Baby B Passed!

Hi everyone!
As you could tell from the title, Baby B "practiced" breathing during the ultrasound today. We're very happy about how it went, and on Thursday we'll do it all over again with another round of biophysical tests. Amanda is doing pretty well physically, but laying on a bed for so long is starting to get to her. If you've never seen the Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day, you should, because it sort of reflects what Amanda's days are like. In the movie, Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day over and over again. Needless to say, Amanda feels as though each day is the same. To her credit, however, she is unbelievably positive and willing to do whatever is needed to take care of the babies. She often says that the more she has to "suffer," the less the babies have to suffer when they come out.
Alyssa still continues to make us laugh and cry throughout the day. A couple of days ago, she and I went to visit one of my best friends (James). We had lunch at a Subway, and afterwards, we went out to James' car. He travels with his big lab doggy, Pete. Alyssa loves doggies, so she went out and had fun petting Pete. After a few minutes (yes, she has the attention span of a flea), she stood behind me as I was saying my goodbyes to James. Well, the next thing I hear is a male stranger mumbling about something being yucky. I turned around to see my 2 year old with her hands in the cigarette can, holding about 5 cigarette butts. I ran over and told her to drop them immediately, which only made her upset. Usually, I try to reason with her about these things, but holding 5 used cigarette butts in her hand just made me want to vomit, so I threw them back and told her to never, ever touch them again. The screaming and kicking which ensued was quite the site to see, let me tell you. I'm not sure if she thought the cigarette can was a miniature sandbox or what, but that was pretty nasty. Although she briefly had nicotine stained hands, she was able to go home and see her Uncle Ben, who is visiting for a few days for a wedding.
Well, that's about it for now. Please keep praying for Amanda and the babies.
Take care. Until next time...
Mr. Mom

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

Almost 30 weeks!

Hi everybody! Today, Amanda had a doctor's appointment, and everything looks great. Tomorrow, she'll be at 30 weeks, so we're very thankful to God for blessing us so much.
At next week's appointment, the ultrasound tech will start doing biophysical profiles (BPPs) of the babies. Are you going to get all science-y on us again Dave? Not really. Basically, they'll check to see if each baby is developing the way he or she should. They'll look at whether or not they're practicing breathing, how much they move, what the amniotic fluid levels are, etc...Each baby gets 30 minutes to "pass" the test. If a baby seems "stressed" (not moving much, not practicing breathing, etc...) they may decide on getting the babies out, but they'll do another biophysical profile a day or two later to double check. Sometimes, the baby may be sleeping, so it will "fail" the test because it won't be moving too much. Hopefully, all of our lil' ones will pass with flying colors, and they'll stay in Mommy's tummy a bit longer. Next Thursday will be a bit stressful, so please pray that all goes well, and that the babies are as healthy as can be.
Speaking of stress, parents need breaks to regain their mental and physical strength. In particular, 2 year olds with curly hair named Alyssa can wear a dad down. Thankfully, Grammy and a friend of Amanda's have helped watched Alyssa this week, so I (and Grandpa) can get some stuff done around the house. Usually, housework is stressful, but considering the alternative (chasing Alyssa all over creation), it's actually a bit relaxing.
Lately, I've been noticing some signs of stress that needed to be dealt with. I knew something was wrong when I made some OJ for Amanda and went to put it in the microwave to be nuked. Then, I gave Alyssa her bottle of vitamins and kept the one pill I got out for her in my hand. I knew I was really in trouble mentally when I got stressed out from listening to one of Alyssa's children songs as we were driving. I think it's called "There's a Hole in the Bucket," and it's basically a dialogue between a little boy named Henry and a little girl named Liza. The boy keeps complaining about why he can't fix his bucket, and the girl tries to fix his problems. The boy constantly comes up with whiny excuses, and by the end of the song, I about took the CD and flung it into a pond. I felt like yelling, "HENRY, JUST FIX THE DANG BUCKET!!!!" Liza has enough at the end of the song, too, and tells Henry that he's just plain lazy.
The next example shows why I needed a break or else I was going coo-coo. While sleeping, I had a dream that I was in my hometown where I grew up, and I was at a childhood friend's house. This was one of those scary-type dreams, because I knew I was being "watched" by someone outside the house. Now, this dream would've been labeled a nightmare had my "stalker" been Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street movies) or the hockey mask wearing Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th movies). Apparently, my stress level was at about an all time high, because I couldn't even get stalked by one of these cool movie star psychos. Heck, I would've even been OK with getting stalked by the little Chucky doll. But noooooo!!!! I have another type of stalker after me. In my dream, I carefully walked outside to find out who was stalking me, and lo' and behold I find out that my stalker is none other than....David Hasselholf!!!!!! Are you kidding me????? The Knight Rider and Baywatch star is now in my dreams!!!! AAAUUUGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may need my sister-in-law (who's a psychologist) to help me figure out that one.
Please don't think I don't like David Hasselholf. Hey, in the 80's, Friday night was the best night for TV. I had the Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, and Dallas to watch. He was one of my TV heroes, as he cruised around in that cool Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (KITT). But come on!!!!! See what happens to my brain when golf with my dad gets rained out? The negative effects last for weeks!
Well, enough about my psychotic episodes. Remember, just like in the Mr. Mom movie, my brain is oatmeal. But, I wouldn't want it any other way. Despite the struggles of raising a 2 year old, she is a wonderful little girl with a tender heart, and I absolutely love and adore her. The scary thing is that she's a carbon copy of me, and I see my own mannerisms in her. Amanda usually says, "See, she's just a little you."
Well, that's about it for now. Until next time...
Mr. Mom

