almost 22 weeks!!

How exciting! Tomorrow I'll be 22 weeks!! It won't be too long before the doctors will finally consider our little ones to be real patients! I was so tired after the Monday test results that I've sort of been half asleep ever since. But I feel a bit better now. So, the general pattern here is Sunday - start tests, Monday - permission test result day, Wednesday - celebrate another week passing day!!! (my favorite). Father Jack came to visit yesterday and we had a long talk - well I was entertained while he talked mostly. He's so neat - always moving - always happy about something. He brought a really soft prayer blanket that was blessed and gave it to me so I've enjoyed it. It's amazingly warm and comforting - he said it was so I could "wrap myself in prayer". It seems to work - I've decided the babies enjoy it as well - we've all been napping quite a bit between baby "C" kicking me every so often in search of food - ha - that one's been a kicker from the get go. The others are a bit more passive and always so curled up together that they probably haven't left themselves room to really kick effectively. I feel them roll quite often though which as my belly gets bigger is becoming more of a task for them it seems. I think I have another specialist visit next Thursday as they usually wait 2 weeks between measurements so that'll be a big day. I'll keep everyone posted until then.

Permission granted...

So the staff here officially thinks I'm funny - I asked the nurse this morning if she knew if I had permission to stay pregnant for another week. I caught her off guard. I asked if she could discuss my labs with me as it was 10:30, I hadn't slept very well and was nervous when the doctor didn't show up this morning as promised to discuss them. She agreed to review them with me and patiently went over my newest numbers. The protein level that sort of got me admitted in the first place was up a little but not to the extent that it was on admit. My liver function and platelets are within normal limits. Apparently my uric acid level was a bit high? - Hadn't heard that they were watching that one but I suppose it makes sense with my questionable kidney function. So, final verdict: I am allowed one more week of pregnancy!!! Until next Sunday...

The doctor stopped only for a minute to tell me that my labs were stable, then rushed off - he had just come from surgery and said he'd be back this evening. So, I may have more information then. Will of course keep everyone posted. Love to all...hugs, kisses and kicks from the babies!!

A little Q and A

So, because I don't really have any medical news today - other than my insane blood pressure seems to have calmed itself a bit more, I decided to answer a few of the frequently asked questions we get...if you have any others, I'll be happy to make another post. I don't mind the curiosity - really - we're all family now!

1. Do you know the sexes of the babies? no, Brent and I made a decision early on not to find out what the sexes are. I reconsidered a bit in light of recent events and brought it up again, but we still decided to be left in the dark. What an amazing (though quite trivial) surprise it will be on delivery day - which WILL BE AT LEAST 6 or more weeks away right?

2. Did you have in vitro? Actually, the number of people who asked this sort of surprised me - especially when it was people I didn't even know - like the checkout person at the grocery or the teller at the bank. It was a bit frustrating at first, but I've tried to get used to it. People are just curious...so in answer, NO, we did not have in vitro.

3. Were you surprised and what did Brent say? Surprised? yes, very. I didn't really say too much during my first trimester actually and I felt like I had a constantly perplexed look on my face. Brent really seemed to take the news much better than I. He's been absolutly wonderful throughout - even now when I know he must be just as scared and preoccupied as I am but is still carrying on with our home and his job - and trying to support me.

4. Do triplets run in the family? no, not at all.

5. How are you feeling? let's see, exhausted mostly, scared, sad, lost, determined, hopeful, needy, never defeated though - not for one second

6. You must hate being on bedrest. Ok so that's not really a question but I'll give a response anyhow. Overall, it's been a bit easier for me to be here as I was spending an awful lot of time before in labs and waiting rooms and driving about to get to my various appointments. This way, they all have to come to me. I wasn't allowed to really do any more at home than I am here actually so at least this way, some of the responsibility for my day to day care is put off on the nurses and staff at the hospital and I don't have the constant threat of being admitted to deal with each time I see a doctor. So, whatever I need to do to keep the little ones safe, honestly, I'm glad to do it.

