Little Happies

Things have been going well as far as the pregnancy is concerned. We had an appointment with perinatology last Monday and they noted no change in my cervix and a healthy baby with a great heart beat. The Dr. we saw was new to the group (since the triplet pregnancy) so I'd not met him prior. He was nice - as nice as a perinatologist can be...bless their hearts those men are some of the most sullen individuals I've ever seen - down trodden, sullen, dry, and straight to the point. I actually appreciate the last part though.

It was nice to have a new set of eyes on my chart. We discussed my history - again - and he seemed well versed on all of my past issues. For him, it all boiled down to the fact that it was a higher order multiple pregnancy. The outcome still warranted increased monitoring - because certainty is a luxury we just don't have (umm do we every in medicine???) - but right now, things are going great in all areas. He explained that an incompetent cervix would begin changing during weeks 16 through 20 - at least slight changes would typically be noted during this time. My monitoring would pick this up and intervention would be indication should any changes occur (intervention = cerclage). Last week and today (we went to my regular OB today) there were no cervical changes noted.

Furthermore, my blood pressure is still behaving beautifully. I am having a full baseline pre-eclampsia work up done this week. This will offer values to compare future labs to so that change in kidney and liver function can be detected. I'm pretty sure I need to post a pic of my special friend - the "gas can", pee bucket I get to store my wee in for 24 hours - geez - it makes me feel like I'm exhibiting symptoms of dementia to save my own pee in the fridge. Honestly. Anyhow, I'll get to a pic later...

Things are currently looking so great that I get a week off next week - no cervical ultrasound. Then I am due for another peri visit the following week and an OB visit after that - we all family now! I joke that I should just apply for a job in the office so I can get paid to sit there for hours on end. They are great though - the ultrasound tech came back to the office just for me today as there was a mix up on appointment times and I was scheduled in the afternoon after he'd already left. Nice fix - and it means I don't have to go BACK and sit another day this week.

Speaking of ultra sounds....a never before blogged little sneak peek... at our sweet darling...

The Suga Bean!! (in the first, you can just see his/her little feet snuggled up at the far left)






Stew on that a bit - will be back with holiday stories and pics after a rest or 2...a HUGE and gracious thank you for the thoughts and prayers now and throughout this pregnancy. I wrap my sweet baby in love - both yours and mine - every second of every day. We are so humbly and eternally grateful.

xo,
Heather

Sick days

While both David and Mary Louise seem much much better on this - day 3- of their bout with the "super snots", Mary Louise still sounds pretty bad as far as congestion and was up from 2:30 until about 5:30 this morning. David was up at 6am (or a bit before - Brent watched him while getting ready for work) so she and I have had about as much sleep as we did during their newborn days...ok - their newborn days were totally worse concerning sleep than last night - but I'm tired just the same and counting the minutes until I can justify asking them to go "night night" again.

What are we doing to pass the time inside?? Anything we can think of really - but remember, these kids LOVE their outside time. We did escape yesterday afternoon for a little while when I walked them around the block and put in a couple of miles. It wasn't too hot so they did well and seemed to appreciate the fresh air. I cancelled their therapy yesterday - we'll start up again next week with the private sessions and David will have his home session on Friday.

David has an occasional cough and spiked a low-ish temp this morning, but I'd expect his temp to resolve today and the runny nose to clear slowly over the next week or so. He seems to be feeling well overall - as long as he rests, etc. His appetite has been pretty good too - goodness knows that string bean can't afford to drop weight!

Mary Louise is still pretty congested in her upper chest - but is improving. Last night, she needed to sit up for awhile to clear it and sleep more comfortably - even with meds, and a humidifier with camphor and eucalyptus. It was just a rough night but I'm very thankful she doesn't seem to be getting worse and her fever has stayed at bay since last evening. I'd expect a funky cough and runny nose over the next 7-ish days for her as well. She's had some pretty bad reflux flares again with all of the extra mucous - and her appetite was HORRIBLE for the first day and a half but she's agreed to eat a little periodically since yesterday.

In the meantime, I'm doing all I can to catch up on dusting, vacuuming and mopping around here - as well as washing all of the linens. I don't want dander or dirt to exacerbate their breathing issues and I certainly don't want the "sickies" hanging out in our sheets, etc. (and yep - I have new toothbrushes at hand as well). Of course the vacuuming is much much easier said than done. I have a little sweeper that I can use - but the "big vacuum" can only be taken out if someone else is here to either do the work or watch the kids. Poor Mary Louise is absolutely petrified of that machine. I once tried to push the envelope and vacuum a throw rug - seriously, and 8 by 10 area - very quickly and she got so upset she burst the blood vessels in her nose and started shaking as if I'd put her in a pile of snow. Yep - that bad...

