Does This Diaper Make My Butt Look Big?!?

Um. Yes. It does. Sorry chica. It may make your butt look big, but if it's any consolation, it's oh so cute, oh so much cheaper, and oh so good for the environment. Plus, all those nasty chemicals that are in disposables aren't getting on your precious sweet baby skin.

Merry Christmas (A Day Late)

but I'm sure that is going to be pretty typical for awhile. Lateness. Something which I normally hate. But, such is life with 9 kids, 3 of them being newborn triplets.

Christmas was great. The kids let us sleep until 8:30am which is crazy. The kids were all thrilled with their gifts. I ask them every year which is their favorite gift. This year, Noah, our sweet child, said that the babies were his 3rd favorite gift. But first favorite was his Tony Hawk Ride for Wii. :) Madeline loved her canvas and paints. Juliette's favorite was her Ripstick. Joseph, his longboard. The little girls loved everything but the Zhu Zhu Pets seem to be a huge hit. My mom bought Annabel triplet dolls which she carries with her everywhere.

I'm in the process now of trying to convince my lovely husband that a bigger car is necessary. Not that I really want to drive around a "Jon & Kate Plus 8" vehicle, but when your 1 up on them, it's kind of a given. As it is now, we have to load the little girls then the babies. It's all good if we are going to just one place. But, if we need to take the little girls out for any reason, without taking out the babies, we have to climb in through the back window. Fun right? No, not really. Plus, we have to take 2 cars everywhere. That in itself isn't so bad, but it is a waste of gas, plus, family bonding time in the car isn't going to happen. So, if we end up with the "VAN" I'll be sure to post pics. As much as I don't want to be the soccer mom in the van, I think, at this point, I have to. Now, what will I do to counteract the soccer mom-van look? It seems I always want to do something drastic to my hair. So. Shave it to about an inch or two? Blue hair? Dreadlocks? Definitely something to think about. Especially since I've been wanting to loc my hair for like 2 years now. The van thing may be do-able. If I can rock the locs, I can rock a van. Right?

How Is Everyone Doing?

A question we get asked alot. We are all doing good. Everyone has adjusted well to the addition of the trio. Yep, even the little girls. Thankfully. They still maul them a bit in the mornings, but for the most part they are really good with them. They love them. Alot. But even Lilah has gotten much more gentle with them.

Our busy hectic life has resumed. Although it seems even more hectic with the holidays. Soccer practices, scrimmages, tournaments and parties. Juliette has been quite the social bug this season and is attending lots of holiday related activities. Madeline is catching up with friends that are in town for the holidays. Noah and Joseph are hanging out close to home. Aaron has the entire week off (Thank God)!

And in the life of the triplets? They are staying home. Eating. Sleeping. Growing. Although, Gwendolen did venture out with me for some last minute Christmas shopping. No worries, she was well contained in a pouch away from germy people. :) She was the lucky baby that got to go because she is the most demanding, less for Aaron to worry about.

So, you've been dying for pics right? Here you go..They are so so cute, if I do say so myself.

Rosalie, Gwendolen, Emilia

They love to be swaddled.

Extended Rear Facing (ERF)

Along with other things that are oh so good for our babies, breastfeeding, babywearing, delayed/selective/non-vaxing, and co-sleeping, this is one of the most critical. It's Extended Rear Facing in carseats. In the U.S., the recommendation is that you can turn babies forward at 1 year and 20 pounds. In Sweden, they leave their kids rear facing for 4-5 years. Once again, Europe is a step ahead with knowing what's good for their babies.

I'm not going to write alot about it, just watch this video. It tells you all you need to know. And please, if your child is forward facing, and should be rear facing still, turn them around, it could save their life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWKm7SenDHU

The Good. The Bad. & The Ugly.

The Good. The girls are gaining weight well. Rosalie is up to 4#10oz, Gwendolen is up to 5#1oz, and Emilia is up to 6#. We no longer have to write down every ounce they consume. It is so much nicer. Rosalie is starting to look less like a cross between a Naked Mole Rat (according to her brother) and E.T and look more like a newborn baby. Mia is still a whole pound lighter than our lightest baby, yet compared to her sisters, she looks just huge.

The Bad. I'm still not exclusively breastfeeding. I'm still pumping. ALL.THE.DAMN.TIME. As a matter of fact, this stupid pump sees more action than my poor husband. I hate this pump. I want to love it since it does help for me to provide milk for the girls but I don't. I don't want to have to use it. I want the girls to not need me to use it, yet they do. It's so very frustrating. I truly didn't think it would be this hard. To breastfeed. I mean, that's what the boobs are there for, and I can't do it.

The Ugly. The thoughts that are going on in my crazy, post partum sleep deprived head. Bottle Feeding. Only. Pumping for as long as I can, and hoping for the best. That is UGLY. I mean no offense to those that chose to bottle feed, formula feed, whatever. It's just not for me. Human milk is meant for human babies. It's just how I feel. I think it would kill me to not be able to breastfeed these girls solely from my breasts, yet how I am going to get from point A to point B is still unanswered to me.

Not Alot Of Time Anymore

Wonder why? 3 new littles have nothing to do with that. Not. Life is busy busy busy. I cant believe how the day flies by. My days are spent pumping, feeding and sleeping. The girlies are good. Eating and sleeping. They are truly starting to show little personalities. Its so fun to see who they are.

Gwendolen is demanding. Aaron says she missed the memo that she's a triplet. She is always the first to wake to eat and the last to fall asleep. And she cries. More than the other girls. Gosh forbid if you don't get her food in her fast enough, she lets you know that she is waiting. And shes been waiting. Forever. She's almost funny, if she wasn't so demanding, we would laugh. As it is now, we service her every whim. We don't want her crying too much as she will burn too much energy. I keep telling her not to get too used to it, but I have a feeling, its falling on deaf ears.

Rosalie is a follower. Of Gwendolen. If Gwendolen cries, Rosalie does too. I keep telling her that if she's going to follow someone, that following someone a bit less of a trouble maker would be a good idea. She's not listening. And her cry is a tad high pitched. Luckily, its short and sweet. She make a tiny cry and then waits to see if anyone heard her. She also is the first to respond to Aaron's voice and/or mine. They only thing we have to do to get her to wake up is to talk to her.

Emilia is our "easy" one. I hate to label kids, but she is. I was hoping for a kick-backed relaxed one, and we got it. Emilia knows that she's a triplet and has decided to go with it instead of trying to resist it. She can be awake for a long time, staring around the room, and patiently waiting her turn. Oh, how I hope she stays this way.

We got some pics done from our photographer. Yes, I say "our photographer" because I love her and plan to have her do the babies and our other kids as much as possible. I'm posting just one here, just so that you can see how awesome they are. If you are our family, please just enjoy this pic, don't call me asking for a copy or to see the others. It IS almost Christmas you know. :)

Magenta- Gwendolen. Lime-Rosalie. Violet-Emilia.

A Plea For All Who Will Be Visiting Us...

This is going to sound harsh, but it is for the sake of our babies health. The Dr. gave us some "rules" for visitors and if your reading this and you will be visiting, please don't take offense, but follow our rules. Our babies are preemies and are very susceptible to any kind of illness at this time, especially during this Flu, RSV and H1N1 season.

The girls will be home TODAY!! We are all so excited! And we can't wait for everyone to meet them, but the rules need to be followed very closely.

