The Big Gender Reveal!

Monday, the 21st, was the day we had been impatiently waiting for! Luckily, the babies cooperated very nicely! So, without further ado, we introduce: Baby A...A Boy, Baby B...A Girl, and Baby C...A Boy!!! Two boys and one girl!! Of course, we would have been happy with any combination, but we are especially thrilled with this one. Two boys and a girl were what we were hoping for all along, as were many others, too! Everything looked great, and I have over a pound of babies inside of me! The boys weighed in at a hefty 6 ounces and our daughter weighs approximately 5 ounces. Everyone is measuring in either right on schedule or a few days ahead. My cervix is also a nice long 4.2 cm (anything over 3 is acceptable), so I am not on any restrictions!

We had a different US tech this week (unfortunately) and didn't get many good pictures this time. The next appointment is January 11th, which will be our longest one yet. Each baby will have a Level 2 US, which includes a detailed exam of all the organs of the babies. (For all my nurse friends: The tech already showed me that each baby has 4 beautiful heart chambers...woo hoo!)They even told me to bring a snack, as each baby can take about 45 minutes! I can't wait...I could sit there and watch the babies move around for hours.

We hope everyone has a very merry Christmas! It is so much fun to think how different our lives will be one year from now. Right now, as I look at our fireplace mantle with two stockings hanging from it, I can just imagine FIVE matching ones next year! Oh, how our lives are about to change...:) :) :)

Week 16 - 12/18/09

I've got three avocados in my belly this week! The babies are about 4.5 inches long (head to rump) and 3.5 ounces. I'm reading a really great book called "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy" by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. It really stresses the importance of early weight gain (especially in the first 24 weeks) in multiple pregnancy. I have gained about 16 pounds so far and am trying very hard to increase my weight gain. The goal is 50-60 pounds...eek! I thought trying to gain weight would be more fun, but I get full faster and many things just don't sound that appetizing! I do have an appointment with a nutritionist in January, but I will be 20 weeks by then. The book did say that at 24 weeks, I will look like a women that is 36 weeks pregnant with one baby!!! I can't imagine the growth I am going to have over these next several weeks. I am definitely starting to feel ligament stretching in my abdomen, especially when I am walking and standing a lot at work.

Kellan and I have been counting down the days until Monday, when we find out the sexes of the babies! We cannot wait! Hope they are not shy!

Week 16 Belly Pic

Week 15 - 12/11/09

Not much new to report this week! The babies are now about the size of navel oranges. We are really looking forward to having another peek at them on the 21st! We have had lots of guesses on the babies' sexes. So far, the leader seems to be 2 boys and 1 girl. I had a dream a few nights ago that we were having 2 girls and 1 boy. We shall see! I cannot wait to find out what these babies are!!!

As for Mom and Dad, we are doing well. I had my final on Tuesday and have been pretty lazy since then. Let me tell you, it has been great! I still feel good but do not have much energy. Kellan is wrapping up his last few weeks of work before he is off for January and February. We have a TON of things to do these two months...cleaning, throwing out, moving furniture, painting, etc. I know he is very excited about my honey-do list! I must say, Kellan has been absolutely wonderful during all of this. He took excellent care of me in the beginning when I was so sick with OHSS. And now, he is constantly ensuring that I am comfortable and have everything I need. He probably feels like a short-order cook, making sure that I am okay with every dinner he cooks. For a while, my appetite varied from day to day, and he was never sure what I did or did not want. There is no way I could get through all of this without him! We are having a lot of fun together on this crazy ride!

Week 15 Belly Pic


Bria thinking "This can't be good for me!"

Week 14 - 12/4/09

Friday marked the beginning of the 2nd trimester already! I feel like the weeks are going by very quickly. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I really have not done anything baby-wise, as I have been focusing on finishing up this quarter. Also, with a triplet pregnancy, there is definitely a worry of the unknown...how many weeks I have left before I have to be on some form of bed-rest or decreased activity, how long these babies will want to stay in me, etc. Alas, I still feel great, all is going well, the quarter is almost over, and I am really ready to prepare myself, Kellan, and the house for our babies!

