Flunked!

OK, so I flunked the early glucose test...but only by two points. What that means is that I will do the finger prick test 4 times a day for a week and they will see how I'm doing. Hopefully it will not be an issue, but I was quick to point out to the nurse that I probably flunked it because of all of the food they are making me eat to put on 75 pounds! We knew that I would most likely have trouble with gestational diabetes at some point during the pregnancy as it is quite common with triplets, but I had hoped it would not show up until much later.
No biggie though. Just something else to keep up with. I'm not big on needles and blood, but after all of the injections and blood work that I've been through, this isn't too bad. Of course, the first time I did it at home, I was a little too far down on the side of my finger and it didn't work, so I had to stick it again. That wasn't my idea of a fun time. I'm really hoping that things look good all week and we get by without making any diet changes or using any other medications.
I can't really say much other wise as there really isn't anything else going on....aside from my expanding tummy. I've decided that I like the "You don't look like you are carrying triplets" comment better than the "Wow, you are only 16 weeks? You are HUGE!." Either way, it's still sort of cool to have a baby bump, however uncomfortable it may be.

I think I might bust!

OK, so we are behind in getting an updated picture on here, but I'll see if we can get to that this evening. If I just tell you that my belly is still growing....to the point that I think I just might bust....would that give you the idea? My sister saw me from the side yesterday and exclaimed "Oh my, I think you have grown overnight!". I told her that she can get by with that for now, but soon, she will need to control that expression as I might get more "sensitive". :)

So far, it is exciting to be at the point where people can tell that you are pregnant and not just putting on the pounds. It's funny how hard I already find it to get up from chairs, bed, etc. I don't even go NEAR the floor. Poor Timber (one of our dogs), can only get attention from me if she's on the couch. She tends to hang out on the floor in the bedroom and I just have to rub her with my feet because I dread the thought of getting on the floor and having to pull myself up again. Can you believe it at 16 wks! I can't imagine at 26 wks!

In other news, my food intake continues to improve (although I still haven't gotten back into a relationship with veggies), but I find myself forgetting to take a drink of water (chocolate milk, slush puppies or whatever) for a couple of hours and then panic and try to guzzle a large glass at once. Afterwards, if I get up from the bed, it really sounds like I have a small lake in my tummy with all of that sloshing around in there. Funny during the day, not so funny in the evening when I'd like to sleep and roll over and hear the ocean....which of course makes me have to pee.

And whoever said that you would have a break from the frequent bathroom trips during the 2nd trimester either lied, or didn't have triplets. I'm hitting the restroom almost every hour or two, especially in the evenings and during the night. We were concerned about the cost of diapers....I'm wondering about our water bill and the cost of toilet paper! :)

There is still so much shopping to do before their arrival, but we have been lucky to find so many good used things from other triplet families, yard sales and friends. If you know anyone who might be getting rid of baby things - cribs, changing tables, clothes, etc, please let me know as I'd love to see what they have!

Thanks for checking in with us again. We are so happy to report that things are still going fine. I've been feeling good (tired, but good) and haven't had anything happen to cause alarm. We continue to be so thankful for your prayers and well wishes!
P.S. We are at 16 wks and 1 day in the belly picture.

Aaaaahhhh 7-minute frosting!!!!!

I did make a boo-boo before our appt the other day. I was supposed to discontinue one medication for 3 days before the appt because they were going to do a 1 hour glucose test (for those not familiar, multiple pregnancies can lead to gestational diabetes, so they test throughout the pregnancy to check for it). Well, around 11pm the night before, I remembered this and realized that I had blown it. The nurse practitioner said that it was fine and I just need to do the test sometime next week.
My plan was to skip the meds Fri, Sat and Sun and go first thing Monday AM to get it over with. But then my dear, sweet father-in-law fulfilled my request for a coconut cake with 7-minute frosting. Now the cake, it's good....but the frosting????? Heavenly! I could eat bowls of that stuff. While I was at his house (shoveling down the first piece), I remembered the upcoming test and pondered how to handle this dilemma. I've decided that I have the weekend to eat my cake (he made one just for me and Troy hates the frosting that I love so dearly, so it really is ALL MINE). I'm going to load up on the sugar and then quit the meds Monday and test Thursday. Sounds like a good plan, right?
I just don't want to "flunk" this test yet. Other triplet moms have told me that I WILL flunk it at some point and have to deal with the gestational diabetes, but I'm just not ready to deal with it yet. I want another month without needles or more drugs or whatever, so I'm hoping to squeak by for this first test.
But if I fail because of the 7-minute frosting, I can't say that I will be sorry!!!! :)

