25 week update & the final decision on the names!

Wednesday we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Koster and everything went great. My cervix is doing great at 4.0 cm! The babies look wonderful and are all measuring about a week ahead. They all have excellent fluid around them, great heart rates and all their measurements are right on track. I was so anxious to have their measurements done again because I knew they must have been in the middle of a big growth spurt based on the amount of growing I had done in the past week.

Baby A (boy) - HR 144 BPM, weight 1 pound 13 ounces
Baby B (girl) - HR 165 BPM, weight 1 pound 12 ounces
Baby C (girl) - HR 141 BPM, weight 1 pound 14 ounces

I can't believe they all weigh almost 2 pounds! I have almost 6 pounds of baby in me! It's crazy how rapidly they are all growing. I have sono pictures, but I can't scan them right now because of the bedrest restrictions. Either Craig will do it later, or we will set up the scanner in the living room with the laptop so I can do it. I will try to get them on here soon.



We got a little clarification regarding the bedrest and I am so glad we asked because Koster's response encouraged me tremendously. We asked if I could get out of the house any for Christmas or church and she said it was fine to go to someone's house as long as I stay off my feet. Also, she said church would be okay because we have the wheel chair. I still can't do anything around the house or anywhere for that matter, but I am so excited to hear that I can leave my house from time to time. Especially with Christmas being near, I don't want to be cooped up here during this time. Of course, all of this is subject to change if my contractions come back stronger or my cervix shortens, I could wind up in the hospital again.

On a different note... we made the final decision on the names of the babies. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.



Their first and middle names are:

Tyler Craig
Hannah Michelle
Whitney Nicole

We are so excited to have their names picked out and the nursery finally complete.

My home away from home...the hospital

Our Thanksgiving went great and we were having a wonderful weekend until Saturday night. I wasn't feeling very well; my belly was very tight and I was having shooting pains in my back. We called the doctor and she advised us to come in just to check things out. So, we headed to the hospital at 10:30 pm and when we got there, they hooked me up to monitors to check the babies heart rates and to check for contractions. The monitoring process was very difficult to accomplish because the babies are still so small, they can still move around a lot. The goal is to monitor them all simultaneously for 20 minutes, which is virtually impossible. After they got all the monitors in place, we saw that the babies looked fine but I was definitely having contractions every 3-5 minutes! They told me I had to stay the night for monitoring, gave me procardia to help control the contractions and ambien to help me sleep as well as relax my uterus. And man was the ambien great! It was so nice to be relaxed enough to sleep deeply for a change.

The next morning, we were moved from labor and delivery to the anti-partum area. My contractions had gone from every 3-5 minutes to about every 8 minutes. My doctors were glad to see the medicine working, but wanted to see the contractions further apart, so in the early afternoon, we were told we would be staying a second night. Throughout the day Sunday, my contractions got much better, only coming every 20, 30 minutes...and occasionally an hour or more apart. Later that afternoon, I was wheeled over to Koster's office for a sonogram and cervical check. Everything looked great, so we were told that if everything continued to go well with the contractions for the duration of the day and night, we would go home on Monday on complete bedrest.

We had several visitors that day...Craig's parents stopped by, my mom came by and my brother and his wife came by. It was so nice to have visitors; it doesn't take long to start feeling like you are in a prison in the hospital.

Monday, they did more monitoring and Nivens came by to talk to me; the babies were still doing great as well as my contractions, so I was discharged around noon that day. My doctors now want to see me twice a week, once to Koster and once to Nivens office. I can't drive anymore, so we will have to line people up to help us get me to all these doctor's appointments. Now, I am home on complete bedrest. About the only thing I can do is take a shower and get up for bathroom breaks.

Ever since we got home, Craig has been working like crazy researching which laptop would be best for our needs. He found one and has been working on getting everything set up so I could have something to help maintain my sanity and to keep me connected to the outside world. It has been very busy for him these past 5 days taking care of me. He goes back to work tomorrow (Thursday) and I am sure he is ready to get back to work to get a break...a much needed break.

The whole experience was very scary. I freaked out a little when they told me I was having so many contractions even though I was prepared for this and knew it was very normal with a triplet pregnancy. Being in the hospital wasn't fun, but in a way, I am glad it happened because by watching the monitors and seeing when I was having a contraction, helped me have a better understanding of what a contraction feels like. These are pre-term contractions, so they are not painful and very difficult to detect. Being in the hospital also helped give me peace of mind regarding the whole hospital experience. I have been very worried about being in the hospital, having the c-section etc, but now I have a better understanding of what kind of care I will be getting and it helped me tremendously.

