What's New?

So...what's new with the Mannings these days?  To be honest, not a whole lot.  Since we returned from KY, I've basically been hanging around the house while Ryan's been at work.  Once a week we head to the doctor's office for an ultrasound and a brief chat with the perinatologist.  The last three appointments have been very repetitive.  They start by taking a quick peek at the babies via ultrasound. Each time the babies have been big and squirmy with nice strong heartbeats.  We won't get another measurement or weight estimation until May 30th, but each time the doctor comes in to review the ultrasound pics, he comments that the babies are very big, even according to single baby standards.

Currently, I'm having no contractions and showing no signs of pre-term labor which is the biggest danger at this point.  Today I am 26 weeks and 3 days pregnant.  As of 24 weeks, the babies were considered viable.  Viability means that if they are born, they have a genuine chance at survival with significant medical intervention, but also with significant risk of long term complication.  Our next big milestone is 28 weeks, at which time the babies have over a 90% chance of survival and a decreased risk of long term complications.  Even so, they will be in for a long Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay if they decide to come at that time.  Overall, we're shooting for 35-36 weeks or full term for triplets and our best shot at bringing our babies home with us after they are born. At this stage of the game, every week is a huge success.

Last week we experienced the closest that we've had to a complication with the pregnancy thus far.  Wednesday, I went in for a 1-hour glucose tolerance test to determine whether or not I had gestational diabetes.  On Thursday, I received the news that I had failed my one hour test by a mere 10 points and would be required to take a three-hour glucose test to confirm a diagnosis.  In triplet pregnancies, gestational diabetes occurs about 40% of the time.  To prepare for the three-hour test, I had to begin with 12 hours of fasting.  I start to feel ill after 3 hours of fasting, so by the time I arrived at the hospital for the test, I was quite light-headed and nauseated.  After waiting 45 minutes to complete registration, I made a pit-stop at the women's restroom to vomit prior to beginning the test.  Making a lady pregnant with triplets wait over 12 hours to eat is just mean.  When I arrived at the lab, the nurse noticed how pale and shaky I was and offered me a bed to lie in during the test.  They began by taking my blood for a baseline glucose level which they found to be extremely low.  Afterward I had 10 minutes to consume a syrupy orange drink that was meant to drive my blood sugar up so they could monitor how quickly my body was able to process it.  It was a genuine struggle to keep the liquid down, but after a couple of dry heaves and some deep breathing, I managed to finish it and rest again.  Every hour for three hours they came in and drew blood.  After the last sample was taken, I was able to leave and eat.  At this point, it had been about 16 hours since I had consumed any food.  I drove shakily to meet my husband for lunch where I felt too sick to eat anything significant.  (I would normally have had him pick me up, but we are currently sharing a vehicle after our most recent car accident.)  On Monday afternoon, I received the call that everything was absolutely normal and I did not have gestational diabetes.  While that is excellent news, I can't help feeling like I endured that miserable test for nothing.

So far, all of my symptoms have been pretty normal.  Trouble sleeping, heartburn, swollen feet and hands, sore lower back, stiff fingers, difficulty moving, etc.  These symptoms are pretty run of the mill for many ladies toward the end of their singleton pregnancies.  However, those ladies know they are in the home stretch and it can't get too much worse.  Unfortunately for me, I still potentially have another 9 weeks and 4 days left and I'm only going to get larger and more uncomfortable.  As far as size is concerned, I am currently the equivalent of a lady who is about 40 weeks pregnant.  When I look at my swollen belly in the mirror, it's hard to imagine that I can possibly get any larger.  So far I've put on about 43 lbs and the docs are expecting me to gain 60-70 lbs total if I carry the little ones to full term.  On Thursday, we have a growth scan so we can learn how much each of our babies weigh.  For now, we're going in every week for and ultrasound, so we've seen that the babies are healthy and we've gotten some cute pictures.  Here are some of the pictures we've gotten of the sweet Manning triplets.

Baby Girl A looking right at us with her brother's head right beside her.  I've never seen an ultrasound with eyes open.  Something about this picture is absolutely haunting.  

Little Man B next to one of his sisters (Baby A).  I think he looks like Ryan.  Ryan thinks I'm crazy.

Sweet little girl C is difficult to get a clear picture of because she is always rolling around with her knees pulled up around her ears.  She's my little yoga girl.