24 week milestone

It has been an eventful weekend!! We made it to 24 weeks on saturday which is HUGE!! My parents came down on Friday and we all celebrated on Saturday. Briny and my dad brought me dinner (oh so yummy and a nice break from hospital food) and then ice cream!! I am spoiled!! Sunday Briny and my dad came over for a little bit and then went home to grill and have a guys night! I figured Briny needed a break from driving home at night and going straight to bed. Plus, I figured the puppies needed some attention and somewhat normal day!!
We did get some news on Saturday. I had my one hour glucose tolerance test and it was high so I was scheduled for a three hour test. They make you drink this orange drink which is DISGUSTING!! The three hour test was started at 4 a.m. so I wouldn't have to miss breakfast and lunch. (you have to fast for at least 8 hours before the test) Well, my fasting blood sugar was normal but I TANKED the other 3 blood draws! BOO!! Now, I have to have finger pricks every morning and 2 hours after every meal!! So far today my morning was normal and after breakfast was normal but after lunch and dinner, I have received insulin. I was freaking out but the nurses assure me this is normal and I have a mild case so far!! Let's just hope that stays the same for a while!! Otherwise my fingers will fall off!!
Some good news, my blood pressure has been normal without meds!! My kidneys are still producing too much protein and my liver functions are on the high side of normal so they have to watch this but so far so true diagnosis of preeclampsia that they have told be about.
What an eventful pregnancy this is turning out to be!! The babies have decided to start kicking and playing ALL of the time!! They are doing well! I had an ultrasound today and they were bouncing around and all three were "practice breathing." The nurses and doctors say this is a good thing and shows they are developing at a good and healthy pace!! I also have to be hooked up to monitors for at least an hour a day. It measures the babies' heartbeats and any contractions. So far, no contractions, so that this great!! Addi and Jack (affectionately A & C) are relatively good about not running from the monitors but Kate (little B) is a runner!! She kicks the monitor if the nurse presses on her and she rolls wherever she can to get away! The nurse has to sit on the edge of the bed and hold the monitor on her so she can move it around to try to catch her!! I have to lay still the entire time which is a challenge but worth it!! It is amazingly calming to hear the heartbeats for all that time. It reassures me of my purpose right now!!
I have to thank Briny for all he has done in the last few months!! While I was at home on bedrest, he was amazing keeping up with things and taking care of me. Now, he is my support and what gets me through the hard times during the day!! I love his visits and how he takes such good care of me! It is the cutest thing when he talks to the belly button a.k.a. "the microphone" to talk to the three babies!! He rarely misses a night of talking to them! Lately, he has been taking me on wheelchair rides around the hospital after dinner most nights to give me a change of scenery! We sit outside together and just talk. It has been some of the best times of me being here! Also, our parents have been here supporting us and truly deserve more thanks than we will ever be able to give!! They make the weeks pass quickly by coming to visit in intervals!!
Overall, I now know I am in the right place. The alone time can seem like it is stretching out forever but it really is a lot of time to get to know myself again!! I also think this has strengthened our marriage and family!! I can't wait to see the little ones but I am thankful to God that they are still cooking and getting healthier every day!!

Thanks to all of you who have supported us through this! It has made this so much better than I could ever have imagined and we genuinely appreciate all the thoughts and prayers!!

Doctor = Hospital

Okay, so it is officially time to catch this blog up!! A lot has happened over the last month! We finally settled into home bedrest and had a routine going! Then came June 10. We went to our appointment with the high risk doctors (MFM) for the anatomy ultrasounds of the babies. We found out that Addi and Kate were right at 1 pound each and Jack is 1.1 pounds. They all have healthy organs and parts so far, everything is normal!! Whoo!! However, we also found out that my first cerclage slipped and my cervix was down to .7cm!! I fell apart!! The doctor told us there was no other thing to do other than take the high high risk of putting another cerclage in so I was scheduled for surgery the next morning and went straight to the hospital. They put me basically upside down all night!!! Briny had to feed me and everything! I could not get out of bed!! All of the parents came down and by the grace of God, we successfully got through the surgery!! the risk was of rupturing the membranes and inducing labor, which at that point, 21+ weeks, the babies had no chance of survival. HUGE sigh of releif getting through that!!

So a couple of days later, the head MFM told me I was here for the duration of our pregnancy!! I was shocked and a little depressed. It was at that moment that I realized that this was not a normal pregnancy that all girls dream of and I started searching for the reason that this happened to me!! I have now been here exactly 2 weeks and am proud of our progress! My cervix is now close to 3 cm and I was taken off the blood pressure meds and my blood pressure seems to be regulating itself!! I do have some signs of developing preeclampsia but they are even getting better just by me being here and resting!

This time has been trying. Brian comes over every night for dinner and a couple of hours. We go on wheelchair rides most nights and outside when it is not 100 degrees!! I know he is tired so I try to get him home in time to get a good nights sleep! Our puppies, Hogan and Ping, are in shock but I think are adjusting!! This time has given me a lot of thinking time which has been a good thing!! I have come to beleive that we are truly blessed with these three little miracles and our faith is stronger now than ever!! Maybe that is the reason for this hospital stay!!

Settling into Bedrest

Well, we are back at home and getting settled into bed rest for Crystal. Luckily she only had to stay in the hospital for one night (one of the longest nights EVER!!). We are in the process of trying to work out the logistics of Crystal being at home and on bed rest. Thank heavens my mom has been here to help out. It is going to be a little of a struggle trying to work out all the details of how to manage her during the day when no one will be here. Her mom will be coming down on Wednesday this week so she will only have to be home alone for two days this week.

