Follow our family as we go from a family of three to a family of six. It is sure to be an amazing adventure!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Appointments are scheduled!

I have no appointments this week or next but then BAM! I have 3 in one week! Finally got a call from the referral department today at Dr. W's office. My first appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctor is in a few weeks. I found out that I still see my regular OB (I'll refer to her as Dr. W). On the 13th I have my first appointment at W's office with the nurse to go over basic info for the pregnancy. Then on Tuesday the 14th I have another ultrasound to check to make sure they are all three hanging in there and growing. Then I have an appointment with Dr. W (and another scan) on Friday the 17th. Then the following Tuesday the 21st is with the MFM doc. Four appointments in 8 days, YEESH! I hope John isn't super busy that week since he will be taking care of Quinn a lot! Actually I think he would like to go to all of them except the one with the nurse. So, what to do with Quinn? I guess we'll take him along and pack some books and things to do to keep him occupied. I also got a couple of my questions answered today.... can I do any excersize? Ummm, no! Nothing. Zilch. Not even anything mild until we get another look at how the babies are doing. How easy do I have to take it? Basically, if I dont have to do it, dont. Just until we peak at the babies again.

I checked out a couple books from the library on twins, triplets, and quads so I should get some more information from there. The one thing that is shocking is that I am supposed to eat between 3500 and 4000 calories a day! EVERY DAY! WOW, that is a lot of food! Did I already post that in a different post? I cant remember, I am claiming pregnancy brain on my memory! Well, if I did, I am still struggling with the idea of eating that many calories every day. I am going to be as big as a house!

Ok, so remember last post I stupidly mentioned something about feeling ok and surely I would be plagued from then on out just for mentioning it? Well, the plague started today! Uuugh, what an awful, sickly day! I know I consumed nowhere near the amount of calories I should have today. Nothing sounded good and I felt on the verge of vomit so the thought of putting anything into my mouth was excruciating. I did manage to eat enough dinner to at least be able to take my prenatals and extra vitamin supplements. Let's hope this was just for today and tomorrow I will be feeling good again.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Weight gain, or lack thereof...

I have been reading a lot about carrying triplets and the amount of calories I am supposed to consume in one day is, well, just short of eating a house daily! And periodically eating a house is exactly what I want to do! I go from fine to oh-my-gosh-if-I-dont-eat-right-this-minute-I-surely-am-going-to-wither-away in a matter of seconds. I can eat a large meal and an hour and a half later I'm hungry. I feel like I am eating a ton, but apparently not enough. I had gained 1.8 pounds and now I am losing. I am down to only being up 1 pound, I lost alost a pound in the last day or two. So I made the grandmother of all breakfasts this morning and I am stuffed! My goal today is to eat three large meals and three large snacks (that could be considered a meal to some).

And speaking of weight gain, I have only gained a pound and I am already busting out of my pants! How on earth? I guess carrying triplets might have something to do with it! I showed pretty early with my first pregnancy, too, but not THIS early!

The morning sickness (which is usually NOT in the morning for me) has been bearable in the last few days. Friday was AWFUL! But since then it has only been mild. I am probably jinxing things by saying so and I am sure to be doomed with terrible nausea just for saying I feel ok, but as of now (and yesterday) I feel pretty good. Hooray for that!!

I am anxiously awaiting a call from the referral department at my doctor's office to set up an appointment with a Meternal Fetal Medicine doctor (high risk OB). I have so many questions, I cant wait for my first appointment. I havent met with or talked to any doctor yet. My ultrasound was with an ultrasound tech and then I got a call from a nurse telling me that they were referring me out and that someone from the referral department would call. So I havent had a chance to talk with anyone yet. Hopefully I get the call tomorrow (today is Memorial Day so I think they are closed) and I get an appointment right away.

Well, that's all for now. Quinn and I are going to have a fun day together today playing outside and he is anxious to get started!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

How did WE end up pregnant with Triplets?