Thank you to all of you who called and came by and thank you for offering to help with chores, running errands and providing meals during this time. We appreciate your help and prayers!

Happy Viability - 24 weeks!

As of Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), we officially reached viability. What a nice way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day! I can definitely tell that these babies are growing very rapidly this week. I have gained 8 pounds in the past week!!! I have a much bigger appetite and have been feeling my ligaments stretching. I think I forgot to mention in my last post, but at my 23 week appointment, Nivens said I look I am about 35 weeks pregnant! The babies are kicking up a storm! :) It is funny... I'll talk to them and get on to them when they kick me. :) Mommyhood is kicking in already I guess.



My next appointment with Nivens is Monday and I have my first glucose test. Please pray that all goes well with that. Then, we have our next growth check with Koster on Wednesday.

We had our CPR class the other night and it was a very good class. I liked how we got so much hands on experience with the dolls, rather than just watching a video or listening to them tell us how to do it. We learned CPR and the Heimlich on infants, children and adults. We also discussed different safety measures and had a quick lesson on carseats. I feel so much better about knowing what to do in case of an emergency.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at our house this year. My Mom, two brothers, their wives and kids came over. We had yummy food and just enjoyed each others company visiting and watching the football game. Lacy really enjoyed the day also; she got to play with her little cousins, (Bear and Kodiak) Les & Kim's dogs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all! Last week was pretty much the same...uneventful, which is good. I didn't do too much all week and the babies are still doing great.

We had maternity pictures taken. My brother, sister in law and their three kids came out to our house to take some shots of us. Thanks so much Kevin and Jill! It was fun playing "dress-up" and getting my picture taken, but very tiring at the same time. All the outfit changes and the awkward pose positions... :) I will try to post a few pictures on here when I get them.

My sister in law, Michaela came over one day to clean our house and visit. It was nice to have some girl time and visit for a while, and to have my house cleaned! THANK YOU MICHAELA! I could have never done it by myself.

My last doctor appointment went well. All four of us are doing wonderful. I got a little light-headed and queezy from laying on my back for so long getting my sonogram. The sonographer takes FOREVER. I didn't pass out though, so that was good. :) This week the babies weighed in at:

1 pound 6 ounces for baby boy A
1 pound 5 ounces for baby girl B
1 pound 5 ounces for baby girl C

I was glad to see our girls catching up to our son.



This is my newest eating station - my "high chair". Eating is becoming so difficult with my belly getting so big. This way, I can basically just shovel the food right into my mouth. LOL



We finished up the second half of our child birth classes this past weekend. It was much more informative than the first one was. We had a couple with 7 month old twins come in and talk to us and answer any of our questions. It was helpful to hear their story, watch them with their babies and ask questions, but it was also very overwhelming! We also took a tour of the hospital...we got to see the NICU, the nursery, the birthing rooms (for those delivering vaginally) and the recovery rooms. It was encouraging to see the hospital rooms and areas where we will be spending quite some time and to see how everything works. It was also kind of weird taking the tour because me and one other triplet mom were wheeled around the tour in wheel chairs. I felt silly, but I needed it after sitting in one position all day and walking around the hospital that late in the day would have been very hard for me.

Now, we just have one class left...the CPR and child safety class. I am really looking forward to this class because I know it will give me more peace of mind to know that I have some clue as to how to save my children's life if need be. Craig is already trained on all this stuff and goes through periodic training for his job. But, he will be coming with me anyway...never hurts to have a refresher course.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We are so thankful and blessed to have our three precious, healthy babies growing so well, and to have such wonderful family and friends supporting us. We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.

21 and 22 weeks

Notice my line above and below my belly button...

My 21 week appointment went well. Koster seems to think I will go a long way with these babies because the babies and my cervix look so great. This was basically just a cervical check appointment, so we didn't get all the measurements of the babies. She usually just does a quick check of their heartbeats and fluid. All looks great.

Baby A (our son) didn't want to cooperate for the camera this week, so I have no pictures of him, but his heart rate was 157. Surprisingly, it has been faster than the girl's heartbeats, which is odd, but she assures me he is a boy.

