The Big House Cleaning

WOW! Karen, Joann, and Sandy went to town on our house. Everything is spotless! What a wonderful gift. They ordered us out of the house, while they did a little spring cleaning. Well, I guess it wasn't a little cleaning, it was quite a job! But everything looks fabulous. 

So what did we do while we were out? Bridget insisted we had lunch at Portillo's. I think that's her favorite restaurant now. She loves their hot dogs, and she always finishes a whole hot dog and a few fries. She also likes to look at all the knick-knacks they have hanging on the walls and ceiling. She was falling asleep during lunch, seriously, her head was on the table! Our original plan was to go to see the movie, Bolt after lunch. Instead Shawn took us on a little drive, and Bridget was asleep soon enough. I fell asleep too. When I woke up we were by Arsenal Road driving the through rural back roads.  Bridget woke up a bit after I did. I guess we both slept for over an hour. 

After driving a bit more, we headed back to the house so that I could go to the bathroom. Karen, Joann and Sandy had the house looking and smelling pretty good by this time. They told me some funny stories about the things they found around the house, including a year old check that hadn't been cashed and the Glad Vacuum Sealer that nobody knew what it was. 

After my potty break, Shawn and Bridget went to the pet store for litter, then we headed to the theater. Bridget enjoyed watching Bolt. She's pretty funny because she gets anxious at the suspenseful parts and sad at the sad parts. So you know she's following the story. She also doesn't keep her emotions in...we had to tell her that she has to be quieter in the theater so that she doesn't disturb other people. Of course, she loved having popcorn and loved sitting on the booster seat. 

After the movie we headed home to check out the final result. We finally have usable counter space in the kitchen. Sandy also lined up (in rows) what little we had in the fridge! Joann did a heck of a job fixing up the nursery and moving Bridget's left-overs to her new room. Karen organized Bridget's bookcase with cloth containers, and hung some "artwork" in the bathroom. I posted photos on My Mobile Me Gallery. Click the link at the right. I should have taken some "before" photos, but that would have been too embarrassing! 

Soon...very, soon!

YEAY! Had my fetal monitoring today at St. Joe's. All three babies are doing well. This time the change was with me. Doctor said I'm having mini contractions,  (I didn't even know it) and with the pattern of contractions that he saw, he thinks that I won't make it to Monday's appointment. So finally, it seems the end is in sight. 

We took Bridget along so that she could preview the hospital. She did well until two nurses started hooking me up to the monitors. She got very nervous and teary-eyed. She didn't like the sounds of the heartbeats at first, and she thought the nurses were hurting me. After a bit of reassuring, she was fine. I'm sure she'll be fine visiting me and her little sisters and brother when the time comes. 

We're off to Grandma Joan's later for Thanksgiving dinner. Until then, I'm going to rest up and drink lots of water. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

A Visit From Kaitlyn and Ann

Bridget went to school today and was very excited when she burst through the door at the end of the day. "Mama, Mama, I got a surprise for you. Close your eyes!" So I did, and she gave me a cute bag with a nice Thanksgiving poem inside that they made at school. She also showed me her beautiful pasta necklace. 

"Where's Kaitlyn?!?!" She was beginning to get so upset because we had told her that after school today, Kaitlyn was going to come over. She was upset that she wasn't already at our house. So she called Aunt Tina to find out when Kaitlyn would be coming over. She did a really good job talking to Tina on the phone. And she was very glad to hear that Tina, Kaitlyn and Ann were putting on their coats and leaving for our house right then.

When they arrived, Aunt Tina had a Thanksgiving project for the girls to work on. They were going to make cookie turkeys out of Oreos, Whoppers and Candy Corn. I think the girls ate more candy than they used to make the turkeys.  Ann also enjoyed eating Oreos and watching everyone make turkeys. 

Of course all three girls had plenty of time to play with the Weebles castle and with toys in Bridget's room. Must have worn Bridget out, because she took a nap at school and was exhausted before we even finished dinner. 

Our Minivan

We haven't been up to much lately. I did go to the doc on Monday for fetal monitoring and the biophysical test. The girls were stubborn for fetal monitoring, the tech had a hard time locating their heartbeats, then they wouldn't stay consistent on the monitor. The boy did great, quickly. I was a bit worried that the doc would send me off to the hospital, because last week the tech read the results and moved me on to the next room. This time she said, "I'll let dr. take a look at this and I'll be back." But I guess everything was fine. The biophysical exam went well too. All three babies scored a 10 out of 10 again. 

Monday night we all met up with some teachers and their families for dinner at Portillo's. Bridget had fun playing with friends Elaina and Ryan, and she got to meet new baby Alyssa. I got to catch up with a few math teachers. It was fun.

Tuesday, Auntie Anna spent the whole day with Bridget. They had lots of fun playing dollhouse, reading books, finding hidden pictures and playing I-Spy. Grandma Kathie also stopped by for a quick visit. Then Grandma drove Shawn to Car Max (finally!) where Shawn (finally!) purchased our new minivan. We ended up with a black 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. It's pretty nice. It has stow and go seating for both the 2nd and 3rd rows. Bucket seats in the 2nd row, bench seat in the back. Dual power sliding doors, and a power hatch. It should fit all four car seats comfortably, though we haven't installed all of them yet. 

