Thankful for every day, every week

Hi all! Been a couple weeks since our last update. Lots to tell, and fortunately it's all good. I'm now on the twice weekly schedule for check ups, so we get lots of glimpses at the babies and positive reinforcement that things are good. We are 30 weeks, 3 days along, and enjoying the "gravy" zone of gestation. All the kids appear healthy and to be thriving, and now our goal is to give them as much time as possible in mommy's tummy to mature and get stronger before they enter the world. They are growing like crazy: Baby A is 3 lb 6 oz, Baby B is 3lb 4 oz, and Baby C is 3 lb 3 oz. They range from the 40th to the 46th percentile for a single baby at the same gestational age, so we are thrilled with their growth. It's coming at a bit of an expense of mommy, though, who has lost 3 pounds in the last two weeks as they steal what they need from me. So, back to the Boost/Ensure drinks and anything else I can stomach to pack on some extra calories. Dairy Queen, here we come!!! These guys/girls have turned into quite the sqirmers the last few weeks, too. The bigger and stronger they get, the more I can detect who's moving and (sort of) what they're doing. Rather than just a kick sensation, sometimes I can almost tell if they're turning over or wriggling around. The activity definitely centers around food too...they're most active after a meal, and often they make a lot of "noise" first thing in the morning before I've had breakfast...perhaps their way of telling mommy it's time to eat! Even with things going as well as they are, last week we decided to go ahead and get the steriod shots that hasten the babies' lung development, should anything unexpected happen that would force us to deliver. There are basically no drawbacks, and gives us a little extra peace of mind. We're going to need that extra peace of mind for the next few weeks, as my high-risk specialist as well as my favored OB in my OB practice both go on vacation for 2 weeks, starting next Monday (coincidentally, they're married and obviously going on vacation together!). We've developed such a trust and comfort with each of them and their approach/philosophy of care for our particular situation, that it's going to be hard to feel the same about the doctors that are covering for them...so we're praying that there are NO issues that arise while they're gone. I've set a mental goal to absolutely, positively NOT deliver these kids 'till they've returned. That will be August 14. Let's hope that God and these babies are on the same plan! We finally started the nursery last weekend! We took down the guest bed that was in there and put up one of the cribs. Still have a ways to go: paint, get a dresser/changing table, a chair for feeding, an initial stock of diapers and wipes, etc. but we're on our way. We have also been blessed with gifts and hand-me-downs of things like pack-n-plays, swings and bouncy seats, so we're not feeling overwhelmed with all the "stuff" we still need to buy. At this point it's more a matter of getting organized and buying items to fill in the holes of what we already have. We've also jumped head-first into the search for childcare assistance for when these little ones arrive. After months of procrastinating on this, we have recently gotten some pretty good referrals from friends, neighbors, and my triplet group, and new options seem to pop up each day. The hardest part is figuring out what we most need/want and how to fill those needs with the people we've met. Ironically, of all sources, the nanny agency we signed up with delivered the least impressive candidates. Fortunately we don't pay anything unless we hire one of their referrals, so it's risk free. Overall, I continue to feel so blessed that in addition to the babies' progress, my health continues to be good - I'm not on bedrest, can still drive, and am allowed a very moderately active lifestyle for now. I'm definitely tired and try to get lots of rest, but in between naps I'm able to run quick errands, see friends, go out for the ocassional dinner with Jeff...whatever I can tolerate. I'm measuring at the equivalent of about 42 weeks for a single pregnancy (that's past due!) so it certainly is a challenge to move and get around sometimes. I do continue to experience those contractions that I mentioned in an earlier entry and am still on an oral medication to manage them, but as of now they are not causing any change in the cervix which is when the doctors would truly become concerned and would move to more actively treat the situation. We're also feeling lucky that Jeff is now on a very limited travel schedule - basically staying close to home and only taking day trips from which he could return within a few hours if necessary. He's also been a model husband and daddy-to-be, joining us at doctor's appointments and basically not letting me do much of anything around the house. We also love our housecleaner, Marcy! She comes twice a month and keeps things in ship shape. I've posted a few pictures - the belly shot of me is with my two nieces Signe and Shannon, who visited with their dad (Jeff's brother John) last week. Sorry it's blurry, but I think you get the idea. Only the Burkes will appreciate this, but it appears as though John has inherited his mother's gift for snapping a photo...sorry Belle! :-) I also included a few other ultrasound shots, but as I've mentioned before they get less interesting the bigger the babies get, so hopefully you can make something out.

The 28-week milestone!!!

