17 weeks

Big week here in the Manning household.   We have been making strides toward preparing for modified bed rest.  Only three weeks away!  We've purchased a back pillow to make time spent in bed a little more comfortable and we got one of those breakfast-in-bed lap tables for me to eat meals and write on.  I stocked up on discount section books at Barnes & Noble, and made sure that I had plenty of scrapbooking goodies to keep me busy.  Next on the agenda is a subscription to Netflix and to a website where I can check out audiobooks for when my eyes get tired of reading.  I think I'm ready.  Well, as ready as you can be for spending four months doing absolutely nothing.

I asked Ryan to make me look skinny.  He didn't.

We're also well on our way to having our nursery completed before I go on bed rest and can no longer help.  Now that we know the genders of the babies, things are coming together very quickly.  We have purchased all of the baby bedding, I've been stocking up on clearance and discounted items and collecting coupons like a champion, and we have been able to finish our registry at Target.  The registry was a bit of a challenge.  It's hard enough putting together a registry when you're first time parents, but adding in the triplet factor complicates it further.  Also, it's hard not to think everyone in the aisle is staring at you like you're a greedy pig when you scan 10 3-packs of bottles or three different baby swings.  It kind of makes me want to wear a t-shirt that says, "Don't judge me, I'm having triplets."  But then I would have to add to the shirt, "No, I don't need your advice about the person you knew who had twins in 1976."  and other various disclaimers.  Then, after I got all of the disclaimers on the t-shirt, the font would be too small to read and I'd be back to square one.  I think I will just avoid going out in public from here on out.  Much easier.

The next three weeks are going to be big for us.  We will be trying to complete the nursery during that time period and prepare for bed rest.  Not to mention, we are making our trek back to KY to visit family and friends during the 19th week, just before bed rest begins.  During that time, we will be trying to catch up with all of the fabulous people we have missed and attending a baby shower hosted by the Illustrious Miss Lindsey Ransdell.  So excited.  Ok... so I think I've babbled about as much as I can about the happenings in our lives for the time being.  You're probably wondering what the heck we're having.  Well, on Thursday afternoon we had an ultrasound to make sure that the babies are all doing alright.  They are.  They're hearts are darn near beating in unison and they are all growing big and strong.  They were more active this trip then they've ever been, but our Ultrasound Tech was a rock star and she was able to tell us without a shadow of a doubt what the genders of our little ones are.

This is where each one of the babies are... and what they are!

16 Weeks

This week, we learned a lot about the babies and how my medical care is going to go throughout the pregnancy process.  First of all, we got a lot of test results back.  First is the Cystic Fibrosis screening test.  According to the test, I am not a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis.  This means that our children have very little chance of being born with the disease.  Also, we got the results of the Nuchal Translucency Screening.  This is the test that measures certain markers on the ultrasound and then plugs those numbers along with our ages and genetic histories into an algorithm to determine the risk of our children having chromosomal abnormalities.  According to this testing, Baby A has a 1 in 3,500 chance of being born with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), Baby B has a 1 in 6,800 chance and baby C has a 1 in 4,000 chance.  Just to give you some frame of reference, the average risk is 1 in 400, so our babies have a very low chance of being born with Down Syndrome.  Also, all of our babies had a less than 1 in 10,000 chance of having more severe chromosomal abnormalities.  

The good thing about this is that they don't recommend that I have any further testing such as an amniocentesis or Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS).  This is good news for me because I would have refused those tests anyhow.  With any invasive testing, there is risk of harm to the babies, and that risk increases with multiples.  I wasn't willing to do that.  In my opinion, there are only two reasons to have further testing done.  One is so that you can be prepared by knowing exactly what you may be dealing with when your child is born.  My thought on this is that no one can ever be truly prepared to raise a child with special needs and, like all parenting, you will figure out what works for you and your family when the child arrives. The second reason is to determine whether or not you would want to terminate the pregnancy.  As far as we're concerned, this is not an option. 

