Doctor's Appointment

So, the appointment for this week went great! I only gained 2 pounds, which freaks Joseph out (he thinks I should gain more) which brings my total weight gain to 9 pounds, an average of 3 pounds per baby sounds good to me. I will probably start back on the "Muscle Milk" to help with weight gain but to also help with my calcium intake, which has been not stellar and lead to the most unbearable pain I've ever experienced in my life...a leg cramp. Which 36 hours later is still very tight and sore and has me limping some.

All the babies looked great on our quick little scan. Claire actually decided to join her brother and sister and is now head down. They just all want to talk with each other. They are little stinkers if you ask me...yesterday they were kicking pretty good so I call Joseph over and we wait.............they stopped. Joseph removed his hand and went back to his spot, they moved. Yes, it's going to be a long lotta years with these babies. Dr. M. assured me that though I don't feel them moving nearly as much as I would like in the next few weeks they are really going to get going and probably keep me awake and uncomfortable and all that good stuff. I just need to feel them so I'm able to relax. So soon they say....

And finally, the answer to the question of how big did I actually measure?! Just so everyone knows what this means (that's you Dad!) they measure my big ol' belly and that number is close to how many weeks along you are. I, of course, will measure further along then I really am because I'm carrying three babies as opposed to just one. Anyway, 17 days ago I was 17 weeks along and measured at 20 weeks. Today, I'm almost 20 weeks and measured 29 weeks...YIKES! Thanks to my Mom (I wouldn't expect anything else outta her) and someone else (are you going to claim your vote?!) who voted BIG in the poll...you were right, that's for sure. At the rate of which I am growing my body is going to think it's time for these babies to get on outta there. I've got to be really careful in all my activity and stuff to keep them in there snug as long as possible.

Dr. M. is very concerned about me working, but says as long as I feel good and the babies aren't coming out (they are not, they are actually up pretty high today he said) then I'm fine. I really feel great, I'm super tired at the end of the day, but for the most part feel so good. My back gets sore very easily if I stand too long and sometimes pressure will build up downtown if I sit to long, so I just make sure to stay in a chair and then move to another chair and so on and so on. This is the first full week I have worked since the week before Christmas, so it's taking me some time to adjust to working all day, everyday again. We are considering me taking a day, or half day, each week but I've got to save as many days as possible, so for now, I will continue to work and let my sweet class act like the teacher.

Alright...so my quick update turned into a really long post. Thanks for checking in on us and I'm sure I'll update soon...maybe with snow pictures, nursery pictures or Joseph, my brother and Lauren running in their 5K this weekend...who knows. As always, thanks for sharing in our journey and please always Remember Jackson!



Oh...and yesterday morning I woke up to a completely painted nursery! There needs to be another coat put on, but it looks so GREAT! I can't wait to show off all of Joseph's hard work...you'll be amazed at how great it looks!

Step 2...started!

Last night as I was updating the blog Joseph began phase 2 of the nursery...he has pretty much trimmed out the whole room and soon it will be ready for paint. I think paint will begin going on the walls Thursday and Friday (and maybe tonight if Joseph is feeling real froggy). It's so exciting to see all the hard work he's been doing and knowing that it's because we are having triplets. Does that really blow anyone else's mind sometimes?! It still shocks me on some days...don't know if I'll ever get use to it!

Anyway, so that's the only real update I have today. I did take a "done up" picture this morning, they always turn out a little bit better (I almost typed a little big there, judge for yourself)...









And now I'm off to work on my shower invitation list. I'm only have a few (work, friends/family, and one in Newberry) so the list is pretty long...I gotta get working. It stresses me out because I don't know who to invite, who not to invite, don't want to hurt feelings, stuff like that. I think I'm going for the "invite everyone and hope they aren't offended" method, and if it offends you, sorry. Now, if you are just itching to get an invitation, let me know and I'm sure that can be arranged! So...off to work I go. I'm even disconnecting the laptop from the internet and moving to a comfy spot because it's going to take awhile, and once I turn my list over to Chrissy I get to see the invitation, now that's motivation! Thanks for checking in on me/us. I'll be back Thursday or Friday evening with an update on my appointment. As always, please Remember Jackson!

Step 1...check

Yesterday on the nasty rainy afternoon Joseph got the first step of the nursery done...it is now primed. We had to use a tinted primer to cover up the nasty green and to accommodate the color we chose. Below are updated pictures of the nursery...

Here is Joseph priming away...










Here is the finished coat of primer...









So, Joseph and I are really excited to be finally working on a nursery again. We had a blast decorating Jackson's and we have waited years to do it again. One thing we always seem to agree on really quickly is paint colors. So, yesterday after the priming was done we couldn't wait to go get the paint. Here is a little hint (or big if you are pretty observant) of the paint color/colors...










And finally, I did have Joseph take a belly pic of, but it's horrific looking (that seems to be how things are looking in my house lately). I'm going to go try for one more, and if it doesn't work, well then, I guess the horrific one goes up! I'll be right back....ummmm, OK, so my belly pics just aren't too flattering tonight. We'll try again in the morning when I'm "done up" as Joseph likes to say. I'm already in my pj's and well, just yuck for tonight.

