Online forums...

First off there are not that many online forums for people with triplets and higher order multiples. Then there are even fewer that have people actively chatting. The biggest one is Tripletconnection which I have been active in for awhile now. I get frustrated at times though for two reasons:
1) Negativity. It seems to only be a few people, but those few people can be very mean and cruel at times. That ill will not only causes people to shy away from the forum but it also intimidates others so they are too scared to post questions or concerns in fear they will be made fun of or put down. It is really heartbreaking to see this go on, especially in a place that is supposed to help others. Some will say "that is just life" or "you won't like everyone you meet" but I don't buy it. You have the option to comment or not. If you are spouting mean and hurtful comments, you are doing it deliberately and for that intent. Now there is the possibility that someone took what you said wrong, but that is a much less common occurrence and is more apparent. With just a tiny bit of communication this is resolved easily.
2) It seems, at least lately, there are not many actively talking pregnant moms out there. It is cool to hear and learn from all the ones who are going through the infancy and above phases, but when you are pregnant it is nice to talk with others in the same boat too.
Perhaps I am just frustrated today. Perhaps I feel slightly lonely without anyone to really chat with. Perhaps I am tired of mean people. Perhaps I am just bored.
Perhaps...

Monday's...

I hate Monday's but not for the reasons you would think. My husband is a network administrator/ web guy, but he has worked from home for the last 4-5 years. For the most part I can't complain, even when he has a lot going on and works until 9-10pm every night for weeks. For even though he is working those long hours we still get to see and interact with him a little. Monday's though are a whole different story....
Unlike most normal computer people who take their Sat and Sun off, 99% of the time my husband checks his servers and other projects every morning, including Sat and Sun. Then if he finds an issue he corrects it before going about his day. Now you would think this would prevent "bad Monday's" but somehow it does not. For some reason (and most of the time that reason is an outside issue) Monday's are horrible. It starts out with some major catastrophe which ensues a lot of phone calls, pacing, and general frustration... Eventually everything gets solved and he gets everything running smoothly again but by then all happiness for that day seems to be squeezed out. Mentally he is burnt.
Now some might ask why this effects my hating Monday's... Well first off I am a fix it person. I always want to help fix things. It can be a bad thing at times and I have worked hard to try and squash it in me, none the less it is there. I can't help him fix it though which is frustrating. First off I am not a computer whiz like he is, so I don't really get how it all works. Give a human body and I can do wonders, but computers are not my field.
Secondly, most of the frustration is waiting for someone to fix something on their end. My husband has a very strict work ethic, and he is a lot more knowledgeable about everything then the people he deals with. So when he has to wait around half the day (or several days) for someone to complete "simple" tasks or fix something on their end so he can get thing back to the smooth point, it gets very frustrating. No one likes to watch their loved one pull out their hair and not be able to help. Wow... maybe that goes back to that whole "fix it" complex...
The thing I don't get... why is it always on Monday's!
I suppose it is worse right now because I am on leave from work which means I am here ALL the time watching this. Before I was at work Mon, Wed, and Fri (being a nurse is nice) so I only had to witness this for a brief time and by the time I came home everything was better. I wish I could help but all I can really do is lend moral support and sympathy. I don't think it helps much but at least I try.

Hitting the first Wall?

I say hitting the "first" wall because I am sure over the next two months I will experience more walls that I will have to climb over. My Wall: Well sleep seems to be elusive. I can't lay flat anymore, the upper part of my body has to stay elevated otherwise I can't breath. The belly is so large now that it is getting sore and extremely hard to find any position where it is comfortable. The babies are staying up till midnight to 1am "playing" in there so I get even less sleep. Then to top everything off I have a small cold. All in all, I don't think we are doing too bad...lol.
Ok, seriously, we are not doing too bad, even though the above issues are a little annoying. The babies are moving great, everyone at my doctors office is amazed at how well we are doing (no meds, cervix is excellent with no changes, very mild contractions are few and wide spread, no problems), and their weights are great so far. I have also gone a week now without having to take the Zofran which is wonderful since I hate taking pharmacuticle medications. I don't think I could ask for much more.
I am still hoping to make it to 36 weeks. 32 weeks is the average and that would be christmas eve, but 36 weeks gives us the best chance of no NICU time and that will be the middle of January, so that is what we are shooting for. Little less then 8 weeks now!
Things I am looking forward to after the babies are born (besides the babies): Sleeping on my stomach again. Being able to get back into my own shoes. Being able to lay down and not feel like I'm suffacating. Being able to snuggle up to Michael without trying to figure out a way around the enitity (the belly). Being able to be comfortable in general. Having the energy to do things again.
I know these sound like such trivial things but when you are 28 weeks pregnant with triplets, these little things seem like a luxury...lol.

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone we are unable to be with this year. We are thinking of all of you and hope this day brings you lots of laughter and joy!

27 week Doctor Visit...

Well we are 27 weeks and five days today. My cervix is measuring 5.0 with no funneling which is excellent, still just some spuratic contractions, blood pressure is still doing good, and they are happy with the blood sugars. Everyone is amazed that I am not on any medications (just vitamins) and how well we are doing. This Thurs we reach our first milestone, the 28 week mark!
It makes me really happy to hear them say how well we are doing and no real issues. It gives me hope that we can reach our goal of 36 weeks.
All the babies seem to be doing great and they saw both the girls practicing breathing again which is excellent because they have started early. They start biophysical profiling around 30 weeks which means they watch each baby for certain movements and practice breathing.
Not really much to else to tell. We go back next week and will get our tour of the NICU then. I am just crossing my fingers that none of them will need to be there once they come.

Well after going through the new pictures this was the only good one. It is of our little Haley. Her face is on the left hand side staring out. 8 more weeks to go (to get to 36 weeks) till we get to hold our little ones. We are so excited!

(ultrasound at 26.5 weeks)

26 week Dr appointment...

Well we are actually 26 1/2 weeks but they seem to round down when looking at numbers. Criton (Baby C) seems to keep the lead in weights, he is 2lb 5 oz. Caitlin (Baby A) is at 2 lb 3oz. Little Haley is 2lb. That means they are all still right with/ above the 50th percentile in weights which is great. The cervix is measuring 3.9 which is still awesome (needs to be 3.5 or higher) with no funneling. I did talk with them about about my blood sugars and no one could explain why when I ate more my sugars were better. They said they won't get concerned anyway until the sugars are above 140. So I continue to monitor. All in all though they said we are doing excellent. So that makes me happy. :) They also said I am the only triplet mommy in the office that doesn't have a cerclage which is amazing.
You can tell they are starting to feel tight quarters in the belly though. They were not near as crazy moving as usual and they were invading each others pictures...lol.
They did catch breathing movements on the girls though which is really exciting. They usually don't start checking for that until later on (about 30-32 weeks), they just happened to see it while measuring this time.
Next Thurs (Thanksgiving) we reach our next milestone... 28 weeks! That is our most important one as far as good outcomes for the babies. The next two will be 32 weeks, the average time triplets are delivered, and 36 weeks, where we are hoping to get to. It seems crazy that we are getting so close now. Not too much longer and we get to hold the little guys... I can't wait!
I will post some new picture shortly.