triplet pregnancy week by week Archives

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The Triplet's Birth Story – Part2 – The Actual Births

May 23, 2012 6 Comments

{Read Part One of my birth story to see how the day began.}

Walking from my room to the theatre was crazy. There were people everywhere, and they were all there for us. Once I was in the room, it was also crowded with people just for us. Today, the triplets and I were the superstars. There were comments about the dramatic weight loss program I was about to undergo. Then I Had to sit on the bed and bend over as the epidural was given. “Bending over” with three babies in my belly was hardly bending over, more like “leaning slightly forward”. Thank goodness it was obvious it was working working as my legs started to go numb.

The anaesthetist was talking to me and making sure I couldn’t feel anything. Alex came in and gave me a nervous smile, but he also looked excited. I was just scared by now.

When they started cutting it was such an odd feeling. The whole pulling and tugging and fiddling was all a bit surreal. The doctor and his attending surgeon were concentrating hard. The nurses and all surrounding were watching with great interest. As the doctors were fiddling around doing doctor things, I began to feel really sleepy. I told the anaesthetist who wasn’t phased and said it was only natural, there was a lot going on. I can remember thinking how entirely ridiculous it was that people were cutting me open and reaching into my insides, my three children were about to be born, and I just wanted to roll over and have a snooze. Before long everyone was leaning forward in interest and the anaesthetist, who had our camera, was poised, ready to shoot the action.

I felt it as they tugged Triplet 1 free. He had been head down and was very ready to be born.

Triplet One is born

I was disappointed because I had expected to see the baby immediately after he was born. However, straight away the doctor handed the baby straight to the nurse who quickly took him straight from the room. I can remember watching that nurse disappear, trying my best to see what my baby looked like. All I could see was the top of his tiny head.

As soon as he was out of sight, I started concentrating on what was happening with the next baby because a lot of tugging and pulling was going on there again.

When T2, my breach baby, was born, the doctor held him up ever so briefly, (as in mere seconds). Even still, it was so wonderful to see him. He was then rushed away by a nurse and once again I tried to watch him for as long as possible.

The Birth of Triplet Two

The next bit was the most uncomfortable of the whole proceedings. The epidural only had effect up to around my belly button. Unfortunately T3 had firmly wedged herself under my ribs. She was lying transverse across the width of the top of my stomach. I said that I could feel it, and instantly I was given more drugs to alleviate it. I could still feel it, so a bit more solved the situation. It was then very uncomfortable as they tugged and pulled and pushed quite strenuously. It felt like forever – well at least 10 minutes anyway.

In reality there was 3 minutes in between the first baby being born and the last. The boys were both born at 1:23pm and the little lady at 1:25pm. Later I questioned the nurses about the accuracy of the time. “I’m sure there was several minutes between the boys,” I explained, “And it was a very long time with Missy, at least 10 maybe 15 minutes is what it felt like. Are you sure the times are right?” The nurses assured me that these times would be correct. They said that everyone is automatically programmed to look at the clock immediately when the baby is born. Sure enough, when looking back at pictures of their births, I can see the nurse turning around, checking the clock. The time is the exact time recorded on their birth certificate.

Triplet Two is born. (See the nurse at the back looking at the clock?)

Finally my girl was safely in the world. Now that all three were out, Dr. K must have been more relaxed. He held Triplet 3 up say

ing, “Here she is. Hello Mummy. Hello Mummy.” As he was holding her up, he had her little hand and was waving it at me. I can’t remember why but I didn’t think it was funny. But I did like seeing my little girl.

Triplet Three enters the world.

Once the babies were born, Alex went over to where they were weighing and checking them. He said hello to all the babies and told the nurses their names. We had already decided upon the names for the babies according to where they were situated in my womb.

I was on my own as they finished whatever they were doing on my stomach. The doctor commented that my stomach muscles and had been completely separated from being stretched and that I would need physio to repair it. I was still really sleepy, so as they were busy at work and since Alex wasn’t around I succumbed and had a bit of a doze.

