26 weeks

I have been on modified bed rest for 2 weeks now and I think it's paying off.  The babies are moving like crazy and I can tell they're getting bigger and stronger.  Their kicks are getting more and more powerful and even though sometimes it's kind of painful, I love it!  A few days ago I was kicked in the bladder and the lung at the same time.  We have our next growth ultrasound next Thursday so I'm very anxious to see how much they weigh!

We've mostly been preparing for the babies.  It's very fun,  but also kind of stressful.  We got everything that was left on our registries and it's all starting to come together.  The nursery is almost done.  I finished their quilts last week!

We also got a van.  I resisted for months, but finally realized it was what we needed to do.  I got a white Honda Odyssey and when I'm sitting inside of it, I love it! It's very comfortable and it's exactly what we'll need for the babies.  Their car seats will fit across the middle row and then we'll have extra trunk space since the 3rd row folds down to be completely flat.  I think it'll be perfect!  Here it is:

Mark and his dad took a regular kitchen table and made it into a triplet table.  It's so amazing! 

They are also installing more cabinets in our kitchen.  We had this awkward half brick wall in our kitchen so they put cabinets in front of it and it has a countertop and everything.  Not only do we have more cabinet space, but the extra countertop is very helpful. It's not done yet, so I don't have a picture of it yet.  I should have one by my next post!

Every time I go out in public (not often), I hear the same thing: "Oh wow, you're ready to pop.  Any day now, huh?"  And I always say, "Ha! Not quite."  I'm getting bigger and more and more uncomfortable, but that's expected.  That's the only thing I really have to complain about.  I know it's going to get worse, so I try to tell myself that.  All of the blogs I've been reading say that once they got to about 30 weeks with triplets, that's when it started to get miserable, so I'm trying to stay positive.  I'm having contractions occasionally but I never have more than 1 in an hour, and they never last more than 20 seconds, so according to the doctor, it's normal since my uterus is growing so fast.  I'm just ready for these babies to be here!  I want them to stay in there as long as possible, but I'm so anxious to see what they will look like!

24 weeks

We have reached a milestone! The doctor told us that if something were to happen, it would most likely be in the first 24 weeks, so it's a huge relief to be this far along!  We had an ultrasound yesterday and the babies are doing great!  They're getting so big it's hard to tell what we're looking at on the ultrasound screen, but the person doing the ultrasound usually explains what it is we're looking at.  They've each gained almost a pound in the last 4 weeks!  Here is how they're doing:

Baby A:

I have been rooting for A the whole time.  She seems to do everything after her brother and sister.  I didn't feel movement from her until 21 weeks.  I didn't feel her actually kick until 23 weeks. I got so excited when she did, though! It was 2 weeks after I felt the other 2 kicking and I was getting worried that she couldn't kick because she was being squished.  She's kicking more and more now and during the ultrasound she wouldn't keep still. The ultrasound tech didn't like it because she was trying to get measurements, but I was just smiling and so proud of her!  She now weighs 1 pound 8 ounces!

Baby B (Tripp):

I've been feeling rolling movement from B since I was 18 weeks.  We felt the first kick at 21 weeks and now, he kicks the most out of the babies.  At the ultrasound yesterday, as soon as the ultrasound tech finished getting A's measurements, I told her the first thing B always shows us is that he's a boy.  She moved over to B and sure enough, he's still a boy!  He is the same busy little boy who loves to move around!  He now weighs 1 pound 9 ounces.  We didn't get any good pictures of his face, but we got one of him flexing.  I am absolutely in love with this picture!

Baby C:

C does everything at the same time as B.  I felt the rolling movement at 18 weeks and kicking at 21 weeks.  I think she has the biggest range of movement.  When I wake up she's usually way higher than she's supposed to be and I have to sit up to get her back down to where she needs to be.  I have no idea how, but she even makes her way above B sometimes.  She makes my belly look really weird a lot of times.  She was very well behaved at the ultrasound yesterday. She weighs 1 pound 7 ounces.

A few weeks ago they would kick one at a time and I knew which one was kicking.  In the past week, if one of them starts kicking, they all start kicking! It's such a weird feeling but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I love when they kick.

We saw a doctor and nurse practitioner and they were both very impressed with the babies' growth and my progress.  They said it's really great that they're all growing at the same pace and all have the same amount of fluid in their sacs.  So they're doing really well!  I, on the other hand, am really starting to feel this taking a toll on my body.  It's still tolerable, but I feel it getting worse.  I've been having short contractions for a few weeks now, and they are not pleasant!  Today was my last day working and I have mixed feelings about that.  I know I need to take it easy for the babies' sake, but I just don't what I'll do all day. I will have to get lots of good books to read!  Hopefully staying home will help me make it to 35 weeks.

Mark and I have taken 2 infant classes at the hospital and last weekend we went on a tour of the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, where I'll be delivering.  It is so nice!  We knew it was nice since we've been going there every 2 weeks for the last 10 months, but we got to see the delivery and recovery floors and I'm getting really excited about our stay there.  I will be having a c-section and we saw the floor where they do those, too.  What I love about the Pavilion is that after the babies are born, they shouldn't have to leave my room at all. Even if they need NICU care, a NICU team will be in my room to help the babies, so they shouldn't have to be taken away from me at all unless they need level 4 NICU care, in which case they would be taken across the street to the TCH NICU.  As long as they don't need anything higher than level 3 NICU care, they will be in the Pavilion NICU (if they're born too early and need to stay there longer than me) and the NICU there sounds amazing! We didn't get to see it, but we were told that it's not an open concept like at TCH.  The Pavilion has private NICU rooms that the parents can sleep in with the babies.  They have 4 special rooms for multiples so that the babies can stay together with the parents.  I don't know exactly how it works, but it sounds really nice.  

During the C-section,  there will be big screen next to my head so that I can see the babies while they're being cleaned off.  Mark will get to actually see them, but since they'll still be operating on me, I'm glad I'll get to see them on the screen!

They also encourage skin to skin contact as soon as possible after the babies are born, which I really want to do!  They say that it helps with the baby's heart rate and body temperature after delivery, and helps with bonding, to be put up against the mother's skin.  They encourage the first hour after birth to be spent with the babies bonding with the parents.  I can't wait!

As far as the nursery goes, we're still working on it.  We have sheets on the beds, but that's it.  We still need to get the bumpers, Mark's Aunt Terry is working on the crib skirts, and I just picked up the quilts from the quilter this week (as soon as I sew the bindings on, I'll take pictures of those.  They're so cute!).  We got the dresser and I'm slowly filling it with clothes and blankets and stuff.  We still need to get curtains and then we should be done.  It's simple, but we like it!  Mark hung up 3 corner shelves for these name blocks that we got at one of our showers.  They're perfect!

We have had all of our showers and we have lots of stuff!  We are very lucky to have so many people in our lives that have contributed to these babies. 

Mark and his dad made this amazing triplet table.  I love it so much and can't wait for it to be finished and put in our dining room!

Now we're nesting... Well, I'm nesting through Mark.  I want so badly to clean out closets and cabinets and organize to get ready for the babies, but I'm not really able, so I'm very lucky to have Mark to do it for me!  He has been so amazing throughout this whole pregnancy.  I don't know what I would do without him!

And finally, this is what 24 weeks of triplets looks like;