"We almost lost you..."

"We almost lost you..." Those four words are still piercing my heart and brings tears to my eyes.

Warning - this post is going to be a little graphic!

Wednesday started out like any other day.  I woke up to pump then had some sunnyside up eggs and toast for breakfast.  As I was sitting at the table I noticed I still had a headache from the day before.  Before I was discharged from the hospital on Monday, my doctor was going back and forth between putting me on some blood pressure medicine.  My blood pressure was all over the place during the pregnancy and the days after as well.  He decided not to, but he wanted me to come in if I had a headache that wouldn't go away.  So this was day 2 of my headache.  Honestly I have a pretty high pain tolerance (12 broken bones over the years).  So I usually would have thought nothing of it, but something was telling me to call my doctor.  I called the office and let them know I was on day 2 of my headache.  They told me to come in right away.  My mom and I threw on some clothes and we were on our way.

Once I got to the doctors office I had to go to the bathroom.  When I went to wipe I noticed my bleeding increased a ton.  In the days prior I was hardly bleeding at all.  I didn't think anything of it though, flushed the toilet and went back to the waiting room.  I was called back and my mom just stayed seated.  I turned to her and said, "I think I want you in there."

We got to the room and the nurse took my blood pressure.  180/117 - HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!! Although it's never been that high, I knew the drill... lay back on my left side for 5 minutes then they'll retest.  As I got off the bed to adjust and lay down I felt a HUGE gush of blood.  I turned to the nurse and said "Well that's weird.  I haven't bled hardly at all the past 2 days and now I'm bleeding like crazy!"  She helped me lay down then said "Oh sweetie you're already bleeding through your pants - let's go to the bathroom to clean up."  I went to the bathroom and cleaned up a bit.  The only thing I could think of was "SERIOUSLY!?!? I don't have anything to tie around my waist to walk out of here!  How embarrassing!!"

The doctor came in the room and said to me - "WOW you look amazing.  You even had time to put some make up on!"  I laughed because I had absolutely zero make up on, but I could feel my cheeks flushed like I was running a temperature.  I told him this and they took my temperature... It was 99.8.  No big deal to them, but I know that I always run around 97.  The doctor then had me sit down on the table.  He said "Yes your blood pressure is high, but I'm more worried about the all the sudden bleeding.  So I'm going to need to do an exam."  I laid back on the table as he checked my cervix and started pressing on my lower abdomen.  He then said "WOW.  You are completely backed up and I'm going to need to press on your stomach/uterus to get all of this out."  I looked at my mom in complete terror and she came over and held my hand.

For those of you who've had a c-section you'll know exactly what I'm talking about with these tummy massages.  They're EXTREMELY PAINFUL.  Imagine a male doctor, not a nice female nurse doing it, with all of his strength!

I SCREAMED at the top of my lungs.  Well that was awkward.  I wonder what all of the other patients in this office are thinking now.  I looked up at my mom and she was crying seeing me in so much pain.

The doctor then decided to do an ultrasound to see how much blood and clots were left in my uterus after the massage.  Unfortunately there were still a ton.  My doctor turned to me and said, I'm going to let you push on your stomach to see what you can get out, but I'll be back in 20 minutes to do some more pushing myself.

I laid there in pain.  Unfortunately now that my uterus was getting cleared out, it was starting to cramp and do it's job.  Yeah for doing it's job, but oh my... I thought I was going to pass out because of the pain.  It was like my miscarriage cramps times 100!!  And I'm supposed to be pushing on my stomach which was recently tore open and stitched back up?  Okay.  So I start slowly pushing on my stomach.  My uterus is completely hard and I can feel exactly where I need to push along the edge.  I give it a couple good pushes and PLOP.  I turned to my mom with my eyes wide open and said "what was that?"  I pushed out a clot that was literally the size of a babies head.  She immediately called the nurse into the room to clean up a bit.  Wow I'm so embarrassed of the freaking mess I'm making!!!  I just kept apologizing over and over.  I was mortified.

