I don't want to hear that

Certain people seem to love to talk about bad things. They must be the type of person that slows down on the road to look at an accident. For every 10 people that have nice comments and encouraging words for you, you have one person that wants to tell you a pregnancy horror story. I don't want to hear that stuff. I actually had someone tell me that they knew someone with multiples and their belly starting splitting open because of the babies. Please keep those stories to yourself. It really isn't something any pregnant lady wants to hear.

Started thinking about names

As we wait for the next appointment when we will hopefully discover the sex of the babies, we've started thinking about names for the babies. So many choices. It seems like it would be easier to decide on 3 names rather than one, but we're not sure of that. There are many things to consider.

Do we use family names? If so, we'll probably need to use a name from both family sides or face the comments about how we preferred one family name over another. That could cause lots of problems.

Do we pick catchy triplet names like Joe, Jerry and Jill? It's very doubtful that we'll do that.

Do we use traditional names, popular names, creative names? The possibilities are endless.

What about Moe, Larry and Curly? (No offense to Shemp, Joe or Curly Joe) How about Huey, Dewey and Louie?

Are you interested in checking on names and their popularity? Take a look at this really cool baby name wizard. We found the link on the pregnancy weekly blog. Another good site you should visit.

Updates and scans

It was back to the doctor yesterday for a quick check-up. They performed a quick ultrasound on the babies to check for heartbeats. Everything still looked good. The result from the cystic fibrosis test was back and it was negative. We were told that on the next visit there would be more elaborate ultrasounds. At that time, they will take baby measturements and try to determine the sexes. That visit is in about 2 weeks so hang on and we'll tell you want we find out. That is if the babies stay still long enough on the scan and they are able to determine the sex.

Grow Babies Grow!!!

Last week we started measuring my belly to help document the growth of the babies. This is in addition to photos of my belly we've been taking each week. Last week the babies grew 2 1/4 inches.

Sweet Sixteen

Yes!! Sixteen Weeks!! It seems like we're heading down the home stretch. According to my doctor's estimate, the babies could be delivered around 32 weeks. If it works out that way, I'm halfway there. They want me to go as long as possible and 32 weeks was set as a reasonable goal. If I can carry the babies longer, great, but that might be difficult with three.

We were talking with the instructor of our Birth and Beginnings class last night. She told us about one of her friends that delivered triplets vaginally at 34 weeks and they weighed around 5 pounds each. What an accomplishment.

Our instructor is always there with words and stories of encouragement. It really helps to hear stories like that. Got a good story? Let's hear it.

I can't believe this

We had joked about doing something like this. We wondered how much money we could get on eBay if we decided to auction off the opportunity to name the children. It was funny to think about, but we would never do that and we certainly never expected to find someone else doing it.

The registry is finally complete

We went back to the store on Saturday and finally finished the baby registry. Yes, another thing off the list. We're still trying to get as much completed as early as we can. The doctor stated that he would start restricting my activity at 20 weeks. I'm not exactly sure what that means. Hopefully I'll get a better definition of that at my next doctor visit on Wednesday.

Number of triplet births in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were 132,535 live multiple births in the U.S. in 2002. Out of that number, only 6,898 were triplets. That's only 5.2% of multiple births that resulted in triplets.

The total number of births in the U.S. for 2002 was 4,021,726. Triplets only accounted for 0.17% of that total.

Headaches

Headaches can be a common problem during pregnancy and I've had my share. According to the American Pregnancy Association, the number of headaches can increase due to lack of sleep, low blood sugar, dehydration, stress, caffeine withdrawal, hormone surges and increased blood volume. The doctor described my headaches as a vascular type because I could feel them pulsing in my head with each heartbeat. That should be no surprise when you consider that blood volume can increase by 70% to 80% during a pregnancy with twins. Probably even more with triplets.

The Triplet Countdown

We've added a countdown for the triplets at the top of the page. The counter came from Lilypie. We're not sure how accurate it will be because we've been told to expect the triplets 4 - 6 weeks early.

Belly rubbing

Why does everyone want to rub a pregnant woman's belly? It's almost like a reflex when you meet people. Even some strangers do this. We thought we could use this to our advantage and make some college money for the babies. I should start wearing a t-shirt that says "Pregnant lady belly rub - $1". Maybe I could charge more since it's triplets.

