Week 18 Already?!

18 weeks and 1 day to be exact...time is flying by, and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I'm just trying so hard to take everything in with the pregnancy and enjoy because I know it's my last, and well it's my first normal one too and I just want to enjoy it! There are downsides to it...heartburn, backache, whale sized, shortness of breath, but then on the upswing...there are THREE healthy babies growing inside me, Joseph and I are so much closer, the planning, the decorating, I'll be honest-the attention...it's just all so wonderful and it's going way too fast!

I'm struggling a bit with week 18 because Joseph is missing a lot of it. He went away for a guys weekend Friday morning and is coming back Sunday night, which I know isn't long, but I had a MAJOR breakdown...I just know the babies are going to start kicking harder and your not going to be here to feel them kinda breakdown. Needless to say, they haven't kicked too much harder, but I do think they are getting stronger. Then, come to find out that Monday morning Joseph has to leave to go out of town and won't be back until Tuesday night. I haven't had another breakdown yet, but I'm sure in the morning it'll happen. Maybe a baby or two will cooperate and give their Daddy a big kick tonight. Coke, ice cream, candy bars...nothing is going to be safe tonight as I try to make that happen! I'm actually quite proud of Joseph having to go out of town...he's going to the president of the company's house to do some landscaping for them. How awesome is it that he was asked to be one to help lead that little project. Apparently the president hasn't heard that his wife is pregnant with triplets and a little emotional. Oh well...he'll be back before I know it, and it is an extra night with the whole bed and as many prop pillows as I want surrounding me in the bed-yay!

So...week 18 marks kinda another big week. The ultrasound that I will have Monday (which Joseph won't be able to make-arrgghh!) is going to be looking even more in depth at the heart. They were able to see all major things two weeks ago, but this week the hearts are fully developed so that is what they are checking on. Plus they will be checking Claire and Abby for fluid levels and growth more closely...remember "poly-oly" which there have not been any signs of, but they will be checking every two weeks. I hope to get an approximate weight on them again because I just think that's really cool. And hopefully Andrew will be able to get us some good pictures. I'm excited that my brother and sister-in-law are going with me, plus a few girlfriends, so there will be plenty of people there with me! I'm sure I'll do an update on how the appointment goes soon.

So, that's all for this week. Nothing major has been going on, well once you get over the growing three babies part. I hope to begin working on the nursery sometime this week, it just depends. I've also got to decide what I'm going to do about the stuff we are selling. I don't know if it's best to take it to a shop or wait for the big sale coming up soon. I'm just not too sure what I'll do. I've also got tons of stuff for a yard sale, but can you have a yard sale in January/February? Craigslist and EBay might become my best friend. Anyway...thanks for checking in on us...everything is great at the Hedgepeth Hangout. We'll update soon. As always, please Remember Jackson!

Hair! Hair! Hair!

So, according to the horrific amount of heartburn I have had and the old wives' tales that are out there, these babies are going to have some hair! Just thought I'd share that with my blog world. Heartburn stinks, but I wouldn't have it any other way! So, what do you think...are these babies all going to come out with heads full of hair?! I can't wait to find out, well, I can wait another 16 weeks, but I'm pretty excited about it!

and babies

Does this shirt make me look fat?!

Updated below with a "done up" picture as Joseph calls it...

So, for your viewing pleasure I decided to take a belly pic tonight. And I actually decided to take it because apparently my choice of outfits today made me look bigger then normal...this based on the amount of people who made some kinda comment about my belly or touched it in amazement (and I promise NONE of this bothers me at all!). So, I made Joseph take some pictures...


At first I thought all the fuss was because I had my shirt buttoned just above my belly, so then I pulled it back, and well, you can see below, that's not the problem either...





Joseph did ask me at some point if I should be taking the picture in the morning when I'm "done up" which made me laugh. This picture is after a 13 hour day (mostly spent in a chair though) so maybe in the morning when my hair is did I'll have him take another one!

So...apparently it has nothing to do with my shirt selection...let's keep in mind though, I am pregnant with triplets after all! Oh well...continue reading for some answers to questions....









Let's see...and I did have a few questions asked that I thought I'd go ahead and clear up. Someone did ask me why I have to get so many ultrasounds...great question (remember I'm a teacher and no question is ever dumb except the question not asked!). Anyway...I get an ultrasound at my regular OB just to identify a heartbeat in each baby. They can not distinguish between the three using the doppler, so that ultrasound is just checking for heartbeats. They do not do any measurements or anything, though they do let us watch them for a few minutes because it's just amazing to me to see a baby move around on the screen, which is something we never saw with Jackson. Still just amazing to me!

As for the specialist and those ultrasounds, they are checking for something very important. The girls (who we need to stop referring to as the girls and start using their names), I mean Abby and Claire, are identical twins and share a placenta (blood and nutrients). They are at risk of developing something called "twin to twin transfusion". What this means is basically that one baby can dominate and take all the blood, nutrients and fluid. So at each ultrasound they are looking at fluid levels and to make sure each of them is growing at the same rate and one is not dominating. They have a little term called "poly-oly" where poly means to much fluid and oly means to little fluid. So far there have been ZERO signs of this happening, so there is no real worry right now. It is actually something that can be corrected if caught early, so I am happy to let them check everyday if they need to. The chances of this occurring is around 15%, so though not very high, just something to keep an eye on.