After dinner Tuesday night, Shawn, Anna, Bridget and I all took the new wheels out for a spin and we ended up at Target at Bridget's suggestion. Shawn had a grand old time making fun of me because I took one of those scooter things for a spin around the store. That was the best shopping trip I've had in months! After making our purchases, Anna and I got a cup of coffee, and Bridget put the charm on the employees and ended up with a free cookie and cup of milk. She was worn out though, and she had no problem falling asleep in the new van on the way home.

Yeay! She pooped on the potty!

Finally, the day has arrived...Bridget pooped on the potty! I could tell she was trying to push 'em out, so Shawn and I coaxed her to the bathroom. She ran to the bathroom without much fuss, which is good, because the past several times she started to poop, she screamed about going into the bathroom and screamed even more when we put her on the potty. So today, Shawn took her in, and remained calm with her. She did fuss a bit because she had a hard poop, but she survived. There was no mess in her pants either. Yeay! She did have two accidents in the afternoon. One was pretty blatant, the other happened when she was on her top bunk during nap time, she tried to get down and go potty, but had the accident at the bottom of the ladder. So today was a very good day. She's been doing very well. I think she told us she had to go 6 times today, yet another improvement.

Thanksgiving morning I'm going for fetal monitoring at St. Joe's because the doctor's office is closed Thursday and Friday. The test will be done in the Labor and Delivery ward. I think Shawn and Bridget are going to come with. I want Bridget to see the hospital before I'm actually admitted so that she's not afraid. I'm going to see if they will give us a little tour of the nursery and NICU as well. I just hope that the babies pass the test so that I'm not admitted that morning. That would stink!

Shawn keeps thinking it will be another 2-3 weeks, and I'm thinking it will be shortly after Thanksgiving. My blood pressure was high (for me) at my last visit and the dr. realized that one girl is always sleeping during fetal monitoring. She'll wake up when stimulated, but I got the impression that he's keeping a close eye on her. 

I'm at the point where I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I've been sleeping the days away.  Some days I'm napping 5 hours! This is in addition to a good 8-10 hours sleep overnight. Poor Bridget has been spending her days playing on her own, and I'm grateful that she's content to do this. I think it's wearing on her though. Today, all she wanted to do was cuddle up with Shawn and I. We got lots of hugs and kisses today.  Shawn gave her a little pep talk about the babies and how Bridget will have to share us with the babies, but no matter what we will always love her. It was very cute. 

Ok, that's it for today.

Thanksgiving Luncheon

Today was Bridget's Thanksgiving Luncheon at her school.  "Ugh" is about all I can say! We were running a bit behind schedule, so we were rushing to get her bathed, dressed and ready to go. Bridget didn't like being rushed. She was screaming and throwing tantrums about every last little thing. We got out of the house at 10:55 and the program started at 11.

On the car ride over, Bridget stopped crying and was getting in a good mood. We all played "I Spy" in the car. Once at school and in her classroom, her mood flipped again. She was shy and didn't want to cooperate at all. She didn't want to play with her friends, she wouldn't talk to her teachers or anything! The children had prepared two Thanksgiving songs to perform for the parents. This probably being Bridget's last school event until she gets into a regular preschool, Shawn and I were excited to see her perform. Instead, she wanted to cry and hang onto Mom or Dad's legs. It was very frustrating. At least she wasn't the only one crying. One other boy was acting up too. 

So then it was time for lunch. Bridget refused to wash her hands like all the other children. Shawn and I were about to just leave because she was crying, stomping her feet, and being defiant. Finally, she washed her hands and sat down to lunch. 

Bridget did eat a good lunch, and her mood improved....momentarily. Then we had to go. Now she's throwing a fit because she didn't want to leave. So Shawn swept her up, and we thanked the teachers, and high-tailed it out of there. 

There are a few photos and video from the event posted on My Mobile Me gallery. (Click the link at the right.) The one 4 second video was an accident. I forgot to switch the camera to photo mode. But I still uploaded the video so you can see 4 seconds of her tantrum! There's also a new video of our latest ultrasound. It is not very good. All babies were facing away from the camera. But very briefly you can see baby C (boy) and baby B (girl). The entire video is 1 minute 40 seconds long. 

Potty Training Update: We haven't given in. Her butt hasn't been in a diaper for a week now. Overnights are good. She did wet the bed last night, but that was the first time she's done that. Yesterday was her worst day yet. I think she had 5-6 accidents! I think she's being defiant towards me because she wants to play with me and I'm always sleeping or I tell her I can't play on the floor with her, or she's too rough around me, etc. Today has been a good day, with only a poop accident so far. I just hope she'd master this soon because Shawn and I are both tired of cleaning dirty underpants. 

Fantastic News!

Great news all around today...

...Bridget's potty training is going well. Only 1 accident today. She pooped in her pants (on Shawn's watch..hee-hee!) She's still not taking the initiative to tell us when she needs to go. We've been making her try about every hour and a half. She's been dry overnight since the beginning. That's fantastic! We're very proud of her. Make sure when you see her you tell her how proud you are of her. She really likes that she's "almost a big girl now."

