A Bump in the Road

Disclaimer: If reading about things like my cervix length and vaginal bleeding are going to offend you, read no more.
Yesterday we had quite a scare. I woke up, went in the bathroom and discovered the last thing any pregnant woman ever wants to discover: bleeding. LUCKILY Derek hadn't left for work. I called Maternal Fetal Medicine, they told me to get to the ER asap. I don't make very good decisions at 6:30 in the morning. For some reason I put on the dirty clothes I'd worn yesterday with food stains from Miri flinging her food at me. At least I didn't forget a bra. Derek got Miri's diaper changed and got her in the car and I called my great sister in law Becky (thanks Beck) woke her up and told her we're dropping Miri off.
When we got to the ER things starting sinking in a little and I got really nervous thinking about all of the terrible possibilities. At one point I remember praying "please don't let them all be gone." It was a nightmarish feeling.
A very kind nurse told me that I wouldn't have an ultrasound for awhile, but that she was going to help set my mind at ease with her Doppler (which is like a sophisticated stethoscope that can pick up the sound of babies heartbeats.) It didn't put my mind at ease at all after10 minutes when she could only pick up one heartbeat.
Awhile later some doc wheeled in a prehistoric ultrasound machine that must have been a hand me down from the 1950's. It took about 3 minutes to confirm that all three babies still have a heartbeat. What an incredible relief. The monitor showed my heart rate and blood pressure go down significantly after the good news. They did warn us that although this is promising, they still needed to find the source of the bleeding. The doctor said that my cervix appears to have shortened which they don't like to see, especially this early in a pregnancy. They discharge me from the ER and told me to go upstairs to maternal fetal medicine and Dr. Sullivan would be able to see me in about an hour. I got another ultrasound. All 3 babies look great... they are measuring right on schedule and heart beats are strong. Two of the babies weigh 4 oz and the third weighs 5 oz. They checked my cervix length and said it was fine (ER dingbats) Then they found the source of the bleeding... there is a hemorrhage on the wall of my uterus. Right now it doesn't seem to be affecting the babies. Dr. Sullivan's exact words "I'm not going to say I'm REALLY worried, but these things always cause concern." So more likely it will heal without affecting my babies. Worse case scenario it could get bigger and then.... well I don't want to go there yet, and I don't think that I'll have to. We're hopeful that everything will be fine. Please keep my babies in your prayers! I know it's going to take prayers and faith to get them all here safe and sound.

Almost half way there

After many requests for another belly shot... Here I am in all of my pregnant glory. I'm now 15 weeks, and since my doc told me that he would be ecstatic if I made it to 32 weeks, I'm feeling almost half way done.

Another question I get a lot of is "Do you have to eat a lot?" The answer to that is YES!!! My diet (or at least the diet I strive for) is unbelievable; 4000 calories, 200 grams of protein per day (I never make that, I've found it's completely impossible to gag down more than 150 gram in a day.) 2 eggs, 10 oz of meat (preferably red meat) 15 servings of grains, 10 servings of dairy, 6 fruits, 8 veggies. Notice no mention of serving amount for doughnuts? Ya, that sucks because that is the only thing that doesn't taste like clay. Weight gain to date: 11 pounds.

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month

Maddie and Max are our adorable neice and nephew who we love SO much! They both live with CF, if you would like to help or for more info on CF visit http://www.cff.org/.

Update on the triplets

Last Tuesday we had our 12 week appointment and ultrasound. It was my first appointment with my new doc at the U. I was bummed that I had to change from Dr. Esplin at IMC after Derek's job change and insurance change, but I think Dr. Sullivan will be great. Esplin recommended her, and I definitely trust his judgement. I really think that she's the first doc who hasn't made me feel rushed and sat and talked with me forever. So onto the important stuff... all 3 babies are great! They are all growing at the same rate, which is a good thing and doesn't always happen with multiples. They are each about 2 inches from head to bum. Heartbeats were 167, 167 and 180. All three were moving around like crazy. One was sucking his/her fist, another one looked like s/he waved "hi" to us. For the first time it started to feel a little real. Our next ultrasound is at the end of May and they might (might) be able to tell the gender. We're keeping our fingers crossed because we're dying to know!
Baby A
Baby B

Baby C

3 happy little babies