A little help from our friends (and family)

Whenever someone says, "Wow, triplets! How will you manage?" Joe and I tell them that we have an awesome support system and will have plenty of help. That has been proven to be 100% true already, and the babies aren't even here yet! Since I've been placed on bedrest, our family and friends have gone out of their way to help us out and cheer us up.

My mom comes over every weekend and helps with the housecleaning and laundry. Joe's mom has made and delivered countless meals and has shopped for comfy clothes for me. Joe's brother John has made it his mission to make sure I'm never without lunch. Our friends have been stopping by regularly (which is a huge gift in itself!) with books and magazines and delivering homemade meals and baked goods for us to enjoy. Just yesterday our friend Karen surprised us by having an Italian feast from our favorite restaurant delivered to us for dinner, complete with tiramisu for dessert, and my friend Kim stopped over with a gift of Beach in a Box, so on days when the couch isn't cutting it I can imagine myself relaxing on the warm sand.

We are so, so grateful to have such amazing family and friends taking care of us through all this. We truly appreciate it all!

21 Week Pregnancy Quiz

How far along: 21 weeks
Total weight gain: 46 lbs!
Maternity clothes: Mainly sweatpants, sweatshorts and T-shirts
Stretch marks: Luckily, no.
Sleep: Okay. I wake up every 2 hours or so, but it's better than the once-an-hour wake up I had going on just a few weeks ago.
Best moment last week: Finding a doctor that I have faith in and who has the philosophies I've been looking for.
Movement: I feel the babies the most when I first get in bed and am lying on my right side. Definitely some kicks.
Food cravings: I was going to say "nothing," but then remembered that I made Joe buy me Spaghetti-os with sliced franks this week, so I guess that counts.
Belly Button in or out: In. But as Joe noticed last week, close to being out.
What I miss: Still miss my sanity.
What I am looking forward to: Visits from my friends this week.
Milestones: I had my cerclage done! And we're one week closer to our first goal of 24 weeks.

Updated Baby Video

A little fun - Pregnancy Survey

About the Mommy!
Name: Brooke
Age: 28
Hair Color: Dark blonde
Eye Color: Blue
First Child: Yes

About the Daddy!
Name: Joe
Age: 30
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
First Child: Yes

Finding Out!!
What day did you find out?: January 26, 2009
How did you feel when you found out?: Thrilled, nervous and disbelieving
Who was with you?: No one - I got the call from my RE on my cell phone at work early in the morning
Who was the first person you told?: Joe
How did they react?: He was thrilled!

Telling the Grandparents!!!
How did your parents react?: We gave our parents and my sister Valentine's Day cards from the babies. Both my mom and sister yelled, "We knew it!!!" They were very excited.
How did his parents react?: Joe's mom opened her card and screamed. Then when she got to the triplets part she cried, "Triplets?!?! I always wanted triplets!" Joe's dad took a little longer to process it.
Are they helping with baby names?: No - we have our names already chosen.
Have they bought anything for the baby yet?: As far as I know my mother-in-law has bought a truckload of stuff but I have not seen it yet.
How often do they call to check on you?: Every day by phone or email.

About the Pregnancy!!!
When was your first appointment?: February 2nd
When is your due date?: October 5, 2009
How far along are you?: 20 weeks 6 days
Have you had any ultrasounds?: Um, about 21. Honestly.
Have you heard the heartbeat?: Yes, many times
What was the heartbeat?: Right now they are all in the 140s
Sex of the baby: 2 girls and 1 boy

About the birth!!
Do you know what you are taking with you?: Nope
Who is going to be with you?: Just Joe
Are you going to videotape it?: Hell no
Natural or Medicated?: Medicated, baby!
Do you think you will need a c-section?: I will definitely have a c-section
Will you cry when you hold your baby for the first time?: I'm sure
Do you think Daddy will cry?: Yes!
Do you know what you will say to the baby when you first hold him/her?: I'm thinking something along the lines of, "Thank God you are finally here and healthy."

