An Unexpected Trip To The Doctor

What a weird morning! Obviously, sleeping is difficult when you have a belly full of babies in the way. So I sleep fine until I wake up for my first bathroom run. That's usually at about 2 am. From that point on, I make a bathroom run about every hour to hour and a half. It stinks! I'm exhausted when I "wake up" and every time I get out of bed, I dread laying back down in bed because I know it's just going to be uncomfortable again.

So, usually sometime between 5-7 am, I tend to wake up, and try the living room couch (which isn't any more comfortable). Today, I woke up at about 7 am, and I felt a bit queasy. I kinda thought that it might be that I was just hungry and dehydrated. So I turned on the Today Show, and started drinking lots of cold ice water. I woke Shawn up at about 7:30 and asked him to go buy a loaf of bread, since we ran out yesterday. I told him I didn't feel too good, and he asked if I was going to call the doctor. I said, I wanted to wait and see if getting some food in my system helped any. I also had this pain underneath my right rib cage, and it wasn't contraction pain. It was a constant, dull, crampy kind of annoying pain. I had this once before, and felt our little boy move, and the pain went away immediately, so I figured it was just him again with a hand tucked under my ribs. 

Ok, so Shawn came back, and made some toast for me and I felt slightly better. The rib pain was still there, so I figured I would go to the basement and try to lay on that couch or recliner because it's slightly more comfortable. Before I went downstairs I took a swig of orange juice (bad idea) because I figured I needed some vitamin C. 

So now I'm laying on the recliner, and I'm very thankful that Shawn didn't clean up Bridget's popcorn bowl from last night, because I ended up needing it to puke in. Weird! I hardly ever puke. Immediately after that was over, I felt a ton better. The rib pain was still there. By now it's 8 am. Bridget was still asleep. I told Shawn I was going to lay down for a bit, take a shower, then call the doc. So I did that while Shawn got Bridget up, fed and dressed. By the time I got out of the shower, my rib pain was gone, and my nausea was gone, but I was hungry and didn't feel like eating anything. Kinda reminded me of the first trimester. 

When I called the nurse, she said come in right away, so we did. I must have puked out 2 lbs, because since Thursday, I've lost 2 lbs on the doctor's scale. The nurse kinda worried me, because she was so somber when asking me questions about what had happened all morning. I was nervous when she took my blood pressure too, because I knew if I was having this side pain, vomiting and high blood pressure it could be preeclampsia or Help's syndrome, and I didn't want to hear that. But nope, my blood pressure was perfect according to the nurse. Just before she left, she informed me that the protein in my urine was up and there was a trace of blood too (possible UTI or bladder infection or preeclampsia). Crazy! 

The doc comes in, and this was the more thorough doc, and he didn't seem too concerned about my symptoms, so that made me feel a bit better. He checked my cervix and said it hasn't changed at all. (Darn, that probably means labor won't happen for a while!) He did an ultrasound to check for all the babies heartbeats. Then pretty much said, "Well, if you feel better now, and the side pain is gone, then you're probably fine. Probably just a bug or something." So I said, "The nurse said there was protein and blood in my urine. What's the deal with that?" He seemed surprised. So he left the room to check on that, came back and said, "Why don't you go to the lab and leave a urine sample with them, just to be sure. It was just a very minute amount of blood detected, and our dipsticks aren't very accurate, so let's see what the lab has to say." I asked if there was blood, what does that mean? Would I be going to the hospital? He laughed and said, "No, it would just be an infection. Why? Did you want to go to the hospital?" We were standing in the hallway by the receptionist at this point, and all the gals (nurses, receptionists and myself) all said, "Yes! I'm ready to get the babies out." That was kinda funny.

Shawn and Bridget drove me to the lab, and I ran in and out in 10 minutes or so. We got a call from the lab within an hour of getting home. My nurse said I had a "whopper of an infection" and she called in the antibiotics to Walgreens for me. Weird! I had no symptoms of an infection unless nausea and vomiting are symptoms. 

I've been lying around all day (not unusual) and sleeping periodically (not unusual) and eating lots of chicken noodle soup (unusual), and I'm feeling much better. No more side pain, no more vomiting, just a slight feeling of yuckiness. I'm hungry, but there's nothing I want to eat. Who knows, maybe it's a mild flu. I never got my flu shot this season. I'm going to start the antibiotics at dinnertime, and it's only a 3 day treatment, so we'll see how that makes me feel. 

Darn, I thought I'd end up having the babies today...guess not. The "hurry up and wait" continues.

A wonderful weekend

What a great weekend. We had lots of family fun! Friday night we went to visit Grandpa John, Grandma Kathie and Uncle Colin in Burbank. Bridget had LOTS of fun playing with Colin. Of course, Grandma and Bridget shared lots of laughs over their favorite counting book. They always end the book by "eating" the candies on the last page. Grandma sent us home with some very cute outfits for the triplets. 