Anyway, that's all for this time around. I'm off to bed. Only two more days with kids this week then a workday, then a 3 day weekend with an ultrasound on Monday...tough life I know! As always, thanks for sharing in our journey, and please always, Remember Jackson!

and babie

I ♥ my doctors!

Does finding cute symbols make up for my lack of blogs? Or, how about actually updating about my appointment today? Anyway...my appointment today went GREAT! I really am lucky to have a team of such great doctors. I only see 2 at my regular OB, and today it was Dr. McClelland who hasn't seen me since sending me to the specialist for the hives. So...needless to say he was overjoyed with our news, sat with us for a long time answering all of our questions and Joseph and I left there feeling great. Here is a run down of how the appointment went...

*I gained about 7 pounds in a month-go me!
*I am measuring 20 weeks, which I didn't think was that bad.
*All babies looked great...yes, I got a free ultrasound to check very quickly for heartbeats since it is impossible to hear three different beats!
*I got a new prenatal vitamin (for free) that is only one pill-yay!
*Have orders to check my thyroid...we talked too long and the lab closed, oops!
*Dr. M. also has extreme faith in me making it to 32 weeks. That's a lot of pressure to cook these babies.
*Dr. M. still makes the schedule, so I'll probably be able to sweet talk him into scheduling Dr. H. and him together to deliver the babies.
*We talked about the NICU at Piedmont, which he assures me is very capable of handling the babies. However, if any issues other then breathing arise, they would most likely transfer somewhere else.
*I will be going back to my regular OB every 2 weeks, which means an ultrasound every week, because I see the specialist on weeks I'm not at the regular OB. I also think this is going to make the time go by REALLY fast. This pregnancy is so much different then the others and I just want to enjoy it, but at the same time, I've come to grips with being high-risk and know they need to see me.
*Dr. M., who put me on Clomid, assumed, just like the rest of the world, that we had gone back to IVF. It was nice to see his reaction when I told him nope, just the drugs he gave me, well, and some praying too!
*Reassured me that even though I feel as though Abby might be falling out (can you say pressure big time) she will not, and her sister and brother will stay there too.
*Prepared me for the fact that contractions are going to start sooner rather then later, and they aren't hurtful at this point but my activity will effect these, so I'm to stay off my feet as much as possible.
*Gave me the go ahead to get a prenatal massage-thank you says my back!

So...that was pretty much it for the appointment. I told you we talked forever and he was so excited to talk with us and answer our questions. I am truly so thankful to have the support of such great family and friends, but also of doctors who have been with me since the beginning...Dr.M. put me in the hospital (3 times actually) and started the induction and Dr. H. delivered Jackson, so the fact that they are still my two primary doctors puts me at such ease. Anyway, thanks for checking in and we'll chat soon hopefully. At least you know there is another appointment soon, and Andrew will be taking the pictures (which I'm sure will be much better) so I'll hopefully have some to put up next week. As always, please Remember Jackson!

and babies

Week 17

I'm working hard on earning back my title of worst blogger ever, but things have been so busy. Week 17 officially marks the halfway point, since they will take the babies at 34 weeks. What's going on with those little babies you ask?! Well, come to find out, my book is just wrong, wrong, wrong...it says the babies should weigh 3.5 oz., but at the ultrasound this week Abby weighed about 5 oz, Claire and Brayden weighed about 6 oz. each, so that's pretty off from the book. The ultrasound lady said they are the size of a regular snickers bar...I love snickers bars! Anyway, speaking of ultrasounds, did you know I had a big one this week? They did a 16 week anatomy scan checking all the organs and growth. I'm super proud to announce that all babies passed with flying colors! They only thing that they couldn't check off the list was no cleft pallet and the heart. They were able to see lots of good stuff with the heart, but it's not completely developed until around 18 weeks, so they will check it then. I will go in for ultrasounds every 2 weeks from now on, darn. I will admit, I was nervous going into this last one because it had been so long and well, I just worry. My next scan is on the 19th! This week I will go to my regular OB, which should be fine. There is nothing major going on. I am afraid that my thyroid is off (think back to the hives and over medicating to prevent hives), and I think this is keeping me from gaining the weight. But, I've gained a good 2-3 pounds in the last month hopefully! I also need to find a new prenatal vitamin because mine is no longer available in generic...it took 3-4 different pills to find one that didn't upset my stomach-great fun. I will try to report how that appointment goes, but you know, we've been busy.

