This Is Real

The day started out like many others. We had a 9:50 a.m. appointment with the high risk pregnancy Doctor whose name is Doctor Jones. I have yet to miss an appointment, and it is my goal to make every single one. I had a plan.

1. Get up at 5:00 a.m.
2. Make no noise so I don't wake up Carrie.
3. Leave the house quietly with the dog.
4. Work at farm until it is time for the appointment.
5. Go back to farm and work.

Sounds simple enough. This is how it worked out.

1. Wake up at 5:00 a.m.
2. Trip on the way out of bed and fall hard against dresser.
3. Stub toe on door.
4. Drop phone.
5. Get dressed quietly in shop while making coffee.
6. Get dog out of bed.
7. Can't find IPOD ear buds which makes work impossible.
8. Search for and finally find IPOD ear buds in shop right where I was getting dressed.
9. In that short amount of time, dog goes to back to bed.
10. Get dog back out of bed.
11. