23 Weeks

Baby C - Facedown


Baby B touching Baby C


All 3 Babies


I went to the Dr. this morning. This appt was supposed to be a quick check of the heartbeats, but the sonogram lady was nice enough to print a few pics for me too. See above. One very cool thing: the Dr. now has a big flat screen monitor in the corner of the room, so the mom can see the babies a lot better. I've had the worst seat in the house for viewing up until now! Although the sonogram was short, I actually saw the babies interacting this time. There's a pic of baby B touching Baby C's head above... not sure you can make it out, but I posted it anyway! The babies' heart rates were all still normal and it looked like they'd grown in the last 2 weeks, but she wasn't doing measurements today. Today was the first time the sonographer actually struggled with keeping the babies straight! For example, she pointed out baby A in the beginning (which was actually C), this threw her off and she couldn't find baby C! Then she looked a little further down and said, "No, this is baby A!" They're mingling and moving a lot more rather than staying in their own little corners of the womb as they did when they were tiny. The Dr. ordered another 24 hour urine test as well as a blood test and said he's checking for preeclampsia. I did a test about 2 months ago and everything turned out fine. He said he didn't have any reason to believe I had it, but said with borderline high blood pressure and a multiple birth pregnancy, the risk is higher. Eitherway, I'm just glad he's being cautious. He asked me a lot about how I've been feeling and wanted to know if I was considering working Part-time, but for now, (thank God) I'm still feeling fine. Sure, I get tired... but I have been doing a lot at work where I can sit most of the day and just get up to get a drink or go to the bathroom. I have a very comfy chair and I think that helps. He did encourage me to put my feet up as often as I can because of the swelling I've been experiencing. So, to sum up, it was a very good appt, all is still going better than I even imagined!

I've been feeling the babies move a lot more. Matt has yet to feel them through my stomach, but I don't feel that either... I just feel the many butterflies on the inside. We cracked ourselves up last night because we were at a restaurant eating dinner and the song playing was, "How Sweet it is to Be Loved By You". If you recall that song says, "I just want to stop, and thank you baby!" I could feel them moving around in there and we pictured them shaking their little booties and having a good old time! I laughed so hard!

The house is REALLY coming along and they've projected they will be done in 2 weeks! I'm SO excited! By closing off the door from the kitchen and creating a new one in the living room, we've also added a lot more usable space in the kitchen. We're going to move the Refrigerator over by where the door used to be and create cabinets where the fridge used to be. John, my mom's friend, is helping us with this... we only have to pay for materials! I keep saying how wonderful it will be when all of the home improvements are done and my house is clean... I just hope I have a little time to enjoy it before the babies get here.

Lately, I find myself wanting time to slow down... Not only do I want the babies to stay in my belly for their own good, but I'm scared to death of what it's going to be like when they come out. I've always wanted to be a mom and couldn't wait to start my family, but now that there's 3 babies and a lot of uncertainty, I want to enjoy my time with Matt for now. With everything I do, I think, "I'm not going to be able to do this once they get here."

House Updates

As I said in my last post, the house is really coming along! The shed is finished and the new "wing", as Matt calls it, is really taking shape! Here are some pics of the new bath/utility room, master bedroom and shed...

Week 21:

I had a very important Dr's appt on Tuesday and everything went wonderfully! My sonogram lasted almost 2 hours and we looked at each baby in detail… Each baby has 3 hemispheres to the brain, 4 chambers to the heart, 2 kidneys, 1 bladder, 2 legs, 2 arms, etc. They're all EXACTLY as they should be at this stage in the pregnancy! As a matter of fact, they're all the size a 21 week singleton would be at this stage! From what I read, their growth will start to slow around week 28 as the room runs out! At this appointment, we also found out that we're expecting 3 little GIRLS! I laughed out loud! Matt looked like he could cry a few times that day, but is truly just happy they're all healthy. Although he was hoping to raise the next NBA or NFL star, I know he will make the very best dad to 3 little girls...He'll be wrapped around their little fingers!! He keeps saying he's going to be a testosterone island in a sea of estrogen… which is pretty much the case right now anyway!

My nursery bedding isn't quite "girly" enough on it's own, but Chris Hudson (a decoration genius!) is going to try and help me "girl" it up a little. I got such a good deal on it… even though I could return it, I know I won't find 3 beds worth of material for that price again. So… we're sticking with it!

I am still doing great too! Yes, I have about every side-effect to pregnancy you could possibly have, but everything that has to do with the babies is going great! I'm still working and still feel fine to keep going. My feet have definitely starting swelling by the end of the day. You can see the tight rings from my socks and my ankles are nonexistent! Matt very lovingly refers to me as "little swollen feet" now. Also, I'm having some major carpal tunnel issues and my wrists are hurting SO badly! The left is the worst, but the right is starting to hurt as well. I have read this can happen in pregnancy because of swelling. I have NEVER heard of this as a pregnancy side-effect!!! Isn't that ridiculous?! I've started wearing a brace on my left wrist when the pain is bad and I look pretty pathetic… big and pregnant with a brace on my wrist! Oh well! The Dr. says it goes away as soon as you have the babies, so I'm relieved… I seriously could not lift and care for infants properly with all this pain.

The house is coming along wonderfully!!! Rodney Hudson and Ray Sien are like machines! Every day I come home and explore the progress. The garage has been enclosed, the floor built, and there is a window in front and a window in back. The sheet rock is all up and the plumbing and electical (thanks to my Father-in-law) is done! It is really coming along… pretty soon I think they'll be adding carpet, paint, fixtures, etc. It's been really neat to see the progress and I am SO thankful to these men for taking the time to help us. I could never repay them enough!
The opening for the nursery suite is almost complete, thanks to Bob Chambers and Wendell Kropp. The hole in the wall has been cut and trimmed out. There are a few things still left to do, but I think the major pieces are done!
And, last but not least, the shed is DONE! It still needs some paint, but that's the least of our worries! Matt, Dale, and Rocky Scalf put in countless hours on the shed and it is SO nice! It is 12X12 ft. and will store a TON of stuff for us! Matt's going to be testing it out this weekend by transferring all of our stuff from Papa's garage to the shed. The shed was built from the ground up from plans and ended up costing us A LOT less since the labor was free!

So… as you can see from this post, things are going VERY Well!! Thank you Lord!

I just got back from the Dr... All babies are healthy! We are having 3 baby GIRLS!!!

I'll write more about the appt when I get more time...