...Had a visit with the specialist today. Shawn and I were both a bit nervous because the specialist is very thorough, and if the slightest thing were wrong, he'd be the one to tell us so. I had 3 different exams in 3 different rooms in under 2 hours, so it was quite a marathon visit. 

...Room #1: Ultrasound. The ultrasound tech measured bones, head, etc., checked out the organs and ran the numbers to give us an approximate weight for each baby. The girls are weighing in at about 4 lbs. 1 oz, 4 lbs. 4 oz, and the boy is weighing in at a hefty 4 lbs. 9 oz. I'm at 32 weeks now, and they've been telling us since 28 weeks that the babies growth should start to slow down the rest of the pregnancy as the babies start competing for space. Well, all three are still measuring average compared to singleton babies. YEAY! That's really great news. When the dr. came in to check the babies out, he thought he'd be the jokester today. He said, "Babies 1, 2, and 3 look great, but I just can't seem to find baby 4." Ha-ha dude! Not funny! Then he checked my cervix and said, "Doesn't look like anything's happening with you. You may just have 40 week triplets  going on here!" Yah, again, not funny dude! But it didn't stop Shawn from chiming in, "Only 2 more months to go, honey." Why do men think they can say things like that? It's not like they've ever been pregnant! Oh yah, all three babies are lined up like little soldiers. Their heads are up and their feet are down (all breech). This showed some major movement in the past month. They are no longer in a triangular shape. This also explains why the majority of the movement that I feel is in my lower belly. There are 6 feet kicking me in roughly the same spot. Also, lucky me, all three of their butts are resting comfortably on my bladder. 

...Room #2: Fetal Monitoring/Non-Stress Test. Very boring. Uneventful. What the tech is looking for is that the babies heart rate varies in response to its own movements (or my movements). Shawn thought playing games on his cell phone was more entertaining than talking to me, so I was bored to tears the entire time. 

...Room #3: Biophysical Exam: This was a new test for me. The tech explained that it's kinda like a pre-Apgar test. There are 5 things they are looking for, each worth 2 points. So each baby gets a score out of ten. This was a very quick exam, done by ultrasound. BTW, I should have bought stock in ultrasound gel, because I swear I've been through a few cases of the stuff the past 7 months. Anyway, I only remember 2 of the things they looked at: amniotic fluid level and indication of "fetal breathing". All three babies were showing signs that they are practicing their fetal breathing. Of course, they're not breathing like we breathe, but there's this little movement that can be seen, and babies that do this earn their 2 points. The technician said that it's almost unheard of for 32 week babies to be showing signs of fetal breathing, and all three of mine were, so that was outstanding! My little over-achievers, I'm so proud of them for being at the head of their class before they're even born! When all was said and done, all three babies scored a 10 out of 10 on this exam. Yipee!

So that was it for the doctor. The routine from here on out will be that I see the specialist every Monday for the fetal monitoring and biophysical exam, and I see my regular doctor at the end of the week for fetal monitoring. If any of the exams show signs of distress or if I go into labor naturally, then the little ones will be born. So basically, it's a wait and see what happens game from here on out. 

After that, we picked up Bridget from Grandma Joan's house. I asked Shawn for a little help getting out of the car, and ya know what he said? "You're not crippled." And he didn't help me out. What a jerk! I know he was extremely happy to have just gotten such good news, but that's no excuse!

It sounded like Bridget had a great afternoon with Grandma Joan. She took a 2 hour nap. Now, why won't she take a nap at her own house? She ate a great lunch. She found hidden pictures in her magazine. She colored and made a Thanksgiving picture for grandma. And, she went potty without any accidents.

Next up, the three of us headed to Aunt Mary's house for pizza. That was a lot of fun. Mary gave us some preemie hats and bibs, and Bridget had a blast putting all the gear on her stuffed animal named Super Dog. Bridget also ate a bunch of deep dish pizza, probably 3/4 of a whole slice all by herself! She got a bit crabby near the end of the visit, and she threw a tantrum because we wouldn't let her play with scissors, but other than that, it was a very nice visit. Aunt Mary also gave us a huge basket-o-baby-stuff. Pj's, swaddling blankets, onesies, burp cloths, bedtime blankies and preemie diapers. The outfits were very cute, and I'm sure we'll be bringing them to the hospital with us.

After that, Shawn stopped at Frye's to pick up memory for his new work computer, then we finally made it home by about 9 pm. What a long day, but also what a great day. It's looking like the triplets really have a shot at avoiding the NICU and coming home with us by the time I'm discharged from the hospital! 

Potty Training Day 3

Ok, so yesterday, Bridget had one more accident later in the afternoon. She stayed dry all through the night again. WOW! I can't believe it. The last issue is trying to get her to poop on the potty.

Today was a great potty day. She went to school today, and had just one accident, which to no surprise, was a poop accident. Now, we're 2 hours from bedtime and hopefully the tally will remain at one accident today. Definitely improvement. Now, supposedly, she's to be potty trained in 3 days, so I'm hoping tomorrow's accident tally is zero.