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

Steak Anyone?

Well, today was quite the day with Alyssa.
Before I get to that, a quick update on Amanda. Tomorrow, she'll be at the 26 week mark. Today, she had a doctor's appointment, and everything looks great. It's amazing to see how much bigger the babies are on ultrasound. We used to be able to see all 3 at once, but now we can only see one at a time.
Taking Alyssa to the doctor's appointment is a headache in itself. She loves pushing the elevator buttons, which is fine, but once we get to the exam room, complete boredom apparently sets in. She usually turns on the water faucet to wash her hands about 10 times, even though we try to tell her that her brothers and sister are on TV. The exam room has a bathroom, and she likes going inside and shutting the door. For some reason, she gets freaked out about opening the door from the inside and starts crying (which is weird since she can open the door from the outside with no problem). Even though she panics, 30 seconds later, she'll do it over and over again.
Back to Amanda... she had a bunch of tests done last week, and she aced most of them. She's a bit anemic (low iron in the blood), and that's pretty common in triplet pregnancies. The babies are getting the iron they need, but momma is getting a little sucked dry. So, I take that as a hint that I need to step up as the grill chef in the family and do some more grilling. I just hate the idea of grilling more steaks, burgers, brats, etc... Actually, she'll be on an iron vitamin, which should help with the anemia. Other than that, she's doing pretty well.
Back to Alyssa...everyday, I think I could write a journal entry on my adventures with her. Yesterday, we went to a park to play. I ran ahead of her to get to the slide (yes, I like playing at the park, too), and all I hear is Alyssa crying. I turn around to see that she fell into the mulch. Apparently, two year olds don't know that they have to close their mouth when they fall, seeing that I spent the next 5 minutes picking out mulch chunks from her mouth. The park is a pretty small, but nice, park. One of the problems with these new parks is the type of plastic they use to build the slides. Every time we go down the slide, we build up quite a bit of static electricity, and whenever I hit the ground, I get a nice little shock. Usually, I try to touch something (to get rid of the shock) after I go down the slide, but sometimes I touch Alyssa and give her a pretty good zap. It's kind of funny, because now Alyssa yells to me, "No shock!"
Tonight, during bath time, Alyssa was playing with this duck thing that we have on the faucet spout. Well, she accidentally hit the shower button (yes, once again) and cold water came pouring down on her. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde! She's nice and calm, playing with the ducky as nice, warm water streams out the faucet. Then, seconds later cold water comes down on a two year old, sending her into a panicked frenzy. Great way to get her ready for bed, let me tell you.
Alyssa has been quite the handful lately. Have you ever seen the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeves? There's a scene where everything has just gone wrong (Lois Lane dies, earthquake hits, Lex Luthor's scheme is apparently working, etc...), and he's just had enough. Angry to the point of losing it, Superman just flies up with a gigantic yell and gets away from it all (until he fixes everything a few minutes later). So, tomorrow after Alyssa gives me green eyes (turns me into the Incredible Hulk), I'm going to look up to the sky, scream, and fly away. Then, after I jump up 2 feet in the air (a soaring vertical is not a gift I have) and realize I can't fly and get away like Superman, maybe I'll try Flash's (or Forrest Gump's) superpowers and just run.
But, I love my little 2 year old more than anything, and I guess we'll just continue our adventures tomorrow. Until next time...

