Reactions

We have been sharing the news about our babies with more family members over the holidays. Billy called his uncle Franny in Philadelphia yesterday to tell him the news, and he was so excited when Billy told him I was pregnant. Then, when he added the "with triplets" part, his uncle said, "You have got to be shittin' me!" When Billy told his grandmother, she said, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!"

When I told Alice about the triplets after the ultrasound, she just laughed hysterically for about 2 minutes. Once she calmed down, she said, "Good luck with that." She said she needed to start practicing how she was going to hold all three babies at once.

When I talked to my dad, I said, "I have a number for you." He asked if he could guess, and I told him to go ahead. He guessed 2, and I said, "a little higher." He said, "NO! You are kidding me. You are kidding me, right?" I think he's still recovering from the news.

My cousin, Cuqui, who lives in Miami could hardly believe it. Alice told her about it, and she said, "Oh, Alice, I know how you like to kid. You are just pulling my leg right?" She had to call me to verify the story because she wasn't buying what Alice was telling her.

Liane told Cooper about the babies in my belly, and he is very confused by it all. When they were in town, he said he wanted to play with Wasie's babies, so he came over and lifted up my shirt to see where they were. Well, when there were no babies to be seen, he started complaining that Wasie's babies were mean because they didn't want to come out and play with Coopie. Whenever the bring up Wasie's babies with him he says that they are hiding and won't come out.

As for me, I'm still getting used to all this. It's really difficult to go from struggling to ever get pregnant and have just one child to being pregnant with 3 tiny babies. I'm just trying to enjoy this stage and be happy that we are finally going to start (and finish) our family. Billy, however, is getting very caught up in all of the little things. He's stressing out a lot how we are going to be able to deal with 3 children-physically, emotionally, and financially. I admit, it will be difficult, but we will figure it out, and I'm sure we are going to have tons of help.

My nausea is continuing. It tends to get worse at night, which is strange, since I thought it was more "morning sickness." I try to get a bunch of stuff done in the morning when I feel okay because I know that by 6 or 7, I will be on the couch in nausea agony. Fortunately, I got some Zofran, which is an anti-nausea medicine, and I think it helped. I picked it up yesterday, and I took it for the first time last night and was able to get down a little dinner without too much trouble.

When I went to the pharmacy to get the Zofran, my doctor's office had already called it in. I know my pharmacist pretty well...not because I'm always on drugs, but because he is a runner, and we sometimes do the same races and talk about them. Whenever I stop in at CVS for anything, I stop by the medicine counter to chat with Sam. Anyway, he knows we've been dealing with all of this infertility stuff for years, since he fills all of my prescriptions. When I walked up to his counter today, he said, "Well, what's up?" He had a big grin on his face. He knew what the Zofran was for. I told him I was finally pregnant, and he was so excited for me. Then, I said it was triplets, and he started to laugh, thinking I was kidding. I told him it was no joke, and he said, "When you go, you go big!" He told me his wife ran a marathon 9 months after having their daughter. I don't think I'll be quite ready for that...maybe a 10K.

The sexes revealed

We had dinner with Mems for her birthday tonight and surprised her with the sexes of our babies. Kate, great idea in the comments to get her different colored bibs. That's just what I did as you can see from the picture. She was so excited! We gave her the 2 pink bibs first, and just when she was getting worried we were going to have a house full of drama with 3 girls, she opened the last bib, which was blue. It was a great surprise for her. She had us take this picture because she had so many friends and family members calling and e-mailing her begging to know the sexes. She is going to send the picture out to everyone.

At dinner at Scalini's, I ate more than I have in a week. I had 2 pieces of bread, a bit of salad, several bites of spaghetti with marinara, and just a couple bites of my chicken and eggplant. It's a good start. I felt stuffed beyond belief after that, but I figure every little bit counts.

It's already 10:15 so I must head off to dreamland. I just wanted you all to know the information since it's now public knowledge. In my next entry, I'll have to write about how each person we talked to about the triplets reacted when they heard the news. Some of the old Cuban ladies in my family have been hilarious!

Baby pics

Take a look at babies "a," "b," and "c." They are making me very ill, but I still love them. Vivian said that at her first ultrasound, she almost threw up looking at Rose. She was so sick and freaked out by it all. When Paul sent out the ultrasound picture, he superimposed a monster over the spot where Rose was. You opened up the picture thinking you were going to see something like this picture, and instead, there was this green monster inside the dark sac. It was really funny. Paul still wants another baby, and I think he may try to kidnap one of our triplets.