Lastly, we got back all of my blood testing and it was 100% normal.  This is good because it means I don't need any additional treatments or medications at this time.  In addition to all of these test results, we had an ultrasound this week.  The ultrasound wasn't meant to do anything specific, only to make sure that the babies were all alright.  They most certainly were.  They are all measuring right on track, their heart beats are strong and healthy, and they were moving around like crazy.  This time, they were more developed so we were able to see them a little more clearly.  As far as gender goes, Baby A and Baby B were happy to share, but Baby C had its legs wound up tightly and wasn't willing to put on a show.  Compared to the gender predictions we received at the last ultrasound, one was the same and the other was different.  As soon as we know the genders of all three babies, we will announce them all together.  

So what's in store for momma?  Things are starting to change for me as the pregnancy progresses.  This week, I go on half days at work which should help me get some rest that I've been desperately needing.  I was informed at my last appointment that I will be having ultrasounds every two weeks beginning at 16 weeks (that's this week), and that I will be going to the doctor every week beginning at 20 weeks.  Also, beginning 20 weeks I will begin modified bed rest.  Still not totally clear on what that means other than I won't be able to work or leave the house much.  I'm sure I'll have more details on it as the time draws near.  I'm also sure that it's going to be a tough time for me; I just have to keep the goal of three healthy babies in mind.  Next on the agenda is an ultrasound on Thursday and we are hoping that Baby C "opens up" about what he or she is.    

15 Weeks

As I write this post, Ryan is beginning construction on Crib #3.  The babies' room is feeling smaller by the minute.  It is going to be cozy in here for sure.  This weekend has been all about collecting the big ticket items for the triplets.  On Friday night, we went to the Moms of Multiples sale for the Denver, CO group.  Unfortunately, because of the impending blizzard, it wasn't quite as fortuitous as we might have hoped.

The sale was initially scheduled for all day Saturday.  However, when I got home from work and got on their website to print out the New Mom's pass so I could shop a little earlier, they put up a message that said they were beginning the sale on Friday night due to the blizzard that was supposed to hit later in the evening.  Unfortunately, it was going to take us about 45 minutes to get there and the doors opened in about an hour.  By the time we got our stuff together and headed out, we were about 20 minutes late for the opening of the doors.  That meant that some of the bigger items like strollers and car seats were pretty picked over by the time we got inside.

It wasn't a total loss, though.  We managed to find three Pack n Plays so the babies have a place to sleep when we travel home to visit the grandparents, a Chicco Keyfit 30 infant car seat, three Boppy pillows with various covers, a bouncy seat, a playmat, and several Dr. Brown's bottles.  Things got a little crazy when we got in line.  The line was super long and we had more items than we could carry, so I carried the small things, and Ryan leap frogged the three Pack n Plays, the car seat, and the bouncy chair all the way up the line.  Poor guy was absolutely worn out when we finally made it to the cash register to check out.  While he was doing this, he said, "This is how our lives are going to feel from now on, huh?"  I think he's right.  We'll always have just a little bit more to deal with than the next person.

Isis kitty inspecting all of our gently used treasures.

Saturday, we ordered our convertible car seats (3 Diono Radians) at a huge discount and I found a gently used Chicco double stroller on Craigslist.  Our plan is to have a double and a single stroller for when we're together and to have a double stroller and wear one baby when we have them on our own.  I have friends who don't even own strollers, and if they can wear their babies all the time, I figure I can wear one of mine from time to time.  We'll see how it goes.

Today we picked up the Craigslist stroller and then went to get the cribs that we ordered a few weeks ago.  Things are starting to come together.  As far as big items go, all we need is two infant car seats and a single stroller.  We're hoping that on Wednesday we will know the genders of the babies for sure so we can pull everything together before I go on modified bed rest at 22 weeks.

As of right now, I am still working a regular schedule, but should be scaling back to half days beginning on March 18th.  I am definitely ready for it.  The long days are absolutely wearing me down.   I basically come home from work, take a nap, eat dinner with Ryan, watch TV (aka sleep in front of the television), then go to bed by 9:00 or 9:30.  It's pitiful how absolutely worthless I am in the evenings.  Realistically, I know it's only going to get more difficult as the pregnancy progresses, but hopefully scaling back at work will help me to manage it.