Well we've hit it! 28 weeks. As of today (Tuesday) I am offically 28 weeks, 3 days pregnant, about 7 months along. The best news of all is that, according to our specialist, at this point all the babies would survive, and with about 80-90% likelihood none would face any major handicap or serious long-term health issues if they were to be born now. Every day from here on out is "gravy," as the doctor put it, and will significantly reduce their stay in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit). We're not completely out of the woods though, as an extended stay in the NICU can have its own ill effects such as lung issues from prolonged oxygen administration, infections from IVs, feeding challenges from being fed through a tube until they develop their sucking reflex, and so on. The kids are growing like little weeds: Babies A and B are both 2 lbs 14 oz, and Baby C is 2 lbs 13 oz. That's nearly nine pounds of baby I'm carrying around!!! While their size is great, the most important thing if they were born early, and what we can't see via ultrasound, is their lung development. So we continue to pray for strong, healthy lungs. Starting this week, the doctors will be tracking the babies and me much more closely. I will have appointments twice a week. On Mondays I will have an ultrasound and will be monitored for about 45 minutes for the stability of the babies' heartrates and whether I'm having contractions. On Thursdays they will repeat the ultrasound and monitoring, plus have a regular OB check up for all the "other stuff" like my weight, etc. This Monday they did the ultrasound and monitoring and for the most part all is looking good. It seems that the contractions I was experiencing late last week and caused our little scare (see entry before this one) are continuing. The doctor suspects it's being caused by an irritable uterus and at this point is not causing me to dilate or go into pre-term labor, but was sufficiently concerned enough to put me on some medication to hopefuly "calm" the uterus. Since there's no doubt at this point that we've got three little Burkes coming into this world very soon, we finally got out and did our mini-van shopping last weekend. And while we both know how very un-cool mini-vans are, wow do they have some cool gadgets! We ended up purchasing a fully loaded Honda Odessy, with every bell and whistle you can possibly imagine. It's got automatic side doors and rear hatch, a navigation system, DVD player...it even tells you when your tire pressure is low and how many miles to go until your gas tank is empty! It's on the production line right now and will be delivered before the end of the month. Now we just have to figure out how to install the car seats correctly...one "to do" gets checked off, and other one appears! We're also deep into our hunt for a nanny and trying to get started on the nursery...more on those things next time. Gotta give you a reason to check back! :-) No pictures this time - but I promise to include a picture of the monitoring they do in one of the future updates. It's pretty funny. There's a monitor for each baby, one for tracking the contractions, and usually two nurses tending to all of this. The miracle of technology!

Just a little scare...

Well we had our first reality check last night about how close we could be to having these babies! On Thursday I hadn't been feeling all that great (tired, crabby, anxious about reaching the 28-week mark, what's new?) so I took a nap. We were going to go out that evening and do some more mini-van shopping (how cool!) but I just wasn't up for it. So, I was laying in bed watching TV when I starting noticing the occasional tightening of my belly. There was no discomfort, really, just my belly turning hard as a rock, then releasing after a minute or so. At Jeff's insistence I started to time how far apart they were. They were very irregular but I was having several an hour. Again at Jeff's insistence (thank goodness) I had the doctor paged about 9pm. When she called she wanted me to try one thing before coming in to the hospital. I was to take 2 extra strength Tylenol (as a muscle relaxant), drink a liter of water (not kidding), lie down for 30 minutes and keep my bladder empty (after drinking a liter of water and one of the babies using my bladder as it's favorite toy? Right!). In any case I dutifully followed the orders and gave it a try. She said sometimes the uterus can become irritated from all the kicking and cramp up, and this was an attempt to relax the muscle. If that didn't work after 30-45 minutes, I was to go to the hospital. Well, no luck. So off we go to the hospital at a little after 10pm. We arrived at the birth center (didn't like that name...not ready to give birth YET!) and got set up in a room for monitoring. They attached 4 monitors to my belly - one for each baby and one to see if I was contracting. All the babies were fine (one even had the hiccups), heartrates good, etc. I was indeed contracting, but they weren't huge. They also checked my cervix - still closed. I learned during this process that contractions themselves are not a sign of labor - they are sign that labor could start. It's the open of the cervix that is the real concern. So...relief! After another hour or so of monitoring just to be sure, and another muscle relaxant which made me slightly ill, I was released. Got home around 1:30 and crashed. Well, the incident has sufficiently scared both of us. As of today I'm starting a strict routine that includes one or two required "resting" times per day. I was still providing some support at my job but am going to cut that off as well so I can use my active time for baby-related stuff. We are going to keep these guys in!!!