Shawn's bowling tonight, so it's just B and I for the rest of the night. It's really hard for me to do anything with her. I'm really tired all the time, and my hips and back hurt when I walk around. My muscles are non-existent from the lack of movement and I'm basically uncomfortable all the time. The absolute worst thing is overnight my right hand goes numb to the point where it hurts and wakes me up. I can usually make it to about 2 am without pain, but then after that, I'm up every hour shaking out my arm until the circulation comes back. Last night was really bad. I was up every 45 minutes for several hours. The last time I was up it took over 20 minutes to get the feeling back in my hand. I couldn't move my fingers and it hurt really bad. If there's any bright side, then it's that this only happens overnight. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep at night doesn't do much for my attitude throughout the day.

So, I have 2 hours to entertain Bridget before her bedtime. We've already read a long Disney book and played with some magnets. I think I'll have her listen to her 2 library books & CD's, then we'll probably color a bit then start her bedtime routine. 

---Update---

She ended up listening to her library books, then we played with her dollhouse for awhile. Then bedtime. Of course, she had to be a pain in the bottom when Shawn's not around. She was out of bed 4 times. "I gotta go potty." Ok, so she sits on the potty and does nothing, she just wanted to delay bedtime. Then it was, "I want a drink of water." So I got her a sip of water. Then it was, "I'm hungry." which I usually just ignore, but this time she was crying so much and holding her belly, that I actually believed her. So I gave her some fruit snacks. Finally, she says, "I hear a noise in my room." So I ask what kind of noise? "The noise of a digger." What?!? I'm sure it was a car passing by, but I had forgotten to turn on her bedtime music, so maybe that's what she really wanted. So I put her bedtime music on, gave her a stern warning that it's bedtime, and she's not to get out of bed unless she has to use the potty, and there's no more crying and screaming. That worked.

Whew! Then I pretty much passed out on the couch. 

Potty Training in Progress

Well, yesterday we tackled Day 1 of the 3 day potty training boot camp. We began the day by Bridget throwing out all of her pull-ups. She fought it at first, actually crying about having to throw out her diapers. I had to first put her in underpants, then she was willing to throw them out. Overall, Bridget did very well. She liked wearing her Elmo underwear. We made it all the way until about 1 pm without incident. At 1 I asked her if she needed to use the potty. She said no, then proceeded to pee in her underwear. So we ran to the potty, and I stuck her on the toilet and tried to get her to finish on the potty. Within the half hour, she also pooped in her pants. 

After that, she went on the potty and stayed dry the rest of the night. So part of the boot camp plan is that there's no diapers from this point forward...not even at night. So we were interested to see how this first night would go. 

Step 1: No drinks 2 hours before bed. Done.

Step 2: Go potty right before bed. Done, she went.

Step 3: Get Bridget out of bed 30 minutes later so that she understands that she's allowed to get out of bed overnight to go potty. Done, she was try and she tried to go.

Step 4: Put Bridget on the potty when we go to bed. Done, she was still dry. She tried but didn't go.

Step 5: Wake Bridget up shortly before her normal time and have her go. Done, she was still dry, and she went potty! This happened at about 6 am.

Step 6: When she wakes up have her go again. Done, she went! This was about 9 am. She usually wakes up at 7 am, but must have been extra tired from us waking her up so much. 

So now we're half-way through Day 2. I was hoping there would be no accidents, or at least an improvement from yesterday's 2 accidents. Nope!  Almost the exact same thing that happened yesterday happened today. Bridget had cereal and juice at about 10 am. When she finished, I asked her if she wanted to use the potty. She said no. A few minutes later, she looked at me and started peeing. So I snatched her up and ran her to the potty. She did hold it, and finished on the potty. So that was an improvement. Within a half hour, and AFTER she was showered and dressed in clean clothes, she pooped in her pants. 

Today's focus is getting her to take the initiative instead of me saying, "Do you have to go?" or "Let's try going potty." We'll see how the rest of the day goes. Both Shawn and I are very proud of our big girl!

Pizza Party at Grandma's

Bridget spent Saturday night at Grandma Kathie's house. Sounds like she had lots of fun. They went to the mall, and Grandma bought her a little Dumbo doll from the Disney store. (Bridget will tell you, "Grandma Kaffie buyed me a Dumbo doll from the Disney Store at the mall.") Then they went to see the "2" movie. That's what Bridget calls Madagascar 2. Which makes sense, because she sees the signs and advertisements for the movie everywhere, and she can't read, but she does recognize numbers. Bridget said that she enjoyed the movie. I know they read lots of books at Grandma's house too. I guess she had difficulty sleeping, and she only ended up sleeping from midnight to 4 am. 

Shawn picked her up around noon today, and she fell asleep in the car just blocks from Grandma's house. She slept the whole way home, then slept for another 30-45 minutes at our house, then the three of us headed back to Burbank to visit Grandma Joan. She slept all the way there too. So that was good, because she was in good spirits when we got there. Tina's family and Sandy's family were also there. Bridget had lots of fun playing with her cousins. Kaitlyn and Bridget did lots of pretend play. They were running from a monster (Morgan), eating  pretend food, capturing cars and playing lots of imaginative games. Morgan and her baby mullet, basically ran around the house chasing after the two bigger girls. Ann, still a bit sick, just hung out with mom, dad, or anyone who would play quietly with her. 