The Mystery Continues

Well, they are just too small to be able to determine the sex of them yet. We are scheduled for the official anatomy scan in 3 wks (yes, that's not until OCT 11TH!!). It was disappointing that we couldn't find out what they are, but once again, it was such a relief to see them moving around on the screen (Baby A was sucking his/her thumb)and hear heartbeats that it really doesn't matter whether they are boys or girls, as they look like they are doing well.
This is probably TMI (too much information) for most of you, but the bright side was that they said that I have a "beautiful cervix" and I mean that is exactly what they said. Normally they run about 4cm, but mine is 5cm long and slightly curved. This is very good for the pregnancy as somehow it helps them stay in there better, or something to that effect (don't feel like researching it to find out exactly why that's good, but will take their word for it). We had a few laughs about that one. Don't worry, there are no pictures or anything to share. :)
I've been up since 3:45am, so I'm off to bed for some rest. Sorry that we don't have the BIG news, but again, thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for their health and growth. So far, things are just about perfect and we can't ask for more than that.

Tomorrow is the big day!

Well, it's finally here....we hope. Tomorrow is the appt where we will potentially find out the sex of the beautiful babies. We are SO excited and hopeful that they don't decide to be shy. I want them to just bare it all for the doctor tomorrow so that there is no doubt about our boys and/or girls! I don't know how I will sleep tonight as last night was hard enough. I was having the strangest dreams....including the one where my belly button had already popped out! That was pretty freaky because I remember telling someone in the dream that it couldn't pop out yet because that would mean they were "done". (I've heard that the dreams of pregnant women can be pretty incredible, so we will assume that's what is going on here.)
As you can see, we finally posted a belly pic from tonight (week 15 and 1 day). Thought some of you would get a kick out of it if you haven't seen me lately and seen my progress. As you can tell, my appetite has improved and something is growing. Hopefully we will find out that the babies are HUGE and that will explain all of it! :)
Please keep all five of us in your prayers until we post again. We want to pray that they are healthy and growing big and strong in there. From what I've read, they should be about 4 inches from "crown to rump" (Aunt Karen likes that phrase). That's a whole foot of babies in there! We are praying that they will be bouncing and kicking and rolling all over the place while there is still a little room.
Check back tomorrow afternoon/evening for the latest......

Baby Pictures from 8/30/07

(Drum roll please....) Finally, the ultrasound pictures of our babies are here. Enjoy! Among the individual pics, they are in order Baby A (top), Baby B (middle) and Baby C(bottom). In the "group photo", Baby A is the one on the bottom. Baby B is the one on the upper right and Baby C is the one on the upper left.

I'll have the country fried steak with mashed potatoes.....

