Yesterday marked our fabulous trio's 6 month birthday, it was also one year to the day that we found out we were expecting a new addition to the family. Yesterday afternoon was a stinking hot day and as is our annual tradition on the 23rd of December each year our town has a very cute Christmas pageant in the evening. So the family gathered here for a barbecue before heading down the street for the celebrations. Oliver was very excited as he got to ride on one of the fire trucks with Mr TAN and had a lovely time riding the fire truck and waving to all his friends that he knew, although by the end he was exhausted. The rest of us watched on and the trio were very well behaved.
We are ecstatic to have survived the first 6 months as parents of Higher Order Multiples and although our lives have changed very dramatically for the better I now couldn't imagine it any other way. Our lives have been busier, and we probably don't venture out of the house as much I would probably like but when you see the smiles on those 3 little gorgeous faces it is all well worth it.
Last night was another major achievement Addison, Spencer and Hudson to celebrate decided to sleep through the night without a peep until 6am. So with any luck it will become a regular occurrence. Hudson has now started rolling and Spencer and Addison are not far behind.
I am also very happy to have reached a huge milestone in that I have now been expressing milk for them for 6 months. This is such a huge achievement for me, as my original goal had been for the duration of their hospital stay I have well and truly surpassed that now. One of the benefits I have recently discovered apart from all the health and financial benefits is I get at least 20 minutes of time to sit and do nothing 6 times a day. So in this time I often make phone calls, Facebook, emails etc but recently I have discovered it is also a great time to read. In the last 2 weeks I have started (and finished) the first two twilight books and straight after I finish this I will get to start the third.
Oliver is very excited to be celebrating Christmas this year and is really getting into the spirit of Christmas and we managed to get down for a Santa photo. So this Christmas is very exciting for us and really has renewed our spirit.
So on that note on this beautiful Christmas 'silent night' I am going to pour Santa a glass of bubbly and get ready for the next feed.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all
Monday 24 December 2012
Sunday 9 December 2012
3+++ months (or 5+ corrected)
Hi everyone! It has been a while between posts as life has been busy and this is my third attempt in as many days as my entries keep disappearing into cyber space.
My days have been filled with feeding, expressing, household chores, feeding, expressing, playing with Ollie, sterilising etc, etc. The trio are still feeding mostly 3 hourly during the day which still takes an hour plus a bit longer now that they are starting to spend a bit more time awake. Then I spend 30ish minutes expressing it doesn't leave much time in between. The trio are going through nearly half a litre of milk each and every feed so they do get a bit of formula too. We were very fortunate to have some extra help approved so I now have someone here to help me 8 hours a day 5 days a week, which is brilliant on those days when I need to catch up on some much needed sleep.
We are still feeding through the night sadly although we have started not getting them all up once one wakes now, which unfortunately means I/we are up three times as much. Addison has proven to be a true champion and will often go through to 5 or 6 am, the boys on the other hand love their food and don't seem as convinced that eating over night isn't necessary. Mum has still been staying to help me with some of the night feeds during the week which is a massive help.
Our darling son has since turned 3 since my last entry and sadly has started to drop his day time sleep. I would dearly love for him to toilet train but he is just not ready and has told me it is too hard. He adores his brothers and sister although we do struggle with how rough he is with them. We do struggle to keep him entertained whilst we are feeding hence the lack of social outings, which I am missing a great deal.
Addison is such an easy baby and I am sure if all babies were like her, there would be many more babies in the world. She is very quiet and placid and only cries when she is hungry if she is put down. The little darling even got forgotten about the other night and eventually fell asleep quietly in her bouncer. Before we came out and found her and she hadn't made a peep. She is just now growing into her 000 clothes and is just over the 5 kilo mark now. So still a lot smaller than her brothers by about 1.5 kilos.
Spencer is a relatively easy baby and is often caught lying in his cot quietly looking around. He does big goofy gummy smiles and is quite a spunk. Spencer is quite a rascal to feed and prefers his milk warm and to be walked around the house to drink, which is getting tricky now that he is getting heavier. Some of the boys 000 clothes they are now growing out of and Spencer has jumped from the 50th to the 60th percentile in recent weeks.
Hudson is still the biggest (just) and half of the time he is a lovely smily, happy, talking, baby and he will often give you a funny wink when he smiles. Such a flirt! The other half of the time he will scream like a banshee this awful high pitched scream that goes right through you. Which he seems to do for a few hours on a nightly basis. So hopefully he gets over that soon as it is getting kind of tiring, especially when I am after an early night. Hudson is now somewhere above 6.5 kilos and is somewhere near the 70th percentile.
Mr TAN and I are still amazed at all the love and support we have received from family and friends. We have been overwhelmed with meals and offers of help, this help has made our journey so much smoother and really cannot thank those people enough for the difference this has made. Every day I look at my four amazing children and am overwhelmed with love and cannot believe my luck, considering the odds we were given in the start.
I have been connected with an Australian group through Facebook for people with Higher Order Multiples and I am astounded with the odds that most people are given regarding triplet pregnancies and the likelihood of having 3 healthy babies at the end of it. There was a discusiion recently and it seems most are told they have less than a 30% of having 3 babies at the end of the pregancy. So I hope those statistics are wrong as there are also so many good outcomes. So it seems we are very blessed indeed!
My days have been filled with feeding, expressing, household chores, feeding, expressing, playing with Ollie, sterilising etc, etc. The trio are still feeding mostly 3 hourly during the day which still takes an hour plus a bit longer now that they are starting to spend a bit more time awake. Then I spend 30ish minutes expressing it doesn't leave much time in between. The trio are going through nearly half a litre of milk each and every feed so they do get a bit of formula too. We were very fortunate to have some extra help approved so I now have someone here to help me 8 hours a day 5 days a week, which is brilliant on those days when I need to catch up on some much needed sleep.
We are still feeding through the night sadly although we have started not getting them all up once one wakes now, which unfortunately means I/we are up three times as much. Addison has proven to be a true champion and will often go through to 5 or 6 am, the boys on the other hand love their food and don't seem as convinced that eating over night isn't necessary. Mum has still been staying to help me with some of the night feeds during the week which is a massive help.
Our darling son has since turned 3 since my last entry and sadly has started to drop his day time sleep. I would dearly love for him to toilet train but he is just not ready and has told me it is too hard. He adores his brothers and sister although we do struggle with how rough he is with them. We do struggle to keep him entertained whilst we are feeding hence the lack of social outings, which I am missing a great deal.
Addison is such an easy baby and I am sure if all babies were like her, there would be many more babies in the world. She is very quiet and placid and only cries when she is hungry if she is put down. The little darling even got forgotten about the other night and eventually fell asleep quietly in her bouncer. Before we came out and found her and she hadn't made a peep. She is just now growing into her 000 clothes and is just over the 5 kilo mark now. So still a lot smaller than her brothers by about 1.5 kilos.
Spencer is a relatively easy baby and is often caught lying in his cot quietly looking around. He does big goofy gummy smiles and is quite a spunk. Spencer is quite a rascal to feed and prefers his milk warm and to be walked around the house to drink, which is getting tricky now that he is getting heavier. Some of the boys 000 clothes they are now growing out of and Spencer has jumped from the 50th to the 60th percentile in recent weeks.
Hudson is still the biggest (just) and half of the time he is a lovely smily, happy, talking, baby and he will often give you a funny wink when he smiles. Such a flirt! The other half of the time he will scream like a banshee this awful high pitched scream that goes right through you. Which he seems to do for a few hours on a nightly basis. So hopefully he gets over that soon as it is getting kind of tiring, especially when I am after an early night. Hudson is now somewhere above 6.5 kilos and is somewhere near the 70th percentile.
Mr TAN and I are still amazed at all the love and support we have received from family and friends. We have been overwhelmed with meals and offers of help, this help has made our journey so much smoother and really cannot thank those people enough for the difference this has made. Every day I look at my four amazing children and am overwhelmed with love and cannot believe my luck, considering the odds we were given in the start.
I have been connected with an Australian group through Facebook for people with Higher Order Multiples and I am astounded with the odds that most people are given regarding triplet pregnancies and the likelihood of having 3 healthy babies at the end of it. There was a discusiion recently and it seems most are told they have less than a 30% of having 3 babies at the end of the pregancy. So I hope those statistics are wrong as there are also so many good outcomes. So it seems we are very blessed indeed!
Friday 7 December 2012
Sunday 9 September 2012
Home Life
We are now entering our fourth week of being home and where do I start... So far things have been going ok. Just before we got home I applied for something called Special Child Care Benefit, so because of that I have a nanny for 3 days a week from 9am to 5pm. This has made a huge difference as she helps with all the feeds, washing, dishes ect and also allows me to have some one on one time with Oliver and even catch a snooze most days. My mum is helping one full day per week and with some of the night shifts. Although she is looking to help with a lot more as Mr TAN is not able to help with them much anymore as it is beginning to affect his work. We are also still lucky enough to have lots of supportive friends and having meals dropped off twice a week. I can not say enough how appreciative we are of this and how much of a difference it makes.
We are going through about 21 plus nappies per day, lots of loads of washing, and even though I am still expressing after each feed we are needing to top up the bottles with formula, and much to my surprise we are more than half way through our second tin in a week.
They are still feeding 3-4 hourly on demand and when they are feeding 3 hourly it is really hard work! If there are 2 of us doing the feeds it takes a good hour to get everyone fed, burped, changed and back to bed. Then following this I express If I attempt this on my own it takes a good hour and a half. By the time I get back to bed it is only 90 minutes before we start again. They fed 3 hourly 2 nights in a row over the weekend and tempers were short. When Oliver is out for the day or asleep it is much easier to manage, when he is home however and I am stuck feeding he tends to destroy the place. Regardless of how much television or snacks I have available to him. We have a one up, all up policy for feeds, and I have been trying like mad to master the art of prop feeding (supervised) so I can manage feeds on my own but so far no luck. Both of the boys have each picked a different 3 hour window to be whinge and unsettled. For Hudson it is from about 4-7ish and Spencer has chosen the 10pm-1am window, Thankfully so far Addison is still quite content and is a very placid easy baby. Although at times they do set each other off and we do have quite a regular chorus happening.
Last week I ventured out with them for their first check up and all is well. They are all gaining weight steadily and the doctors are happy. They are all now 2 weeks corrected or nearly 12 weeks old actual age. Won't that get confusing! Addison and Spencer's umbilical hernias still look fine. Addison as of a week ago now weighs in at 3380grams, Spencer 3970 grams and Hudson or chubby cheeks as Oliver affectionately calls him is 4170 grams. The boys have their follow up hearing checks at the end of the month as they both failed the initial one in one ear, from what I hear is quite common to fail initially and can be for a number of reasons.
On the way to the appointment I had a bright idea of stopping and having lunch in a popular cafe strip. I can see why seasoned HOM parents soon have a long list of responses to nosey (rude) people's comments. Yes I do have my hands full, and yes even my heart full. Lucky I didn't have their big brother with me too. So if you see someone with a very big pram with her head down to avoid talking to people it is probably me, but I really don't fancy stopping to speak to every single person about how awful it must be to be blessed with 4 lovely children even if I do spend most of the day and night feeding.
