I really thought I’d be doing a lot more writing since I’ve been home on bed rest, but that has not been the case. I’ve been feeling pretty dull-witted these days, like I don’t have anything interesting to write. How can that be? I’m gestating triplets… this is the most interesting thing that has ever happened to me! I do keep busy most days reading pregnancy and parenting books (with a couple of novels thrown in here and there), writing thank you notes, organizing the house and preparing the nursery, and making “honey do” lists for John. I’ve never been the most particular house keeper, but I didn’t realize how frustrating it could be not to be able to vacuum my own floor or scrub out my own bathroom. Poor John. He has been taking excellent care of me, but I know it’s not easy to come home from a long, stressful day of work to a needy wife with a to do list. He really is wonderful, and I try not to demand too much of him. 
Today officially begins my twenty-ninth week carrying the triplets. I’m amazed at how quickly time has been going by, especially since I’m resting at home. It seems like it took so much to get to this point, and I just want to hit the pause button and enjoy this for a while. On the other hand, I’m very eager to meet my sweet little girls and my baby boy. I find myself imagining that I already know their personalities, and I can’t wait to see if I’m right.
At my twenty-four week growth scan ultrasound (right after the last time I posted) Babies A, B, and C weighed in at 1 lb 6 oz., 1 lb 2 oz, and 1 lb respectively, and my doctors were concerned that Baby C was lagging too far behind, so we’ve since been doing growth ultrasounds every two weeks rather than every four weeks. It looks like we’ll continue with that schedule for the duration of the pregnancy. This past Wednesday I had another growth report, and they’re currently weighing in at 2 lb 5 oz, 1 lb 13 oz, and 1 lb 10 oz respectively. Each baby continues to progress at his or her own rate (Baby A is in the 27th percentile, and Baby C is in the less than 10th percentile compared to a singleton baby at this stage), and as long as they continue to show progress at each check, there won’t be any need for me to be admitted to the hospital for more intensive monitoring or to be delivered early.
Otherwise, everything has been going remarkably smoothly with my pregnancy. I have not been showing any signs of pre-term labor, which has amazed my doctors and nurses. At the beginning, I read and heard so many of the worst case scenarios, that I really thought I’d be hospitalized or on very strict bed rest at this point. The reality is that I’m still going to church every week, driving myself to appointments, getting my own meals, and otherwise getting around fairly well. I will most definitely not be carrying the babies past 37 weeks though, possibly 35 weeks, so unless I go into labor earlier, I have 8 weeks left at the most! It really is unbelievable to me, and I cannot completely fathom how our lives will be changed once our little ones are born.
This week, we started weekly BPPs or Biophysical Profiles on the babies. This is basically a weekly test where they monitor and score each baby based on his or her heart rate (resting, deceleration, and acceleration), breathing, body movement, muscle tone, and amniotic fluid–it’s really a combination of a non-stress test and an ultrasound which is done at the hospital and takes about 2 to 3 hours depending on the babies’ cooperation. We are certainly checked and monitored constantly. I now have a weekly OB appointment, a weekly BPP and a bi-weekly growth ultrasound as well as the home monitoring I’m supposed to do: I take my own blood pressure daily; I monitor for contractions twice daily for an hour each time and submit a report to my home health nurse who calls me three times a week for updates; and I have now also started doing daily kick counts. There are many, many things that I love about this pregnancy, and I do strive not to complain in general about the minor discomforts and inconveniences. But if I’m being totally honest, I find all of this monitoring somewhat irritating. I love my doctors and my nurses. I appreciate that I’m getting expert medical care from people who have a great deal of experience with high risk pregnancies–in fact, just this week one of my doctors delivered quintuplets and made the local news. He’s awesome! But I guess since I’m spoiled by how smoothly things have been going for me, all the poking and prodding and questions feel excessive, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Ah, well, if that’s the worst I have to complain about, then I have much to be thankful for… and believe me, I do not take for granted how good I feel or how smoothly things have been going so far. In fact, there is NOTHING about this pregnancy, or the fact that there IS a pregnancy to talk about that I can take for granted.
Truly, I thank God for every moment of it!
Recent Comments