blessing after blessing...

Clif and I both feel...incredibly blessed. In these past few months, God has given us SO much to be grateful for. First, the gift of pregnancy. After losing Lilly, I honestly didn't know if I would ever become pregnant again. So pregnancy in itself was a huge blessing. Then we were doubly blessed when we found that we were expecting twins. A week later, God caught us by surprise once again. Pregnant with TRIPLETS. We couldn't believe it...too good to be true. :)


I've done a lot of thinking these past three weeks. It had been three whole weeks since I saw our three babies and their little blinking heart beats. Three weeks since I fell head over heels in love with our precious blessings. But three weeks is a long time. I kept thinking, a lot can go wrong in three weeks. With much prayer, I kept most of these negative thoughts at bay - but of course, just like every other situation... there were always a few lurking in the dark waiting to jump out and grab me. I've been really anxious these last few days...the anticipation enough to KILL me. But as we were driving to the doctors office, I felt a peace. For the first time in weeks, I really felt like everything was going to be okay.

At one thirty, the ultrasound tech, V, came to get us from the waiting room. We went into her TINY (and I do mean tiny) room and I plopped myself up on the table. V asked if I had been given a due date by Dr S. I told her no, and that I was fairly certain that I was 9 weeks 5 days pregnant. She plugged in all my numbers and dates, and sure enough - I was right on the money. And so were our three little Skittle's. All three babies measured exactly nine weeks and five days. Fluid levels are good, and all three babies are very active. Especially Baby A (I think that s/he really liked the grilled chicken with honey mustard that I had eaten for lunch!).

I have to say that there is absolutely nothing like hearing your babies heart beat for the first time. It has to be the most magical feeling in the world. Definitely on the top of my favorite things to listen to. I always love to hear about girls that are pregnant for the first time going to the doctor and hearing the heart beat. It seriously just melts you. I cried. Three times :) Everytime V let us listen to another heart beat, all I could do was send up silent praises and let the tears roll down my cheeks. I had been so scared... and there were all three of my babies, unharmed, and doing wonderfully! Speaking of heart rates... I have to tell you that I think we are having two girls and a boy, or very possibly three girls. Ha! Clif says two boys and a girl. The only reason that I am leaning towards more girls than boys is because of how fast their little hearts were beating. Baby A's was at the top with 188bpm, Baby B was right behind at 185bpm, and Baby C was right there with them at 178bpm. Amazing :) Oh, and did I mention how excited V & Dr G both were that all three babies have their own sacks...and their own placentas? V said that since they have their own placentas, that we shouldn't have to worry about all three babies fighting for survival, if you will :) They all have their own source of food. Of course, she said that in some rare cases they will try and steal from each other - but it isn't likely. That made us REALLY happy.

I think that the best part of being in the room with V was that we are fairly sure that she is a Christian. She's always been very sweet, and I've never heard her say an ill word - but yesterday was great. Right when she was about to start the ultrasound - she asked if we just had the one baby at home. I explained to her (again) that our last pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth at 41 weeks. She immediately apologized for not remembering - and I assured her that it wasn't her fault. I mean, imagine how many patients she sees. She couldn't possibly remember them all. Anyway...Clif told him that we had been praying for a long time, and that God had really blessed us. She went on saying that God had very special ways of blessing us, and that God is good :) It was so nice to have that little connection with her.

My appointment with Dr G was supposed to be at 2:15. Well apparently, one of his patients was in labor at the hospital - so he had to go and see how she was progressing. Which meant I didn't get to see Dr G until *almost* 3:30. But that's okay. I kind of thought that it might be a slightly negative appointment...ya know, Dr G discussing all the risks and such. But it wasn't like that AT ALL. It was wonderful. He was SO positive and upbeat about almost everything. We could really tell that he was genuinely excited for us. It made me feel really good. And he had really good stories to tell us about his last set of triplets. He delivered them in December... and the mother made it to THIRTY EIGHT WEEKS. Can you imagine?

Of course it really just depends on how the babies progress and grow. If they start to run out of room, they will go ahead and take them. Otherwise, as long as I am fairly healthy and my blood pressure is good... they will let me carry as long as possible, up to 36-37 weeks. More than likely, the way Dr G talks... he seems to think that they will probably get too big to carry, or that I may go into labor early. Just depends :) Either way I am really looking forward to meeting our little ones in person!

Oh, and the blood pressure issue. *insert smile here* Dr G put my heart and mind at ease, which was nice for once. He said that in the first trimester, elevated blood pressure really doesn't pose any threat. Also, he said that it normally drops back down in the second trimester and then back up in the third. With my history, and the last pregnancy... he decided to put me back on the Labatelol that Dr W put me on for anxiety attacks :) Just 100mg, once a day. He said that should be plenty for now... to take it first thing in the morning, and that it should get me through the day while at work. And by the time it wears off I will be home off my feet anyway. So he wants to see me again in two weeks to check and see how my body is reacting to the meds.

For once, in a long time... I am happy. Really happy. Again, I feel so incredibly blessed I can barely contain it. And I can't believe that we're going to have THREE babies. Oh and FYI - my official due date is September 14th :) Which, we all know that I won't make it to then... but it's nice to have.

Now I will shut up so you can enjoy some pictures of our little angels :) Thanks to each of you for your love, support, and prayers!!