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The Triplet's Birth Story – Part One

May 20, 2012 3 Comments

Last year, while I was in hospital after having the triplets, I continued writing my pregnancy journal. I left Week 34 as a cliffhanger. I fully expected to finish the story in the following weeks. How wrong I was. I had expected to write the story while the babies were in the special care nursery, but they were so healthy they got out so much sooner than expected. So here is the beginning of the tale, better late than never.

The Triplet’s Birth Day – 7^th October, 2011

I woke from a nice deep sleep at around 2:00 am on the 7^th of October. I had been given some sleeping tablets, but had been told that I wouldn’t sleep through labour with them, I’d wake if anything started getting more intense. Once I woke up, I realised that the contractions had gotten stronger, so I rang for the midwife, like I’d been instructed. Turned out the midwife couldn’t come to me because she was literally in the middle of delivering another baby. A few messages were run back and forth between rooms, and then I was left alone. I wasn’t concerned, because nothing was too painful. It was a very busy time in the maternity ward that month apparently. In the two days that I was admitted, including my babies, 18 babies were delivered, which made the October quota of babies born at St. Vincent’s 32, for the month. (A lot for the private hospital in our city.) The midwives theory was that it was exactly 9 months after the floods. They said that their ward always got busy after natural disasters or extended periods of blackouts. We had experienced both in our community 9 months prior. (Not that either were responsible for our triplets birth!)

I slept on and off until Dr. Mac visited me around 7:00 am. He basically said that I was very close to delivering, but we didn’t know whether it was a matter of hours or a matter of days. His advice was to monitor the dilation of the cervix, and to act immediately if it started to advance beyond 3cm. He then noted that he was going to take the rest of the day (Friday) off, and that he also was not rostered on over the weekend, so he would hand me over to the care of Dr. K. I was starting to feel like this was patient pass the parcel.

Dr. K came to visit me about an hour later. He didn’t seem to be as confident as Dr. Mac that the labour would last days, but he was still leaving the decision up to us as to whether we would choose to have a Caesar straight away, or take our chances waiting.

About another hour later, after a shift change, a new midwife came to check on me. She sat on the side of my bed with her hands placed gently on my stomach, just feeling. She was surprised by the amount and frequency of the contractions. Her advice was to have the babies during the day, since the weekend was about to begin and it would be more difficult to muster up an operating team required for an emergency Caesar for triplets.

We agreed. I had delivered T-Star in around 2 hours from the start of the first contraction. And with J Boy, once my waters broke, I delivered him also in under two hours. So it was safe to say that Alex and I were already nervous that once this labour progressed into anything serious, we may not have time to assemble a team before babies started dropping out, (in the case of Triplet 1, who was head down and right at the exit ready to go) and the others getting stuck and distressed (Triplet 2 was breach and Triplet 3 transverse).

Another phone call and we all agreed to schedule a Caesar for that day. 1:00 was booked and a crew was quickly assembled. Everyone seemed to be on standby as it was. They had been expecting me for quite some time in the maternity ward. Nobody had expected that I would avoid hospital for as long as I did. When I appeared on Thursday night, everyone was on high alert.

There wasn’t too much more to do than wait. The time went very quickly. We took some last pregnancy snaps, got dressed in my very becoming hospital attire and become extremely nervous.

About an hour before the triplets were born. I have to say, this dress is very flattering. It doesn’t seem to reflect how large my stomach really was. To gain perspective, look at how I’m positioned in the doorway. Admittedly though, I didn’t get as large as I thought I may. Pregnant triplet ladies – take heart, it may not be as bad as you think.

Lordy! Did I get nervous! I think by midday I was ready to push all three out whichever way they were facing! I have to admit, I stayed nervous throughout the whole procedure, and I wouldn’t call it entirely pleasant, it was all rather surreal. However, I don’t mind one bit that I had the Caesar, especially when I look at the angelic faces of my three little miracles. And of course I’m very grateful that I didn’t go with my ir

rationality and damage all four of us trying to bypass the surgical option!

Finally after incubating three little people for 239 days it was time for them to make their appearance in this world. Their life had started at conception 34 weeks and 1 day ago, now it was time for them to leave the mother ship and begin living their own existence.