Baby "a" is the biggest measuring a whooping .58 cm. Baby "b" is .46 cm, and Baby "c" is the runt at only .41 cm. These measurements are roughly the size of a grain of rice. Isn't that crazy? I couldn't believe that they could pick up a heartbeat off a grain of rice!

In the picture, there's one more little black spot between babies "a" and "b." Don't worry, we don't have a baby "d." It's just some fluid there. The ultrasound lady had to tell us that because she knew I was looking at that little dark spot wondering how in the world we would have ended up with another one in there.

I had a little more bleeding today, but it was very minor, and it was dark brown in color, which the nurse assured me meant it was old blood and nothing to worry about. She said I should only be concerned when it is bright red in color and heavy, along with severe cramping. I don't have any other symptoms so I guess I'm clear.

Tomorrow is the big day that we will surprise Mems with the sex or sexes of the babies! I'll post them after that so that you will all know. Stay tuned, if you don't know already!

I'm off to spend some time on the couch in between my next dry heaving episodes. Morning sickness times three equals feeling yucky all the time! Oh well.

Breaking news!

Mems wasn't cool with waiting until Saturday so we went ahead and gave her the news today. You all benefit from this because it means that you can also know our "baby count."

When we walked into the room to have the ultrasound done, the ultrasound technician asked us how far along I was, and I told her 6 weeks. She asked how many embryos had been replaced, and I said 3. Then, she asked me how I was feeling. I told her I had been very nauseous for the past few days. She said, "Well, let's see what we have going on in there." The screen was turned away from me so I couldn't see what was going on, but she said, "Now I see why you are so sick. Looks like you've got 3 babies in there!" Can you believe it? TRIPLETS!

We were able to hear all 3 heartbeats, which was amazing. Then, all of the little ones were measured. Their sizes correlated with being 6 weeks 1 day, 6 weeks 2 days, and 6 weeks 3 days, respectively. They were all right on schedule! The nurse said the bigger one was the food hog.

We are shocked, excited, scared, and so happy! We still run a risk of losing one or even two of them. We have another ultrasound in 2 weeks, and they will see how things are progressing at that point. For now, we will just enjoy being the soon-to-be-parents of triplets. I wish I didn't feel so sick so that I could actually enjoy eating for 4!

I'll post pictures of the little buggers in a while. Billy is going to scan them in the computer. By the way, from the genetic testing, we know the sexes, but we are keeping that a secret until Saturday. We decided we would surprise Mems with that information for her birthday. She needs to start buying outfits and decorating the nursery she's going to have in her house.

What's your guess?

I added a poll on the left side of this blog to have everyone vote on how many babies they think are growing inside of me. Please cast your vote!

Okay, you are all going to be mad at me because I'm thinking of keeping the number a secret until Saturday. Mems, Billy's mom, has a birthday on Saturday, and we wanted to surprise her with our baby count as part of her birthday present. I've told a few friends about this idea, and they are saying they are going to hunt me down and beat the answer out of me after my appointment tomorrow. Even my neighbors are all abuzz with the upcoming news. This morning, I ran into two ladies who live nearby and have dogs that play with Winnie, and they were both wanting to know what time my appointment is tomorrow, and if they could come by in the evening to find out what is going on. I know everyone is dying to know. I have to decide what I'm going to do about this little dilemma. Any ideas? Post them in the comments.

By the way, I'm still very ill. Today, I had 6 saltine crackers, 1 ginger ale, and 1 container of jello. I just choked down some mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs for lunch, and I'm feeling a bit better. Yes, mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs are a weird combination, but whatever, it worked.

Careful what you wish for

In one of my blogs before I knew I was pregnant, I wrote that I wished that I would just wake up one day and barf so that I would know I was pregnant. Well, looks like all of my wishes are coming through. My friend, Jamie, warned me to be careful what I wished for!

Last night, I came home from Billy's office holiday party early because I was exhausted. It was 11:30, and I've gotten used to going to bed by 9:30 these days. Billy stayed behind and didn't come home until 3:30 a.m. It woke me up when he got back because Winnie went crazy barking and growling. She's quite the guard dog. Anyway, I woke up nauseated beyond belief. Billy tried to kiss me good-night with his nasty liquor breath, and I thought I was going to throw up in his mouth. Then, I couldn't go back to sleep until 5 a.m. I felt awful. I woke up around 10 a.m. again and got up to brush my teeth, wash my face, etc. I proceeded to dry heave at that point.

