The countdown is on!

Well, it seems I have been very slack as I have had three appointments since my last blog update! We are currently 28+3 and all the worries with baby boy 1 have now disappeared (yay!!!). All babies have perfect blood flow and at their last growth scan two weeks ago were 950g, 1000g and 1050g. The ob was extreeeeemely happy with this which I was ecstatic about. I did confess to him that I was quite worried after our previous growth scan and he said seriously “so was I” (which was a bit of a shock as I thought I had perhaps magnified the seriousness of it all in my head), so I am definitely glad everything is back on track! The babies are all head to toe with one another and our little girl is head down and face down right near my cervix ready to go! I think she wants to beat her brothers out so she can always claim she is the oldest! The babies move around so much now, it is so cool to look at and feel! Pretty much as soon as I sit or lie down they want to have a party which is absolutely fine with me. I can generally feel the boys move a lot more than our little girl (I think it is due to her position and the fact that her placenta is anterior which will cushion my ability to feel her movement). It is very reassuring to feel them kicking around 🙂

As for me, my iron and haemoglobin are below normal so I’ve had to double my iron tablets as I am going to need all the energy and blood I can get. I had another blood test to check folate and B12 which I assume was all normal as it wasn’t mentioned to me at my last appointment. I don’t have gestational diabetes which is a big plus! My cervix is down to 1.8cm (cervix shortening can indicate it is preparing for labour/can cause preterm labour when you don’t want it to!) normally and 1.5cm with pressure. I was always under the impression from speaking to a lot of other multiples mums that this wasn’t good (a lot of them have to go on bedrest for anything under 2.5cm, especially in America) but the ob seemed to be fairly happy with that as he said with a singleton pregnancy he would expect to be about 2.5cm now. Pretty much his main instruction to me last time I saw him was to eat eat eat and rest rest rest!

About a month ago, the ob did say to Dave and I that I would most likely find it difficult to eat soon as I would feel like I had no room for it. Luckily, my ability to eat generous amounts of food pre pregnancy has come in handy! I can still eat as much as I normally would, I just tend to eat at a much slower pace (which is definitely a good thing for me!). I try and eat as much protein as possible as that’s what the babies need most but I did indulge in a bit of chocolate over Easter (oops!). Funnily enough, I can only stomach smaller amounts of chocolate these days- I just don’t feel as though I want it that much. I realllllly hope that stays after I have the babies!!! Overall, I’ve put on about 27kg so far but I’m not that phased and neither is my ob. Dr. Luke’s book (a guideline on weight gain for healthier multiple pregnancies) recommends gaining between 26 and 34kg in a triplet pregnancy for healthier babies. They have done research which has shown if you follow their guidelines, the babies have 20% increased birth weight compared to those that don’t! So, if it is good for the babies I am not going to worry. I’m sure I’ll be very worried about it all after they are born and I have to lose it all again but it will be so worth it (I’ll try and keep this positive attitude then anyway!). It’s a bit disheartening when you barely fit into the maternity jeans you bought initially (pffft who am I kidding- they don’t fit unless I want to stand still the whole I am wearing them!) and you look at all your clothes and wonder if you will ever fit into them again BUT I keep reminding myself about the bigger picture- three healthy little babies! 🙂

Physically, I like to think I am coping fairly well! I am generally comfortable most of the time. I don’t have some of the pains other women sized 38 weeks do, like babies pushing on their ribs! I do get a sore back if I stand for too long and sit in an unsupportive chair but this is usually relieved as soon as I lie down. I am still getting episodes of “overheating”, usually when I have done too much (e.g. hung out the washing, then washed the dishes, then pottered around). This is my body’s way of telling me to chill out and rest, to which I happily oblige under the air conditioning! I don’t exercise at all now and my pelvis has thanked me for that but my knees and general body are feeling the effects, especially seeing as I used to exercise or play sport almost every day! Walking about the shops is about as strenuous as it gets these days! I would love to still go to the pool but to be honest I think I would struggle to pull myself up and out of it! Plus, my bikini seems to be getting smaller and smaller for some reason- I must’ve washed it incorrectly I think! 😉