We have another doctor visit on Thursday afternoon. I know Crystal will feel a lot more at ease after that visit. Please keep your fingers crossed and your prayers up to date that everything is normal.

I have been working hard trying to get the nursery finished, but have a little more work to do. I put up a new fan, shelves in closet, decorative shelf above the cribs and they names above the cribs too! Once I finish, I will put up pics of it.

Rough Day

Well, today was a little tough. We had another check up at our regular doctor today. After last weeks cervix measurement, our high risk doctor wanted to get another measurement. Well, must to our shock and dismay, it went from 2.3 cm last week, to 1.3 cm today!! Needless to say, the doctor was not happy and put her right in the hospital and into surgery this afternoon. He went ahead and stitched up her cervix. Before the surgery, she did seem to have a few contractions, but have not had any thing since.



Bless her heart, she is MISERABLE! She can not get comfortable at all. She has wires and tubes everywhere. It sucks!!! I wish I could do more for her. Hopefully she will not have to be there too long. The doctor told us that he wants her home as soon as possible.

17 Week Update

Well, this has been an interesting week filled with ups and downs. Monday we had a regular visit with Dr. Thornycroft, our normal doctor. Two weeks ago we found out that we had one boy and one girl for sure, so we were hoping that we would find out for sure what B would be. Well, she did not fail to give us a show. It is definatly a girl!!! It is official, we have two girls and a boy! We are so excited.

Tuesday, we had the doctor visit with our high risk doctor. We were able to see the babies and get GREAT pictures. I have been told that it will get harder and harder to get good pictures the further along we get so we were happy to get new ones! The main reason for this visit was to measure her cervix. Crystal has not had one up to this point so we were not sure what to expect. Well, it is measuring 2.3, which from what we understand is pretty short. The doctor has now instructed her to go on modified bed rest. He told her she needs to lay flat 3 times a day for at least 2 hours at a time. Luckily her office is understanding and letting her lay in a recliner reviewing files most of the day. I am not sure how long she is going to be able to work. If it were up to me, this would be her last week, but she has to do what she has to do. Hopefully she will be able to work from home starting in two weeks. I just don't want her to be put in the hospital for bed rest.

On a good note, we picked out our three names for our new family. Baby "A" is going to be Addison Ann. The Ann part is from my family. It has been a part of my mom's family for a long time. Baby "B" is going to be Kathryn Ainsley. She is named after Crystal's grandmother. And last but not least, the baby boy "C." He is going to be Jackson Joseph. Jackson was Crystals dear grandfathers name and Joseph has been the first born son on my side of the family forever. All three names are built around both our families. We are so happy with the names we can't stand it.

Well, it has been WAY too long since I have updated this, but things have been crazy and here goes! We had our 15 week visit last Monday and things are going GREAT! We were totally shocked by the ultrasound tech when she asked us if we wanted to find out what we were having. Of course we do (too hard to plan without knowing). Then she told us that A was a girl!!! Then moved on to B, who would not cooperate and give us a good look. She then moved on to C and it was VERY clear, a Boy!!! We are soooooo happy. One of each so far.

We have another appointment on Monday the 11th with our regular doctor and then one with the high risk on Tuesday. Hopefully B will give us a peak and we will know for sure what all three will be! I am ready to have the names ready.

Crystal's parents are coming this weekend and we are going to pick up the cribs! Also going to set them up in the nursery. I have almost finished all the painting so I will not have to worry about that.

I am ready for this week to be over for Crystal. She has been working way to much and it is starting to take it's toll. I am trying to do all that I can for her at home so she does not have to worry about anything, but sometimes I feel like I can't do enough. One more day and everything will be better. Everyday I am amazed at how well she is actually doing. We will be 17 weeks tomorrow and more than half way throughout this adventure. Seems like it was just yesterday.

As you can see, this will most likely be filled with random thoughts. Another one that has come to me is that I am amazed and the generosity of people sometimes. There are people that Crystal work with that have already started to give us clothes and supplies. One of my ex-girlfriends has offered the same and has gone out of her way to give us advise since she has two girls under the age of 2. But most off all, I am so thankful of all the support and help from my parents and Crystal's parents, without them none of this would be possible.

From now on, I will not wait this long to post so in turn they will be shorter and my friends and family will not have to take so much time out of their days to read this. Thanks so much for all the support and prayers, we are going to need them!

Yet another doctor

Today we had one of the doctor visits that I really was not looking forward to. It was the downs syndrome test visit. In the beginning, we were not sure if we were even going to get this test done, but at our last visit with Dr. Thorneycroft, he basically said we HAD to do it. Since we really trust his judgement, we went thru with it. We both decided that we would not put a whole lot of stock in the outcome because it really does not matter. Whatever God gives us, we will LOVE whole hearted.

It started out with a visit with a genetic counselor. She told us all about the test that we had to go thru and what it means. They could not do a simple blood test, they had to do a level 3 ultrasound and measure the back of the neck for each baby. We got to see some great pictures of the babies and they looked GREAT!! All three had great heartbeats and were exactly at 13 weeks and 3 days in measurement.

We met with Dr. Dobak from Sacred Heart in Pensacola after the ultrasound. He is a high risk internal fetal doctor, basically a perinatologist. He was great. Very informative and answered a lot of the questions that we had. Stuff like pre-term labor, weight gain, how long we need to carry, so on and so forth. We will have another appointment with him on May 12th and we will start measuring her cervix and we will talk more about what we will have to do going forward. We both really like him and look forward to him helping us.