1) If you are sick at all, even a sniffle, please do not come to see us.
2) If you smoke, please bring a change of clothing before you come into our house, especially your shirt. The smoke particles from your clothing can get into our babies lungs and make them very very sick.
3) Please wash your hands good, the minute you come into our home. Wash long and well, as far up your arms as you can.
4) No school aged children are allowed to visit. No exceptions. School aged kids are the germiest humans alive. No joke. I would be happy to hold the babies up to a window if they want to see them, but they cannot come in. Not for a few months.
5) Please be respectful of the fact that they are preemies. Alot of stimulus can cause them stress. If you call or stop by and want to visit, we may say no. Please understand. It may mean we've had a rough day, that we have had too many visitors or that the babies are just too tired to visit.

I know that all sounds like alot of stuff, but this preemie thing is a whole new ballgame for us. We just want our babies to stay healthy.

Thank you

Hypocrisy.

Yup. That's my word for the week. See post below then read this one.

I came home. I had to. I was so exhausted, that I couldn't even remember which baby was which. The Dr. came in one morning to see the babies, took one look at me, and told me to go home. He said that I was no good to anyone in the condition I was in. I thought that leaving my other kids was hard, this was just as difficult. Knowing that they were going to sleep without me there sucked. I've been there daily every morning and every night, I just come home to sleep but I am getting sleep, which is what I needed. They have good nurses that I love. LSC has been a great hospital. They made the NICU experience the best it could possibly be. I'm getting a good 8-9 hours sleep a night, waking up only to pump. But they come home tomorrow, (Eeek!) I am well rested and all is good!

On a lighter note, I must have the best friends and sister EVER. I am so blessed to have these people in my life. I don't know what I did to ever deserve such amazing friends, but God must be looking out for me lately. I don't know how I would have gotten through these past 6 months without them. Today I came home to the cleanest house ever. They rearranged everything to make it so that we could really live here. The little girls have an awesome playroom. The babies have their place and we have a living area. The older kids have their TV area. It is really conducive to our family life.

Miranda, Amber, Tiffany, Heidi, Kayle and Cindy, I love you guys so much. Thank you for all the help, support and love. We are truly blessed. The babies have come into this world with so many people who love them and our family. I am literally in tears as I realize how lucky we have been this past few months. Lucky so many times.

I will try to post tomorrow after we get them home and settled and with more pictures. Now I am off to do some pumping, then head to the hospital to give the girls a kiss goodnight. :)

It Was A Difficult Decision To Make.......

I get alot of people asking me, incredulously, "Are you really staying there with the babies?" Yes, I really am. And believe it or not, every Neonatologist and Nurse that I've asked agrees with our decision, even saying that it will help us to go home faster.

When we came into all this, we knew the possibilities of the girls being in the NICU. It was high. I wanted to avoid it but what can ya do? Never, in all of the discussions that Aaron and I had, did we ever talk about the fact that I would camp out in the NICU with the babies. The talk was always of how much it would suck to go back and forth to feed, bring milk and spend time with them. It's so easy to talk about what you will do when your not actually faced with the situation. Now that we are in the middle of it, and even immediately after the girls were born, we both knew, there was no way that the girls were going to be left alone. Ever. The first 4 days that I was in Postpartum Recovery, we talked daily about what to do. It always came down to the fact that no matter what our children's ages, we wouldn't ever leave them alone in the hospital. NO MATTER WHAT, one of us would stay with them always. Why do that to the girls just because "they don't know any better" or "they have great care there". I beg to differ. While I agree that the care is above and beyond what I could have hoped for, they girls DO "know better". For 34.2 weeks they have lived inside of me with our family. They have come to know my voice, my heartbeat and my movements. They know Daddy's voice and awaken whenever he comes into the room. They would kick inside if they heard either of their sisters cry. They know us. All of us. And we are supposed to leave them here, all alone with nobody that they know? I am very aware that this is hard on my other kids, and on Aaron. I feel it in my heart every single day. I cry when I hear their voices on the phone. Aaron is an amazing father and husband. I couldn't ask for anyone that loves me or our children more. This was an agonizing decision to make but we made it based on the needs of our kids, all 9 of them. Our kids have 2 great parents. We have 6 kids at home that need us and 3 in the hospital that need us. The realistic answer is for one of us to be with each "set" at all times. Since we breastfeed only, that pretty much lays it on the table. Aaron is with the 6 at home, and I stay here with the girls. I think it's a pretty obvious solution.

But believe me when I say, it was the hardest decision we've ever had to make. I miss my kids. I miss my husband. I can't wait to get home and be together again. In the long run, 14 days away compared to a lifetime together is easy. Now, to just get through it. Anything worthwhile is never an easy road. And these baby girls and our family, is worth everything in the world to us, as difficult as it may be, we are ready.

Are We There Yet?!?!

So ready to go home. So so ready. The Dr's say about 6-9 more days. Yay! The NICU has a few "rules" before the girls can go home.

1) Must be able to maintain their body heat on their own.
2)Off the Phototherapy lights
3)Must be gaining weight continuously
4)Take all feeding from a bottle and/or breast

We have passed them all but the feeding one. We just need to work on nursing. The Dr. says it will come. Soon. They have all gained weight. Alot in just 24 hours. 3oz. each!

Emilia is 4#11oz
Gwendolen is 4#3oz (Back to her birth weight already!!)
Rosalie is 3#11oz

So, all is good. Not alot to report. We are kinda like the boring NICU family. lol.

**One Week Old**

I can't believe they are one week old. Already. Time flies in the NICU that's for sure. I thought it would be very draggy and boring. I'm realizing that things will never again be boring. Not with triplets to take care of, that's for sure. I was thinking today, I do that alot here, that each of the kids have had a different "First Holiday". Madeline's was The 4th of July, Joseph's was Mother's Day, Noah's was Halloween, Juliette's was Labor Day, Annabel's was Easter, Delilah's was Valentine's Day and the Babies is Thanksgiving. (Happy Thanksgiving by the way) Kinda cool huh? As I said ALOT of thinking time on my hands.

Aaron, as if you all didn't already know this, is THE.BEST.DADDY.EVER. A few days ago, he realized that outside the babies windows is a courtyard that you can get to from the 2nd floor. He decided that he needed to bring the kids to the courtyard so they could actually see the babies, not just in pictures. So the babies nurse and I got them all ready, Aaron and the kids were waiting in the courtyard and we held all 3 babies up to the window at the same time. It was awesome. Annabel and Delilah were so excited. You could see them pointing and smiling and saying Momma, Babies, Momma, Babies over and over again. Then after we got the babies laid back down, I met them downstairs and we had a treat. It was so good for the little girls to see the babies, see me and the babies together and see where we were staying. I mean, this has been a lifetime to them. I've never been away this long and I was so worried that they thought I just left them forever. So now, I've seen all the kids and it has settled my mind and heart so much. I still can't wait to get home but now I feel so much better knowing that they are more settled too. And Oh Man, after being with 4# babies for a week, Delilah sure looks big!

As for the babies, they are good. Perfect. Growing. Emilia is up to 4#12oz, Gwendolen is at 4#2oz and Rosalie, is the only one that didn't gain or stay the same today. She lost an oz. That was hard to hear, but as the Dr. reminded me, she is very tiny and has alot of catching up to do. He upped her caloric intake by about 4ml's to see if that helps. She is my best nurser though so maybe she's using a few too many calories trying to outdo her sisters. I sense another competitive child here. Nursing is going well. All babies latch on, they just have a hard time staying on and awake. I have 2 visits scheduled with lacation this weekend so that will be helpful. The Dr. did mention that maybe giving them a bottle or two a day, would not only give me a break, but it might increase my milk supply since I will be nursing two of them more, but it will also help Rosalie gain weight a tad faster thus moving us outta here faster. All 3 Dr.'s have given us a guess-timate of 7-10 more days. That means I have just 7-10 more days to get these baby girls nursing like pros. Wish me luck.