Overall, I like to think we are doing pretty well! My ob seems very happy with how things are going and said to me this week that my body was born to have multiples! What a compliment 🙂 I hope it can all continue this way until 34 weeks when we can have a nice natural birth! That would be the aim anyway- I’ve come to learn birth plans can go awry so that is about as much birth planning as I have done! The ob did say if I was his wife and having triplets he would strongly encourage a natural birth as the recovery is much better. I have no doubt he is the best person to manage a triplet birth and I have full faith in his ability to bring our babies into the world! The countdown is on now- 3.5-5.5 weeks and counting eeeek!!!

A panoramic view of our nursery so far!

We are still missing lights and a functioning door but it is getting there 🙂

Can you tell which side has more babies?

Little picture from my maternity shoot!

Reality check

Well, it seems I was more diligent updating my blog when I was working and hard-pressed for time! We are 25+3 now and had an obstetrician appointment on Monday. All babies had nice, strong heartbeats which was lovely to see and hear! They are such wriggle pots these days, it was really cool to see them moving on the screen! Baby boy 1 is lying face up on the bottom left, baby girl is lying face down on the bottom right and baby boy 2 has all the space up top but is hibernating on the right. During the scan, the US tech had a bit of trouble getting baby boy 1’s cord blood flow reading. She blamed it on his sister moving too much and kicking him! I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now I don’t know if she was just trying to brush it off so I wouldn’t worry!

The last few appointments our babies have all been spot on each other when their weights etc are plotted on the growth chart. This time baby boy 1 was on the low line (645g) and the other two were at average or above (little girl: 745g, baby boy 2: 770g). The ob said it might not look like much but it is a significant difference so we have to keep an eye on it. He said that the babys cord flow was “ok” but we need to monitor it also. The lower part of the uterus doesn’t get as much blood flow as the top which is probably why the flow isn’t as good. “Ok” is better than bad, but not as good as good! He did mention another of his triplet mums had had a similar issue and she had been in hospital from 29 weeks, had daily scans and made it to 32 weeks. So, he has said 32 weeks is our new aim which is May 1. All a bit scary really! I just hope the little one has a growth spurt in the coming weeks!

Apart from that, everything else was good. I am measuring 36 weeks at 25 weeks which is pretty cool! The midwife found traces of glucose in my urine (which she said isn’t uncommon with multiples) so I had to take the two hour glucose tolerance test yesterday to check for gestational diabetes. You fast for 12 hours, go in and have blood taken, drink a very sweet drink loaded with glucose (luckily I love strong cordial so I was fine drinking it!) and then have to hang around while you have another blood test at one hour post drink and then two hours post drink. And, your not allowed to drink any water after the glucose drink! (I can’t remember the last time I haven’t drank water in two hours- I think I usually got through a whole bottle in that time!). Apart from almost fainting in the middle blood test it was all dandy and I assume I will get my results at Mondays appointment. Let’s hope it all comes back normal!

Needless to say, I was pretty stressed after Mondays appointment. I kept thinking of all the things I still had to do before they arrived and kept worrying that the worst was going to happen. I just want all our babies to be safe and healthy. I feel disorganised too because the nursery isn’t finished- I know that the babies are likely to be in hospital for a bit when they are born so we could always do things then, but I will feel much better once I can have it all organised and ready with clothes and wraps etc put away. Plus then I will know exactly what we do and don’t have! My stressing then caused a chain reaction and poor Dave started stressing. He is such a good husband and it must be so hard for him to miss these appointments. I know he feels helpless when he is away but even just speaking to him makes me feel better every night 🙂 He organised me to stay at his parents house for a few nights as he doesn’t like me being alone which is so thoughtful! We are very lucky to have such supportive families on both sides! Speaking of support, I have been so lucky to have great friends that I have caught up with or have made or bought me meals. Mum even came up the other day and worked her magic with our house which now looks amazing! It only took her two hours to do what I’m sure wouldve taken me two weeks! Of course, I did help but I’m a bit useless these days and she did the majority of it. I truly appreciate everything everyone does for us.