Read Part 2

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Week 34 – Triplet Pregnancy Journal

October 11, 2011 7 Comments

Week 34

The week started with a phone call from Dr. Mac’s receptionist. He had to perform an emergency Caesar so she wanted to know if I could come in immediately to replace my appointment that was scheduled later in the afternoon. Dr. G. Has gone on holidays for 3 weeks, so Dr. Mac was to look after me in the meantime. I knew he is a very competent doctor, (He’s been my sister’s dr and many friends go to him and equally adore him), and I really liked him, but I was wanting to hang out for 36 weeks when my own doctor was back. There is a certain security of having your own doctor.

So, after receiving the call, I scurried into the doctor’s office. Mum drove me because I’m just not feeling comfortable driving now, even though I do for short trips, because I can still fit behind the wheel. (Hooray I didn’t think I’d be able to!)

I left the appointment feeling nervous. The doctor had initially felt my stomach and had declared that my uterus had pretty well reached capacity and I could be quite close to going into labour. Once I was talking to him and told him that my 2^nd child had been delivered in around 2 hours after the first contraction, you could almost hear his doctor alarms going off. He made me go back and did another examination and found I was 3cm dilated and had bulging membranes. He thought the labour would not be far away.

I had to go and get a blood test, and then went home. I stopped on the way home at a local gift store and bought some presents for The Accountant’s cousin, who has also just had a baby and for a party J Boy was going to on the weekend. When I got home, I started getting things organised, because despite my still wishful thinking to go further, I also kind of knew in the back of my mind that my time was running short.

I wrote a blog, got the presents ready, and wrapped another Christmas present. (In an effort to be organised, I had already bought most Christmas and birthday presents for the rest of the year before I was 20 weeks. I’ve gradually been wrapping them to save myself a job once the triplets come home. I then had a long sleep. When I woke up I had light contractions happening, so I lay in bed hoping that like other times they would disappear. When The Accountant and the boys came home, I didn’t get up and greet them like I normally do, but stayed in bed, still not feeling well. I got up to have dinner with the family, but really couldn’t sit for very long. Once again, I had a feeling that the time was drawing near, so I got things organised for J Boy’s Kindy day the next day, but quickly got tired, so went and sat down. By then I had to acknowledge that the contractions, although not terribly painful, were gaining in strength and getting more consistent. I told The Accountant that I thought we should go into the hospital and get checked out. We both showered, I finished packing my hospital bag and called Mum to look after the boys.

We went into the hospital where the midwives monitored my contractions. The triplets were moving a lot and contractions were definitely happening. The doctor was contacted and I had to have another examination, which found I was still 3cm dilated. With this news they decided that although labour could progress further at any moment, or I may continue to hang on for hours, or even days. The Accountant went home to bed, remaining on high alert, and I stayed in hospital.

The next day was going to be action packed and very memorable.

A 34 week photo before The Accountant went to work.

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Week 33 – Triplet Pregnancy Journal

October 10, 2011 11 Comments

I know this is going backwards a little (all the way to last week!), but I haven’t had time to write anything more yet. Hopefully will do soon. I wrote this the morning before I went into labour, I was going to proofread it and post, but didn’t really get around to it! Anyway, it’s the final chapter of the pregnancy before they started coming. Stay tuned for more details!

Week 33

Slow start to this week. All pretty uneventful, which was good. I was very happy to get to Monday. Having the boys around from Friday-Saturday is very tiring, even with Mrs. S’s help on Friday and Daddy doing most of the boy’s entertaining over the weekend. (Daddy has been great though, I stay in bed most of the weekend and the kids just interrupt occassionally.) It hasn’t helped that this time Toddler T has been unwell. I always enjoy Monday when the kids disappear with my mother and sister and I have a good quiet rest!

J Boy and The Accountant went to the shops during the day on Saturday and camping in the backyard of a friends house on Saturday night. I was just getting to exhausted trying to keep up with Toddler T. In the end I had to get Mum over to help. It seems I can’t be left to supervise my own children anymore! The almost two year old tantrums, exasperated by snotty nose, glassy eyes and temperatures didn’t help. J Boy’s behaviour hasn’t been up to scratch either. J Boy is quite resistant to change. I think he feels it in the air. We’re doing everything we can to feel secure and confident about the changes that are about to occur.

