Pressure SUCKS....

Cervical/Vaginal pressure that is. Maybe TMI (too much information) for some of you, but it's now part of my daily routine. Fun right?

Yesterday, I was feeling so good that I decided I could probably clean the bathrooms, vacuum and put away laundry. Yeah. Not so much. By Noon I was on the couch after cleaning only two bathrooms and by 8pm sobbing into my pillow while holding myself. Seriously. Aaron asked me numerous times if I needed to go in (ok, he wasnt asking, he was begging me to go). IN means to L&D. That is the last place I wanted to go. (Last time I was there, they put me in a room that was "triplet ready", even after I, as calmly as I could, explained to them that I didn't need a "triplet ready" room since they were no where near ready to come out!) I decided to wait it out and it did get better. By about 11pm. Until I walked up the stairs. Then I spent another hour holding myself trying to fall asleep while dreaming that the girls might just climb out of me. Not fun. Again, I say, lesson learned. For real this time. Triple pinky swear. One pinky for each of the girls.

This morning I went into the Dr. just to be sure that the pressure wasn't changing my cervix or causing any funneling. (Funneling means that the cervical opening is pushing downward and outward, not something we want to see alot of!)) and while my cervix didn't change in length (still 4.4) , it did have some minor funneling. That was probably the pressure I felt last night, but the Dr. did say it wasn't unusual for this amount of funneling at this gestation in a triplet pregnancy. He also said that given my stats, body build and history, my chances of delivering before 34 weeks was only about 5%. IF I behave. He also said no more vacuuming! Oh, that is going to SUCK. I love to vacuum. I tried to explain to him how we have a dog and a tile floor and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that he could easily arrange it so I didn't have to look at the dog or the tile, that a hospital bed was just waiting for me if I wanted. Um. No. I'm good, thanks. (How I will function without vacuuming, I do not know, but I'll figure it out. Swiffer, here I come! I can push a freaking Swiffer Sweeper right?)

So after that appointment, I went into Punky Doodlebugs and got a Maternity Support Belt. Its supposed to help lift the pressure off the vaginal/cervical area. (Lil' Miss Rosalie got a lift today!) and OMG, does it ever work! I almost kissed the girl when she put it on me. It was exactly how I imagine heaven would feel like! Its AWESOME! (ok, a bit of drama here but it really, really felt good!) I'll spare ya'll the pics, because it is ever so attractive (just use your imagination on this one) but just know that it feels nice. Really nice. I just have to remind myself that its not my ticket to getting to do more stuff. Darnit.

Looks like I'm going to be getting alot of knitting done. I need to buy LOTS more yarn!

Another Fabulous Picture From Rebecca...

Rebecca is amazing. Seriously A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! I usually hate pictures of myself. But this woman is a miracle worker. As I said before, she's doing a series of pregnancy pictures. This is 22 weeks 1 day. She put it next to the 19 week one so you could see the difference. BIG difference! I look so much bigger. I also got a haircut but I think I like my hair in the first one better. Oh well. Overall, I love them. They will be so nice to have as a memory of how large my belly is capable of actually getting! She did another one too, in a different setting and outfit. I'm still waiting on that one, but will post it soon. And I will say, again, so much better than my bathroom shots. :)

Twenty-Two Weeks

Yippee....Only 14 days until "V" day. Now, 24 weeks is NOT ideal. It's definitely not our goal. I'm just taking it in chunks. It's easier that way. At 24 weeks the babies have about a 48% chance of survival. It's not great, but it's better than zero. Once we hit 28 weeks, their chances go up to 95%. Only 42 days until 28 weeks. FORTY TWO DAYS. Heck, that's nothing! Dr's appointment went awesome, as usual. (On a side not, my labs all came back fine. I'm not sick at all, I think it's just all the internal stuff getting rearranged isn't fun!) I'm going to start calling my cervix boring and predictable. BUT, in this situation, boring and predictable is exactly what we want! My cervix, measuring in at a whopping 4.4mm and no funneling! NONE! For 6 straight measurements, we've been at 4.4-4.8 consistently. I think Lil'Miss Rosalie is doing her job holding up the fort in there. She's doing an awesome job. I'm so proud of all of them. They are growing well and staying put. Right where they belong. Inside Mommy so they can grow big and healthy and strong. They are going to need to be big and healthy and strong to live in this house. lol.

