Thursday, November 29, 2007

Week #25 Belly Pic and Update


Well, we managed to miss getting a week #24 picture, so here is week #25. Looks like they are making progress in there.
We had another appt with the dr today and all is well. The nurse practitioner says that I look like I'm at 32 wks were it just one baby, although everyone always comments that I don't look like I'm pregnant with triplets. I FEEL like I'm pregnant with triplets. Especially when they are moving around all at once.
I've told a few people this story, but thought I'd share it here too: The other night, Baby A was moving A LOT. She is the one located below my belly button and lays across (and usually face down for some reason). At one point, I felt like she was vertical (still below the belly button) and standing up dancing or something. I told Troy that I was afraid her foot was going to "come out" if she wasn't careful. But no baby parts appeared and she eventually settled down.
They certainly have their days, or certain times of the day, where they seem to be shifting places and kicking a lot more. I really love it when Troy is around when they are active and he can watch/feel them.
Troy is working on the nursery as I type. We are anxious to start moving things in there and see what we've got and what we still need and how it all fits into the room. The turtles look so great on the nursery walls and he still has plans to build shelves for storage in the closet.
Aside from that, still no big news except that the babies are all doing well and growing. I'm spending most of my time at home in bed. I have been able to get out a few times during the week, but that is happening less often as it tends to really wear me out and I end up feeling pretty rough. I am certainly feeling uncomfortable and finding that position that IS comfortable is a little challenging - in between trips to the restroom. But it's still such an exciting time to be able to see their progress and know that they will be here before we know it. We are about 9 wks away from my "personal" goal and so far they seem to be cooperating with my plans. :)
Thanks again for checking on us.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Still looks like a million bucks

We've officially hit a big milestone by making it to 24 weeks. I might have explained this before, but just in case, this means that they are technically viable. If our babies were to decide to make their grand entrance into the world, the doctors would have options available to help them survive. The next milestone is 28 weeks. As I've said before though, I'm going for 34 weeks, so that's that.
We had an appt today and the fetal fibronectin test was negative. A positive result could indicate that I would go into labor during the next two weeks, so we are VERY pleased to find out it was negative. My cervix is still over 4cm and the babies are all doing very well. In fact, they are estimating their weights at A) 1lb 3oz, B)1lb 4oz and C)the big boy at 1lb 6oz. The doctor is pleased that they are at similar weights as it means that no one is hogging all the good stuff. :) Once again, heart rates were strong and they are much bigger as you can't get all of one baby on the screen at the same time.
Our doctor seems to be very happy (and somewhat surprised) that we are not having any complications so far. I told him that I'm still aiming for 34 wks, so it's a good thing that things are going smoothly.
I've gotten the green light for a little extra insulin on Thanksgiving so that I can splurge a little with things I really love and maybe a small bite of REAL dessert!

Thanksgiving certainly takes on a whole new meaning to us this year. There are three miracles that will soon be here and we cannot even begin to express how blessed we feel. Next year will be a much different atmosphere at Thanksgiving and we look forward to having a large family to celebrate with then.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Week #23 Belly Pic


Once again, I'm a few days late. The belly pic doesn't look like a big change from last week, so I almost didn't bother posting it. Troy pointed out that it is because of the shirt I was wearing last week and it looks like he might have taken it from a slightly different angle.
Anyway, despite the picture, it does feel like they are bigger. Troy was finally able to see them moving the other night. I think he was starting to think I was a little nuts when I kept saying that I had been watching them move around in there until he was able to see it himself.
I'm thankful that some friends have been able to come over and help me out at lunchtime. Troy is super-busy at work and not here at lunch or dinner, so I've been able to get some friends to stop in at lunch and my sister or mom usually come by at dinnertime to help me out and feed the dogs. I can't thank everyone enough for their support. I think that it is really making a difference and allowing the babies keep doing their thing when I am able to avoid taking the stairs too many times a day and because I am spending a lot of time in bed resting and making sure they stay put.
Our next appt is next Tuesday. I believe they will be checking the growth of the babies, so it should be interesting to maybe find out how big they are and an estimate of their weight. And of course it means we get to SEE them again, which is always a good day!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Met Jon & Kate (of Jon & Kate Plus 8)



Jon & Kate (of Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC/Discovery Health) were in Knoxville yesterday and I was able to get to hear them speak at a local church, along with Karen, Chanda and Cynthia. We had a good time at lunch beforehand and enjoyed hearing Jon & Kate's story.
For those of you who might not know who they are, you can check out their website:
http://www.sixgosselins.com/Home_Page.html
We really had a good time and we were able to ask questions afterwards. The church also offered refreshments and sort of a "meet and greet" with the Gosselins. We all decided that since I have the triplets in my belly, I should get a picture with them (as attached). They were very nice and answered a bunch of questions about how to handle the arrival of multiples.
That's about all there is to say, but I thought I'd share the (not-to-flattering) pictures.
And, by the way, do not think that I will normally post three messages in a week as these have been "special" occasions that I put on here. There isn't really that much to tell during a regular week. Just didn't want anyone to get their hopes up. :)