One Week Old:

SUN Anyone?

lol. I thought it would be fun to show everyone how the girls like their lights. I think they are pretending that they are in Jamaica. :)

Emilia:

Rosalie:

Gwendolen:

35 Weeks Today.....

That is how old the girls are gestationally. Which means they are starting to do more. The Dr. ordered today that they can start nursing whenever they look like they want to! Yay! We tried Emilia today and she just got too tried to suck alot. Then Amber had me move to Gwendolen and that little princess shocked us all. She sucked, swallowed and breathed perfectly and nursed for almost 3 minutes straight! I'm so proud of her!! We could hear her swallowing and breathing and it was the best thing EVER! That is almost their last step to come home. They are all holding their body heat, weight loss is minimal, and they will be done with the lights within a few days. So basically, we get the nursing down good and we are HOME BABIES HOME!! The Dr's also ordered that they can come off monitors to eat at the same time if 2 of them want it at the same time! That is huge! Way to go baby girls! We are so proud of you!

Quickie Update

All is still perfect. Babies did lose some weight which is perfectly normal. Up to 10% is expected, they are at about 6%.

Rosalie: 3#8oz

Gwendolen:3#15oz

Emilia:4#11oz

So so good!!! The Dr's are very happy with their progress. They are even starting to show signs of rooting and suckling, so will be nursing very soon! More awesome news? They don't even need the donor milk anymore! I'm providing enough milk for all 3. I'm even a feeding ahead. There is about 8oz of milk stored in their fridge at all times. And I'm sure it will only get better and better.

The girls have totally won the hearts of every single nurse on the NICU floor. They get alot of nurse visitors that just want to see the "beautiful triplets". They have one nurse in particular that I love, that is already very attached to them and loves to show them off and tell everyone how cute they are. The care we have received here has been amazing. These nurses truly love our baby girls and take such good care of them. I'm so impressed.

Here's where they sleep :) The quilts are donated by a group of ladies that sew them for the preemies. It's called the Linus Project and they are so pretty.

Gwendolen's Isolette

Rosalie's Isolette

Emilia's Isolette

Day Four

Hard to believe it's been 4 days already. Amazingly, time flies when you taking care of three babies in the NICU. They are on a every 3 hour eating schedule so by the time we start one on a feed, do vitals and change clothing (if needed) and diapers all the way down to baby #3, its almost time to start again. The babies are all on gavage (sp?) feedings. This is by our choice. They could do bottles, but Aaron and I want them to start breastfeeding asap, and this way, as they are getting their food, I can bring them to breast so that they get the idea. You cant really do that with a bottle. The 2nd day, Rosalie nursed for almost 30 minutes, but hasn't been able to stay awake to try that again. Gwendolen is not showing too much interest yet and Emilia, today tried for the first time. She did pretty good and stayed latched on for about 5 minutes but then fell asleep. I continued to hold her as if she was nursing while they started the feeding, that way she associated the taste of the food with the breast.
They tested all the babies Billirubin levels and they are all high. What does that mean? It means that they are just not eating quite enough food for their body to process the billirubin levels. Another term for it is jaundice Normally a baby will poop out all the billibrubin. Since her food levels aren't quite that high, she's not pooping it all out. So she gets phototherapy. Basically looks like she's laying in a tanning bed. It's not uncomfortable for her but she hates that she can't be swaddled. She has to have as much skin exposed as possible so its just a diaper and some really cool foam sunglasses. Which she keeps pulling off. She's keeping her nurses on their toes, that's for sure. Emilia and Rosalie have lower levels but not super low. They will probably needs lights too, but the Dr. will check their levels tomorrow and Gwendolen's again too, to make sure her levels are lowering. Gwen's seem to be since her diapers were a bit green and that's the first sign that the lights are working.

Here's Gwendolen with her lights:

Kangaroo Care is my favorite time of the day. For 2 hours each day, an hour at a time, we get to hold the babies, skin to skin. It helps them with their breathing, heartrate and heat. Their little bodies don't have to do as much since our bodies are doing it all for them. It gives them a much needed break. Aaron even jumped in and as you can see, Emilia loves her Daddy and even sleeps just like him. Little mouth hanging open and all. And here's Emilia right after her nursing session. It made her a bit milk drunk. :)

Rosalie is still trying to steal the show. Anytime she hears a voice, especially Mom and Dad, but pretty much any voice will do, she starts fussing. She just wants to be held and touched all the time. It's so hard not to grant her every little thing she wants. I have a feeling she will get her way. Alot. Here she got Auntie Noelle to hold her. With a little whimper, she's got her wrapped around her tiny little finger. (is blurry because I didn't want to use flash)

They're HERE!!

Our beautiful baby girls are here! They arrived November 19th, 2009 around 9pm. They are all doing perfect. I'll keep the birth story short so I can get to the good stuff (the babies!), plus I'm pretty doped up on painkillers so I don't want to ramble. lol.

Thursday afternoon, I started to just feel "not right". I didn't think anything was wrong but I had a weird premonitious feeling. Hard to describe. Aaron and I decided to head to the hospital to "check things out". We got there around 7:30pm. As soon as the nurses hooked me up to the monitors, I started having mild contractions. Within 15 minutes, they started coming stronger and about every 3-4 minutes and lasting almost 2 minutes each. With 2-3 of the contractions, Rosalie's heartrate decelerated to about 50. SCARY. It's supposed to be about 160's. It didn't recover until the contraction ended. The Dr's decided that with labor starting to progress and it looking like Rosalie didn't seem to do well with the contactions, it was safer to deliver than to try to stop labor. Talk about things happening fast! So with the decision made to deliver around 8:15pm, the girls were born a little after 9pm. The surgery went well, better than I thought it would.

Now, for the best part. The babies. I'll give them each their own paragraph. :) Seems fair.

Rosalie Charlotte 3# 13oz. 16" long. Beautiful, tiny, dainty and feisty!

Rosalie is making up for her time on the bottom of the pile in utero. She's very feisty and vocal. She's awake alot and loves to hear mommy and daddy's voice. The minute she hears us talking, she looks for us. She is already melting family and friends hearts with her big blue eyes.

Gwendolen Lucy 4# 2oz. 17" long. So pretty. Dainty and sweet. Very calm and patient.

Gwendolen is very calm. She likes to just lay in her isolette and listen to the world. She does have her moments but for the most part, she is very content.

Emilia Jane 5# 1oz. 17" long. Tons of hair and a very round face. She is beyond cute and reminds us of a little teddy bear.

Emilia is a pretty happy and content baby too. She seems to float in the middle of the other 2 personality wise. She's awake alot and loves to look around and listen, but she can get mad if you mess with her too much. lol.

I'm planning on posting more pics later, I just wanted to get these out here as quick as possible. I'll update with baby info, how they are doing and all that in a few days. :)

**34 WEEKS!!**

We did it! We made it to the.most important milestone yet. 34 weeks is HUGE. The babies can come out anytime and be perfectly fine. I'm still holding out for 12.01 but I'm certainly not going to complain if they decide they want to meet us earlier. :) Dr. appointment today went great. All 3 babies scored 8/8 on their BPP's. Mia's fluid looked ok still and Rosalie's looked a tad low but not worrisome. It is normal that their fluid levels start to drop from here on out since they are getting so big. We have another Dr. app Friday for BPP and again Tuesday for growth. Tuesday's appointment will tell us alot. If Rosalie hasn't grown as much as they like, we may have to think about delivery. BUT, it's still a day-today, wait and see type thing. I could easily go into labor or the babies could break their water, although with the amount of Vitamin C I'm taking, the Dr's may have to saw through the sacs to get them out. My cervix is still good at about 2.5cm and I'm only slightly dialated, less than 1cm, so basically, all is very very good. The Dr. even called me amazing. :) I'll take that.