Anyway...so that's what we have completed in the nursery. Step 2 is under way as I type. I'm excited to scoot on over there and see how it looks. As always, thank you for sharing in our journey. You'll hear from me soon...either about my "big" (thanks MOM!) belly or with pictures of step 2 completed. And also, please always, Remember Jackson!

Welcome to Week 19!

Week 19 is a big week for us...we have begun buying stuff for the nursery, by stuff, I mean stuff to paint it, and well, actually we've only bought primer because the room is a horrific green (pictures will be below). But...it's a start, and we know where we want to go with the nursery, so we are just excited to get started. If you are interested in the theme of the nursery, well, you'll have to find our registries and see if you can figure it out...I'm going to make you work for it of course!

So, before I get to the before pics of the nursery I thought I better let everyone know how I'm/we're doing. Early this week I was a bit down, just really anxious and nervous. I know y'all must be praying for me and keeping us in your thoughts because I feel a lot better already. I do feel the babies everyday, and some days it's more then others, but I can tell they are getting stronger which is calming my fears big time. I go back Thursday to Dr. M. and I'm interested to see how big I measure. I'm guessing it's going to be around 24-25 weeks, I've really started to pop out. Hopefully I'll get a picture tonight (family game night at my house) and can put it up soon. Anyway...family is going to start arriving soon, so on with the before pictures of the nursery...a little photographic scrapbook!









This is when we brought all the baby stuff we had outta the attic and dropped it into what would be the nursery...it was a lotta stuff!












This is the some of the keep stuff somewhat organized. Please note the horrific green paint, old blinds and ever more horrific curtains...all to be replaced soon!









This is a crib...can you tell?! Just showing off our one crib. This will probably be in our room first for all three babies, then moved into the nursery when they start sleeping in their own cribs, or kept in our room for a fussy one, or who the heck really knows...it's a crib, in front of horrific green walls!









This last picture really has nothing to do with the nursery exactly, but more of a "this is the reason why we don't really need boy clothes right now" in case you see something about that on an invitation or something. Who knows...Abby and Claire may be wearing lots of blue too! And, we consigned a good chunk of clothes that I just didn't really care for...that's a lotta clothes! Oh, and the walls are still horrifically green here too!

So, that's the before pictures of the nursery. I'm excited to get to work on it (well, ok, excited to watch Joseph get to work on it) and show off what it looks like as we go along. As always, thanks for checking in on us and sharing in our journey. We are glad to have you along for the ride. Also, as always, please Remember Jackson!



And, I put a little poll up for the fun of it...vote!

Sorry for the Delay...

I know it's Thursday, and I went to the doctor on Monday and I was suppose to update and I didn't...sorry, again, for like the one millionth time! Anyway...I guess I've been avoiding updating because I wasn't super thrilled with how the appointment went. So, let me break it down for you...

My appointment was suppose to be at 2:45, we were there at 2:40 like good little patients and I was called back to a room at 3:30. Yes, that's a wait time of 45 minutes, which was crazy. Then Lauren introduces herself as my tech, and I may have hurt her feelings because I asked where Andrew was, and she offered to get him, I declined, but maybe I should have. Why you ask?! Well little Lauren labeled my babies all wrong and had the Abby and Claire switched and I told her so, but she did not believe me. A mother knows these things...well that, and Abby is lowest and will always be on the right, they can not switch sides, but they can flip being head down or feet down. Abby prefers to be head down (she loves to put all the pressure on me) while Claire prefers to be feet down...maybe they like smelling each other's feet (if they could smell and were in the same sac and everything!). Anyway, so we are scanning along...very specific scan again today to look at heart development and for clefts...I'm happy to report all hearts looked great and all upper lips looked great too, ZERO signs of any trouble. I did ask ahead of time for a CD and great pictures, I got neither. She was zoomed in so far that when she printed the pictures they are actually blurry-yuck! I guess all the oh let's take cute pictures moments are gone-yuck! So moving on, in comes Dr. S. who notices the babies are labeled wrong, I tell her I know, poor little Lauren looks confused, we get the babies correctly labeled, Dr. S. does her peek at all of them, doesn't reassure me about my fear of "are the babies moving enough?" and says ok, let me tell you how they are doing. Brayden and Claire weigh about 8 oz. each and Abby weighs about 7 oz. Not a big deal right?! But, Abby is measuring a little bit behind, just a couple of days, but the difference between her and Brayden is 12%, which is up from the last scan which was 11%. Abby has always measured smallest, but on Monday it just flipped me out big time. I don't know if it was just the stress of the bad appointment, the fact that Joseph wasn't there with me (I had 4 others though, no worries there!) or just me flipping out because I'm afraid. Anyway...Dr. S. (and Jean my genetic lady) assure me all babies are perfectly fine, as long as they are with in 20% of each other with growth then that is normal. I will be fine once the babies get here (in many, MANY weeks) and are home in our house crying, letting us know they are healthy. I'm very eager to really feel them kick, I feel them flip and roll and stuff, but I want some good strong kicks. That's coming, I know!

So, anyway...that is how the appointment went Monday. I go back next week Thursday to my regular OB and he'll do great easing my fears and all that stuff. Then the following Monday it's back to the specialist. So...until these babies are here I'm asking that you keep me in your prayers that I will calm down, not be a worry wart and just enjoy this pregnancy. As always, thanks for sharing in our journey and please, always, Remember Jackson!

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