3 weeks old!

Today the triplets are three weeks old and doing well! They are all close to 4 pounds now. Riley is doing much better since her feeding issue. She has been eating for a week now and having no problems. They gave her medicine to help her body process the food faster and it is working. This week they will probably start trying to bottle feed Kayla & Joey. Riley will probably be a week later. Here are some random pictures taken over the past few weeks. Lindsay got to see the babies briefly and didn't really know what to think.Brian holding Kayla

Me and the girls
Joey

Riley

My weekly update...

I can't believe the triplets will be a week old tomorrow! Here are some pictures taken a few days ago of them. They are all doing well, breathing on their own and gaining weight after the usual loss of weight in the beginning. Riley is having a little setback. She is not tolerating her feedings so they have stopped them the past two days and will hopefully restart them tomorrow. They get fed through feeding tubes because they are too little for bottles. That will happen around 34 weeks gestation. But for some reason Riley's tummy is not wanting to digest the food. They have run tests and everything looks fine. It is common to take a few days for the stomach to get used to feedings, especially being that she is small. However Joey and Riley are doing very well with their feedings and theirs keeps getting increased daily. So hopefully Riley will catch up soon! Here is Joey....
Little Riley...

Miss Kayla...

My two boys...

Wednesday I got to go home and I hadn't been there since Oct. 1st! The calendar in the kitchen was still on September, obviously Brian doesn't look at the calendar. :) And my watch that I left in my jewelery box needed to be turned back an hour. It was so good to be home and out of the hospital. Thursday I went and got my hair done which was way overdue! I decided to change it up and get bangs which I haven't had in ages! I am still getting used to them! :) Friday I got a manicure & pedicure so I am slowly getting back to my usual self! Here's a picture of Lindsay and I taken tonight.

The Triplets Are Here!!!

As many of you know I spent the past 2 1/2 weeks at my mom's house on bed rest after spending 7 weeks in the hospital on bed rest. Well Saturday night I was lying on the couch at my mom's house and my water broke. I went to the hospital right away and they monitored me through the night. Sunday morning I really started contracting so since I made it to 30 1/2 weeks in my pregnancy the doctor said it was time to have the babies. I delivered them via c-section yesterday at 1:15 pm. They are doing really good. All 3 of them are breathing on their own which is not common for triplets born that early so that is good. Joey weighed 3 pounds 6 ounces and was 16 inches long. Kayla weighed 3 pounds 4 ounces and was 15 3/4 inches long. Riley weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces and was 15 inches long. They will most likely spend 4-6 weeks in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit to grow and be monitored.
My first time seeing Riley Anne.

Joseph "Joey" James

Riley Anne
Here is Brian holding Kayla Mary.

I'll post more pictures as we get them and any updates as they happen. Thank you to everyone who followed my pregnancy and the thoughts and prayers for my family.

So far, So good...

I went to the doctor's yesterday and he gave me permission to stay at my mom's house for at least another week. I couldn't be happier!! Everything looked good and the babies are doing so well! They are all the size they should be for 28 weeks & 5 days. Their weights are 2 pounds 11 ounces, 2 pounds 14 ounces, and 2 pounds 12 ounces. My doctor was very happy and impressed with their sizes. If you do the math, okay I will do it for you...I have about 8 and 1/2 pounds of baby in me. My doctor also measured my stomach and it is the size of a person pregnant with one baby at 40 weeks!!! And he wants me to go another 4-6 weeks?! I go back to the doctor next Tuesday so I will keep you posted....

It keeps growing....and growing....

Here's my belly at 24 weeks....
26 weeks.....
And 28 weeks!

So many things to be thankful for....