Anyhow, the fun we've had this morning was painting...nails that is: Mary Louise and David (yes, David - calm down, it comes off - don't act like putting color on a nail somehow effects testosterone levels) - besides, he only let me do one nail, in navy blue no less, then promptly stuck that finger up his nose and tried to use my nail file as a sword. All boy that one...

His one blue nail:


Her red sparkles (good gracious, my dad would throw a fit about this!):

of course we did the piggies as well - a little sloppy but the excess will wash off in a good bath - and honestly, how long do you think this will last on this rough and ready chickie anyhow?? (again, I'll vacuum down here this evening - please excuse the blegh)


Showing me their painted jewels while answering questions on Super Why - P.S. they have finally given Mary Louise an official name: Meese (or Meez - not sure how to spell that one). David is always ALWAYS translated to "Dae Dae". So if you ask for their names, those are the answers you'll get.



Mary Lousie kept her "pinky up" for about an hour post painting (because a little more sass is exactly what that child needs right?)...then was running around and tumbling with her nose pickin' bro once more.

Here's to a little more healing, and little less snotting, and a whole lot more rest!

xo,
Heather

No in between

Once again there are no "just snotty noses" in this house. When things go south in the health department, it happens quickly, furiously and seriously. Mary Louise and David were just fine - dancing and begging to go to the park and play just a little longer one afternoon. The next morning, Mary Louise sounded extremely congested and I heard a very slight wheeze in her upper chest. David was snorty and snotty and both had rising temps. We visited the pedi office yesterday and they did some blood work to confirm the bacterial infection(s): bronchitis and sinus infections all round. We started the loading dose of their antibiotics yesterday along with an expectorant for the mucous and an anti-inflammatory for fever.

They did relatively well last night all things considered - waking a few times - but just to whine and roll over, snuggle or want drinks. Mary Louise has certainly been hit the hardest.

They seem to be "getting rid" of some of the congestion today and their fevers are there but not quite as furious. So I think they are in the very beginning of mending. We are certainly taking it very easy today - and staying as quiet as possible by reading a mountain of books, doing puzzles and watching PBS...yeah. TV. They really like Elmo, Dinosaur Train and love to participate in Super Why activities. We try not to do this everyday, but really, if they learn their letters and want to read more because some cartoon or character on TV makes it look more fun, I'm ok with that.

My ultrasound yesterday went really well. My cervix remains unchanged and tightly closed. Length is still over 4cm. The baby is doing well - and we can actually find out the gender at this point...though we won't...but it's fun to know that quite literally everything is there in a tiny 4 to 5 inch perfect little bundle.We saw the facial profile, a tiny nose, fingers and toes, and lots of wiggles and flips. Apparently our baby is "extremely active" according to all of the ultrasound techs we've seen so far (3). (sound familiar to anyone besides me?? hmm?? *cough* Mary Louise and David?? *cough*)

We start p17 shots next week. I have my filled script here at the house and can do them at home - yay. A self  inflicted intra muscular injection? woot woot. Why not? Hopefully I can stave off the illness around here and keep the excitement at a nice minimum.

We go back to the perinatologist early next week, then begin preliminary pregnancy labs the following week - who wants to let out some cheers for saving your own pee for 24 hours!!? anyone? anyone? (I know Brent totally does!) More on that later...but not much more... I'm pretty sure you've just heard all you every didn't want to hear about a 24 hour urine collection. ha.

So happy and thankful things are still going well with Suga and loving the extra snuggle time with my tiny snotters.

Oh! Suga is about 4 ounces in weight now! - a whole quarter of a pound!! Right on track with heartbeat as well at 158. Head and abdomen are measuring appropriately - about 2 days ahead of schedule but during the second trimester, it is normal to fluctuate in gestational age and measurements collected during ultrasounds. Also, the placenta is well (and properly) implanted, aging normally and functioning well. My amniotic fluid is at a great level too. That's the Suga Bean run down for now!

xo,
Heather

My Be bopper

Mary Louise and David love music - especially something you can dance to. I loved it when she would let me put her hair in the little "Cindy Lou Who" do on top of her head. It would wave and bop with her little noggin. They still sit rear-facing in their car seats (don't judge - they'll sit that way until they really complain - or I suppose we'll have to turn them if the third car seat won't fit properly - we'll see.) I have mirrors above the seats so that I can glance and check on them every so often - and so that they can see me in my rear view mirror too. Many MANY times, we'll get in the car, I'll tune in some fun music, check my mirror to see them and to back out of the drive, and this is what I see...



It really makes me giggle every. single. time.

xo,
Heather

14 weeks!