7. Is your house ready? Ready? not even close. I haven't been able to really do anything since I found out I was carrying triplets so actually it's a bit of a mess. However, these babies won't come out walking so as long as there's a place for them to sleep, running water, and a ridiculous supply of diapers, all else can wait.

8. Can you have visitors? That's a more difficult question for me. Although I'd love to see everyone all the time, visits are really hard for me and with my erratic blood pressure, I try to keep the room as quiet as possible. I need tons of sleep - honestly, I'm not really awake all that often and I get out of breath easily so email is really the easiest. I have occasional visitors but people usually stay about 20 minutes or so before I start getting tired again so if you're around town and would like to stop in, you're welcome to do so but please don't make a special trip.

9. How much weight have you gained? haha - I am surprisingly unoffended by that - I tried to become just as obsessed with gaining the appropriate amount of weight in a healthy way as I was with a generally healthy lifestyle prior to getting pregnant. So, in answer - 40 pounds right now. I should gain up to about 75 depending on length of gestation. ( I must admit though, I am looking forward to getting back into some sort of gym and yoga routine as soon as my doctors release me to do so).

10. Is there anything you need? I'm quite well taken care of - the outpour of prayers and support have been humbling overwhelming and so very appreciated. There isn't anything specific though I must admit that Brent and I are not the best at asking for help (we are working on that). He tells me baby gifts are still arriving at the house. Everyone's generosity has been more than we could ever ask for. Right now, my only focus is to draw this pregnancy out as long as possible.

Please send me any other curious questions you may have - I'll answer them in these blogs as best I can. Again - thanks so much. Test results tomorrow...

better day

I got some sleep last night (finally). My next door neighbor who seems to have trouble at about 3am routinely had a quiet night as well (or she's not there). Anyhow, a bit better this morning. Woke up to (I think) hiccups from baby C which spread quickly to baby A and made me giggle. It took me awhile to figure out what the dull jolting was though. They settled rather quickly and I had my morning breakfast number 1 while waiting for morning breakfast number 2 followed by AM snack - ha! I'm still well stocked with some favorite fruits and vegetables which is nice as the meals here (I will resist the urge to go into a rant about hospital food) come rather unpredictably (in both time and quality). I won't have much news over the weekend - but may come up with a story or 2. I'll have some on Monday though as my tests will be resulted then.

Brent and I also had a nice visit from one of my nursing school classmates who I'd emailed about my stay. She works in the NICU here and dropped in to say hello. Apparently, I am the other (earlier) set of triplets here now until the babies are born- there are 2 of us mass producing mommies! She was comforting and supportive and I am as always so thankful.

hanging in there

I've had a bit of an off day today. I haven't been able to sleep well for the last 2 nights, napped too much during the day and gotten a bit muddled in my mental schedule. My blood pressure seems to be rising again - it's hanging around 140 over 90 since yesterday. I just spoke with my primary doctor who has decided not to change my meds right now out of concern for placental perfusion (the placentas are used to a certain pressure, dropping mine too low would cause blood to shunt away from them and reduce circulation for the babies). So, lack of sleep, feeling nervous about the tests pending for Sunday and Monday, I've had as I said a bit of an off day. I suppose it doesn't help that the weather is poor outside - I have a large window in my room and at my doctor's insistence, the blinds are open everyday which helps morale most of the time.

This is all very difficult for me - having absolutely no control at all. I am so used to fixing things for people. If there is no cure for their illness, I try to make their day better in some way. It occured to me today that the medical practitioners seem to know less about preeclampsia than cancer - such a discerning feeling. My doctor remains incredibly emapthetic which is nice. Sometimes he looks almost as frustrated as I do with the lack of available action. I thought this link might help for those who are interested. I think wikipedia was the other spot I found a good description. At any rate, it's interesting. http://www.preeclampsia.org/

Again, all of the support is so appreciated. The babies have been very active today which has been fun. I can feel them kick from the outside now - only with the big kicks or rolls though. Thank you for all of the feedback - glad to know this blog thing works and you all are able to stay informed. Will update again soon.