The doctor came back in 20 minutes later as he said.  I turned to the nurse and asked for a clean towel rolled up that I could bite on.  I wasn't about to scream like that again. My doctor checked my cervix and he could feel the clots already.  I took a deep breath in as he put his hand on my lower abdomen to start pushing.  I looked up at my mom, completely terrified already beginning to cry. Thankfully this time no one could hear the screams because of the towel stuffed in my mouth.  I looked at my mom again and she was just sobbing then leaned over to give me a hug.  The doctor did another ultrasound to see how much he got out.

"I'm concerned about how fast your uterus is refilling with blood and clots.  I think we need to call an ambulance and get you to the hospital.  I'll call for the ambulance, but I need to do one last massage before they load you up."

I turned to my mom and said okay mom, you gotta go home and get me and change of pants and my wallet that has my insurance card.  Meet me back here, the doctor will do the massage and then we'll go to the hospital.

My mom came back with the items, one last massage, and then I was getting loaded onto the stretcher.  I cannot tell you how happy I was knowing that was my last massage without pain meds.  As soon as we got to the hospital my plan was to get loaded up with drugs.  I'm done being in this much pain.  Hands down, most painful and terrifying experience.

I called my husband and let him know that I was being taken to the hospital and that he needed to meet me there.  I needed his strength and comfort more that anything!!

We all get to the hospital, me by ambulance, my mom followed in my car, and David left work to join us.  The nurse did some light pushing on my stomach, gave me pain meds, and told me the doctor would be in to see me shortly.  The doctor came in and accessed me.  He said I have an infection and we need to do an emergency D&C (where they go in and scrape the uterus) which will only take 30 minutes.  My doctor would be here at 4:30pm to get started.

At 4:00 pm we said our goodbyes. As I was being wheeled away my last words to both my mom and husband were "I love you! I'll see you in 30 minutes!"  I choked back tears through the pain.  I could not WAIT to get some anesthesia because these pain pills were not touching the pain!

My doctor walked into the operating room and I instantly felt better.  I have the most amazing doctor ever!!  Yes he just completely beat me up this morning, but he is truly one of the kindest and caring men I know.  I loved that I finally could see a familiar face among all the other doctors and nurses.  They started the anesthesia and told me to breath through my nose and our through my mouth.  That's the last thing I remember.

The next thing I knew I was being woken up by nurses in my face telling me to breath.  "Breath Allyson.  You need to breath."  I started breathing.  Wow.  I feel like a truck just hit me.  I am sore ALL OVER.

They wheeled me back to my room and we meet David in the hall!  BABE!!! He held my hand and said "You were just sick of all our kids getting all of the attention weren't you?"  In the room they started hooking me up to machines to check my vitals.  I looked up at the clock... 8:50pm.

"David how is it 8:50pm?  It was supposed to be 30 minutes!!!"

"Well you gave us all a really big scare hunny."

My mom and David were kinda scarce on the details at first.  Over the next couple days they all started to come out though.  I think they were just still in shock and didn't want anything to relapse.  I had absolutely no signs leading up to today, who's to say it's not going to happen again?  My doctor said he's NEVER seen anyone look so healthy with so many complications going on.  He also said in his 15 years he's never seen that many clots and that large of clots.  Ever.

While I was under anesthesia, my bleeding was out of control.  My doctor couldn't get it to stop.  He went out to the waiting room to talk to my mom and David.  He said "We can't get her bleeding to stop.  We're going to need to keep her sedated for 24 hours in the ICU.  We're going to have to do an emergency hysterectomy tomorrow.  We're just not sure what's going to happen."

My mom and David left the hospital to go home to get the essentials... Phone chargers and tooth brushes.  They were both completely in shock.  My mom was sobbing uncontrollably and calling every family member.  David, who I have never seen cry, was once again a rock.  He said he was close to tears, but needed to stay strong for my mom.