And I'll post pics tomorrow. I'm wiped (after de-con'ing my house, long story, I'll explain later)

EDIT: Ok, I'll explain the De-Con now. Alot of people have asked. No, we do not have mice. I meant decontaminate. My little sister was here babysitting and left very sick. Ick. I didn't want to take any chances so I Lysol'd and scrubbed. Alot. I haven't gotten to a belly shot either. Those stairs suck.

I Stumbled Upon A Quote...

And I just fell in love with it. I did change it a tad. The we's were originally I's. It felt more right with we's.

"Before you were conceived we wanted you
Before you were born we loved you
Before you were here an hour we would give our lives for you
This is the miracle of life"

-Maureen Hawkins

TGIF...

I love Fridays. Why? Because everyone is home. Aaron and all the kids. And life is so much easier when the little girls and I have other people to visit with besides ourselves. We are all much happier.

Annabel seems to be getting sick, although I can't say with what. Yesterday she started a fever of 102'. By evening it was at 100'. Hot/cold all night on and off. This morning it was 99.5' and down to 98.8' by this afternoon. Got back up to 101' this evening and now it's back to normal. WEIRD. I am a tad worried that it's H1N1 and the Dr's (hers and mine) called in scripts for Tamiflu, which we have not yet taken. For one, I'm not convinced it's IS H1N1, 2nd, she has zero other symptoms, 3rd, have you read the side effects for Tamiflu? Oh my jeez, I think I would rather have the flu. Plus, even though my Dr. says that Tamiflu is safe if your pregnant, I can't find anything positive about taking it while pregnant on the net. THAT worries me. So, for now, we are just being cautious. Tons of fluids, vitamins and rest. Hopefully the fever stays at just that, a fever.

Dr. appointment went good today. Aaron surprised me and was there waiting for me when I got there! I almost cried! He's not usually the surprising type. He must have known how stressed I was about this appointment. Anyway, Mia's fluid is lower (2x2 pocket) but Dr. B. didn't seem as concerned as Dr. C. was. He said that although they could only measure a 2x2 pocket, the tech did see numerous other other pockets, they just weren't measurable so he's convinced that she has enough fluid. It's not low enough to consider delivery at this point. Basically a lower fluid level could be an indicator of the placenta starting to deteriorate. BUT, she scored 8/8 on her BPP. She's breathing regularly and HR is good. So that tells him that the placenta is doing ok. He did say that her size and position could play a part in the lower fluid too. Plus, she wouldn't be growing so well if the placenta wasn't working. The other 2 babies both scored an 8/8 too. This Dr. is pretty confident that I will make it to 36 weeks. Only 18 more days!! That's sooooo close! And we are soooooo ready! I'm really thinking that we are going to have take-home babies. That will be THE.BEST Christmas present EVER.

33/3/3

Yes, those numbers actually mean something. Today I am 33 weeks pregnant. I have 3 weeks left until delivery date (exactly 21 days) and there are 3 beautiful baby girls in there. :) I just thought it was a cool title. :)

Today's appointment went "ok". The babies are fine, I am fine. They all scored 8/8 on their BPP's again. I'll divide the info up so it's easier to read :)

Baby A, Rosalie. Her estimated weight is 3#12oz. She hasn't grown much since 3 weeks ago, although she has grown some. The Dr. does think the fact that she's very hard to measure has something to do with it so he's not too concerned. Yet. He's going to do another growth scan in 12 days. Sooner than that doesn't give us enough comparison since they don't grow that fast anymore. But she is tucked down in my pelvis and hips so getting great measurements are harder with her than the other 2.

Baby B, Gwendolen. Her estimated weight is 4#1oz. She's doing fabulously. Her BPP was 8/8 also. Not much else to report with her. :)

Baby C, Emilia. Her estimated weight is 4#15oz!!! Huge! Her BPP was 8/8 also but it was a stretch. She's doing great on her breathing. Her placenta and cord looked good. It's her fluid that we are watching now. As I've said before, the Dr. likes to see a pocket of at least 2x2. Mia's is 2x3. We are pushing it. It could be because she's so big, or her position, but after almost 20 minutes of trying to find a pocket at all, and having me roll on my side to try to move her, we finally found one. It was hard to find though. Now, she will be fine, even with the low fluid. Babies can even stay in there with little to no fluid for a few days, it just isn't ideal and it usually signifies that it's just time for them to be born. We don't want her stressed out, we want her happy.

So now we do BPP's twice weekly. If her pocket drops anymore, we will be having babies. Soon. When I asked the Dr. if we were going to make it to 12.01, he said "Probably not". Between Baby C's fluid, and Baby A's growth, they are probably coming sooner than later. I just need to be prepared every 3 days for the possibility that they could be born, given no waters get broken and no labor starts. As it is now, the contractions are getting VERY frequent. I get them about 3-4 times an hour most days. Not fun.

So, I will update after Friday's appointment and post a belly pic tomorrow.

How Are The Babies Even Fitting In There?

I get asked this all the time. How on earth are there three babies in there? I'm not totally sure myself, since my brain has yet to grasp this fact. I'm pretty sure I won't truly believe it until I see them. So, to the point, I tried to make a drawing showing everyone where they are in there but I'm not that great with photo editing so here's what I came up with: Baby A, Rosalie, is riding very very low. Her head in on my right hip and her feet are at my left hip. Her butt is on my pelvic bone, and yes. it hurts. Badly. She's what they consider transverse. She is spread out a bit too, so that alot of her body is in my back. Transverse is not an ideal position for a singleton to be born vaginally since the babies have to come out head first, but it's been very ideal for us. She's basically plugging up the exit with her bum. There is very little room for her to turn at this point, which is again, not ideal for a singleton but perfect for us. If she stays where she's at, nobody can get out. Given my history of fast labors, this again, is perfect for us. If one of the babies breaks her water or I go into labor, I don't have to worry so much about a quick escape from them. Thus, reducing my stress, alot. And we don't even have to consider hospital bedrest anymore. I made it. Thank God.

Baby B, Gwendolen, is head down. Her head is sitting, also, on my right hip. Yep, my right hip is SORE. From there, she goes up. her butt is in my rib cage and her feet go along the top of my belly under my boobs. She's pretty much a uterus hog. I feel her the most since she's sucking up the most space.

Baby C, Emilia, is also head down. Her head is in my left hip. Her butt is under my ribs. But since Baby B is hogging the space along the top of the uterus, Baby C has her feet straight down from her butt so that her feet are next to her head. Sound cozy? She's basically folded in half. Poor little girl. She also sits a bit to the back so the US tech said she has more room than we think, but still not a ton. Amber told me that she probably will have a tendency to flip her legs behind her head for a few days after birth if she stays that way. Guess we will swaddle her good for awhile.

So, hopefully, that helps, although I still have a hard time believing that they are all in there. Especially when I think that I have organs that have to be somewhere. But where?

Busy...Busy...Busy....

Our life in 3 words. I'm still trying to figure out how 3 newborns are going to fit in here. Actually, probably pretty well, they will just add to the chaos and we obviously thrive on that. Today, in the lovely NW weather, we had 3 soccer games, to which the kids came home soaked. Then, as soon as they got home, it was time to clean up to go the Tompa's Happy Birthday. He is 80. And believe me, he sure does not look it. The kids had a great time, but they are tired. Of course, the night didn't stop there. Joey started an indoor soccer team so we had to tie-dye 8 men's large tee shirts for his teams uniforms tonight. 10pm and we are just starting to wind down. Aaron fell asleep reading to Lilah upstairs, again. He does that so frequently now that he is Mr. Mom and Dad. Poor man. We do seem to live day to day, waiting for these babies, but nothing stops. Take 3 deep breaths and relax. Ahhhhh....Bedtime for all. Maybe a hot tub for Mom. And I think we shall let Daddy sleep.

