No more flying and ready for the 12 week turnaround

We are back from a great trip to Seattle, but I'm excited to be sleeping in my own, much firmer bed. I don't know why I thought flying with triplets "wouldn't be that bad". It wasn't, until we hit turbulence and I almost lost it! I guess it was the kiddos way of telling me to stay grounded and eat!


I have reached the second trimester!  I am still waiting for that magical day when I'm going to have an appetite the whole day and the energy to do things besides work and sleep and work and sleep and...  The books say after you reach week 12 women feel like they did pre-pregnancy.  I'm ready!  I keep looking around the house and feel guilty about the state it is in.  Tony has done a wonderful job helping, but let's be honest, guys don't know how to scrub counters, toilets, dishes, and floors. The house is guy clean but needs a bit of work! I have had a hard time sleeping this week.  Tony keeps telling the babies that they need to let their mommy sleep, but they aren't listening.  I get bad pressure near my xiphoid process, it feels like GERD, but doesn't travel up my esophagus.  I still get a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen and on days where I "grow" it is more intense.

Pics below of my belly at 12 1/2 weeks, it's like I swallowed a watermelon! 

We got our cribs last week.  Three cribs, three mattresses, and a dresser.  Kind of overwhelming once you see it all together.  A special thanks to Tony's parents who helped with the purchase and to my dad and step-mom who delivered it to our house.  Now we are waiting for the magical fairies to put it all together...I can actually see Tony knowing what fairies eat and try to coax them over...

The best part of today... there were flowers on the counter this morning from Tony!  I got some good news from a friend about her fertility struggles!!  

The Triplets see Seattle and the Space Needle

The plane ride to Seattle was an adventure. We were delayed out of Omaha which was not a big deal, but then Southwest held us on a non-stop for an hour waiting for everyone on other flights to make it on. By the time we landed, I thought Mindy was going to throw up on a flight attendant -- 2 AM is like 5 hours past our bedtime. In the good old days you go out to Happy Hour, then out, then after hours, then eat late night...now it's deciding if we can just watch any sitcoms after 8 PM on the streaming NBC, ABC or CBS website...it's usually 50/50...

The kids are about the size of a fig now, but they expand very rapidly, kind of like a boa constrictor eating something and seeing the swelling...see what foods she's swelling with below. Mindy fatigues very quickly, though she's doing her best I think she's turning into a bear, not angry bear, hibernating bear. There are a lot of hills in Seattle and she rocked Pike's hill!

Our role reversal continues, and I'm learning that to keep her in good spirits it's important to have snacks for her to munch on when she gets hungry, about every 2 hours. She's not eating weird things, just making weird combinations of foods. In our snack bag are crackers -- saltine and ritz, gummy savers, twizzlers, peanut M&M's, fruit snacks, fiber one bar...add some little cinnamon doughnuts from Pike Fish Market, garlic chicken with a cream sauce and a salad from the brewpub and red Gatorade and you've got a breakfast/lunch combo for the day. Delicious!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at APhA and we're sorry we can't stay for the Iowa/Drake and the Maryland gatherings...that's what happens when you have jobs that start on Monday! Sitting around the hotel room watching Ellen with Mind and the kids...David Schwimmer's a dad, I see dads everywhere now, and there's some dancing with the stars stuff...anyway, going to Pioneer Square tonight, took pics of the kids on the Space Needle and the Seattle Aquarium...Ellen's still in the background, and Mindy's passed out again. Will have her checked for narcolepsy soon...bears don't hibernate on Spring Break do they?

View from the Space Needle

I'm seeing multiples everywhere!

12 week belly

12 weeks

Top Ten Dumb Questions You Won't Have to Ask Because I Did

Q1. Why isn't she gaining weight? A1. She's nauseous and throwing up...Oh yeah. 

Q2. If she doesn't gain weight, will you put in a TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition)? A2. No, she'll be fine soon and will start eating more.

Q3. Why do we have to do a C section, aren't the babies smaller so they can fit better? A3. They were really nice about answering it, but it comes out to trying to get three infants to agree to come out head first. I still don't know how to dive into a pool right, so this one made sense to me.

Q4. When is our next checkpoint, that is when are we in the clear? A4. They are viable around week 24.

Q5. How often will we be coming in? A5. Every month, then when we get closer possibly every 2 weeks and if there's cervix competency issues, every week.

Q6. When will we know the genders? A6. Next appointment, our week 16, but it can be anywhere from 16 to 20.