As soon as they got home they got a phone call from my doctor.  "Somehow her bleeding stopped.  We're going to go ahead and wake her."

There are miracles that happened on Wednesday that I am so grateful for.  1. I went to the doctor for a freaking headache!!... If all this happened while I was at home, I would have freaked out.  I was in the care of my physician and I knew they'd take care of me.  2. If I would have been on blood pressure medicine, I would have no doubt bled to death.  3. I'm just beyond grateful that it wasn't my time to go.  They were able to control the bleeding finally. I'm still here and going to raise these beautiful babies with my wonderful husband.

It's so surreal to have doctors and nurse say to you "we almost lost you!"  or "I heard you almost died?"  I LOVE the nurses I had after my c section and thankfully was put on the same floor with the same group after this craziness.  So a lot of them saw my name come up and would come see me to check on me.  So grateful for these wonderful ladies!!

This experience has truly strengthened my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm so grateful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  There are no coincidences.  My doctor was prompted to not give me blood pressure medicine before I was discharged from delivery and I was prompted to call my doctor for a headache.  These two are both undeniable!  I'm grateful for my knowledge of the atonement of  Jesus Christ.  He suffered every pain and affliction as he was nailed to the cross.  He knows EXACTLY what I was going through.  He knows the pain that I went through.  He knows how scared I was.  He knows how scared I still am.  HE KNOWS.  I'm grateful that my family is eternal.  We were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.  Because of this, I know that if something does happen I will see them again.  I'm grateful for all of the prayers said on my behalf.  I know the power of prayer.  It has helped to heal and strengthen me during this time that I've needed it the most.

To my friends and family -  I cannot thank you enough for all of the texts, phone calls, Facebook messages etc.  You all have no idea how much I needed to hear your sweet words of comfort and concern.  To my wonderful husband who won't let me out of his sight these days - I love you more than you'll ever know.  Thank you for being my rock and my better half.

3 blood transfusions, a re-stitched c section incision (thanks doc for the "massages" that busted it open again), and many prayers later - I'm on the road to recovery once again.

Happy one week my angels

I am so proud of my angel babies.  They are doing so well!!  Shocking the doctors with their progress and making the nurses earn their money!  :)

So I guess for only being 31.5 weeks gestation, my babies are huge and doing INCREDIBLE.  I will say, through the whole pregnancy we've prayed for a short NICU time.  I knew from day 1 that the chances of them spending some time in the NICU were pretty high.  Unless I made it to 36 weeks, it's pretty much a given.  

All of the kiddos are still in the NICU (keep in mind they're only 32 weeks along).  The doctors say typically they'll be discharged somewhere around their due date, July 10th.  Do I think they'll be in there that long? Absolutely not!  But I won't tell you my guess as I don't want to jinx it. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday and literally cried the entire way home and all night.  I know my babies are in great hands, but it killed me that I was leaving them.  I'd give anything to sleep in a cot next to their beds, watching them all night! It's going to be a rough couple months without them home.

I"ll start with Aurora's one week progress.

Aurora Leigh

Little Miss Aurora - the tiny one out of the bunch. She started out last week on CPAP, bili lights, only IV nutrition, caffeine, and a heart murmur.  She's my little fighter though.  She had brother and sister on top of her in the womb so she's going to be our tough cookie.  Today she's on a small amount of oxygen, caffeine and increasing her feedings everyday.  She is still getting food from her IV, but has momma's milk along with it.  

Gavin David

Our handsome Gavin - who stole momma's heart.  He started out last week on CPAP, bili lights, caffeine and only IV nutrition.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, he and Ari were often head to head in my belly.  It's no surprise that they're progressing at the same rate.  Today he's on a small amount of oxygen, caffeine and increasing his feedings everyday.  He still has an IV for food, but momma's milk is definitely his favorite. 