I didn’t stay at home all day Monday. I had been horrified to see my regrowth in recent photos, so went to the hairdresser to have that attended to, since I’m sure that it will not get any easier once the triplets are here. I’m glad I didn’t leave it any longer. Sitting in the chair for that length of time, (I even moved over to the lounge chair in the waiting area for awhile) was my absolute capacity!

During the early hours of Tuesday morning I woke up feeling pins and needles in my legs, and they were a bit more swollen. I was a little worried about the blood pressure situation, so I went up to my local GP’s the following morning to get it checked by a nurse. It had returned to an acceptable level. A urine sample showed that some protein, but not enough to be too concerned about.

The last day of this week was another ultrasound to monitor the triplet’s growth. While they are all within an acceptable range, I would really like to see Triplet A grow a little more as this little one is a pound lighter than his identical sibling.

So currently their growth is approximately (the sonographer kept stating a disclaimer that there needs to be room for error as it can be quite hard to obtain some measurements to get this data):

	Weight in Pounds	Weight in Grams	Percentile for Gestational Age
Triplet A (ID, L. Side)	4lb 6oz	2311 g	11.4%
Triplet B (ID. R. Side)	5lb 6oz	2440 g	61.8%
Triplet C (Fraternal)	5lb 4oz	1971 g	45.5%

The fraternal triplet still has a thick luscious head of hair that has grown in length since the last scan. The poor little identicals still seem possess limited hair. Just as well baldy babies are still super cute! I should know, I was one!

(Afternote: Thank the Lord I did colour my hair then! At 34 weeks and 1 day my babies were born. And let me tell you – it took awhile before I had another hair appointment! Keep reading here for Week 34)

(PS 2. The fraternal triplet didn’t really have any more hair then the boys as it turned out! In fact all three babies have less hair then the eldest two did! And the weights were generous too. Turns out we had Triplet A: 4lb 3oz, B: 4lb 8oz, C: 4lb 13)

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Triplet Pregnancy Journal – Week 32

October 5, 2011 2 Comments

Week 32

Another major milestone has been reached! Up until today, if labour was to begin and unable to be halted, I would have had to be transported to Brisbane via ambulance with a midwife, or if the babies were born here in Toowoomba, they would have been flown to Brisbane in a helicopter. 32 weeks marks the point where the facilities here in Toowoomba will be able to cater for premature babies.

Also, the survival rate for the babies is now excellent. There is now a 98% chance they will make it and there is a significant decreased risk of long term complications resulting from premature birth.

I don’t know whether it was the relief that I had reached this milestone, (that’s Mum’s theory anyway), but I also felt a surge of energy this week. So I started the week by having a coffee shop date with my friend and her beautiful kids. One of my amazing friends allocated Thursday mornings to doing something with her boys and Toddler T. Because it’s school holidays this week, J Boy and her Princess were included. We went to an outdoor coffee shop. The children had a wonderful time riding the little bikes on the verandah, running around the grassed areas with the free range chickens and playing on the rockers and sandpit.

I had a lovely time eating cake and watching my selfless friend hop up and down like a yo-yo sorting out all the childish dilemmas. Such a long suffering lady!

I was nice and tired after that, so I went home and had a quick sleep while the kids went and played elsewhere. The kids returned and we hung out for the rest of the day doing quiet activities, the quietest of which was Trent sleeping. Jonty played with his toys, we watched a DVD together. It had been awhile since the boys had just been at home with me for awhile. By 4:00 they started to get bored. I let them outside and lay down on the couch because even though the afternoon was low key, I was starting to get tired. I kept checking the boys. They did not want to come inside, I was too tired to make them, so they played out in the yard until 6:00 and I got Alex to chase their little, dirty, cold bodies inside.

Friday was another home care day. It started with the co-ordinator coming to visit to make sure everything was OK with Mrs. S. This all went smoothly. The day already was easier than the week before. It’s inevitable that the days where the children are at home are going to be more tiring for me. I did get a good rest in the afternoon though when Mrs. S. took the children to the park and library.