Mr. Mom

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

Amanda's Doctor Appointment

This morning, we went to Amanda's doctor appointment, and we knew it was going to go a lot more smoothly than the last one. Why, you ask? Dropping off a 2 year old with a friend does wonders when going to a doctor's appointment. Instead of trying to entertain Alyssa or chase her all over creation, I actually got to read the Sports page in the waiting room! I take for granted the sweet little things in life like reading the newspaper in peace.
Anyway, the appointment went pretty well. They measured the babies, and the ultrasound tech told us that each baby weighs 1.6 pounds. In a few weeks, more fat will be produced which will beef them up a bit. One of the really neat aspects of this ultrasound was how real the babies looked. We could see their eyes and everything, and it even looks like the baby girl has a similar shaped head like her big sister. At the end of the appointment, Amanda had a glucose test (to test for gestational diabetes), and we'll know the results in a day or two.
We were able to drive our "new" minivan to the doctor's appointment, since Alyssa wasn't with us (we haven't installed all the car seats in it, yet). The minivan drives wonderfully, and even though we all say we'll never get one, it is a very nice ride. For those of you who don't know my car history, I used to drive an 89' Chevy Caprice, and boy, did I love it! My first car was an 81' Chevy Caprice, so when my Mom offered the '89 to me (the air went out, and her town is UNBEARABLE in the summer without air) I jumped to the opportunity of having a newer Caprice. The Caprice was actually my Grandma's, but when she died, my Mom drove it. So, it was a three generation car, and it will dearly be missed. Anyway, we now have a Honda Odyssey, and it will serve us well as we travel with a crew of 6!!
Well, that's it for now. Until next time...
Mr. Mom

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

18 Week Checkup and Multiples Sale

When we went in for our checkup today, they started as they always do with an ultrasound. They did a "full scan" this time, where they do several measurements on the babies. This is how they can track their individual growth and make sure they are growing appropriately. Everything checked out great. They were also 100% sure it's two boys and a girl. The doctor told Amanda to start laying down for an hour every night and counting contractions. That way she could establish a pattern of what was normal for her. If she had more than 4 or 5 an hour, they wanted her to call right away. In a multiples pregnancy, there is no waiting around to decide if you are in labor or not. It has to be stopped right away before it's too late. This seemed to so opposite of a singleton pregnancy, where you almost have to prove yourself that you are having contractions!
Dave was off on his first day of Spring Break, so he took Alyssa to see his parents and shop around for minivans there. Amanda spent the evening at her first event for multiples - a baby clothes and equipment sale. When people asked what she was having, the 2 boys and a girl answer still got quite a reaction (even though most of the people there had twins). She was able to catch up with an old co-worker there who had twins. She was able to meet two other moms who had 2 boys and a girl triplets. One of the moms even had an older child, spaced about the same ages as Alyssa and our triplets. It was good to talk to them and have them scout for a triple stroller for us. But as the time wore on, Amanda wasn't feeling so well. She went home and immediately laid down. After drinking some water and resting for a while, the discomfort went away. But it was definitely a sign to take it easy and not do too much during probably her last weekend alone for a very long time!