Of course, we never visit Grandma Joan without ordering pizza, so when dinner rolled around, we had our usual Phil's Pizza Party. Seriously, this is the best pizza in all of Chicagoland. I highly recommend trying a cheese & sausage Phil's pizza. While waiting for our pizza, we got the girls to sit down and eat. By the time they were done, the pizza was ready, so we cleared out the girls and it was the adult's turn to eat at the table. Overall, it was a very nice visit. 

Shortly after dinner, the house cleared out. Shawn, Bridget and I stayed a bit longer because Grandma Joan sewed up three things for us. When we left, we took the long way home in hopes that Bridget would fall asleep again, but that didn't happen. She was very chatty the whole way home. However, she was in bed by 8 pm, and didn't wake up until after 8 am Monday. 

Can't do anything and it stinks!

It seems like overnight I've gone from being able to do about anything, just at a slower pace to not being able to do anything at all. It's crazy! I guess I shouldn't complain, because tons of women pregnant with triplets are put on bed rest, or even hospitalized sometime along the way, and so far, I'm still officially on "house rest" which basically means, "do what you can and rest when you need to." 

I think I'd welcome bed rest though. When I stand for more than a few minutes, my back hurts. I can't walk around much anymore. Trying to get off the couch or out of bed takes longer every day. Even just sitting down, my heart will start to race for no reason (well, maybe it's the babies positions.) 

Overall, I know it's best that the babies continue to grow for at least another few weeks, but boy will I be glad when they come out! 

-----

Bridget and I are starting to work on Thanksgiving arts & crafts projects. I printed out several things from the internet, and we're focusing on coloring, learning to cut, and learning how to use regular white glue. Today she colored parts to a pilgrim bear, I cut them out b/c we were short on time, and she glued the parts together. It turned out really cute. 

Of course, she didn't nap at all, and today it really hurt her. She was a big, crying, whining, crabby pants from about 4-6 pm. She was SO tired that she was throwing a tantrum about everything. If she said she wanted to wear her gold shoes, and we helped her put her gold shoes on, she'd cry that she didn't want gold shoes. Maybe she was such a pain during this time because Shawn and I were doing a little work in the babies' room. Shawn set up the crib (FINALLY!), I cleaned out the closet and put the linens on the crib. The closet-cleaning just involved breaking down all the boxes from toys that we were storing in there. Bridget would bring me a box, and I'd fold it down, then Bridget would bring it to her new room where Shawn would store it away in her new closet. We still have a little bit more to do before the room will be ready to go, but we're getting there. Their newborn clothes are in the drawer-yah, we only have one drawer of newborn clothes so far. There are newborn diapers in the diaper stacker. But there's still a few baskets and boxes of stuff that needs to find a home. There's also a ton of stuff in the garage that needs to be brought in, wiped down and disinfected or washed before the babies come home. 

We babysat Allison tonight so that Matthew could go to a program at his park district. Fortunately, Bridget decided to behave like an angel while we were there. Allison was in an "I don't like Auntie Arlene" mood, so Shawn was her buddy. Bridget and Allison played quite nicely together. They're into having tea parties. How do girls learn those things? I've never had a tea party around Bridget. I've never played "tea party" with Bridget. Yet, she knows what a tea party is. Weird. Anyway, Allison went to bed by 8, Bridget was an angel and picked up all the toys they had pulled out, and she read books, did puzzles and laid down until Auntie Jo came back home around 9. Bridget was asleep in the car before we pulled out of Joann's subdivision. Sweet!

Worst Doctor's Visit Ever!

First of all, yesterday was a really bad day. I can't do much of anything, yet Shawn decided to work at the library and leave me with Bridget. It's kinda hard to watch her and take care of her when I'm falling asleep every two hours! She deserves better care. I let her watch E.T. while I took my first nap. I think she was in her room for mandatory rest time when I took my second nap. She got herself into quite a bit of trouble during that time too. When I woke up, she was about to color all over her shirt with a dry erase marker and dry erase doesn't wash out of clothes. She didn't nap, and her room was a mess. Shawn was with her when I took my third nap of the day. I don't know why I was so tired. Maybe because I was trying to do laundry, but I didn't think I was particularly overdoing things then. I guess I'm just at the point where I can't do much of anything anymore. Also, I was having difficulty breathing because the babies are getting so big, and it's just really hard to take a nice deep breath with their 9 lbs. laying on my diaphram. Then overnight, I woke up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, and couldn't get back to sleep.  I tried surfing the net to tire me out. I tried sleeping on the couch, but that was too uncomfortable, so I headed back to bed. Bad idea...Shawn won't wear his mask, and would much rather keep me up with his snoring, so I made him go sleep on the couch after listening to him for another hour or so. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep overnight, and I had an early doctor's appointment today.

So, I headed to the worst doctor's visit ever! I knew it was going to take longer than Monday, because they told me Monday, that I'd be at the other office, and they don't usually do the non-stress tests there. Also, I'm always called back to the room in less than 5 minutes after arriving, and today it took almost 20 minutes to get called back. Oh no, this isn't looking too good!

