June 29 Doc Appointment went well

Just a quick update that yesterday's appointment went well. I've progressed a little more, but at a much slower speed than the last visit so I'll remain at home on bedrest. I only had an ultrasound and didn't get to talk with the doctor much since I didn't have time scheduled with her, but she is happy that I've slowed down and will be thrilled once we make it to next week and pass into the somewhat "safe zone". Next appointment is July 6, more updates then!

Nursery and Names

My friend Justine just left, she spent the last two days with me helping out with organizing, decorating, and general entertainment :) I'm so lucky to have such a great family and friends, every one has been going out of their way to call, email, or send packages to help me stay busy! I've actually got lots of things on my to do list for right now, so the days haven't been terrible yet.

I have finally, finally settled on names. I'm tired of debating and finding things wrong with my choices so I'm staying where I am :) The names will be Benjamin Joseph, Delia Maeve, and Michael Brendan. Hooray!

The nursery continues to progress nicely, Justine helped me come up with a decorating idea and she finished the boys' name plaques that will hang above their cribs. Delia's letters are painted, but not her background, so that will be a project for crazy Great Aunt Mary next weekend!

Thank goodness for Family Feud

Good news, the swab test came back negative. Only a 3% chance that I'll go into premature labor in the next two weeks, which is great news.

Two full days into bedrest and I'm still alive. Do you have any idea how many times a day Family Feud is on? Good thing I like crappy game shows. And my first Netflix DVD came today - Disc 1, Season 1 of Little House on the Prairie. I plan to watch them all in order from beginning to end, that ought to take me quite a while. I finished thank you notes from this weekend's shower, preregistered with the hospital and did 8 hours of continuing education today - not bad for a couch potato! But don't worry, this all sounds like a lot but it is really very minimal.

On tap for the rest of the week is more continuing education, and dictating organization of our downstairs storage room when my friend Justine gets down here. Looking forward to my next checkup on June 29.

The first vacation I haven't wanted to take

Went to the doctor today hoping for good results from my bedrest, but it wasn't meant to be. I've continued to progress so things are a bit more serious now. Still not dangerous, but the doctor told me to stop working effective immediately. Blood sugar was still good, but my blood pressure was up a little - 142/70. I had been in the 110/70 range before, but the doc isn't too concerned with that yet.

I'm still at home, but my bedrest is more strict now. Rather than reclining I'm supposed to be completely lying on the couch or in bed. No stress of any kind, and I'll go back in a week to see how this goes. I won't have the results of my swab test until tomorrow but hopefully that will still be negative. The main focus is to get another two weeks, then once we get there we try for another two weeks more.

I'm completely in shock that I am done working. I had been hoping to save more of my leave for after the baby gets here, but apparently this is my first lesson in "babies control everything." I've got tons of sick time saved up and my management is extremely supportive of whatever I have to do, so we'll deal with it as it comes.

I've got a list of things in mind to keep me busy, so we'll see how many days it takes me to start going crazy. The hardest thing is that now I have to order people around to wait on me even more than I was before. Last week when I'd make a trip to the potty, I'd stop and fill up my water bottle, take a peek at the nursery, and meander a bit to give my back a chance to stretch and everything. Now it will be a straight trip back and forth and poor Ethan will have to do everything. Thank goodness I enjoy horrifically crappy TV and game shows, that might be my only salvation. I've joined Netflix too, so we'll see how it goes.

Being a good patient is hard work

Five days into this recliner rest and I'm learning how terrible I am at following directions. I still think I'm doing fairly well, but it is very easy to forget that I'm not supposed to get a snack or go get the mail or anything myself. And believe it or not, sitting in the recliner all day can get uncomfortable! Sometimes I rotate to a different recliner and that seems to help.

My helpers have come to life and major progress has been made on the nursery in the past week. It is painted. Cribs are assembled and "made" with crib skirt, mattress pad, sheets and bumpers. We've also washed all the towels, blankets, bibs, burp rags, hats and non-clothes items, folded and sorted them. Curtains are hung, and closet organizer is mostly finished, I have a few more shelves that need to be bought. The cube shelf system we already bought isn't quite right either so mom will be returning that this weekend. No pictures yet, it's still a work in progress and I can't get up to take any pictures. Hopefully by next weekend I'll have some up.