Throughout the day I my head and body really began to ache. By the weekend it was apparent that I’d picked up another bug. So over the weekend I struggled with a virus. With regular doses of paracetamol and lots of rest I was feeling much better by Monday morning.

I had been really disappointed on Saturday night that I had to miss out on one of our good friends 30^th birthday party. I was really hoping to pop in for an hour or two. But being sick and exhausted it would have been foolish. As I sat at home by myself I was feeling over being so socially isolated. I’ve had people coming and going from the house, but I just felt like getting out.

So on Monday morning, after Mum had taken the kids to her house, I decided to pop down to the pool (only a few minutes from our house) and say hello to some of my friends that I knew were down there taking their kids for a swim. I stayed there a bit longer than I intended, but loved catching up and having a good chat. I went home and had a sleep – only to wake up discovering that while I’d been sitting in the sun, I had paid no attention to my fair skin. I woke up with burning knees. I looked down and discovered I had two small patches above my knees red raw! I felt so foolish! With lots of applications of aloe vera it took at least three days for the burning to settle down!

My favourite pictures at the moment. My friend is 38 weeks pregnant, and I am 32 weeks pregnant! And the prize for the biggest tummy goes to moi!

That evening I went around to Mum and Dad’s for dinner, my aunt and uncle were in town, visiting from Melbourne. The big occasion for their visit was my grandfather’s 93^rd birthday the next day. For his birthday we had a family lunch then went out for dinner that night.

Unfortunately, I then found out the wisdom of my previous anti-social behaviour. That night I ended up having to go home before the meal was served, I was sore and exhausted. I was incredibly stiff and sore for the next two days, just from sitting up longer than usual.

I felt a bit silly for overdoing it. I was also worried that I’d go into labour and it would be all my fault. I had a dream that I went to hospital and started going into labour and got a big lecture about my foolhardy behaviour when the doctor and nurses saw my crispy red knees!

Thankfully I was able to rest up after my ‘exploits’. The final doctor’s appointment of the week went well. The babies hearts still beating strongly. The only concern was that my blood pressure was borderline high at 140/90. Dr. Gibson thought I should make another week, but said we are going to have to monitor it.

So, more rest for me, and more books. Bedrest for me has consisted of sleep and copious amounts of reading. I’m tending to average 1 ½ – 2 books a week, which has been the best pregnancy kickback I get! I suppose the next chance I’ll get to do this much reading will be in my retirement!

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Pregnancy Triplet Journal – Week 31

October 2, 2011 7 Comments

Week 31

This new week started with a slight bit of drama. I woke up not feeling comfortable. As I started to move around I was getting several painful cramps. This got worse after The Accountant left for work and while I was making J Boy’s kindy lunch I was getting painful (not severe) contractions every ten minutes or so.

I went and lay down on the couch, but they continued. Luckily Mum came early to pick up J Boy for kindy, because she was able to dress the boys, and help pack the kindy bag, since I hadn’t got around to that yet.

The contractions continued, they weren’t bad enough to make me concerned that I was in full blown labour, but I rang the doctor’s office straight away at 9:00. The receptionist told me Dr G was in surgery, so she would contact him and get back to me. She rang back in a few minutes saying to come straight into the hospital and have them monitored in the labour ward.

Mum went and dropped the kids off and then came back and picked me up. During this time, the contractions started to ease. During the trip in they pretty well disappeared.

I was taken into the exact same room that I had given birth to J Boy in. A trip down memory lane that I certainly didn’t want to repeat that day! I was hooked up to a machine which monitored the babies heartbeats and my contractions. It took a bit of patience on the part of the midwife to find the three heartbeats. The fraternal triplet up the top didn’t make things easier by constantly squirming around and knocking all the monitors off! There were some minor contractions recorded, which didn’t surprise me, because I couldn’t feel anything anymore. (Apart from the babies moving.)