So the nurse from the "old" office was at the "new" office, which was nice, and the first thing she tells me is that the fetal monitoring machine was really old, and Dr. had told her "Good luck" with hooking me up to it. Oh yeay! I'm already crabby and tired from being 10 months pregnant with no sleep, and I'm not looking forward to the rest of my morning. Anyway, the nurse hooks the first baby girl up to the monitor and says, "the good news is that you only have to stay on for 10 minutes per baby." Great! First good news I've heard. So my 10 minutes goes by as I count the ceiling tiles and spots on the walls, and the nurse returns. Asks if everything is ok, I say yah. She says the dr. will be in to check the print-out. Two seconds before the dr. comes in, the machine beeps, and I could tell that it ran out of paper. I tell the dr. this, and he does nothing. Another billion years passes by, and the nurse comes in and says, dr. wanted me to stay on a bit longer. Ok fine. I tell her that all this time there was no paper in the machine. Enter doctor. Nurse puts me in the middle of their bickering about why dr. didn't replace paper. Wonderful!

Ok, the first baby takes well over an hour before the dr. is satisfied with the results. (He is the more thorough doctor, which is good I suppose...sometimes!) During that time I thought I was going to pass out, because I was laying on my back, and I can't do that anymore. I was about to push the emergency button when the nurse came in, saw me sweating and asked if everything was ok. "Heck no!" I said. I told her I was burning up, it was so hot in the room. I told her I can't stay on my back that long and I was really uncomfortable. So she got me another pillow, propped me up a whole lot more, and brought me some water. Almost immediately I felt better.

Next up was the baby boy. He was the scary one. The nurse couldn't find his heartbeat with the monitor. Even though I felt him kick at least once while she was trying to find the heartbeat, you start second-guessing yourself. Maybe that was the girl's feet that I felt kick and not the boy? So she leaves to get the dr. and the ultrasound machine. Now this just brings back memories of the October when the dr. wheeled in the ultrasound machine to confirm that I had a late term miscarriage. Then I felt another kick. That had to be the boy, right? So dr. does his ultrasound magic, and as it turns out, the boy's heartbeat is way on the side of my belly-directly below my armpit and ribcage. He moved WAY over, and the docs have been saying that they'll pretty much stay put from here on out because they're running out of room. So that was a surprise. I still can't visualize how he's sitting in there because it doesn't seem physically possible for his head, butt and heart to be where the dr. said...but that's how it is, I guess.

Alright, so the main drama is over. His monitor is on. Everyone leaves me be to count the number of tears in the wallpaper. I'm watching the print-out and to me it looks worse than the girl's. His heartbeat seems to be all over the place, and now I'm getting worried that he's going to send me off to St. Joe's to deliver these babies, and I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet. Only 10 minutes goes by, and the dr. comes in and says, "I like this baby. You're done. We're moving on to the last baby." What!?! Shows how much I know about the monitor!

So the other baby girl was easy to find because when dr. had the ultrasound out, he located her heart, and put a little smiley face on my belly to mark her position. I'm feeling much better at this point, the end is near, and I don't feel like I'm going to pass out or anything. Well, baby girl #2's print-out looked the same and baby girl #1's print-out, and that means I'm going to be there for awhile. Sure enough, she was monitored for over an hour as well. But I survived. And the dr. and nurse were being quite friendly because they knew it was frustrating and uncomfortable for me, so at least that part was good. 

Summary: all three babies heartbeats were mainly in the upper 140's and low 150's. The girls were very consistent, didn't vary too much. The boy had lots of variation where he spiked as high as about 165 and as low as 125. Don't know what that all means, but my guess is they like to see that variation. 

After that, I had my progesterone shot to prevent pre-term labor. Then they had forgotten to take my weight at the beginning so I had to go do that too. I was surprised that I only gained one lb. in 10 days. I feel as though I've gained 10 lbs. in 10 days! Oh yah, my blood pressure was elevated for the first time. I'm supposed to rest more. I almost asked for that in writing because I knew Shawn wouldn't believe it. Sure enough, when I got home and told him that, he says I do nothing as it is.  I guess being Bridget's primary care provider for at least 9 hours a day requires that I "do nothing." I really wish men could be pregnant for one day of their lives-maybe then they'd understand. 

Now keep in mind as you read the next paragraph that if I'm on my feet for more than a minute or two, or walking more than a few steps, it totally wears me out because of the babies sizes and positions. It's similar to any one of you running a quarter mile as fast as you can.

Shawn bowled tonight, so again, I "did nothing" but made and fed Bridget dinner, loaded our dirty dishes into the dishwasher, got her three refills on her drink, got her a snack later, read books to her, played Play-doh, colored with her, put away some stuff from the prior shopping trips, fought the bedtime routine with her. Changed her diaper, got her changed into her pj's, helped her to brush her teeth, got her to clean up the toys in her room, put away a basket of her laundry, read her a bedtime story, tucked her in, and said good-night. Then I finally got to lay down after 8 pm.

Bridget's teacher wrote on her daily report that Bridget told her that her sisters' names were going to be Holly Kate, and Ruler Mint and her brother's name was going to be Tape. Gotta love her mind! 

Also, next time you see Bridget, ask her what E.T. was about. She does a pretty good job explaining the plot of the story. My favorite part of her rendition is that E.T. was laying on the table, and his heart glowed, and it was red in his belly, and when the doctors take the babies out of Mommy's belly with scissors and knives that's what her belly is going to look like. Where does she come up with this stuff? To prepare her for my being in the hospital, I have told her that the doctors are going to operate on me and take the babies out of my belly, but I've certainly never mentioned scissors or knives! She was pretty cute too, at the end of the movie when E.T. was "being sick" she was all nervous and crying and that reminded me of Ryan's story watching E.T. Ryan said his allergies were acting up during that scene. Bridget was very happy when his heart glowed and he "got better" after that. 

