Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Saturday, March 28, 2009

20 Week Sonogram

Below are some pictures from our 20 week sonogram and check up.

Baby A- The Boy (Rich got a good look at the confirmation that this is in fact a boy)

This is side profile with a good shot of his ear, shoulder and rib cage. He is the biggest; I think they said he is measuring about 1 week and a few days bigger than gestational age. All of his organs and development seem to be right on schedule. I'm not sure what is in front of his face but it looks to me like a piece of pepperoni pizza.

Baby B- One of the Girls

This was the best shot we could get today. She is right in the middle so getting a good shot of her is a little tricky but it is an excellent picture of her chin. She is looking forward with one of her hand behind her ear, almost like she is lounging. She is nice and big also, measuring about 1 week bigger than her actual age and everything else looked great.

Baby C- One of the Girls

This is front shot and it looks like she is rubbing her eye with one hand and the other arm and hand are on the other side of the head. She is little smaller than the other two but still a few days bigger. This time they identified what they think is a ventricular septal defect (VSD) in her heart. Basically this is a hole between the wall of the right and left ventricle. Both Rich and I knew something was amiss because they spent so much time looking at her heart compared to the other two. My doctor said that it is very small and if you had to pick a heart problem, this would be the one to pick. Most of the time the hole will close on its own either before birth or during childhood with no problems. But just to be safe side we were referred to a perinatal cardiologist for a second opinion. There is no rush so we don't need to see the cardiologist until 24 weeks and there is nothing to be done in utereo. The cardiologist is involved so they know what to expect at birth.
The other news is that it looks like I'm starting to go down that slippery slope of early labor. Everything still looks okay (no picture!) and I don't need to go on bed rest or "house arrest" but I need to be careful about how much I'm on my feet, carrying the pugs up and down the stairs and so forth. I'll be checked again in exactly two weeks and will know more then but it sounded as if I should start making plans for going on bed rest sooner rather than later. I can still keep working as long as I'm not on my feet too much and keep well hydrated. That was very disappointing but that just means I better get busy in the next two weeks!
We also went to a Mom's of Multiples Garage Sale this morning hoping to find a triplet stroller. I just joined this group and we heard that you have to come early to find the big ticket items like strollers and car seats. Both Rich and I had our running shoes on ready to run and fight dirty when the doors opened at 8. We didn't find a stroller but we talked to a few people and another triplet mom who just lives a couple of miles from our house. Her triplets are two and she encouraged me to come to her house to see what a "triplet house" looked like and get an idea of her schedule. She highly recommended getting a night nanny and has a recommendation of the one she used that now only comes once a week during the day.
So we had a very busy couple of days. And now we are going to buy some area rugs for the living room and nursery. Our whole house except for one room is either wood floor or tile so I think I need to some rugs not only to soften the fall of little wobbly toddler legs but also to absorb the some of the sound of three little ones all wanting to eat or be changed at the same time.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Week 18 and Visitors

Sorry it has been so long! The last weeks were busy with changing jobs and my dad, Bambi, and Isaac came to visit to help get the house organized. And while we were cooking and stuffing me full of food we figured out that my stomach is now the same size as Papa and Isaac. I know I promised no pregnancy belly pictures but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Guess who is who.


And with our shirts on….

Papa and Bambi were here for 6 days and helped with everything imaginable from painting to gardening to cooking me meals to freeze and even putting up solar motion lights on the front of the house. It was good to have several more sets of eyes looking at things that could be moved and how to better utilize space. We even bought and put together the three cribs so I could see that my big plans of a book shelf and upholstered chair had to be scrapped because the only thing that fits are 3 cribs and maybe a changing table. I felt bad they worked so hard the whole time but I guess they had a good time because they are coming back at the end of April for round 2. Hopefully all the hostas, cannas and other bulbs that Bambi planted will have come up. Papa thought the shower in the guest bathroom needed some new grout and Bambi is going to paint and cook me more food to freeze. With Rich gone during the week it has been incredibly helpful to have healthy and organic food in the freezer that I can just pull out and heat up because by that time of the day, I’m really too tired to care what I eat.
Each time someone comes from Wisconsin they seem to bring one whole suitcase of baby clothes which is amazing. Thanks to everyone who has given us baby clothes. Each one is cuter than the last but the whole boy vs. girl thing is throwing off my organizational system of the clothes. I guess I’ll have more pressing issues and won’t be too bent out of shape that my little boy is wearing a pink onesie. Rich on the other hand….