I think Mary Louise gets more excited than I do about taking new belly photos! Below was totally her doing - I asked Brent to take a couple of photos of my belly and Mary Louise said, "Momma? Bel-yee?? Momma? My bel-yee?


and without further ado - happy 14 weeks Suga!!




(David also gets quite excited about belly photos - and if you've followed from our humble beginnings, Lizzie is a constant in them as well.)

I'm feeling well - tired of course - but generally well. My right hip was almost constantly bothering me. Kuylen dropped there during his last few days in utero and as soon as my ligaments began to stretch once more, the pain came right back. I've done some yoga and stretching and I've had to take days off of walking and reduce my mileage considerably to get it to subside. But it has and I'm feeling better. My blood pressure continues to behave staying under the golden 120/80. (most of the time well under). Again, this is to be expected and my b/p should remain relatively low throughout the second trimester. During the third is when it would typically creep back up to normal and in the case of pre-eclampsia (please. no.) it would exceed "normal".

I feel little kicks and flips pretty often now - multiple times daily. Wild fun - it's very different with one vs. 3 little swimmers!

I'll have another cervical ultrasound this week then make my way to the peri's the following week.

I also begin meetings to discuss and plan the potential transfer of David's home speech services to the elementary school system after his 3rd birthday. (gasp!) I can't believe they'll be 3 so very very soon!!!

xo,
Heather

Such a fun age

So I am totally and hopelessly in love with Mary Louise and David's age. They are learning so much and surprise me everyday with how quickly they can change, mature, and understand their surroundings. We've been busy busy busy - which honestly is not anything different - but lately, we've been the fun sort of busy. Between the speech therapy sessions (by the way, Mary Louise cried and stomped her feet when it was time to go after the last one...I haven't broken the news to her that she'll soon be discharged but I'm preparing for the door slamming and throwing of dolls when she finds out! - and yes I did say she'll soon be discharged!!!!!!! The tentative plan is to do so by this year's end!), we have been frequently visiting the area parks and have stopped in at the Children's Museum here in town too...

Mary Louise on the fire truck display at the Children's Museum. This is just one of her "cheese faces".


and this is another - at the park:


Mary Louise and David have also been doing really REALLY well working together and getting along. The other day at the park, neither of them wanted me to push them on the tire swing - nope - they wanted to be pushed by one another and were more than happy to take turns!


They have started to demand (err, ask for) what they want or need and by golly, if I don't answer immediately, they'll repeat themselves as many times as it takes. I love to hear their thoughts and whims...



Their new favorite ways to slide:



(tell me they don't look unbelievably grown up...)



Their balance and agility has been improving as well. Toe walking, while still and issue, is on the decline:


We've also done a few small projects. Mary Louise and David LOVE painting and have become our little modern artists as of late:


They loved coming with me to choose frames and mats, then seeing their work "all fancy Momma!" after their paintings were secured and placed on this mantle.

The rest of the park photos:

2011-11-11

Mary Louise and I doing silly self portraits while David was napping one day:

2011-11-04

My cervical ultrasound for the week was on Tuesday. In case you're wondering, (I've gotten a number or messages about it), these ultrasounds are done externally unless the position of the baby prevents proper viewing. I have to say though, if the threat of  "the wand" comes up again, my dear docs may have a bit of a problem on their hands because I'm pretty sure I'd do a few back flips to try to coax little one into moving before allowing (uhem) things to get all up in my girly space again...Of course we took measurements of the Suga Bean as well. My cervix appears to be absolutely unchanged since 2 weeks prior at my regular OB office. My doctor wanted to compare Tuesday's scans to ones done with the same equipment by the same tech. He actually got a measurement of .1 cm longer this Tuesday. Since my cervix obviously isn't growing, this difference is considered negligible. So the measurement, as it stands now, is between 4.2 and 4.34cm in length. I will continue with these weekly measurements and begin P17 shots during week 15.

The baby was exactly where he (she) should be as far as length. Growth had gone from 2 to about 4 inches in just 2 weeks! The heartbeat was great -exactly on track - and we could see tiny hands and feet as he "danced" and wiggled about. It was wonderful!

Otherwise, the week has gone pretty well - but for Wednesday night when Mary Louise thought it best to have a 2am party session that ended in me (finally) getting up and rocking her to sleep between 3 and 4. So not cool. The upside though was that I somehow talked both kids into napping Thursday mid morning - then again today!! This has been unheard of in recent weeks and I've spent many an afternoon begging Mary Louise and David to play by the sofa or bring me books to read to them so that I could lie down for just a few minutes. So, as long as the napping streak lasts, I'll take it.

14 weeks on Sunday!!!!

xo,
Heather