Lilypie Premature Baby tickers

Lilypie Premature Baby tickers

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

25 Week Checkup

Not much to report again today....another week down!  All babies looked good and were very active during the ultrasound.  Baby A's heart rate was 143 and Baby B and C both had heart rates of 150.  They have all changed positions since last week and are all head down at this time...although their position seems to change on a weekly basis.  My cervix length is down to about 3.8 cm.  This is the first time that it has been below 4 cm, which makes me somewhat nervous, but the doctor says that all is still good and he is not the least bit worried about it.

My blood pressure was OK at this visit (130/90), but I have noticed that my blood sugars are starting to creep up on me.  The doctor said that this was to be expected as we go further into the pregnancy and that the insulin amounts will probably have to start being increased fairly soon.

We got a couple of decent pictures today, but Baby C was facing away from us so we couldn't get any good shots of her.  The pictures we did get were pretty fuzzy, but there was a cool one of all three of them together.  However, my camera batteries have died so I'll try to get them posted later in the week.

I did get to enjoy two delicious Thanksgiving dinners during the week while I laid on the couch which was pretty nice. I also enjoyed some quality Black Friday shopping on the computer from the comfort of my own bed. 

I guess that's about everything.  Looking forward to another week of laying around, cooking babies, and sleeping 10+ hours a day.  Might as well enjoy it while I can! 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

24 Week Checkup - No News is Good News!

Well, at this rate these posts are going to get downright boring, but I am not complaining at all!  We did a quick ultrasound check of the babies who all looked to be sleeping so there was not much exciting to see there.  All of the heartrates were good and in the 140s.  It is starting to get more difficult to get good pictures of them because things are getting kind of crowded in there and they weren't being very photogenic today.  Also, my cervix remains unchanged and measuring in at 4.4 cm.

I did actually gain like 3 pounds this week which I wasn't too thrilled about, but I figure the babies alone probably gained almost a pound.  Plus, as pathetic as it sounds, I usually try to wear my most lightweight outfits to the doctor so as not to add any clothing weight to the total.  It was cold today, though, so i went ahead and layered up.  So I am blaming the other two pounds on that :)  My blood pressure was back up a little bit today also...143/93.  But, almost all of my blood pressures at home look good and there was no protein in my urine so it doesn't look like it is anything to worry about at this point.

Reaching 24 weeks is actually a pretty big milestone.  This is the point in a pregnancy where the chances of the babies surviving outside of the womb are greater than 50%, and the odds continue to improve dramatically every week.  Also, at this stage, I can be given steroid shots to improve the babies lung function if there are any signs of premature labor.  So, if the worst happened and the babies had to be delivered, they would still have a good chance.  The next goal is 28 weeks.  At that point, chances for survival are greater than 90% and the babies would have less of the complications associated with prematurity than they would if they were born before that point.

Bedrest continues to be boring and unproductive, but time has gone by much quicker than I thought it would.  I was actually surprised to realize I have already been off work for 3 weeks now.  My mom and sister came over this weekend to paint the nursery and I ordered border for it so hopefully we will get everything finished up in the next week or two and get one crib setup.  We're planning on putting them all in the same crib for the first month or two anyway, so as long as one crib is up I will feel pretty good about it.  I'll post pictures as soon as it is ready.

Well, back to the doctor next Tuesday.  Wishing everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend.  I for one am thankful this year for my uneventful doctor appointment and for the fact that my "modified" bedrest still allows me to go to other people's houses and lay on their couches while I eat my Thanksgiving feasts!

Monday, November 15, 2010

23 Week Checkup

Our doctor appointment today involved a very long ultrasound....not the most comfortable position to be in for over an hour, but totally worth it to get to watch the babies for that long.  The girls have literally doubled in weight over the past 4 weeks:

Baby A - 1 lb. 2 oz. (up 9 oz.)
Baby B - 1 lb. 2 oz. (up 9 oz.)
Baby C - 1 lb. 3 oz. (up 9 oz.)

These are good weights for a single baby, and extremely good for triplets.  It is also very good that they are all so close in size, although, since they each have their own placenta, it would not really be a huge concern if there were some weight variations.  It is only when multiples share a placenta that this can become a big problem because one baby hogs all the nutrients. We will continue to monitor their growth every 3 weeks to make sure that they are still growing at a good rate and that there are no signs of IUGR (inter uterine growth restriction).  They were able to get a look at each of their hearts and see that each one had all 4 chambers and were functioning properly.  Heartbeats continue to be in the 140s and 150s, which is good.  They also got a closeup look at their nose and lips to check for a cleft pallet and they all looked fine.  They did another measurement of their necks (thickening of the neck is a marker for down syndrome) and these measurements came back good again also.  So, basically everything that can be seen with an ultrasound looks great!

Speaking of great, my cervix is still measuring in at over 4 cm.  I know that this is probably not something people really care to know, but anyone who has been pregnant with multiples or who has had cervix problems in the past can tell you that this is a huge deal, and it is a very big relief to hear that it is still doing its job and keeping the babies in there.  So, I will continue to bore you with cervical measurements every week :)

Other than that, the doctor just doesn't have much to say except for keep doing what we're doing!  My blood pressure was actually 118/70!  I'm pretty sure that is the lowest that my blood pressure has ever been in a dr. office in my entire adult life.  My blood sugars are all looking good.  I gained no weight this week, which is OK (I have plenty in reserve!) and my swelling continues to stay down.  We'll head back to the dr. office next Tuesday for a quick checkup and heartbeat and cervix check.

