Our Three Blessings

As of yesterday I'm up 10 lbs and have out grown several pairs of pants. This morning I was way too optimistic and decided I'd wear a cute pair of gray pants from H&M that I really like. They went on fine this morning (with a rubber band around the button that is). Now half way thru the day with several snacks and a whole lot of water in my belly they really don't fit. I have the rubber band still holding them "shut" but I had to pull down the zipper a bit for some more room. Now I just have to remember to zip them back up before walking to the bathroom again. Here is this weeks belly shot: I was able to squeeze into the same shorts as last time. It helps that I haven't washed and dried (shrunk) them yet.

I went for another ultrasound yesterday and got to see the babies again. I can't believe how big they are getting. I'm now 10.5 weeks and they are all around 38mm long and looking more and more like little babies. The ultrasound teck made the comment that they won't be able to get all three in the same picture too much longer. Once they are out, I'm sure I'll have trouble getting them all in the same picture too. My doctor is doing a great job watching everything and making sure everyone is healthy. I had the pleasure of drinking the sweet orange glucose for the gestational diabetes test. Typically they perform the test around 26 weeks, but there is so much placenta with the three of them he wanted to be cautious and tested me already. It wasn't too bad and just tasted like flat orange pop. My next appointment is in 2 weeks.

After finishing my masters I was happy to be done with the text books and tests. Now I think I’m headed towards the biggest test ever and it’s exciting/overwhelming. I’m still learning all the things I need to do to take care of myself and all these babies for the next few months. The When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads book seems to be the most help so far. I still can’t believe how much I have to eat…Eating for 4 In the book, there is a break down of how much weight you need to gain based on how many babies you are carrying. For twins it’s based on your pre-pregnancy BMI, with triplets it doesn’t matter you just have to gain the weight. Week-by-week weight gain recommendations for triplets : Weeks along 10 - 12 - 14 - 16 - 18 - 20 - 22 - 24 - 26 - 28 - 30 - 32 - 34 Upper (lbs)- 20 - 24 - 28 - 32 - 36 - 40 - 45 - 50 - 55 - 60 - 65 - 70 - 75 Lower (lbs)- 15 - 18 - 21 - 24 - 27 - 30 - 34 - 28 - 42 - 46 - 50 - 54 - 58 I will be 20 weeks the end of October. So this year I ...

8/13/08 – Our first appointment with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Doctor (high risk pregnancy dr) was today. What an amazing appointment. We met my new doctor and got to see the babies again. All three were measuring right around 25mm. With the ultrasound machine he was able to focus in on the heart movement and the machine converted the movement to sound. So we were able to "hear" the babies hear beats. The doctor did recommend reading and following the book a friend with twins already let me borrow. “When you’re expecting twins, triplets, or quads” by Dr. Barbara Luke. The book is great and outlines what I should be eating and how much weight I need to gain. It looks like I have to gain 45 pounds by Thanksgiving!!! I'm going to be the turkey this year...totally stuffed. Food: The tomato soup kick is still holding strong but marinara sauce, yuck! Unfortunately pizza has become the enemy.

I'm learning to appreciate the little things more... Rubber bands . I guess with 3 I'll start popping out sooner. I already have to undo the button on my pants while sitting at my desk to give my belly a little extra room. Then I discovered the rubber band. They work great looped thru a button hole and around the button to give my belly a little extra room. Stretchy pants here we come! The couch in the women's restroom . I never quite understood why it was there, until now. I'm really glad they recently got a new one at work!

Ever since I found out we were pregnant I was taking pictures of my belly on Thursday night while Eric was at soccer. Just before my 8th week, Eric just happened to ask me about taking belly pictures every month. To his surprise I told him I'd already been taking pictures for the past three weeks. So when Thursday rolled around and it was time for pictures I recruited Eric's help since he was home (it was a late game that night). I absolutely love the way the picture turned out. Just playing around he jumped into the picture with me and kissed my belly...

8/1/08 – Our first appointment with the doctor for a physical exam and ultrasound was today. The exam went well... all 3 of them were measuring 7 weeks 4 days....Yep THREE!!! I don't think I will ever forget the appointment. While my Dr was performing the ultrasound the screen was turned away from me, but Eric was peeking over his shoulder. As the doctor went from one little heart beat to the next Eric held up 3 fingers to me over the Dr's Head and then asked the Dr. "is that right, I see three." The Dr. said that everything looked healthy and finally turned the screen so I could take a look at all of them too. With all the excitement we forgot to ask the due date. All 3 of them measured 4 days behind where I thought they might be, so I just adjusted the date to March 16, 2009, from March 12th. All three squished in there. Baby A Baby B Baby C 8/2 and 8/3 - we had a fun weekend taking the ultrasound pictures over to our parent’s houses and sharing the exciting news ...

7/24/08 - I had my first appointment with the Nurse today to set up blood work and get lots of info. In return for 6 veils of blood I received a book, 2 magazines, a neat journal to record questions and symptoms, and a boat load of pamphlets. If I wasn't so sleepy and going to bed at 9:00 I'd probably be up all night reading. 7wk 5days - I learned a fun fact today and I really hope it helps. Apparently your body gets a bit dehydrated over night and a hot shower in the morning just helps the process along...so that's why after showering for a bit I start to get dizzy and not feel well. So I just need a bit of water before showering and I'll be fine. Now I just need a trick to get rid of the lower back pain. At least I haven't been feeling too nauseous, but eating every 2 hours helps.

I’m getting a bit dizzy, having some heart burn, and the occasional head ache...but it's not too bad. I slept all weekend so that might have helped. 6wk 5days - I guess I'm not going to completely escape the queasiness. Saltine crackers are my friend

I guess it's good to soak up as many life lessons as possible before having to teach a little one... I think another one is finally sinking in - things don't always go the way you plan. The plan: Share our exciting news with friends and family around week 10-12. What really happened: Eric's dad was having major surgery, so we wanted to tell him before hand, but you can't tell Dad and not Mom. Then by the same right we couldn't tell them and not my parents. So at just five weeks pregnant we told our parents and Eric's sister & husband (who were with his parents when we told them). But unfortunately it didn't stop there. I've played (co-ed) indoor soccer 2 nights a week for the last two years. I stopped playing as soon as we found out I was pregnant because I really don't want to get injured accidentally. Eric who is still playing has done a good job at making realistic excuses for me, but a lot of people knew there was only one reason why I wouldn...

7/8/2008 - After getting home from our week long cruise I knew that once again I was far enough along to take a home pregnancy test...I should have bought stock by now. So, on Tuesday morning I got up, ripped open that familiar package, and headed for the potty. I was sitting watching the fluid go across the results window and saw the first line come up (which turned out to be the test line) then about 15 seconds later the second line came up (the control line). I couldn't believe my eyes... We finally did it we were pregnant. For good measure I took another test three days later. Once again there was that instant positive. WOW!

Eric and I were happily married April 2, 2005. Shortly after that, I knew I wanted to start a family (like a few hours later). We decided to wait a few years and as I became more impatient we decided we'd start trying the summer of 2006. Things didn't quite go as planned, as they often do. So after I finished my masters degree the summer of 2007 we were willing to give it 6 more months before getting more help. Then after 5 months of fertility drugs and a week long Western Caribbean cruise we found out we were finally pregnant!!! The medication I was taking had a 6-8% chance of twins but I'm not sure we were prepared for what we found during the first ultrasound. Our three blessings!