Abby, Izzy, Ally

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

3rd Entry:

Quick update - I'm at 19 weeks today and things are great! I tried the Neti Pot for my allergies, and it helped a little… definitely not a miracle cure, but it provides some relief. I was not able to get the work from home thing approved to the extent I wanted, but was told I can do it 1-2 times a month. Beggers can't be choosers… right? Lately, I've been feeling my ribs expanding and my lower back hurts…. Belly continues to get bigger and bigger! I found out today that the babies are the size of mangos and are beginning to grow hair and develop their hearing. Exciting!

With the cold and bad weather, not much has been done with the shed, but this weekend is looking good as far as weather goes. A hole has been cut between the 2 bedrooms (soon to be the nursery). We had a little electrical snafu, but we're back on track and I think the trim will be finished soon. Matt and I wish we had cut that hole sooner and had a big master bedroom all this time… it's pretty nice!

2 weeks 'til the big appt where we look in detail at all of the babies' anatomy! Can't wait!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

2nd Entry:

Week 18

First of all, thank you for all the responses to the blog! I'm SO glad I started one...

At this point, I'm actually more than 1/2 way thru the pregnancy! The Dr. said we're shooting for the babies to be born anywhere from 32-34 weeks. He said, he will not let triplets go more than 36 weeks and compared this to 42 weeks in a Singleton pregnancy. My due date is June 23rd, but at 32-34 weeks, this will be anywhere from April 28th to May 12th. Again, this would be the best case scenario that we are praying for. Mothers with triplets tend to go into early labor more often than the average pregnancy. This is something that scares me, but I'm having faith that they will be healthy and strong when they come. This would definitely be a good thing to pray for specifically...

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good most of the time… something I hope to be saying for a long time to come! My allergies are still bad, but don't seem as terrible as they were a few weeks ago. I have an appointment with the Pulmonary Specialist on Feb. 5th because there are times when I almost feel like I'm developing asthma. The Dr. said my breathing is more difficult because of the increase in hormones (progesterone in particular), the uterus pushing up in my diaphram and the allergies. Either way, it's better to get this checked out, so I'm looking forward to that appointment. I haven't tried the neti pot that friends have suggested yet… but I do plan to try it out. I tire easily and try to limit my after-work activities to get the rest I need. Everything I read warns against doing too much and, with the way I'm feeling, it doesn't take much to convince me!

I am still working and haven't had any reasons to go on leave at this point. I have been feeling extremely tired in the afternoons…almost to the point of being unable to keep my head up or eyes open. When this happens, and I'm able, I make use of a Private room here at work. This room has a couch and comfortable chair and I'm able to go in, set my alarm, and snooze for about 30 minutes. Although, I wouldn't say I wake up feeling refreshed, It helps. I've also recently talked to my mananger about working from home 1 day a week. She's supposed to get back to me on her answer soon. I used to be able to work from home a lot, but the policy changed at the first of the year (great timing for me… ugh!) If she says yes, I think it would really help to prolong my ability to work.

As for the house, a plumber laid the groundwork for a bathroom and laundry area, but not a lot has been done since then. To be honest, it's hard not to stress about it getting done, but then I think back to all God has done for us up to this point and feel guilty for worrying. If I don't believe God will provide for me at this point, then I'm not paying attention! I think back to all He's done so far and feel much better. One example of many: Did you know that Matt got a raise and promotion to manager THE DAY AFTER we found out about the triplets… THE DAY AFTER!!! As for the shed in the back, we're paying for materials as we have the extra money, so we should be able to buy the remaining materials by this Friday. I plan to post pics of the progress on the house and shed soon… Probably on Saturday when there's daylight and I'm home to take them!

Everyone always asks us about names… we already have a few boy names we've decided on, but we're struggling with the girl names. Any suggestions are welcomed! I will put a poll of our favorite names on the blog and let the people (you) tell me what you think. I can't guarantee I'll listen (just ask my mom), but I still like the feedback!

More to come next week...

Kami

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

1st Entry:

As most of you know, Matt and I have been trying to get pregnant for two years, so we were very excited to learn that we were expecting in October. Matt made me take about five tests to be sure, as it was feeling a little too good to be true, but it wasn't! We tried on our own for 2 years, then decided we would try Clomid… the first step in fertility drugs. Clomid is a pill that is supposed to help a woman drop an egg, or ovulate. Since this was our problem, we had high hopes it would work. Well… the very first month, it worked! The Dr. mentioned the 6% chance of twins while taking the drug, but I knew the chances were slim, and felt excited at the prospect of twins! Never once was the word triplet mentioned until my first sonogram! After researching, there's only a .5% chance of having triplets on Clomid, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned!

My first Dr. appt was on November 10th… the day my world turned upside down! I went to the appointment alone, because the sonogram was not to be done until the 12th. Matt was going to come with me to that appointment. During the first appt, my Dr. checked everything out and said since the sonogram machine was open, he would do a quick look before the sonogram scheduled for the 12th. After looking for a few minutes, he sat me down in a chair and disclosed the findings! He said he thought he saw two, maybe three sacks in the uterus. All I could SCREAM was "Holy Cow, Holy Cow!"