14 Weeks

Posts have been scarce lately because I'm getting over an illness.  Recently, I caught a virus that, for a normal person, would have been no big deal.  Unfortunately, my immune system isn't much to brag about these days as my body is super busy growing these babies.  I spent a week laid up in bed or on the couch with a horrible cough, sore throat, and congestion.  I couldn't sleep through the cough, speak through the sore throat, or breathe properly with the congestion.  This kind of thing has been going around at work, but for most people it only lasts a couple of days.  It took me a full 9 days to function again.  Around day four things got a little scary because I started to run a low grade fever.  Normally, I would just consider that my body doing it's thing to get me healthy.  Unfortunately, with a high risk pregnancy it's a little more complicated than that.  I had to monitor my temperature every two hours to make sure it didn't get over a certain point.  If it had, I would have been admitted to the hospital.  Thank goodness it didn't come to that.

The good news is, I'm healthy now.  So let's talk about these little munchkins.  First of all, my belly is growing by the day.  Normal clothing is absolutely out of the question.  I can't even fit into most of my hoodies anymore.  It's amazing to think that at this point some women with singletons aren't even showing yet.  Here's a visual:

On Wednesday, we went to the perinatologist for a visit.  It was about a three hour appointment.  We began with vitals and a weigh-in.  I've gained about 18 pounds so far.  They recommend that I gain 36 pounds by 24 weeks.  The reason for that is that these babies take a lot of calories and as they grow, it will become impossible for me to take in the calories they require, so I will need to have stores. And the calories need to be balanced and nutritious; I can't just eat a whole pizza and a bag of Oreos every day. Currently, I'm eating nearly 3000 calories per day.  I still am not putting on weight quite fast enough.  After a lifetime focusing on decreasing calories and wanting the number on the scale to go down, it's crazy to be disappointed that I'm not gaining enough weight.  But I'll do anything it takes to grow big healthy babies.  I'll deal with my own vanity later.

Also at this visit, we met with a genetic counselor and discussed our family histories.  For the most part, we're pretty lucky.  No major genetic abnormalities in either of our families.  Because we are both of Northern European descent, they did want us to get screened for Cystic Fibrosis.  They are screening me first to see if I'm a carrier.  If so, then they will test Ryan and if we're both carriers then our children have a 25% chance of contracting Cystic Fibrosis.  We should get the results sometime in the coming week.

The next test was an ultrasound known as a Nuchal Translucency scan (NT scan).  What they do is measure specific markers including fluid at the base of the neck and the nasal bone to determine risk of chromosomal abnormality.   All of the measurements for our babies were amazing.  They came out better than average.  Also, the heart rates were really good and they looked very healthy.  Baby A's heartbeat was 152 bpm, Baby B was 147 bpm, and Baby C was 154 bpm.  They took an educated guess at genders, but we won't be ready to share until we get confirmation at our next visit on March 13th.  We're certainly not confident enough to go out and buy pink or blue baby things just yet.

I was hooked up to the ultrasound for quite some time as they got all of the measurements for each baby.  It's amazing how they've all developed little personalities even in utero and they're consistent from visit to visit.  Baby A is our shy baby who is always turning away from the camera and covering the face with the hands.  Baby B is our wild child.  Baby B constantly flips and turns and stands on it's head.  It's really fun to watch, but really difficult to get a decent picture.  Baby C is our chill baby who just lays and relaxes with slow controlled movements.  We always get beautiful pictures of Baby C.  It will be interesting to see if any of these personality traits continue after they're born.

Right now we're just busy trying to prepare for our little bundles of joy.  We have one crib set up and the other two are on order.  Their room is going to be a crowded place, for sure.  We've got most of our registry done, although we haven't published it just yet.  We've almost nailed down daycare and should have that ready to go by the end of next week.  Next weekend we're headed to a sale by the Moms of Multiples in Colorado and are hoping to collect some of the big ticket items.  I would say we're definitely starting to feel more in control of our situation.  On a fun note, I recently purchased the diaper bag that I'm planning to carry and I love it!  It's huge with lots of pockets and I can't wait to use it.  Here it is!