Woohoo, we are so happy to be here! Anything starting with a 3 is a huge deal in the world of triplets, and each week is a blessing. Shoot, every day at this point is a blessing. For the babies at least. ;)
I'm carrying around a whopping 11 pounds of baby! Baby A (Addisyn) is weighing in at 3 pounds 5 ounces, and is the smallest of three. Perhaps she will be a petite little girl? (Probably not considering our other two girls were little birth chunks ;)) Baby B (Bentley) is 3 pounds 11 ounces. And Baby C (Connor) is, as usual, our biggest at 3 pounds 13 ounces. Up until this point, all the babies have been within an ounce or two of each other, so to see Addisyn drop a bit in weight sent up mommy red flags. However, she is only 12% smaller than the boys, and since none of the babies share a placenta, they aren't concerned at this point and will monitor her until they come out.
All three babies scored 8/8 on their BPP which is great. They are all moving, practicing breathing, and have good cord flow. Little troopers. I of course know they move a lot because at this point I feel like they never stop! Someone is always shifting, kicking, has the hiccups, etc. They have a party every night roughly around 11:30-1:30, give or take and because of their size and limited space, it always interesting because when they move, I can tell when someone gets angry that someone else is in their space. It goes from shifting and pushing to erratic kicks and stretching. Because they are pretty consistent with their place, it is easier to tell who is moving. I know when each baby has hiccups, but sometimes it is hard to know if I am feeling kicks from one or punches from another. Most of the movement I feel comes from Bentley, and only because Addisyn's placenta is up front blocking her, and her kicking is mostly received by Connor who is up top off to her side. So Bentley has this huge window on the right side where I feel the most.
As much as I love feeling them move, sometimes it is very painful (well most of the time anymore). My belly is often sore, I think just from being stretched so far and everyone not having room. There have been a few times I was standing brushing my teeth or whatnot and they all moved at once and I nearly lost my balance. Not so fun at the time, but entertaining looking back. I do enjoy watching the contortion from the outside, I need to get it on video so they can see how nutty they were when they get older ;)
Anyway, at our appointment I had mentioned my hands were swelling pretty badly. I can no longer get my wedding ring on. My ankles are a bit swollen, but not too awful. I took my wedding ring off a while ago because it was getting tight and I didn't want to not be able to get it off eventually. But I wore it for our maternity pictures, then sent it off to be polished and prettied up. When I picked it up I wanted to put it on until I could put it back on my necklace at home. Ha, wouldn't go on. So I carried it to the car where I put it on my necklace.
Well, they informed me that I was spilling 2+ protein in my urine. Most people probably are like "What?" (I was!) so here is the short break down version. Your kidney filters extra fluid from your body to create urine, and they also help keep nutrients in your body that your body needs. Sometimes during pregnancy the stress can cause your kidneys to malfunction, and usually when this occurs it means pre-eclampsia or other serious conditions (toxemia or HELLP syndrome) are on the brink. From my understanding, many women spill trace amounts during pregnancy (I did at the end of my pregnancy with Charlotte, and had trace amounts at my last appointment 2 weeks ago). When it hits 2+ it can be very serious. However, since my blood pressure was alright, there isn't much they can do right now. In order for me to be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia my blood pressure must be high. It did climb between the two appointments, but wasn't considered high.
I was basically told any signs of high blood pressure (headache, blurred vision) I should go in to be monitored. We will be monitoring my blood pressure weekly to see what happens. Additionally, next week I will be getting steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop. The steroid shots are given in two doses, 24 hours apart. They are effective for approximately 2 weeks, which will carry me through to 34 weeks where if I were to deliver after 34 weeks they don't routinely administer the shots. So in the event of early labor (which I don't see happening, as I have had zero regular contractions), my water breaking, or if I were to develop one of these serious conditions (I feel this is more likely, as I was told I am a ticking time bomb based off the other symptoms I have) then the steroids will help the babes.
Here is a little information on pre-eclampsia for anyone wanting to know (http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/about-preeclampsia) and a little more info on HELLP syndrome (http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/hellp-syndrome).
Yes, I am terrified. The doctor didn't seem as concerned as the nurses, but having friends who suffered from pre-e and knowing nurses.....and I did that awful thing of googling...I am taking each day as a blessing and being wary of anything that might be off. Today I was feeling very weak and tired, which is likely more of an indication of low iron than related to this, but it still had me feeling nervous. It seems that bed rest and stress free are the best ways to handle this, anything to keep my blood pressure down. So, looks like my activity will be put to a sharp halt and I will be in bed eating popsicles to stay hydrated. Doctors orders ;) (Well, okay, the nurses orders, but she counts too!)
On the plus side, I was able to get my bag packed!! I still have the babies bag to pack, but I at least I got mine done. They don't need much, and it can be brought before they come home.
We also were able to have maternity pictures done!! I was feeling a bit nervous because we had to reschedule a few times for various reasons, and I was so paranoid I was going to go into labor and miss out on doing them this time. But, I have an awesome friend who is a wonderful photographer and we got some gorgeous shots! I may do a blog post with just the pictures when they are complete, but not sure yet. I will however share a few for your viewing pleasure. Photo credit to Kathryn Holthouse Photography, edit credit to Bri Yankowski Photography.
