The Verdict Is In!

We found out this morning that we are going to be the parents of three babies girls! Yep, that's right three girls! There's going to be a lot of pink, frills, and estrogen in my house I can feel it already. Matt's going to register for a shotgun later this week.

Spilling the Beans

Because of my lapse in blogging I never posted how we told our families and friends about the babies. So now I get to share with you how I came up with the ideas all by myself LOL yeah right I would like to thank google and YouTube for the ideas.

I'll start off with his parents and siblings. We had them all over for dinner. I suggested that we haven't had a family picture in awhile and I needed a new one for the wall. They gathered around and I stood to take the picture. So I go to take the picture and Matt says "everybody say... Holly's pregnant!" Every jaw in the room dropped and gasps were all that were heard. After what seemed like an hour everybody final clued into what he said and was ecstatic. We were hugged and tears were shed. Then I told them I needed a real family picture and to gather back around. Everybody posed and this time Matt said "everybody say... With triplets!" The reactions were priceless. Everybody screamed and cried. Even I cried (hormones, it was all the hormones). They did not believe us (naturally.... I don't even still believe it!). It was a fantastic surprise!

We told my grandparents and one of my close aunts when we were over at my grandparents houses for dinner. I got up and simply said "you know, you guys are such amazing grandparents we decided to make you great-grandparents!" It took a second to register I think but finally my grandpa smiled and said "wait, you're pregnant?!" I nodded and everybody erupted with laughs and screams. Then Matt said "but wait don't you guys want to see a picture?" I pulled the ultrasound out of my purse and on it printed was "ITS TRIPLETS!!!" My grandma was the first one to realize what is said and she started crying right away, which made my grandpa ask what? She showed him and he started crying too which made my cry hard! I've never been an emotional person, what are these babies doing to me?

Anyway, those are our stories! I thought they were well planned and executed perfectly *brushes shoulder*. Everybody is super excited which makes me super excited one minutes then I came to my senses and remember that I'm having three freaking human beings, then I have a panic attack and when I finally calm down I start again.

We have an appointment with the perinatologist again tomorrow to check dee babes and make sure they're getting fatter. We are also going to find out the genders tomorrow and y'all will be the first to hear! I know you'll be waiting refreshing the page minute by minutes waiting for an update ;)

I'm A Horrible Blogger

I've been MIA for a little while and decided to get my butt in gear and update this thing So here we go!

I posted before that my mom passed away on January 18th and I was an emotional wreck after that. I decided to take a couple weeks off from work (and basically everything else in my life) to make arrangments for her estate and settle everything with her will. With all the stress from that I admit I was not taking care of myself and I ended up in the hospital for dehydration. I went to a routine OB appointment and had lost 14 pounds so he told me to get my ass to the hospital. He ended up keeping me there for 4 days for rehydration. After that I was released with orders to rest and EAT. Luckily, at that point all the babies were measuring right on schedule.

Then I had an appointment with the perinatologist the following Monday. I was 13 weeks at this point and had gained back a little more weight. But when the perinatologist did an ultrasound he found that Baby A was measuring smaller, not a lot smaller but enough for it to be significant. He said he wanted to see me again in a week because the measurements could be leading to twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome (TTTS) or in our case triplet to triplet. 

I went back the next week (14 weeks) and he was concerned because Baby A seemed to not have grown as much as he expected and its fluid was a tad low and Baby B had grown a lot more and its fluid was on the higher side. The doctor diagnosed us with Level 1 TTTS and wanted me back another week later to check again. 

A week later (15 weeks) I went back and Baby A had not grown at all, which as an expectant mother hearing this is the scariest effing thing in the world. He decided that if in another week Baby A had not grown a significant amount he was going to have to preform a laser surgery - what is this star wars or something? (If you get that reference you get 10 points) - that severs the connection between Baby A and Baby B. 

Week 16 rolls around and I'm sitting in the doctors office hearing that I have to have surgery to save my babies lives. Umm, excuse me? This pregnancy is suppose to be rainbows and puppies, not lasers and surgery! I did not sign up for this.

The surgery sounds a whole lot scary than it actually was. I went into the OR, they have me am epidural (which hurts like a bitch by the way) and put up the curtain and that was pretty much my taking part. Behind the blue curtain they use a fetoscope (do you like how technical I am?) and an ultrasound to guide the laser and then they take the lightsaber laser and sever the blood vessels connecting Baby A and Baby B. 

The surgery was done and has had no complications. I had to stay over night in the hospital to be monitored closely but there were absolutely no complications, other than a bit of itching from the epidural. I went back to the perinatologist a week later (17 weeks), he did an ultrasound and said that all 3 babies are doing great! *happy dance* They all have good measurements except Baby A who's measuring about 16 weeks but he said that's normal and he/she should catch up within a couple of weeks to a month. 

I'll try and make another post later today but right now the babies want a nice big Caesar salad with all the trimmings! And what the babies want the babies get, that makes me a good mother, right?

Saying Goodbye

"Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it" – Unknown

This quote has hit me hard the past few weeks. My mom has passed away. She had brain cancer and had stopped responding to radiation. Her doctor had given her 6 months and she had made it almost 8. We knew it was going to happen but when the time came it still felt too soon. I did get to say goodbye and it was a good closure but it still hurts knowing she's not a phone call away.

I need to mention though that I did get to tell her about the babies. My aunt and I were by her side when she was in the hospital and when my aunt went to go get coffee or use the washroom or something I took the chance to tell my mom about the babies. I simply said, "guess what? I'm pregnant" she had lost her ability to speak thanks to the cancer but I could see in her eyes she knew what I said. She smiled and her eyes sparkled. Then I said, "and you're not going to believe this but it's triplets... there's three babies!" A look of panic came across her face and when she calmed down she smiled again. I told her more about the pregnancy and all that jazz before my aunt came back.