All in all, there is it much I can do except rest when I can and have lots of protein. We have to have weekly appointments now with the ob and just see how things progress! I have a feeling now the babies will be born in late April. The last appointment has really spooked me and for the first time it has hit me that they really could be born anytime from here on in (but the longer they stay in the better!). The most relieving thing is that I feel them move a lot and my belly is growing which is a constant reassurance that they are growing! I am looking forward to seeing them again on Monday 🙂

So nice and round 🙂

I’m not sure if this is baby boy 1 or 2, but either way you can see him from side on and he looks super cute!

This is baby boy 1 yawning! It’s hard work growing 🙂

This is our little girl showing off her beautiful spine!

Getting there! Some new lights and a fresh coat of paint and it will be ready to furnish!

Growing, growing, growing

Well, this is a long overdue update! Wednesday will mark 23 weeks (yay!) which means one week until viability (when the babies can survive outside the womb). Obviously, we hope and expect that they will hibernate a lot longer than that but it will be a great landmark to reach!

I saw the obstetrician last week and we had another growth scan as well. The babies are so much bigger now and are looking “divine” according to the ob that did the ultrasound (US)! They were weighing around 500g or just below and they look so cute! It is so amazing to see them moving around, one baby even yawned and another was sucking it’s thumb (obviously takes after my sister as a baby! :P). Dave unfortunately couldn’t be there but my sister came along which was great as she hasn’t seen them since our 10 week scan! We took some video for him though which he loved 🙂 One baby is now lying transverse across my lower uterus and the other two are up top, butting heads!

The ob was extremely happy with the babies’ progress! Each time we visit, their abdominal and head circumference or diameter are plotted on a chart, as well as femur length. Initially, the US ob was confused as she had checked the previous growth chart and because all the babies were spot on each other she thought we were only having one! And their progress was no different this time which is great. There was a mild discrepancy in femur length (the US ob said at one point “wow, you have one tall triplet in here!”) but all in all they were right on where they should be. The growth is measured for a singleton baby too so our bubs are doing extremely well- so proud of them!

When we saw our actual ob, he didn’t have much to say at first! Mainly shook his head as he couldn’t believe how great the babies were going! (He mentioned he had some other tripet pregnancies at the moment which unfortunately weren’t going as well.) He did however have a serious chat to me about Dave working FIFO. Apparently the divorce rate in couples with multiples is about 50% (which I think is the normal divorce rate anyway) and he did seem concerned whether we would have enough family/friends support and help. I assured him we would have enough external help (I certainly hope we do anyway!) but agreed it would be nice for Dave to be home more often- not only for mine and the babies sakes, but because I think he will miss them like crazy when he is away. The ob decided he would write “a seriously scary” letter to Dave’s employer explaining the situation in the hope that he can perhaps get on a 8/6 day roster or something similar, as opposed to 2/1 weeks. It’s worth a try anyway and I appreciate the time he is taking out of his busy schedule to do such a nice thing for us. He really is a fantastic ob, worth every cent!!!

The ob did say the babies will be delivered between 32 and 34 weeks (first 2 weeks in May). We can have a vaginal birth (vb) if baby A is head down and ready to go. If not, it will definitely be a c-section. The vb would be the best option in terms of recovery but pushing out three babies also scares me! I was worried that once baby A comes out, there could be issues with the positioning of the others. However, the ob assured us that he hasn’t has an issue with that since 1997 and said if there was to be an issue, we could be in theatre within 3-5 minutes which is a relieving thought.  We can’t really plan anything though so will just wait and see what happens! Our next appointment is in another 2 weeks and then we will go to fortnightly visits.