Madelyn Mae

Little miss Madelyn - the overachiever.  Madelyn came out of the womb in a race to come home.  Unlike her brother and sister, she's only needed oxygen, bili lights, caffeine and IV nutrition.  Today she made her momma and daddy so proud as she got her IV out.  She eats momma's milk only now!  Today the only thing that Maddie is still on is the caffeine.  The nurses said today that she'll be in an open crib in no time!

So when can they come home?  They need to be over 4.5 pounds, be able to regulate their body temperature, no episodes for 5 days, and take a bottle.  Unfortunately they don't introduce bottles until 34 weeks gestation (next Thursday May 29th)... yes I'm counting down the days.  As for gaining weight, it's important that they don't lose weight once they're in an open crib.  You burn more calories when you're cold, so we gotta make sure they're still gaining.  The reason the babies are on caffeine is because sometimes they forget to breath.  They call these "episodes" where their heart rate will drop below 80.  Sometimes the nurses have to intervene and put their hand on their back or nudge them.  Other times the babies will just start breathing on their own.  Madelyn has had 5 episodes but nurses only had to intervene once.  Since she was having episodes they automatically put Gavin and Aurora on caffeine as well.  Episodes are super common in preemies... They grow out of them as they get older.  

More good news... we were told our crew will probably be moved to a different section of the NICU.  The section they're in now is for babies that need acute care.  Our fabulous trio doesn't need to be watched 24/7.  We wake them every 3 hours for feeding, diaper change, temperature check, and once a day they're weighed.  They have all sorts of sensors on them that beep when their heart rate and oxygen get below a certain point, but they're doing so great!!  Our nurses are so amazed at how interactive our trio our.  Usually at this gestation they're pretty mellow and sleep 24/7.  Our bunch is quite the squirmy crew and HATE all of the wires hooked up to them.  Can't tell you how many times they've pulled out their feeding tubes, eye masks, and oxygen out of their nose.  They're just ready to get rid of it all. :) 

To those momma's who get to hold and snuggle their newborns 24/7 - I envy you!  I know our time will come but man is it HARD.  My first day up in the NICU our Maddie was crying in her isolate and I just cried with her.  It killed me that I wasn't able to pick her up and make everything better.  We're allowed to take the babies out once a day for 30 minutes if they're swaddled or 1hr if I'm doing skin to skin.  As of today, they've officially all been held by mommy and daddy.  When they were first born they had their IV's hooked up to the veins in their umbilical chord and we weren't able to hold them at all.  I got to hold Maddie last Thursday, Gavin this past Saturday, and Aurora just today.  

I cannot thank you ALL for your prayers and positive thoughts.  These babies are truly doing AMAZING!!!!  

Now for some pictures...

 Gavin suntanning under the bili lights

Daddy and Aurora - he's smitten!

Madelyn and Grandma 

Mr. Gavin snoozing

My absolute favorite picture of Madelyn. :)  

Aurora - mid yawn... Ooh my heart!

Delivery Day!

On Monday May 12th I went to the doctor for a regular appointment and ended up in the hospital.  My doctor didn't like that my blood pressure was really high and I had a bad headache... All signs of pre-eclampsia.  He told me to go to the hospital and don't plan on leaving without delivering the babies.  I called David and told him to meet me at home, I had to pack my hospital bag still!

Once we got to the hospital the blood tests started and a 24 hr urine collection.  They said they'd wait until they got the results of the blood test and urine to make any decisions.  24 hour urine started at like 2pm and they told me they probably wouldn't get the results until Tuesday evening, then they'd make a decision.

Through the night Monday my blood pressure continued to rise and my headache got worse.  Tuesday morning around 10am my doctor came in and said he didn't want to wait for the urine collection, instead plan on a c-section at 2pm.  I immediately called David freaking out telling him to leave work and get here.... NOW!

You have NO IDEA how nervous I was about having a c-section.  I was absolutely completely terrified.  I thought for sure I was going to lose too much blood and die.... That or the epidural was going to paralyze me.  The thought of getting the epidural to numb me, pretty much sent me into an anxiety attack.

