Wednesday, September 24, 2008
31 Weeks
We made it to 31 weeks, hooray!! The boys and I are getting bigger everyday and they feel like a bunch of wiggle worms. It is getting a little harder to find a comfy position to sleep in each night. And just when I have finally reached a deep sleep - KNOCK KNOCK, food nutrition - my breakfast is delivered! I ignore it and drift off again just in time for a nurse to enter with medication and to take my blood pressure. After she leaves I drift off again just as the cleaning lady comes in, and then my doctor, then the lab for a blood draw, and then a nurses aid to see if I need anything. Then I'm up. I know, poor me. All of these nice people taking care of me, how inconvenient:) So other than sleeping like Princess and the Pea everything is still going really well and we are optimistic I can make it to our next milestone of 32 weeks.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Still Growing
The boys had another growth scan this morning and they are still getting bigger.
Baby A - 3lbs 4oz
Baby B - 3lbs 5oz
Baby C - 3lbs 6 oz
Baby C slowed down a little and the other 2 caught up. Although Baby C has the most room up top in my belly he sure is getting kicked a lot. I got to see a nice profile shot of him today during the ultrasound with Baby B's foot right in his face. I think these guys might come out fighting.
So apparently the boys aren't the only ones getting bigger. I had a nurse today that I haven't seen for a couple of weeks and she said (more than once) "Wow you have gotten bigger!" It is hard to notice something attached to your body getting bigger but it was verified today that it is:)
Baby A - 3lbs 4oz
Baby B - 3lbs 5oz
Baby C - 3lbs 6 oz
Baby C slowed down a little and the other 2 caught up. Although Baby C has the most room up top in my belly he sure is getting kicked a lot. I got to see a nice profile shot of him today during the ultrasound with Baby B's foot right in his face. I think these guys might come out fighting.
So apparently the boys aren't the only ones getting bigger. I had a nurse today that I haven't seen for a couple of weeks and she said (more than once) "Wow you have gotten bigger!" It is hard to notice something attached to your body getting bigger but it was verified today that it is:)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
It Worked!
The mini revolution by the boys worked. I no longer have the contraction monitor attached to me 24 hours a day and we don't have to do the daily NST!! We are doing the 2x weekly BPP though. Way to go boys!
So the BPP tests are only supposed to be done 2x weekly but I have had 4 this week. Why? Due to inept ultrasound technicians (in my opinion). They were unable to see Baby B take a breath on Thursday so they did another one on Friday and were unable to see it again. Don't be alarmed, it is often hard to catch for babies around 30 weeks and earlier. It is all a matter of catching it when it happens. Anyhow, I had to have a fourth one this morning and all babies did great. It took a while to catch Baby C breathing so we got to watch him for a long time. He was pretty entertaining! We got to see him yawn, move his hands around his face, get kicked in the back of the head by Baby A, and even stick his tongue out!! I'm guessing he will be the kid that you can never take a good picture of because he is always making goofy faces:)
So the BPP tests are only supposed to be done 2x weekly but I have had 4 this week. Why? Due to inept ultrasound technicians (in my opinion). They were unable to see Baby B take a breath on Thursday so they did another one on Friday and were unable to see it again. Don't be alarmed, it is often hard to catch for babies around 30 weeks and earlier. It is all a matter of catching it when it happens. Anyhow, I had to have a fourth one this morning and all babies did great. It took a while to catch Baby C breathing so we got to watch him for a long time. He was pretty entertaining! We got to see him yawn, move his hands around his face, get kicked in the back of the head by Baby A, and even stick his tongue out!! I'm guessing he will be the kid that you can never take a good picture of because he is always making goofy faces:)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Revolt Against The Man
The babies are already a little rebellious. Every day I have to have a NST (non-stress test). What is a NST?
The test involves attaching one (3 for me) belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes. If the baby does not move, it does not necessarily indicate that there is a problem; the baby could just be asleep. A nurse may use a small “buzzer” to wake the baby for the remainder of the test.
This test is not easy with multiples because they are always concerned that they do not have all 3 babies. The goal is to get a good reading (10-20 minutes) of all 3 at the same time to prove that they are all ok. By the way, they are doing this test on me as part of standard procedures - not because they think something is wrong. Since the test is not easy, I have had as many as 3 nurses plus Casey trying to get the heart rates at one time. The test usually takes 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours (at which point the nursed admit defeat and give up). The NST is my least favorite part of the day and the boys' too! They are defiant and make the testing more difficult by moving around constantly and kicking the monitors. They boys hate being pushed on and like to kick back. The nurses always laugh at how much movement there is and usually say something like, "He just kicked me". It makes no difference what time of day the test is done - they will kick you!
