Well, you asked for it. I can't believe she agreed to it. This is Carrie's belly at 23 weeks and 2 days. I snapped this photo a few minutes ago during the Red Sox game. Carrie decided that we have not been documenting the pregnancy enough. I reminded her that she was the one that wasn't really excited about documenting the growth of her belly. So, we took this picture and there you have it.Today we went to see Dr. Handcock. He was excited to see Carrie and find out how things are going. Turns out, things are going great. The first thing he did was measure her belly. He said this was "just for fun". Apparently, it had no medical relevance, but he was curious. He told us that Carrie's belly at 23 weeks is about the size of the belly of a woman carrying one child at 34 weeks. Amazing.
Next we got down to the business of looking at the boys. I have to be honest with you. Up until this point, the sonograms basically looked like shadows and blobs to me. I mean I could make out body parts and what not, but they never really came into focus as far as I was concerned. That all changed today. We have names picked out, and we told Dr. Handcock what they are. He instantly started referring to each of them by their name. He said, "Look here at _____'s face." Just then, the boy turned towards the camera and there was his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. Wow. This is happening. I freaked out a little. That's my boy. Looking right at me. Well, he probably wasn't looking at me. He was probably floating around and not thinking about much of anything. Maybe he was doing Calculus. I don't know, but his face was so perfect, and I got really excited about all the fun we are going to have.
After we checked out all the boys and determined that things could not possibly be going any better, we talked a bit to the Doctor about what was coming next. He explained that Carrie will probably start feeling contractions at any point, which she has been. We talked about where the babies will be born and how that will work. Basically, if she can carry the boys for 13 more weeks, we will be golden. As of right now, they can live outside her body (with a lot of help of course) which is crazy. The boys will probably be born in Temple, Texas. This is where Scott and White have their NICU. NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There has to be a whole team of people in place to deliver them. There will definitely be a C-Section. They have to be very careful not to leave a wrist watch or something in there after the delivery.
Today was also weird for a few other reasons. Our first appointment was at 10:45 for lab work. Carrie had to drink this Orange stuff and not eat anything prior to having blood drawn this morning. So, we had a hungry pregnant woman on our hands. I got up really early and went to the farm to do some work before the appointment. All morning I could not catch my breath. Several times I found myself on one knee literally gasping for air. What was this? I didn't drink that much last night. Why am I so short of breath? When it was time to leave, I got Tess in the truck and had to sit there for a minute. I then drove home and had this conversation:
Mike: I have been having trouble breathing all morning.
Carrie: Me too! I can't catch my breath.
Mike: What is it?
Carrie: I don't know.
After we went to the Doctor, I went back to the farm and continued to work. After a while, I sent Carrie a text.
Mike Text: I'm having Acid Reflux really bad.
Carrie Text: So am I.
Mike Text: Can you take something for it so mine goes away?
Carrie: Okay.
That's right! I'm having sympathy pains and it's seriously weird and freaking me out! One day a few weeks ago Carrie was really tired and in turn, I was exhausted. Now I know why.
So, as I type this, I have Acid Reflux so bad I don't even want to drink beer. I may have to chew some of Carrie's Tums. This is ridiculous. Will I have sympathy contractions? I do not do well with pain at all. I can't handle much pain. I admit it freely. Guys suck at pain. If I cut my finger it's like the end of the world.
My brother passed out in the delivery room during the birth of his second child.
"We have a Dad down. We have a Dad down."
That's what they say when the Dad passes out. They have to rush someone in to deal with Dad while Mom is having the baby. They may have to have a Doctor on hand specifically for me. I may end up in the hospital bed beside Carrie.
That will be embarrassing.
On another note, Carrie and I really appreciate all of your comments. Please feel free to post a comment and offer your story or advice. We read them all, but we just don't have time to respond to everyone. Also, please post a link to Rolling For Trips on your Facebook or personal web page.
Stay Tuned.
