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 ...