I went to the OB for my 18 week sonogram on the 12th and the bad news is that they had just run out of film before I got there so I don’t have any pictures. But the good news is that they are healthy and active and still measuring bigger than their real age. The sonographer said each one is about 9 inches long. They are stacked one on top of each other so when she was looking at Baby C she was up by my ribs. That made a lot more sense why I feel so full quickly, get short of breath easier and I have heartburn. My OB said due to their size they are starting to push up on my diaphragm and therefore squishing my internal organs and lungs. I guess this is normal and expected but I was very surprised it was happening so soon. This would also explain why I don’t have that perfect little baby bump. I look more like I have a baby bump and I’m very full like I just ate a 96 ounce steak. Papa and Bambi got to see the sonogram and the three little ones kicking and squirming like crazy. And it is still 2 girls and one boy.

When will I go on bed rest seems to be the big question. Right now I’m still working full-time and being monitored every two weeks for signs of early labor that would put me on bed rest. Unless something really dramatic happens, the bed rest order should not come as a surprise and is gradual based on how well I respond or really more likely, how well I follow direction. For example I may go from cutting back on hours at work to “house arrest” to home bed rest to hospital bed rest. Or I could walk into the hospital on week 37 for a scheduled C-section (that’s my plan). It all just depends on these bi-weekly checks. Right now everything looks very good and no signs of early labor. I go back for an in-depth sonogram on Friday which would be my 20 week sonogram and they better have film because they really don’t want to make me mad right now. I’m already irritated enough at wearing the compression hose, moving up to size large scrubs and having to sleep propped up on 3 pillows to prevent heartburn.

Thanks again Papa, Bambi and Isaac for all of your help getting our house ready for the babies and all of your insight.

And one final note, congratulations to my cousin Melly on her engagement. We are very excited for you and are looking forward to a big trip to DC for all of us next spring.

Monday, March 2, 2009

It's a GIRL (and a girl and a boy)!!!

We are having one boy and two girls. I went for another sonogram on Friday and he confirmed that Baby C is a little girl. He went through the same routine of looking at the development of all the major organs, umbilical cord flow, amount of amniotic fluid and estimated weight and length. All the babies look great. They are about 6-7 inches long and weigh between 5 and 7 ounces. Baby A (the boy) is the biggest and is measuring about 1 week and 2 days larger than gestational age and Baby C is about 4 days bigger and B somewhere in between. Their larger size is attributed to my awesome weight gain and daily spinach craving. And now the Girl Scout cookies at our house are disappearing at an alarming speed which is probably helping as well. At this rate I was told that at 23-24 weeks my size would be equivalent to the 40-week mom with one baby.
I’ll be 17 weeks on Wednesday.
One new test this week was to look for a “milk mustache” on each of the babies. They all looked like they were posing for the “Got Milk?” ads which is good because a milk moustache means the upper lip is forming correctly with no evidence of cleft lip. I’m glad they passed that one because I don’t even drink milk unless it is soy and vanilla flavored.

They were not too cooperative with pictures this time. I think once they posed for the milk shots they had enough. All they wanted to do was kick and punch one another and wiggle out of the pictures. We did get a few though.

One is Baby C with her hand close to her face.
And the other is Baby A who looks upside down with his head at the bottom, spine on the right and butt in the air.
B is usually hamming it up but she didn’t want to cooperative on Friday and had her back to us.
Right now they are all stacked on top of each other with A at the bottom and C at the top. They each are in their own sack and have their own placenta which is very good. But, this does not necessarily mean that they are all fraternal. There is a possibility that the two girls are identical even if they are not together. We won’t know until they are born. I ask every time I go in case they are holding out some secret test they haven’t told me about yet.
I could have a list of complaints like heartburn, itchy compression stockings, swelling, growing out of all of my clothes and losing the ability to bend over but they are all pretty minor. If I started complaining now, the impact will be lost later when I really have something to complain about. So I’m saving it up and one day I’ll bring out the big guns to get Rich to run to the store when I just can’t live without a pint of Cherry Garcia.