Labor and Delivery, Here I Come!

Having a high risk pregnancy means I have to get monitored and monitor myself closely to check for pre-term labor signs.  Last night at 8pm I started doing my contraction counts and for multiples, it needs to be no more than 6 per hour.   I drank some water and started my timer.  After the hour was up, I had 7 contractions.  The booklet they gave me states to call Labor and Delivery at that time, but then I read they would just have you re-do it.  So I emptied my bladder, drank 2 glasses of water and restarted.  I now had 8 contractions.   I called the Labor and Delivery Department and they wanted me to do one more monitoring session.  I drank 2 more glasses of water and did it again which ended in an 8 count of contractions.  They told me to come in because the Dr wants to have me checked out.

The Dr came in and did an exam and stated I was 1cm dilated, which wasn't a concern and my cervix is around 3.5, which is still great.  Since I was good, they wanted to monitor the babies heart rate for about 20 minutes to see how they are holding up.  The Nurse had no idea how to monitor 3 babies.  He brought out the ultrasound machine to find out where they were and see where the hearts were to be able to put the monitors in the right place.  He placed the monitors and then left the room.  We were there for about 20-30 minutes and then they were concerned because 2 of the heart beats were very similar and they weren't sure if they were missing one of the babies.  We did this over and over and were very tired and agitated by that point.  Thankfully they called my Dr and asked him what they would like done in this situation.  My Dr told them to look at the ultrasound and if the heart beat was good, they had good fluid in each sac and were moving, then to release us.  Thank God for Dr Meyer!!! 

We got there a little after midnight and left a little after 6am.  What a tiring day, but so grateful that all is well.

Here are some pics hubby took during our 6hr stay.

30 Weeks and 2 Days

We had a Dr appt on 6/17 and everything is still going well. My cervix is still closed and I'm showing no sign of dilation. Blood pressure and weight are good, just trying to deal with this nerve pain I'm having in the front of my right thigh.  I believe baby girl is pushing against a nerve.  Every time I get up from sitting or laying, I feel like a nerve is being pinched and then it's fine after I walk a couple of steps.  Praying she moves out of that position because it hurts getting up.

Speaking of the Princess, here she is...

We talked to the Dr about scheduling our C-section and he said he had put us on the schedule for July 21st.  I then asked if we could push it a couple days later to the 23rd, since hubby wanted that day because 23 is Michael Jordan's jersey number...lol!  The Dr didn't mind and they had a 10:30 slot open, so we are now on the schedule for that day.

From now on I will be going to the Dr's every week.  Next Tues is our growth scan, so I'm guessing they will be a little more than 3lbs each.

I'm so thankful that all has been going well.  Lately I've been super exhausted and am very glad this is my last week of work.  Looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation.  I also have some organizing I need to do around the house. 

28 weeks 2 days

We had a Dr appt yesterday and we pretty much got all same information as we did at our growth scan last week.  Cervix is still nice and long, around 4cm and all babies were doing great.  Baby B was the only one to show face again, he looked like he was looking up with his chin held high.

The only thing that wasn't great was my iron level, which is showing I'm slightly anemic.  Dr recommended I take iron supplements with orange juice.  The orange juice helps the body absorb more of the iron.  Thankfully I don't have gestational diabetes since I'm at a higher risk of getting it since I'm carrying multiples.  I told the Nurse Practitioner that I was gonna pray that my pancrease would function properly and do what it needed to do in regards to regulating the insulin in my body.  When I saw her she agreed that God was definitely answering my prayers.

We discussed scheduling my c-section and before he had said he wanted me to get to 34 weeks, but now he says since I'm doing so well, he wants me to to get to 35 weeks.  My Dr will be in Puerto Rico the 34th week and coming back just in time to deliver my precious little ones.  I told him that worked out great so he will be nice and relaxed when taking my babies out...lol!  He agreed and said he would be coming back a little heavier since he loves Puerto Rican food.  I love my Dr and I'm so thankfull that he is knowledgable and has a fun personality and likes to joke around like we do.

A couple of weeks ago I started cutting back my work hours to 6 instead of 8 and It has helped tremendously.  I'm using my vacation time to take of the 2hrs and I only have enough vacation to last until June 20th, which I believe is going to be my last day of work.  I need to rest and slowly take on projects around the house to make sure we are ready for the babies.

Our next dr appt is June 17th and we are going to keep believing that God is going to continue to help me through until the day of my c-section.

27 Week 2 day Growth Scan

This is our monthly scan to make sure all babies are measuring as they should for being as far along as I am.  Taylor got to come with us to this appointment since it was later on in the day and we really wanted her to experience this exciting time with us.

It is very difficult to lay on my back since the pressure of my belly is bearing down on me and is very uncomfortable.  I'm not looking forward to our next one on June 24th, since I'm sure I will have grown tremendously in a months time. 