The babies have been kicking up a storm which is great! I love the feeling, it is so strange but cool at the same time! I haven’t figured out a particular trigger for their kicking, not that there really needs to be one, but I could sit or lay all day with my hand on my stomach (which is growing exponentially) feeling them!

I’m not sure how much longer I will fit into some of the maternity stuff I have bought as my belly keeps growing more and more, but I’m not too keen on spending more money on maternity clothes. I mainly live in singlets and undies during the day as it is too hot for anything else! If the temperature is above 28 degrees, I pretty much stay in front of the fan or the air conditioning as it is too hot outside and it is so draining! I’m glad I finished work 2 and a half weeks ago- I definitely couldn’t have worked for much longer with my tummy expansion and fatigue. I make sure I don’t have more than one “outing” a day as it wears me out so quickly, even if I feel ok at the time, and I end up lying down for the rest of the day.

The main other “pregnancy symptoms” I’ve got at the moment apart from fatigue are pubic symphysis pain (pain at the front of your pelvis where it joins) and heartburn. The PSP is like a sharp stab at the front of my pelvis with rolling in bed, standing on one leg and walking. I thought I would be 65 before I had to sit down to comfortably put undies on!!! I wake up everytime I roll over in bed (which makes for a disrupted sleeping pattern- luckily I rarely have to get up early) because of the pain and also because it is hard to roll over when you no longer have functioning abdominals! There is no point in making the bed these days as it gets messed up so quickly as a result! I definitely have the good old pregnancy waddle now and I totally avoid all long-distance walking- it’s not worth the discomfort. The heartburn seems to be triggered by sweet foods (total bummer!) but that hasn’t really stopped me from eating chocolate when I feel like it! It’s mainly a bugger when it rears it’s ugly head in the early hours of the morning! But, I am embracing all of these lovely things that come hand in hand with being pregnant because a) I know it is only going to get worse as I get bigger and b) I am just so thrilled to even be pregnant and growing three precious babies that I would happily undergo any symptoms x 10 just to have our triplets!

I had a work baby shower on the weekend with my workmates and great clients of mine- it was wonderful and we got so many gifts (none of which I was expecting)! We got things that we don’t have (although that’s not hard to achieve hehe) and will use a lot of which was fantastic. I felt very spoilt by everyone’s generosity. However, after socialising and being on my feet a lot I was certainly absolutely stuffed that evening!

The room we designated as our nursery turned out to be too small so we decided to convert our theatre room to the nursery instead! We have had to build a wall with a door and window in it to enclose it and should be finished by the end of this weekend. Then we will just need a coat of paint and some new carpet and then we can actually start decorating and placing things in there. I think I will feel somewhat organised when I can start doing that. I can’t wait, bring it on!!!

Happy days

19 weeks today woop woop! And what a great day it was. We had our anatomy/growth scan first up which is where they check out all the babies anatomy’s and make sure everything is hunky dorey. Lucky for us, all the babies looked fabulous!!! Such a relief. It is amazing that we could even see the four chambers of each of their hearts beating away! They are so big now compared to even last time (apparently about 6 inches long)! Boy 1 weighed 283g and boy 2 and the girl weighed 298g 🙂 Boy 1 and our little girl are laying low down next to each other and boy 2 is having a ball on top. He was certainly a little wriggler and he may have been the culprit of the first kick I felt from the outside the other day! I can’t wait until I can feel more from the outside so that Dave can too. Cervix looked great too at 4.5cm. A big worry with mulitple births is cervix shortening (anything below 2.5cm isn’t good) as this indicates your body is preparing for birth. However, the ob said he hasn’t seen a cervix length as good as mine for a long time which is very promising!

The obstetrician was lovely- a really intelligent man with a great bedside manner who is able to have a laugh too! He is a highly-regarded foetal medicine specialist and it seems whenever I mention his name to other doctors they are very impressed! My heart rate was very good (which he said I can attribute to all the exercise I did pre-pregnancy) and he said my weight gain is probably the reason our babies are looking so good! He seemed surprised when I told him how much I had gained. He sort of gave me a quick look up and down- I am convincing myself it was because he was thinking “Really? You don’t look it!” but I doubt it! That is what I will keep telling myself anyway as he never saw me pre-pregnancy 😉 He also said my uterus is probably measuring about 30 weeks and that in 4 weeks it will most likely be measuring full term (for a normal pregnancy!). Dave will certainly be in for a shock by the time he goes away and comes back again! Stay away stretch marks please!!!

