Dr. update today- 30 weeks

Today was not quite as encouraging. While the girls and I are still doing well, the doctor was concerned over my contractions. Although I have been experiencing them for months, they have certainly increased in frequency, duration, and intensity. Today they decided to monitor them and found that while I am not having labor contractions yet, at this rate they may not be far behind. They are iffy now on whether I will even make it to 32 weeks. If I do go into labor before 32 weeks they will give me something to stop it for a few more days and so they can also give me steroid shots to help develop the babies lungs. Apparently the steroid shots work best when given 48 hours or so before the babies are delivered, so they don't want to do them yet.

I am still hopeful as so far I think we have defied the odds in our pregnancy- and of course with God anything is possible.
Whatever happens, though, I was touched by the verse I read today that:
"From the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:5-6
He has begun a great work with these girls, and He will be faithful to carry us through.

Had another doctor's appointment today and they measured the girls:
Baby A: 2 lbs, 11 oz
Baby B: 2 lbs, 14 oz
Baby C: 2 lbs, 9 oz

The average for a singleton at 29 weeks is 2 lbs, 6 oz so our girls are doing great! Everything looks good and the doctor thinks it is very possible that I will make it past 32 weeks. He said by 33 weeks the babies should be over 4 lbs and it would be really good for them to reach 4 lbs before they are born. At the rate they are growing I think they can reach 4 lbs even before then!

28 weeks and counting...

We are glad to have reached the first major milestone in a triplet pregnancy- 28 weeks! At this point the babies would have a 95% survival rate if born so that is pretty cool.... but I am doing so well still that I know we can make it a lot longer.
The next big milestone is 32 weeks, which is the average for a triplet pregnancy, and the survival rate is 99% then. I would really like to make it to 34 weeks. Just a little more time in my belly could mean weeks less for the girls in the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit). My close friend had twins at 34 weeks and they didn't even spend a day in the NICU so that's really encouraging. Also, the last reflex to develop is the sucking reflex and it develops around 34 weeks so until then they wouldn't be able to breast or bottle feed.
I am not getting around much now and my 50lb belly feels enormous, but overall I still feel well and there are no problems or complications! This really is so unusual- I follow a lot triplet pregnancy blogs and many were hospitalized from 4-7 weeks before delivering their babies at around 30 weeks. My doctors are impressed and we are just so thankful to God every minute.
Here is a picture of me and my belly at 28 weeks:
Alex took the picture so it is a little lopsided, but you get the general idea (that I have a huge belly!)



















Here is the babies' room that my parents painted for me- Thank you Mom and Dad!
My mom is also sewing curtains, and we plan to put the babies' names over their cribs (if we ever decide what they will be) :)











































And here are some pictures of Alex as I can't leave him out!
Here he is painting some letters for the girls' room- I was trying to see how they would turn out, even though we don't have the names down for sure yet.















He went on a camping trip with Chris and Erik and made himself his own little fire next to the bigger one.




























Thanks for your prayers! Keep them coming!

We had another good report from the high risk doctor this week! The girls are looking healthy and are growing well. The bottom baby "a" is 1 lb 11 oz, and the other two are both 1 lb 9 oz. Actually most singles this far along (25 weeks) weigh about 1 lb 6 oz so the girls are even on the bigger side and that is wonderful!
I had a difficult time with the contractions last week but they have been much better this week. The doctor was not too concerned about them, though, as they are pretty harmless as long as they don't turn into the real thing! He just advised I continue to try to stay off my feet, etc.. He said everything else looks good on my end. I also just had an appointment with my regular ob/gyn that will actually deliver the girls and she is very impressed that I am doing as well as I am at this point. Praise God for that, and prayerfully it will continue through the next month!

Here is my sister and I!
I am at 23 1/2 weeks, Laura is at 28 weeks....
Who's belly is bigger???




















And here are the girls...

This is "baby a"















Here is "baby b"
It's hard to tell in the picture, but her hand was up to her mouth














and here is "baby c" and her sweet little hand















We have a hard time getting good shots of them since they are all so squished in there together.
Baby "a" is positioned across the bottom of my belly, and "b" and "c" are next to each other on top of her. According to the latest pictures they were head up with their heads so close it looked like they were touching!

I am feeling well still, but I seem to have turned a corner to where it is affecting me more. I have started having braxton-hicks contractions, which are not labor contractions, and are relatively harmless although uncomfortable. The doctor said it was normal since I am the size of a full term single now. I really can't be on my feet long now- the other day I tried to do some shopping at Walmart and near the end I was having constant b-h contractions, blurry vision, and my heart was pounding. So I am definitely at a point where I need to be off my feet as much as possible. Other than that, though, everything is going great and the babies are growing well!

Thank you for your prayers!

Here I am at 21 weeks...



















.... pretty big! I'm sure everyone can't wait to see how enormous I end up :)

We had another good doctor's appointment yesterday- thank you Lord!
The girls are growing as they should and are even on the bigger side (I'm doing my best to keep up the eating!). I am feeling them move a lot now and that is so fun. Since they are all in different spots I can tell who is kicking me. I'm also going to remember which one was the pain in my side for so long - Chris and I joked that we should find out the Hebrew word for pain in the side and that should be her name :) We also reconfirmed they are all girls before I go all out and have their room painted pink.

Thanks for all your prayers- they are working! We also want to thank our friends and family who have so generously loaned us the use of cribs, changing tables, toys, baby clothes, and maternity clothes. It has been such a gift from God as we try to prepare for these three girls! Also I am so thankful to my mom and dad who have been coming over every week to help with housework that I can no longer do!

I will try to post scans of some of our ultrasound pics soon.

Happy Adoption Day Alex!!!

We celebrated Alex's second adoption day on Tuesday, January 20th. We did similar to what we did last year- Alex picked out what he wanted to have for dinner, we watched videos from his adoption and we prayed and talked with him about it. The video was so sweet of Alex- he was so little, and just jabbering away in Russian. He was amazed by it while watching it as he could not figure out what he was saying! It brought back so many memories and made us so thankful that God has blessed us with this wonderful boy. It also reminded us how far he has come! We are so proud of you and love you so much Alex!

Alex picked hot dogs, fries, fruit, and a birthday cake as his favorite foods to have














The one thing he has talked about really wanting before the babies come is a bunk bed. So we decided to go ahead and get one, and gave it to him on his adoption day. He was so excited! He helped Chris put it together.















He slept on top, but it took him forever to fall asleep as he was so excited about it!