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

Surgery

Today was Amanda's surgery. She started the day by setting her alarm to get up at 2:30am to eat her double cheeseburger, potato cakes and milkshake Dave had gotten her the night before (you gotta love fast food when you are pregnant with triplets). This was her last chance to eat for a while, and it seemed like the impossible to go that long without any food or water. This was especially true, since eating was the only thing that helped the morning sickness (which was pretty bad at this point). Poor Dave was forbidden to create any strong breakfast smells in the kitchen that morning, especially coffee or bacon!
The surgery was delayed in getting started, due to an emergency C-section ahead of Amanda (good thing she ate that cheeseburger). When the anesthesiologist went to put the spinal in, he called Amanda a dream patient because she had a "slender back" which made it easy for him to do his job. How often does a woman pregnant with triplets get to be told any part of her body is slender!! As it turned out, though, when they tested to make sure she was numb, she yelled ouch several times. It was soon decided that she would need to be put under general anesthesia. So much for dream patient status! After that, the surgery itself went extremely well with no complications. Amanda woke up when they were doing an ultrasound and was reassured to see 3 strong heartbeats.
Alyssa visited later that day and seemed a little freaked out by seeing Mommy in the hospital. She seemed to really enjoy running up and down the halls more than visiting, anyway. Amanda was feeling pretty decent at this point, especially on morphine which helped calm down the cough from her bronchitis. We were just so thankful to have it over with and to know that the babies came through just fine. This was another major obstacle down and a huge sigh of relief for all of us! Praise God!

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

Ultrasound #5 - NT test (almost 12 wks)

For the ultrasound at today's doctor appointment, we underwent a test called nuchal translucency (NT). They measure the thickness of a specific region of the babies neck, and the size gives an indication for the risk of Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. With a single pregnancy, they do something similar through a blood test (called the triple screen), but with multiples, those results aren't very accurate. The measurements for our babies were fantastic, and showed a very low risk for all 3 genetic disorders. What a relief! Thank God!
We had also decided by this point that we were going ahead with the transabdominal cerclage (TAC) surgery. The surgery was scheduled for Feb 20th (President's Day, when Dave is off). Now we were just hoping that the antibiotics would kick in to help Amanda over her bronchitis before then (she suffered from almost continuous respiratory infections in the first few months of this pregnancy).

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

First Visit to High Risk OB (almost 11 wks)

Today was our first visit to our new doctor, that would be caring for us during this unusual pregnancy. It started out with an ultrasound. Unfortunately, we found out then that one of the babies passed away. As sad as we were, we accepted that this was God's will and that He knows best. In looking back, He prepared us for this by allowing Amanda to feel the babies move already, but she only felt 3 of them. We also had joy at seeing our other 3 babies doing so well. One waved hi at us and another one did a flip.
We were struck by the difference in this office, versus a regular OB. It's like we graduated to the big leagues! They didn't even worry yet about the usual stuff like taking blood pressure and weighing in. There would be plenty of time for that later. We asked the doctor about special diet needs and he said we knew how to eat healthy. The recommendations were to eat about 4000 calories a day, which is almost impossible unless you eat non-stop (or really unhealthy). So he took the pressure off Amanda to do the best that she could. (Although, she had already indulged in some KFC cravings by that point!) They would carefully monitor for any growth problems along the way using ultrasound, so that would pick up any issues.
We also talked at length about the cerclage surgery. We were given two choices, one was riskier but had a lower failure rate. The other option was a less invasive surgery, but it did have a higher failure rate. What was certain was that we did need the surgery, as Amanda's body was already showing signs of strain from the extra weight, even for someone pregnant with triplets. So we had a big decision to make over the weekend. The sooner the surgery was done, the better.
It was scary stuff to be talking about. But as our doctor went through the usual complications and issues with a triplet pregnancy, the nice thing about the cerclage was that, in a sense, we could take one of those issues off the table.
We liked meeting our new doctor very much. He had a good sense of humor definitely knew his stuff. We were also glad to see his nurse practitioner again. She is an old friend from church that we hadn't seen in a while. It was so reassuring that they would be there with us through this scary journey. It was very comforting to know that they had gone on this journey many times before and could tell us what to expect.

