An update via Justine - WELCOME, BABIES!

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans of the Evans Triplets!

This is Beth's friend Justine. I have been elected as her "Media Coordinator", updating this blog as well as her Facebook page :) She apparently had a "press release" prepared for me to post, but before she could send it to me, her water suddenly broke at about 1 o'clock this morning while she was asleep! So I am kind of winging it :) I will post the "official" announcement when I get it :)

"Baby A", Benjamin Joseph was born via C-section at 2:41 a.m. He weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. Delia Maeve was born next, at 3 lbs. 7 oz. And finally, Michael Brendan was 3 lbs. even. Proud Grandma Maggie McDonough said they were very happy that all the babies hit that 3 lb. mark.

The babies are in the NICU, which was expected and planned for from the beginning of the pregnancy. However, things are going really well. Delia was on a breathing tube very briefly but is already off, and now the babies are just getting oxygen but no help actually breathing. Yay!!!

Beth was able to visit the babies in the NICU around 10 o'clock this morning I believe.

Quick update

A million thank yous to everyone who has sent thoughts, prayers and well wishes to us over the past couple days. It has been a joyous whirlwind that shows no signs of ending! This is a quick update with a few pics to tide you over, but I'll do my best to add all the details soon.

The Saga Continues

No babies today. I'm sorry the update took so long, we went back and forth all day long. In short, my numbers came down and the babies continue to look good, so we're leaving them in the oven and will reevaluate on Friday.

So here's how the day went down. As of this morning we were expecting to have them today. My daily weight showed a one pound gain and my blood pressure was lower than it had been. Also, when they tested me for protein, I had an "acceptable" level, so they told me that it would not be today. I was surprised but happy because I was able to have a solid lunch! My liquid breakfast was not cutting it. And you'll notice I did not say I had a "real" lunch because diabetic hospital food is most certainly not deserving of "real" status.

So I kind of hung out for a while, started to pack up my stuff because they had planned to move me to a larger labor and delivery room in anticipation of the babies coming in the next day or two. OK fine. Then the doctor stuck her head in and said she was concerned about the minimal growth of Baby C and that she wanted me to see the perinatologist to have him verify the flow of blood in his cord. If he wasn't getting good blood flow, we were gonna be back on for delivery tonight. But of course they didn't know what time I'd see him because I was being squeezed in between appointments.

I saw the perinatologist around 3 o'clock, and the results came back very good. Cord flow was good for everyone, and fluid levels were acceptable for everyone. Baby C is on the lower end of OK, but still OK. So by 4 the doc had officially decided NOT to do it today. And then she went home so I should be safe now :) She thinks I may go Friday, but if my blood pressure continues to stay lower (130/70ish), then she's gonna keep letting me go.

The moral of the story is that no one has any earthly clue what these boogers are gonna do. Now that I've had my initial "oh sh*t this is really gonna happen" moment/breakdown, I think I am much more mentally prepared for it to happen. So hopefully the back and forth that I'm sure will continue won't be as traumatic.

The toughest thing for me is feeling like I'm chicken little, getting people all psyched up and then having things change. But I know that anyone who has awaited the arrival of babies before has experienced this back and forth nonsense. Just another reminder that I'm not in charge, I can't plan, things may not work out the way I have them perfectly planned and pictured in my mind, and I'm going to have to deal with that.

My mom is down through Sunday, with her part time schedule she was able to take one vacation day tomorrow and have five days in a row off, so we'll be safe until Sunday before we have to reevaluate whether she should go home or not. My poor dad took a half day vacation today in anticipation of coming down, but once we started getting loosey-goosey answers he decided to stay put until we got a hard answer. Smart man :)

It's hard for me to think that people might not be here while they are being delivered, but at the same time, in reality I know that it kind of doesn't make a difference, in a way. Since this birth will be so abnormal, it's not like anyone will be able to see the babies right after they are born. Or me for that matter, because I'll (hopefully) be doped up and out of it for at least a little while. Also, I'm fairly confident that we'll have at least an hour or two notice before things happen, because of the logistical issues involved in getting neonatologists, extra nurses, and all the others lined up. Everyone that wants to be here will be able to get here before I'm able to see them, and as much as I want to know that they are sitting in the waiting room, it won't be the end of the world if they aren't here. I know, especially after today's events, that I have literally hundreds of people praying for me and thinking about me, and it doesn't matter if they are in the waiting room, St. Louis, Florida, or even the US. I can truly draw strength just knowing you all are out there, so thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers and please keep them coming!