Apparently one of the biggest difficulties I will encounter soon is not being able to eat reasonable sized meals! Even this morning I felt quite uncomfortable sitting down after having 2 pieces of toast and I didn’t finish my dinner tonight (which is highly unusual for me!). Small, regular meals packed with protein are going to be the go probably sooner rather than later.

Swimming and walking are what he has recommended I do (which is the only form of exercise I do anyway) and he was very happy I only had 3 days of work left. I am going to aim to get to the pool 3 times per week from now on! All in all, he was extremely happy with our progress and said he thinks we will have a rather “boring” AKA uncomplicated pregnancy! (Touch wood). I’d take boring over frightfully eventful any day 🙂

The only downside of the day was the horrible pelvic pain I encountered after our appointment! It happened all of a sudden in the shops- a sharp jab into my right sacroiliac joint (the joint between your pelvis and sacrum) which left me laughing and limping because of the pain all at once! I’ve had a bit of discomfort in that area but nothing like this. I tried lying down when I got home but that left me with my whole pelvis aching and a jab when I tried to roll over. All I can say is I hope it goes away before I have to work on Friday!

I am so happy we have made it this far and that everything looks promising. I said to Dave today that this is the first appointment I’ve not been scared about and that it worried me as perhaps I should be going in expecting the worst. After all, I had no idea when our fourth little bub passed on so how would I be able to tell if something horrible happened to anyone of these babies?! I think I’ve heard of too many pregnancys that have ended very badly- it tends to haunt me a little bit. However, after today, I feel very refreshed and confident that we will end up with 3 healthy, adorable babies that we can take home and look after forever. Touch wood to any other outcome. It’s amazing how both Dave and I can feel so much love already! Keep growing nice and big babies!!!

Pregnancy paranoia

18 weeks yesterday! Which means one week until our anatomy scan (where they check the babies anatomy, growth and sex) and 6 week until viability (where the babies can survive outside the womb if they need to).

My belly seems to have well and truly “popped” over the past week! I have to admit it is pretty cool to see a nice round belly in the mirror, minus the little anxiety over my impending double chin and chubby cheeks! Oh well, it’s all for a very good cause I keep telling myself 🙂 More growth for the babies!

I was feeling the babies move around 16 weeks but haven’t felt a thing for the past week. I am getting increasingly paranoid that it means something might be wrong (touch wood). I love being on the pregnancy and triplet groups on facebook but it also means along with the great news of babies making it through after being born at 27 weeks, there are also stories of people tragicallly losing their babies anywhere from 19 weeks onwards. My good friend lost her baby at birth last year and the first thing a lady told me when I told her we were having tripets was that her friend lost her triplets at 32 weeks! (Why the f”*k would anyone tell me that?!?!? Seriously.)

Anyway lots of ladies have said that they felt things early on and then not much until 20 weeks which is reassuring. I am off to the GP today so I will see what he says. I just wish I could have an ultrasound each week to make sure everything is ok! After next week, I’m pretty sure we will be having them every fortnight for a bit and then every week when it comes closer to birth time so that will be good. In the meantime, I might buy a feotal heart doppler off the eBay to ease my worries because then I can listen to their heartbeats anytime! I was also given some good advice to “not fear the fear” as it is a natural reaction to want to protect your children at all times and if you live in fear you will miss out on all the joys and excitement that pregnancy brings. So true!