Election Day...where do we run to?

Ok, so yesterday I tried to explain voting to Bridget. 

A: Bridget, do you want to go vote with me tomorrow?

B: Yes, but what I don't know what vote is.

A: Voting is when some people run for president, and we vote to pick which person we want to be president.

B: But where do they run to?

A: It's not a running race. Let me try this again. Voting is when we pick who we want to be the president of the United States.

B: Oh! Can I vote?

A: No, not until you're older. Who should mommy vote for? John McCain or Barack Obama?

B: Barack Obama.

A: (Just to make sure) Who should I vote for? Barack Obama or John McCain?

B: Barack

So fast forward to today. After breakfast, Shawn, Bridget and I went to Lapsit at the Library. Bridget's getting too big for lapsit, and has been refusing to participate in the songs for some time now. She still likes reading with Mom and Dad, and chasing and popping bubbles at the end of the program. But, it's probably time to move her up to Toddler Time, where they still read books, do finger plays, and end with an arts & crafts project.

After the library, we went to vote. Bridget was interested in what everyone was doing, and she walked back and forth between the two of us, wanting to see everything. At the end, she got to slide our ballots into the machine. She thought that was pretty neat. When we were leaving the polling place, she said, "Now where do we run to?" Again, in reference to "running for President". We both laughed and told her that nobody is running anywhere. We just picked the person we liked best for president.

Then it was home, and I took a nap while Bridget watched Finding Nemo in the basement with Shawn. After that, we had some lunch and went to Auntie Jo's house to visit Allison, Kaitlyn, Ann, Matthew and Auntie Tina. Allison and Ann went down for a nap, so Bridget and Kaitlyn played both inside and outside the entire time. Of course, they had fun. It was kinda nice for me too, because when they were outside, a neighbor was watching all the kids, so Tina and I got to chat inside, (and I got to rest!). 

When Ann and Allison woke up, Allison joined in the fun. Poor Ann wasn't feeling too well, and she just wanted to hug mommy. You could tell when the medicine kicked in because she would start climbing all the high chairs and step stools in the house. At one point she was on the top of a 2-step stool about to jump off the stool and onto the mini trampoline! Good thing Tina was standing right there to stop her, otherwise I might have gone into labor jumping from the recliner trying to catch her fall! She's a little dare devil, I tell you that! I've never seen someone as tiny as Ann climbing on so many different things: high chairs, step stools, couch arm, couch back, kitchen chairs...everything! 

Ann is also fun to talk to. She understands everything you say to her, and she'll respond with a yes or no accordingly. And when she wants to talk to you, she'll put together a string of jibberish, with the most serious face. For example, when I got to the house, I said, "Hi Annie! How are you?" and she said something like, "da ba grdodu adu" which I interpreted to mean, "I'm fine how are you?" So I said, "I'm fine thank you." And she said, "Yes." and turned around and walked away. Pretty funny!

So, we stayed to play WAY too long, and ended up leaving at 5 pm. Of course, Bridget fell asleep in the car on the way home. When we got home, she was crabby and saying that she was sick and her belly hurt. (Too much juice and swedish fish at Auntie's house?) So she was a big crab for the first half hour or so. But she calmed down after resting some more on the couch. Eventually she managed to eat a very nutritious dinner of goldfish crackers, whole wheat Club crackers, and very diluted lemonade. 

When she came completely around, both Shawn and I took our turns finding the pictures in her Hidden Pictures Playground magazine. 

Now that she's safely in bed, I think we'll just end our evening watching the election results come in. 

Let the Fetal Monitoring Begin!

Well, we had our (I had my) first fetal monitoring appointment today at 30 weeks pregnant and both Shawn and I were a bit nervous. However, everyone is still doing well. I was a bit bummed to find out that I couldn't just sit down and read while the monitors were on.  I had to lay on the table and push a button every time a baby moved, and sometimes I had to hold the monitors down if the baby's heartbeat went out...so no free hands to read a book. The whole thing took just over an hour, which was good because we were told to expect to be there for an hour and a half. They were able to monitor two babies at once, then the third got monitored on its own. From what I could tell, all three heartbeats were mainly in the mid 140's, and they went up and down a bit from there whenever they moved around. Baby C (the boy) was the most uncooperative. His heartbeat would go in and out, no because of any trouble, but because he kept moving away from the monitor. The doctor was very impressed with all the babies. He said he wouldn't want me to deliver today, but if I did, chances are everything would be fine. The babies are getting big (probably about 3 lbs. each), and their heartbeats are strong. He said I'm carrying them well and hopes that continues for at least a few more weeks. We'll see! Same drill on Thursday.

Other than that, when Bridget came home from school, we had yummy burgers on the grill, thanks to Shawn and the nice weather. Then Bridget and I did a few pages in her Hidden Pictures Playground magazine that came in the mail today. She also did a page or two with Shawn. She played awhile with Shawn, then it was toothbrushing, story time, and bedtime. 

