Monday, June 23, 2014

20 Week Update!




 20 Week Update and Name Reveal

The truth is, we’ve had our babies names picked out for quite sometime. I always had two girl names that I have loved equally. Tim has always had a boy name that he has loved and I love it now too and it is perfect even more so now because it is a perfect name for him. So basically, before we decided to “try” to become parents again, we had two girls and a boy’s name picked out. After finding out we were expecting two girls and a boy, I just know that this all was in God’s plan and the three were meant to be.

Baby A is Aria Marie. Aria means “song” in Italian. Aria was the first of the trio to get a heartbeat and the one who moves around the most when we get a peak of her on the ultrasounds. I picture her being the true baby A… A type, likes to be the center of attention J Just like a singer who sings a beautiful aria and receives a lot of attention for her talent. Her middle name is after my beloved Paternal Grandmother, Mary. Grandma Mary’s father was an opera singer. She loved and admired her father so much. Grandma Mary was a spitfire, just like I picture Aria to be.

Baby B is Cadence Rose. I have always loved the name Cadence for a girl. Cadence means “resting point” in music. Baby B has always been the chill one on the ultrasounds. She got her heartbeat after her sister and she found a very comfy spot right on top of her. She is my little one who rests a lot J Rose, her middle name is after my beloved Maternal Grandmother who passed away two years ago. Grandma Rose was a beautiful, gentle woman who got a long with everyone. She also didn’t take life very seriously and had the loudest, most infectious laugh of anyone I have ever met. She was a very well-liked and chill woman, which is how I picture Cadence to be.

Baby C is Jude Joseph. Tim has always been in love with the name Jude, perhaps because his paternal grandmother's name is named Judith and he has always had a very close bond with her. It is also a very strong name and, of course, biblical. St. Jude is the Saint for when things feel hopeless. This pregnancy felt hopeless to me from the beginning when my Dr. recommended that we terminate Baby C, the smallest one, and the baby highest up. How amazing is it that our Baby C is the little boy we had planned to name Jude? Joseph, his middle name, is a strong family name on my side. I have also always loved the name Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father’s name. I can call baby Jude “JJ.” I’ve always loved acronym names.

Week 19 had many ups and downs. I think as I progress in the pregnancy, the more scared I get. My main fear is that my body will let me now and the babies will be born too early. Tim brought me to the hospital last week because I was having intense pain. It turned out to be a bladder infection. I have never had such a painful bladder infection. It felt like contractions to me! I took the antibiotic and the pain got better in a few days. It also cleared up my sinus infection. A friend of mine who has triplets came over last week and is setting up a diaper drive for us! She told me I need to invite all my facebook friends to participate and I told her I haven’t “announced” it on there yet. She said, “um, why?” So, it gave me the courage to finally announce it! It got 250 “likes” and 100 comments of congratulations (well, some weren’t sure whether to congratulate or not because of the work we have ahead of us, lol).

Week 20 went by fast, thank God. I had my 20 week doctor’s visit, which revealed I’ve gained another 5 lbs, and my cervix is still holding strong, though I am 1 cm dilated, which is normal for a second pregnancy. They had a sign on the door in the room that said “signs of preterm labor” and I swear I have all the signs. The Dr. reassured me that everything is okay and to “have a baby shower and enjoy your pregnancy.” So, my mom and I are trying to work out details but will most likely have it when I am 24 weeks along (when the babies are “viable”). Overall, it was a good week. I prayed one night that the Lord will give me a sign that everything will be okay. I woke up the next morning with the thought that “this is the easy part- enjoy being Noah’s mommy!” We have a tough few months coming up (haha, probably years) so I need to take advantage of all the rest now. Noah starts preschool next week (just twice a week for five hours a day). We enrolled him mostly because I want him to enjoy the interaction with other children because mama is certainly slowing down and cannot do play dates unless they are in my home or a friend’s home.

Luke 1:37
Faith does not make things easy, it makes them possible.


Monthly Pregnancy Survey (5 Months!)

How far along: 20 weeks, 6 days
Weight gain/loss: 23 lbs so far
Maternity clothes: Yes, of course
Sleep: Lots of potty breaks so not great sleep.
Best moment this week: Seeing the babies on the ultrasound; Noah singing “1, 2, 3.”
Miss Anything? Playing with Noah constantly and cleaning the house.
Movement: Yes! Mostly from A and C.
Food cravings: None.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I feel better with nausea.
Have you started to show yet? I am huge.
Gender predictions: A- Girl; B- Girl; C- Boy!
Worries: Preterm Labor
Labor Signs: Lots of cramping/pelvic pain which I guess is round ligament pain.
Belly Button in or out? Out!
Stretch Marks: Not yet
Mood: Happy and anxious!
Looking forward to: Baby shower at 24 weeks and, of course, getting to 28 weeks!

19w6d

20w6d


Sunday, June 8, 2014

18 Week Update



18 weeks, 5 days!


I missed updated my blog last week because I was suddenly struck with a really bad head cold. I’m not used to getting little colds, being that I taught elementary school for years and have a really strong immune system. It woke me up that I need to be better about exposure to germs and how I am more susceptible to them. 10 days later, the cold is still lingering and I am pretty sure it has turned into a sinus infection. I’m trying hard not to cough or blow my nose because I don’t want to irritate my abdomen because I have been having an insane amount of pelvic pressure lately, especially since the big ultrasound the other day. I am also trying hard not to take anything for it. The babies are at a critical time in their growth.

Anyway, we had the anatomy scan on Thursday, June 5th and it went really well. The tech who did it has been doing ultrasounds for 40 years (I didn’t even know that kind of technology was available back then!) It didn’t take as long as I thought it would. She measured each babies’ head, stomach, arm and leg bones, and examined the cords and organs like the heart. Everything was perfect except Baby C only has one umbilical cord artery as opposed to the normal two. This apparently happens in 1 in every 100 “normal” pregnancies. It also almost always occurs in babies with chromosomal issues. The Dr. is not concerned because everything else with the growth checked out fine. Baby A is 8oz, and Babies B and C are 9oz which is perfect for 18w2d. The Dr. measured my fundal height which is now 26cm, so I am essentially measuring 26 weeks. I only gained a pound from two weeks ago so I don’t know what’s up with that because I have been eating a lot of protein lately. Hopefully, the weight pours on over the next few weeks. I want big, healthy babies. We had the tech confirm the genders of Babies B and C (they were already guessed in previous appointments by the Dr.) and left A a mystery for our gender reveal party which we had that evening. We had the tech write on a piece of paper what each baby was and then we had a Resident take a picture of the paper and send it to my friend. She then assembled a three layered cake with the appropriate colors (pink and blue) and brought it to a Pizza place for Tim and me to cut open and enjoy. We cut the cake with Noah on the table and it revealed pink, blue, and pink! Babies A and B are girls and C is a boy! We couldn’t be happier!! Thank you, Lord for these beautiful blessings and all the wonderful things you have in store for them! Thanks mom and dad for treating us to a wonderful little party.

Thank you so much for all the prayers! Lord knows, we truly do need them. A lot of triplet pregnancies are lost between now and 24 weeks. Praying the next two-three months fly by and our babies are healthy.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.


The big reveal! Two girls and a boy!



Noah about to dig in!

:)


Mommy and daddy are so happy!

Grandma bought Noah some new stuffed animals!


Last week's belly :)

Belly looks rounder this week.