The Final Countdown...

Well, it's not official but looks like tomorrow is the day. I gained another two pounds of water weight in the last 24 hours, and my blood pressure is staying kind of high, so she is waiting to test one more thing tomorrow morning but is pretty sure it will be tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting a clear liquid breakfast tomorrow, which I doubt she would be ordering if she wasn't fairly confident it was going to happen. I'll repost when I get a definite answer tomorrow.

I'll be moving rooms tomorrow also, to one of the larger delivery rooms. Even though I'll be in the OR, that will give us more room for people to come see me after the fact, and it will give me a chance to pack up before I'm totally out of it. I'll let everyone know the new room number tomorrow also.

I'm kind of bummed that I haven't made it as long as I wanted to, but the doctor is pleased with their sizes and I know she is making the best decision for all of us. It's time for me to start getting used to NOT being able to influence things anyway, usually I've been able to force things to work in my favor by being stubborn and this time it just isn't gonna happen. Thank goodness I have such an awesome and supportive family, mom will be here tomorrow morning and if we get confirmation that tomorrow is the day Dad will be here too. And of course Ethan's family is all very close.

More to come tomorrow!

Maybe a July baby after all?

Or maybe not. But the doc thinks there is a good chance they will be here by the end of the week. It seems that my health will be the driver, although I'm still doing very well, blood pressure and water retention are starting to creep up a little at a time and will eventually reach a point where it will be a decision maker. I gained 14 pounds in the last week (HOLY COW) but they believe it is mostly water retention. The cankles are in full force! I can actually leave divots in my legs all the way up to my knees. Maybe tomorrow I'll try making a pretty design and taking a picture....

They did some additional bloodwork today that all came out good, so no problems there. They are monitoring my fluid intake and outtake to try to get a grip on how much I'm retaining, but so far no problems there either.

My big ultrasound today went well and the doctor is very happy with everyone's growth. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping everyone would be over three pounds, but we aren't there yet. Ben the Pork Chop continues to be the leader at 3lb 5 oz, followed by Delia at 2lb 12 oz. Michael is still the runt at 2lb 8 oz, but the doctor isn't worried. He grew the least since the last scan, but she said the important thing is that he continues to grow, period. He still falls within the "average" range for their age (30 weeks 4 days, not that I'm counting). As long as he continues to grow at all, him being small will not force delivery. The small ones are usually the feistiest anyway :)

We'll continue with more of the same, laying around, following my bland diet and watching lots of different factors. I have finally reached the point that I'm starting to get uncomfortable just sitting around, because there seems to constantly be someone in my ribs, smashing my bladder, kicking some vital organ, etc. It's not bad yet and I will gladly take it as long as they will let me to get these babies bigger and healthier. But, today is the first time that I started to think that maybe I'm getting close to being ready to be done with pregnancy. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being I could go longer than an elephant and 10 being I'm going to drink castor oil to put myself in labor, I think I'm at about a 3.

Keep the positive thoughts and comments coming, they are so important and valuable to me, and sometimes are the only thing that gets me through a rough patch. The reality of having these babies is fast approaching and I need all the help I can get!

PS. Today is two weeks since I had the positive swab test that said I had a 30% chance of delivering in the next two weeks. 30% my a**! Take that fetal fibernectin!

Another Milestone!

Thursday I reached another huge milestone - 30 weeks! Very very exciting. The doctor is just thrilled that I've made it this far and hopes that we can make it a little while longer. I celebrated my "30th" with a wheelchair ride to the cafeteria and a delicious un-diabetic ice cream sandwich. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Friday I was in high spirits, looking forward to my BPP (bio-physical profile) ultrasound and a fun weekend with a visit from my mom and Aunt Mary. The day passed quickly and the BPP went very well, everyone scored an 8/8. Michael gave us a VERY brief scare again, as his heart rate dropped for a few seconds, but came right back. Thankfully I was at the doc's office so they reacted calmly instead of sending me to St. Louis......and when I got back to my room mom and Aunt Mary were there waiting for us, hooray!

