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!