I am now the mother of 3!

The past week has flown by. Adjusting to being the mother of 3 has been difficult, seeing as I've had to heal from major surgery and up my activity level considerably after having been on modified bed rest for months. Between taking care of my babies, I'm also trying to get settled in to a new house. So much to do and so little time, but I need to get you all the information you've been waiting for. I'll start with the delivery day and get you through the first week.


Last Friday (7/11), Billy and I left our home for the last time as just a couple. We headed off to drop our only child until then (Winnie) off at doggy day care for the day. Yes, it's ridiculous that we use such a service from time to time, but she loves it, and it exhausts her, which makes everyone happy. She was going to be spending the rest of the weekend at the Wagner Kennel (Alice & Kibby's house), and we wanted her to be tired so she would be invited back.


After doggy day care, we were off to Piedmont Hospital. When I arrived, everyone already knew who I was..."the triplet mom who had made it to 36 weeks!" They took me to a room and got me prepped for surgery. I was pretty nervous because I wasn't sure what to expect. They started off with getting in an IV and setting up 3 monitors on my belly for the babies' heart rates and an additional one for contractions. I had removed my terbutaline pump that morning, and when I arrived at the hospital, I was contracting. I guess that medicine was really doing its job!


Billy took the picture in the previous post of me in my hospital gown right before everything else started. I had no idea how huge I was at that point until I looked at the picture. That was quite a belly.

Anyway, they walked me to the operating room at around 12:10. Yes, I walked there...meaning they gave me no drugs before I walked in. I thought that surely they would give me a little something to take the edge off, but I got nada! It was really weird to walk into an operating room with no drugs in my system whatsoever.

I sat up on the table and the anesthesiologist started my epidural. That was a breeze. Then, my lower body went numb, and they moved my legs up on to the operating table. They put up a drape in front of me so I couldn't see the nasty stuff that was about to happen to my body. The nurse anesthetist told me that he wouldn't tie down my arms if I promised not to reach down to where they were working on me. Was he nuts? YUCK! Why would I want to touch anything that was happening down there? He said that some ladies just went out of their minds and did it without thinking. I told him he didn't have to worry about me doing that.

I don't know what was going on where the doctors were working, but at around 12:25, they went to get Billy and bring him in the room. He walked in, and we chatted for a few minutes. After a couple of minutes, a parade of people showed up in the room. There were 2 people assigned to each baby (nurse and respiratory therapist). That was 6 people in our case, plus our doctor, the assisting doctor, anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetic, 2 or 3 scrub nurses, and a few other random people dressed in scrubs. It was a big party in the operating room!

Ten minutes later, Dr. Kleiss told Billy to stand up and look over the curtain because our babies were coming! I thought there was going to be some pain, but I felt nothing. Abby came first, and Billy said, "There's one of the girls. She's huge!" Then, Marie and Will followed her just a minute later. It was absolutely amazing and surreal. Since I couldn't feel the lower half of my body, it seemed like the babies had just appeared out of nowhere. I only got to see them briefly before they took them away to wash them up. Billy went with our new little ones, and I had to stay behind to get put back together again.

It was the strangest sensation to have stay on that operating table after my babies had been born. The doctors were chatting to each other about where they went to dinner, their husbands, and a bunch of other day in, day out stuff. I kept thinking that maybe they should be paying more attention to what they were doing. At one point, my doctor looked over the curtain at me and told me I would feel some pressure because they were going to put my uterus back in. I didn't even know they had pulled it out. What else did they have out of place?

After they finished up in the operating room, they toted me off to a recovery room. I had to stay there for about 2 hours. I felt okay initially, but after a few minutes, I started vomiting and got the shakes. During that time, visitors were allowed to come and see me 2 at a time. Everyone who came back kept telling me how beautiful the babies were, and I was dying to see them again.

All of my family and Billy's, along with a good bit of extended family was at the hospital for my big day. They were all being called the "triplet paparazzi" because of the excitement and commotion they caused and, of course, all of the pictures they took. The Cubans are a loud and crazy group!

When I was finally feeling better, I was moved to a regular hospital room, and they brought in the babies. I was so happy to be together with them and Billy as a family. It was a wonderful feeling. Billy had to introduce me to Abby and Marie and show me how he was telling them apart. I always thought that newborns all look the same, but right away, I could tell that Abby and Marie were very different. Will was his own little man also. We keep saying that he looks like a cross between a little, old man and a chicken.

We remained in the hospital until Tuesday. Although I was stunned that I felt nothing in the operating room, I was even more stunned by the amount of post-surgery pain. It was terrible once that epidural ran off. I was taking 2 Percocet every 4 hours plus 800 mg Ibuprofen every 6 hours, and I was still hurting. I was near death every time I had to get up from the hospital bed to go to the bathroom on Saturday. It was also painful to just move around in bed. I felt like all of my organs were swimming around in jelly inside of me, unattached to whatever they were supposed to attach to. At one point, I rolled on my side at night and felt like something was going to fall out of the side of my incision. However, by Sunday and Monday, I was feeling a little better.