Speaking before thinking

Last night was our second "Birth and Beginnings" class. After class we met a couple expecting twins. They made the comment that they were glad to meet us because they no longer felt like the center of attention because of the twins. We got into a discussion about the way people responded to the news of multiple babies. Most people are excited and curious, but occasionally you run into someone that speaks before they think. Both of us shared stories about people saying things like " Oh my goodness! What are you going to do with that many babies?" Now we all know that people don't always mean what they say. Most of the time those words just roll out before thinking about them. I'm not sure what people expect you to say. Maybe something like, "You're right. Maybe we'll just get rid of one of them". Measure your words carefully before you say them. You don't always know what will come out if you don't think about it first.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Three Babies???

It's been a lot of fun telling people about the triplets. You never know what response you'll receive. No matter what the response is, it's usually associated with shock and amazement. Even with the increased rate of multiple births due to fertility drugs and later age pregnancies, people are still awed by the thought of triplets.

We've been trying to keep a list of comments/reactions from people. Here's just a few of them.
"Your lives will never be the same" - that's an understatement
"Make sure you make the most of your peace and quiet now and relax because you are really going to need all the energy you can find" - that's a good idea
"WOW WOW WOW! Yes, the triple WOW! God is triple good." - you said it and yes, He is

For me, the funniest came when I told a doctor I work for. He's a forensic pathologist. He stares death in the face everyday. I don't think there is anything he hasn't seen in his job. The day I told him we were expecting triplets, he stopped and looked me straight in the eye. "Three?", he said. "Three? Are you kidding?" I'm not sure, but i think that's the first time I've ever seen fear in his eyes.

How many diapers?!?!

As most people know, babies go through a lot of diapers. We've seen an estimate that states an average of 10 -12 diapers/day for each newborn. Of course, that depends on the baby. It could be more or less. Now take that that number and multiply it by three. Whoa!!! That's a huge amount of diapers each day.

To try and stay a little ahead, we've started purchasing some diapers. We read this somewhere - "Buy lots of diapers before multiples are born. It doesn't matter how many you buy or what size because you'll use all of them and more". We believe it. Here's a scenario. Prepare yourself for what you about to read. At Sam's Club, we purchased a box of Huggies size 1-2. There are 228 diapers in the box. We'll use the 10 diapers/day/newborn for an easy calculation. That box of 228 diapers should last approximately 7.6 days! My goodness! We can't wait to see the total number of diapers used by all three. We're going to try and keep a count. The number should be staggering.

To help with the advance purchasing of diapers, we've asked certain people to clip coupons and give them to us. Thanks to all the coupon clippers helping us. We're going to try and create a stockpile before the babies arrive. If anyone knows of a place on the internet to buy diapers at a low price, please let us know.

Quickening

The first time you feel the baby moving is called quickening. This happened Monday evening after the doctor visit. We decided to stop for some barbecue sandwiches. After eating part of a barbecue sandwich, there was noticeable movement from one of the babies. I have to take that as a good sign. The babies were enjoying, in my opinion, one of the greatest foods to eat. Who wouldn't be happy after eating barbecue? I guess you could modify the old adage and apply it in this situation - "like father, like babies".

Can you guess the sex?

Everything went well at the doctor visit yesterday. We've posted the ultrasounds below. It's really difficult to see a baby in any of them. They were really doing the scans to check for baby movement (which there was a lot of) and heartrates. On the scans, you can see the heartrates listed in the lower left as BPM.

With the first ultrasound, we were given the heartrates. They were 180, 180 and 167. Everyone tried to start telling us what the sexes were going to be - "It's 3 girls." Based on an old wives tale, you are supposed to be able to determine the sex by the heartrates. If the heartrate is over 140 bpm, it's a girl. Below that, it's a boy. According to articles we have found, this isn't true. But that doesn't matter. People will tell you they know and you can't tell them otherwise.

With the scans yesterday, the babies had heartrates of 153, 147 and 138. So now we have 2 girls and a boy? If they keep changing, we could have 3 boys by the time they are delivered.

Care to take a guess? Send us an email and let us know what you think.

Fourteen weeks and all is well

Today the pregnancy is at fourteen weeks. Time is moving right along. We have another appointment at the doctor today just to make sure things are progressing as they should. We were told that we will probably be coming in for a visit every couple of weeks because of the triplets. Everyone in the office should know our names by the time the babies are delivered.

Last night we attended our first "Birth and Beginnings" class. It's geared more for people with single babies so all the information doesn't apply to us. We had hoped to take the Marvelous Multiples class, but there wasn't a class offered close to us. That class is for parents expecting two or more babies.