First off, I am sure I could write a million blogs about the many things I am thankful for so I thought I would stick to one blog and list the things I am thankful for at the moment. To begin, I am 28 weeks pregnant!!! I never thought I would get this far, it seemed so far away back when I first went into the hospital. My next goal would be to get to 30 weeks and then 32 but I am already 3 weeks further than I got last time when I was pregnant so that is exciting. So since I did reach 28 and I am doing really good, I was released from the hospital Wednesday!! I am staying at my mom's house since mine is too far from the hospital and so I was able to enjoy Thanksgiving at my mom's with all my family. I go to the doctor on Monday and as long as everything still looks good I will continue to stay at my mom's. It is so nice to be out of the hospital and I have been feeling good since I have been out.
As most of you know my younger brother Matt moved to New York in August. He was going to come home for Thanksgiving but the ticket was going to be too expensive and since he is already coming out for Christmas he thought he would just stay in New York for Thanksgiving. I guess some of his roommates were staying in NY too so he wasn't going to be by himself. My mom was kinda bummed that he wouldn't be here and she kept talking about past memories involving Matt and Thanksgiving all day. Well around 2 o'clock guess who came through my mom's front door....my brother Matt!! No one had any idea he was coming, I guess he bought his ticket last minute on Wednesday because he couldn't imagine not being home for Thanksgiving and eating my mom's good food!!! Everyone was so excited to see him and it was an awesome surprise!

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and I will keep you posted how my stay at my mom's goes!!! :)

A few good books....

So I have taken up reading. I find it passes the time faster but that is as long as you have a good book. Luckily I have found a few good books, I have read 3 in the past week. I thought I would share their titles with you in case you are looking for a good book too.

*The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
*The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
* The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Today I am going to start reading Steve & Me by Terri Irwin. I'll let you know how it is.

I also have some good news. I've been pretty stable and doing well so my doctor might let me go home for Thanksgiving, actually to my mom's since she lives closer, and try bed rest there. I will still visit my doctor weekly and if things change then I will go back to the hospital. I'm just excited to get out of here even if it is for one day. But we will see, it depends on how the next few days good as to whether I get to leave or not. I'll keep you posted.

Tagged!

My friend Amy, who I have known since freshman year in high school, thought she would give me something to do to pass the time while in the hospital and tagged me. I would like to also thank Amy for visiting me in the hospital today. Amy, who lives in Arizona, was in town this week visiting her mom and I haven't seen Amy since my wedding 5 years ago. So it was good to see her and her son today! Thanks Amy!

Anyway, on to the tag:
RULES:
1. List the link to your tagger and also post these following rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird, etc.
3. Tag 7 people at the the end of your blog also leaving the links to their blogs


7 facts about me:

1. When I was 7 I was hit by a VW Bug (the old school kind) while rollerskating across the street in front of my house. My dad was mowing the lawn in front of the house and saw it all happen. I was hit, flew some feet, the girls didn't know what they hit so they kept going and ran over me, finally stopping. I broke my femur bone, shattered my hip bone and had to get stitches in my head. I was in the hospital for 5 weeks (what's with me and long hospital stays?!) . This happened in February when I was in 2nd grade so I had to be home schooled the rest of the year.

2. In high school I went on a date with Hobie from Baywatch. He was so cocky and full of himself. Obviously things didn't work out. Haha

3. I have two tattoos. My first one I got is on the back of my neck and its the Japanese symbol meaning "blessed". I got it as an acceptance that even if I don't ever get pregnant (at one time I thought it would never happen) that I am still blessed. I got pregnant with Lindsay and Taylor two months later. :) My second tattoo is a red heart with a "T" inside on my wrist in memory of my daughter Taylor who passed away 18 hours after birth.

4. I have know my husband Brian since we were freshman in high school. We met at band camp. :)

5. The guy on 7th Heaven who got Haylie Duff's character pregnant (I forget his screen name) was my student two years ago.

6. My parents have been married for 30 years and I hope to get that far and further in my marriage.

7. Within the next couple months, I will have given birth to 5 children in the past 2 years!


Okay, since I only know 6 people with blogs and one person tagged me, I can only tag 5......


Matt, Sarah, Jessica, Julie, and Allison you have all been tagged!!! :)

Lindsay's 2nd Birthday Pictures

Carving a Pumpkin

Last night Brian and Lindsay stopped by the hospital to carve a pumpkin for me. First Lindsay helped Daddy draw a face on the pumpkin...

Then Brian did the carving and Lindsay was a little scared at first but ended up loving the pumpkin.
Today is Lindsay's 2nd birthday so stay tuned for pictures from her "party" we are going to have for her in my room. :)

Happy Birthday Luke!

