Nursery Progress (mainly picture post)

We are getting there with the nursery.


BEFORE

After painting

With chair rail and a crib

Our Boston helping us decide on crib mattress height...LOL

Girl Bedding (not our room)

Boy Bedding (not our room)

Boys' letters of their first name. The dots will be painted blue and then hung over each of their cribs

Girl's letter w/ dots painted

21 weeks

Your babies now weigh about three-quarters of a pound and are approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like they're practicing martial arts as their initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to their activity as you get to know them better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Appointment Update

We had a cervical check and growth ultrasound today.
My cervix is great, long and closed like it needs to be.
The babies look great! Baby A (girl) is measuring about 4 days ahead of our due date and is topping the scales at 15 oz. Her brothers are right at our due date and are both weighing in at 13 oz. Babies B & C (boys) were kicking each other like crazy during the ultrasound, it was cute but it also makes sense why I'm so uncomfortable on my left side. I have two baby heads (the boys) poking me on my left side (see 3rd pic) and right under the left ribs are 4 baby feet (see 2nd pic). Baby A (girl) is laying low right above my pelvis. She's active but not like her brothers.

Here are some pics:

All three heads

"You don't plan to breastfeed do you?"

I get this ALL the time. The answer is yes, I plan to breastfeed and hope that I can do it successfully for all three of the babies for the first 6 months at least. I know I will be a milking machine for awhile but that's OK because it's what's best for the babies (so so much cheaper than formula). We took a Breastfeeding Multiples class this morning and it was so informative. Not only for multiple moms but for someone like me who hasn't even breast fed in her life and needs to basics of how to.

All the other couples in the class were having twins and when they asked if I was going back to work they were shocked when I said yes. I will be honest, I have never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I know that may change when I have the babies but I don't know. I do wish that I could take longer than the 8 weeks given to me for maternity leave after they are born but we're both teachers and simply cannot afford it. Besides they will be taken care of by my mom and MIL when I go back and we live about 5 minutes away if I need to come home.

OK, I digress, back to the class...
it really was great but I have to say DH and I left there a little scared on how we're going to do this but I know we will make it work because there isn't any other way. I guess it just seemed so much more real with 3 dolls piled on my lap:)

Growth scan on Monday, can't wait to get a look at the little ones again.

20 week belly pic & update

Things are going well. I am definitely feeling tired and need to rest a lot more in the last couple weeks. I have started to feel little flutters in my belly when they are moving around. It is mainly when I am laying down, laying on one side and change to the other side. It is crazy to think those are our babies! The flutters have gotten more and more frequent just in the last couple days so I'm sure in no time I will be getting kicked and punched from every direction. My next Dr. appointment is Monday but so far everything looks great and there are no signs of pre-term labor (knock on wood).

I will leave you with this week's pic, not as great as the last one in Mexico but the belly is definitely growing!

20 weeks!!

Your babies weigh about 10 1/2 ounces now. They're also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, they're measured from head to toe.)

They're swallowing more these days, which is good practice for their digestive system. They're also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in their bowels, and you'll see it in their first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Average NICU time

I was on the MOST website and I found this information very helpful to give me a guess as to how long our babies might have to stay in the NICU after they're born. My doc thinks I can make it to 36-37 weeks!

Average days in the NICU by Multiple Type and Gestation

Gestation......Triplets
<25 weeks......60.8 days
25 weeks......113.5 days
26 weeks......90.0 days
27 weeks......82.0 days
28 weeks......55.2 days
29 weeks......46.9 days
30 weeks......39.6 days
31 weeks......30.7 days
32 weeks......22.6 days
33 weeks......16.8 days
34 weeks......11.4 days
35 weeks......6.2 days
36 weeks......3.0 days
37 weeks......3.5 days
38 weeks......9.3 days

*Note: Hospital stays for infants born after 35 weeks may vary depending on the size and overall health of the babies.