And I have to share something that Annabel said this weekend. She's such a sweetie. Aaron was leaving with Noah and Juliette (Joey and Mady were already gone) Annabel, Lilah and I were laying in bed. Lilah wanted to go downstairs so Aaron brought her down there while I had some snuggle time with Annie. (She loves snuggle time) After about 10 minutes Aaron yelled up that he had to leave, so I told him I would be right down. Annie turned to me, rubbed my cheek and said "I'll go take care of Lilah Mommy, you stay here and lay down so the babies don't come out!". How sweet is THAT?!?! She is such a great little girl. The best big sister. :)

22 Week Belly.....WHOA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!

Our sweet sweet boy is 12. TWELVE. How on earth does time fly so fast? Thankfully, God knew how much we would miss his tiny little toddler self, and gave us Annie who is very much like Noah. But that is beside the point. Its Noah's Day. Today he is spending the day at a soccer tournament. He's pretty disappointed that they didn't make the winners bracket (they are trying for 3rd or 4th place) but it's ok, they played well. He only has one game today then Aaron is taking him to get his gift. At this age we pretty much let the kids decide what they want and we get it for them. He wants a PSPSlim. A Playstation Portable Slim. Video games. Go figure. lol.

We love you so much Noah. Thank you for being our amazing son and being such a wonderful little person. You are growing up to be the most amazing man. We are so proud of you.

**HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY NOAH**

Reality Of Multiples...

Reality hits hard when families you know via the internet lose one of more of their babies. You realize how risky a multiple pregnancy is and how precious and how vitally important time inside their Mommy actually is. I'm not posting these to make everyone sad or to "dwell" on the negative. It's reality. It happens. It makes it all the more important for positive thoughts and prayers for all the families out there carrying a multiple pregnancy, whether it be twins, triplets, sextuplets or octuplets. If you're a family member of someone that is pregnant with multiples, a friend, or even an acquaintance, stop, take a moment and pray. Each and every day for that family and for their precious babies.

Annaleigh's Story:
http://threecheersforbabies.blogspot.com/

Kaitlyn, Dallin, and Braden's Story
http://stanseljourney.blogspot.com/

21 week Baby Pictures

Rosalie-13oz

She's got her arms above her head in this shot. Relaxing, as usual :)

Gwendolen-13 oz.

She gave us a full body shot today. See her legs all curled up?

Emilia-14oz.

Trying to suck her thumb, but not quite making it past her chin. lol.

Another GREAT Dr's Visit....

Which is good news after my 3 hours in L&D last night. Again. I'm getting so much pressure feeling that it freaked me out. Plus just feeling icky. L&D showed nothing. A few contractions but nothing major. Another low grade fever. So today, the Dr. ordered bloodwork to see if maybe there is something else going on. (And, I have to take it easier. Easier than I already am. Basically ONE activity a day. This should be quite the challenge.) Something secondary to the pregnancy. An infection or something. I'm not really sure. I'll know more later today. But....The babies. The babies ARE PERFECT! As is my cervix! Measuring in a 4.4. YAY! I'm feeling better and better that we are going to make this to the full 36 weeks! Their fluid levels are perfect. They are all measuring at 20 weeks 5 days which is amazing for triplets. (I'm 21 weeks 1 day today) I'll add pics of the babies in a bit, I have to scan them all in. We got some really good profile shots. Their little noses are so cute. Rosalie is 13 oz, Gwendolen is 13 oz and Emilia is 14 oz! Almost a full pound each! No wonder I feel pressure. lol. My uterus is outwardly measuring at 32 weeks. So it's almost a full term singelton size. I wonder how big it will get? :)