Happy 32 Weeks!!
We now have exactly 2 weeks until the big day! When we met with a specialist in the beginning she told us that getting to 32 weeks would be the gold medal. The specialist was only optimistic about making it to 28 weeks so we are very thankful for where we are today and that we stuck with our Dr. Bellardo who had a lot more confidence in making this pregnancy last :) It is amazing to think that in 2 weeks we are going to be the parents of three children. I'm still not sure I have fully grasp it yet I know I am very ready to have these babies! We only have 2 weeks to go yet somehow that feels like a long time. I was thinking about it today and I remembered when we were going through fertility treatment. After the final procedure you have to wait 14 days before you are allowed to test to see if it worked. I shared earlier that patience was not my virtue and I tried testing at the 7 day mark (it was negative). I remember that those 14 days were some of the longest and almost every moment was consumed with thoughts of it had worked. My goal is to try and enjoy these 2 weeks despite how uncomfortable my body is :)
I am definitely learning about that uncomfortable side of pregnancy that begins to hit at the end of one's pregnancy. I always believed pregnancy to be this wonderful and beautiful experience (which it is) and I have dreamed of this moment for such a long time, yet no one really shares about the pain. I look forward to the day when I can get out of bed without spending a few minutes trying to think about how I can best maneuver my body to just roll off the side. I also would like to be able to go an hour without going to the bathroom. I would also like the gestational carpel tunnel to go away so I can move my fingers again. And I won't even mention the back pain, the round ligament pain, or the pain of my abdominal wall stretching out :) I knew the other night that these babies had officially taken over my body. I was watching TV and I started crying at a preview for a show airing next week--I told Michael I was crying in anticipation of watching the show next week of when I would be crying more :) Oh dear...
We went and saw Dr. Bellardo this week as well as got another ultrasound. I believe that this was Ultrasound #13 in our pregnancy. This ultrasound went much better than the last one despite how long it lasted. It took the tech a little while to figure out everyone's position and Baby B (Naomi) is officially very squished. And then she spent some time measuring one of the babies to then figure out that she was measuring the wrong baby. It was very difficult to get measurements on Naomi due to her being so squished. It was amazing to see them again--I never get tired of seeing their little faces and how much they have continued to develop. The tech also spent some time trying to do the Biophysical Profile (BPP) because one part is taping their practice breathing. And she had to get the babies moving so we could watch their little diaphragms move up and down as they were practicing their breathing. It was still a little early in the morning for the babies and the only one who wanted to show off was Baby C (Levi). But eventually she bounced my stomach enough and got the babies going. When she was measuring Baby A (Ethan) it also made a lot of things make more sense. He is sitting so low--she had to dig into my thighs and hips to try and see him. When she was measuring my cervix his butt was literally just sitting on my cervix. I think that he thinks it is a trampoline sometimes even though I have tried convincing him otherwise. During the ultrasound though--Baby A (Ethan) is still breech and Babies B and C (Naomi and Levi) are transverse-oblique.
So then we were a supposed to meet with Dr. Bellardo but he had to run to the hospital to deliver a baby. So we had to come back this morning anyways for another steroid shot so he said we would just catch up this morning. I got the first steroid shot yesterday and it was not painful at all. I read a lot of things online on how painful the shot is so I was a little nervous. Well, as it turns out the reviews are correct. She gave me the shot in my other hip this morning and it was incredibly painful. Oh well--it's over now. I only have one more progesterone shot next week and then we are finished with all these shots! Yay!
So, we met with Dr. Bellardo this morning to talk about the ultrasound. He said that my cervix had shortened but it is still closed so we are good. I was also concerned because according to the ultrasound the babies hadn't gained that much weight. They had been gaining weight really steadily so I was anticipating the same this time. Dr. Bellardo said that the babies are still okay and everyone was around the 40th percentile. He said that we have reached a point where the babies' weight have plateaued instead of increasing. He said that it is getting more difficult for the babies to gain weight due to being so squished inside. But he did tell me that I can try and eat as many calories and not to be bashful about eating in the 2 weeks in an effort to fatten the babies up as much as possible. I will probably never hear those words again so I am going to try and eat as much as I can to fatten up the babies :) It is a little more difficult to eat these days as they are also squishing my stomach so I will try to space it out throughout the day.
I told Dr. Bellardo about some tightening I have been having across my abdomen. It is not rhythmic, yet I have this tightening feeling and my stomach gets really hard. Dr. Bellardo said that it sounds like Braxton Hicks contractions which he said is just preparing your body for the real thing. He said to call him if it becomes rhythmic or if I have any spotting but I think we will be good. It is not an everyday experience and it's not really painful--just a little uncomfortable. It doesn't seem to affect the babies though and Dr. Bellardo wasn't too concerned about it unless it changes.
We also spent some more time talking about the C-Section. He said that I would be in the hospital until Tuesday--you get 4 days for recovery in the hospital for a normal C-Section and it does not count the day of delivery. I checked with our insurance as well and they said that there is no limit on how long I can stay (they base it off of the doctor's discretion and my level of care) so if everything goes well I will stay until Tuesday, the 23rd. I am really hoping that the babies will come home with us yet I am preparing myself for them to stay in the hospital. Dr. Bellardo said that the babies would be born within the first 15 minutes of the C-Section and then the rest would be spent "putting me back together again." He said the whole procedure should take about 1 1/2 hours and then I will spend about 2 hours in recovery until they are satisfied with the bleeding. Dr. Bellardo said that the NICU staff will be present to assess the babies and then they will either take the babies or let the babies stay depending on their condition. So, if they decide to take the babies then Michael will be allowed to go with the babies. Once I go into recovery my mom is going to sit with me so Michael can be with the babies.
So, we are going to go back to the doctor next week for another appointment and an ultrasound. We will get a final count on how everyone is doing and then we will have the babies the week after! Crazy! Dr. Bellardo said that we are all doing well and I think he is pleased with our progress. If we continue on this path then it looks like we will make our goal of 34 weeks. Dr. Bellardo reminded us that full-term is different for triplets and that the babies are reaching a point where they have just about accomplished everything they can in my womb. Dr. Bellardo said that their weight and development will pick up after we deliver them.
We also got a few more pictures of the babies that I will put up on their pages. My goal now is just to keep eating as much as I can and to rest so the babies will stay healthy. Only 2 more weeks! We can do this! :)