That's when the evening started to get interesting. My doctor wanted to hook me up to the monitor for an extended amount of time, about an hour, just to watch Michael and be sure that his deceleration was a brief blip on the radar. It's perfectly normal for babies to have quick drops in heart rate, we usually don't see them because the babies aren't watched 24/7. So everybody got hooked up, which is quite the adventure, and heart rates were terrific. However, they also put me on the contraction monitor and it turns out I was having lots and lots of contractions! Not really ideal. So they had me drink like a gallon of water, and then pumped me full of IV fluids since the slightest bit of dehydration can cause contractions. That did the trick and things slowed down, but it made for a very interesting night. Massive amounts of fluids = hundreds of trips to the bathroom. Which was a huge ordeal because I was hooked up to a giant 3 port IV stand instead of a normal single drip. Fortunately we all made it through, tired but in one piece, and things have been quiet today.

I celebrated victory over the contractions with a contraband salad from Panera Bread today - so much better than hospital food! And dad sent me a few delicious cupcakes that I've been snacking on here and there, so that helps to brighten the day also. Today's wheelchair ride we attempted to venture outside, but it is so freaking hot that we didn't even get the back wheels out the door before I was ready to come in :) At least I can say I've breathed outside air in the past two weeks now.

I'm looking forward to a quiet Sunday afternoon and Monday, then Monday afternoon I'm scheduled to go for a full ultrasound to get weight estimates and everything. I can't wait to see how big my babies are! Hoping for three pounds but we'll see, I've already learned that they like to surprise me.

Here's a picture of how ridiculous it looks to monitor three babies and contractions at the same time. It's not quite as uncomfortable as it looks, but close!

Wheelchair rides are the hilight of my life

Pretty pathetic life huh? I had another BPP ultrasound today, so I got to wheel over to the doc's office to work with my favorite tech Terri:) This is where they check for breathing, movement, heartbeats, and basic stuff like that. Everyone got a perfect score and everyone's fluid levels look good.

They scheduled a full ultrasound for next Monday afternoon, where they will do weight estimates and all that fun stuff again. The doc said they usually try to do those every three weeks, because the change over one week or two weeks isn't enough to really see a difference.

I saw my doc this morning too, we had a very amusing conversation about where I'm at. She apparently expected things to start happening within a day or two of putting me in last week, but I've stayed completely stable so she is perplexed. At this point there are basically three things that will trigger us to deliver: naturally going into labor/contractions; blood sugar spiking; or blood pressure spiking. And so far none of the above are happening! She pretty much said she really has NO IDEA how far I'll be able to make it but thinks that 32 weeks is very possible. Hooray I think. I'm torn between wanting to meet these little guys so much and yet wanting them to stay in so they are bigger and stronger. Good thing it's not my choice :)

I've turned into my grandfather (Woelfle) and started keeping a secret list of all the nurses because I can't remember their names, and their name tags get flipped around all the time so they aren't readable. He keeps a little business card in his shirt pocket with notes about all the servers at the retirement home's restaurant. I'm trying to keep my notes about them polite but it's getting tough, "brown hair" isn't very descriptive. I'm hoping that I'll have met all of them pretty soon so I can start learning them and finding out better ways to differentiate them.

I probably don't say this enough, but I want to thank everybody who has been thinking about me, praying for me and sending good thoughts my way. I know I wouldn't have made it this far without the absolute awesome support system I have, and I want you all to know that. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Excellent ultrasound today

Today's ultrasound showed that everyone is doing well, all the babies got a perfect score on whatever scale they use. Today's ultrasound did not include weight estimates, but since they are all doing well I would imagine they've gotten a little bigger since last week's estimates of 2lb 3 oz, 2lb 4 oz and 2lb 11 oz.

I'm also looking good, no further progress since Monday so hooray! We'll continue on the same path, bedrest and lots of monitoring. I'm anxiously awaiting disc 5 of Little House season 1. I'll really have to step up my viewing if I'm going to make it through nine seasons before they get here! I've also added the entirety of Seinfeld to my to-do list. The internet says the Uncle Leo character only appeared in 15 episodes, that just doesn't sound right to me. So as a CPA, I thought a little independent verification was warranted.

I've added a few pictures, some still shots of the triplet stroller, the lovely flowers I got from work yesterday, and a new shot of my giant belly. Enjoy!

Car Seat Stroller Funtime

Our triple stroller arrived in the mail yesterday, hooray! This is getting more and more real everyday. Ethan was superdad last night and put it together right away, and then he put the car seats in the car! And he made me little videos of it so that I could see everything. What a sweetie :) Babies are the same today, everyone is doing well. My iron count is a little bit low - totally expected - so the doc is going to have me up my iron supplements as much as I can stand it. (Iron sometimes clogs up the works). We are very far past my comfort being a factor so I'm willing to try anything!