We see a new obstetrician next week. He is a foetal medicine specialist who works at KEMH but also has a private practice and came highly recommended by other multiples mums. Hopefully he measures me so I can see how my belly size is going in comparison to a singleton pregnancy! Dave will be home for that appointment too which is awesome 🙂

I only have 5 days of work left now which is great! After four hours on my feet I start to get some pelvic/hip/leg pain which isn’t debilitating but it sure makes it uncomfortable to keep standing up. I’ve got a list a mile long to do around the house (in between resting) and I have some little crafty projects I want to do for the babies room which I’m sure will keep me occupied 🙂 I just want to rest as much as possible to incubate these babies as long as I can!

It seems surreal that they will be here in about 3-3 1/2 months. I’m sure that time will fly by!!! Cant wait!

Two boys and a girl!

Well, we had our long-awaited specialist appointment yesterday! It was fantastic. The obstetrician we saw was great. Working in the health profession, I am always impressed by someone who shakes your hand and introduces themselves straight up which is exactly what this OB did! What made it even better was that he did an ultrasound before we even sat down! We got to see the three little babies (so big now!) and he was able to tell us that we are having two boys and a little girl! Such an awesome moment- we were ecstatic 🙂 I was so happy afterwards I cried and told Dave we needed to go buy two boys items and one girls item of clothing, which is exactly what we did. Baby stuff is soooo adorable!

The OB said he was happy with where we were at and that everything looked good. He said having three placenta’s at 16 weeks is like having a normal 32-week placenta, which results in a lot of fluid and “adipose tissue” (AKA fat!) gain. He wasn’t phased at all about my weight gain and I’m not really phased either- I’m eating fairly well and I figure my body will do what it has to do for our babies!

He answered all our questions and was very easy going. The main thing he said was that there is nothing medically they can do to prevent cervix shortening or pre term labour (they can try and postpone it if or when it happens) so I just need to rest. I told work today that my last day was going to be the 6th of Feb which is bang on 20 weeks. I’d rather rest as much as possible and incubate the trio as long as I can than try and work longer. Plus the OB said I would probably struggle to work around 22 weeks anyway and that I’ll be wanting to sleep lots!

I am loving being pregnant. It is such an amazing thing and I love looking at my growing belly everyday! I’ve felt a few mexican waves and flutters (soft drink seems to be a good stimulator!) which is really cool and feels so strange. I am finding sitting forward uncomfortable due to my belly and I wake up everytime I roll over which makes for a disturbed sleeping pattern! My bellybutton is getting shallower and shallower which freaks Dave out! Standing on my feet at work usually results in sore heels or a sore hip or back but if I get the opportunity to have a lie down (great advantage of working in a private practice) then it’s not too bad. I am embracing it all though and have not complained one bit (or perhaps Dave will be a better judge of that) as I feel like it is such a privilege to be having three babies!

We have got our cots, our pram is on the way and hopefully we will get our new car in the next few days! It is mind boggling how much stuff you actually need for one baby, let alone three. I want to be super organised so that everythng is ready when they come, which the OB said will hopefully be sometime in the first two weeks of May (I have 40 fingers and toes crossed that we get that far). Can’t wait til we see them again at 20 weeks for our anatomy scan! Love them so much already! <3<3<3

The not-so-glamourous things

So, I’ve discovered there are many unglamorous sides to pregnancy that no-one tells you about. Everyone is aware of the morning sickness and fatigue (which I thought I was over but turns out I was completely wrong!) but it’s only when you start to Google all these other random things that begin happening that you realise there is a whole barrage of things that are kept under wraps!

1. Headaches: My headaches aren’t too bad now (touch wood) but I went through a stage where they were happening about every second day and sometimes three times a day! Panadol was a lifesaver, especially considering you can’t take anti-inflammatories when you are pregnant. I also discovered they were worse when I was lying down, which was a major issue considering that’s all I wanted to do!

2. Nosebleeds: I had two nosebleeds- one randomly in the middle of the night (just woke up with it!) and one when I was getting ready to go out somewhere. Nothing too dramatic but I always think I shouldn’t be seeing blood out of any orifice when I’m pregnant!