The ultasound tech started looking around and Tay had no clue what she was looking at.  The tech would explain what part of the body she was measuring and Tay was in total confusion...lol! It is always such a joy to see my children developing as they should.  Everyone is measuring perfectly.  Baby A (girl) and Baby B (boy) are weighing in at 2.6lbs and Baby C (boy) is weighing in at 2.4lbs.  I have 7lbs of baby in my belly!!!  Some more great news....my cervix is measuring in at almost 4cm, which is pretty awesome!

We are so thrilled that all is going well and look forward to more positive news at our upcoming appt on June 3rd.

26 weeks 2 days Appt and Glucose Test!

Sorry, I'm a little behind on my posts.

We had a Dr appt on May 20th and all was GREAT!

Our Dr was running behind as usual, so we got to see a Nurse Practitioner.  Her name is Sharon and she was very nice, informative and answered all of our questions.  She wanted to check the length of my cervix (which is important that it stays above 2.5cm at this time), the amniotic fluid in each sac and the babies heart beats.  When she started the ultrasound she complemented my uterus on how beautiful it looked, which is a little strange…lol!  Then went on to measure the cervix which measured at around 3.5cm, which is great. 

Sharon said all looked great and she couldn’t ask for anything better.  She said that I needed to go to the lab within the next week to check my glucose and make sure I don’t have gestational diabetes.  She said having triplets puts me at a higher risk.  I told her we will begin to pray that my pancreas does its job in regulating the insulin.

I went to the lab on May 28^th to drink the delicious, sugary orange drink and wait an hour there before they take my blood.  The number needs to be below 139 and my results came back at 97!  Praise the Lord!

Maternity Photo Shoot

I was blessed with having my maternity pictures taken this past Sunday.  My good friend, Meghan, is looking to start up a side photography business and told me she wanted to take my pictures.  I was looking into maternity photography and it can get expensive for a photo session, so this was definitely a blessing.

We started off in front of a church where they had a beautiful little rose garden in front.  Lawrence, Taylor and I got to take a good amount of pictures together, which was nice to have them included.

We dropped of Lawrence and headed to Vasona Park.  This place is a gem for photographers.  While we were there, we seen about 4 other photographers there taking pictures. We ended up with some great shots, especially towards the end of the shoot when the sun was going down and the lighting was perfect.

We wanted to do some pictures in the nursery, but ran out of time.  We will be getting together again to more pictures next week and I'm so excited!

23 weeks and 2 day Ultrasound

We had a great ultrasound appt on April 29th.  Every month we go in for a growth scan to make sure all babies are growing at the same rate and measuring along with the week I'm at.  All 3 were measuring about 23 weeks 4-5 days.  They measured the circumference of the head and abdomen and looked at the  kidneys, bladder, femur bone and heart.  

We asked the tech if he could go over their parts again to make sure we still have 2 boys and a girl and we still do.  Our baby girl is 1.7lbs and both boys are 1.6lbs.    Everything is looking great!

They also measured my cervix which is now 3.5cm.  The tech said anything above 2.5cm is great, so thank God for that!

Here are a couple of ultrasound pics we got from that scan.  The upper left pic is our baby girl, she seems to be taking advantage of the space she has right now by stretching out her legs.  Hubby says they looks like frog legs...lol!  On the right of that pic is all 3 of there heads together.  Baby girl (A) is on the bottom and her head is on my left, your right and the boys are currently doing break dancing moves.  Both boys are upside down and that's how we got to get a pic of all 3 heads together.  Bottom pics are baby C, left pic is of his spine and on the right is his head with one of his siblings photo bombing with their foot.

It's crazy to think each one already has their own personality.  Baby girl is very relaxed and when we've seen her on ultrasound, she is either sleeping, curled in a ball or just hanging out without much movement.  Baby B is going to be a handful and is the one I feel the most.  He is always moving around and his kicks/punches are very strong.  Baby C is in the middle, he moves more than his sister, but very subtle moves.  Should be interesting to see if that's how they will be when they are here.

The great thing about being pregnant with triplets is the continual monitoring and ultrasounds I get.  From now on I will get a call from a nurse every Tuesday at 5pm to check in on me and see if I have any questions or concerns.  I also have to monitor how many contractions I am having twice a day.  For an hour, I have to lay down on my side with my hands on my belly to feel for contractions that last more than 35 seconds.  If I have more than 6 in an hour, then I have to call the nurse.  So far I haven't had many.

At 28 weeks, I will have to start doing 'kick counts'.  I will have to place my hands on my belly and feel for 10 kicks or movements within an hours time.  If not, it's a cause for concern and I will have to call the nurse.  I asked the nurse how do I go about doing kick counts with 3 babies and she said for now just count what ever movements I feel.  I don't think I will have a problem getting 10 kicks in an hours time :)