She passed away that night in her sleep with us by her side. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks getting her will sorted and estate settled. It's been stressful and busy trying to settle everything, grieve, eat, sleep, and remembering to take care of myself and the babies.

Speaking of the babies, they're still hanging in! All three of them. Three. That still feels unreal. I'm 11 weeks already. With everything that's going on this feels like it's going by faster than I thought it would. The nausea had come back a little bit but I don't have time to think about it. My doctor is making me drink these Boost shakes that are packed with healthy things. He's a little worried because I've lost about 9 pounds so far. Hopefully when next trimester comes this nausea thing will go away. I have an appointment with my doctor next Tuesday (12 weeks) and an appointment with the perinatologist the following Monday (almost 13 weeks).

I'll try and keep y'all posted!

THAT Smell

Okay, first I have to start with - I love my job. I absolutely, completely, whole heartily love my job. I work in a nursing home as a recreation coordinator, which basically means I play games with the elderly. I love my job... when I'm not pregnant.

My pregnancy nose is on high alert and I can smell everything. For example I'm pretty sure this morning our neighbours four doors up had bacon, eggs and French toast for breakfast. Yeah, it's that good. Don't cha wish you're nose could smell like mine. Do do do 🎶. Okay focus Holly. Where was I? Oh right, the smells at work. I'm sure you're all aware that the elderly don't smell beautimous (if you understand the reference there you get 10 points). Well my pregnancy super smelling powers + the beautimous aroma of the dear sweet elderly = a very angry stomach. It's horrible. I was doing so well this morning. Before I got up I shoved some saltines down my throat and wasn't sick at all I got to work and got up to the floor and boom puke everywhere. Okay not everywhere, I've learned how to aim but I had to make it somewhat dramatic. I'm pretty sure at least two of the girls I work with know I'm knocked up of course they won't say anything but I'm not hiding it very well while in the middle of bingo I have to run to the bathroom like I ate a a shotty Mexican food place.

*sigh* I guess they're going to find out sooner or later, right?

I Can Eat!

Update: I CAN EAT! WOHOOOOOOOO! I haven't thrown up at all today! I got up and without even getting my head off the pillow and stuck four crackers in my mouth. My initial reaction was to pull them back out and puke but I choked them down and actually felt okay! Yay! Go Holly! Are you getting sick of all the exclamation points yet?! Woooo!

So now what do I want to eat? Lays salt and vinegar chips. What? I hate salt and vinegar anything but right now that's all I can think about. I sent Matt put to get some and he's not back yet. Seriously, we live like five minutes away from the store how long does it take to grab the chips pay for them and leave? Oh shit is my bitchy hormonal pregnant lady side showing? Fuck.

He's back! Woohoo! Gotta go get me some chips! Okay, Holly enough exclamation points.

Doctor Appointment Número 1

**warning I'm writing this from my phone so I make no promises on how it will look**

The 'triplets' and I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon. Everything went well. My doctor is still hooked on this whole 'triplets' thing though. I asked if he would do another ultrasound and he said not then but he did give me more information about these human beings growing in my uterus.

He said that because they are all sharing one placenta there could be complications down the road but not to worry he'd be monitoring me very closely. Also he's sending me to a perinatologist, which did you know? is a doctor specializing in high risk pregnancies? Wow, you learn something knew every day! Now I'm just waiting for his/her office to call with an appointment. My OB said that I will be seeing mainly him unless something happens along the way that I need the perinatologist. I asked him that if they only have one placenta it means they are identical? He answered with the chances of them being identical are very high. The only chance they would be fraternal would be if the placentas fused together but the chance of that this early in pregnancy and with three are very slim. Everywhere I read it give me a different number as to how common identical triplets are, some say 1 in 60,000 and some say 1 in 2,000,000.

I also asked him about bed rest. This is a very big deal for me. I hate, let me repeat for exaggeration, hate having people take care of me. It's my number one pet peeve. Sure, it sounds great to lay in bed all day but not being able to do anything for myself would put me over the edge and I'd have to be admitted to the mental ward. He said at some point during the pregnancy I will most likely have to be on some kind of bed rest. Whether it's 10 weeks or 35 weeks depends on if anything goes wrong. He told me that if I take it easy (ex. no bungee jumping, marathons, skydiving) I should make it pretty far without being on bed rest. That is if nothing else goes wrong that's out of my control.

Another one of my billion questions was, when should I expect to deliver? I mean I know my 40 week due date is August 20th but triplets go before that, right? He said normally triplets are delivered 32/33 weeks but he's had a patient go to 36.5 weeks with triplets. That lady is my hero. But then again if something happens I could deliver as early as 24 weeks and the babies would still be viable but at 24 weeks they have a 50% chance of survival and babies that do survive are at risk for life long term effects.

Then came the big topic. Reduction. As much as I seem like I don't think we can take care of triplets reduction is not an option for us. Not for religious reasons. Not for political reasons. Not even for moral reasons. If we were to reduce the risk to the other babies is too high and not a risk we're willing to take. And how would we choose who to reduce? I've read it's the baby closest. That's how each baby's fate is decided? Whoever gets the room closest gets reduced? How is that fare? I'm going to get deep for a second hold onto your seats ladies and gents. I'm am pro choice. If that's a choice you can make for yourself by all means go for it. Just make sure you learn your lesson and don't do it again. I don't think the government should tell a woman what to do with her body. But that being said it is choice I could never make. I could never say to someone, 'yes okay kill my baby, kill something I have created.'

Okay that's enough deep thoughts with Holly for today! Overall it was a good appointment and a lot if my questions were answered. My OB is awesome and not to mention really good looking. He didn't rush me or give me shit answers ever. Awesome doctor!