Until next time here is a picture of them taken this morning after their feed. From L-R is Hudson, Addison and Spencer
We are going through about 21 plus nappies per day, lots of loads of washing, and even though I am still expressing after each feed we are needing to top up the bottles with formula, and much to my surprise we are more than half way through our second tin in a week.
They are still feeding 3-4 hourly on demand and when they are feeding 3 hourly it is really hard work! If there are 2 of us doing the feeds it takes a good hour to get everyone fed, burped, changed and back to bed. Then following this I express If I attempt this on my own it takes a good hour and a half. By the time I get back to bed it is only 90 minutes before we start again. They fed 3 hourly 2 nights in a row over the weekend and tempers were short. When Oliver is out for the day or asleep it is much easier to manage, when he is home however and I am stuck feeding he tends to destroy the place. Regardless of how much television or snacks I have available to him. We have a one up, all up policy for feeds, and I have been trying like mad to master the art of prop feeding (supervised) so I can manage feeds on my own but so far no luck. Both of the boys have each picked a different 3 hour window to be whinge and unsettled. For Hudson it is from about 4-7ish and Spencer has chosen the 10pm-1am window, Thankfully so far Addison is still quite content and is a very placid easy baby. Although at times they do set each other off and we do have quite a regular chorus happening.
Last week I ventured out with them for their first check up and all is well. They are all gaining weight steadily and the doctors are happy. They are all now 2 weeks corrected or nearly 12 weeks old actual age. Won't that get confusing! Addison and Spencer's umbilical hernias still look fine. Addison as of a week ago now weighs in at 3380grams, Spencer 3970 grams and Hudson or chubby cheeks as Oliver affectionately calls him is 4170 grams. The boys have their follow up hearing checks at the end of the month as they both failed the initial one in one ear, from what I hear is quite common to fail initially and can be for a number of reasons.
On the way to the appointment I had a bright idea of stopping and having lunch in a popular cafe strip. I can see why seasoned HOM parents soon have a long list of responses to nosey (rude) people's comments. Yes I do have my hands full, and yes even my heart full. Lucky I didn't have their big brother with me too. So if you see someone with a very big pram with her head down to avoid talking to people it is probably me, but I really don't fancy stopping to speak to every single person about how awful it must be to be blessed with 4 lovely children even if I do spend most of the day and night feeding.
Until next time here is a picture of them taken this morning after their feed. From L-R is Hudson, Addison and Spencer
Saturday 18 August 2012
Finally home!
Yesterday was a very special day for our family. Finally after 7 weeks and 6 days Addison, Spencer and Hudson were finally able to join us at home.
Addison ended up having her nasal gastric tube taken out on Tuesday and basically we were just hoping for the best and that we could get her feeding so we could go home. So after Mr TAN and I spending a day and night at the hospital with them we were able to leave. Addison has to have some special fortifier added to her milk to help boost her calorie intake and weight gain. I am still managing (just) to provide them all with expressed breast milk but already feel my time and energy levels are sapped and Addison and Hudson are not so great at breast feeding as otherwise I would try twin feeding. Currently we are racing through about 1.8 litres of milk a day for them and that need is continually increasing so really don't feel that confident.
So we have now been home for about 36 hours and so far so good. They are all waking to feed every 3-4 hours and it takes the two of us just over an hour to get them all fed, changed and back to bed. In between I am busy expressing, sterilising, washing and of course entertaining Oliver. Mr TAN has been fantastic with helping with the feeding of everyone and we have even both managed a rest today thanks to some helpful visitors.
Starting on Monday I do have someone coming to help for 8 hours a day 3 times a week while Mr TAN is at work. I am so grateful for this help that will be provided for the next 13 weeks just to help with all the feeding and to get adjusted with this huge lack of sleep.
Keeping this short as they are just starting to wake for feeds again so here is a few happy snaps.
Addison ended up having her nasal gastric tube taken out on Tuesday and basically we were just hoping for the best and that we could get her feeding so we could go home. So after Mr TAN and I spending a day and night at the hospital with them we were able to leave. Addison has to have some special fortifier added to her milk to help boost her calorie intake and weight gain. I am still managing (just) to provide them all with expressed breast milk but already feel my time and energy levels are sapped and Addison and Hudson are not so great at breast feeding as otherwise I would try twin feeding. Currently we are racing through about 1.8 litres of milk a day for them and that need is continually increasing so really don't feel that confident.
So we have now been home for about 36 hours and so far so good. They are all waking to feed every 3-4 hours and it takes the two of us just over an hour to get them all fed, changed and back to bed. In between I am busy expressing, sterilising, washing and of course entertaining Oliver. Mr TAN has been fantastic with helping with the feeding of everyone and we have even both managed a rest today thanks to some helpful visitors.
Starting on Monday I do have someone coming to help for 8 hours a day 3 times a week while Mr TAN is at work. I am so grateful for this help that will be provided for the next 13 weeks just to help with all the feeding and to get adjusted with this huge lack of sleep.
Keeping this short as they are just starting to wake for feeds again so here is a few happy snaps.
Addison
Hudson
Spencer
Monday 13 August 2012
When will they be home?
The plan had originally been to aim for today, but, and I kind of expected it we have been delayed. Spencer and Hudson have been on full sucking feeds since Friday and are doing well. They are on demand feeds with a 4 hourly limit and are ready to come home. Spencer is a really good feeder at the breast, but Hudson not so much. Where Hudson lacks with his breast feeding he more than makes up for by the way he chugs down his bottles. The little greedy guts gulps down his bottles so fast he is gasping for air, where Spencer keeps more of a steady pace.
Young Addison seems to be all that is holding us up from coming now. She feeds really slowly and is struggling to finish her bottles on her 4 suck feeds. The other 2 feeds she is still having by a nasal gastric tube. They do prefer that they are on all sucking feeds for 48 hours before they come so if we are aiming for Friday we are running out of time. So it is only a matter of waiting for it all to click together for her.
We are not prepared to bring them home separately as we would not be able to get in to visit Addison as the hospital is just that bit too far away, and the hospital is supportive of us in this decision.
In the last few days we have noticed that all 3 of them are starting to get much better head control and they are also starting to wake up a bit more. While they are looking around they have also started to give us some lovely eye contact too.
We are as ready as ever for our trio to join us at home and everything is as ready as I ever in visage it to be. So now we wait....
Young Addison seems to be all that is holding us up from coming now. She feeds really slowly and is struggling to finish her bottles on her 4 suck feeds. The other 2 feeds she is still having by a nasal gastric tube. They do prefer that they are on all sucking feeds for 48 hours before they come so if we are aiming for Friday we are running out of time. So it is only a matter of waiting for it all to click together for her.
We are not prepared to bring them home separately as we would not be able to get in to visit Addison as the hospital is just that bit too far away, and the hospital is supportive of us in this decision.
In the last few days we have noticed that all 3 of them are starting to get much better head control and they are also starting to wake up a bit more. While they are looking around they have also started to give us some lovely eye contact too.
We are as ready as ever for our trio to join us at home and everything is as ready as I ever in visage it to be. So now we wait....
Friday 3 August 2012
How Will I Do It?
Well I must be on a roll tonight but this is something I have been asking myself pretty much for the past few months. How will I do it? How will I feed all 3 babies at the same time, so I am not constantly feeding? How will I settle all these babies, again hopefully at the same time? How will I continue to give Oliver the attention and time that he is accustomed to?
Let's start with the first one. I really have no idea! I love the benefits and lets not forget the convenience of breast feeding, after all there is no washing up but I am missing one boob. Do I twin feed two and somehow prop feed the third with expressed breast milk or formula? Do I just breast feed a different baby every feed and prop feed two babies? The benefit of this is I could still help Oliver read books etc and move about easily if needed. I am hoping I won't need to do too many feeds by myself but the reality also is sometimes I will need to. So really I don't know the answer to this question and will not know until we are living it. So far I am still feeding all three expressed milk but from what i have heard a lot of mothers with triplets are fine while the bubs are in hospital and it falls apart once everyone is home, and that's okay and will not be disappointed if this happens to me as let's be honest I am not Super Woman.
As for settling them, I am not going to have the time or the energy to pat, rock or wear these babies, so yes there is likely to be some screaming from everybody and we will do what we need to do to (hopefully) get everyone for a sleep at the same time. Mr TAN with his work situation is not able to take any extended period of time off of work so although he works from home I will be unable to rely on him for a lot.
Lastly for now Oliver who has our undivided attention for nearly 3 years now. I am hoping that his easy going and loving nature will make this change easy for him and I hope that we still get some of that lovely one on one time that I have been so enjoying these past few months as he has growing into a little boy. Oliver has already told me that Spencer is his favourite and would like to sit next to him in "mum's big bus". He was also quite concerned when we changed Addison's nappy. He looked at me quite complexed and said "Addie's willy gone" after I explained that Addie was a girl like mummy he was quite happy. Then we went on to change Spencer's nappy. Oliver then told me that Spence has a little willy, this soon followed with him telling me that he had a big willy, this followed with "Daddy has a big, big, big willy" needless to say this left my mum, the nurse and I in hysterics. Out of the mouths of babes.....
Let's start with the first one. I really have no idea! I love the benefits and lets not forget the convenience of breast feeding, after all there is no washing up but I am missing one boob. Do I twin feed two and somehow prop feed the third with expressed breast milk or formula? Do I just breast feed a different baby every feed and prop feed two babies? The benefit of this is I could still help Oliver read books etc and move about easily if needed. I am hoping I won't need to do too many feeds by myself but the reality also is sometimes I will need to. So really I don't know the answer to this question and will not know until we are living it. So far I am still feeding all three expressed milk but from what i have heard a lot of mothers with triplets are fine while the bubs are in hospital and it falls apart once everyone is home, and that's okay and will not be disappointed if this happens to me as let's be honest I am not Super Woman.
As for settling them, I am not going to have the time or the energy to pat, rock or wear these babies, so yes there is likely to be some screaming from everybody and we will do what we need to do to (hopefully) get everyone for a sleep at the same time. Mr TAN with his work situation is not able to take any extended period of time off of work so although he works from home I will be unable to rely on him for a lot.
Lastly for now Oliver who has our undivided attention for nearly 3 years now. I am hoping that his easy going and loving nature will make this change easy for him and I hope that we still get some of that lovely one on one time that I have been so enjoying these past few months as he has growing into a little boy. Oliver has already told me that Spencer is his favourite and would like to sit next to him in "mum's big bus". He was also quite concerned when we changed Addison's nappy. He looked at me quite complexed and said "Addie's willy gone" after I explained that Addie was a girl like mummy he was quite happy. Then we went on to change Spencer's nappy. Oliver then told me that Spence has a little willy, this soon followed with him telling me that he had a big willy, this followed with "Daddy has a big, big, big willy" needless to say this left my mum, the nurse and I in hysterics. Out of the mouths of babes.....