More From Rebecca....

Rebecca was here again today. Thank goodness she is fast because with how I've been feeling lately, just getting into "wardrobe" is alot of work. I've been working on trying to get pics with the babies positions up on here, but I am so photshop stupid, that I can't figure it out. As soon as I can have Madeline help me, I'll get to it. Hopefully.

CONFUCIUS SAY....

Again, another thoughtful post from my wonderful friend on Facebook. It's very appropriate and I needed to share it here.

"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right"

32 Weeks/3 Days

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been exhausted lately, and swollen. The joints in my fingers are swollen so it's hard to do much. I can't even make a fist very well. And mornings suck. The Dr. says it's not concerning. As a matter of fact, He said "Welcome to a real pregnancy". lol. He's very impressed that I've come so far with zero problems. I did decline the H1N1 vax and I didn't get too much crap for it, thankfully. I'm just not sold on it. At all. I need to have faith in my body. And I do! But, today's appointment went very well. On the BPP all 3 babies scored an 8/8 again. They are all breathing regularly inside and all the fluid levels were good. Even Baby C was at a 3x3 pocket still. Yay! I had my steroid shot today and go in again for the 2nd dose tomorrow. This will just ensure that IF they come in the next 2-3 weeks, their lungs will be even stronger. But they won't. We are going all the way to "Eviction Day" which is December 1st. 2009 at high noon. It's Aaron's birthday so they are going to have to share, not only with each other, but also with Daddy. Aaron is ok with it, but I'm sure spending your birthday watching your wife get cut open to deliver 3 babies isn't the dream day he had in mind. lol. Oh well. It's the day I turn 36 weeks so that's the day we will have them, provided one of them doesn't try to break out sooner.

Next week is another BPP and a growth scan. I'm excited for this, we will get to get some approximate weights! I'm praying for over 3#8oz each. 4# would be ideal, but I'm sure that's reaching a tad high for 33 weekers.

We are on "OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN" now. Just 26 more days until we are holding our babies. Twenty-six days!! That seems so close, yet so far away. I feel like we have so much to do yet we don't. Car is clean (thanks Joey!) little girls carseats are in, (thanks Miranda!) babies carseats have been measured and DO FIT 3 across in the middle row!, (thanks again, Miranda!) clothes are all washed and folded, diaper stash is ready and clean and our hospital bag is packed. The only thing I still need is some bottles. (just in case my "One baby will have to be patient and wait for a boob " plan, doesn't work. ) I think I will order them tonight, but for the most part....

WE ARE READY FOR BABIES! Excited, nervous, happy yet anxious. 3 BABIES. All at once. My dream of multiples is finally coming true (although I will admit, it was more of a dream at my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies and I was thinking more along the lines of twins, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, right?) Just goes to show you that "good things come to those who wait". I've waited a long time and 3 beautiful newborn baby girls are a very good thing. I can't wait to meet them, see who they look like, kiss them, hold them, nurse them and inhale their intoxicating newborn smell.

OH! I forgot to mention, on the US today, Baby C, Emilia, has SO MUCH hair, that the tech could see it on the US. There was a halo of hair around her head. How cool is that? Thank you so much Daddy genes! (For those who don't know, all my babies are born with lots of black hair, no thanks to my genetics!)

And I'm working on that baby placement pic. I'll get it up tomorrow. They still haven't changed positions so it's pretty unlikely that they will at this point. They are pretty squished in there.

20 Years Ago Today........

Aaron and I went out on our very first date. The best Halloween of my life. We were just 16 years old. Juniors in high school. Younger even, than our oldest daughter is now. I think I knew from the second he called me and asked me out that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. We didn't even do anything that exciting. We went to Burgerville with a group of friends, and then went to another friends house to hang out. The exact moment of "Oh my god, I love this boy? ". We were standing around talking. Aaron was sitting on a chair, I was standing next to him. He looked up at me, grabbed my hand and pulled me onto his lap. So nonchalantly, so casually, I'm pretty sure he had no idea that he was turning my world upside down.

Now, 20 years, 3 houses, and 9 kids later, we have the best life ever.

Halloween

Just an obligatory post with pictures. Kids love Halloween so much that it's hard for me NOT to post. Just FYI, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. In fact, it's my least favorite holiday. If I could go back in time, the T&T would be one thing that I would never have started way back with Madeline. I would rather celebrate, at home, with my family, and do a fall harvest thing. I'm so not into the trick or treating. The dressing up is awesome, I'm just not a fan of having my kids run door to door begging for food. lol. Nevertheless, my kids DO love it and so does Aaron. And I will admit, it's hard not to get excited and smile when you see this:

H1N1.....

So, I thought I would post this great link about the H1N1 vaccine. In case you don't know, we selectively vax our kids. This one will be no exception. My family, and yes, me included, even thought I'm pregnant and considered one of the highest risks for the H1N1, will not be getting this vaccine. I've had quite a few people ask me if I'm getting it and why/why not. This link sums it up. It's just not worth the risk to me or to these babies, or to my kids or Aaron.

Enjoy the read. :)

http://www.losethebackpain.com/blog/2009/10/09/why-you-should-not-vaccinate-your-children-against-the-flu-this-season/

And another I just found:

http://products.mercola.com/swine-flu/20091103.htm


Also, another good blog read, from a friend, if your interested in ALL the vax info. :)

http://harpfam98.blogspot.com/

An Unexpected Day At The Dr.....

Unexpected but good. :) They did a Biophysical Profile (BPP ) on all 3 babies. We will be doing these weekly from now on. What it is, is basically an Apgar from the inside. They score the babies based on their fluid levels, heartrates, whether or not they are practice breathing and how the blood flow looks in the cord/uterus. All the babies scored 8/8 today! They were all huffing and puffing away. VERY weird to see that but so nice to know that they are working their lungs. Baby C, Emilia, does have a lower fluid level than the other two, but the Dr. still called it adequate. They like to see at least a 2x2 pocket, and Mia has a 3x3 pocket. Baby A, Roslie and Baby B, Gwendolen have about 5x6 and 6x6. It could be because she's a bit bigger, it could be her position, or it could be that her fluid level is getting low. It seems low to me, but as I said, the Dr. isn't concerned so I won't be. They also didn't do a cervical check or an fFN. I was hesitant at first about it, but Dr. W (my favorite) explained why he doesn't. He said that from now until Tuesday (which is when I am 32 weeks)he would try to stop my labor. After Tuesday, he won't. This is because he believes, that the 32 week mark is a very good time for the babies. They are in no danger of being born. Again, it's not ideal, but it's ok. He believes that the medication that they would use to try to stop the labor would do me and the babies more harm then if they were just born. He also believes that if I do go into labor, then my body is trying to tell me something. Either my body, or one of the babies and in this case, Baby C and her fluid level. I agree with him 100%. I like that he wants to listen to my body and my babies and not try to force them to stay in if it really will be better for them on the outside. Sometimes, they just will grow better out than in. And sometimes, your body and the littles inside you know best. My mom always says that "When baby is done, baby will come" I think it stands true in this case too, even though they will be preemie, how do we know that they are coming because my body needs them to, or they need to? I've got a pretty good track record of holding babies in until they are safe, I am confident that these babies will be no different. As for the cervical check, mine has been so consistent, that he sees no reason to "mess with things in there". And again, we go back to the 32 week thing. We will do the steroid shots next Thursday. Dr. W. likes to do 2 sets of them to prepare the babies lungs for the outside should they decide to come early. The shots last for 2-4 weeks so doing them at 32.5 weeks is good. I'll do one set Thursday and another set 24 hours later. He sees no need for the fFN or the cervical checks since we are preparing for the just in case, and either way, the babies will benefit from the steroids, even if they last until 36 weeks, the shots will have taken affect on their lungs. He did say he might do the cervical check next Thursday before the shots, but it was a maybe so we will see. :)

And a quickie FYI for everyone who has asked and everyone who is wondering. I get this question alot, "Since you have named the babies and have bonded with them at these names, how will you know who is who once they come out"?