Well, we've turned a corner. I don't seem to be nauseous and grossed out by food (knock on wood). I've been eating beef, chicken, pork, salad....doesn't seem like much except I've barely had any of it in the last 13 weeks. I feel like it is a little easier to hit the calories, protein, etc when I'm able to eat all of this other stuff that's sort of been on my "I'd rather die than eat that" list.
I enjoyed a dinner out with triplet moms on Friday and continue to be amazed by all of the things to be learned as we embark on this unfamiliar territory. I was the only one expecting (at the dinner), so there were plenty of stories about babies pooping while running around the grandparent's house (naked and pooping, I might add), trips to play dates and doctor's appointments, etc. It's very eye-opening, although it's not discouraging as all of these women still have their hair and seem to be getting along just fine. Hearing the stories about the kids makes me even more excited about the arrival of our babies. I just can't wait to start making our own stories and memories and sharing all of the pictures. Now I just need to find someone who will be willing to scrapbook all of it for me. Any volunteers? I figure that I just need help for the first 10 years or so.
Anyway, we are about halfway to our next appt on the 20th. In case you missed it, we are expecting to find out the sex of the babies at this appointment, so it's pretty exciting. Plus it's another chance to see them and watch them swimming around in there (while they still have room). I've decided that we should find someone willing to donate an ultrasound machine that we can keep at the house and watch them all day long. It's certainly better than Lifetime.
Speaking of Lifetime, Troy has threatened to cancel cable if I don't quit watching stories that make me think of things that could go wrong. The other day I mentioned whether life insurance would cover it if something happened to me during the pregnancy/birth. OK, it WAS probably a stupid thing to mention, but seriously, he said he would rather do without cable than hear me come up with more stuff like that. So, I'll have to be careful about what I discuss right after spending time in front of the tube. I wasn't really trying to be negative-Nelly, but just thinking out loud, but I'll save that for the journal.
I wish there was more to "report", but things are pretty quiet around here. I've been able to get a lot of work done for the last week which is a huge relief. Nana (my mom) had a little accident and broke a few fingers. We have told her that she has to be more careful or she won't be able to help out with the babies when they arrive (hmmm..is there a plan by Nana to avoid poopy diapers?????). Hopefully she will heal quickly and get back to kicking butt at Scrabble, Bingo and Bridge. Uncle Tom, Tommy and daddy-to-be are all excited that football season has arrived. Our Vols won Saturday night, so that's always a bonus for the week. Aunt Karen already purchased a little Vols outfit (for a girl), so we are hoping that we will have at least one little Vol cheerleader in the group.

Iron and Fiber and Calcium...oh my

OK, so I haven't been able to put in as many hours on work as I would have liked because of the 1st trimester issues (nausea, exhaustion, etc). This week, I have a plan to really put in a full work week (I've said that since last Thurs, but have since continued to hit the exhaustion phase by 11am everyday). When I thought about it last night, I was feeling really lazy because I've been unable to get anything done around the house lately (or so it seems).
But last night, as I reviewed my remaining pills for the day, I was reminded that I AM working a full-time job right now....making not one or two, but THREE people. I made a commitment yesterday to focus on food and pills. No, I'm not a pill-head, but there really are a number of vitamins, supplements, etc that keep me on my toes all day. I managed to get in all but the full dose of fish oil/DHA (should be taking three, I got in one...but in my defense, I've choked on them almost every time I've tried taking them). I finally realized that it would be helpful to start my nighttime pills MUCH earlier in the evening. It was taking about 8+oz of water to down all of the pills and I was trying to do that right before going to sleep. I felt like my own personal water bed when I would roll over. So, I saved only two for the final dose and took the other 5 around 7:30p (yes, normally there are 7 at bedtime....I told you it was crazy). That really did help me get settled much easier. I have also started to get the iron routine down. You see, I have to take one pill before vitamins or food. But then they added iron last week. It has to be about an hour or two before food, but at least an hour AFTER the other pill. I found a solution so that would allow me to start eating breakfast before 11am. Since I'm up numerous times during the night due to all of the fluids I drink, I've found that I can take the one pill around my 4am trip and then the iron pill around the 6am run to the potty. That way, I can eat by 8am and all is well. Great problem-solving skills, don't you think?
The number of calories consumed still continues to be a challenge and it's also so important that many of those calories incl fiber (you can figure that one out), protein (175-200 grams per day!!!), plus fruits & veggies and all the other good stuff. I'm still not really eating veggies, but I'm thinking I might be able to force some down this week. Thankfully, there is that new V-8 Fusion that offers up one serving of fruit AND a serving of veggies in a glass. It's not ideal, but it's something. I've been a fruit-fanatic throughout the last 13 wks, so that isn't really a problem. My other new favorite "fruit" is lemon meringue pie. I like to tell myself it's a fruit, so don't try to convince me otherwise! We have learned that there are all sorts of ways to add protein and fiber and calories to your diet everyday, so that has been interesting. Has anyone ever even TRIED powdered milk???? I'm not drinking it like milk, but adding it TO milk to get even more protein and calories in a glass. But I'm just wondering if it is just kept on hand by people in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster? Or do some people actually drink it INSTEAD of regular milk?
We continue to look forward to seeing our little ones again on the "big screen" (ultrasound)in 2+ weeks.