I've heard from other women who are or have been pregnant that if you eat something, it's very helpful with the nausea. Therefore, I went ahead and ate breakfast, but it wasn't really getting any better.

We went to the 11:30 service at church, and I almost lost it when we had to sit two people deep in the pew. I needed to have quick access to the aisle to make an escape if a barfing episode snuck up on me. Thankfully, I did not have to run out, but I felt like death the whole time.

In the car on the way home from church, Billy farted, and that was it. I could feel my breakfast making it's way up. If you have smelled his farts, you know what I mean. They could make you barf even if you weren't the slightest bit sick. I rolled down all of the windows, even though it was freezing cold, and once the air cleared, the worst of my nausea passed.

I got home and laid down on the couch and basically remained there all day in and out of sleep. I have not vomited, but I think it's only a matter of time. I'm not going to complain, though, because this is a good sign. It makes me feel like everything is going the way it is supposed to.

A little scare

This morning when I woke up, I went the bathroom for my morning pee-pee. Well, I looked down at the toilet and noticed that my urine had a reddish tint. I wiped and saw blood on the toilet paper. Of course, I went into freak out mode. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should wake up Billy, call the doctor, and/or start crying. I opted to wake up Billy and call the doctor's office. It was before regular business hours so I had to use the paging service, and they called me right back.

The nurse who called said that if anything was going wrong with the pregnancy there was nothing they could really do about it at this stage. That wasn't very comforting. She told me to call back my nurse at 8:30 and check to see if she wanted me to repeat my blood work. Well, I called my nurse, and she told me to come back into the office, and they would check my HCG today, instead of Friday so that's what I did.

As the day progressed, I didn't have any more bleeding, and I didn't have any cramps so I started feeling better about the situation. My nurse called me around 2:30 with the results of my blood work, and my HCG was up to 21,169, which meant everything was fine. She went ahead and scheduled my ultrasound for next Wednesday! We'll get to see what is going on in there then. I can hardly wait!

Billy said this morning that this is probably the first of many little scares that we are going to experience throughout the pregnancy. I think he's right, but I hope he's not. I wish the rest of the time would go by without any scares. I want things to be just perfect. That's probably too much to hope for right now.

"Dangerous" pants situation

Is this entirely too early for me to be busting out of my pants? Almost everything I have is a perfect fit for me, and if I gain a few pounds, I feel things tightening up. I'm now only a little over 5 weeks along, and I couldn't get a pair of grey trousers buttoned up on Monday. I had to rig up the button with a rubber band and then safety pin the top of the pants so the tab wouldn't stick out.


I showed Billy my fancy system, and he said it looked "dangerous." He feared that some time during the day I would end up with my pants around my ankles, but it all held up okay. I guess it's time for some stretchy clothes. I have a couple of friends that have offered up some pieces so I'll start collecting a new wardrobe this week.


I currently wear my workout clothes as soon as I get home. My neighbors must see me dressed to exercise everyday when I'm walking around with Winnie and wonder why I look like I'm always being active but seem to be packing on pounds. They'll figure it out when I show for real.

I took my nap today around 1:30-2:30, which worked out better than the late afternoon nap. My stinkin' job really interferes with my nap schedule some days. Today, I "worked from home" in the afternoon, which gave me the flexibility to get my snooze time done earlier. I didn't feel quite so much like I was dragging the rest of the evening.

Today, for the first time, my appetite has diminished. Some things that I typically really like just don't sound as appealing to me anymore. I'm afraid that the next step is that I may start getting sick. Yuck.

To tell or not to tell

So now that I'm pregnant, and I'm beyond excited, I want to tell everyone. However, I know that most people don't tell until they are 12 weeks. I don't know what to do about this. I've had to tell some people just because they wonder what is up with me lately.

Like today, I was taking my usual afternoon nap and Billy left to go to the office for a couple of hours. He ran into a neighbor of ours outside, and she asked where I was, and he told her I was asleep inside. Well, I went to take Winnie out a few hours later and she was outside again walking her dog. She asked if I was okay because Billy told her I was sleeping, and she didn't think I was the napping type. I didn't know what to say so I told her I was pregnant. I didn't want to lie. She was really happy for me and said she had a feeling I was because she saw me out with Winnie yesterday and said I looked different. She said she couldn't tell exactly what it was, but that my stomach looked fuller or rounder, and she sensed something different about me. Isn't that weird?