Answer: The Dr's have the babies labeled in utero. They do move around inside their placentas but since their placenta is attached to the uterine wall, they don't completely switch places. They move inside their sacs, but not positionally inside my belly. Make sense? So, they are labeled from the "opening" of delivery and clockwise from there. Bay A is closest to the cervical opening. Then move around my belly, clockwise from there. When they make the incision at the C-section, Baby A will be the first out, then Baby B, then Baby C. Did that make sense? I'm going to try to take a frontal belly shot and label the babies positioning so you can see it better. We'll see how good my photoshop skills are. I may have to recruit Madeline to help me.

Much Needed Today...

I've had a very crappy day. It started out crappy very early this morning (I won't go into it, it's just stupid) and I can't seem to shake the bad mood. Mainly just because I'm sore, miserable, achy, fat, housebound and hormonal. BUT....a sweet sweet friend left me this quote on my Facebook. It made me smile so I had to share.

"Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be."

31 Weeks & Some Interesting Stats........

Week numero 31! Am I ever happy to be here! We are doing well and growing. Not much else to say. My couch and I are now very familiar with each other, and I'm sure there will be an indent where I've been living the past few weeks. I've also come to love our hottub. Aaron turned it down to 100'-101' so I can get in, and while I'm not usually a hottub person, this has been AMAZING. Removing the center of gravity, has been awesome, to say the least. I love it. The babies love it. It's just all around good. Plus, it gives Aaron and I some much needed alone time in the evenings. Soon enough, we won't be able to hear each other talk. lol. And, here's the much awaited shot of the day. :)

Week 31

And for some intersting triplet stats. Some are from websites, mostly from http://www.mostonline.org/, some I've already posted (They are just more interesting now that we are there), and some are from other triplet blogs. Enjoy! I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

One mom of triplets calculated that in the first year her triplets had:

27,260 ounces of breastmilk/formula9,

260 diapers

6,510 pictures

6,054 bottles3,

978 naps (not including Dad's)

1,095 droppers of vitamins

71 doctor visits (including Mom's)

50 pounds gained by the babies

13 baby teeth-

Diapers, wipes and formula are conservatively estimated to cost $6,244 in the first year. (Which is why we breasfeed and use cloth diapers! HOLY JEEZ!!!!)

Some medical info:

At week 31, the average NICU stay for the babies is 30.7 days

At week 32, the average NICU stay is 22.7 days

At week 33, it's 16.8 days

At week 34, it's 11.4 days

At week 35, it's 6.2 days

At week 36, its 3.o days

So, as you can see, our goal is definately for 32 weeks+. Preferably 34, 35 or 36.

Interestingly enough, the majority of triplet births are in December. Wonder why?

More interesting info....
The average gestation of a triplet pregnancy is 33.1 weeks (ranging 16 - 39 weeks)
The average weight gain for a triplet pregnancy is 50.2 lbs (ranging -30 - 175 lbs)
62% of triplet mothers in this study recevied steriod injections prior to delivery.
20% of triplet mothers in this survey had a cerclage performed.

Zygosity:
80.7% of triplets were all fraternal
2.9% of triplets were all identical
11.6 % of triplets were a combination of identical and fraternal
4.8% of triplets were of an unknown zygosity

Gender:
49.51% of triplets were female
49.36% of triplets were male
1.13 % gave no answer

Breastfeeding:
52% of all triplet mothers breastfed their babies for an average of 14.4 weeks.
30% of all triplet mothers pumped breast milk for their babies for an average of 12.5 weeks.
Triplet mothers either breastfed or provided breast milk for their babies for a total average of 13.6 weeks.
48% of triplet mothers indicated having difficulty breastfeeding or pumping.

Reason for delivery in triplets:
34.4% delivered due to labor progressing
21.4% were scheduled deliveries (c-section/induction)
13.4% delivered due to ruptured membranes (PROM)
14.1% delivered due to maternal complications
8.8% delivered due to fetal complication
5.3% delivered due to preeclampsia (high blood pressure)
The remaining 2.6% delivered for the following reasons: poor fetal growth, fetal distress, placental abruption, eclampsia, HELPP syndrome, pulmonary edema, low or high amniotic fluid levels, uterine infection, complications of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, umbilical cord flow problems, fetal demise, kidney failure, and other.
The average gestation for a scheduled delivery was 35.3 weeks.
The average gestation due to preterm labor and other complications 32.4 weeks

Hope you all love the info. :)

Random Thoughts/Feelings of Loves & Hates...

So, in other words, another whiny post buffered with some love. :)

Hates: (although I shouldn't say Hate since I don't like my kids to say it, Dislike is better, but Hate has so much more impact)

**that I lay on my couch all.day.long.

**that I can't sleep anymore.

**that my older kids have to do way more right now than they should.

**that I'm wishing this pregnancy to end. I love being pregnant. But I'm miserable.

** that I whine. All the time.

**that I worry about these babies. Constantly.

**that I worry about everything. Constantly.

** that I feel like a crappy mom, even though I know I'm not, I can't shake the feeling

**that I am still OCD about my house. Let it go already!

** that I have to rely on so many people for help. So not me!

**that I can't bathe my little girls or even tuck them in at night.

**that I can't go to parent/teacher conferences this week.

**that I have a hard time driving my car.

**that this list is actually this long, have I become so grouchy and negative lately?

Loves:

**laying awake in the morning, watching the little girls sleep and feeling the babies move.

**being able to lay on the couch and just watch the girls play.

**being pregnant with 3 tiny baby girls. Life is forever a miracle to me.

**that I'm not getting any stretch marks. Yet.

**that all my kids are doing awesome in school thus far this year.

**that I am the luckiest mom in the world.

**that I have the best husband. Ever.

**my life. Simple.

**that I have some easy, wonderful teenagers. So lucky we are.

**that soon (37 more days) I will be holding my 3 baby girls and our family will be complete.

**that I have some amazing friends. Again, I am so blessed.

**that we have a hot tub. It's been my salvation in the evenings.

**that I have such a wonderfully supportive husband who is the best father my kids could have.

**that my house is serene and quiet in the evening, giving Aaron & I some much needed "us" time.

**frozen fruit and yogurt topped with wheat germ. My current addiction.

**that my kids are so excited for these babies. Even the boys, even though they didn't get a brother.

**that I've made it to almost 31 weeks without incident. *knock on wood*.

**that my cloth diaper stash is almost complete for the babies. I can't wait to CD them!

**that I learned how to knit.

** that my Loves list is not shorter than my Hates. Thank God.

Some Stuff....