This past Tuesday was my last class for a while (except for my final on Tuesday). My wonderful classmates and professors surprised me with a baby shower! They gave me a gorgeous Vera Bradley diaper bag (which I never would have spent the money on for myself!) and tons of baby supplies (binkies, bottles, blankets, etc.). It was so much fun to open all the gifts and then to go through it all again with Kellan. Baby stuff is so fun and so stinking cute! The shower was so very appreciated and unexpected. I will truly miss seeing these people every week.

As far as baby news goes, I am pretty sure the babies had growth spurts this week -- at least I did anyways! The babes are now about the length of lemons or about 3 1/2 inches. I cannot believe the growth of my belly in one week! I have officially retired all of my jeans, including my pair of "fat jeans" that I was still able to button pretty comfortably until Tuesday. Hello, stretchy waistbands!!!

Thanks for all your positive comments and feedback on the blog! And, thanks also for the continued support and prayers for us and the little lemons! We appreciate it :):):)

Week 13 - 11/27/09

So far, so good! We had a big appointment on 11/23. This appointment involved a very thorough US, called a nuchal translucency (NT) scan. The NT scan measures a very small pocket of fluid behind the babies' necks and uses this measurement plus multiple other factors to test the babies for any trisomy syndromes (such as Down's). We found out the final results a few days after, but everything was within the normal range! Baby B was well-behaved, but A and C were bouncing all over the place, so the scan took a while. I didn't mind this at all except for the full bladder required for the scan! We got tons of pictures on this US, too. The babies actually look like babies now and are about the length of peaches! They have legs, arms, and fingers, which were all very clear on the US. I was 12 weeks and 3 days, and the babies were all measuring 12 wks and 4-6 days, which is wonderful! We also got to hear each individual heartbeat -- amazing! As far as my health, my labs, blood pressure, etc. all look great. I have also gained about 10 pounds (which I have been working very hard at!), so Dr. M was very happy. Since all is well, we do not go back until December 21st (16 weeks). As long as the babies aren't shy, we should be able to find out the sexes!!! If there was only one baby, Kellan and I didn't want to find out the sex. However, with three, we need to be as prepared as possible. Plus, can you imagine picking out 6 possible first names??!! At 16 weeks, I will also have a cervical length measurement done by US (and every appointment thereafter). This measurement really dictates how much activity and work I can do, so I am praying for a long, firm cervix!

Kellan and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Beverly, as well! There is just something about being home that is so nice and relaxing. It was wonderful to get to see so many family members. I broke out the maternity pants for this day and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I was actually trying to gain weight this year! If my belly looks any bigger this week, it may actually be from all the yummy noodles I ate ;)
Baby A and B looking at each other

Baby A's cute little profile

Baby B just relaxing

Baby C waving hello!

Week 13 Belly Pic

Week 12 - 11/20/09

Nothing much new this week! I am still feeling great, just very sleepy, nauseous most of the time, and frequent migraines. However, zofran and tylenol help me get by! My belly is just a tad bit bigger this week, and people are starting to comment on it at work -- I love it! Next week we head back to the Dr. for a big appointment!
Week 12 Belly Pic

Week 11 - 11/13/09

We took our first belly picture this week! My stomach is just starting to protrude just a tad, and I cannot suck it in anymore! It's probably not even noticeable to most people, but I can definitely tell when I put my jeans on! Mom also came up this weekend, so we, of course, headed to Babies R Us to look around. Talk about overwhelming! It is quite difficult to figure out not only what we want/need but now we have to figure out how many we need, too! As soon as school is over this quarter, I plan on doing lots of research and reading! Speaking of school, several people have been asking what I plan to do. I was planning on graduation in June, 2010. However, plans have changed! After much discussion with my advisor/professor, I have decided to finish this quarter and then take a leave of absence. Working 32 hrs/week plus a day of class plus 2 days/week of clinical leaves me exhausted, and I can't imagine doing it while big and pregnant. I really hope to resume my last two quarters next year and finish up June, 2011. Enjoy the belly pic!

Week 10 - 11/6/09

We had our first appointment with our high-risk OB, Dr. M. The appointment went very well, and we are very happy with our physician! We got to have another look at our little babies, who are now about the length of prunes! This ultrasound (US) was with an US tech, who was great about explaining everything we were looking at. The babies all had heartbeats ranging from 175-185, and their lengths measured right on. Baby C was the active one, constantly rolling over and moving! Yes, the babies are all in their own private sacs (which is the best possibility). This means they are all fraternal, no identical babies! We head back to the Dr. on November 23rd. (Click on the pics for a bigger view)
Baby A, lying spine down with it's head on the left

All three little peanuts!