Dr G came in dressed in scrubs and decided to take a fibronectin test. This test can be a predictor as to whether labour may begin in the next two weeks. It’s most useful result is a negative, because that will pretty solidly indicate that unless some outside factors are introduced, (like if I decided to go water skiing) the onset of labour is very unlikely in the next fortnight. Unfortunately I had a positive result. This result isn’t as useful, because it is not conclusive that labour will begin in the next two weeks. Dr. G treated it as a fairly useless result. For me though it was a good motivator to really take things easy since there was a higher possibility that I could be delivering pre-term babies in the next two weeks. The positive result also prompted my first hospital stay for threatened premature labour for observation and ‘to get some rest’ I concluded that hospitals are not restful places at all with nurses coming in, uncomfortable beds and rock hard pillows that prevent sleep. I hardly slept at all that night. However, I had no further contractions, several checks of the babies heartbeats were all satisfactory so I was relieved to be allowed to go home.

When I came home it was Mrs S’s first day doing In Home Care. It was stressful for me. Coming home from hospital, I was tired and wanted to maintain the level of sleepless rest I had achieved that had helped the contractions cease. However, since Mrs. S is still settling in and getting to know how to do things, and Toddler T was very clingy, I was getting up and down all day. I was exhausted by the end of the day and having contractions once again.

At least I know at this stage that they are Braxton Hicks and not early onset labour. I had some Braxton Hicks with Trent’s pregnancy, but nothing as constant and intense as these are. The concerning thing is that I never know when or how they will turn into actual labour. Since I had a 2 hour labour, (from the first contraction until delivery), with Toddler T, I’m very conscious that I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible so we can halt labour if possible. Or worst case scenario, be ready to have an emergency Caesar.

It was the Carnival of Flowers over the weekend. The Accountant took J Boy and Toddler T to see the parade. They came home happy and full of stories. I had a very restful day at home.

I’ve had a few stretch marks start appearing on my tummy. I knew it was likely, but I was still hanging out hoping that maybe I’d avoid them. I only had one tiny mark from the previous two pregnancies, so I’d been lucky up until now.

On Monday, I completely forgot that I had a doctor’s appointment. I was thinking the appointment was on Tuesday, the day I normally have appointments. It was re-scheduled for the next day. Things are going well, but hearing that contractions are still occurring and that I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure down below, Dr. G expressed his doubts that he will get to deliver the babies. It’s awfully disappointing, but he is going away on a holiday for three weeks. It will be in between weeks 33-36, a highly crucial time for us. Dr Mac will be filling in, and I know he is an excellent doctor, but there’s nothing like the security of having your own doctor deliver your baby. I told Dr. G that this would be a shame and that we’ll wait and see, I might be able hang on. He said he’d love to do the honours, but it would be truly miraculous if I went that long. I agree with him, it seems very unlikely. But I also know that there have been so many miracles occur, right from conception, that it is possible. I read a great quote the other day. “I’m a realist. I believe in miracles.”

31 weeks

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Week 30 – Triplet Pregnancy Journal

September 21, 2011 6 Comments

Week 30

Week 30 began with me being stressed out, which resulted in experiencing my first contractions in the morning while trying to get ready. We had the In Home Care Co-ordinator coming for an inspection. The In Home Care was officially scheduled to begin next day, so I was stressed that we get everything right so it could all start smoothly.

The weekend before the boys left for Cairns, I got The Accountant to start drilling locks into doors etc. It was a lot of fiddling around and he got some done, but not all. Plus we discovered we needed to buy some more for various areas. It’s a bit hard buying the locks because you don’t know which ones will work, and which ones won’t. So, once he had returned I was giving reminders to get it done, but then this thing and that popped up and before we know it we’re rushing around frantically late the night before, and the morning of, trying to get all the last minute things done. The biggest problem was that locks weren’t sticking on and were falling off all over the place. I was also changing things in cupboards so I wouldn’t need to put locks on and ruin the paintwork (My office cupboard now holds a startling array of kitchen, first aid and other various ‘dangerous’ items now. It’s all a bit bizarre.) I was printing out emergency contact lists to put near the phone, trying to find places to hang keys near doors, have paperwork sorted, and run through the house checking that there were no scissors, plastic bags, etc lying around. I knew the co-ordinator is a really lovely lady, and good to work with, I just wanted to get everything right.