30 mins till go time!  Here's my last belly picture folks... Not attractive. Haha!

As I laid on the hospital bed being pushed through the halls headed towards the operating room, it was like I was in a different world.  David was holding my hand and my body was shaking profusely! David didn't initially go in the operating room with me.  He made a stop to put on his scrubs.  I was NOT HAPPY that he wasn't there as they were numbing me.  I was sitting on the edge of the operating table, leaning on the nurse and really could have used his hand to hold.  They laid me back on the table and David walked in... THANK GOODNESS!!!!!

Laying on the table I could hear all of the nurses and doctors just carry on with everyday conversation.  It was so weird to me.  There had to be a doctor and nurse for every baby and myself.  I swear there was more than that though.  The room was so packed with people.  The nurses kept having to remind me to breath.  I was in complete shock... Terrified to move my body (the parts I could move).... I was just staring at the ceiling.  Was this real life?  Was I really about to meet my kiddos?

Okay okay.... the babies...

Their beds are all ready!

They start the procedure and I couldn't feel a thing.  I really didn't know what was going on because the doctors were just carrying on everyday conversation.

One of the nurses said baby A is out!  I heard a healthy cry and I just started crying!!  Aaah that was MY baby crying.  THAT just came out of my stomach! They cleaned her up and brought her around to show me.

Baby A

Next came baby B... "Just slid right out" as the doctors joked.  He was ready to get out from in between his sisters.  Again, I heard a healthy cry and tears streamed down my face.  My boy was here!!!  The nurses cleaned him up and brought him over to me as well.

Baby B

Last but not least baby C was out.  She cried, I cried.  They brought her over to me and I was just beaming!!!  Three healthy babies just came out of my belly.  (I'm still trying to wrap my head around that right now.)

Baby C

My babies were here.  And I was HAPPY!

The doctors finished my procedure, David followed OUR kids up to the NICU and the nurses wheeled me up to my room.  I was literally back in the room within like 45 mins.  They were crazy fast.

Now for the kiddos all cleaned up. :)

Aurora Leigh Link

3 pounds 12 ounces

17.50 inches long

Gavin David Link

4 pounds 9 ounces

19.25 inches long

 Madelyn Mae Link

4 pounds 2 ounces

17.50 inches long

Now for the LONGEST 24 hours of my life where I was on magnesium and couldn't see my babies.  I kept sending David up to the NICU to take more pictures.  I just could not wait to see them again.

PS the c section was no big deal!  If you're going to have one, don't stress... it'll all be just fine!

The final countdown

Am I really 30 weeks and 3 days?  Could I really have these babies any day now?  YES!

Of course there's a Facebook group for everything.  I'm part of a private group called 2014 triplets.  The ladies on here are AMAZING.  It's so nice to be able to relate to someone who's going through the exact same situation.

As you can guess there are some scary things I see and learn on here too.  Women losing one or all of the babies.  Women going into labor at 24 weeks.  Women having contractions since 18 weeks.  Women on hospital bed rest or home bed rest.  I try SO HARD to not let these posts effect me though.  I gotta stay positive.  This is my journey and it's not going to be the same as anyone else's.  I'm blessed that I'm still working.  I'm blessed that I'm not having any contractions.  I'm blessed with a wonderful supportive husband who helps me everyday.  And I'm blessed that these are my first kids and I'm not having to take care of other little ones while pregnant with triplets.  To those women who have children at home to take care of on top of this... KUDOS TO YOU!!!!!!  I don't know how you do it!

So here's the final countdown.  My doctor won't let me go past 36 weeks.  That's only 41 days away!   Here's the scary news - most triplets only go till 32 weeks.  So now, more than ever, I'm taking it easy!!!  I've officially cut my hours at work (mostly because I have 3 dr appointments a week from here on out).   But I'm now only working 6 hour days with time to put my feet up every afternoon.

