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
Spencer Graham
Hudson Ray
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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.
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?
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.
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....
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
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.
