We passed 20 weeks!

Don't you just love the picture? It was the funniest thing b/c obviously everyone knows I am on bed rest but here I am in front of the Christmas tree w/ Todd, hehe. Well, the story is that when I went to the bathroom, everyone would jump up to get their camera so that they could either get a picture of me or take one with me. It was the funniest thing b/c before I got up, I would say, "I'm going to the bathroom so have your cameras ready when I get out!" HAHA!

Honestly, we could not have had a better Christmas. My spirits were lifted which was much needed at the time. I was down at first that I couldn't get up & join the fun by helping cook or drinking spirits w/ the rest of the family BUT when they made a semi-cirlce around my spot on the couch & were there w/ me the whole evening, I felt so loved! My brother kept calling me "The Queen" b/c everything was based around me. I have the best family a girl in this situation could have. LOVE TO ALL MY FAMILY!

It so happens that the day we all celebrate the birth of Christ, we also hit the 20 week mark. WAAAHOOOO!!!! Honestly, I never thought I would make it out of the teens so to be in the 20s now makes the big 24 week goal a realistic one. I just have to remember to take it one day at a time. The days are going by faster than what I expected. Don't get me wrong, there are times when the minutes on the clock slowly tick by but I try really hard to not watch the darn thing.

My fears of what can happen are still in my head but they have subsided quite a bit since I have been doing some research on incompetent cervix & funneling. It seems as though many women have carried to either full term if they were pregnant w/ singletons or to an average of 30 weeks with triplets. That being said, I am taking the bed rest very seriously. I have modified my schedule a bit. Instead of getting up every hour to go pee, I try to make it through every 2 hours which isn't as difficult as I thought so long as I am engrossed in doing something this I don't think about whether my bladder is full or not. It actually helps pass the time a bit faster since I am not constantly looking at that darn silver thing on the wall w/ 2 silver hands.

Oh, I can't forget to talk about how much these 3 are kicking me! It is the most amazing feeling in the whole world! For those of you that have never had a baby kick you from the inside, it feels like basically someone is thumping you from the inside out. I can even tell which one is kicking me. The only one I have troubles feeling is Sofi b/c she is at the bottom & really deep in my pelvic area. The dr even has a hard time measuring her head b/c it is right at my pelvic bone. Todd has felt them kick a couple of times. They are getting stronger & bigger every day! I'm so proud of my little ones. They are ahead of schedule on their weight & development so I am hoping that will help us out in the long run.

Keep the prayers coming! Much love to all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our family & friends! This is the time of year that we all need to sit back & enjoy our families. I feel very blessed to be at home rather than in the hospital on Christmas. It breaks my heart to think of all the people that are spending their Christmas in a small hospital room. Please keep them all in your prayers, especially those mommies who are on bed rest like myself but can't be home to enjoy this time of year.

I have been in better spirits for the past couple of days although I can honestly say I am still dealing with the shock of this all. I think that the first week I was being the "strong woman" & didn't really let it all sink in. I was sure that everything was going to be fine. I still believe in my heart that things are going to progress but I see that the reality of the situation is that the road will not be easy. Needless to say, if this is as bad as it gets, I will not complain at all BUT statistically speaking there are many more bumps in the road that we could face.

Without getting too in to the details, there are still the issues of preterm labor, more funneling of the cervix, the cerclage not doing its job, or any one of the babies' water breaking. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be facing all these serious complications! Trying to digest them is incredibly difficult but I am managing. They say to take it one day at a time, right? Well, that is what we are doing.

Tomorrow we will be 20 weeks along which is amazing. I know my babies are moving around in there as I am feeling them quite a bit more than I ever have. It is the coolest feeling in the world & I can't wait until they really start kicking & hitting with some more force. Right now it feels as though someone is thumping me from the inside. Todd insists on playing them music every night so we do. I place headphones around my belly & we let them listen to a CD that their Grandma Donna gave them. You can tell it gets them moving because we can really feel them kicking. Todd sometimes wonders if we play it too loud. I told him there is no way!

Todd is getting the house ready for my family to come over. I can't wait to have some company! It is great to have people over. It really helps pass the time. I think the hardest part of this all is when I'm alone. I know that today will pass quickly & we will enjoy Christmas Day alone this year. Todd's parents are out of town visiting family in Pennsylvania. We said to one another that this will be our last quiet Christmas. HAHA! Let's hope & pray that this is the truth. I can handle loud holidays with our 3 children next year.