Last week, we met with a new realtor that is going to list our condo, and she was asking why we wanted to move. Billy said, "Well, we are just ready to go. Leslie, I don't know if you want to expand on that." The lady turned and looked at me, and I had to say, "I'm pregnant." I didn't know how else to "expand" on that.

So, I feel like I'm telling all of these people I don't really know that well, but we are not telling some of our friends who we know well, but who aren't that close. I don't know where to draw the line.

It's especially hard during this time of year because we are going to so many parties and seeing so many friends, acquaintances, co-workers, etc., and they see that I'm not drinking my usual 2 glasses of white wine, but I don't want to blab it out yet.

Speaking of which, we went to a party that one of Billy's co-workers threw last night. We were talking to this guy Billy used to work with, and I picked up some veggies from the table and was munching on them as we spoke. The guy looked at me, and said, "You must be pregnant. That's why you are eating all that healthy crap." My response was, "I eat like this all the time." That is not a lie. I am a healthy eater, but I almost choked up my carrot stick.

The other part of keeping this secret is the freakin' progesterone shot. I have to get it every night around 9. On Friday night, we went to see a movie, and Billy had to give me the shot in a parking lot near the movie theatre. Then, on Saturday night, we were at the party I mentioned above, and we had to go out to the car for him to give me the shot again. The people who threw the party live in a loft near Virginia Highlands, and the whole place is open. There was nowhere to go for privacy. It would have looked too kinky for us to go into the bathroom together. Just as he was about to give me the shot, some guy he knows pulled up next to us in his car, and we had to pretend like we were looking around in the car for something. Billy said that I lost my cell phone, and we were checking to see if I dropped it in the car.

It's getting close to 9 p.m. now so I have to go prep the shot and get my pajamas on. My nap didn't cut it for me today. I need more sleep!

HCG is on the rise

I had to have my HCG, progesterone, and estrogen levels checked today again. My HCG was up to 2,699. The value is expected to double about every 48 hours so I am right on target. The nurse referred to my level as "awesome." She was telling me about when she gave Billy the good news on Tuesday and how cute he was. She said she could tell he was trying to hide that he was getting emotional, but she knew. She said it was so touching that she almost started to cry.

The other hormone levels were also right on target, which means I have to keep up my medicine regimen-estrace (orally & vaginally twice daily), progesterone shot in the butt every night, baby aspirin, and pre-natal vitamin. I just added Expecta, which is a vitamin that contains DHA. This is an omega-3 fatty acid that is important for the baby's brain and eye development. I want a smart baby!

My ob/gyn told me several years ago when we started trying that DHA is a great supplement because some research has shown that first borns may get the reputation for being smarter because they leech up all the DHA. Then, if a woman doesn't replenish her levels before the next baby comes along, the next one doesn't get as much.

Liane talked to the doctor yesterday about her situation. It turns out that some of her eggs had the same genetic abnormalities as mine did. The doctor said that if she wanted to have more than one additional child, she should begin trying immediately. However, if she only wants one more, she has some time because she does have some good eggs left. She's going to talk it over with Jason, and they will decide what to do. I guess everything does happen for a reason, and at least she now knows her options. She would not have had these insights into her future fertility if she had not gone through this process.

As for me, I'm pretty tired in the evenings. I usually lie down on the couch around 6:30 and don't get up again until I have to. I think I'm going to cook big pots of stuff this weekend so that I don't have to deal with it throughout the week. I had leftovers from book club that we just reheated most of this week so I think I'll stick with that plan.

I'm also insanely hungry! I want to eat all of the time. Sometimes, my appetite frightens me. I've trained for marathons and not eaten like this before. Right now, I'm doing hardly any activity, but I'm starving. The nurse gave me permission to walk, but she added, "I know what you are like. I'm not saying you can do any marathon walking, but a leisurely stroll is fine." I just want to be able to take Winnie out for a 30 minute walk 3 or 4 days a week. I got permission for that.

I'm still having the same problem with sleeping as I was before I found out I was pregnant. I fall right to sleep at night, but I wake up a couple of times and have a hard time falling back to sleep. This morning, I woke up around 3 a.m. for about 30 minutes, and then again at 5 a.m. At that point, I tossed and turned until 6:30. Then, I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until 8. I need more uninterrupted sleep.