First off, Dr. app today. Very uneventful. Dr. had to rush out to an emergency C-Section so I didn't get to talk with him much. Which, is actually ok, since I spent most of Wednesday night in L&D. Again. So I got the full workup there, making today's appointment kind of unnecessary. In L&D they did a NST (Non-Stress Test) on all 3 girls. They basically hook me up to 3 heartrate monitors and 1 contraction monitor. The monitors watch their accelerations and decelerations for 20 minutes. If their HR go up when active and go down when resting they pass. All 3 girls passed with flying colors. Me, on the other hand, with the contraction monitor, not so much. I had an extremely irritable uterus that night. 3-4 contractions an hour. Hard ones. The ones you have to breathe through. Not fun. The good news, is that the contractions were doing absolutely nothing to my cervix. Nothing. No change. In fact, they measured it longer in L&D at 4.1! Again. I really think that my body needs to get the memo that contractions are really not a necessary part of this process this time around. They measured the girls on US, which is what they were supposed to do today, but since they did it Wednesday night, they didn't need to today. They got the girls weights. I think they are a bit off, the US tech was not as knowledgeable as the ones at my Dr. but they do show growth. Baby A: 2#14oz, Baby B: 3#2oz and Baby C:3#12oz (this is the one that I think is off. I think she's more around 3#4-6oz) I do start my biophysical profiles next weeks so we will get a better guess of weight then. We did get to see Baby C (Emilia) breathing! Alot! Not just the practice breaths here and there but actually breathing. It was so nice to see! Baby B and A were asleep and they don't typically practice breathing while sleeping, so we'll see if we can see it next week.

What I came home to after my Dr. appointment was the highlight of my day. I seriously have some of the best friends ever. Miranda and Amber were here cleaning my house. Cleaning cleaning. My whole upstairs is sparkling. Well, so the kids tell me, I haven't been up there yet. Beds stripped, garbages emptied, vacummed. I'm not sure what else, since I haven't been up there but I'm so excited to go up to see! Thank you so so so so much guys. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

30 Week Belly Shot (a day late)

Ok, finally got around to it. I actually brought my camera upstairs last night so that I could do the picture this morning. Here we are. All 4 of us at 30 weeks 1 day. How do we look? :)

30 weeks is a big milestone. I'm so grateful to have made it here, still at home, still being able to take care (somewhat) of my other kids and be somewhat mobile. I say somewhat because yesterday seemed to mark the day that I can no longer do what I've been doing the past 20ish weeks. Walking, running errands, sleeping good, and even picking things up off the floor. At least, I can still, again I say somewhat, care for the little girls. It's all I can do to just fix them their 2 meals plus snacks every day. They are getting very good at bringing me what they want to eat with a bowl so that I can fix their snacks as I lay on the couch. A shower almost isn't worth it. Once I'm undressed, getting redressed is not fun.

I've been dealing with alot emotionally lately. I know that this is temporary, but I'm feeling like quite the crappy mom. The TV has become my kids' other parent. I usually try really hard to limit the little girls TV time, but lately, it's all they do. I've noticed a difference in their behaviors too. They are whiny, clingy and over stimulated. I blame TV but I also blame myself. I lay on the couch even to referee or discipline the little girls, and we all know how well that works with kids. They tend to not take you too seriously when you just lay there and yell. I am not that kind of mom. But I've been forced to become one. I'm scared to death that I won't be able to get my little girls back again. The ones that I had a mere 6 months ago. The ones that total strangers used to compliment me on them when we were out in public. I fear that I've ruined all the time that I've put into making them the best they can be. That I've ruined all the time I've spent trying so hard to be the best mom to them that I can. I can't be the mom that I aspire to be right now and it's a really hard thing to accept. I cry alot. Any little thing gets me going. It's not fun. Crying hurts my belly. Even crying can set off a contraction. I'm starting to hate these contractions, I mean, what's the point of them, it's not like they are going to help get the babies out. I think that if you are having a C-section, your body should know it and just stop with the damn contractions already. Wishful thinking right?

On the flip side, I do think that this has been good for the older kids. They've gotten more responsibility. They are doing regular chores, helping a ton with the little girls and helping me alot too. It is starting to get to them a little, I mean, if it's getting to me, I know it's getting to them. But they are older. It's easier for them to realize that this is only temporary. That soon, I will be back to the way I used to be. I know they are counting down the days just as much as I am.

And, on the best note, ever, we will come away from all this, stronger as a family and with 3 more beautiful baby girls. That is the ultimate goal and what we are working so hard towards. And, hopefully these little girls can come right home with us just in time for Christmas. I honestly cannot think of a better Christmas present. I know all I'm asking Santa for this year is 3 healthy baby girls that can come home from the hospital with me. Are you listening Santa? It's my only wish. In fact, we can call it good for the rest of my life. I'll never want another gift again. This is it.

And God, and all the other Spiritual Entities, Energies, and Mother Earth, if your listening (every single night, I know, I'm probably getting monotonous) if you all and Santa can get together on this one, that would be just perfect. I think it's do-able.

I've Hit The THIRTIES!

Yay! 30 weeks today! I can't believe I've made it this far. I'm so happy. I'm miserable, but happy. I talked with a local triplet mom today and she told me that for every single day the babies stay inside, that is one less week in the NICU. Amazing. Her trio was born at 33.3 weeks and only spent 2 weeks in the NICU, and 2 of them are boys. Girls typically tend to do better as preemies than boys do, although I'm not sure why. Which is what makes me even more grateful that these tinies are girls. :) I again, have no Dr. appointment to report. Not until Friday. I will post the larger than life belly pics later, again, no energy at all to get up the stairs.

I took the girls to Denim & Frills this morning to celebrate 30 weeks and to get us out of the house for a few. We picked them up a huge bin of Mr. Potato Heads so they are busy busy busy. Which is good because mama is resting resting resting. :)

I'll be back later tonight, possibly tomorrow with belly pics. :)

Collage Of 4 From Rebecca

I'm not technically 30 weeks until tomorrow, but Rebecca was here yesterday doing shots. We only have 2 more shoots left. Weeks 33 and 36. Wowsa. Let's hope the 36 week one doesn't have to be in the hospital.

PSA On Wool....

So, most people know that I am a fiber freak. I'm weird about fibers. For instance, I love organic cotton. It's so soft. It's why I am addicted to Hanna Andersson clothing for my children. I also love love love wool. It's an amazing fiber. Water repellent, natural, beautiful, and as a diaper cover, you only need to wash it about twice a month, unless of course, it gets really dirty and/or gets any icky (poo) stuff on it. So, to me, it's the perfect fiber. My favorite wool to knit with at the moment is O'Wool. All organic, not to pricey and comes in beautiful colors. Plus, my LYS (Local Yarn Store) carries it. Wanna bring me a present and make me happy? Feel free to grab me a skein of O'wool. lol. Kidding of course, but really. It's great stuff, if you knit, you need to try it.

Anyways, on to my post topic. I occasionally buy wool longies from a website called diaperswappers. http://www.diaperswappers.com/. It's a great resource for cloth diapering. You can get stuff new and used. For much less than new. Which is always good in my opinion. So, the other day I got a killer deal on some longies knit with Mosaic Moon yarn. I love MM yarn so I couldn't pass on the great deal. When I got the longies, I realized why the deal was so great. (Detailed, gross pics at bottom, view at your own risk)

PSA: Please people, if you use wool. Respect it. No, it doesn't need to be washed after every wear. But please please please please please.....Wash it at least twice a month. And yes, you can lanolize it if you must. But I've found that wool is just fine without gallons of sticky lanolin. You really can just use a lanolin rich wash for your diaper cover and they wont leak if you promptly change your child when they get wet. Its not necessary to goop the lanolin on them every.single.time. If you do, they will hold onto the dirt more, thus needing more washes/strips. Another note, since lanolin waterproofs your wool, even just the lanolin rich wash, you need to "strip" your wool every now and again. By strip, I mean, wash it in Dawn dishsoap (original, about a good squirt in 1/2 sinkful of water) in pretty warm water and squeeze occasionally to get all the built up lanolin out. You do have to let it soak to let the warm water melt the lanolin. Warmer than usual water will melt the lanolin and the Dawn will clean them. Then you do a wash (when the water runs clear) with a lanolin rich wool wash. If your worried about felting, don't. Wool is actually pretty hard to felt. If you keep the water at about 100-102' and don't agitate it too much, just the occasional squeeze, you'll be fine. Felting occurs when there is too much agitation and too much extreme temperature change.

