Week 16 update!

So, we have reached Week 16! This has been an exciting week in the Rhodes' household. Michael's parents have been in town this entire week and they have been working hard! On Tuesday, Michael's dad laid new flooring in our kitchen and breakfast nook. It looks awesome!

And then they have been working hard in the rest of the house as well. They put shelves in the hall closet as well as in the bedroom. They also painted the nursery and Michael's mom has been working hard on painting the dresser and changing table. We are so happy with the way it turned out. Michael and I found some fabric that we loved and we have been matching the rest of the room from the fabric. Here are the pictures!

Doesn't it look awesome?? I am so in love with it! We painted the nursery walls gray and then we painted the furniture yellow. We went to Lowe's and had them match the paint to the fabric. We are going to use the plain fabric to make crib skirts for each of the cribs. The patterned fabric is going to become curtains for the bedroom. It is definitely harder than I thought to find a fabric and design that is would work for the boys and the girl. But I am super happy with the way it turned out! We have one crib right now but we need a different one--the legs are too wide. My sister, her husband, and my adorable niece are moving to Ireland (it's bittersweet for me but I'm happy for them!) and they are giving us Abigail's crib. So, we are still on the hunt for 2 more cribs. We want to paint the cribs white (or get white cribs) so I think it will look awesome once we get everything done.

 We had another doctor's appointment this morning as well as an ultrasound. Since Michael's mom was in town she was able to go to the ultrasound with us and see our little ones. I have never had a reason to doubt that our babies are not doing okay, yet the morning of an ultrasound my stomach always feels in knots. However, the moment I see them and I see their little heart beats then my entire body is at rest. It is amazing to see their little bodies and how they have grown. Baby A and B had a heartbeat of 152 and Baby C had a heartbeat of 147. So, that is all really good. This morning we got to see their bladders, stomachs, spines, placenta, umbilical cord, face, hands, feet, legs, and kidneys. They even have a special screen where you can see the blood flow so we got to see the blood vessels that goes to the kidneys. So, everyone has functioning body parts at this time! The ultrasound tech described Baby A and C (our boys) as "wiggle worms" because they wouldn't stay still. She said Baby A may be our "wild child." So, they are already 100% little boy--they were moving and doing flips everywhere. They were also kicking a lot but I haven't felt them yet. She said that Baby B was "stubborn" because she wouldn't let us get a good picture of her--she is already her mother's daughter :) It was still amazing to see them and I don't think I will ever grow tired of seeing their little bodies. We go back again in 2 weeks for another ultrasound and appointment. So, as of right now we are doing appointments every 2 weeks but it could change depending on the babies. I am also doing really well--my blood pressure is good and I am on target for everything. I have gained 8 pounds in the past two weeks which is good for the babies but a little sad for me. Oh well...I'm sure I will lose the weight once I have them. The babies now weigh 5oz each which is almost a pound if you put them all together. The doctor said that hopefully by 20 weeks they will weight 1 pound. The babies are on target with their weight and growth though. The doctor told me this morning that I have definitely been blessed so far with such a wonderful pregnancy. He said that we will have rough roads ahead of us yet I am doing really well right now. They also looked at my cervix this morning and the doctor said that it is remaining strong and is not weakening at all which is wonderful news! I will be in good shape as long as my cervix holds which I know will grow increasingly difficult as the babies get heavier.

I also had my first shot this morning--it was definitely an ordeal getting the medication. They told us that our insurance was going to pay for the medication but someone no special-order pharmacy is working with our insurance. So, I spent an hour on the phone with them on Tuesday night and I ended up paying for the generic medication which insurance did pay a portion of which is good. Our regular pharmacy plan has rejected the prescription since I am having triplets and not a singleton pregnancy (it doesn't make any sense). So, they promised me that they would ship the medication Tuesday and I would receive the medication on Wednesday in time for my appointment today. Well, they called me on Wednesday around 2pm and told me that the medication didn't ship. They didn't really know why but she said "I don't know why they would tell you that it shipped because it didn't." Needless to say--I was upset. I explained my situation again and my need for the medication. And then I started crying...I was just so frustrated with this whole process. But it worked :) The lady called me back 5 minutes later and said that she spoke to her supervisor and they were going to switch carriers and we would have the medication before 8am this morning. And the medication arrived at 7:45 this morning :) So, Michael got a lesson in how to give me the shot this morning. Hopefully he remembers by next week! I am taking the shots in my lower back since it is intro-muscular. The needle is huge! It didn't hurt too bad though--just burned for a bit and then it went away. So, hopefully in the next month I can battle with insurance a little bit more and figure out the medication. If not, then I can continue to pay for the generic. Hopefully the medicine will help the babies and my body to hold them as long as possible!

So, after this week I am down to 3 weeks left...it still seems a little surreal. I'm not quite sure I understand it yet--I am looking forward to the opportunity to rest yet I am sad about leaving my job. Michael is still on the hunt for a 2nd job and hopefully he finds something soon to help out a little bit. We are truly blessed though with these babies and how well everything is going--it is definitely a testament to how these babies are miracles to us. We didn't know if we would ever get pregnant and now we are blessed beyond measure with these precious little ones. I will post new pictures of the babies as well--they weren't feeling too photogenic this morning though so the pictures are not the greatest! :)