I guess my only other symptom is that I am gassy. I'm not farting, but I burp a lot. Billy claims it's not abnormal for me to be a belching machine, but I usually only burp a bunch when I drink carbonated beverages. The last few days, there has been no correlation between carbonated stuff and burping. I wish Billy's gassiness was only burping.;)

I return to the doctor next Friday to check all of my hormones again. If anything comes up between now and then, I'll post an update.

The story

Sorry for not posting last night. I had to clean up after book club, and I didn't finish up until 11:30. By that time, I was exhausted.

So back to yesterday. I went in to the doctor's office at 9:30 for blood work. Everyone there knows when it's your big day, and they all wish you luck as you visit each desk from the receptionist, to the lady who draws the blood, to the lady in billing who takes all our money. Anyway, I was just trying not to get my hopes up. The nurse said she would be in touch later in the afternoon with my results. I had to go in to the office for a couple of hours for a meeting so I figured I would find out when I got home in the early afternoon.

Billy took the day off yesterday so that he could be there with me to celebrate if it was good news or just support me if it was bad. Therefore, he was at home while I was at my meeting. When I finished up my meeting, I went back to my cubicle and saw that I had a missed call from the doctor's office. They had called at 11:45. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. I called Billy and told him I missed their call. We decided I would come home and wait for the call with him.

I got back home around 1:45, and Billy wasn't around. I called him on his cell, and he said he had run to pick up a package I ordered from Ace Hardware, and he would be home shortly. When he arrived, he came inside and asked me if I could help him bring in the package. I told him that I was not allowed to do any heavy lifting until I knew my results from the test. He said the package was light but awkwardly shaped. I reluctantly agreed to go help him.

As we were walking out to the car, I saw that there were flowers in the back of our SUV. I assumed they were for support, which I thought was sweet. I thought they would have a note about how he loved me no matter what the results of the test were, blah, blah, blah. Well, he opened the back of the car, and he had the movie "Knocked Up" propped up against the flowers. I was confused because he told me that the movie "Super Bad" was coming out today, and that he was going to run out to Target immediately to buy it. I was like, "Why did you buy the wrong movie? I thought you were getting 'Super Bad'." He said, "Congratulations, Mommy!" I was so confused. I started crying and so did he. I couldn't believe it.

It turns out that when our nurse couldn't reach me on my cell number, she called home, and Billy was there. He answered the phone and got the good news, but he didn't want to tell me over the phone! What an amazing surprise!

Anyway, here's some additional information he picked up from the nurse. The pregnancy hormone that they measure is HcG. A normal, healthy level for being 4 weeks pregnant is above 50. My level was 618.5! Having a level that high could be indicative of multiples. I'm so excited! I have to go back again on Friday and next week to re-check all of my levels. Then, the week after next, we'll get to have an ultrasound to see how many of those little suckers stuck!

I called Liane immediately after Billy told me to thank her for the amazing gift she gave us. Without her, we would not have been able to get to this point. I make fun of her dirtiness a lot, but I love her and am so grateful for what she has done for us. Billy said to tell her that they made a good mix. :)

Billy and I are so just so happy, and we know that many of you have been saying your prayers and thinking about us, and we want to also thank you. I told Billy that this whole process is about a mix of faith, science, magic, and luck. You all have definitely provided more than enough faith to get us through it all! Keep it up in the coming months. We will definitely need your prayers and support if this turns out to be triplets!

I DO want to know

I do want to know because it's POSITIVE! We got our bigs news today. We are having a baby or two, or three! We are thrilled.

I'm going to post the whole story later tonight, but I'm hosting book club in a few hours, and I haven't done much prep because I've been on the phone for hours. I need to get ready for that, but I'll get up a late night post about how we found out, when, etc.

I've attached a little picture as a teaser for the story.

I don't want to know

As the date for my pregnancy test approaches, I have begun to think that I don't even want to know what it going on. I'm so afraid of getting a negative result that I would rather just pretend like I might be pregnant for a while longer than know one way or the other.

I have had a few positive signs. First of all, I'm really tired. It may just be the hormones, but it's getting worse. I took a nap today on the couch after sleeping 9 hours last night. It's currently a little after 8 p.m., and I'm thinking about getting ready for bed. I love me some sleep, but this is ridiculous.

Also, on Friday night, Billy and I had to run an errand, and when I saw a Chick-Fil-A, I HAD to have a lemonade. It was the strongest craving for anything I've ever had. Several women who have been pregnant have told me since then that they craved lemons during their first trimester. Is this a sign?

I can't keep obsessing over these little things and not know. My answer is coming soon.