Yesterday my nephew Luke turned 4. Here are some pictures from his party that I of course couldn't go to but Brian was able to take Lindsay.
Luke and Lindsay
Lindsay hitting the pinata.
The kids getting their candy. No, Lindsay was not the one who broke the pinata.
Cake time!
My brother, my sister-n-law, and their two adorable boys!

When Lindsay comes to visit...

This is what we do. She lays in bed with me and I read to her or she colors. :)

5 pounds to be exact....

I had my ultrasound yesterday and everything still looks good. My cervical length did shorten some but it is still at a good number and my doctor was not worried about it. The babies are doing great. They are all ahead of schedule by a few days. The boy weighs 1 pound 12 ounces (which is what Lindsay weighed when she was born at 25 weeks) and the girls are 1 pound 9 ounces and 1 pound 10 ounces. I can actually see them moving now and it is so weird. It is like a circus in there!

I have got a few pumpkins in here.....

Since I know you all like to see the belly pictures I thought I would humble myself and post these for your viewing pleasure. Let me first say that I have no make-up on, contacts are out - glasses on, and my roots are in desperate need of a touch-up. Oh, also I am proud to say those are veins on my stomach not stretch marks (at least not yet haha). These pictures were taken Wednesday when I hit 24 weeks. I got my steroid shot Wed and Thurs. however I had some strong contractions and irritability Wed. night due to the shot, which is common. However it did scare me and they were talking about having to put in an IV and give me stronger medicine to control it because nothing else was working. However thankfully things calmed down before that measure needed to be taken. And since then things have been calm and good. So since all that happened my doctor didn't want to stir things up anymore by doing a check so tomorrow he is supposed to do a cervical length check and a full ultrasound to see how big the babies are now. I'll keep you posted. :)

After 3 weeks here is what is going on.....

First I want to thank all of you for your care, concern, thoughts, and prayers. It is really much appreciated! I know you probably check my blog often for updates and fortunately not much changes day to day so that is why I save it all for a weekly update. Pretty much right now no news is good news. :) But here is what has happened in the last week....
My doctor was off the last 3 days so he's not going to do a cervical length check until Thursday. I did get to go outside in a wheelchair for 30 minutes on Sunday to get some fresh air. It was nice but I was pretty much uncomfortable the whole time since I haven't sat upright for that long of a time in awhile. I have also had some contractions here and there the past 3 days that required the nurses to give me extra medicine but its nothing that my doctor is worried about. Tomorrow I will be 24 weeks which was my first milestone to get to so that's exciting. My next goal will be 28 weeks. I will be getting my steroid shot for the babies' lungs tomorrow and Thursday which will help their lungs mature faster if they were to be born prematurely. I received this shot when I was pregnant with Lindsay and although it seemed to not make a difference when she was first born, she didn't have to go home on oxygen which is rare for preemies. So in the end it did make a difference. As far as going home, I will most likely be staying in the hospital until I deliver. I feel much safer and more comfortable in here than I think I would feel at home. As hard as it is for me to stay in here, I just want to do what is best for the babies' health and don't want to jeopardize the possibility of life-long disabilities they could have just because I wanted to go home for a few weeks.
Lindsay and Brian are doing good. She is staying on her normal routine which is good for her right now. Brian's sister has been a huge help staying the night at our house and getting Lindsay to daycare when Brian has to work early. The hard part for me is that I don't see them during the week because it is just too much for Brian to drive down in the afternoon, then deal with traffic going home and Lindsay getting to bed late. So I see them on the weekend although I talk to them everyday on the phone. My conversations with Lindsay are usually the same, she says "Hi mommy", I say "Hi Lindsay, I love you", then she says "love you" and we both say bye. :)
So that's about it. I will keep you posted if anything changes, although as I said no news is pretty much good news right now. I will get through this as I have in the past, I can do it again! Although did I mention that I am done having babies after this?! ;)

Jessica's Boys

So since Jessica's last post is about her wedding in June (which she didn't post about until July) I thought I would help her out, since I have so much time on my hands, and post these pictures that were recently taken of her boys. I also owe her since she brought me lunch from Paradise Bakery on Saturday. So her boys, James & Conner, are now 9 1/2 months old and are so adorable as you can see from the pictures. Look at their matching Puma shoes!!! So cute!!