While we were at the hospital, we took advantage of the situation to get some rest. We sent the babies off to the nursery at night and slept well. My milk had not come in yet so we were trying to get them to suck and then supplementing for formula. They immediately became pooping machines, which was not surprising with parents like us!

I was stunned by how quickly by body started changing. I had a coffee aversion throughout my entire pregnancy, but when I woke up the day after having the babies, I was thinking that coffee sounded good. Also, I enjoyed my freedom from lactose intolerance during my pregnancy, but the first time I had milk post-pregnancy, my symptoms returned. It's all so weird!

I can hear one of the babies crying so I have to cut this off. However, I will try to finish up the entry in the next couple of days...no promises, though.

Introducing the Zeigler Triplets!

A quick entry for now to get you up to speed. We'll have more photos and details when we get home!

Everyone came along right on schedule Friday afternoon, July 11th. Not sure it could have gone any smoother. Here's the basic info:

(listed in order of appearance)
Abigail Eileen (Abby): 5 lbs., 14 oz.
Marie Liane (Marie): 5 lbs., 3 oz.
William Roland (Will): 5 lbs., 6 oz.

All terrific weights for triplets. Amazingly, all three went straight to the normal nursery here at the hospital (as opposed to the neonatal intensive care unit)...apparently this is completely unheard of, so we're thrilled. If all continues to go this well, the three amigos along with mom will be ready to come home tomorrow. As you'll see, Leslie did a wonderful job "cookin'" these babies (as she like to say). They're absolutely beautiful.

The doctors and nurses have been terrific here at Piedmont. If it's possible, I think some of the staff might be more excited than we are to see 36 week triplets with no need for the NICU! (But trust me, we're much more excited than they are.)

Thanks to everyone for all your love, support, calls, texts, emails, and kind thoughts.

(Sorry we couldn't get these pics up sooner, but we quickly realized we had the camera and laptop, nut were missing the USB cable to connect the two. I had to run back home quickly, so here's a few of my favorite photos from days 1 & 2! Enjoy. Of course, many many more to come...)

The final countdown

Hi everyone! I'm back for what will probably be my final entry before the arrival of our trio. My feet are getting worse every day, which I didn't think was possible, so I'll have to make this a quick update.

First of all, it's great to be in the new house. Thank you to everyone who helped us move and all the peeps who continue to drop by to help almost daily. There is really nothing I can do around here to settle in. It's incredibly frustrating, but I know it's what is best for the babies.

The babies' room is probably the most close to finished room in the whole house. I'll ask Billy to take some pictures of it and post them here, along with a finally picture of my belly. I know everyone wants to see how huge I am at this point. It's pretty impressive and disgusting. I never thought I could possibly stretch as much as I have.

Winnie seems to be settling in well here. She has so much space in and outside. However, she is almost always at my side. I was just in the bathroom brushing my teeth, and she was waiting patiently outside the door. Then, I walked into the room we are going to use as an office, and she followed me in and is now asleep at my feet.

I'm only allowed up and down the stairs once a day. Therefore, I am going to descend in a few minutes, and I will not be back until tonight when Billy comes home to help push me up. Last night, I was out of breath for 5 minutes after climbing up the stairs.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support! We are so excited that the babies are coming soon. Although, I have to admit that I'm also a little scared. That's normal, though, right?

On the Books

Leslie got a call from her OB this morning, and was informed that her C-section has officially been scheduled for next Friday, July 11th at high noon. So that looks to be THE day. This brings about some serious t-shirt and paraphernalia options for the trips.

The doctor also made a point to prep Leslie for the celebrity treatment she will likely receive among the hospital's labor and delivery staff -- a 36-week triplet birth is almost unheard of!

Of Renovations, Moving, and Pending Babies

First and foremost, no babies yet. With the move, our computer (and accompanying internet) access has been lacking for a few days, so Leslie hasn't had a chance to give any updates. I figured I'd send out a quick update from my office while I could.

Leslie and the three amigos are doing great. We had what looks to be our last visit to the perinatologist (the high-risk doctor) today. She continued to give Leslie all kinds of well-deserved kudos for having such an amazing triplet pregnancy.

Each of the babies measured in at over 5 pounds today. Wow! Much better than we ever expected. Weight varied a little between all three, but with it being so much more difficult to get good readings through the ultrasound as they get bigger, we'll just stick with "around 5 pounds" for now.

The doctor also said that it will be no more than 10 days from now that we bring the trips into the world. So let Baby Watch '08 officially begin!

We closed on the condo yesterday, and all went smoothly! That was so relieving to finally get behind us and be able to move forward with the new house, which Leslie just saw for the first time since before we put an offer down. We were also able to sleep there for the first time last night.

Speaking of the new house, in the past week and a half, we've painted just about every wall and ceiling, done a semi-remodel of the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, partially flooded the basement (and subsequently shop-vac'd it dry), got all the trim and woodwork painted, partially set up the nursery, and then finally moved all of our stuff in on Saturday and Sunday.