The ultrasound tech asked me if the babies were always this active when they were trying to get measurements today.  I had to tell her that this was tame compared to when they really get going.  Earlier this week, I actually freaked out for a minute one morning thinking I was having contractions.  Then I realized that this was actually just all of the babies moving/punching/kicking at once.  Their movements are getting very strong and increasingly uncomfortable sometimes.  They seem to be on somewhat of a schedule for the past few days.  Every morning after I eat breakfasat they seem to turn into little ninjas for about an hour, and then again late every evening for about another hour.  Otherwise, their movements have been more sporadic throughout the day.

So, I really have nothing else very exciting to talk about this week.  Bedrest is making me very lazy.  I accompanied Wade to the grocery store on Friday for my weekly outing and was winded about 10 minutes into it.  That may be the end of my grocery shopping for the next few months....we'll see...

And I think that we have finally settled on names for these girls...but don't hold me to it.  The names are a little more rhymey than what I wanted, but I like them and we agree on them, so for now, here is where we stand:

Ava Munai
Lia Rose
Mya Anne

Lia is pronounced Leah, it is the Samoan spelling.  Munai for Wade's mom, Rose for my mom and Anne is the middle name of my mom and both of my grandmothers.

Well, hopefully there will be nothing eventful to post between now and next week's appointment!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

22 Weeks - Bedrest and Showers

I headed up to Columbia today for our 22 week (and 1 day) checkup with my Mom and sister in tow.  Wade graciously agreed to take a week off so that they could tag along and watch the ultrasound.  I'm happy to report that there is not much to tell!  Babies' heart rates were all good as usual and the cervix was still measuring beyond good at 4.8 cm.  I forgot to write down my blood pressure, but it was decent and my blood sugars are still looking good.  Next week we will do measurements to estimate the babies' weights, so it will be exciting to see how much they have grown since we did estimates three weeks ago.  Speaking of weight, while there is NO WAY I will ever tell what mine is, I am happy to report that being off my feet has contributed to me losing 4 pounds of water weight this week!

The doctor continues to be very happy with how things are progressing to this point.  Up until now, my goal has been to make it to 34 weeks with this pregnancy, but he commented today that if everything continues to go well, he would wait until 36 or 37 weeks to deliver.  Valentine's day would be 36 weeks, so I am going to make that my new (if extremely aggressive) goal for now.

Here are a few ultrasound pictures from today:

Baby A - Knees up by her face
Baby B - Looking at the camera
Baby C - Butt and legs in the air - and someone else's feet???


All 3 heads
 I have managed to survive my first week of bedrest!!!  Of course I had the excitement of two showers during the week so that helped a lot.  The only thing I really have to look forward to from here on out are doctor's appointments.  But for the most part, I think that I am settling into the bedrest pretty well.  It's really nice being able to spend so much time with the kids since I had been working so much.  Also, for those of you who complain that they can never get a hold of me, I can pretty much guarantee you that unless I am sleeping, I have been answering all of my phone calls for a change!

Finally, here are a few pictures from my shower at the library.  I will miss everyone there so much and the shower was an awesome going away gift!




As if that weren't enough, my wonderful sister threw a beautiful family shower for me as well this weekend.  Here are just a couple of pictures from it (I was too busy opening all my awesome gifts to take pictures):

The cake that matched the invitations

The awesome diaper cake that my mom made



They forced me to do a belly shot!  Don't worry - you won't see these too often :)
I am grateful beyond words for the generosity of my family, friends and coworkers!!! You have all been wonderful!

Well, another week of leisure ahead of me....our next doctor appointment will be Monday.

Monday, November 1, 2010

21 Weeks - Down for the Count

We headed up to Columbia today for our 21 week appointment.  It has been 2 weeks since our last appointment.  All was looking well at that time, and since I haven't felt like there were any changes physically, I figured it would be a good visit....and other than getting my behind stuck on bedrest, it was!

But first, the important stuff.  The cervix was still measuring 4.2 which remains fantastic, so no reason for worry there.  In addition, all babies looked active and healthy during the ultrasound.  We didn't measure for weights today, but checked the heartbeats and Baby A is at 144, Baby B is at 146 and Baby C is at 155.  All healthy and strong heartbeats.

Once I met with the doctor, the good news continued.  My blood pressure was the best it had been yet for a doctor visit:  132/78.  All my blood sugars were so good that he actually asked me if I was making them up.  No, mom, I'm not making them up....so don't ask!

At that point, he asked me if I had any concerns.  Of course, I opened my big mouth and told him about the nagging pain in my right knee that has been getting progressively worse over the past couple of weeks.  This got him looking at my legs and while he couldn't find a reason for the knee pain, he was concerned about the rapidly increasing swelling in my legs and feet, and declared that I was to be off my feet for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Seeing as how the rest of the visit went so well, I was not expecting that at all.  I was ready for bedrest in 3 weeks, but there was a lot I was planning to accomplish between now and then.  On the bright side, it is only modified bedrest, so I can get up occasionally to get something to eat, and even got permission to leave the house to go to the store once a week if I feel the need to get out and about....I guarantee you that I will feel the need!  I also got permission to attend the two baby showers I have this week, so I was happy about that.

The only other change is that we have gone back to weekly doctor visits.  This doesn't really bother me, though, because I really enjoy the weekly ultrasounds.  They give me extra peace of mind.

In other news, I had a great baby shower from my work family at Scholastic.  Huge thanks to Mary and Lacy for putting it all together.  As you will see in the picture below, everyone was extremely generous!



And of course, since last night was Halloween, I have to show off my cute kiddos in costume   
Simone as the goddess Athena
Noa doing his Dinosaur Roar!


 So, I guess that the posts will be weekly from here on out.  Wish me luck entertaining myself for the next week.  After spending the past year and a half working two jobs, I'm not sure I remember how to relax!