As it turned out we had done everything we needed, the locks managed to stay in place long enough and conveniently fell off after she left. (I think we’ve replaced them all now…) The co-ordinator was surprised that I’d filled all the sheets in and read all the documentation! Apparently most people don’t! Hooray to me for being a star student! And I was able to sort out a whole heap of issues that the In Home Carer had raised so that some of the more ridiculous red tape and fine print could be as flexible as possible to work in with our household.

Not that I am able to eliminate the red tape, of course. The classic issue this week was that I was told that regular visitors to the house (while the In Home Carer is working) would need Blue Cards – including my own mother! What a joke! Luckily we have talked to the governmental department and discovered that this is not a requirement at all for family members. Sometimes I wonder whether this is going to be worth the effort. I’m sure it will once the triplets arrive, but in the meantime, it’s stressing me out! After the inspection, I spent the rest of the day in bed, which helped settle down the contractions.

One of the most unfortunate part of the whole dilemma was that I still was feeling very tight in the stomach that evening, so I had to miss my beloved book club!

The rest of the week progressed fairly smoothly. The Accountant is being such a big help with the kids. I know it’s exhausting him having them all through the weekends without a break, but he really is such a wonderful Daddy, and the kids just love all the time he’s spending with them. He is also a champion coming home from work and getting stuck straight into final dinner preparations. Friends and family have been regularly supplying us with meals now, which makes things a lot easier,He’ll help with cleaning up and bathing the boys and putting them to bed. I try to help as much as possible, but I’m really not able to do too much anymore, I immediately start cramping. He’s such a devoted husband and father – I love him dearly and feel very much loved by all that he does for us.

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Week 29 – Triplet Pregnancy Journal

September 18, 2011 3 Comments

The week started by waving the three male members of our household goodbye as they began their journey to celebrate a family birthday in Cairns.

Meanwhile back at home. I had a lovely four days on my own. I miss my boys when they are away, and I often wonder what they were doing and phoned in for regular checkups, but I’m not the type of mother/wife that pines away when left on my own. I quite like the “Me Time”.

There were a few things that I wanted to get done around the house. Unfortunately those were not done. When I was at home, I mostly stayed in bed and did some serious snoozing as well as read a book. “The Help”- I know it’s all the buzz at the moment with the movie release, and there’s a reason why, it’s particularly brilliant. Can’t wait to see the movie, don’t know when I’ll get a chance though, since I’ll be having to wait until it’s out on DVD.

Also had a nice social time with friends coming around to visit on Thursday, had lunch with another girlfriend on Friday, dinner with my Dad and sister Saturday night and lunch with the family on Sunday for Father’s Day. Possibly the reason why I lacked the motivation to do anything but stay in bed while I was at home. And for those who get concerned about over activity, all social events were within a fairly confined time frame, so I didn’t overdo it.

It was lovely to welcome the boys’ home and hear all their stories. Toddler T was super clingy and wouldn’t do anything else but sit on my lap, or very close to me (when he was getting too heavy), for almost three hours. I just enjoyed the cuddles.

I’m certainly getting used to the whole concept of having other people cooking and cleaning for me! It can still feel awkward, but I start feeling very tired and my stomach starts getting tight if I do too much, so it makes me back off. The place is looking so clean though. It could be a little tidier – but that’s no one’s fault but my own. Whenever I’m up, I’m constantly trying to remove my piles of junk. It’s a time consuming process at the best of times, but it’s ridiculously slow now. Hopefully I can tidy up the last of the hot spots before the triplets arrive. I’ve given up on tidying out the office and laundry cupboard, however. That will have to go on the agenda in about a year’s time!

Another appointment with the doctor towards the end of the week. Heartbeats all present and accounted for! We have set the date for an elective Caesar. It will be at 37 weeks on October 28. It seems so far away! I know it’s best for the babies to keep them in as long as possible, it’s just that 7 more weeks seems like a long time to remain pregnant. I’m already over the size when most pregnant women are moaning (including myself the previous two times) that they just want the baby to be here and their old bodies back!!! It’s like being told you have to go two months overdue!

Having said that, I should pause and be grateful, because my stomach has stopped growing as quickly as it had been. The babies are still growing at a good pace, so I’m glad that I’m not!

Anyway, we’ll see whether I’ll hit the target date or how close I’ll get to it…