I'm carrying around a whopping 11 pounds of baby! Baby A (Addisyn) is weighing in at 3 pounds 5 ounces, and is the smallest of three. Perhaps she will be a petite little girl? (Probably not considering our other two girls were little birth chunks ;)) Baby B (Bentley) is 3 pounds 11 ounces. And Baby C (Connor) is, as usual, our biggest at 3 pounds 13 ounces. Up until this point, all the babies have been within an ounce or two of each other, so to see Addisyn drop a bit in weight sent up mommy red flags. However, she is only 12% smaller than the boys, and since none of the babies share a placenta, they aren't concerned at this point and will monitor her until they come out.
All three babies scored 8/8 on their BPP which is great. They are all moving, practicing breathing, and have good cord flow. Little troopers. I of course know they move a lot because at this point I feel like they never stop! Someone is always shifting, kicking, has the hiccups, etc. They have a party every night roughly around 11:30-1:30, give or take and because of their size and limited space, it always interesting because when they move, I can tell when someone gets angry that someone else is in their space. It goes from shifting and pushing to erratic kicks and stretching. Because they are pretty consistent with their place, it is easier to tell who is moving. I know when each baby has hiccups, but sometimes it is hard to know if I am feeling kicks from one or punches from another. Most of the movement I feel comes from Bentley, and only because Addisyn's placenta is up front blocking her, and her kicking is mostly received by Connor who is up top off to her side. So Bentley has this huge window on the right side where I feel the most.
As much as I love feeling them move, sometimes it is very painful (well most of the time anymore). My belly is often sore, I think just from being stretched so far and everyone not having room. There have been a few times I was standing brushing my teeth or whatnot and they all moved at once and I nearly lost my balance. Not so fun at the time, but entertaining looking back. I do enjoy watching the contortion from the outside, I need to get it on video so they can see how nutty they were when they get older ;)
Anyway, at our appointment I had mentioned my hands were swelling pretty badly. I can no longer get my wedding ring on. My ankles are a bit swollen, but not too awful. I took my wedding ring off a while ago because it was getting tight and I didn't want to not be able to get it off eventually. But I wore it for our maternity pictures, then sent it off to be polished and prettied up. When I picked it up I wanted to put it on until I could put it back on my necklace at home. Ha, wouldn't go on. So I carried it to the car where I put it on my necklace.
Well, they informed me that I was spilling 2+ protein in my urine. Most people probably are like "What?" (I was!) so here is the short break down version. Your kidney filters extra fluid from your body to create urine, and they also help keep nutrients in your body that your body needs. Sometimes during pregnancy the stress can cause your kidneys to malfunction, and usually when this occurs it means pre-eclampsia or other serious conditions (toxemia or HELLP syndrome) are on the brink. From my understanding, many women spill trace amounts during pregnancy (I did at the end of my pregnancy with Charlotte, and had trace amounts at my last appointment 2 weeks ago). When it hits 2+ it can be very serious. However, since my blood pressure was alright, there isn't much they can do right now. In order for me to be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia my blood pressure must be high. It did climb between the two appointments, but wasn't considered high.
I was basically told any signs of high blood pressure (headache, blurred vision) I should go in to be monitored. We will be monitoring my blood pressure weekly to see what happens. Additionally, next week I will be getting steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop. The steroid shots are given in two doses, 24 hours apart. They are effective for approximately 2 weeks, which will carry me through to 34 weeks where if I were to deliver after 34 weeks they don't routinely administer the shots. So in the event of early labor (which I don't see happening, as I have had zero regular contractions), my water breaking, or if I were to develop one of these serious conditions (I feel this is more likely, as I was told I am a ticking time bomb based off the other symptoms I have) then the steroids will help the babes.
Here is a little information on pre-eclampsia for anyone wanting to know (http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/about-preeclampsia) and a little more info on HELLP syndrome (http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/hellp-syndrome).
Yes, I am terrified. The doctor didn't seem as concerned as the nurses, but having friends who suffered from pre-e and knowing nurses.....and I did that awful thing of googling...I am taking each day as a blessing and being wary of anything that might be off. Today I was feeling very weak and tired, which is likely more of an indication of low iron than related to this, but it still had me feeling nervous. It seems that bed rest and stress free are the best ways to handle this, anything to keep my blood pressure down. So, looks like my activity will be put to a sharp halt and I will be in bed eating popsicles to stay hydrated. Doctors orders ;) (Well, okay, the nurses orders, but she counts too!)
On the plus side, I was able to get my bag packed!! I still have the babies bag to pack, but I at least I got mine done. They don't need much, and it can be brought before they come home.
We also were able to have maternity pictures done!! I was feeling a bit nervous because we had to reschedule a few times for various reasons, and I was so paranoid I was going to go into labor and miss out on doing them this time. But, I have an awesome friend who is a wonderful photographer and we got some gorgeous shots! I may do a blog post with just the pictures when they are complete, but not sure yet. I will however share a few for your viewing pleasure. Photo credit to Kathryn Holthouse Photography, edit credit to Bri Yankowski Photography.
PS...These were taken at 30 weeks. :)
So because this blog post has gotten super long, I will wrap up! As usual, I want to thank everyone for the love and support. I know we have new support that came from the paper, so welcome to our journey. You might be just in time for the arrival of our peanuts. :) Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
So because this blog post has gotten super long, I will wrap up! As usual, I want to thank everyone for the love and support. I know we have new support that came from the paper, so welcome to our journey. You might be just in time for the arrival of our peanuts. :) Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
You are a beautiful mommy! Glad you're blogging about the journey. I can't even imagine the movement of 3 littles, just Amy's movement about did me in! Praying for a safe delivery.
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