6 Weeks Old Tomorrow
Well tomorrow our precious miracles will be 6 weeks old. Where has the time gone? The time has been spent racing out of the house by 8am every morning to get to the hospital in time for the 10 and 11am feeds, racing back home again with Oliver in tow, expressing, getting him down for a nap and then spending the afternoon preparing for the trio to come home, expressing, doing all the evening stuff (dinner, bath, books and bed) for Oliver on my own while Mr TAN is at the hospital, expressing, and in between trying to make sure I am well rested and energised for when they come home.
Our trio are 36+3 corrected today and are doing amazingly well. They are now on 4 hourly/ demand feeds and are still being fed exclusively on expressed breast milk. At the moment they are on 3-4 suck feeds per day either at the breast or by bottle, the remaining feeds are gavaged (through the nasal gastric tube). About a week ago they did have a minor setback as they caught a mystery virus which gave them a slight temperature and lots of snot. Spencer went back into an isolette and into the higher care nursery but was reunited with his brother and sister within 24 hours. Hudson came down with it about a day or two after Addison and Spencer but is almost fully recovered now.
Addison is growing well and as of today weighs 2540grams, she is a little bit slower with her bottle feeds and tires easily, but is otherwise doing well. Spencer now weighs 2780 grams and much prefers breast feeds than bottle feeds. Lastly, Hudson who has always been the porkier one today hit the 3kilo mark. So all are now starting to get that chubby look about them.
So when are they coming home? Two days ago I got told it would be a maximum of 2 weeks until Addison, Spencer and Hudson will join us at home. So for the past few days we have been madly preparing all the last minute things and starting to work out our helpers. For the first 12 weeks we will be getting 9 hours of help during the week thanks to the local multiple birth association. Which is a fantastic help, although I have heard that a study shows that it takes 197 hours a week to care for new born triplets when there are only 168 hours in a week. Sadly this doesn't take into account me showering, eating or caring for other children. So the next few months we expect to be hard and we don't know how we will do it but what I do know is we have lots of wonderful family, friends and community and support around us and that we will get through it.
Sorry no pics today but will try and post some soon...
Our trio are 36+3 corrected today and are doing amazingly well. They are now on 4 hourly/ demand feeds and are still being fed exclusively on expressed breast milk. At the moment they are on 3-4 suck feeds per day either at the breast or by bottle, the remaining feeds are gavaged (through the nasal gastric tube). About a week ago they did have a minor setback as they caught a mystery virus which gave them a slight temperature and lots of snot. Spencer went back into an isolette and into the higher care nursery but was reunited with his brother and sister within 24 hours. Hudson came down with it about a day or two after Addison and Spencer but is almost fully recovered now.
Addison is growing well and as of today weighs 2540grams, she is a little bit slower with her bottle feeds and tires easily, but is otherwise doing well. Spencer now weighs 2780 grams and much prefers breast feeds than bottle feeds. Lastly, Hudson who has always been the porkier one today hit the 3kilo mark. So all are now starting to get that chubby look about them.
So when are they coming home? Two days ago I got told it would be a maximum of 2 weeks until Addison, Spencer and Hudson will join us at home. So for the past few days we have been madly preparing all the last minute things and starting to work out our helpers. For the first 12 weeks we will be getting 9 hours of help during the week thanks to the local multiple birth association. Which is a fantastic help, although I have heard that a study shows that it takes 197 hours a week to care for new born triplets when there are only 168 hours in a week. Sadly this doesn't take into account me showering, eating or caring for other children. So the next few months we expect to be hard and we don't know how we will do it but what I do know is we have lots of wonderful family, friends and community and support around us and that we will get through it.
Sorry no pics today but will try and post some soon...
Sunday 15 July 2012
3 weeks old
It is hard to believe how much has changed in these past few weeks. From being very large and uncomfortable to now being relatively mobile and comfortable considering I have recently had a fairly major surgical procedure. We have also gone from being a cosy family of 3 to a much larger family of 6. It is also incredible the changes that we have seen in Addison, Spencer and Hudson. To see them all on oxygen in isolettes and at times on CPAP and under lights and looking so skinny after they lost 10ish% of their birth weights - Hudson was a bit more than this. To now seeing them all breathing on their own and now having the ability to regulate their own body temperature.
When I arrived at the hospital I was very pleased to see all three in an open cot, Spencer and Hudson had been in an open cot for a few days, but Addison has now joined her brothers. All that has been holding her back is she was that bit smaller from the start.
Addison now weighs 1740 grams
Spencer now weighs 1935 grams
Hudson now weighs 2020 grams
The two boys (again because they are a bit bigger) have been graded on to 3 hourly feeds, and Addison is still on 2 hourly but I imagine hers will change this week. They are tolerating their feeds really well and are not spilling at all. Now that they are beginning to get the sensation of being hungry they are starting to wake up when they are due for a feed so we are lucky enough to see them with their eyes open more often. Now when I go into the hospital I spend most of my time trying to teach the babies to breast feed. I manage to get them to attach and depending on how awake and hungry they are they do manage to have a bit of a feed but do tire quickly. So considering they are not meant to be born yet and are still only 33 weeks gestation they are doing really well. They had their routine follow up brain scans this week which didn't show up anything, thankfully. They were checking for bleeding on the brain which is quite common in premature babies.
We are still exclusively breastfeeding and are keeping up just fine. The hospital has enough for at least 24 hours in case we are not able to make it one day for whatever reason. The time I am spending expressing at home gives me a chance to sit quietly and read, 50 Shades of Grey is on the list currently and who knows when I will get a chance to start and finish a book again. I also read recently how many calories are burnt by breastfeeding and based on that it worked out to a huge 800+ calories per day.
This has also seen the first full week of me driving to the hospital and back every day. Luckily Ollie hasn't had to come with me this week as his beautiful Grandma Jen and Poppy have been able to help out and keep him entertained. But he will be coming down with me most days from now on and playing in the creche at the hospital. So far I have been going down every day and limiting myself to 2 hours as I am really tired from both still recovering and expressing during the night.
Oliver has made the transition out into his new bedroom and his 'big boy bed' very easily since I have been home and has been asking to go to the hospital to see "Huds, Spence and Addie" but due to his illness he hasn't been in the past week but will come in for a visit this week with me. I have also really enjoyed spending some one on one time with him this past week as I really feel like I have missed out on some beautiful time with him these past few months and he is at such a beautiful age.
Lastly here are some photos in order of Addison, Spencer and Hudson
Wednesday 11 July 2012
Two weeks old - Better late than never
It is hard to believe that a while two weeks ago since Addison, Spencer and Hudson entered our lives in such a hurry. The last week has been fairly drama free for the beautiful trio.
Each had regained their birth weight by Wednesday and have continued to gain weight steadily since generally averaging about 30 grams per day. Originally that had been fed expressed breast milk through a nasal gastric tube continually, but now have all been upgraded to two hourly bolus feeds. This feed is allows gravity to feed it through the tube. Spencer ended up with the same mystery virus that Hudson had last week so ended up with an iv again for his course of antibiotics.
The past week I have been staying in a motel close to the hospital to be near our babies and have been spending most days at the hospital. Unfortunately Mr TAN and Oliver have both been sick this week so from Tuesday on I had no contact with either of them. Thankfully they are both much better now. I am finally back at home which is so nice to be back with my boys. So now the daily commute will start...
Each had regained their birth weight by Wednesday and have continued to gain weight steadily since generally averaging about 30 grams per day. Originally that had been fed expressed breast milk through a nasal gastric tube continually, but now have all been upgraded to two hourly bolus feeds. This feed is allows gravity to feed it through the tube. Spencer ended up with the same mystery virus that Hudson had last week so ended up with an iv again for his course of antibiotics.
The past week I have been staying in a motel close to the hospital to be near our babies and have been spending most days at the hospital. Unfortunately Mr TAN and Oliver have both been sick this week so from Tuesday on I had no contact with either of them. Thankfully they are both much better now. I am finally back at home which is so nice to be back with my boys. So now the daily commute will start...
Monday 2 July 2012
A week and a bit on...
Well it has been just over 1 week since we became parents of 4 overnight. The shock has finally settled and we are all slowly recovering.
I am still a little sore from the ceaseraen, but slowly improving each day. I personally wouldn't choose to have one again (haha). Initially the day after birth I had a good 8cm+ of abdominal seperation, which for a few days was quite when I was up moving around. Today after a quick visit to the hospital physio that has now gone down to only about 3cm, phew! Since being discharged from the hospital I have been staying in a motel nearby to the hospital to rest up and recover a bit more before heading home. This has been really nice as I am still extremely tired and I have also wanted to make sure breast feeding is well established.
I am a big fan of the benefits and the pracicalities of breast feeding and at the moment I am just managing to keep up woth my trio's needs. Nine days in and between them we are going through 33ml of breast milk per hour and this is increasing almost daily. Initially my goal is to at least ensure they are exclusively breast fed while they are still in hospital. I would love to continue this once I get home but I am also a realist, and realise that trying to twin feed 2 babies, and chasing a toddler with one more hungry mouth to feed might not work and be more trouble than it's worth. At the very least I will endeavour to feed a different baby each feed so they are at least getting 2 one on one cuddles and feed with mummy per day.
As for the magnificent trio all are generally doing really well. They were all of the CPAP within a few days, and moved from the NICU to SCBU (special care baby unit). All have been under lights at least twice but at the moment they are okay. Again all three are breathing on their own and are not on any oxygen, all are being fed by a continuos syringe through a nasal gastric tube. Hudson has generally been a few days behind the others as he did not get any surfactant when he was born, but in hindsight probably would have benefited from it. He also had an umbi line(?) in for a few days so was initially grumpy as he started his food a little later. All 3 are about 50ish grams off of their birth weight so doing well in that respect. Poor little Hudson had a little swelling under his chin this morning so had to go back on an iv and have some tests done but all appears to be nothing thankfully.
Tomorrow they will be 32 weeks gestation and we are hoping to have them all home between 37-40 weeks gestation so sometime in mid to late August. Mr TAN and I have been overwhelmed with all the love and support people have shown us. As for their big brother Ollie he is missing not having his mum at home but has still been having some visits with us all and loves patting his sister and brother's heads and holding their hands. I am looking forward to being home with him next weekend. I can also see many similarities between all 3 and their big brother including their dad's worry lines that Ollie was also born with, just 3 much smaller versions.
I have had lots of cuddles with all three including lots of skin to skin and including some double cuddles which was the most amazing feeling and I didn't know who to look at. It will probably be another 2 weeks or so until they are all of their monitors when I can have triplet cuddles.
Lastly I will leave you with some pics from the last week.
Addison 1 week old
Hudson on left and Spencer on the right Mum's first double cuddle
Double cuddle with Spencer (L) and Addison (R). Lucky Spencer gets all the double cuddles as his cot is in the middle
I am still a little sore from the ceaseraen, but slowly improving each day. I personally wouldn't choose to have one again (haha). Initially the day after birth I had a good 8cm+ of abdominal seperation, which for a few days was quite when I was up moving around. Today after a quick visit to the hospital physio that has now gone down to only about 3cm, phew! Since being discharged from the hospital I have been staying in a motel nearby to the hospital to rest up and recover a bit more before heading home. This has been really nice as I am still extremely tired and I have also wanted to make sure breast feeding is well established.