Things are looking good!

It has now been two weeks since I have been in the hospital and I am doing really well. God definitely hears our prayers! I had another check-up yesterday and again my doctor was happy with what he saw. My cervical length hasn't changed since last week. The babies also looked good, have plenty of fluid, and are moving like crazy now. I have also not had any extra medicine to control contractions since last Wednesday. My doctor is even talking about me possibly going home on bed rest once I reach 24 weeks (which is a week from Wed.) as long as everything stays looking good. Lindsay is doing well, she spent last week at my parents house and then this week she will be back home with Brian. Oh, Julie you will be so proud of me, I am staying on top of all the baseball games. :) I don't have a favorite team yet, I suppose I should choose one soon!
Here's Lindsay with my dad and her cousin Mark.
Lindsay loves playing with my dad, who she calls Papa.
My mom said one morning she walked around the house with this blanket on her head! :)

Update - week 1 in the hospital

Well, here is what has happened in the last week. Last Monday I went to my doctor appointment and my cervical length shortened a little more to 2.3. So the doctor put me in the hospital on bed rest to be monitored. I had surgery last Tuesday and the doctor put stitches in my cervix to help keep the babies' in and keep my cervix from getting any worse. However, I still have to be on bed rest because any pressure can tear the stitches. Yesterday my doctor checked my cervical length since the surgery and he was very happy with the results. My cervical length is now back up to 3.7 which is good. In 2 more weeks, when I am 24 weeks, I will get the steroid shot to help the babies' lungs mature faster. I got this shot with Lindsay as well. After that my goal will be to get to 28 weeks and then of course the more weeks they can stay in the better.
My dad hooked my laptop up in my hospital room so I pass most of my time on the internet. At least I have been through this before so I know what I have to do and I will do whatever it takes for these babies to be born healthy. The hardest part this time though is not being with Lindsay. She comes to visit almost every day and will lay in the bed with me but thankfully my parents, Brian's mom and sister, and of course Brian are helping out so much and trying to keep her routine as normal as possible.
Well, that's it for now. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and I will be sure to keep you posted as the weeks go by.

Down for the count!!!

So I have a lot to update you all on. I went to the doctor's on Thursday for my every two week checkup and some things had changed. So much so that the doctor told me I could not go back to work that day and that I am now on complete bedrest. The length of my cervix changed from 4.9 cm to 2.7 cm which is not a good sign. Also where my cervix and unterus meet, there is now a funnel shape instead of being flat which is also not a good sign. Its nothing too alarming yet but he wants me off my feet because any pressure will make it worse. I am going in again Monday to see if there is any change and if things have gotten worse they are going to put a stich in my cervix to stop it from opening anymore. The doctor might put me in the hospital on bedrest too, it just all depends on how fast it progresses. The good news is that the babies are doing great. They are all the right size, in fact the boy is measuring a week ahead which is great. That leads me to another new piece of information...there is now two girls and one boy. I guess the 2nd boy was never really confirmed but now all three sexes are confirmed, the girls won.
So I will keep you posted as anything changes. Right now I am just trying to lay flat so hopefully things wont change come Monday.

Celebrations of Life

Yesterday CHOC at Mission Hospital held a Life Remebrance Gathering at Dohney State Park in honor of all the children that have passed away at their facility. It was a beautiful ceremony and thankfully turned out to be a really nice day.

Each family received a dove to hold and release into the sky in honor of their child that has passed away. Lindsay was so excited to be that close to a bird. It was really neat and special.

After the dove release, there were 3 dogs there that the children could play with. Apparently these dogs are part of a special program that go visit children in the hospital. They were so mellow and well-mannered. I think Lindsay stepped on his paw a few times by accident and the dog didn't even flinch.

After the ceremony, we went back to my parents' house and had cake for my birthday. My birthday is not until Friday but my parents are leaving for New York this weekend so they wanted to have a cake for me before they left.

I warned my mom not to put too many candles on the cake and sure enough with just 20 candles (I will really be 28), it took me 3 tries to blow all the candles out! Pathetic! These babies take my breath away, literally!! :)