Names!!
Do you have a name picked out?: Yes, but we are not really sharing
Is your baby going to be named after someone?: We are using several family ones for first and middle names

Other Random Questions!!
Have you felt the baby move?: Yes
What was your first symptom?: Nausea and hunger
Will your baby have God-Parents?: I don't think we'll be having a baptism
What is the baby’s room theme?: The bedding I like is called "Creme Brule" and is a simple cream/beige/gold pattern.
What was the first thing you bought for the baby?: An M&M onesie last summer. I've since sent my mother-in-law to Atlantic City, where I got it, to buy more so each baby can have one.
Will you cloth diaper?: No. I enjoy destroying the environment.
BFing or Formula?: Formula
What is your favorite pregnancy book?: Your Pregnancy Week by Week
What do you look forward to doing again once you are no longer pregnant?: Working out!! And drinking caffeine. And leaving the house.
What physical features do you hope baby will get from Daddy?: His kindness and likeability
What physical features do you hope baby will get from you?: My smile
Is he ready to be a Daddy?: Absolutely
Are you ready to be a Mommy?: Absolutely

I'm home!!

First of all, thank you to everyone for their prayers, thoughts, help, advice, etc. It's overwhelming how awesome all our friends and family are and it means a lot!! I have been home now for almost 3 hours and it's so good to be back. My couch missed me. And Roy. Roy missed me a little too. (When I got home Joe was trying to show me the new FTHS yearbook and Roy kept wedging himself between us and eventually wound up sitting ON the yearbook so I would look at him and not the book).

But so far, so good (fingers crossed). Now we just hang in there and hope the cerclage does it's job. We go back in 2 weeks for a checkup. We are very happy that we decided to have this done. I love, love, LOVE my new doctor and hospital (Dr. Houlihan at St. Peter's in New Brunswick). I agree 100% with his philosophies and he is very cautious and proactive. So right now I'm happy and I hope we have nothing but good news to report from here on out.

UPDATE #3

Hopefully, this will the be last time I have to post an update for everyone because...

BROOKE IS COMING HOME TOMORROW!!!! (assuming, of course, that no complications develop between now and then)

She woke up feeling much better today. The cramps were gone (ha! I luckily just caught a typo there-- I had originally written "the craps were gone," and I'm pretty sure Brooke would have murdered me if I had posted that) and she had some energy back. She ate breakfast and lunch, and by dinner time she was snacking on cookies, cakes, puddings, etc. Apparently, you can order multiple desserts with your dinner while at St. Peters Hospital.

There was another round of sonograms this morning and another check for contractions and the results of both were perfect. So far, no signs of any problems. Since the doctor said that the two weeks after surgery are the most important, we now have just twelve more days until we can relax (just a little). Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long twelve days?

We passed the day chatting, playing a half-assed game of Monopoly, and visiting with Lauren, who was kind of enough to stop by the hospital despite being quite pregnant herself.

Thanks everyone!

UPDATE #2

I’m happy to report that Brooke had the cerclage surgery today, and there were no noticeable complications. They were able to “push” the membrane of the amniotic sack back to where it should be and then stitch off the cervix, which will hopefully prevent it from shortening any more.

The surgery finally happened around six o’clock this evening and Brooke was in the recovery room before seven. She’s has had some really bad cramping and the two percosets haven’t been too successful in dulling it much. Hopefully, she’ll be able to sleep a bit and wake up to a pain-free stomach.

The good news is that the surgery worked and we are in a much better position than we were in just 24 hours ago. The bad news is that the risk of infection from the surgery is pretty high so we’ve got to be extremely wary for the next two weeks. Dr. Houlihan said that it will take two weeks without problems to be sure that there were no adverse effects from the surgery. So while we feel a lot lot lot lot lot lot better, we’re not out of the proverbial woods yet.

I’m home now as I’m typing this (11:43 p.m.) and Brooke just called me to report that, after I left the hospital, the nurses did some tests and heard each of the babies’ heartbeats and they all sounded just as strong as ever. It was also interesting (though not a good thing) that Brooke actually had a contraction after the surgery. They had told us this was likely to happen due to the drugs, Brooke had never felt one before. Luckily, it was just the one so there was never a concern that she was going to go into labor, but now she knows what it feels like for when the time does finally come—which will hopefully not be for at least another ten to fourteen weeks!

Brooke will be in the hospital for at least another full day. We asked about maybe being allowed to come home tomorrow night and Dr. Houlihan didn’t seem overly optimistic, but he also didn’t dismiss it altogether. But another day at the hospital to be monitored and cared for isn’t the worst thing in the world right now (though Brooke is going through some sort of withdraw from begin apart from her Roy-friend for so long).