Our Story

Welcome to our blog! We are new to this but thought it would be a great way to keep everyone up-to-date on our pregnancy journey. I also hope to continue to use this after the babies are born, as well (we'll see how that goes :)! Anyways, most of you know our story, but we have had lots of questions about it, so I figured I would start with that...

Kellan and I got the pregnancy bug about a year ago. However, it quickly became apparent that I was not ovulating. We met with my OB-GYN, who ran a battery of blood tests, ultrasound, and MRI and diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). My MD started me on clomid in an attempt to start ovulation, but after three frustrating rounds (and about 6 months) of increasing doses, I never responded. I began to get very worried, wondering if my greatest dream would ever become a reality. After our third dose of no response, my Dr. referred me to a reproductive specialist for a further work-up.

In June, we met with the reproductive specialist, Dr. W. We attempted one more round of clomid with no response, so he decided it was time to move on to bigger, better (more expensive!) things, which we readily agreed. Our next step was follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) injections.

My first round of injections began late August. Kellan had to give me a subcutaneous injection into my stomach each night. I do believe he secretly enjoyed this! During the shots, I had to be closely monitored for follicle growth (good) and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (bad). This involved a blood draw and ultrasound about every three days. To our great excitement, we found that my follicles were responding to the FSH and my estradiol levels were quickly increasing. On Labor Day, we found that my ovaries were starting to look slightly hyperstimulated and my estradiol level was very high. We held the injections for two days, and then it was time for Kellan to administer the trigger shot -- an intramuscular injection of HCG (the pregnancy hormone) to cause the release of the mature egg(s) from the ovaries. Now this was scary! I gathered several of my nursing books and pulled up a YouTube video to teach Kellan how to do this correctly. He, however, informed me that he was not nervous about it -- of course not, he wasn't the one receiving the shot from an amateur!! :) However, he did great, and then it was time to wait...

I had another blood draw 10 days later which showed that I did (finally!) ovulate but had to wait another excruciating week before I could take a pregnancy test. However, the day the RN called with my lab result, I noticed some pretty uncomfortable abdominal distention and had suddenly gained about 8 pounds over a few days. I had to go back to get more labs drawn, as these were signs of the dreaded OHSS. The next day I woke up even more uncomfortable, and was up about 12 pounds. The office called me to come in because my labs revealed that I did in fact have OHSS. At this point, I was very uncomfortable, nauseous, and miserable. My great friend Molly had to drive me to the Dr, as Kellan was at work. Dr. W. took one look at my stomach and said, "Yep, you've got it (OHSS)." He proceeded to tell me that he did think that I was probably pregnant (!) because of my OHSS course. I was sent home with strict instructions to drink, drink, drink to prevent hospitalization and dehydration. I found out the next day that I was indeed pregnant but felt so terrible, I could not quite celebrate as I had always envisioned. All in all, I missed about 2.5 weeks of work and school, gained 20 pounds of fluid in my abdomen, and felt incredibly miserable. However, I was finally pregnant!!!

Kellan and I went back to Dr. W. at 7.5 weeks to verify the pregnancy with a ultrasound (US). Dr. W. started to count..."There's Baby 1...and Baby 2...and Baby 3." At three, I just started laughing and crying and said "Please do not find any more!" I looked at Kellan, who just looked at me with this astonished look on his face! We were shocked! We knew multiples were a good possibility, but we had only seriously entertained the idea of twins. We were immediately filled with mixed feelings of excitement, happiness, nervousness, and worry! I called my OB-GYN to set up an appointment, and the RN proceeded to tell me that they did not "do triplets." Thus, I was referred to the OSU high-risk OB group with a due date of June 4th, 2010.

Anyways, that's how we got here! I am quite impressed if you are still reading this post! That's our story -- a scary, sometimes devestating journey that now has us preparing to become a family of five!! We are extremely grateful that these medications and technology exist; otherwise, who knows if our dream would have ever become a reality! I hope to update this at least weekly and have started to take weekly belly pictures! Stay tuned and please continue to pray for three healthy babies that want to stay in my stomach for as long as possible! :)