Every day continues to be a blessing & we appreciate all your thoughts & prayers! God Bless & enjoy these special days w/ your family!

Our visit to the perinatologist

Well, I was really hoping that she was going to say everything was all good & that some of my restriction would be lifted BUT I guess that isn't the case. Now, the appointment didn't go horribly, it actually went as well as it could. We aren't in the hospital so that speaks volumes, right? I guess this whole thing is just finally getting to me. I thought I could be strong through it all but even the strong need to break down. Needless to say, I'm not in the best of spirits today. Let me get to the details of the appointment.

We get there & the first thing she checks is my cervix & says, "We are headed for trouble here." I know she is overworked but after she saw the file & read through it, she seemed to relax a bit. I think she forgot that my cervix had already begun to funnel the week before. Once she read through it, she said that the cerclage was doing what it is suppose to be doing & that is the important thing. In order to keep the sac of baby A, Sofi, from going through the cerclage is to stay off my feet. Well...I knew that was coming. I'm on bed rest for the duration of this pregnancy...what else is new?

So, as far as the babies go, they are doing perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, Sofi & Ian are measuring ahead by a couple of days & weigh in at 13 & 12 oz. Gabi is right on target & weighing in at 11 oz. They were moving around & their body parts (arms, legs, fingers, feet, etc) are all so defined it is amazing to see!

As far as mommy goes, I actually lost a pound this week. Unfortunately bed rest does not stir up an appetite. I'm going to try to eat a bit more protein as I hear this will help put weight on the babies. My blood pressure is completely normal but that is no surprise. I have never had an issue w/ that before. Besides my heart hurting, I am healthy.

So, now for the feeling side of this all. I guess I have become a true mommy at heart. I am so worried that my body will not hold my babies where they need to be until they are prepared to meet the outside world. I pray to God every day that we will make it through the next 24 hours. I want so badly for it to be the end of January. I will not lie, this is not an easy road. I am scared out of my mind that we will lose our 3 precious babies & that I will not be able to handle it. I never thought I would get over our 1st loss. This one is so much more because I can feel them move & see where they are at in my tummy. I pray that God gives me the strength to get me through every day.

Please keep us all in your prayers! We need all of them that we can get.

Day in the life of a woman on bed rest...

Have you ever just wanted to know what bed rest is all about? Well, let me give you a snippet of what life is like when all you can do is stay in bed. Actually, I am going to show you my "busy" schedule for the day!

6:20am ~ Pray w/ Todd for the health of our babies & our sanity.
8:00am ~ Wake up & hurridly go to the bathroom, brush my teeth & hair so I am not standing up too long!
8:05am ~ Eat breakfast that Todd has prepared & left by the bed for me.
8:30am ~ Do wrist & ankle circles to keep blood circulating.
8:35am ~ First activity...knitting, internet, bills, or anything else that tickles my fancy.
9:00am ~ Go to bathroom in a hurry so I am not upright very long.
9:02am ~ Start 2nd activity of the morning, what ever I wasn't doing before.
9:30am ~ Band exercise time!
9:37am ~ Next activity :)
10:00am ~ Bathroom! Time to take advantage of being upright & stretch!
10:02am ~ Next activity...flip sides so I don't get too sore.
10:30am ~ Wrist & ankle circles
10:35am ~ Hopefully someone has called me by now & I'm happily chatting on the phone!
11:00am ~ Bathroom break!
11:02am ~ Hmmm...time for a little snack, yummy!
11:30am ~ Switch sides b/c I'm getting sore.
12:00pm ~ Bathroom break!
12:02pm ~ Start thinking about lunch but hold off a bit more so pick up knitting instead & watch some tv.
12:30pm ~ FLIP!
1:00pm ~ Bathroom break!
1:02pm ~ Time for lunch :)
1:30pm ~ FLIP! I also am on the internet by this time answering emails, looking things up for the registry, etc.
1:10pm ~ WOW! I made it 10 minutes past my normal bathroom break! WOOT!!
1:30pm ~ FLIP! Do some ankle & wrist circles.
2:15pm ~ Is it just me or did I pass my bathroom break again?
2:17pm ~ Keep surfing the internet & hang out on Just Mommies.
3:00pm ~ BOY! Is my ass sore or what? I guess I forgot to FLIP when I was suppose to! Hmmmm...don't really need to go to the bathroom so maybe I can hold out until the next hour. Keep busy either knitting, surfing, or watching Dr. Phil...yeah, I know real intelligent stuff here, right?
4:00pm ~ My bladder! I have to pee!
4:02pm ~ Snack time...fruit, veggies??? NAH! Where are the chips?!
4:30pm ~ Praying for Todd to get home so I have some human company. Don't get me wrong, the kitties are great but boy, they are high maintenance w/ the petting thing.
4:40pm ~ Todd is home! WOOT! Adult company for a change. WHEW!
5:10pm ~ OOPS...forgot to get up & go pee! Let me do that now.
5:12pm ~ Start doing one of my various activities or talk to my mom which has shown up by now.
6:00pm ~ Start thinking about dinner...yummy! The parentals have brought something by for dinner.
6:30pm ~ Missed the bathroom break again & now I really need to go!
7:00pm ~ DINNER TIME! I get to eat something warm for a change!
8:00pm ~ Bathroom & time to wind down. Watch tv w/ Todd.
8:30pm ~ Todd is asleep so I can finally change the channel from Fox News to something a bit more captivating like Law & Order or some other detective type show.
9:00pm ~ Time to go to the...you guessed it! BATHROOM!!!
10:00pm ~ Last trip to the bathroom & then off to sleep!