I am a big fan of the benefits and the pracicalities of breast feeding and at the moment I am just managing to keep up woth my trio's needs. Nine days in and between them we are going through 33ml of breast milk per hour and this is increasing almost daily. Initially my goal is to at least ensure they are exclusively breast fed while they are still in hospital. I would love to continue this once I get home but I am also a realist, and realise that trying to twin feed 2 babies, and chasing a toddler with one more hungry mouth to feed might not work and be more trouble than it's worth. At the very least I will endeavour to feed a different baby each feed so they are at least getting 2 one on one cuddles and feed with mummy per day.
As for the magnificent trio all are generally doing really well. They were all of the CPAP within a few days, and moved from the NICU to SCBU (special care baby unit). All have been under lights at least twice but at the moment they are okay. Again all three are breathing on their own and are not on any oxygen, all are being fed by a continuos syringe through a nasal gastric tube. Hudson has generally been a few days behind the others as he did not get any surfactant when he was born, but in hindsight probably would have benefited from it. He also had an umbi line(?) in for a few days so was initially grumpy as he started his food a little later. All 3 are about 50ish grams off of their birth weight so doing well in that respect. Poor little Hudson had a little swelling under his chin this morning so had to go back on an iv and have some tests done but all appears to be nothing thankfully.
Tomorrow they will be 32 weeks gestation and we are hoping to have them all home between 37-40 weeks gestation so sometime in mid to late August. Mr TAN and I have been overwhelmed with all the love and support people have shown us. As for their big brother Ollie he is missing not having his mum at home but has still been having some visits with us all and loves patting his sister and brother's heads and holding their hands. I am looking forward to being home with him next weekend. I can also see many similarities between all 3 and their big brother including their dad's worry lines that Ollie was also born with, just 3 much smaller versions.
I have had lots of cuddles with all three including lots of skin to skin and including some double cuddles which was the most amazing feeling and I didn't know who to look at. It will probably be another 2 weeks or so until they are all of their monitors when I can have triplet cuddles.
Lastly I will leave you with some pics from the last week.
Addison 1 week old
Hudson 1 week old
Spencer 1 week old
Saturday 23 June 2012
The birthday 23/06/2012!!!
On Thursday I headed down to my ob appointment and all looked great. Got to have a good look at all 3 babies and everything was swell. I was now measuring the equivalent of 47 weeks pregnant. It was also arranged for me to be admitted into hospital on the Sunday to rest and await the arrival of our babies.
Friday I woke up and it just felt like another normal day of being big and uncomfortable. About 12.30ish I started getting strong regular braxton hicks. I had a few visitors during the afternoon so stayed lying down while we chatted and caught up. By about 4ish it was still carrying on in spite of resting, panadol and lots of glasses of water. I called the doctors rooms and she suggested I come in to get checked out. So I got Mr TAN home and off we went. I bought some of the things with me I had packed to take down for my extended stay just in case.
When we arrived at the hospital we were taken through, and it was just lucky that our student midwife who is also a HOM mum was on her last day of placement. Everything looked and felt fine, but they gave me my first dose of steroids and admitted me. This was at about 7ish. I got taken up to the labour and delivery ward and got made comfortable where I told them adamantly that they needed worry as we were not having any babies tonight. I tried to send Mr TAN home which is about an hours drive from the hospital, but he decided to stay close by with a friend just in case. Mr TAN tells me now that my obstetrician told him to stay close by. So I got comfortable and tried to get some sleep. At around 10 I still hadn't gotten any rest as the Braxton Hicks were now constant and not easing at all, so it was decided I would get some pethidine and try to relax my irritable uterus so I could get some sleep. I finally drifted off but woke suddenly at around one needing to go to the toilet. I felt damp already so put it down to the pethidine, and my very squashed bladder. I started to feel a gush as I walked to the toilet which I thought may have been my waters breaking to get to the toilet and see a whole lot of blood. It was at this point that I became really scared. I hit the buzzer and suddenly the room was full. They couldn't tell if my membranes had ruptured or not and hooked me up to monitor the babies. The bubs were all doing great, and had strong heartbeats. They called my obstetrician again and she was going to come in. After another large gush of blood they called her again and she said it was time, I was going in for a cesarean to have my babies. At this point I called Mr TAN and the student midwife to get them all back in.
By this time I was so scared and I didn't understand what was happening and wouldn't let the midwife leave. I wasn't in any pain, just scared about not knowing what was happening. I was also only 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant and totally not mentally prepared to be giving birth so soon. The next bit is a bit of a blur as I am being prepped for surgery, I had the neonatoligist come in to talk to me about all the different possibilities, anaesthetists amongst a whole lot of people buzzing about. Mr TAN arrived, and my student midwife in just the nick of time before we got wheeled in.
When we got into the theatre it was a hive of activity as the 3 little cots were set up and everything being prepared. I got Mr TAN to do a head count and there were 20 people in the theatre. Then it all happened fairly quickly.
At 3.08am Addison Rose was born weighing 1460gm and 41.7cm long.
At 3.09am Spencer Graham was born weighing 1600gm and 42cm long.
At 3.11 Hudson Ray was born with a scowl on his face and weighing 1710gm and 41.4cm long.
It was discovered during surgery that Spencer's membranes had ruptured and his placenta had started to detach which was causing the bleeding. But we will not know what happened first whether it was the braxton hicks that caused it, or if the braxton hicks were because of his placenta.
So now just over 24 hours later and everyone is doing well. Addison may be coming of CPAP today and is starting to be fed small amounts of food and is under lights. Spencer is under lights and he swallowed a bit of blood and is also on CPAP. Hudson still appears to be the grumpy one and keeps pulling his iv out, so now has one going into his cord. He is on CPAP too and is the only one not under lights at this stage.
As for me I am taking things slowly and apart from the shock and surprise of having 3 babies yesterday am feeling okay. I managed a small cuddle with Addison yesterday which was just beautiful. Anyway am about to head back down to the nursery. So will just leave with some pics
My bump on Friday. Didn't think this was going to be the last one
Addison Rose having her mummy cuddle
Friday I woke up and it just felt like another normal day of being big and uncomfortable. About 12.30ish I started getting strong regular braxton hicks. I had a few visitors during the afternoon so stayed lying down while we chatted and caught up. By about 4ish it was still carrying on in spite of resting, panadol and lots of glasses of water. I called the doctors rooms and she suggested I come in to get checked out. So I got Mr TAN home and off we went. I bought some of the things with me I had packed to take down for my extended stay just in case.
When we arrived at the hospital we were taken through, and it was just lucky that our student midwife who is also a HOM mum was on her last day of placement. Everything looked and felt fine, but they gave me my first dose of steroids and admitted me. This was at about 7ish. I got taken up to the labour and delivery ward and got made comfortable where I told them adamantly that they needed worry as we were not having any babies tonight. I tried to send Mr TAN home which is about an hours drive from the hospital, but he decided to stay close by with a friend just in case. Mr TAN tells me now that my obstetrician told him to stay close by. So I got comfortable and tried to get some sleep. At around 10 I still hadn't gotten any rest as the Braxton Hicks were now constant and not easing at all, so it was decided I would get some pethidine and try to relax my irritable uterus so I could get some sleep. I finally drifted off but woke suddenly at around one needing to go to the toilet. I felt damp already so put it down to the pethidine, and my very squashed bladder. I started to feel a gush as I walked to the toilet which I thought may have been my waters breaking to get to the toilet and see a whole lot of blood. It was at this point that I became really scared. I hit the buzzer and suddenly the room was full. They couldn't tell if my membranes had ruptured or not and hooked me up to monitor the babies. The bubs were all doing great, and had strong heartbeats. They called my obstetrician again and she was going to come in. After another large gush of blood they called her again and she said it was time, I was going in for a cesarean to have my babies. At this point I called Mr TAN and the student midwife to get them all back in.
By this time I was so scared and I didn't understand what was happening and wouldn't let the midwife leave. I wasn't in any pain, just scared about not knowing what was happening. I was also only 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant and totally not mentally prepared to be giving birth so soon. The next bit is a bit of a blur as I am being prepped for surgery, I had the neonatoligist come in to talk to me about all the different possibilities, anaesthetists amongst a whole lot of people buzzing about. Mr TAN arrived, and my student midwife in just the nick of time before we got wheeled in.
When we got into the theatre it was a hive of activity as the 3 little cots were set up and everything being prepared. I got Mr TAN to do a head count and there were 20 people in the theatre. Then it all happened fairly quickly.
At 3.08am Addison Rose was born weighing 1460gm and 41.7cm long.
At 3.09am Spencer Graham was born weighing 1600gm and 42cm long.
At 3.11 Hudson Ray was born with a scowl on his face and weighing 1710gm and 41.4cm long.
It was discovered during surgery that Spencer's membranes had ruptured and his placenta had started to detach which was causing the bleeding. But we will not know what happened first whether it was the braxton hicks that caused it, or if the braxton hicks were because of his placenta.
So now just over 24 hours later and everyone is doing well. Addison may be coming of CPAP today and is starting to be fed small amounts of food and is under lights. Spencer is under lights and he swallowed a bit of blood and is also on CPAP. Hudson still appears to be the grumpy one and keeps pulling his iv out, so now has one going into his cord. He is on CPAP too and is the only one not under lights at this stage.
As for me I am taking things slowly and apart from the shock and surprise of having 3 babies yesterday am feeling okay. I managed a small cuddle with Addison yesterday which was just beautiful. Anyway am about to head back down to the nursery. So will just leave with some pics
My bump on Friday. Didn't think this was going to be the last one
Spencer Graham
Hudson Ray
Friday 15 June 2012
Growing!
.Well yesterday was yet another growth scan and I am now 29weeks and 4 days pregnant. As far as triplet pregnancies go, I guess this has been a fairly boring and complication free one. The babies are getting harder and harder to scan these days as there is just a giant mass of heads, bodies, arms and legs. B's head is nestled deep down in my pelvis making it very hard to get her head measurememts, and baby A is still tucked sort of behind B making him hard to get to as well.
But after waiting for an hour to be taken in for the scan we finally got there and all is well and as I suspected by my growing size and discomfort. Both of the boys are now weighing around the 1500gm mark, and our little girl is weighing about 1350gm. The MFM doctor is really happy with how things are going and is confident that we shouldn't have any problems making it to 32-34 weeks. So if we continue the way things are going all bubs should be around the 2 kilo mark when they arrive.
In terms of how I am feeling it is getting harder and harder each day that passes. Walking is becoming quite painful, and my whole body aches. Even rolling over in bed is getting increasingly difficult and painful. Now that my belly has started to grow width ways, as well as length it is getting harder to lay on my side and I am now resorting to spending half the night trying to sleep sitting up. Yesterday morning I woke in the most excruciating pain as either B or C's foot was jammed up high in my ribs under my breast. I could feel the lump there and had to try to free it. I am still struggling with breathlessness, even reading a story to Oliver has me puffed out. In the long run though we are now in the home stretch of this pregnancy and I am being admitted into hospital next weekend. Every day and week is a bonus and is best for the babies so until then everyone else will need to put up with my complaining.