Fingers crossed and saying prayers for an uneventful 41 days!

Baby Showers Galore!

Since we got pregnant the very first month here in Tennessee, we didn't think we'd have much of a baby shower.  All of our friends are in Utah, David's family is in Alaska, my family is in California, and we don't know anyone here in Tennessee.  So as soon as we found out we were pregnant we knew we needed to make friends.  We knew we needed to get involved in church because we needed a support system.  

Little did we know that our dear friends in Utah were all planning a "long distance baby shower"!  They each signed up to send us a gift on a certain day and this would go on for about a month.  Some days we'd get one gift and other days we'd get 6! 

It was like Christmas coming home from work everyday!!  I'm still shocked by all the love and support from our Utah friends and family.

Of course my California family and friends got word of this and wanted to join in.  I had girlfriends from high school who I hadn't talked to in years send some of the most generous gifts!  Cannot believe how generous some people are!

Then there were some church ladies who found out that I didn't know anyone here and asked to throw us a baby shower.  WOW.  Ladies I barely know all coming together to shower these babies with amazing gifts.

A couple weeks later, David's work ladies let him know they were planning a baby shower for us as well!!

Last but not least the guys I work with (I work for an engineering firm) wanted to do something for us as well.  They had lunch catered in and gave us a nice stack of money.  Can't go wrong with that right?

So here we are 41 days away from my due date and we're completely ready.  Yes we still need to order a couple things, but we have plenty in gift cards to do so.

We have a wall FULL of diapers...

And a closet FULL of clothes...

We cannot thank our WONDERFUL friends and family, both new and old, enough!!  Y'all have a heart of GOLD!!  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

Shoutout to my Mr. Wonderful

THIS GUY right here is my Mr. Wonderful.  My happy place.  My personal comedian.  My pick me up.  My rock.  My best friend.   My hero.

The past 7 months of this pregnancy he has been there for me like never before.  He's so aware of my needs and always makes sure I'm doing okay.  I thank my Heavenly Father every day that he chose me as his eternal companion.  He is the most thoughtful, caring, and loyal man I know.

Now backtrack to our year and a half of trying to get pregnant... I realize our journey to get pregnant was far shorter than a lot of people I know.  But it was still a journey.  Through that year and a half he supported me like no other.  He understood when I just needed to cry.  He cheered me up along the way.  He's truly been my rock.

A week before we found out we were pregnant was a night full of emotions that happened routinely every month.

I started spotting and began crying.  Another month gone by. 

Through my tears David said, "Babe, have you thanked Heavenly Father for this trial?"  ... I seriously wanted to punch him.  Was this REALLY the time for that?  I took a deep breath and instead muttered "that's a good idea hunny."  

That night as I said my prayers I truly thanked my Heavenly Father for the trial that I was going through.  I poured my heart out to Him.  I was heartbroken and needed His strength.  I wanted to be grateful for this trial, but I wanted more than anything to be a mom.  That night I felt comfort like never before.  I knew that I was going through this trial for a reason.  I knew that I was a daughter of God and that He loved me. I knew that I was learning patience.  I knew that when we did become pregnant that I'd not only appreciate the kids more because of the long wait, but I'd also endure the pregnancy pains better because I knew I wanted it more than anything.  I would be grateful for the back pain, sleepless nights, and nausea because guess what... I was really pregnant.  Going through this trial would make me stronger.  It would make me a better wife, a better mother, a better friend.

About a month ago President Uchtdorf, the Second Counselor in the First Presidency for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gave a talk titled "Grateful in Any Circumstance".  Boy did this talk hit home!!!!   He said....

"Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.

We can be grateful!

It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding.

As disciples of Christ, we are commanded to “thank the Lord [our] God in all things,”¹ to “sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving,”² and to “let [our] heart be full of thanks unto God.”³

Why does God command us to be grateful?

All of His commandments are given to make blessings available to us. Commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and to receive blessings. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness."