Again, thank you to everyone for the constant barrage of messages, texts, emails, etc. Knowing we’re not alone has made this much easier for us both, and we’ve told the babies how lucky they are that so many people are going to want to meet them.

I’ll post again tomorrow night just to let you know how everything progresses.

UPDATE

Okay, this is my first post on this blog and it’s hardly how I pictured it. But it could be a lot worse. Here’s the update as of 9:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2009.

Brooke is still waiting for a room at St. Peters Hospital in New Bruswick. She’s in a room in their “P.E.T.” section but I have no idea what that acronym stands for. All I know is, that is the section of the hospital where they keep pregnant women who have medial issues (sort of an emergency room for expectant moms). They tell me that there’s a room waiting for her, but a this rate, it will be next week before she’s in it.

Today we had an ultrasound and saw, once again, that all the babies are healthy and active. We got more beautiful pictures of Baby A and Baby C, but B was too excited to settle down for long enough to take a good pic. Fortunately, yesterday’s ultrasound gave us possibly our best baby pic, and that was a pic of Baby B.

The ultrasound confirmed how short Brooke’s cervix has gotten, despite two weeks of bedrest. It was measuring at 1.2- 1.3 cm, which is way too short (I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about cervixes, vaginas, etc). Baby A’s (the boy) head is right up against it, pushing on the cervix and not exactly helping things out too much.

Here’s my VERY LIMITED understanding of things. If Brooke’s cervix keeps shortening at the rate it currently is shortening, she will go into labor in two weeks. The babies would only be 22 weeks and there would be no chance any of them would survive. Brooke’s OB told us to “wait and see.” Maybe the shortening would subside, she said. But if it didn’t subside on its own, we would lose the babies. Needless to say, this is just not good enough.

So off to St. Peters Hospital we went, knowing that they’re one of the top hospitals in the area for high-risk pregnancies. There we met Dr. Houlihan, who is a really nice, really proactive OB/MFM doc who was all for trying to stop the shortening before it gets worse. Doing so means it’s time for a cerclage (this is how I’m told it’s spelled, but it just looks wrong to me. The word is pronounced CIRC—LODGE).

Dr. Houlihan drew out a very helpful picture to explain to me what putting in a cerclage means. Basically, this will push the amniotic sack back up the cervix and then stitch the cervix so that it doesn’t shorten any more. But this is surgery, so there is a risk. There is a 5% chance that the sack will rupture during surgery and we will lose the babies. We decided that the 5% chance was worth the risk, since the alternative to do nothing would most likely have bad results.

We don’t know exactly when the surgery will take place because they will basically have to squeeze us in between planned surgeries and emergencies. Hopefully, it will be early on Wednesday. Brooke will have to be in the hospital for a couple days afterward, and then on pretty strict bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy, especially for the next two weeks. But if it gives our babies a chance….

A lot of people have contacted us via text, email, facebook, etc. to ask about how we’re doing and what’s the latest. To all of you, thank you. Your concern and your thoughts, prayers, wishes, hugs, and good vibes have been truly appreciated. Please keep them coming. I will post again tomorrow night to update everyone on how the surgery goes and how we make out.

Thank you everyone!

PS: If you need to impress someone, use the work salpingooverectomy. While I’m sure I’m spelling it wrong, it is pronounced SAL-PING-O-UUVER-ECTOMY. It is the doctor term for the removal of an ovary. It’s an unpleasant act but a damn fun word to say!

The lack of good news continues

My cervical length check today showed more cervical shortening, even after having been on bedrest for 2 weeks. This is not good news at all. At this rate we are at serious risk for delivering the babies before they are viable - we are only 20 weeks today. A procedure called a cerclage is available (they put a stitch in your cervix to attempt to keep it from shortening further) but neither my OB or MFM do the procedure. They feel that the risk is not worth the possible prevention of early labor and feel that I should just continue on bedrest and hope for the best. I disagree. I spoke with an MFM at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick who is pro cerclage in multiples pregnancies and Joe and I have an appointment there tomorrow. If I am a candidate, they will most likely admit me and do the procedure tomorrow. Please keep us in your thoughts. I really feel that this is what's best for our babies. I need to do something. I am their mommy and it is my job to protect them. I'm praying for some positive feedback tomorrow and some hope. We will keep everyone posted. Below are the ultrasound pictures from today, so you can all see who we are fighting for.