The stuff around the house is coming together too, Oliver's room is all carpeted and painted and we have the furniture so just need to move him out there and hang the curtains. There is still a bit of painting to do but there is no real rush. This week we have also sorted through all the clothes we have been given and boxed them up in the separate sizes ready for use. So all we really need to do in the nursery is assemble the cots and put up the wall mural that I bought, but there is still plenty of time for that before these babies come home. We have had so much help and support these past 2 weeks and it has made such a huge difference. My mum is currently staying with us as I am finding it to hard to find the motivation or energy to even make toast, she will be staying until next weekend to help out until I go into hospital. As I sit here Mr TAN is about to sit his first exam for uni then he just has one more to sit before he takes the next semester off.
Well that is all I have to say for now, but will take a new bump pic later as I think it has been a while.
But after waiting for an hour to be taken in for the scan we finally got there and all is well and as I suspected by my growing size and discomfort. Both of the boys are now weighing around the 1500gm mark, and our little girl is weighing about 1350gm. The MFM doctor is really happy with how things are going and is confident that we shouldn't have any problems making it to 32-34 weeks. So if we continue the way things are going all bubs should be around the 2 kilo mark when they arrive.
In terms of how I am feeling it is getting harder and harder each day that passes. Walking is becoming quite painful, and my whole body aches. Even rolling over in bed is getting increasingly difficult and painful. Now that my belly has started to grow width ways, as well as length it is getting harder to lay on my side and I am now resorting to spending half the night trying to sleep sitting up. Yesterday morning I woke in the most excruciating pain as either B or C's foot was jammed up high in my ribs under my breast. I could feel the lump there and had to try to free it. I am still struggling with breathlessness, even reading a story to Oliver has me puffed out. In the long run though we are now in the home stretch of this pregnancy and I am being admitted into hospital next weekend. Every day and week is a bonus and is best for the babies so until then everyone else will need to put up with my complaining.
The stuff around the house is coming together too, Oliver's room is all carpeted and painted and we have the furniture so just need to move him out there and hang the curtains. There is still a bit of painting to do but there is no real rush. This week we have also sorted through all the clothes we have been given and boxed them up in the separate sizes ready for use. So all we really need to do in the nursery is assemble the cots and put up the wall mural that I bought, but there is still plenty of time for that before these babies come home. We have had so much help and support these past 2 weeks and it has made such a huge difference. My mum is currently staying with us as I am finding it to hard to find the motivation or energy to even make toast, she will be staying until next weekend to help out until I go into hospital. As I sit here Mr TAN is about to sit his first exam for uni then he just has one more to sit before he takes the next semester off.
Well that is all I have to say for now, but will take a new bump pic later as I think it has been a while.
Thursday 7 June 2012
Today's Checkup
Today I had one of my obstetric appointments and all is still going great guns. Mr TAN has now banned me from driving and everybody has agreed with him much to my disappointment, which I am not complaining about I just don't like being dependant on others.
I am now measuring 43cm - YIKES! For those of you who don't know what this means it generally relates to the equivalent of how pregnant you are IE 30cm is 30 weeks pregnant. The babies are now all between the 50th and 70th percentile, which is fantastic news and I am looking forward to seeing how much they have grown at my next growth scan next week.
Generally apart from being constantly breathless, headaches, being huge and in pain, the reflux and how squished all my internal organs are now I am feeling pretty good. My high resting heart rate is still a concern so need to keep an eye on it and watch out for swelling and dizziness. I have also been told IF I make it to 35 weeks a ceaserean will be scheduled for then, although the way I am beginning to feel already I am not sure if I will make it that far.
I am now finding myself with very little energy and basically just move from the couch to the bed. Thankfully my mum has moved up to help me as of this week which is making a huge difference. She has been helping with all the general household chores like cooking, washing and helping to care for Oliver. With her help I believe I can manage an extra week at home but we will need to play that one by ear.
One thing that I am beginning to have fun with though is the comments I am getting from strangers about the size of my belly. For example I was browsing in the shop at the hospital and a customer was having a conversation with the lady behind the counter, this is how it went:
Shop Lady "Busy day?"
Customer "Yes, people keep having babies"
Shop Lady "Look at her she is about to have a baby"
Me "I'm about to have 3" this is the fun part
All faces turn to me "3" "your having twins?" "Are they those ivf babies?"
Me "Yes, triplets, yes they are natural ;)"
This was then followed by a whole lot more clucking, this is just one example but it is becoming more of a daily occurrence when I leave the house but it is keeping me entertained....
Are there any other HOM parents out there that have had fun with these kinds of things?
I am now measuring 43cm - YIKES! For those of you who don't know what this means it generally relates to the equivalent of how pregnant you are IE 30cm is 30 weeks pregnant. The babies are now all between the 50th and 70th percentile, which is fantastic news and I am looking forward to seeing how much they have grown at my next growth scan next week.
Generally apart from being constantly breathless, headaches, being huge and in pain, the reflux and how squished all my internal organs are now I am feeling pretty good. My high resting heart rate is still a concern so need to keep an eye on it and watch out for swelling and dizziness. I have also been told IF I make it to 35 weeks a ceaserean will be scheduled for then, although the way I am beginning to feel already I am not sure if I will make it that far.
I am now finding myself with very little energy and basically just move from the couch to the bed. Thankfully my mum has moved up to help me as of this week which is making a huge difference. She has been helping with all the general household chores like cooking, washing and helping to care for Oliver. With her help I believe I can manage an extra week at home but we will need to play that one by ear.
One thing that I am beginning to have fun with though is the comments I am getting from strangers about the size of my belly. For example I was browsing in the shop at the hospital and a customer was having a conversation with the lady behind the counter, this is how it went:
Shop Lady "Busy day?"
Customer "Yes, people keep having babies"
Shop Lady "Look at her she is about to have a baby"
Me "I'm about to have 3" this is the fun part
All faces turn to me "3" "your having twins?" "Are they those ivf babies?"
Me "Yes, triplets, yes they are natural ;)"
This was then followed by a whole lot more clucking, this is just one example but it is becoming more of a daily occurrence when I leave the house but it is keeping me entertained....
Are there any other HOM parents out there that have had fun with these kinds of things?
Tuesday 5 June 2012
My second goal!!!
Well today it is official, I have finally reached my minimum gestation goal of 28 weeks! This also means that I am officially in the third trimester of pregnancy. Lastly and most importantly I have been told that babies born at this gestation have a 95% chance of survival.
On Friday night we made a late night dash to hospital as my Braxton Hicks started to become painful and regular. Luckily it all turned out to be nothing, however they did keep me in for observation and rest until Monday.
We are still planning on having me admitted to hospital from 30 weeks for a few reasons. I am finding it harder and harder to cope at home on my own. So for the next 2 weeks I have someone here permanently to help me. I am really feeling it now if I do too much and tend to suffer the consequences, which I am sure is the reason why I spent the weekend in hospital. Mr TAN is also finding it increasingly stressful to have me at home as he is constantly worrying about what I might be doing.
Being in hospital also made me realise just how hard it will be. The private hospital which is closer to home and much nicer do not want me there, even if it is just for respite. The major public hospital where the babies will need to be delivered is busy, much further away from home. I found I was always hungry, even after each meal. They also only had food available 3 times a day compared to the nice one which feed you 6 times per day. Also being a vegetarian the menu options were the same every day, I also found it really hard to sleep. I am finding it hard now at the best of times but being on that horrible little bed, with crying babies in other rooms, and being woken up 4 hourly for obs I cam to rely on the Tamazapan they were giving me to help me sleep.
So apart from the physical discomforts there were the emotional ones. After Mr TAN left me on Friday night I didn't get to see him again until I came home on Monday afternoon. I did speak to him a few times but it wasn't the same. Also over that whole weekend I also only got to see my baby boy for about 15 minutes on the Saturday. I got to speak to him about twice a day but it just wasn't the same as seeing him and holding him in my arms.
My weekend away however did bring some advantages. Mr TAN has managed to finish the construction side of things so that is all now complete, plus he has now made a start on the painting too. We are hoping the painting will be finished by the weekend so the room will be ready for Ollie before I end up in hospital.
So I guess at the end of all of this being in hospital will have it's advantages. It means that each day and week we can keep these 3 precious miracles in utero is a massive plus, and less time they will need in the NICU and SCBU units after birth and the sooner we can bring them home and begin our lives as a family of 6.
Saturday 26 May 2012
26 weeks and another growth scan
Well as another week passes us by and we get another week closer to meeting our trio I realise we still have a lot to do. I am beginning to feel quite useless at home it is getting harder and harder for me to do anything and am relying on Mr TAN or visitors for anything that needs doing.
Mr TAN and I have discussed the home situation and we have decided that if all continues to go well then I will get myself admitted into hospital from 30 weeks. It is getting to the point where I don't feel safe to be left alone with him for a long period of time. This really saddens me as he is at such a beautiful age and is so much fun at the moment and generally quite easy to care for. I just don't have the energy or strength to stand for any length of time and it is recommended that I don't spend more than 30 minutes on my feet in a 2 hour period. He doesn't seem to bothered by it though as he is having a wonderful time each day on his little adventures with various friends and family members, I just wish he was having this much fun with me. Ideally I would like to have everything finished at home and our son settled into his new room before I go into hospital. Which means we still have a lot to work to do
We now have a back door which was stage 1 of getting the house ready, but now need to fill in the cracks and paint the old pantry. Hopefully this week we have a builder coming to put a wall up for Oliver's room so we can then paint and carpet that room and get Oliver's new furniture. Lucky last will be to put up the railings on the deck so it is safe and we don't fall the 2 meters onto the ground. So a lot to do considering how busy Mr TAN is with work, helping me and preparing for his uni exams around the time I go into hospital.
We had our growth scan on Friday and all 3 babies are looking great. They are getting harder and harder to scan though as A is hiding directly behind B and they are very quickly running out of room. I can't remember exact weights but all 3 babies are around the 1 kilo mark now, so B has well and truly caught up to her brothers. We have also been given a whole heap of girls clothes recently so there is very few things that we still need but will be buying 2 more car seats down the track. Well I think that is about all for this week, so until next time....
Mr TAN and I have discussed the home situation and we have decided that if all continues to go well then I will get myself admitted into hospital from 30 weeks. It is getting to the point where I don't feel safe to be left alone with him for a long period of time. This really saddens me as he is at such a beautiful age and is so much fun at the moment and generally quite easy to care for. I just don't have the energy or strength to stand for any length of time and it is recommended that I don't spend more than 30 minutes on my feet in a 2 hour period. He doesn't seem to bothered by it though as he is having a wonderful time each day on his little adventures with various friends and family members, I just wish he was having this much fun with me. Ideally I would like to have everything finished at home and our son settled into his new room before I go into hospital. Which means we still have a lot to work to do
We now have a back door which was stage 1 of getting the house ready, but now need to fill in the cracks and paint the old pantry. Hopefully this week we have a builder coming to put a wall up for Oliver's room so we can then paint and carpet that room and get Oliver's new furniture. Lucky last will be to put up the railings on the deck so it is safe and we don't fall the 2 meters onto the ground. So a lot to do considering how busy Mr TAN is with work, helping me and preparing for his uni exams around the time I go into hospital.