I recommend watching the full talk here... https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng#watch=video

So I guess my Mr. Wonderful was right.  I needed to develop an attitude of gratitude and be thankful for the trial we were going through.  And little did I know, that as soon as I poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father, I'd soon find out we were pregnant.

Bump watch

4 weeks (no bump yet!)

7 weeks

10 weeks

14 weeks

17 weeks

19 weeks

21 weeks

23 weeks

26 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks (getting swollen!)

Today as I am writing this, I am 30 weeks and 3 days!!  Hopefully I'll get a few more weeks of pictures before they come.  

Boys or girls?

We could not WAIT to find out the genders.  Unfortunately the ultrasound techs were in NO RUSH.  They were very firm about waiting until I was 20 weeks along.  They didn't want to give us incorrect information. We were totally fine with this.  As the first grandchildren on both sides, we knew as soon as we announced the genders, grandma would be out shopping!

David and I honestly didn't care what we were having.  We both had a feeling it was mixed and we were happy with that.  I come from a family of all girls, two sisters.  David comes from a family of all boys, one brother.  I guess David kinda preferred two boys and a girl - just so the girl could be his little princess.  But he said he'd be happy just as long as there's at least one boy in there.

Well...

He's slightly terrified of having three ladies in the house, but I know he'll be wrapped around these little girls fingers in NO TIME!!

The next couple months in a nutshell

What's the first thing I did after that first appointment?  Oh, looked up pictures of Octomom when she was pregnant.  Some advice... DON'T DO THIS!  You should also stay away from "triplet belly before and after".  Scary.  Be afraid.  I'm praying since I'm "young" I'll have some elasticity in my skin.  And I might have to start selling those skinny wraps.  Sorry in advance.

So, after learning I was pregnant with triplets, my doctor said he wanted to see me once a week until I was 12 weeks along - then he'd send me to a specialist.

The second doctor appointment a week later - THREE HEALTHY HEARTBEATS!!!  I couldn't be more excited, David couldn't be more terrified.

The official announcement... Yes, we announced pretty early but I was already showing.  I was about to fly home for Christmas and knew I'd have a definite belly.  So what's better than announcing we're pregnant with triplets than announcing it on Thanksgiving?  Oh nothing!

This lovely picture of our three little raspberry size linklets got 285 "likes" and 166 comments.  With every single like and comment, tears of JOY were flowing down my face.  This was it.  It was MY TURN to be pregnant and now everyone knows.  Yes, there was a slight fear that now everyone knows and if something goes wrong everyone WILL know.  But I felt at peace with our decision to announce early.  To this day, I still go back and read those comments, one by one.  Tears every time!

A month later - home for the holidays.  This past Christmas we went home to my parents house in California.  I thought I'd be smart and pull the triplet card at the airport.  Got to preboard the plane and sit in the very first row.  I really wasn't feeling well and it was much safer to have me at the front of the plane near the closest restroom.  But could I have survived in the middle of the plane squished between who knows what?  I guess. But instead this girl was sitting all by myself in the very first row with tons of leg room and no shame.

We had a wonderful Christmas at home.  Spent time with family and friends as our last Christmas as just the two of us.  Weird concept I tell you!

The next couple of months flew by.  I was seeing the specialist once a month and my regular ob every two weeks.  The specialist was there for the babies making sure they're growing and healthy.  My regular ob was making sure I was okay.  Week after week, the babies just keep growing.  They were all growing at the same rate, which was great.  They all have their own placentas - which is awesome!  I was doing great both physically and mentally and tried to be as upbeat as possible!  I was NOT going to let myself be negative during any of this.  It truly is such a blessing that we're getting our instant family of 5 with one pregnancy.  I only have to lose the weight once! :)

The first dr appointment

As soon as we found out we were pregnant I was anxious for that first doctor appointment to hear the heartbeat.  I've done this before, only I walked out of the doctors office with sunglasses on sobbing.  I decided that I wouldn't let the past affect my happiness and to live in the present.  I was pregnant! Be happy!  Celebrate! ... Just don't tell anyone (but family) yet.