On that note, I need to thank everyone who has been helping us get everything prepped and ready over there. The help has been beyond invaluable, and I can't begin to express how grateful I am of the willingness of people to give of their time and sweat. My dad has been there every single day and night that I have, working his tail off. He has been an amazing right-hand man. Can't imagine this without him. Mems has unpacked what seems like every box in the house and cleaned all the cabinets, set up the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, and bathrooms. She even convinced Leslie to let her wheel her around in a wheel chair and take her furniture shopping on Saturday! Rolando has done a little of everything: packing, painting, running truckloads of our junk from his basement, and anything else we need. Maureen made us dinner for what seems like a month straight. Alice, Kibby, and Drew have painted walls and doors for us, given Leslie a place to take refuge from the craziness, and watched after Winnie. All while under going serious drama with their own big-time house renovation. Paul and Vivian created the nursery, schlepped boxes around, and did a lot of unpacking and getting things settled. Of course, I'm missing a ton of what these people have done, but my memory's a little shot lately, so I hope you get the picture!

To everyone else that's helped paint and lug around our furniture the last two weekends, thanks so much. Leslie's cousin Kelly painted all weekend long. Steve Harding spent almost an entire Saturday painting our walls and ceilings and drinking as much beer as we could provide. Mark Morris and TJ Hart not only painted for the bulk of a Saturday, but also came back to help move all of our stuff the next week. Anyway, I could go on and on (and already have), but thanks again to all of our laborers: Bill Wileman, Wes and Becky Neece, Mike Lott, Eric and Jennifer Cheek, Jeff O'Connor, Brent Rea, Spencer Koch, John Elliott, Rob Conners, and of course, Joe "Pops" Sce.

Finally, I know a lot of people are hoping for a final picture of Leslie before d-day. I'll see what I can do.

Not again

After throwing up excessively until I was 15 1/2 weeks pregnant, I thought (or hoped) I would never barf again. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Last night, I started feeling a little queasy around 6. It's not unusual for me to feel crappy in the evenings because I get so tired and uncomfortable. I just thought it was more of the same.

However, at around 10, I felt the urgent need to vomit. This was rather unfortunate since I was on the couch, and the nearest toilet was all the way in our bedroom. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I could sprint to the bathroom to throw up, but I'm not exactly a "quick mover" any more. Therefore, all I could think about as I waddled full speed to the bathroom was that I was going to lose it on the carpet, and we were going to have to get it professionally cleaned before the closing on Monday. Can you tell I'm a little stressed about making sure we unload this condo?

You will all be happy to know that I made it into the bathroom, but then, the next problem was being able to kneel in front of the toilet to be able to actually barf. This is no easy task with a belly as large as mine. I was able to manage, but it was incredibly uncomfortable. As soon as I was in position, I proceeded to throw up violently 4 or 5 times. It was ugly!

I called my ob and was told that something was going around. She thought it was just a little stomach bug and that it would pass, but she told me that if I didn't feel better by early this afternoon, I needed to go to the hospital for iv fluids. I figured that if I landed in the hospital at this point in the pregnancy, they would probably keep me there for good, and I'm not quite ready for that. I'm happy to report, though, that I am much better now. I guess I need to rehydrate and eat a little something for the babies.

The babies are still in there

It's been a while since I posted so some people started contacting me to see if these babies had arrived or are even close. The answers are no and no! They still haven't arrived, and it looks like it will be at least another week.

I saw the last doctor in my ob's practice that I needed to meet today. She said she had heard all about my "rock star cervix," and she was impressed with my pregnancy. She asked if I had any other major problems besides "elephantitis of the feet." That's how huge they are! The other day, Drew said to me, "No offense, but your feet are really gross." I had gained 8 lbs since last week, but the nurse assured me that it was probably mostly fluid retention. Is it possible that my feet each weigh an additional 4 lbs? They might. I can barely eat so I know it's not from calorie intake.

My dad took me to my appointment today, and I had on flip flops. The little strap on top was totally cutting into my feet, and I think my dad was appalled by it. He became obsessed with buying me a new pair of shoes. He decided to take me to CVS and treat me to a fancy new pair of generic Crocs. Those feel much better than the flip flops. Thanks, dad!

Next week, I head back to my perinatologist on Tuesday and my regular ob on Thursday. I'm hoping I have at least some cervical action on Tuesday so that they will start to consider when they will rip these babies out. I just want to know when I'll be able to breathe again and fit into regular shoes.

Progress on the house continues. Billy is there every day working or supervising workers. I'm not even going to recognize the place when I get there...especially since I've only really seen it twice anyway. We still need some furniture, and I'm thinking of going to Macy's furniture outlet on Saturday. Mems already looked into renting me a wheelchair. Yes, it's embarrassing, but what are you going to do? Billy wanted to me to ride in a wheelchair to my last perinatologist appointment. He kept trying to get me to sit in one. I think he just wanted to push me around and pop wheelies. I stayed upright and walked into the doctor's office with my dignity intact, but I may take him up on it at my next appointment because of these feet. I'm off to elevate them, as usual.