So, there you have it...a day in the life of a pregnant woman on bed rest! Anyone want to join me?

Intro to our Triplet Pregnancy

Well, I thought it was about time I buckled down & really made an effort to chronicle this pregnancy. I know, I am way late in the process, right? Today we are 19 weeks 2 days. Honestly, I never thought I would make it this far especially when we found out we were having triplets. I thank God every day that the triplets have another day in my belly b/c that brings us 1 day closer to viability.

Let me start by what got us here. We had to get medical assistance to get pregnant after having tried for 2 years. We found a wonderful reproductive endocrinologist & 9 months after our 1st visit with him, we were in the middle of our 1st in-vitro cycle. As a result of the IVF, we got pregnant. My 1st HCG levels (pregnancy hormone measured for pregnancy) was 769 at 16 days past conception (DPC). This was well above normal range, even on the high side for twins so we were expecting to hear that we were pregnant w/ twins or possibly triplets since we had transferred 3 embryos back into my uterus. Only 3 days later, my HCG levels reached well above 2500. It was then that the reality of multiples first hit us.

We had our 1st ultrasound (u/s) at 6w 6d. As I laid there, Todd was looking at the screen. We immediately were told there were 2 heart beats & 2 fetuses. We both started to cry & were relieved to know that we were actually pregnant, really, really...pregnant! The nurse practitioner doing the u/s went ahead & was thoroughly checking my uterus for any bleeding when she looked at us and stammered, "Well, um, uh...I think there is a third one!" Todd started bawling, I started laughing hysterically.

Since then, we have had 7 u/s to check on the babies. Of the 7, 3 have been Level II u/s which means that the babies are measured in many different ways as are their organs. As of last Friday, the babies are in perfect condition, no abnormalities. PRAISE GOD! Unfortunately, that visit also showed that my cervix had shortened from around 3.5 to 2.4 cm. Normal is 3.5-4.0. Considering I was fine only 2 weeks earlier, this came as a bit of a shock. I was immediately admitted to St. Luke's Hospital for a cerclage the next morning.

Saturday at 7:40am, I was wheeled to the OR where a cerclage was placed in/around my cervix. Basically they stitch the cervix closed at its highest point & then a bit lower for reinforcement. This procedure is 90% effective in helping keep the babies where they need to be & help stave off preterm labor.

So, what are the repercussions? Well, I will be on bed rest the duration of the pregnancy. That means I am flat on my back except to go to the bathroom, take a shower, and to go visit my perinatologist which is also acting as my OB. Yep, loads of fun for the next 3 months! Our next visit is this Saturday morning so I am sure I will be updating everyone again.

IF you are interested in lending a helping hand, I would love any ideas on how to pass my time. I would also love any magazines that deal w/ pregnancy or ones such as US Weekly or People. Yeah, I'm really in to intelligent reading, hehe. If you would like to visit, please give me a call & let me know when. I also need help around the house for obvious reasons...I can't get out of bed! Poor Todd can't do it all on his own. So, if you have a minute to spare & can throw in a load of laundry or fix me lunch, we would appreciate any & all help.

We appreciate all the prayers you can spare!