My gym membership has officially been suspended, surprisingly without trouble. They just had Ethan fill out a form and they'll stop charging for me, as long as I want, without a doctor's note or anything! Small Town America does have its perks occasionally. I had to cancel my dentist and eye doctor appointments, but they did let Ethan buy me some more contacts so that I won't run out before I can make it back.

Work is going pretty well also, thank goodness I have work to keep me busy during the day or I'd be pulling my hair out by now! It's the busiest time of year too, so it is an interesting challenge to stay busy and involved without being the "owner" of anything and not stressing myself out. The bedrest is a good eye opener, it has reminded everyone that I will be gone at some point so I've got a lot of training and transitioning to do. I work with the absolute most amazing people in the world, and everyone has not only volunteered to take on various responsibilities but also remind me throughout the day that they can do something, that I need to stay calm, asking if I can show them how to do things. It is very hard to let go of things I'm used to doing, but I'm working on it.

And last but not least, I've at least started on my care calendar. The link is http://www.carecalendar.org/logon/42714, send me an email if you would like the logon code to become a "helper". It's a work in progress for sure, especially since I don't know when we will need to start having help. These darn babies are already wreaking havoc on my planning abilities! But at least it is there.

And so it begins....

Had a doctor's appointment today and found that certain body parts are progressing a little faster than they would prefer, so I am on "recliner rest". I'm allowed to keep working with my laptop, but instead of being in my office I have to sit in the recliner with my feet up all day. I have to stay off my feet just about all the time - no cooking, cleaning, shopping, nothing excepting showering and potty breaks.

This is completely normal, and seeing that I'm 24 weeks I've done pretty good to not be on bedrest any earlier. Still, it caught me off guard just a little. I've done so well up to this point and had foolishly been assuming things would continue to be smooth sailing. This is still only a minor setback, but it is definitely a dose of reality. These babies could really be here any day. Holy cow.

She also tested me today for the presence of a certain chemical, I'll get my results tomorrow. If it is NOT present, the chances I go into labor in the next two weeks is less than 3%. If it IS present, the chance I go into labor in the next two weeks is 30%. Clearly a negative is better because it means no labor, and it's more reliable. I should find those results out tomorrow.

If this week's test, and the next test in two weeks both come back negative, combined with the bedrest I should have no trouble getting to 28 weeks, at which point we'll reevaluate whether bedrest is still necessary. I won't be running a marathon or anything, but I could get released back to working normally. We'll see what happens.

I can already tell that this total dependency thing is going to be MUCH harder than I thought. It sounds awesome to be told that you have to sit around and be lazy all day, but for me the guilt of constantly having to ask Ethan to do EVERYTHING for me is terrible. Maybe it will fade in a few days. It's what I have to do, we both know that, and we're very fortunate that with his school year he is around all summer to help me. It's only been half a day so far, but he has been very patient and compassionate so I have high hopes that we'll make it through this without killing each other.

As always prayers are much MUCH appreciated!

Great weekend!

I had a very busy but wonderful weekend! It was my last trip to St. Louis before the babies come, I am now grounded and not allowed to travel anymore, so that is a bit sad, but I got to see just about everyone in my family and had lots of fun so I have good memories to refer back to.

Friday we picked a pediatrician who seems extremely nice, normal, and patient. She has two other sets of triplets as patients currently so we won't be anything new, and she is ready for the challenge. A HUGE to do off my list!

I also had an ultrasound Friday, and all continues to be well. The babies are 1 lb 2 oz, 1 lb 3 oz, and 1 lb 4 oz, which is right in the middle of the average range for their age. I'm very happy that no one is being a hog and taking more than their fair share! Everything else is looking great. The girl and one of the boys are feet to feet, and they were kicking each other fighting over space, but I don't blame them, things are getting kind of cramped in there. And it's not going to get better for any of us for a while still, I hope!

Aunt Mary threw me an AWESOME shower on Saturday, I have never seen so many cute decorating ideas before! Every inch of the house was covered with diaper cakes, onesies, toys, duckies, or footprints. My extended family is pretty large so it definitely wore me out, but we got lots of great stuff and it was wonderful to feel so much love and support from everyone.

My sister in law is coming to paint the nursery tomorrow and I just ordered our triple stroller - YIKES - so things are moving along! I'm just trying to keep my eye on the prize and focus on getting to tomorrow. All those tomorrows add up and hopefully it will be September 1 before I know it.