3. Gingivitis: Ouch!!! My gums had started to bleed when I was brushing (I assume due to the increased blood flow) so I took myself off to the dentist (2 years overdue eek!) and got a scale and clean. I’ve never had so much blood in my mouth, it was horrible! And not to mention bloody sore the next day. After a week or so it wasn’t feeling too bad until I forgot and vigorously brushed my teeth last night. Now eating anything today is painful! I suspect my diet for the rest of the day will consist of frosty fruits (yum!) and anything soft.

4. Pimples: Ugh I hate the word pimples but they are like little annoyances popping up on my chest! Chacne I’ve nicknamed it. It’s not horrendously bad (looks more like a little rash) but when you are used to not having anything there it is really embarrassing! Yuk. I’ve never exfoliated so much in my life!

5. Complete loss of curves: I’ve nicknamed myself SpongeBob Squarepants as I have no shape now!! It is just giant boobs, then belly, then legs- no waist! And it is hard to wear nice things with big boobs I’ve discovered- thank god they aren’t this big normally, I don’t know how ladies do it!

6. Constant spitting: I feel like someone should follow me with a spit bucket! Then all I’ll need is a silk robe, a broken nose and some boxing gloves and it will be the perfect picture! It’s as if I have this constant horrible taste in my mouth (mostly after eating anything) and I need to spit every 30-60 seconds. Dave always looks at me as if I’m an idiot when this happens! (Mind you he probably thinks that a lot of the time anyway hehe)

7. Overheating/fainting: I’m lucky I haven’t actually fainted yet but I’ve definitely come close! You get that feeling of getting very hot and then you can’t hear anything and you think uh oh! First time it happened while I was waiting in line at Myer and it took me about a month to get the confidence to go to the shops by myself (after I’d been a few times with Dave!). It can be fairly random but I almost fainted in Rockpool and when I was treating a patient of mine, eek!

Despite all this, the end result will definitely be worth it!! Plus there are the more lovely sides of pregnancy like the “glow” you get from all the increased blood flow to the skin and supposedly your hair becomes thicker and longer (yes please!). My belly is already growing and I’m already finding it difficult to demonstrate some things at work and it does get in the way sometimes! I can’t wait until it is perfectly round! (Remind me of this when I am hopefully complaining about how big it is!!)

12 weeks down!

Woo hoo!! We have passed the magic 12 week mark and it feels amazing! Now I can relax (a little) and really start to enjoy this pregnancy and the wonderful things to come!

We had our first trimester screen on Monday and it all came back clear which was such a relief. The babies have literally doubled in size from two weeks ago (they are now 6cm long) and have visible hands, feet, bladders, skulls, brains etc!! Such an awesome thing to see. They even wriggle and stretch and roll over, making themselves nice and comfy! I can’t feel it yet but to see it was the coolest thing on earth. Dave couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, he was so happy!

The nausea is starting to settle, I’m starting to get some energy back and I feel like I am really beginning to enjoy and embrace having three babies inside of me! I’m definitely getting a belly and I love it! (Apart from not fitting into any of my clothes of course but what a small price to pay for such an amazing experience.)

We will go to King Eddies in a month and see an obstetrician there which will definitely be helpful. I’m looking forward to being able to ask some burning questions! I feel as though I haven’t really been given much information on what to expect, what to watch out for, what not to do, what definitely to do etc. I get most of my information from reading books, looking online or talking to other expecting and triplet/quad/quin mums. One of the new mums on the higher order multiples forum I’m in just had her gorgeous little babies at 27+4 weeks! It just goes to show how early they can make their entrance so I am determined to do everything I can (that is within my control anyway) to try and keep these babies cooking for as long as possible. I can’t wait to meet them! Exciting times ahead!!

What a relief

I woke up this morning with this horrible thought I wasn’t pregnant anymore. I hadn’t gotten up during the night to go to the toilet (or had I?) and my boobs weren’t as sore as they had been. I was panicking majorly and thinking I’d have to take a pregnancy test before I went to our scan just to make sure. However, the power chuck in the kitchen sink at work this morning reassured me that yes, I am still pregnant!