unexpected perinatology visit

Dr. St. Amant - the one perinatologist made an unexpected trip to my room today. His bottom line was rest rest and more rest, cautious optimism and prayer. (those were his actual suggestions). He said he wouldn't change anything about my care but feels that I was probably under-treated for hypertension from the start. Currently, however, I am stable and he said that he doesn't see any reason why I can't be the one to surprise all of the doctors and make it to 30 weeks. He'll see me again and measure the babies when I'm 23 weeks as they aren't considered viable until 24 weeks so even if something was wrong with them, there's really nothing they can do anyhow. He is concerned about the one that measured smallest but said there was room for error with measurements and the amniotic fluid around the babies looks good. (with preeclampsia and multiples, there is always a chance that one or more of the babies will just stop growing).

I'm still trying to grasp this thing preeclampsia. They don't seem to treat symptomatically and it's considered a disease process but none of the symptoms - or processes are interlinked which I find rather confusing. Dr. St. Amant said that it's just been here since the beginning of time - no known cause and therefore no decisive treatment but if it looks as if my life is in danger they will reccommend delivery regardless of gestational age. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep the prayers going!! Forever appreciative.

Photos through 16 weeks and baby shower

These are my belly photos through 16 weeks - that's all I have on this laptop so I'll have to start from there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HeatherBowe/ItSNotMeItSTheBabiesBelly?authkey=Gv1sRgCKfGmMb_9fmyoQE&feat=directlink

These are most of the baby shower photos - thank goodness it was so early (at 19 weeks) I was put in the hospital a little more than a week later!

http://picasaweb.google.com/HeatherBowe/BabyShower?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrWn-beruzvAw&feat=directlink

21 weeks today!!!

The most amazing thing to wake up to - knowing that I've made it through another week with babies in tow. My blood pressure was a fabulous 117/77 this morning - the lowest it's been, well, since before nursing school I'll bet! Finally, it's SHOWER DAY today!!! So, the story about the showers - I am allowed to use the actual bathroom all the time (they actually considered not letting me even do that) and I can shower ever few days. Ha - for a person that would bathe 3 times a day if offered and sit in a bathtub for hours, this is HUGE! Brent laughed when he heard about the restrictions saying, "I have no doubt that you can handle the rest of it, but the showers, oh my!" My mom said the same. I said," if it gives me more time with this pregnancy, I won't shower for the rest of it (but someone better bring me some baby wipes or something)!" So, whatever they are doing, it seems to be working and I'm not going to mess with the plan. Even the doctors admit that they don't really understand my sudden turn around. I am only appreciative - and I enjoy my showers more. My last labs were drawn yesterday and I will have another set done on Sunday and Monday and probably see the specialist again then. Yesterday's labs remain stable. My anemia is a little better and my liver function remains normal. My platelets looked good as well (they are worried about the development of HELLP syndrome). So, that's the update for today. I'll see if I can figure out how to post some photos on here - I ave my belly photos to 18 weeks or so - it'll be harder to take them now, but I'll see what I can do. Tata and Happy Wednesday!!!

First post...

I've finally given in and decided to start a blog - I'm hoping this is a much easier way to update our friends and family on the babies. Please be patient as I have never claimed computer literacy!! (I am also typing on a laptop while lying on my left side which is and will be my prescribed position until the babies are born - hopefully at least 2 months away). What a journey this has been - and what a surprise each new day is. Contrary to what people think, I'm actually not really bored - I spend lots of time reading, emailing and most importantly eating and sleeping. Week one has been full of ups and downs as I'm sure the rest of the weeks here will be. I try to relax, keep things in perspective and stay centered and thankful for each moment I get to spend with my little ones. I am humbled each day by the outpoor of prayers and support we've received - even from people we haven't met! I tell the babies each day how we all want to meet them when they are big and strong, how loved they are and how lucky I am to have them. Sometimes I even get a few swift kicks in response! I'll be posting regularly I hope with any new information. Please check this site for all updates and of course my email is always available heatherbowe@gmail.com. Again we are so thankful for everyone's well wishes, prayers and unending support.

Love, Heather, Brent and the babies!