The video isn't going to win any awards but his commentary makes up for the somewhat lacking quality. And seeing that triplet stroller is a pretty drastic does of reality.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

Congratulations to me! I've won an all expenses paid luxury vacation, including three meals a day, private concierge and spacious private suite! Translation: I'm back in the hospital eating three crummy diabetic meals a day, being poked by nurses all day. But I do have a private room with a view of something other than parking lot, which is better than nothing.

At yesterday's checkup I had made further progress, and this morning we found out that my swab test came back positive (meaning 30% chance I go into labor in the next two weeks). Combined with how far along I am - 28 weeks and 5 days - the doc decided it was time for me to check in. There isn't any imminent fear of problems or delivery, but I'm borderline on several things, and she can monitor me much more closely here than at home. They check the babies' heartbeats twice a day, blood sugar four times a day, blood pressure several times a day, and I'll get ultrasounds twice a week.

The doctor ruled that there was some....pilot error you could say.....with the hospital ultrasound that caused the trip to St. Louis. Because of that, she has demanded that they wheel me over to her office, which is connected to the hospital, so that my regular girl Teri can do all my ultrasounds. That should eliminate any unnecessary worries, hopefully.

I'm not having contractions or any pain yet, just the usual aches and pains that come along with being "44" weeks pregnant. I've also had a lot of questions about my weight gain thus far - 30 pounds, which is pretty good. Hopefully I'll stay on track and be able to make it another few weeks, but anything is possible. The doctor doesn't have anything specific in mind for a goal, I think she'd like to see 31 weeks, but we'll see what happens. I'm laying almost flat as much as I can stand it and following all my rules religiously to keep the little goobers in for as long as possible.

I'll continue to provide updates although they will probably get more and more boring as my hospital stay goes on. But who knows, there could be lots of excitement to come very soon. It's crazy to think that I'm staying here until the babies are born. I won't be in my house again while I'm pregnant! Holy cow, does anyone realize that I'm having THREE BABIES?!?!?!?!

Home Sweet Home

After all that hoopla, here I am back at home. The ultrasound today went just fine - all the babies are growing at a good rate and are appropriate sizes. Michael, who was supposed to be the runt, is actually 2lb 4 oz - right on track. Delia is technically the runt by just a bit at 2 lb 3 oz, and Ben's large head is contributing to his "pork chop" status at 2 lb 11 oz. Do you think "pork chop" is a scientific term, since that's what the ultrasound doctor called him?

They released me right after lunch and Ethan drove me home, with no problems. I'll be going back to my doctor back in Cape next week for a regular checkup. I'll probably also start seeing the high risk doc down here just to be safe, and Barnes suggested I come back up in a month for another of their fancy ultrasounds although who knows if they will still be cooking by then!

For now I'm going to continue to hang out on the couch and take it easy and see what happens. Hopefully we're done with excitement for right now!

Just a little weekend getaway - in a Medivac Helicopter!

So this whole bedrest thing was started to get a little bit old, and I thought for the big holiday weekend I would shake it up a bit with an impromptu trip to St. Louis. The babies very first helicopter ride!

Friday morning I woke up with some light spotting, and the on call doc advised me to go to the hospital just to get checked out, just to be safe. They weren't very worried, nothing had really changed since my doc appt last Tuesday, so they ordered an ultrasound just to be sure everyone was OK and were planning to send me home.

During the ultrasound, Baby C (Michael) had a heart rate drop - to the 40s, VERY low. They rushed me back up to the OB floor and by the time we got back there he was fine again, in the 140s as he should have been. Probably just a fluke, he or I laying the wrong way or somebody laying on his cord or something like that. But, they also found that he had fallen behind in growth since the last ultrasound three weeks ago. That's what made them nervous, because sometimes that can indicate an issue. There is only one high risk OB (perinatologist) in Cape, and he's on vacation until July 13. WHAT NERVE. I've not seem him yet because I've not had issues to date. But, nobody wanted me to wait two weeks to get this checked out, and I have a feeling none of the docs down there wanted to put their own name on the papers saying I was OK, so they advised me to come to STL to get checked out by one of their high risk docs. Still not major super serious, but to my surprise they told me I'd be going in a helicopter.

Silly me thought a helicopter meant they needed to get me there pretty fast, that they would be running me out to an already running helicopter like they do on TV. Not the case. It was a good hour from the time they ordered the copter for it to get there, get me transferred to the literally ironing board sized gurney, strap me down and get me loaded and in the air. And the trip took 55 minutes, only about half the time of the drive. But it was kind of neat, I'm not sure I would say it was fun but not scary as I thought it would be. Just interesting.

