Thursday, April 12, 2012

My life being pregnant with Triplets

Ok, ok so a lot of people have been asking to see pictures of my "baby bump", and let me just tell you...I flew past the category of having a cute baby bump about 4 weeks ago...I'm now at the "She's about to Pop" phase of my pregnancy and I'm only 22 weeks.  Let me remind you that as a person who is 22 weeks pregnant with triplets, I appear as if I'm 33-34 weeks pregnant with one baby...crazy I know!  That being said, here's a little update at to what's going on with me lately...and of course I'll put some "She's about to pop baby bump" pictures at the end:)

Friday, March 16 - we found out the gender of the babies!!!

Monday, April 2 - I went in for a check-up to find out that the stress of three babies has finally taken it's toll on my body...I was put on modified bed rest at home.  I can still get up and do my normal hygiene things like brush my teeth, wash my face, shower, etc., as well as make my meals when no one is here to help me, but other than that, I need to try to be sitting down or lying down resting to relieve the pressure of the weight of 3 babies!

Wednesday, April 4 - I went in to the doctor again because I was freaking out about Braxton Hicks...which I've learned technically isn't a medical term.  The doctors told me that contractions are contractions, it just depends if they facilitating labor or not and sometimes you can't tell unless you go to the doctor and they monitor you.  Luckily, my condition was more or less the same as it was on Monday. I'm so lucky the doctors here are so accommodating and proactive.  I've seen a few different doctors and they all tell me to come in whenever I feel like I need to since my pregnancy is so much different that most!  I felt like such a hypochondriac going in there for contractions but they were so reassuring that it's ok to come in for ANYTHING that makes me worry or feel uncomfortable...better safe than sorry!

Friday, April 6 (Crazy week so far!!!) - Well this was a fun day...I woke up around 6 not feeling well at all and decided it must be acid indigestion/heartburn (which I still think it was).  I chewed some Tums and sat up right for a little bit and drank some water to see if it would go away.  I thought I was kind of feeling better, so Brian left for work and I told him I'd call him if I needed him.  Of course, about 20 minutes after he left, I started throwing up.  I threw up all day, unable to hold down any kind of fluid...not even water!  So I called the doctor and they called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medicine that would keep me from throwing up...the unfortunate thing was that I couldn't get to the pharmacy to get the medicine so I had to wait for Brian to get off work to get it.  Luckily, he was able to get off a little early and get my medicine, but by the time he got home, I was having some pretty serious contractions, so I took my anti-nausea medicine, got a bag of necessities together, and told Brian to take me to the hospital.  We drove down to MUSC's Labor and Delivery department and they checked me in right away and let me tell you, I felt like death.  The anti-nausea medicine made me all loopy and exhausted, not to mention the nurse said she hadn't seen someone so dehydrated in a long time.  They immediately hooked me up to an IV and gave me 2 liters of fluid over a period of about and hour and a half.  Additionally, they hooked me up to a contraction monitor and saw that I was having pretty severe contractions about every 2-4 minutes.  These contractions were caused mainly by being super dehydrated, although the doctor decided to give me some medication to help relax the muscles as well.  At that point, the doctor decided that she wanted me to stay the night so they could monitor me and make sure everything was going to settle down.  I was completely fine with that as I was already almost asleep in the exam room.  When they took me to my hospital room, they gave me 2 more liters of fluid and I was out for the count.  It was quite a scary experience but I'm so glad we went in that night!!  I was released the next day and felt much, much better!

Monday, April 9 - Back to the doctor for a check up...babies all look good and healthy!  I'm still on bed rest orders to keep anything from changing too fast!

Friday, April 13 - We have a 3 hour long ultra sound appointment, followed by a doctor visit and evaluation...I'll update you on this later!

Finally...here are some questions people keep asking me!


How Far Along: 22 weeks
Size of babies:  8 inches, 1 pound 
Weight gain: 30 pounds...that's right!!  I've gained 30 pounds which is right on track for Triplets!  I have to gain a few more pounds before I hit the 24 week mark but then I'm good to go!
Maternity Clothes: I've been wearing maternity clothes exclusively since 12 weeks which means my wardrobe is slightly limited so don't judge me!  Haha!  I mainly live in the same 3 pairs of sweatpants and t-shirts.
Gender: 2 girls and a boy
Stretchmarks: None yet!  I feel like a greased pig with the lotion and Coco Butter I've been putting on. 
Movement: Yes! Lots of moving and you can definitely feel the babies on the outside!
Sleep: Good for the most part!  I went through a rough patch which I attribute to heartburn but nothing a little Pepcid AC didn't fix.  I do get up a few times to go to the bathroom but that's expected I guess!
Symptoms: Some contractions randomly, heartburn, tired
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, being able to trim and paint my toenails, being able to shave my legs in less than 20 minutes.
Cravings: None really...I'll eat anything!
Best Moment this week: Brian being able to feel the babies move!
What I am looking forward to:  Not being on bed rest...I'm setting 2 week goals and at the end of every two weeks, I buy myself something that I want that deals with the babies:)

20 weeks pregnant

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

And the verdict is....

2 Girls and a Boy!!



On March 16 (18 weeks, 1 day pregnant), Brian and I went to a 3 hour long ultra sound appointment followed by a doctors visit to check on the status of all the babies.  At this appointment, we were also able to find out the sex of all the babies which like I said above, is 2 girls and a boy.  Obviously, we would have been happy with anything, but I'm not gonna lie, I think we were both excited to see that there is a mix in there.  The funny thing was that when the ultra sound tech started the ultra sound, she tried to look at Baby A first to determine the sex, but he/she didn't want to cooperate so she moved on to Baby B.  Baby B cooperated and is a GIRL!!  Then she moved on to Baby C and after a few minutes, we were able to get a good view and see that Baby C is a GIRL too!!  This is the point where Brian started to sweat I think...I also think he said something along the lines of, "Well, that's two weddings!".  Haha!  Since there's so many babies in there, I sometimes get confused at which one I'm looking at on the screen...it really is like a cluster of babies in there and it's super easy to get lost and not know which one is which!  Anyway, like I said, I get kind of confused about what baby is where, so when the ultra sound tech went back to Baby B, when I thought she was looking at Baby A, I looked at the screen, noticed it was a girl, then looked at Brian and said, "It's 3 girls!".  I seriously think he almost passed out...he was convinced that there had to be at least one boy in there!  Fortunately, the ultra sound girl heard me and interrupted saying "No, no, no!  This is Baby B...there's still hope for a boy!".  Luckily, this time Baby A decided to cooperate and wiggled around so we could get a good look and what do ya know...it is a BOY!  Here's some pictures from the ultra sound!



Hand in front of his face!

 That's better!  It looks like his head has a whole in it which is kinda true...that's partly where the soft spot is and partly because he was pushed up against the uterine wall.

 All the organs and a good spine for Baby A!

 Baby B - Little Girl!



B

 Baby C being shy...


All 3 have wonderful looking 4 chambered hearts!



All three of our little babies...at this point there were all about 9 ounces and about 6 inches from crown to rump!