Q7. What is reduction? A7. Ugh. When you lose one because it collapses on itself, I read that you can induce reduction by injecting potassium chloride into one of the baby's hearts. Why don't I just stick a javelin in my own heart? I'm sure there are medical reasons for it, but not for us.

Q8. How big is my wife supposed to get? A8.  Supposed to gain 70 pounds from 115 to 185. That seems insane, I'll believe it when I see it. By the way, you want to be really, really careful about asking this one. Maybe I should have said, how much more of her will I have to love?

Q9. How did we decide between Methodist Hospital and Mercy Hospital? A9. We understand that by using Methodist you have to use two doctors, still better to have a specialist than not, but we understand the Perio at Methodist does not do deliveries, the regular OB has to, and ours was in Ames, the WDM, now we're at Mercy. 

Q10. Has anyone with triplets ever gone to full term, 40 weeks? A10. Haven't seen it yet.

Q11. I didn't really ask this, but I wanted to. Exactly how much bigger will my wife get -- up there?

3 Hammocks at the New Dr.'s Office

Our three little ones were resting peacefully stacked above each other in three little hammocks. Well, two of them were on siesta, the other was doing somersaults in between. My granddad spent some time on a World War I destroyer, while around the WWII time period, so he knows what it's like to be crunched up like that next to a noisy neighbor, the engine room. So I'm not gonna lie, this is my favorite pic...my kid's on siesta in a hammock taking the food before mom gets it...I could swear that's a Tostito in his/her hand, and he/she is smiling because....oops. last one! Is that really much different than it is now?

Here's a pic of the little guy/girl on the top bunk looking at us and waving, we couldn't get it in one pic but they are stacked like a triple-decker sandwich

Mindy thought they had moved before the appointment and it seems they are trying to rearrange to get space for their next growth spurt, I'm explaining to them that the housing market is not what it once was and they need to learn to share space.

They are between 11 weeks 5 days and 12 weeks and everything is looking good so far.  Our new doctor at PCI http://www.perinataliowa.com/ seems really nice as does Amie, the PA working with him. They took Mindy's background information and some blood as well, now that she's bigger veins are available.

The sonographer tried to determine gender and she thought she saw a boy and a girl but, she said she would be guessing so the big day now, is going to be April 22nd. We're making it past week twelve so now it's all about keeping a competent cervix, if not they just put a stitch in? Sounded like they just staple the kids in until we're ready...weird. 

Now, it's just a cruel waiting game, are they still there? are they healthy? When are they going to come...our doctors are very good with an individualized approach...I still get nervous before each appointment and just want the sonographer to turn on the doppler so I can hear the kids' heart beats, then we can move on with the show, which for the un-initiated, takes about 2 hours for each appointment

So here is the "4D" image of one of them, it's a 3D image in real time so that makes it 4D, wikipedia explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_ultrasound

Here's another 4D image:

Here's a kind of side pic of two of them together.

...I made it FBO a couple of hours ago and the Des Moines Register Headlines read...

"Tornado sirens wailed in portions of west-central and central Iowa as a band of severe weather hurtled through the state this evening. A tornado warning was issued for the Des Moines area until 7:15 p.m. Authorities reported sightings of funnel clouds in the Des Moines area."

Coincidence???

And if you're following us, please click on Follow! I know we say we don't care about how many facebook friends we have, but c'mon, we care about how many facebook friends we have. We want as many followers as possible coming along with us on this crazy ride! 

P.S. We keep getting questions about what we used to get to triplets, did we want to become Octamom and dad? No, we didn't use IVF or any kind of injectible drugs, it was Femara and Glucophage, because Clomid did nothing, and in the words of our OB before we went on to the perionatologists, "that [triplets] never happens [with Femara]." Never! Hah! I read that twins happen 1 in 100 but triplets are so rare I can't find any instances...

10.5 weeks (March 16)

I'm finally getting my appetite back!  I am still tired and Tony reminds me that I'm not myself.  He has been wonderful picking up my slack (doing the laundry, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, giving me nightly massages...).  We are counting down the days till our next appointment.  Tony is really nervous about all three still being there so he tried to hear the heart beats himself by putting his ear to my stomach.  All he heard was gurgling.

I woke up on March 18th is pain and discomfort. I felt like me stomach had been stretched overnight and my muscles were tender and sore. I could tell there were results that went along with that pain. I have defiantly expanded and gained 2.2 pounds in 2 days.