The girls both wanted their pictures taken this week; below are their pictures, with baby B being first. Baby B's heart rate was 147, baby C's heart rate was 148.





22 weeks....



Craig went with me to my appointment this week. We had two appointments, one with Nivens and one with Koster. The babies look wonderful and are very active, especially our son...Mr. Spunky. I nick-named him Mr. Spunky because he is always moving around and I can definitely feel him as of this week. I have felt little flutters from time to time over the past 4 or 5 weeks, but I wasn't sure if it was kicks...now I am sure! I am not feeling the girls kick yet...well, not for sure kicks. I am feeling things, but I just can't say for sure "that was a kick". Koster thinks the reason I can feel Mr. Spunky more than the girls is one, because he is bigger than the girls and two, because his placenta lies differently than the girls. The girls placentas are acting as an extra cushion between them and me. Lucky me!

Baby Stats:

Baby A (Mr. Spunky) - 1 pound 4 ounces - heart rate 158
Baby B - 1 pound 1 ounce - heart rate 147
Baby C - 1 pound 1 ounce - heart rate 144

Koster is still raving about how good I look and how good I am doing and she thinks I could very well make it to 34 or 35 weeks. My cervix is still very strong and long. Koster said I have a stronger cervix than a lot of mom's carrying singletons. She thinks I make carrying triplets look effortless... I was like "Huh? Are you kidding?" It isn't effortless, trust me! That is an encouragement to me because with this high risk, high order pregnancy comes a lot of stress!

We then went to see Nivens and it was good to talk to her again and get some of my questions answered. She seems to think I am doing excellent as well. My blood pressure is doing great, my weight gain is great...everything is going really well. She said it is about time to schedule the c-section, but first she needs to talk to Koster and set a realistic goal before setting the date. I just can't believe it is time to schedule it already. This pregnancy has gone by so fast, before I know it, our three precious babies will be here.

We almost have the second name picked out (it is a toss up between two names), so I will let you know what it is soon...stay tuned... (I sound like a news anchor) :) We just have to make the final decision on the second girl name and then find a boy name! Yay!

Baby A


Baby B


Baby C


Notice there is an extra set of feet at the top of this picture.

I didn't fall off the face of the earth!

Happy Friday all! I am alive! I think this is the longest I have gone without updating you, but life has been a little crazy the past few weeks.

I had another shower on Saturday, the 27th. It was a very nice shower, the hostesses did a beautiful job. We had a wonderful turn out. There were so many people there, I don't think the house could hold one more person! A funny story... It had been pretty cool that morning, so Jean (Craig's aunt) had turned all the air off and didn't remember to turn it on. It warmed up quite a bit in the afternoon, and with 50+ people in the house, you can imagine how warm it was. I kept saying things to different people about it being warm, but it wasn't until way later that Jean realized she had all the air off. Finally, they brought out a big fan pointed straight on me to help cool me off. I think because all eyes were on me, I was a little nervous, which also contributed to my oven temps. Jean, I hope this wasn't too embarrassing for you that I put this story on here, but this blog is my journal as well as a means for updating you all. I didn't want to forget that...it was too funny!

Thanks again to all the ladies who helped make this shower so wonderful. The food, punch, cake, fellowship and presents were great! We appreciate all the love and hard work you put in to make this shower so special for us, and we thank you all very much.



That same day, we had a Halloween party to attend. I was of course exhausted, but Craig really wanted to go, so we went and had a good time. We didn't really plan to dress up because we weren't sure if we would even make it due to the busy schedule that weekend. Since we did go, we made our own costumes this year. I was an oven with three buns in it and Craig was my chef. It was a cute idea Anna Marie thought of.



Of course, I didn't wear my costume very long. It was a little hard to move around much (not that I was doing much of that) or more importantly EAT!





Brian & Anna Marie aka the old lady and Oompa-Loompa



Sunday, the 28th, the ladies at my church threw us a shower. It was also very lovely and sweet. I was a little sappy at first because the ladies who host the shower have a tradition where they pray for us, the babies, their arrival, their future, their spouses...things like that, and it was so sweet to hear them praying for us and our babies well-being. We had a nice time opening presents and oohing and ahhing over everything; the desserts and punch were great as well as the fellowship and sharing of baby stories. Thank you all very much for coming and helping make the shower so special. We appreciate you all very much.