The other part of Sunday

After having some breakfast and reading a book, Bridget and I headed out to Dominick's to do some grocery shopping. Bridget was very well behaved and stayed in the cart the entire time (which is rare for her). She was delighted with the slice of cheese the woman at the deli counter gave her and enjoyed the pretzel chips they had samples of. We hurried home and put the groceries away. Then it was off to great-grandpa Patrick's to watch the Bears take on the Lions. We arrived around 12:30 to find grandpa John talking to Patsy on the patio. Bridget and I got to meet Patsy and Nolan's dog Wrigley for the first time. After spending some time inside coloring and warming up to everyone Bridget spent most of the afternoon on the patio coloring, talking, and playing with the dogs. She had a great time trying to get Bailey and Wrigley to fetch a stick and a ball. It's always nice going to watch the Bears games and seeing the family. At the end of the game Bridget and I headed out. We dropped Nolan off at home and I took the long way home so Bridget could have some time to sleep in the car. It seems the only time we can get her to nap anymore is in the car. We got home just after 4 and Bridget went right back to sleep on the couch. Then it was off to dinner.

Dinner Date

Today Shawn and Bridget went to Great Grandpa's house to watch the Bears game. Shawn should blog about that because I wasn't there. I guess Bridget had fun playing with Bailey and Wrigley (the dogs). 

While they were out, I did absolutely nothing. 

When they got home, we had a dinner date with the Ewanics. Bridget had fun talking and playing with Sophia and Emily. Shawn and I had fun catching up on things with Rene and Derek. Dinner was good too. Usually when we get together, we have bad service, but tonight was uneventful. No screw-ups, and prompt service. Derek won a stuffed dog in the crane game, and Sophia gave it to Bridget. She loves it!

After dinner we stopped by Target to pick up a few things. Bridget was really happy to see that Sophia and her family went to Target too! So the girls played with the toys in the toy aisles while we all shopped. (Someone was always watching the girls!)

After that, back home. Bridget was hungry, so she had some mac-n-cheese and a piece of Halloween candy. Then off to the bathtub, stories, and bedtime for her. I'm sure Shawn and I will veg on the couch the rest of the night.

Post-Halloween Recovery

Today Shawn and I planned on tidying up the nursery, but what fun would that be? So we did a whole lot of nothing! In the morning, I got really aggravated because I took a shower and was so tired from doing just that. I was supposed to go get my flu and allergy shots after the shower, but I couldn't get myself to move. I ended up laying down for a nap maybe an hour after waking up. It's really getting hard to get around, and I'm not liking this much anymore! I don't like not being able to do what I want to do, especially if what I want to do is as simple as taking a shower.

After that, Shawn and Bridget went outside to play. What beautiful weather we had this weekend! Bridget rode her tricycle to the end of the block and back. They played catch with a small ball and colored with chalk. When Bridget came back in she said she "had so much fun!"

As afternoon rolled around, we remembered that we had to return a video and a book to the library, so all three of us headed there. Mom got two more novels, Dad got two novels, Bridget picked out two books, and Mom picked out two books & CDs for Bridget. Bridget didn't want to leave once she found the huge bean bags in the teen area. 

Then of course, we should have gone home and worked on the nursery, but again, what's the fun in that? So we decided we should have an early dinner since we had a late breakfast and no lunch. We drove down Route 59 until we found a restaurant we could all agree on, and of course, Bridget fell asleep just before arriving. So we drove around for another 30 minutes so that she could nap a bit longer. We decided to go to Ruby Tuesday's in the Fox Valley Mall because Shawn wanted to buy socks after dinner. Bridget was a little angel when she woke up. She was very well behaved at the restaurant, and she ate almost all of her mac-n-cheese. 

After dinner, Bridget got to play in the play area, which was packed with way too many kids. While she was in the jungle gym tree, some little boy just came up to Bridget, who was just laying down, and he began hitting her on her arms and stomach. Well, Bridget started crying, the other parents sitting nearby were stunned, and Shawn and I immediately ran to them and got the boy to stop hitting Bridget. Of course, his parents were nowhere to be found. Shawn talked to the boy and I guess he was saying that he hit Bridget because she was "a very bad boy" and Shawn thinks the boy must be beat at home. So we high-tailed it out of that play area, about a minute after the boy's father snatched him up and scurried away with his tail between his legs. 

We did a bunch of nothing at the mall. Bridget played at the other play area with no major disasters. I mostly sat on benches. Shawn went and checked out a few stores. We all stopped in the Disney Store and Build-a-Bear, but left the mall with no purchases. 

After that we stopped by Kohl's and Target with the intention of finding next year's Halloween costume on clearance. Shawn got his socks at Kohl's and I found a Dorothy costume for 50% off at Target. I think Bridget will get it for her birthday or Christmas, so that she can use it for dress-up play. Then if it's not too badly beat up by next Halloween, it may be her costume next year. 

By now it was 8 pm. Bridget was actually admitting that she was tired. So it was jammies, tooth brushing, stories, and bedtime. She was out like a light maybe 5 minutes after Shawn finished reading the stories. 

So now, it's relaxing time for me, and Shawn's drumming in the basement. I guess the nursery will wait until tomorrow.