Friday, November 9, 2007

Stone Mountain getaway





Now that I've gotten a few hours of sleep, I thought I'd elaborate on our Stone Mountain "adventure". We were there back in May and LOVED it and decided to go back for one night. We had BEAUTIFUL weather and the colors were really great also, despite the drought.
There is actually so much to do inside the park. During our first visit in May, we even hiked up to the top (I thought they would have to airlift me back to the bottom, but I survived). The Marriott has two locations inside the park, including the Evergreen Resort which offers spa services and the Stone Mtn Inn which had a HUGE room and large bathroom/dressing area (we decided that we could fit three pack n plays in there and still have plenty of room to move around).
When we were there in May, the park offered a laserlight show nightly on the side of the mountain which was very cool. Right now, they are getting ready for the holidays and will have over 2 million lights throughout the park. We got a glimpse of some as the holiday event begins November 10th. There are so many great walkways and nature trails to wander around and beautiful views in the picnic areas also. Troy decided we should picnic before we headed home yesterday and we found a great location near the Grist Mill where we could see the lake and the fall colors.
I don't mean to sound like an advertisement, but I wanted to let people know about it as we hadn't heard much until we decided to go there earlier in the year. Now we wish that we had been going for the last few years.
A few other favorites in the Stone Mtn area: The Village Corner (a German restaurant, bakery and tavern in the little downtown/historic area - www.germanrestaurant.com, www.germanbakery.com), Potz & Panz (a small cafe that also does catering), Miss Katie's Sideboard (restaurant in the Crossroads area of the actual park - they give you a little appetizer of fried pickles, onions, etc - YUMMY). OK, yes, those are all places to eat, but that's what we like to hunt down, especially after a day of walking and hiking and burning calories.
This trip didn't allow us to do any hiking, although Troy did take a pretty long walk when we first arrived while I took a nap before our anniversary dinner out.
OK, so that's my "plug" for Stone Mtn. It really is a nice area and we are really excited to take the kids there someday.
A little explanation of the pics that we have posted (not sure what order they will appear): Memorial Carving on Stone Mtn, Grist Mill where we had the picnic lunch, lake with fall colors, our anniversary dinner with a guest who wanted to be in the picture (and yes, we look like crazy people in this one).
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Week #22 Belly Pic


Sorry I'm late getting this posted. Our 3rd anniversary was yesterday (Wed, 11/7) and we went out of town for the day. We decided to hit Stone Mountain one last time on our own. We are really looking forward to taking the kids there someday.

Anyway, here's the belly picture for week #22...and two days. Things still seem to be just fine. It does look like I'm still growing - which means that they are growing. Must be the double cheeseburgers from Wendy's. :)

I didn't have a gift for Troy for our anniversary (he found a picture frame for our "prom-like" photo from my recent reunion which qualifies as glass/crystal for the third year anniversary - kudos to him!), but finally was able to get him to feel the babies kicking. We've tried this a few times, but every time he tries to wait it out, they seem to get very still. Last night, they were active for a while (probably because I split a special anniversary dessert with Troy) and he was able to feel them moving around for a few minutes. I decided that could potentially count as my "gift", right?

That's all for now. I'm headed for bed. Making three people makes me very sleepy.

Thanks for checking on us.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Overwhelmed, Incredibly Blessed and Extremely Thankful




Wow. I mean it...wow! The "babies" shower was last night and first of all, I MUST thank Cynthia for her willingness to be the hostess and for doing such an amazing job. The food was wonderful and her pea pod theme/ideas were really cute.

A little explanation of the pictures posted with this message:
Precious cake that Aunt Karen worked so hard to get for us.
Picture of me with my "new little man" outfit.
Nana's van loaded up with the goodies (thanks to Megan and Jilliane for all their hard work loading and unloading everything)

I joked about the crowd sort of being "this is your (work) life" as I felt like my resume was represented in the faces of many of the people who were there. There were so many wonderful people in attendance who I met through one job or another and it was great. Unfortunately, I did not get to visit very much with each person, but I have to say that after seeing everyone there, I want to get together for a couple of hours with each one of you to talk and catch up on your lives. I would love to hear from you guys so that maybe we can do just that. I'm expecting to have a little time on my hands for a few more weeks.

Anyway, there was an amazing group of women who were family, friends and former co-workers. And everyone was so incredibly generous that Troy and I cannot thank you enough. He still has no idea what is in all of the boxes and bags as he just got a glimpse before we decided we were just too exhausted to look through everything. Seriously, there are so many wonderful gifts that I can't name it all, but let me tell you, we have hats, booties, onesies, diapers, toys, books, etc. It's just overwhelming to know that so many people support us and are celebrating with us as we wait for these three miracle babies to arrive.

I should also mention that some of my guests drove in just for the shower, including Aunt Sandi (from Georgia), cousin Megan (from Kentucky), cousin Jilliane (from Louisiana), Aunt Marsha (from Nashville) and "Aunt" Tami (from Ohio). All of them came just to celebrate the triplets and we were so thankful that they took the time to be here.

For now, I have to take some time to rest as today and Friday were really full of activity, but I did want to take a few minutes to mention what a great time I had last night and how grateful I am to everyone for their kindness.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Like a million bucks

Well, according to the nurse practitioner, I look "like a million bucks". Everything is about as good as it can get. The babies are growing well, fluid levels are good, blood pressure is great, weight gain is fine, cervix remains long and curved. We won't be back in the office again until just before Thanksgiving. Depending on how things look then, we will start going in every-other week or once per week. I guess the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", so as long as we aren't having any problems then we don't need to be there.
Aunt Karen went with us to witness the ultrasound as they didn't do them when she was pregnant. We got to see them sticking out their tongues and even got one of those really cool 3-D/4-D pictures of our little boy. Unfortunately our girls would not cooperate (though we hope this is NOT a sign of things to come), so we didn't get the same pics of them. I can't believe how "real" he looks already. After seeing the scary ultrasound "Skeletor" pics when we see them from the front, I was starting to worry. :)
That's our good news for the moment....everything is great with all three babies and mom is surviving the finger pricks, insulin injections and low carb/sugar diet. The babies kept me up this morning kicking (lightly)which is still one of the absolute best things so far. It is so much more "real" when I can feel them squirming around, although it is still somewhat surreal that there are THREE babies, but the farther along we get, the more I start to believe it.