It was interesting to see the people in the class last night. Most of the babies are due in two, three or four months, so you had varying abdomen sizes. Some of the people there had abdomens that were no larger than I am at fourteen weeks. Fourteen weeks vs twenty-four/twenty weeks. That's quite a difference and we still have a long way to go.

Creating a baby registry

This weekend we started working on the baby registry. It seems a bit early to be doing that, but things like that have to be completed earlier because there are three babies. Hopefully it won't happen, but there is a chance of modified or complete bedrest as the pregnancy progresses.

It's amazing what you need for a baby. Crib, mattress, car seat, clothing, ..... the list seems unending. Take everything you can think of for a baby and multiple that times three. Wow!!! It's an incredible amount of stuff when you start to see the items on a list. We spent half a day at the store and still didn't add all the items we need to the registry. We have to plan another visit just to complete the list. I had no idea this task would be so big.

Nursery Themes

We've been getting a lot of questions about the nursery theme. "What are you going to use? Disney babies? Winnie the Pooh?" It seems like everyone has a favorite and a reason that you should select it. "Should you do three themes because it's triplets?" I don't think the room is large enough for three themes.

I thought I had decided on the perfect answer for the nursery theme question. Anytime someone asked, I was going to tell them that we were trying to decide between a Nascar or Elvis theme. I thought that would make people think that we were really crazy. I could go into details if anyone wanted to hear them. With Nascar, we could paint a grandstand mural on the wall. Maybe get sponsors to buy spots and place logos on the cribs and car seats. With an Elvis theme, we could paint a mural of Graceland. Make sure each baby had a teddy bear and a TCB necklace.

I was sure I had all my crazy answers worked out until I was talking to my brother-in-law. He had the best idea of all and I don't know why I didn't think of it. His suggestion - "Wasn't Elvis in a racing movie with people from Nascar?" Why yes, he was - "Speedway". It's the best of both worlds.

Nuchal what?

It was time for some tests at the last doctor visit. Because there is more than one baby, there is more care taken with some of the tests. The first test was to check for Down syndrome. The test performed was a nuchal translucency screening. We were told CVS and amniocentesis tests were usually used for this type of testing, but it would be too difficult and risky with three babies. Nuchal translucency isn't as accurate (only 80 percent) as the other tests, but it's much safer. We were able to get the results from that test while at the doctor. The results were normal.

In addition to that test, we started the bloodwork for cystic fibrosis testing. During these tests, the mother is checked to see if she is a carrier. If the tests are positive, the father has to be tested. Only after both parents have tested positive for being carriers are more tests performed. We have to wait almost two weeks for the results on that test.

Ultrasounds - 11 weeks and 1 day

Here are the ultrasounds from 11 weeks and 1 day. In the first two, it's a bit difficult to see a baby.

In this one, the baby's head is in the upper right and it's facing left.


In this one, the baby is on it's side with the head on the left. It was difficult for the doctor to even get an image this clear. The baby was moving so much it looked like it was dancing.


In this one, it's easier to see the baby. At least we think so. The head is in the upper right and the baby is facing right. If you look closely you can see the face and mouth.

We've had a good laugh sharing these with people. Some can immediately see the baby and others never see them. We were thinking we could sell the photos on Ebay like the now famous grilled cheese. Look closely at the ultrasound. Can you see it? Why yes, I think that is an image of the Virgin Mary.

The first Christmas photo

Here's the image I created for Christmas 2004. I had no idea where to place the santa hats because I wasn't sure where the head was in the scan.

Ultrasounds - 7 weeks and 1 day

Here are the first ultrasounds we have. They were taken at 7 weeks and 1 day.


Baby A

Baby B

Baby C

Thirteen Weeks

We have finally made it to thirteen weeks. It's amazing how time has moved since we found out we were expecting triplets.

The time since we discovered we were having triplets seems to have flown by. However the time between each week seems to have crawled by. This has its positives and negatives. During the week, it seems like we have more time to accomplish things and prepare for the arrival of the babies. If we look at the pregnancy as a whole though, we start to realize how quickly time has flown and how we really have less time than we thought to get things in order.

It's really like working on any big project though. You have to break the tasks into smaller pieces and complete those. Before you know it, the big project has been completed. But I say this with a smile on my face. That's what we think now. Wonder how it will actually be when the babies arrive?