Baby A - our boy

Baby B - our girl, looking pretty

Baby C - little girl number 2

Me, at 20 weeks

19 Week Belly Pic

Try really, really hard not to be distracted by my sexiness, okay? I now lay on the couch all day and shower every other day, so this is as good as it gets most of the time ;)

Week 19 Pregnancy Quiz

How far along: 19 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Still haven't been weighed, which means I still don't have to think about it!
Maternity clothes: Now that I'm on bedrest, I wear a lot of sweats and t-shirts. I also love the maternity capris I got from Old Navy - so soft and comfy.
Stretch marks: Luckily, no.
Sleep: Eh. I did get a nice little nap in during Desperate Housewives last night, then had to rewind and watch what I'd missed. Um, then I promptly fell back asleep and had to rewind for a third time. Joe was less than pleased.
Best moment last week: Um... Well, I'm adjusting to bedrest. So last week I enjoyed the visits I got from family and friends.
Movement: I'm pretty sure I felt some kicks last night in bed! Either from Baby A or B. They were pretty distinct so I think they were kicks. It was exciting!
Food cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Although I did have Joe make me a big pan of banana split cake - mmmm! Nice job, babe!
Gender: Officially one boy and two girls!
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: Not being on bedrest
What I am looking forward to: Sunday, when my friends Lauren, Colleen and Sarah are coming over for lunch and to hang out.
Milestones: It's another week! I consider each one a milestone.

And now, a preview of what my life working from home is like. If your emails aren't answered in a timely fashion, here's part of the reason why (the other part is that I'm lying down and it IS hard to type in that position!)

The Curse of the 4th

So, I've determined that the 4th of each month is a bad luck day! Let's review. On March 4th I woke up in excruciating pain and ended up in the hospital having my right ovary and fallopian tube removed. On April 4th I had a bleeding episode that sent me to the ER. And yesterday, on May 4th my MFM appointment showed that my cervix has shortened to 2.4 and I was placed on bedrest. Damn you, 4th!!

But we'll start with the good news. The babies are doing awesome!! We are definitely having one boy and two girls. The boy is weighing in at 9 ounces and the girls are each 8 ounces. And they are perfect :) All are measuring right on track, their hearts are perfectly formed and they are active! In fact, Baby C was moving so much they could hardly measure her.

As for the bedrest, we knew it would happen eventually, as it is very common in triplet pregnancies, but I did think I'd have a few more weeks before it happened. Luckily we're not in a dire situation though. A cervix that gets too short can bring on pre-term labor and no one wants that. Mine is not dangerously short at 2.4, but it has shortened from 3.2 in the last few weeks. Bedrest can often prevent a cervix from shortening further, so here I am. I essentially need to be lying down or reclined at all times. I can get up to go the bathroom, grab something quick to eat and to shower every other day. I'm allowed to come downstairs once a day to lie on the couch and then go back up at night for bed. But that's it. Luckily it looks like I'll be able to work from home for awhile so hopefully that will keep me from getting too bored too soon.

It's disappointing to be on bedrest already, but all that matters is that I do what's best for the babies. We need to keep them in there as long as possible. I am also lucky to have the best husband in the world who is actually happy to wait on me hand and foot. So we'll make it! Grow, babies, grow! And everyone keep your fingers crossed for me when June 4th rolls around...

Week 18 Pregnancy Quiz

How far along: 18 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Since I haven't weighed myself or been weighed since the last time I did this quiz, we'll pretend my weight gain has stayed the same. Last night's Carvelanche may beg to differ though.
Maternity clothes: Oh yes. See awesome new tank top below.
Stretch marks: Luckily, no.
Sleep: Still kind of crappy.
Best moment last week: Registering! It was fun to pick out all the things we'll need!
Movement: I can definitely feel them sort of flopping around. Not all the time but usually at least once a day. In fact, I was just feeling one!
Food cravings: Still ice cream!! Thank you Joe, who came home with a GIANT Carvelanche last night that he called a "preventative measure" to keep him from having to go out for more ice cream tonight. And cheese fries are sounding really good right now....
Gender: Still thinking two girls and one boy but hope to have that confirmed today!
Labor Signs: No, no no!!!! (I may need to remove this question as it gets me all worked up)
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: My sanity
What I am looking forward to: My MFM appointment today. I can't wait to see the babies and hopefully find out that things are looking great!!
Milestones: We registered and picked out cribs!! Huge, huge steps!