Needless to say, the next two days of wondering were TORTURE! During the first sonogram, the Dr. struggled with getting the machine to work, so my moms (mom and mother-in-law) convinced me that the Dr. didn't know what he was doing and all would be fine. The next two days felt like an eternity, and I could think of nothing else. At the sonogram appointment, Matt stood at my feet for the verdict. Tears rolled down my face as the sonographer counted babies… 1… 2…3… (oh please stop at 3!!) I cried, suddenly realizing my pregnancy and life would not ever be "normal" again! Everything from carrying the babies to term, to fitting them in my house, to affording them rushed through my head! The first thing I thought is, "I shouldn't have taken that pill!" Looking at the .5% chance though, I see that God, of course, had His hand in this! Everytime I prayed and begged God to bless Matt and I with children, I always said children… I never just asked for one! Of course, I didn't intend on having them all at once, but I think God knows what He's doing! ;)

Everyone always wants to know how Matt reacted… He was and still is amazing! Deep down, I think he was scared out of his mind too, but could see that I was on the verge of a serious breakdown, so he held it together. He says he was afraid there may have been multiple babies in each sack, so he was somewhat relieved to hear only 3! Boy, am I glad he kept that fear to himself in that 2-day waiting period! He did get a little choked up when he talked to his mom… I think for a few minutes, she was his rock and he was able to let his guard down a little… still makes me cry just thinking about it.

Right away, we felt the support of our family, the community and our church. We are VERY blessed and we feel that God has been setting us up for such a time as this. We remained in Pryor to stay close to family and our loving church family, even though both of us work in Tulsa. Thank God we did!! More than ever, we need this support! Many people in the church approached my family about helping us out… saying they wanted to help financially and physically. Although, we felt very unworthy of this help, we realize we can't do it on our own.


As far as the triplet's transportation, Matt's parents have graciously given us their mini van. They said they were planning on buying a new vehicle this year, and rather than selling the van, they'd like to just give it to us. This was such a BLESSING! We bought our Maxima, thinking it would be a good "family car"… but it suddenly became inadequate for 3 car seats!

As for the triplet's home, we are beginning to make some adjustments as well. We always thought our humble home would be a great start for us and one little baby, but never imagined we would more than double our family while living in our little 1100 sq ft house! Many people at the church approached my family, saying they wanted to help build on a room or do whatever we needed to make room for the triplets. God is so Good! Currently, we have 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, with the laundry area in the garage. We decided to convert the garage into a master bedroom with small bathroom and laundry room. The current master bedroom is located next to a smaller room and we are going to open up the wall to make a large nursery area for the babies. On top of all of this, Matt and his dad are building a 12 X 12 shed in the backyard for storage (to make up for the loss of the garage). All of this is being done with the help of family and people from our church… see why we love Pryor?! Even though these are the plans, so far the shed is about 1/2 way complete and the garage has been gutted… ready for construction. I would love to get all of this complete as soon as possible to start on the nursery and make as many arrangements to the house as possible while I'm still able. I'll continue to keep the blog up-to-date with construction updates.

Now that you've been given the history of where we're at, I'll start a weekly update of the construction, my health/sanity and the babies' progress...

Today marks the beginning of week 17! I'm definitely beginning to show and I can't seem to keep my hands off my stomach... It's just amazing to me how it feels! For the first time since I can remember, I actually get spills on the belly part of my shirt... never made it there before! I'm going to Dr. Fred Fumia, a High Risk Specialist in Tulsa. I know of 4 other women that have gone to him and they just rave about him. Two of those women had triplets, so he's definitely done this before.

I went to the Dr. last week and mom came with me... I was really hoping he would tell me the genders of the babies, but no such luck! I can tell he's a lot more focused on things like heartbeat and health rather than little things like the sex of the babies... guess that's probably a good thing. He said the next appointment, Feb 10th, they will look at the entire anatomy of each baby. He said to plan to be there for a while, so I'm looking forward to that!At the appointment prior to last, my blood pressure was a little higher than they wanted, so they put me on a BP medication... I was extremely tired at first, but feel like I'm starting to get used to it. BP had gone down a little at the last appt, so he seemed pleased.

One very annoying side effect of pregnancy: My allergies are the worst they've EVER been! I've read that they can get worse during pregnancy, and mine definitely have! I've gone to my General Physician and discussed it with Dr. Fumia, but both say it's just allergies. I'm taking multiple pregnancy-safe allergy drugs, but none seem to even touch it. Last week, the Dr. mentioned referring me to a Pulmonary specialist since it's gotten so bad... I'm still waiting to hear back from him on when/where that appt will be.

So... other than the allergies, I'm feeling well. I've had the normal pregnancy discomforts, but nothing too bad yet. Work is still going well and everyone seems to baby me for the most part, which helps! I think I may have felt a baby move a few days ago, which was a really cool feeling! I hope I feel it again soon! More to come later...