So, the reason for my long rambling education of wool? As I said earlier, I bought some longies off diaperswappers. I got them and realized, just by look and touch that they need a good "strip". Boy, I was so not prepared for what my night was going to entail......1/2 bottle of Dawn, 12 "strips" and 4 hours later, I finally had some longies that I would actually let my child wear.

This, people, is pure grossness. The thought that someone actually put these on their child, with or without knowledge of their filth, is just gross. So, if you ever buy used wool. Just strip it. Even if it looks and smells clean. Trust me. I speak from experience. Strip it before you use it. Your child will thank you.

And, just one more FYI, alot of wools will bleed. This can be mistaken for dirty water. So you do need to take care to not strip out the color. Your clue? When you drain the sink, dye wont leave a dirt ring around your sink and dirt particles at the bottom. Plus, it doesn't have a nasty dirty smell. These, oh they did. The smell was awful. Think just dirty. Its the only way to describe it. Ick. Just ick.

This is after only 3 minutes in the strip wash and one quick squeeze. Gross right?
This is 30 minutes later, 3rd strip, new water, more Dawn and a few more squeezes. Still just gross.

This is approximately 1 1/2 hours later, 5th strip (new water, more Dawn) and again, swishes and squeezes).

This is about 2 1/2 hours later. 9th strip, more Dawn, more water and more squeezes.

I think ya'll get the idea. It took me another 5 strips with Dawn, more clean water and more squeezes to get the water to run clean. I wish I had thought to take before pics of the longies, but I truly didn't think they were that bad at first. Was I ever wrong. Lesson learned? You get what you pay for.

The good news? We now have some really cute longies that were alot of work. I'll post pics of Lil Miss Lilah in them soon. :)

And, if you got this far....Thanks for listening to my long wool rant. :)

Some Negativity......

CAN be a good thing. Today's fFN was NEGATIVE!!!! YAY! Dr. appointment was fabulous. 3.4 cervical measurement and 3.2 under pressure. According to the US Tech, that's a great number for just a singleton! Yay for my cervix of steel! Babies all look good. Fluid measures about 4.5-5 which is GREAT. They only worry if it gets less than about 2.5 or more than 7. Heartrates are great.

We got another great picture of Emilia. Seems she is the only one that isn't camera shy. Isn't she just adorable? Look at those chunky cheeks! I love seeing the fatness on them. I think she is scowling in her sleep.

A Good Ol' Fashioned Paper Chain.......

is the perfect way to a countdown........
Remember when you were little and you made these to countdown the days until Christmas? Well, ours counts down the days until I am 36 weeks pregnant! My super sweet son, Noah, and his friend Corey made it for me. He looked so dang cute walking in the door from Corey's house carrying it with a big ol' smile on his face. I was so surprised to see it, I almost cried. So now, every day we tear one off. I think it looks like an awful lot of days. Aaron disagrees. He looks at it and says "is that it? Only that many more days? It sure doesn't look like very many to me" Funny man. I guess he's a bit nervous. Wonder why?

**WEEK 29**

Here we go again. Another round, another week. We are all growing well. No Dr.appointment to report because I didn't have one. Deep breaths here. I broke out of my box. It was very difficult to give up my twice a weeks reassuring visits, let me tell you. But I made it through today. Aaron anticipates that by Thursday I will be going totally nuts. We will see. I'm only on the once a week thing for another week. I think I can handle it. I think. Not alot to report, I'm doing the usual. Nothing much. I am getting some knitting done again. As soon as I finish this pair for Lilah, I'm going to attempt bloomers for the babies. I'll need some luck wishing on that one. :)

And what you've all been waiting for....My large large belly. And alot of veins, but no stretch marks. Yet.

A Meeting With The Neonatologist, A NICU Tour and Tiny Baby Chicken Legs

Yesterday we had a meeting with the Neonatologist, a tour of the NICU and a Dr.'s appointment. It was a busy day. The meeting went great. I loved the Neonatologist. She was very informative and very optimistic. Basically, if the babies were born now, any chances of any severe problems at birth, such as NEC, eye problems, RSD, and heart problems are all less than 10%, going down from there with each day that they are inside me. I am 28 weeks and 4 days now. Just a smidgen away from 29 weeks. The meeting lasted over an hour so you can imagine how much information we had to take in. Aaron and Amber were there so between the 3 of us, I think we can remember most of it.

The NICU tour was good. I'm so glad we went. I was surprised at how the NICU was set up. I have only ever seen a NICU in pictures on TV or on someones blog. Very hospital like and very sterile. Well, our hospital is very new, so it built the NICU the way a NICU should be. Each baby has her own room. The room is very much like a regular hospital room. A bed/couch for the parents and the NICU bed. Studies have been done that have shown that preemie babies do much better and get stronger faster if they don't have to hear all the noises from other babies isolettes and alarms. Of course, our babies will have 2 rooms, one with 2 beds in it and an adjoining room with bed in it. IF they need it. The hospital policy is that any baby born before the 35th week goes to the NICU for 24 hours for observation. They have a family room too. It has a full size sleep bed, a kitchen and a TV. Right now, because of the H1N1, the hospital has a new visitor policy. They kids are NOT happy about it. No one under the age of 18 is allowed in L&D or the NICU. At all. And we are pretty sure it won't change before the babies come, in fact, this outbreak may only get worse. As well as the under 18 rule, we are also allowed only 4 support people to see the babies in the NICU also. Designated support people. Which means, we turn in a list with those peoples names on it and for the duration of the babies' stay, that is who may go in and out to see the babies. They will have a wristband just like Aaron and I. And only those 4 people may visit the babies. Another thought, when we do decide who will be our support people, they are JUST THAT. There for support. We need people that not only want to see the babies and that love the babies, but also people that will be able to handle the isolettes, the alarms, the tubes and all the other medical stuff that the babies will be going through. We need people with strength that will be able to handle an emegency should Aaron or I not be there. Or, f we are, that can be there emotionally for the 5 of us. That 4 support people rule applies just to the NICU. If the babies go straight with me to L&D (no NICU), then just the under 18 rule applies. So, we will wait and see :) Again, very impressed with the tour. The NICU is clean, nice and comfortable. They do a good job of making a scary situation feel as cozy as possible.

The Dr. appointment. Good. Cervix is 3.8, and 3.9 under pressure. No funneling. Girls are good. Fluid is good. HB's are good. Just all around good. I saw Dr. C. this time. We both kinda agreed, with my history that giving up weekly cervical checks freaks us out. So they will continue. But just weekly, not twice weekly. And the fFN testing starts Friday. With the agreement that a positive will land my butt in the hospital. Pray for negative fFN's. Every time. Also, this once a week appointment last just a few weeks. Starting at around 31 weeks, I will get a twice weekly biophysical profile. This is where they check the babies for fluid, growth and anything else necessary, twice a week. Until birth. I did talk with the Dr. about admitting me at 36 weeks, if we are still going strong, and just watching the babies as long as they are doing well to keep them inside as long as possible, thus reducing the need for NICU time. He agreed! He did laugh and say it was fine but he thought I would be begging him to take them out at that point. Not a chance. I want my babies HOME!

This is the great pic we got today. Mia is lounging out across the top of my belly. Head on my left, feet dangling down on the right. And is she ever relaxed. See her little ankles crossed? This picture just cracks me up. It is a picture of just her little chicken legs. I love skinny baby legs. :)

A 28 Week Belly....

Looking like a 40 week belly. That is about what I'm measuring. 40 weeks. Full term for a singleton. I feel full term too. I got the waddle down good!