8 comments:
first off, i see lots of baby proofing that you'll being doing in the near future! (cords, and electronics that will be pulled over for certain)
second, i delivered at 28 weeks and my twin boys were in NICU for 67 days... park her butt on the couch and bake those babies. You don't want to be in NICU for a long time with babies struggling daily to live.
third, there is an AMOM that delivered and had a lot of NICU time at your Temple hospital if you'd like to talk with her at any point.
I am so glad you posted the picture of your belly, Carrie!! This whole time, I have been trying to imagine the size of a pregnant belly carrying THREE Babies!! You look absolutely amazing!!! I am loving the blogs....I go from tears to laughter and back to tears each time I read them!! You two seem like such a down to earth amazing team. Your 3 sweet little guys are so blessed to have you as parents!!
My husband almost passed out during my last two deliveries....he was told to go sit on the couch in the delivery room. The nurse was my support!! What's worse is that he actually DID pass out twice during his vasectomy!!! Poor guy!!
Anyway....I am always thinking of you Carrie and I hope someday to meet Mike and the boys!! XOXOXO!!!
Carrie looks great!! Im so happy for you guys. Scott & White is a great hospital that will take excellent care of you! My mom lives in Temple and if you guys need ANYTHING while you're there, be sure to let me know. Good luck, and can't wait to meet them someday.
Love reading your blog!! only small advice I have is take videos if you can - even ones on your cell phone! I have pics from my pregnancy but the night before I had the boys, my husband was playing around with our new video camera and took a video of me when I wasn't paying attention. I saw the video last week and it was so fun to see how I looked vs just seeing a picture of it. You'll love seeing a video later on just showing Carrie walking around.
Good luck!!
What a great blog. I have been reading it since my wife show it to me. We do not have triplets but twins a boy and a girl and I found a lot of my own experience in your post... I have been enjoying your Babies'r us adventure and honestly you have seen nothing yet ... We do shop there fr our twins and have been on the market for our next set of car seat ... wait until you have to test the next set of car seat and that you want to test three of them in the car just to make sure that you can fit them all .... with the three boy running around on the parking lot in the middle of the summer ... trust me you will need a full fridge of beer in your shop to cool down after the first experience ... knowing that you will have to renew it a couple of time as you won't be able to test more than one car seat at a time ....
keep it going and tell us how much weight YOU take .... I did got a few pound just because I had to support my wife while eating all these protein and was taking my fair share of it ....
Thank you so much for putting a picture up of your belly. I have been wondering how big you are and you look great. Does the Dr want you to get to so many weeks before he wants to deliver them? I started having contractions with the twins early too and they had me take a med that reduced the contractions but it made me so jittery and shaky. Once I started having contractions, I think it was around the 30 or so week, I had to be on house rest and couldn't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Gavin bought me a Nintendo DS so I could play Mario Brothers because I was so bored in the house not being able to do anything. The Dr. kept stressing how important it was to keep them in the oven so their lungs would develop. They also gave me steriod shots to speed up the lung development process. I personally think that the delivery, (I didn't have a C-section) was the easiest part of the whole process.
I LOVE your blogs!!!! I find myself wanting to check the computer daily just to find out if your posted anything new. I still think Mike should write a book. Keep up the good work. Take care of yourself Carrie and make everyone else wait on you!!!
Hi Carrie! I just saw this on the SJ-R website but can't get to my FB from work to send you the link. I thought of the five of you immediately! Have only done a little research but can't figure out where it was (in the day). http://www.sj-r.com/photo_galleries/x43870412/Springfield-Memories?photo=13
Hi Guys,
I work with a friend of yours in MN and she told me about your blog. I love reading the entries, brings back a lot of memories! I had triplets in April 2009; I was put on bed rest at 16 weeks and made it to one day shy of 34 weeks. I know the bedrest thing puts a damper on your social (and eating out) life, but it's worth it. This Triple Blessing is nothing short of a miracle. Just remember how blessed you are during the hard times. Sleep deprivation and budget will be a big part of your vocabulary. Best of luck and hang in there. Carrie - your doing awesome and are almost there! Mike - my husband has been there too; Heineken was his official sponsor during our triplet pregnancy : )
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