So thanks to my little rebellious bunch I now have to have a BPP test done every Monday and Thursday. What is a BPP? It is a biophysical profile done by ultrasound.
The BPP measures your baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid around your baby.
The doctor decided to do this test just to be safe because they are never able to get a continuous reading of all 3 little heart rates at once. Thanks boys!
The test involves attaching one (3 for me) belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes. If the baby does not move, it does not necessarily indicate that there is a problem; the baby could just be asleep. A nurse may use a small “buzzer” to wake the baby for the remainder of the test.
This test is not easy with multiples because they are always concerned that they do not have all 3 babies. The goal is to get a good reading (10-20 minutes) of all 3 at the same time to prove that they are all ok. By the way, they are doing this test on me as part of standard procedures - not because they think something is wrong. Since the test is not easy, I have had as many as 3 nurses plus Casey trying to get the heart rates at one time. The test usually takes 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours (at which point the nursed admit defeat and give up). The NST is my least favorite part of the day and the boys' too! They are defiant and make the testing more difficult by moving around constantly and kicking the monitors. They boys hate being pushed on and like to kick back. The nurses always laugh at how much movement there is and usually say something like, "He just kicked me". It makes no difference what time of day the test is done - they will kick you!
So thanks to my little rebellious bunch I now have to have a BPP test done every Monday and Thursday. What is a BPP? It is a biophysical profile done by ultrasound.
The BPP measures your baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid around your baby.
The doctor decided to do this test just to be safe because they are never able to get a continuous reading of all 3 little heart rates at once. Thanks boys!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Big Babies
I had another growth scan today to measure the size of the babies (among other things). Turns out my little guys are big boys!
Baby A - 2lbs 9oz
Baby B - 2lbs 10oz
Baby C - 3lbs 3oz
They did say that there is a +/- 6oz margin of error. I like to believe that the measurements are right on. So everything is looking good and I will continue to incubate giant babies for as long as I can!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Bad Boys
28 weeks old and already acting up! These naughty little guys have landed mom's butt in the hospital for bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy. I am still having contractions and more shortening of my cervix so I guess it is time to unpack the suitcase. Casey brought the camera so we could post a week 28 picture. We took a picture but although I feel fine I look terrible!!! I fear that posting the picture would only alarm people to think that I am more sickly than I'm leading on. I'm fine! I might try doing my hair, maybe a little mascara, and one of Casey's nicest t-shirts for a picture tomorrow:)
So my stay at the hospital has been interesting so far. I'm a bit of a celebrity around here - apparently triplets aren't too common:) I think the nurse like me because I'm not 17, I have insurance, and I'm married - oh and I don't smoke. A big change from what they are used to. I have had to have the same conversation with each nurse (which I have had a new one twice a day) every day. Here are some of the questions:
Were you surprised?
Do you have names?
Are you nervous? - How am I supposed to answer this?
Have you had a bowel movement?
When? - love these questions!
Numerous other medical questions involving seeing spots, leg pain, cramping....
My favorite question was when a nurse asked me if they were conceived naturally. I stared at her long enough while thinking of the best smart remark until she moved on. What does she think? These are going to be fake babies? Come on nurse - like these are the first IVF babies you have come across.
Casey has also had to answer a couple of questions quite frequently:
Is that a navy haircut?
Do you have a job?
We just crack up after he has to explain that he works mostly from home so all he needs is his laptop and cell phone. Not sure about the haircut questions -probably because we are close to the Navy base.
Next post...hospital towels. Why in the heck are they so small? They need to dry off huge pregnant people!
So my stay at the hospital has been interesting so far. I'm a bit of a celebrity around here - apparently triplets aren't too common:) I think the nurse like me because I'm not 17, I have insurance, and I'm married - oh and I don't smoke. A big change from what they are used to. I have had to have the same conversation with each nurse (which I have had a new one twice a day) every day. Here are some of the questions:
Were you surprised?
Do you have names?
Are you nervous? - How am I supposed to answer this?
Have you had a bowel movement?
When? - love these questions!
Numerous other medical questions involving seeing spots, leg pain, cramping....
My favorite question was when a nurse asked me if they were conceived naturally. I stared at her long enough while thinking of the best smart remark until she moved on. What does she think? These are going to be fake babies? Come on nurse - like these are the first IVF babies you have come across.
Casey has also had to answer a couple of questions quite frequently:
Is that a navy haircut?
Do you have a job?
We just crack up after he has to explain that he works mostly from home so all he needs is his laptop and cell phone. Not sure about the haircut questions -probably because we are close to the Navy base.
Next post...hospital towels. Why in the heck are they so small? They need to dry off huge pregnant people!
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