So...what else have we done this week?! Well, the nursery was cleaned out and all things baby were dropped into the room. Tuesday night my mom came and we organized it some, then on Wednesday night Michelle and Chrissy helped me organize even more, list included. We decided what to throw away (not too much), what to sell (some stuff), what to keep (lots!) and what to put in my Jackson box (which I'm proud of myself for letting things go...they are just things). After 3-4 hours we had sorted everything...and I had my list to go register. Registering was overwhelming, very thankful for my list, my husband and my other BFF Lisa for being there. After another 3-4 hours, we are registered! We went with 2 places...Babies R Us and Target. We decided to give as many choices as possible because there are things we really need and hopefully between these two stores we'll get everything. It's been a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders and now we can enjoy waiting for the babies and getting the nursery ready. I can't wait to post pictures of that-we haven't even started!-but there are some wicked good ideas going on in this head of mine! I also kinda planned, or I guess I should say scheduled two showers. I'm so thankful for all the people who want to help us. Joseph and I have always been overwhelmed with all the love and support.

So...that's where we are right now. A lot of the tough stuff is over, and now we get to get to the fun stuff, like the nursery! Thanks for checking in on us. As always, please Remember Jackson!

and babies

And...my pictures aren't great this time, but I'll try to put some up after our class tonight. We are learning to find "Financial Peace" with Dave Ramsey, which us luck!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy...

It is SO hard for me to comprehend that Jackson would have been 3 years old today. I remember like it was yesterday the day he was born. This year, we remember him and know that he is with us everyday...I feel his brother and sisters kicking me to remind me of what our journey has been. For those of you who have been there since the very beginning...thank you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON COLE!

We love you with all of our hearts,
Mommy, Daddy and LOTS of others!

Happy New Week!

and Happy New Year too! What do you have to look forward to in 2010? I'm having a hard time deciding...ok, well maybe Abby, Claire and Brayden are all I ever wanted and they will be here before any of us know it! Even though I'm only at week 16 (woohoo!) look at it this way...my goal for myself is 32 weeks because I just think that's what it's going to be, and well, week 16 puts me HALF WAY THERE! Is that not crazy?! So, as I flip out about baby furniture, nursery decorating, registering and showers do not call me crazy, just call me getting prepared, because another reality of being pregnant with triplets is that bed rest can happen at ANY minute. So...I am choosing to be prepared and hope to scratch several things off of the list this week. Thankfully the nursery is almost cleaned out (so close, but I'm so tired it'll wait until tomorrow, or the next day) and then I can start bringing down all things baby from the attic for my assistant Chrissy, and possibly another assistant Michelle (though I don't know if she's as into organizing, making list and taking control as Chrissy?) to inventory. Then we'll decide what we need and register, with the help of my assistants hopefully. This triplet stuff is not easy, there's A LOT of stuff to think about. Also this week I hope to get my husband to agree on a theme for the nursery. He's all into this plain kinda stuff, and I want a little more, but we'll just have to see. We've decided to cram all babies into one room, so we have to find a nursery that works for everyone...oh goodness!

So anyway...on to the stuff every really wants to know right, what's going on with babies this week?! Well according to the "book" (which I probably should give correct credit to being the law abiding citizen that I am, but I've already told you once what it was, so look below if you really need to know...for all that explaining, I could've just typed the title again!) where was I?! Oh, the "book" says babies are about 4 1/3 to 4 2/3 inches long and weight about 2 3/4 ounces. No object comparison, but I think they are freaking huge (according to my belly...I know, I know...I need a belly pic. Maybe as assistant will help me out...). The babies have tiny hairs growing all over their bodies and they have grown fingernails. Arms and legs are just a moving and though I have not felt a strong kick, I can feel them floating around in there. They really got to moving on the bumpy road to and from Newberry which was fun. Hopefully soon they'll really start kicking because I can't wait for Joseph to feel them!

Many have asked how am I doing, so I thought I take a quick minute to answer that. Throwing up has stopped-woohoo! Heartburn has kicked in big time-boo! Tums are my new best friend. My back, butt and hips are killing me, but I think it's because of how I have to sleep. Of course no sleeping on the belly, and they say laying on the left side is better, but it's so freaking uncomfortable. And of course, no sleeping flat on my back. So, I prop pillows everywhere to try to catch the massive belly and make it comfy. I get up at least 3 times a night (11, 1 and 4) to use the bathroom and rolling out of bed is tough. We are going to lower our bed so that I won't have to fall so far! Weight gain I think is going in the right direction, but I won't know until next Monday when I go to my regular doctor. I feel very up, and I go back to school tomorrow and I've kept track of it there too, so we'll see what it says. That's me in a nutshell. This pregnancy is 100% different from when I was pregnant with Jackson, and though I still worry a lot I am really enjoying it. Most enjoyable part...Joseph. He has been amazing and I am so thankful he's by my side, or as close as he can get! He is really taking good care of me and helps me in any way possible. I got up this morning and went into the living room (we were at his dad's house) and he immediately got up for me to sit. Then I went to get a Coke and he wanted to go get it for me...I actually said to him not dead, just pregnant! He's just being so helpful, though he is on my back about food all the time, but I know he means well. I'm just super lucky to have him! And he cleaned the entire house the other night when I was out for girl's night...he just rocks! Anyway, we are both just really enjoying this pregnancy, anticipating the babies getting here and I really think falling in love with one another even more...life is pretty dang good around here!

So, that is that. I hope all of you had a safe and wonderful New Year. Can't wait to see all of the amazing things that are going to happen this year. As always, thanks for sharing in our journey and please always Remember Jackson!

and babies