We had our growth scan on Friday and all 3 babies are looking great. They are getting harder and harder to scan though as A is hiding directly behind B and they are very quickly running out of room. I can't remember exact weights but all 3 babies are around the 1 kilo mark now, so B has well and truly caught up to her brothers. We have also been given a whole heap of girls clothes recently so there is very few things that we still need but will be buying 2 more car seats down the track. Well I think that is about all for this week, so until next time....
Monday 21 May 2012
25 weeks...
Well another week is almost over and not a whole heap has changed. We now take great amusement of watching my belly shake and roll. Oliver has taken to driving cars over my belly to play with the 'Noahs'.
We have also all been hit with rotten colds this week which I am taking forever to recover from, like I needed any more trouble breathing. It has also been revealed to me this week through my mum's personal trainer the reason why I have been extremely tired and am struggling to gain weight is due to my elevated heart rate. At the moment my resting heart rate is between 100-120 bpm so it is comparable to me doing constant mild exercise. I had been aiming to gain at least 15 kilos by this stage in my pregnancy but so far have only managed 6.
This week I also had my glucose tolerance test which I should get the results back from in the next week or so. At my obstetrician appointment this week I am now measuring 39 weeks, but i can feel my stomach beginning to grow width ways now too. We had a lovely little peek in on the babies and all seem to be going well. We saw Baby B opening and closing her little mouth and her tongue sticking out. It appears baby A has now had a growth spurt and both A and C are now sitting around the 70th percentile. So hopefully at this coming Friday's growth scan we will see that B has caught up to her brothers. My thyroid has come back fine, and my iron levels are now borderline so am now up to 2 iron tablets a day.
I have also been told as soon as I feel the need to be admitted to hospital for some rest, all I need to do is ring and need to do is ring and ask.
Yesterday afternoon my lovely sister in law arranged a bit of a pre triplets high tea gathering so we could all celebrate this amazing gift together. It was so lovely to spend the afternoon with so many good friends and family members.
On a final note it has been a while so here is my bump at 25 weeks...
On a final note it has been a while so here is a photo from yesterday at 25 weeks
We have also all been hit with rotten colds this week which I am taking forever to recover from, like I needed any more trouble breathing. It has also been revealed to me this week through my mum's personal trainer the reason why I have been extremely tired and am struggling to gain weight is due to my elevated heart rate. At the moment my resting heart rate is between 100-120 bpm so it is comparable to me doing constant mild exercise. I had been aiming to gain at least 15 kilos by this stage in my pregnancy but so far have only managed 6.
This week I also had my glucose tolerance test which I should get the results back from in the next week or so. At my obstetrician appointment this week I am now measuring 39 weeks, but i can feel my stomach beginning to grow width ways now too. We had a lovely little peek in on the babies and all seem to be going well. We saw Baby B opening and closing her little mouth and her tongue sticking out. It appears baby A has now had a growth spurt and both A and C are now sitting around the 70th percentile. So hopefully at this coming Friday's growth scan we will see that B has caught up to her brothers. My thyroid has come back fine, and my iron levels are now borderline so am now up to 2 iron tablets a day.
I have also been told as soon as I feel the need to be admitted to hospital for some rest, all I need to do is ring and need to do is ring and ask.
Yesterday afternoon my lovely sister in law arranged a bit of a pre triplets high tea gathering so we could all celebrate this amazing gift together. It was so lovely to spend the afternoon with so many good friends and family members.
On a final note it has been a while so here is my bump at 25 weeks...
On a final note it has been a while so here is a photo from yesterday at 25 weeks
Friday 11 May 2012
Week 24 - Growth Scan and Ramble
Well this morning we had another routine ultrasound and as per normal all is looking perfect. All 3 babies are now measuring pretty much on par with each other and are sitting at around the 700gm mark. Baby A is closest to my back with feet down so sort of underneath his brother and sister. Baby B is head down with her legs coming up my left side. Baby C's head is just above my belly button to the right with his body coming up and along my ribs to the left. They still seem to have enough room to move and change positions slightly although I really have no idea how.
The sonographers are beginning to find it tricky to keep track of the babies (especially A) and getting the measurements they need. Today's results were everything is looking good, although B's tummy measurements were on the smaller side. When they compare them on the chart it is in comparison to a singleton pregnancy so not overly concerned but from now on we are on 2 weekly scans. I am somewhat relieved that we are now on 2 weekly scans as we get closer to the time of delivery and preterm labor is becoming more and more of a risk, it is reassuring to know that the growth of the babies and any indicaters of preterm labour are being monitorred more regularly.
I also attempted to get a blood test today which ended up being a dismal fail. After 10 minutes, 2 arms and lots of poking and prodding it turns out my body would not give up a single drop of blood. So will need to try again next week.
As time goes on I am continually finding it harder and harder to do everyday things. Now if I want to straighten my hair or cook, cut up vegetables ect I am finding that I need to sit on a stool as I just don't have the energy to stand for that period of time anymore. I can still manage driving as in my new 'bus' I am able to climb in and out a bit easier plus it has handles to help me in and out.
We are slowly getting the things together that we need for the babies, we have the anchor points all installed in the car now we just need to find the carseats to fit. We still have a lot to do at the house including where our son will sleep. We are hoping we will be able to get him to sleep in a bed before the babies come home as we will need his cot for the other babies. Ideally I would have loved to toilet train him so I didn't have 4 children in nappies (gulp) but at the moment is in the too hard basket especially with all the outtings he is having with some of my wonderful friends.
In the coming week I have many things to look forward too. We have Mothers Day this weekend which we will spend with Mr TAN's family, I also have my glucose tolerance test (sarcastic tone) and I am spending next Sunday afternoon with some of the wonderful women in my life at a local high tea establishment. So lots to look forward to and I just hope we don't get the gestational diabetes results back before the high tea. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and a beautiful Mother's Day.
The sonographers are beginning to find it tricky to keep track of the babies (especially A) and getting the measurements they need. Today's results were everything is looking good, although B's tummy measurements were on the smaller side. When they compare them on the chart it is in comparison to a singleton pregnancy so not overly concerned but from now on we are on 2 weekly scans. I am somewhat relieved that we are now on 2 weekly scans as we get closer to the time of delivery and preterm labor is becoming more and more of a risk, it is reassuring to know that the growth of the babies and any indicaters of preterm labour are being monitorred more regularly.
I also attempted to get a blood test today which ended up being a dismal fail. After 10 minutes, 2 arms and lots of poking and prodding it turns out my body would not give up a single drop of blood. So will need to try again next week.
As time goes on I am continually finding it harder and harder to do everyday things. Now if I want to straighten my hair or cook, cut up vegetables ect I am finding that I need to sit on a stool as I just don't have the energy to stand for that period of time anymore. I can still manage driving as in my new 'bus' I am able to climb in and out a bit easier plus it has handles to help me in and out.
We are slowly getting the things together that we need for the babies, we have the anchor points all installed in the car now we just need to find the carseats to fit. We still have a lot to do at the house including where our son will sleep. We are hoping we will be able to get him to sleep in a bed before the babies come home as we will need his cot for the other babies. Ideally I would have loved to toilet train him so I didn't have 4 children in nappies (gulp) but at the moment is in the too hard basket especially with all the outtings he is having with some of my wonderful friends.
In the coming week I have many things to look forward too. We have Mothers Day this weekend which we will spend with Mr TAN's family, I also have my glucose tolerance test (sarcastic tone) and I am spending next Sunday afternoon with some of the wonderful women in my life at a local high tea establishment. So lots to look forward to and I just hope we don't get the gestational diabetes results back before the high tea. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and a beautiful Mother's Day.
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Neonatologist's and Maternal Foetal Medicine
Wow what a day yesterday was! I was quite nervous heading down to our appointments yesterday with the Neonatologist. After hearing so much doom and gloom in the early stages of this pregnancy I really wasn't sure what to expect.
Firstly we had our MFM appointment, this doctor has been present at all of our scans so;
far and we already have built up a confidence and trust in him. In fact if it wasn't for his positivity we may have looked more closely at selective reduction. We did get the chance to ask a few questions that we weren't sure about like if we will get given steroids for the babies lungs routinely, or only if there is a need. So he explained that unless a situation arises like labour far earlier than 32 weeks then they would probably go ahead. But from 32 weeks it is not something they would do routinely. We also got a chance to discuss the option of me being admitted, and the good news is he is happy for me to stay at home for the moment due to all the help I am getting. However if anything changes, or I need some respite, they are happy to have me admitted for a few days or a week if needed. Everything else seems to be going splendidly, but he did mention my fast heart rate. I have noticed this the past few weeks, ever since Baby C has been in my ribs I have been finding it much harder to breathe and in turn my heart is working that bit harder. So we will see him again tomorrow at the growth scan and see how well these babies are growing. He is also happy to keep the scans at 3 weekly for now.
So next up we had our very first appointment with a neonatologist. This was the one that was worrying me the most but was surprised that I found it quite reassuring and positive. As this was our first chance to discuss any possible complications and what to expect with having early babies. One of my concerns was how much we would be able to be involved in their care and how soon I would get to see them after their birth. But as it turns out I will get to see them briefly as each baby is taken out, again before they get wheeled off, and once more on my way out of surgery. Again everyone is optimistic that we can and will make it to at least 32 weeks which minimises any complications enormously. To conclude this appointment we got shown through the NICU and SCBU. I had seen pictures of tiny little premature babies previously but neither of us had seen these babies in the flesh before. The were so little and precious, we saw babies at a few different gestation's so it was a really good opportunity to get a picture of what it will be like. We saw babies that were born at 25, 28 and 32 weeks. It is amazing to think that tiny little 25 weeker is about the same size as our babies now. MR Tan was quite surprised at how small even the babies born at 32 weeks were as that is likely what we will at least reach that gestation.
All in all I feel very confident about the care that we will all be receiving and we are very much looking forward to our triple cuddles sometime in July. Hard to believe they could be here in as little as 8 weeks!
Firstly we had our MFM appointment, this doctor has been present at all of our scans so;
far and we already have built up a confidence and trust in him. In fact if it wasn't for his positivity we may have looked more closely at selective reduction. We did get the chance to ask a few questions that we weren't sure about like if we will get given steroids for the babies lungs routinely, or only if there is a need. So he explained that unless a situation arises like labour far earlier than 32 weeks then they would probably go ahead. But from 32 weeks it is not something they would do routinely. We also got a chance to discuss the option of me being admitted, and the good news is he is happy for me to stay at home for the moment due to all the help I am getting. However if anything changes, or I need some respite, they are happy to have me admitted for a few days or a week if needed. Everything else seems to be going splendidly, but he did mention my fast heart rate. I have noticed this the past few weeks, ever since Baby C has been in my ribs I have been finding it much harder to breathe and in turn my heart is working that bit harder. So we will see him again tomorrow at the growth scan and see how well these babies are growing. He is also happy to keep the scans at 3 weekly for now.