Saturday was a productive day. Shawn managed to get the Christmas stuff down from the attic without my help. I don't know how he did it, but he did! Tree and all! Then he set up the tree while I took all the ornaments out of their boxes. I'm SO glad that we bought a pre-lit last year (Black Friday deal!). It came in very handy this year! Shawn and I worked together to put on the garland. Once all the ornaments were ready to go, Bridget and Shawn loaded up the tree. Bridget really liked putting the ornaments on, and she was very possessive of "her" ornaments. She wanted to put on all the ornaments, even the breakable ones. If you see our tree, you'll know how tall Bridget is, because all the ornaments that she put on are at the same height all the way around the tree. And many branches have 2 or 3 ornaments on them. (I haven't moved them yet!) I must say, this was the first year that I didn't set up the tree, and Shawn and Bridget did an excellent job. Maybe I'll sit back and relax every year now!

Saturday night, we decorated the basement with lighted garland around the foundation wall, and holiday dolls on top. Bridget liked helping with that too. She's really a great helper. Always willing to get you the things that you need. I don't know how many times she ran upstairs to get more dolls, while Shawn and I were setting up the basement. 

Sunday was kind of a lazy morning. Since we were up late, Bridget woke up late. We all kind of did our own thing until lunch time. Then, as Bridget would say, "we ate lunch as a family." Oh yah, while Bridget was playing with her Potato Heads, she made a lovely potato that she insisted looked like Grandpa John. Sorry Grandpa...I tried to see if she meant Grandma Joan or Grandma Kathie, but she insisted it was you. She said it looked just like you. Photo of "Grandpa John Potato Head" at the top of the entry.

Sunday afternoon, Shawn did a lot of cleaning and Bridget helped him out. Shawn's been doing a lot around the house and for me lately. I'm very proud of him! Bridget also pooped on the potty this afternoon, so we told her that after dinner we would have popcorn and hot chocolate and watch The Polar Express. She was excited about that. 

So that was our evening. Family movie night. Bridget loved the movie, and I was surprised that she didn't get all scared when the train started going on it's roller coaster ride. She was more upset when the boy lost the ticket. She liked her not-so-hot chocolate, and of course, ate most of the bag of microwave popcorn by herself! She made the comment, "Hey, they're drinking hot chocolate just like us, Mommy!" Mommy always has these tricks up her sleeve! No coincidence there, sweetie!

After the movie, Shawn and I realized that Bridget stayed dry all day. YEAY! I think this is only her 2nd dry day, so that's really great. She's less resistant to trying to poop on the potty when we ask her to try, so hopefully she'll continue to get better and better at using the potty. We told her how proud we were of her, and gave her lots of hugs and kisses for being dry all day. So what did she say? "Mama, I'm going to give YOU hugs and kisses because you were dry all day. You put all your pee and poops on the potty today. Give me a kiss and a big hug." What a sweetie. Shawn must have had an accident, because he didn't get the same treatment, and he was sitting right next to us. 

And that's pretty much it from our end. It's Sunday night, so Shawn and I will watch Desperate Housewives. I'll probably go to bed shortly thereafter. I've been on my feet a bit more than I would have liked to this weekend, and my feet and ankles are all swollen as a result, so I need to rest a whole bunch tonight and tomorrow. 

We're headed to the specialist tomorrow afternoon to see what he thinks about the delivery. Will he recommend that I schedule the delivery, or will he recommend that we wait until my body decides to deliver the babies? That is the big question now! I'm hoping for the first, but won't be surprised at his recommendation either way. Hey, I've made it 2 weeks past the average due date for triplets. Amazing!

Maybe next week

Another doctor visit, as another week comes to an end. This appointment was with my regular doctor. Fetal monitoring went quickly, and doc says that all three are doing great. He told me to ask the specialist on Monday about possible delivery. Doc also said that until now he and the specialist have been allowing my body to decide when the babies will be born. In his opinion, 35 weeks should be well sufficient for triplets, and mine have been doing great with no issues. He's a bit concerned about my previous c-section scar and whether it can handle any further stretching. So now he wants to see what the specialist has to say about it. I'm hoping they decide to put me out of my misery!

So that's about it. If I go into labor before Monday, then I just get to head to the hospital. Otherwise, we're waiting to see what the specialist has to say on Monday. Perhaps I'll get to schedule the delivery next week. We'll see!

As for Bridget, she has a busy and parent-free day today. She woke up, had breakfast with us, we got her bathed and dressed, and she headed off to school. Shawn bowls tonight, and since I can't take care of her on my own, she's going to spend the evening at Auntie Karen's house. When Shawn picks her up after bowling, she'll probably fall asleep during the ride home. 

34 weeks and another doctor visit

Well, I made it to my goal, which was 34 weeks. My doctor didn't think I'd make it to Monday-I showed him! Anyway, I've been very tired lately, sleeping away my days and nights. Shawn's been doing everything, so I don't have much to say about our days. 

Today we went to the specialist for fetal monitoring and the biophysical exam. Both went well. The babies have plenty of fluid, they're practicing fetal breathing, the blood flow through the cord is fine, their heart rates are also good. Couldn't ask for anything more. The monitor picked up that I'm still having mini contractions. Or as the tech called it: an irritable uterus. That's also what the tech at the hospital called it. I think that it'll happen this week. We'll see!

As for Bridget, she had a great potty day. She went 5 times, including one poop, and had only one poop accident at school. She also took over a 2 hour nap at school, so she was in great spirits this evening. 

Shawn got all the swings, bouncers, carseats, etc. inside and washed. They're all set up now. Bridget likes to put her dolls in the swing and push it REALLY fast. I put a stop to that right away!