I found a doctor in the area and he wanted to see me at 6 weeks instead of the normal 8 because I have a "history of miscarriages."  My appointment was set for November 15th at 1pm.  

Now here's the answer to the million dollar question... "Were you using fertility?"  Yes.  I was on the very lowest dosage of Clomid.  It's very rare to become pregnant with triplets off clomid.  I believe there's a less than 1% chance.  We knew that twins were a definite possibility and to be honest, both David and I secretly hoped for twins.   

As the day of the appointment was getting closer, we both kinda had a feeling there was more than one baby in there.  But again, I like to get my hopes up.  So I tried to brush off these feelings.  The day before the appointment David said to me "So let's take bets on how many are in there!"  I just laughed at him and said "Babe, there's 1... maybe 2 if we're lucky!!" 

That night I had a dream.  Maybe it was preparing me for the news to come, or maybe I had it because of our conversation earlier that day.  Either way, I had a dream we were at the doctor appointment and there were 3 sacs.  We were having triplets!?!  But the doctor said that only one had a strong heartbeat and I might lose the other two.

I awoke the next morning and told David about my dream.  He laughed and said "there's no way we're having triplets!"

Finally time for my doctor appointment!!!  I told him I was on clomid, I told him I secretly wanted twins, I told him about the dream I had last night.  He checked my cervix, pushed on my tummy a little and gave me a funny look.  "Well let's see what this baby looks like!"

He starts the ultrasound and I has the screen towards him.  I swear this has to be the longest minute of my life.  Waiting for him to either stop the ultrasound and give me bad news OR turn the monitor towards us.  (David is sitting in the chair FREAKING out already.  Haha!)  He turns the monitor towards us... "Well here's one, here's two, and...."  David says "If there's three in there, you're going to need to lock the door!"  (As he points to the exit.)   "Nurse, you should probably lock the door - here's the third!"  What?!?!  "And all healthy heartbeats"  I asked.  He said two of them have wonderful heartbeats, but the third is hard to tell.  Since I was only 6 weeks and they're TINY he couldn't tell if the third's heartbeat was in sync with mine or if it was it's own.  But he referred to them as triplets and said we'll just have to wait until next week's appointment to see how the third is developing.  He also said he knew there was more than one in there as I was already bloated and showing.  My reaction?  I could NOT STOP GIGGLING!!! I was like a little school girl and could not stop smiling.  Tears were streaming down my face and I was on cloud 9.  

We're PREGNANT!

On Wednesday, October 30th on my way home from work I thought to myself... Hmmm I think I should take a pregnancy test tonight.  This was nothing new.  For the past year and a half I cannot count the number of wasted pregnancy tests.  Why wasted?  Because I'm impatient and hadn't missed my period yet.  But every month I thought, I feel different this time! Ha.  So this time it was "different" because I started spotting a few days ago, but it stopped.  I still wasn't supposed to officially start until tomorrow, but again Ms Impatient couldn't wait one day.

So I took a test.  In the right light there was a faint second line.  Could this be real?  Everyone always said "I"m sure you'll get pregnant as soon as you move and get settled in Tennessee!"  Did we REALLY get pregnant our very first month here?  Do I tell David or wait until I take another test in the morning?  I decided to wait and take another test before I tell him.

As soon as David got home from work... "Hunny there's something I gotta show you..."  Haha - so much for waiting.  I prefaced him with - "now I know I'm not supposed to start my period until tomorrow but..."  He knew what was coming.  I took a test and it was negative.  NOPE this time there was a faint line.  We hugged, he told me not to get my hopes up, and test again in the morning.

First thing in the morning, I took two more tests.  Both positive.  (And the test from the night before dried a LOT darker!)  PS. did I jinx us by taking 3 tests? Ha.