So next up we had our very first appointment with a neonatologist. This was the one that was worrying me the most but was surprised that I found it quite reassuring and positive. As this was our first chance to discuss any possible complications and what to expect with having early babies. One of my concerns was how much we would be able to be involved in their care and how soon I would get to see them after their birth. But as it turns out I will get to see them briefly as each baby is taken out, again before they get wheeled off, and once more on my way out of surgery. Again everyone is optimistic that we can and will make it to at least 32 weeks which minimises any complications enormously. To conclude this appointment we got shown through the NICU and SCBU. I had seen pictures of tiny little premature babies previously but neither of us had seen these babies in the flesh before. The were so little and precious, we saw babies at a few different gestation's so it was a really good opportunity to get a picture of what it will be like. We saw babies that were born at 25, 28 and 32 weeks. It is amazing to think that tiny little 25 weeker is about the same size as our babies now. MR Tan was quite surprised at how small even the babies born at 32 weeks were as that is likely what we will at least reach that gestation.
All in all I feel very confident about the care that we will all be receiving and we are very much looking forward to our triple cuddles sometime in July. Hard to believe they could be here in as little as 8 weeks!
Saturday 5 May 2012
Week 23!
Well not too much has changed here, have been fairly quiet just busily growing babies. And growing they are! I had an ob appointment this week and she could not be happier with how things are going for a triplet pregnancy. I am now measuring the same size as someone who is 38 weeks pregnant so it is any wonder that some of my clothes are getting a bit firm and uncomfortable. Baby C who has always measured a bit bigger as of 2 weeks ago was in the 90% percentile for size, with Baby's A and B not far behind. When they compare sizes they always compare it to a singleton baby so considering there are 3 in there it appears all the rest I am getting is helping tremendously.
This week we have a lot of appointments coming up we have our first appointment with the maternal foetal medicine doctors, and we are also meeting with the neonatal doctors for the first time. We will also get shown the NICU ward at the same time. On the same day we also are meeting with the hospitals multiple birth coordinator. So a very big day coming up there. Then next Friday we have another growth scan so I am excited to see how much my little trio have grown in the past 3 weeks. Another exciting milestone approaching in just 2 short days is we will reach 24 weeks. This means we are officially 'viable'. This is a term that I despise immensely but important nonetheless. My first official goal is 28 weeks, though I hope to make it to at least 32 thanks to all the wonderful support I have around me.
As the arrival of these babies and the changes that will happen draw closer I have been thinking alot about how they will actually arrive. From the beginning I thought that a cesarean was the only option and had never questioned it. But after hearing a few amazing stories from other Australian women who have birthed triplets I begin to have doubts. There are a lot of criteria that you need to meet for it to be able to occur from what I have heard apart from a doctor willing you need to meet these
So that is what has been occupying my thoughts this week, but I am sure I will have a lot more to say after this weeks appointments.
This week we have a lot of appointments coming up we have our first appointment with the maternal foetal medicine doctors, and we are also meeting with the neonatal doctors for the first time. We will also get shown the NICU ward at the same time. On the same day we also are meeting with the hospitals multiple birth coordinator. So a very big day coming up there. Then next Friday we have another growth scan so I am excited to see how much my little trio have grown in the past 3 weeks. Another exciting milestone approaching in just 2 short days is we will reach 24 weeks. This means we are officially 'viable'. This is a term that I despise immensely but important nonetheless. My first official goal is 28 weeks, though I hope to make it to at least 32 thanks to all the wonderful support I have around me.
As the arrival of these babies and the changes that will happen draw closer I have been thinking alot about how they will actually arrive. From the beginning I thought that a cesarean was the only option and had never questioned it. But after hearing a few amazing stories from other Australian women who have birthed triplets I begin to have doubts. There are a lot of criteria that you need to meet for it to be able to occur from what I have heard apart from a doctor willing you need to meet these
- Baby A and B head down
- Past 32 weeks
- Mum and babies in good health
- Epidural in place for just in case
- Need to deliver in theatre, again for just in case
- Constant monitoring for each baby
So that is what has been occupying my thoughts this week, but I am sure I will have a lot more to say after this weeks appointments.
Friday 20 April 2012
21 week update
Well it has been another busy and tiring week here growing babies. We had the follow up to our morphology scan last week and everything was perfect.
This week has been the first week of us calling in all of our support network to help with our little boy and I must say so far it is working really well. He has been having a very busy little social life and comes home to tell me the stories about his adventures. He quite happily toddles off each morning and afternoon with his sitter for the afternoon saying goodbye Mum and gives me a kiss and a wave and is returned to us happy as anything 2-3 hours later. Next week he has some music and movement, as well as a couple of play groups on his calender.
This morning Mr TAN and I had a growth scan to check on each of the babies progress and so far so good. Each of the babies is growing well and measuring about a week to a week and a half instead of dates.
Baby A is weighing in around 470grams,
Baby B is weighing in around 460grams,
and lastly Baby C is weighing in at about 510 grams.
Baby C has always been a bit bigger and B has always been that tiny bit smaller. The general rule is the babies will continue to grow on par with a single baby so it tends to be a combination of their early arrival and if there are any issues ie sharing placentas that then effects their birth weight. At each visit know they also now scan my cervix to make sure it is not getting shorter or starting to dilate, in the Maternal Foetal Health doctor words today he said it was 'beautiful and a rockin cervix' so I guess it can't get better than that.
At our visit last week we were also told that I would likely to be admitted to hospital at 26 weeks, partly because it is such a crucial time in the pregnancy and also due to the hour long drive to hospital. So I was actually beginning to look forward to this to have a bit of rest and relaxation before life gets unimaginably hectic, but today we were told that studies have shown mothers tend to have better outcomes by staying at home for as long as possible. So for now we will wait and see.
I still feel huge and some of the maternity clothes I wore at full term with our son are already becoming quite firm around my belly. A lot of people comment on how 'small' I am but I am not really sure how big people expect me to be, especially considering I am hoping to get another 1 to 1.5 kilos on each of these babies. So I will leave you all with a picture of how small I am.
This week has been the first week of us calling in all of our support network to help with our little boy and I must say so far it is working really well. He has been having a very busy little social life and comes home to tell me the stories about his adventures. He quite happily toddles off each morning and afternoon with his sitter for the afternoon saying goodbye Mum and gives me a kiss and a wave and is returned to us happy as anything 2-3 hours later. Next week he has some music and movement, as well as a couple of play groups on his calender.
This morning Mr TAN and I had a growth scan to check on each of the babies progress and so far so good. Each of the babies is growing well and measuring about a week to a week and a half instead of dates.
Baby A is weighing in around 470grams,
Baby B is weighing in around 460grams,
and lastly Baby C is weighing in at about 510 grams.
Baby C has always been a bit bigger and B has always been that tiny bit smaller. The general rule is the babies will continue to grow on par with a single baby so it tends to be a combination of their early arrival and if there are any issues ie sharing placentas that then effects their birth weight. At each visit know they also now scan my cervix to make sure it is not getting shorter or starting to dilate, in the Maternal Foetal Health doctor words today he said it was 'beautiful and a rockin cervix' so I guess it can't get better than that.
At our visit last week we were also told that I would likely to be admitted to hospital at 26 weeks, partly because it is such a crucial time in the pregnancy and also due to the hour long drive to hospital. So I was actually beginning to look forward to this to have a bit of rest and relaxation before life gets unimaginably hectic, but today we were told that studies have shown mothers tend to have better outcomes by staying at home for as long as possible. So for now we will wait and see.
I still feel huge and some of the maternity clothes I wore at full term with our son are already becoming quite firm around my belly. A lot of people comment on how 'small' I am but I am not really sure how big people expect me to be, especially considering I am hoping to get another 1 to 1.5 kilos on each of these babies. So I will leave you all with a picture of how small I am.
Thursday 12 April 2012
Struggling
From the day we found out we were expecting triplets we knew that it would be a difficult pregnancy, I just never expected it would get this hard so quickly.
I am already feeling constantly breathless from the pressure on my lungs, just putting on a pair of sneakers is leaving my huffing and puffing. So far my belly is almost the size of someone who is full term with a single baby and we still have at least 12 weeks (hopefully) to go. As for getting comfortable, especially when I am trying to sleep is almost impossible in spite of my mountain of pillows.
Over the Easter weekend I have started to experience lots of Braxton Hicks which seem to stop as soon as I am lying down, so needless to say my Easter plans were changed and included lots of naps. So after a few days of this I decided to go in to hospital for some monitoring as I know how high our risks are for preterm labour. The monitoring did show that everything was okay though thankfully but now I am pretty much laid up for the rest of this pregnancy and need to spend more time resting and laying down. Or the alternative is to be admitted to hospital to wait for these babies to arrive.
As much as it would be easier on me physically to be laid up in hospital for weeks on end, emotionally it would be really hard to spend so much time away from my loved ones and support network at a time when I need them most. Resting at home would be so much easier if I wasn't trying to keep up with a 2 year old. So at the moment the plan is we have called in on all the offers for help that we have been given. For now this has involved on calling on all my friends in the community to care for Ollie a few hours at a time, and knowing who I can call on each day of the week. I have always really liked the saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' and this time it feels as though not only will it take a village to raise these precious gifts, but it will take a village to help ensure these babies arrive safely.
We have been so amazed by the love and offers of support shown to us from our families, friends and people in the community. We are so very grateful for that, and we certainly wouldn't be able to do any of this without you. I hope one day we are able to help others in this same way to return the favour and feelings of gratitude.
On a final note I am off for the finishing touches on our morphology scan tomorrow bright and early. It seems the 2 1/2 nearly 3 hours last week was simply not long enough so get to go back tomorrow for round 2.
I am already feeling constantly breathless from the pressure on my lungs, just putting on a pair of sneakers is leaving my huffing and puffing. So far my belly is almost the size of someone who is full term with a single baby and we still have at least 12 weeks (hopefully) to go. As for getting comfortable, especially when I am trying to sleep is almost impossible in spite of my mountain of pillows.
Over the Easter weekend I have started to experience lots of Braxton Hicks which seem to stop as soon as I am lying down, so needless to say my Easter plans were changed and included lots of naps. So after a few days of this I decided to go in to hospital for some monitoring as I know how high our risks are for preterm labour. The monitoring did show that everything was okay though thankfully but now I am pretty much laid up for the rest of this pregnancy and need to spend more time resting and laying down. Or the alternative is to be admitted to hospital to wait for these babies to arrive.
As much as it would be easier on me physically to be laid up in hospital for weeks on end, emotionally it would be really hard to spend so much time away from my loved ones and support network at a time when I need them most. Resting at home would be so much easier if I wasn't trying to keep up with a 2 year old. So at the moment the plan is we have called in on all the offers for help that we have been given. For now this has involved on calling on all my friends in the community to care for Ollie a few hours at a time, and knowing who I can call on each day of the week. I have always really liked the saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' and this time it feels as though not only will it take a village to raise these precious gifts, but it will take a village to help ensure these babies arrive safely.