I had the worst anxiety all morning. I could barely eat my breakfast (and perhaps in hindsight I shouldn’t have!) and could feel my pulse racing all morning. What if I went into the scan and nothing was there? I’d luckily had no signs of miscarriage but I think in these situations you tend to imagine the worst so that anything better than that is a major plus.

The amount of relief that overcame me when the sonographer put the transducer on my stomach was unlike anything I’d felt before. I could still see those little sacs and that was an amazing feeling. It was fairly clear from the beginning of the scan that three babies looked good and had little, crazy-fast heartbeats and that one wasn’t quite as developed and was still. The little one was only 24mm as opposed to the other which were about 31-32mm (perfect size for 10 weeks!). To be honest, I didn’t feel a wave of sadness or get upset at the time as I think I was just so thrilled that there were actually three little babies that were moving and growing in there. It was so much more than I’d expected.

I like to believe our little sleeping angel sacrificed him/herself for the greater good of the others. I really believe he/she will be a guardian angel for our other babies and, like a good friend of mine said, he/she will be a little playmate for her babies in heaven. Thinking this way makes me really happy, not only for me but for her also, and I find peace (and hope she does too) in knowing they won’t be alone up there.

I think I knew all along there was always going to be three. I definitely didn’t will what happened but I think deep down I knew somehow we would end up with three. I’m just glad nature took it’s course now rather than when they were born or further along the pregnancy track as I think that would have been much harder to handle. The sense of relief just knowing three of my babies are ok makes me feel as though we have jumped one hurdle (with a knock down but nonetheless we made it!) already. I’m sure there are many, many more to come but for the moment I’m just ecstatic to have gotten through this time.

I can’t wait to celebrate with Dave when he gets home, it’s just a total bummer he misses out on so much working away! But I know he enjoys his work and he is working hard to make it easier for us and the JBT (my mum came up with the nickname the John Butler Trio which I love [and better discuss with Dave!]). Who knows if he will work away when they are born but I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For the moment, I’m just excited to be able to spend some time together and watch these babies grow!

The waiting game

I’ve been having vivid dreams lately and so the fact that our 10-week scan is one week away has been haunting me at night. I dreamt last night that only 3 babies showed up on it and all I could think was what happened to the fourth??? I guess dreams magnify your fear and anxiety as they would your excitement and hope. Before I found out I was pregnant and in the early stages before we knew about the qauds, I already had dreams about triplets. Perhaps it was because I knew there had been three follicles floating around. It worries me though as, as amazing as triplets would be, I hope it’s not an omen that one of our babies isn’t going to make it through.

The waiting game is hard. It’s like counting down the days until Dave gets home but magnified on steroids. It’s fear, anxiety and worry mixed with excitement, hope and possibility. I try and prepare myself for the worst but I can’t help but imagine they are all growing nice and strong and supporting one another. I don’t want to be negative but I also don’t want to go in there totally unprepared and get a shock. It is all-consuming at the moment, especially now that Dave is away for the next three weeks. I find it hard to do “normal” things and have become a bit of a hermit of late. But, in saying that, I have a fair few outings over the next four days so maybe that will be a good thing and distract me a little!

I have to admit I have always wanted twins, and when we went in for our first ultrasound I was scared I might only see one heartbeat (as ridiculous as that sounds)! Now that I know there’s in fact four heartbeats, I’m shit scared I won’t see all of them. Plus, the sonographer scares me a bit too- I don’t want to hear another person say we should terminate any of them just to reduce unwanted possibilities. I don’t want to be another bad statistic. I want us to beats all odds and risks and have amazing little bright and healthy babies born over 30 weeks and I know Dave and I will do everything in our power to get there. That’s what gets me through the nausea, the bloating, the fatigue and the moodiness. I know it’s all for an awesome cause and what a lucky person I am to be experiencing all of this! After all, how many people get to say they are eating for five? 🙂