I started physical therapy again this week. For those of you who don't know I had surgery on my right hip in August 2010 to repair my torn labrum. Growing this fast has put a lot of pressure on my hip and my physical therapist said my pelvis is shifting more than it should be causing the hip pain. I'll be going back at least once a week again to realign my pelvis and keep my hip strong.

Speading the news at 9.5 weeks!

One of the best parts about being pregnant is telling our family and friends.  Seeing their faces when we say we are pregnant and then their reaction when we say with triplets is awesome.  Our family knew first, then our bosses, next was our co-workers, and then it was time for my girls weekend to tell my best friends.  The five of us met in Kansas City for the weekend and only one knew the news I couldn't wait to share.  Being able to tell them all in person at one time was so much fun.  Their reaction was priceless and they have been so supportive since.

My pants are all officially too tight at this point.  I wear the belly band now and bigger and longer shirts.  When I wear tighter shirts you can definitely see the baby bump! I have gained 3 pounds over the past week and a half!  I'm slowly making my way to the 60 pounds I'm supposed to gain.  I'm able to eat more but some days it is still a struggle to get 3 meals plus snacks in.

We are looking forward to being able to see our babies again at our next appointment on March 22nd.

8.5 week ultrasound

On March 3rd we went for another ultrasound.  All three babies are growing and have strong heart beats.  We even got to see baby B kick its legs!  We were so excited that they are all healthy and all three are still there since there was a chance for a spontaneous reduction.  We were referred to perinatologists, and we are going to Mercy (http://www.perinataliowa.com/center) and have our first appointment there on March 22nd. They are supposed to have some even more amazing equipment to get great scans of the little ones.  

After that we go back in every four weeks for ultrasounds, so we will continue to have pictures for all the waiting grandparents as they grow. Is it 3 boys? 3 girls? 2 girls 1 boy? 2 boys 1 girl? ...

With all the excitement, I'm still super tired and queasy.  I haven't been able to find anything that really makes me feel better.  I suck on hard candy during the day, which helps some, as do the preggo pops, but it's the deep fried goodness of the Crab rangoons that gets me through some days!

Some of my clothes are too tight, and I'm no longer the only one who can definitely tell that I'm pregnant.

The best shot we could get of all 3.

Baby A Heart Beat 183

Baby B Heart Rate 164

Baby C Heart Rate 173

Finding out we were pregnant.... with triplets!

Our negative journey to conceive finally took a positive turn on January 28, 2011!   How our journey started...

In mid January, I was having awful cramping pains and called the doctor to ask what I should do.  We had recently finished our first fertility treatment with Femara, acupuncture, and a special diet,Clomid didn't work at all, and I was worried something was wrong.  I scheduled an ultrasound for January 28. I was due to take a home pregnancy test the morning of January 28. I was in so much pain that I checked at 4 AM and I ran over to tell Tony at 4:01 AM that it was positive!  My ultrasound and blood tests confirmed I was pregnant, later that day.  We were thrilled, however, the pains were still there.  I had a repeat blood draw on January 30th, and my levels were rising appropriately, but they were uncharacteristically high.  At this point I didn't think much of it, but one of my friends thought for sure I was having twins. Boy was she wrong!

Finally, the week of February 6th, the cramping stopped. During that time some other body changes were taking place.  Our next ultrasound was set for February 15th, it would be a routine check-up to make sure the pregnancy was progressing normally.  On February 15th at 6.5 weeks our ultrasound showed we were having triplets.  Tony was super excited while I had mixed emotions.  I was thrilled but also scared about how I was going to be able to carry all 3 and how I was going to gain that much weight.  I bought a book on triplets right after the appointment called When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamar Eberlein. The book is awesome and serves as our go to resource for making this pregnancy as healthy as possible. 

So far, being pregnant has been tiring and nauseating.  When I'm not at work I'm either sleeping or relaxing on the couch.  Tony has taken on more responsibilities around the house and it's been a bit of a role reversal.

Start at minute number 8:00 on this YouTube video. Tony, pulled it out from his 80's/90's library...he never said anything nasty...just a funny clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVAW-HequKU&feature=related

I have been able to eat some foods, but at times it is a big struggle to get anything down.  I have now sampled every protein drink out there, and am not fond of any.Tony has tried them and likes the Nature ones and he's experienced some changes...we've videotaped his growth...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyfY1XHiASs

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for March 3rd.