Luckily Ethan was able to leave, go home and pack his own bag and was only about half an hour behind me getting to STL. And thankfully with all my family here, mom, dad, crazy great aunt mary and susan were all waiting at the hospital when I got here. They put me in a room and STUPIDLY spent well over an hour trying to get all three babies on the monitor at the same time. Without an ultrasound to guide them and ensure they aren't picking up the same baby twice, and because all the babies are very active and moving, this is IMPOSSIBLE. DUH. They had these stupid straps tied around me so darn tight I thought my belly button might go flying across the room! And they once they got it I could not move at all so as not to disturb the signals. Sure, let the giant lady lay flat on her back without shifting for as long as humanly possible. I was NOT a happy camper. And as a precaution, I had not been allowed to eat or drink all day. So we were into hour 21 of no food and hour 16 of no drinking. And then my TV remote wouldn't work. This was my point of mental breakdown when poor Ethan had to listen to me curse repeatedly and complain about what a "shoddy" hospital Barnes is. I think I was entitled at that point :)

Fortunately a short time later four doctors came to see me, and immediately agreed that the monitors were stupid and cut them off. Hooray #1. They also OK'ed food. Hooray #2. They also did an ultrasound themselves to check out heart rates, fluid levels, my physical condition etc. and concluded about the same as the Cape doctors - 1.5 cm dilated, 1.5 cm in length. Not ideal, but also not changing and very normal and expected with three babies. I got off the IV since I was allowed to eat and drink again, and went down to just one monitor to watch any contractions I might have - totally bearable.

I was checked again this morning and it was more of the same - everybody looks good, C is still small, but there may be a logical explanation. There are two different methods used to rate fetal growth. The more traditional system puts him in the 9th percentile, which is considered small, although 10th percentile is normal so he's not far off. A newer system that has only become popular in recent years puts him in the 43rd percentile, much closer to Delia and Ben. It's not clear what system the Cape hospital tech used, or what system my doctor and her tech used for all my checks before Friday. They still want to check him out, since I'm here, and because if he's just starting to fall behind it could indicate that he's out of room and is gonna continue to fall more behind. Again not an awful condition, just something to be dealt with.

The plan is to have some special guy do a certain kind of checking of the umbilical cord tomorrow, he was off yesterday and today. Then another high risk doctor somebody will do a special kind of ultrasound Tuesday to extensively check placenta and such. Those results will determine the next step, but the regular OBs are thinking I'll probably go back home and begin seeing the high risk guy in Cape to watch it. Nothing unexpected, although the visit to STL was a shock, seeing the perinatologist was on the maybe list from day 1 of the pregnancy, along with bedrest, diabetes, and some of that other fun stuff I've been dabbling in. They also gave me a couple doses of steroids to pump up the babies lungs, just in case they would need to come out sooner rather than later. They'll still be small, in the NICU, need help breathing and eating, etc etc, all things to be expected at this age, but the possible long term problems are primarily vision and learning disabilities like ADD. Survivability is all but certain at this point, and even the permanent problems possible are manageable. We still want to keep them cooking as long as possible but we are pretty much in a safe zone at this point.

I'm feeling very good, same as I have been at home. I got to shower today, HOORAY #3, and have visited with family and some friends that I've been missing since I got "grounded" to Cape in early June. I've moved from the labor and delivery wing to the ante partum wing, where the non imminent delivery, long term bedrest patients are, so it's nice and quiet. I'm even allowed to get up and walk around as I please, the docs here don't seem to think that bedrest is going to provide any benefit or slow things down. I've mostly been in bed but it is nice to be able to sit up straight for a while, especially after I eat so I don't get heartburn very much.

I'll keep everyone updated as we find out more, for right now it is a lot of waiting around but so far so good. Ethan and I are amazingly in high spirits, both pretty calm and rolling with the punches as they come. I'm so lucky that my two families are spread in Cape and STL, so I've got a support system in both places. Ethan is staying with my parents, not stuck on a crappy recliner or anything. Thanks to everyone that is sending us thoughts and prayers, we'll take everything we can get at this point and I know, know, know that God is with all of us right now. I would be going out of my mind if He wasn't.

I am taking visitors any time, give me a call if you are interested and I can tell you my room and stuff. I'd say tomorrow and Monday are both good days, Tuesday is more up in the air as to how long I'll be here and what time stuff will happen.