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

2nd Ultrasound & Telling Our Parents (7.5 wks)

Our second ultrasound was on MLK Day, so Dave was able to come, as he had the day off work. The tone this time was a lot more serious, as now we knew a little more what to expect and we were scared! The babies looked great with strong heartbeats and all measured within 1 mm of each other. A different resident was in the room this time, and it was fun to see his amazement at our little miracles, too. (Most likely it was his first time to see 4 babies at once.)
We later spoke with the doctor about what to expect. We were told it would be a very difficult pregnancy. He described some of the drugs that are commonly used to stop premature labor, some of which have really nasty side effects. He also explained our option about reducing the number of babies, but this was not an option for us as we believe life begins at conception. He also explained a surgery Amanda would have to have in about a month, called a cerclage, that would help keep the babies from being born too early. The roller coaster of emotions continued. We were so excited that our babies were all doing well, but scared and in shock and terrified as to what might happen the next few months.
Since we were almost guaranteed to have 3 babies at least, we decided to tell our parents as we would be needing their help soon. With all of our parents, we called and had Alyssa repeat the words "I'm going to be a big sister." We let the news of being pregnant sink in first and, of course, they were all excited. After a while, Amanda's Mom said, "I'm going to have 2 grandchildren!" and that's when Amanda told her the rest of the news. Just like us, she thought it was a joke, was shocked and excited. With Dave's Mom, he asked if she had seen the recent TV special on the McCaughey septuplets. He told her, we aren't having septuplets, we aren't having sextuplets, we aren't having quintuplets, but we are having quadruplets. She was so speechless, we were scared that she had fainted. But soon she became very excited, too. Our dads weren't home, so they had messages to call us. As expected, they were excited, shocked and amazed, too.

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.

The First Ultrasound (6.5 wks)

Since Amanda still didn't have much morning sickness at this point, she was preparing herself for the worst going into the ultrasound appointment today, especially since we had a miscarriage before. Alyssa came along, too, and since our clinic had moved into a new office, she was pretty quiet, taking in all the new sites.

There was quite a crowd in the ultrasound room with the nurse, doctor, resident, Alyssa, and Amanda (Dave had to work). Despite all these people, a hush fell over the crowd as the exam began. Amanda looked on the screen and thought she saw 8 black circles (fluid looks black on ultrasound, so she was scared she saw 8 amniotic sacs!) When no one said anything, Amanda asked them to tell her what they saw. So the nurse began to count...one....two....three (at this point Amanda was thinking OK, I can still handle this). Then they saw some other things like leftover follicles (whew - the black circles weren't all amniotic sacs). Then the nurse said four... and Amanda felt like screaming "Stop counting"! After that they did. The doctor carefully checked that none of the babies were outside the womb and also that all the babies had separate amniotic sacs, so all of our "supertwins" are fraternal.

One of the first things Amanda said was, "That's why I've been so tired!" (she couldn't figure out why a sinus infection completely drained her, even if she was pregnant)! Then she asked for reassurance that they weren't kidding around that there were 4. The doctor joked that this pregnancy would be a little different than her last one. The mood in the room was pretty lighthearted as all Amanda could do was laugh. To go from thinking there was probably bad news - no baby - to finding out there were 4 was such an overwhelming leap, that she went into numb mode. She tried to focus on the facts and that it was still early and anything could happen. The doctor said that there was still a chance that one of the babies could stop developing, and possibly two. But, the babies looked so good that it was almost statistically impossible to lose all 4. He commented on how well Amanda took this news, but that's because she was in complete denial! She made an appointment to come back the next week, and the doctor said that he would explain more of what to expect then.

This was copied and edited from our previous website, on Babysites.