Many people have asked if twins or triplets runs in the family. Others ask if we were on fertility drugs. People are naturally curious about how one comes to be pregnant with higher order multiples. So I'll give a little background about our fertility history.

As soon as John and I were married we knew we wanted to start a family right away. We already had five years together to go on vacations, we bought a house, etc. We were ready for the next phase of our lives. I began charting my cycles right away so I knew when I ovulated and it can also be used as diagnostic information to identify cycle issues. I could see right away that there were a few issues with my fertility. For one, I wasnt ovulating every month which obviously causes problems with conceiving. No egg = no baby! I went to the doctor after 6 months of unsuccessfully trying to conceive. I showed my doctor my charts and she sent me to an OB/GYN that has experience with infertility.

The first intervention was to try Clomid, a fertility drug that facilitates ovulation. After 6 months I still was not pregnant. Next I had a Laporascopy where the doctor found that my ovaries were fused to my pelvis, uterus, and tubes. She was able to completely cut one ovary free and not the other. After the surgery, I was pregnant with my first baby two weeks later! It seemed that my fertility issues were solved!

Fast forward to one year ago.... John and I decided to grow our family again. After a year (again) of trying with no success I went to the doctor again (a different one this time, I didn't really care for the last one). She wanted to try CLomid again and also said that I will likely have to have surgery again because my ovaries could have fused again at any time. The first month of Clomid I was skeptical and had NO hopes that it was going to work, especially the first month.

I went in for an ultrasound just before ovulation to see if the Clomid worked. It did! I had 4 follicles growing so my chances of ovulating were very good. And for those who don't know exactly how women's reproduction works... the body produces follicles that release an egg. Each month one follicle takes the lead in growth and is released. As soon as that happens a hormone is produced that tells the body not to release any more eggs. In my case, my body didnt get that message! And since I am now pregnant with triplets I am assuming either all four eggs were released or at least three of them were!

So that is how we became pregnant with triplets!

"Right now I see three..."

On Thursday, May 26th, John and I ventured to the doctor's office with Quinn in tow for our first ultrasound of the this pregnancy. I knew there was a 'chance' of multiples so I wanted John to come along. Plus, I thought he would like an early look at our newest little miracle.

While in the waiting room we realized that we forgot Quinn's backpack in the car that has all of his little gadgets to keep him busy. Books, cars, toys... all things that can hold a little boy's interest while we were tending to other important things. Just as I was going to ask John to run out to the car we were called back. Too late. I remembered an application I downloaded on my phone called 'Toddler Trifling'. It is a great little app, worked wonders at holding his attention. He enjoyed popping bubbles and balloons on the little screen on the phone while John and I awaited our fate.

As I was laying on the table waiting to be told we are having one baby (I was quite certain that was the case) the ultrasound screen was turned towards the ultrasound tech so I couldnt see it. What I could see where her lips moving as she was counting to herself! I saw her mouth the words 'one...two...' and I asked myself "what on earth is she counting!?! Certainly not babies!". Then she said "well, right now I see three". OMG! THREE!?! Three WHAT?? In a very meek shaky voice I asked "three babies?". And she said that's what it looks like. I am not sure what I said after that. I think I cried a little, smiled a lot, and then my mind starting spinning and it hasnt stopped since!

My thoughts ranged from 'how amazing! we didnt get one miralce we got THREE', to 'OH MY GOD WE ARE HAVING THREE BABIES WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!!!'. As my mind is trying to wade through all the thoughts of the news I just heard I remembered John just heard the same thing. I looked at him and he kind of had a blank look. I'm pretty sure he was in shock! I told Quinn "Mommy is going to have three babies" and his response was "three girl babies?" which made me laugh! He'll regret that request in a few years if it becomes true!

It took quite awhile for the tech to take all the measurements on three so I had a bit of time to let it sink in before standing up. While I got dressed John was busy posting our news on facebook! The news was out before we even left the ultrasound room!

Now three days after finding out I think we are still in shock. We periodically look at each other and say "WE'RE HAVING TRIPLETS!"

Maybe tomorrow it will sink in....