We have been so amazed by the love and offers of support shown to us from our families, friends and people in the community. We are so very grateful for that, and we certainly wouldn't be able to do any of this without you. I hope one day we are able to help others in this same way to return the favour and feelings of gratitude.
On a final note I am off for the finishing touches on our morphology scan tomorrow bright and early. It seems the 2 1/2 nearly 3 hours last week was simply not long enough so get to go back tomorrow for round 2.
Saturday 7 April 2012
Another check up
Well as you all know this week has been an interesting week.... Yesterday I went and had another appointment and she seems really happy with how everything is progressing. From the photo in my last post you can probably tell that I am feeling huge and is it any wonder, currently my fundal height is measuring 33cm. For those of you not down with the lingo this number generally co relates to how many weeks pregnant you are.
All the babies from the scan on Tuesday are all growing nicely and are currently all measuring at about 20+ weeks.
We are having a fairly quiet Easter weekend this year. Today Mr TAN decided to tackle the shops and pick out a few cute wee little clothes for the bubs but we really struggled to find any 00000. All this time I have been bursting to buy little girls things but then when the time came we couldn't find anything. We did come home though with a few little things, and a few boxes of nappies to help build up our collection. After 2-3 hours at the shops I was completely exhausted and came home to bed for a few hours, so it is looking like that was my last big shopping adventure.
On Monday we are heading to the Easter picnic races for the day which is a bit of a family tradition and a lovely way to spend the day. That is it for tonight hope everyone has a happy and safe Easter.
All the babies from the scan on Tuesday are all growing nicely and are currently all measuring at about 20+ weeks.
We are having a fairly quiet Easter weekend this year. Today Mr TAN decided to tackle the shops and pick out a few cute wee little clothes for the bubs but we really struggled to find any 00000. All this time I have been bursting to buy little girls things but then when the time came we couldn't find anything. We did come home though with a few little things, and a few boxes of nappies to help build up our collection. After 2-3 hours at the shops I was completely exhausted and came home to bed for a few hours, so it is looking like that was my last big shopping adventure.
On Monday we are heading to the Easter picnic races for the day which is a bit of a family tradition and a lovely way to spend the day. That is it for tonight hope everyone has a happy and safe Easter.
Tuesday 3 April 2012
More surprises!
Well folks as you all know today was the big morphology scan. Everything is looking amazingly well and after a long 2 and a half hours of being poked we have nearly all the measurements we needed and all the babies are weighing a little over 300grams each. Just need to go back next week to get a few more measurements.
The big shock we got today was after our last visit and seeing Baby A's willy, we got a good look today at all the babies bits. And as it turns out A and C are both confirmed boys, but little B is a GIRL! What this means is somehow on our fresh ivf/ icsi cycle we managed to conceive a girl, and the embryo we had transferred split into our 2 little boys. So somehow after 6 years it finally happened.
The whole 6 years we had spent trying and hoping for a baby we would often hear of these urban legends were people would fall pregnant naturally, or their embryo would split and all these amazing stories and I always thought wow wouldn't it be nice if that would happen to us. Now I feel like we have the double whammy and could not be more shocked and amazed at the miracles that have been bestowed upon us. What an amazing gift!
I can feel all 3 babies squirming away now which is the most incredible feeling. I caught a reflection of myself yesterday in the mirror and is it any wonder people are beginning to ask when the baby is due? I look and feel huge already and these little mites still have so much growing to do.
We took a car for a test drive today, so it looks like that can be crossed off our long to do list, and I also found 2 matching cots that match our existing one on Ebay so bought those today too. It feels as things are finally slowly starting to happen and come together, but now for some pics.
This is my bump today at 19 weeks
Here is a group shot of my trio's heads (can't say boys anymore) from L to R we have C, A, B
And lastly I won't bore you with a pic of each individual bub, just little Miracle baby B
The big shock we got today was after our last visit and seeing Baby A's willy, we got a good look today at all the babies bits. And as it turns out A and C are both confirmed boys, but little B is a GIRL! What this means is somehow on our fresh ivf/ icsi cycle we managed to conceive a girl, and the embryo we had transferred split into our 2 little boys. So somehow after 6 years it finally happened.
The whole 6 years we had spent trying and hoping for a baby we would often hear of these urban legends were people would fall pregnant naturally, or their embryo would split and all these amazing stories and I always thought wow wouldn't it be nice if that would happen to us. Now I feel like we have the double whammy and could not be more shocked and amazed at the miracles that have been bestowed upon us. What an amazing gift!
I can feel all 3 babies squirming away now which is the most incredible feeling. I caught a reflection of myself yesterday in the mirror and is it any wonder people are beginning to ask when the baby is due? I look and feel huge already and these little mites still have so much growing to do.
We took a car for a test drive today, so it looks like that can be crossed off our long to do list, and I also found 2 matching cots that match our existing one on Ebay so bought those today too. It feels as things are finally slowly starting to happen and come together, but now for some pics.
Here is a group shot of my trio's heads (can't say boys anymore) from L to R we have C, A, B
And lastly I won't bore you with a pic of each individual bub, just little Miracle baby B
Sunday 1 April 2012
Memories
I was laying in bed last night unable to sleep and was imagining what it will be like to give my special trio their very first cuddle, especially if we are not able to hold them for a few weeks. Then I got to thinking what it will be like for Mr TAN to get to hold them for the first time. As the child bearer we get to feel every movement and feel our bodies change, and although our partners are able to experience some of that I feel it is something so amazing for them when they have that very first cuddle.
Mr TAN was always someone who could take it or leave it with children, so I will back track a little here. The Friday night our first little darling was born Mr TAN was tired from a long day at work and as always seems to be the case he was not very well that night. After Oliver had made his arrival just after midnight the new father was sitting in a recliner on his own while I was lying down. I asked the midwife to place Oliver in his arms so they could properly meet for the first time. It was amazing to see them looking into each others eyes for the first time, and to see how that amazing father and son bond has developed and grown over the last two and a half years.
Here is the picture of that very first cuddle. This second one was taken a few weeks ago of them sharing a hot dog at a local show.
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When I was discussing this last night Mr TAN expressed his concern that he would not be able to hold them all at once. I explained that we will learn and we will find a way, to have these amazing group hugs.
Last night Mr TAN was laughing about everyone asks him now if he will get the snip. Although I don't imagine we would try for any more children and would be more than happy with our four boys if another miracle were to occur we would still be more than happy with our family. Just because we will have four young children does not mean that our family is complete, or that people can make that assumption for us.
Apart from that 2 more sleeps until our morphology scan on Tueday and will update a belly shot then too (it feels huge!!!)
Mr TAN was always someone who could take it or leave it with children, so I will back track a little here. The Friday night our first little darling was born Mr TAN was tired from a long day at work and as always seems to be the case he was not very well that night. After Oliver had made his arrival just after midnight the new father was sitting in a recliner on his own while I was lying down. I asked the midwife to place Oliver in his arms so they could properly meet for the first time. It was amazing to see them looking into each others eyes for the first time, and to see how that amazing father and son bond has developed and grown over the last two and a half years.
.JPG)
When I was discussing this last night Mr TAN expressed his concern that he would not be able to hold them all at once. I explained that we will learn and we will find a way, to have these amazing group hugs.
Last night Mr TAN was laughing about everyone asks him now if he will get the snip. Although I don't imagine we would try for any more children and would be more than happy with our four boys if another miracle were to occur we would still be more than happy with our family. Just because we will have four young children does not mean that our family is complete, or that people can make that assumption for us.
Apart from that 2 more sleeps until our morphology scan on Tueday and will update a belly shot then too (it feels huge!!!)
Tuesday 27 March 2012
18 week update
I have been quite slack really when it comes to updating this blog but will try to make more of an effort. I suppose it is because not too much has changed in the past week or so. I am still fighting the exhaustion and thankfully our little Ollie still sleeps for about 2 hours a day so I have been able to manage that as well. I am finding it hard to get comfortable of a night time when I am trying to sleep so toss and turn a lot. I also quite often have a period of about 2 hours around the 2-3am mark where I struggle to get back to sleep. Also it doesn't matter which side I sleep on because there is a baby there waiting to kick me and remind me.
I had a check up with the obstetrician on Friday and all is looking really good. So far my fundal height is measuring 28cm and baby A and B are facing each other on either side below my belly button, baby C is just above my belly button and was facing down to watch his brothers. I am now on 3 weekly scans, and also have 3 weekly doctors appointments in between so all up get to see my baby boys every 10 days or so.
I also have finally started to gain weight. This was something that had been worrying me as I was told to aim to gain between 24-35 kilos this pregnancy to help achieve the healthiest possible weights for these babies. Those of you who know me, now how hard I was working on this to no avail. Well it is finally starting to creep on and have managed to gain a kilo in this past week. I have also been told from 20 weeks that it will pile on quite quickly too.
Another thing the doctor has told me is from 22 weeks I am pretty much not allowed to do anything, which is not so easy with a busy toddler to care for. So I am starting to put plans in place to make our lives easier and his life not too boring. I am already beginning to struggle with chasing after him and entertaining him. I am also finding it really hard to not pick him up when he needs it.
We have slowly started looking at cars that meet our long list of criteria, as for the modifications to the house we are not anywhere near finishing (or starting), although Mr TAN has just employed some more help so hopefully we will be able to get on to it before winter sets in. We still haven't looked at extra cots, linen, car seats any of that essential stuff. Let alone all that nesting and organising I would have normally liked to do. But we will get there eventually.
I had a check up with the obstetrician on Friday and all is looking really good. So far my fundal height is measuring 28cm and baby A and B are facing each other on either side below my belly button, baby C is just above my belly button and was facing down to watch his brothers. I am now on 3 weekly scans, and also have 3 weekly doctors appointments in between so all up get to see my baby boys every 10 days or so.
I also have finally started to gain weight. This was something that had been worrying me as I was told to aim to gain between 24-35 kilos this pregnancy to help achieve the healthiest possible weights for these babies. Those of you who know me, now how hard I was working on this to no avail. Well it is finally starting to creep on and have managed to gain a kilo in this past week. I have also been told from 20 weeks that it will pile on quite quickly too.
Another thing the doctor has told me is from 22 weeks I am pretty much not allowed to do anything, which is not so easy with a busy toddler to care for. So I am starting to put plans in place to make our lives easier and his life not too boring. I am already beginning to struggle with chasing after him and entertaining him. I am also finding it really hard to not pick him up when he needs it.
We have slowly started looking at cars that meet our long list of criteria, as for the modifications to the house we are not anywhere near finishing (or starting), although Mr TAN has just employed some more help so hopefully we will be able to get on to it before winter sets in. We still haven't looked at extra cots, linen, car seats any of that essential stuff. Let alone all that nesting and organising I would have normally liked to do. But we will get there eventually.
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