... We never expected to need 3 car seats right away. So we had some shopping to do. Last week we bought the new soccer mom mobile, an 8 passenger Sienna. It's nice, all 3 babies will fit across the middle row and we can fold down the back seat for lugging around all their stuff.

Things are going well, I'm now 21 weeks! I remember when I was 7 or 8 weeks wondering how things would be once I hit 20+ weeks, I was a bit apprehensive of the unknown. Now that I'm here it's not so bad...or scarry. I'm getting bigger and the babies are moving more. It's fun feeling them wiggle around in there, and times it isn't so fun when they are poking out for more room in places where there really isn't any where to go. My body is holding up great and they are growing well, so I really couldn't ask for anything more. As of today I have a new office! It's nice, the commute is really short and the dress code is quite casual. I was getting really worn out during the day at work even just sitting. I'd last about 2 hours before my stomach would get tight and uncomfortable. My doctor urged me to be home and laying down more. I was very fortunatel that they were able to set it up for me to work from home. Day 1 at home has gone well so far...plus ...

I came up with a fun costume for Halloween...might as well show off the belly while I have it.

Wednesday was my long ultrasound appointment where they checked each baby's heart, kidneys, bladder, arms, spine, and size. Typically they allow 45 minutes per baby for the ultrasound. Lucky for me I scan well and the babies cooperated and it only took about an hour to finish the ultrasound. We even had time to head over to McDonalds for a snack before the Dr. was due back from an apt he had over at the hospital. After talking with the doctor about how run down I've been getting and having a tough time makeing it through a day at work he reccomended I be off work and be home. Fortunately, I was able to set up to work from home...starting tomorrow (Friday). This is definitely going to be different. They gave us a lot of neat pictures of each baby from the ultrasound and a video. Baby 1: Now 14oz Baby 2: Now 13oz Baby 3: Now 12 oz

Jena is going to be a big cousin soon. She was excited to see the the babies in my belly. Jena even got to feel one of the babies pushing out for more room. Jena & Tracy with the babies.

There is a fine line for just how much can be done in one day while pregnant with triplets. Sunday we went to the apple orchard, I took a nap when we got home, then in the evening made apple strudel (and cleaned up). Now that it's Wednesday I've finally recovered form pushing it and doing too much on Sunday. After the short 2 day recovery time, I feel great like I could just get up and run a 5K again...then I get up... I must say, everyone needs to take a trip to the aple orchard once a year. We had a lot of fun, and I'm not just saying that because of the warm cinnamon doughnuts (the babies liked the doughnuts). We walked around the animals, Eric made a friend (see picture below), saw some friends and chatted for a bit, picked some apples (a bag from in the store), enjoyed our snack, and made it home in time to make sure the fantasy football rosters were set.

I had another appointment today. It's getting harder to lie on my back during the scan, but it's so neat to get to see the babies and what they are up to. Me - I'm up 25 lbs and right on track. (almost 2 lbs of baby) Baby 1 - 11 oz and likes to lay facing us. Baby 2 - 10oz and has found a hand again and might be our thumb sucker. baby 3 - 10 oz and is our boxer with both fists up.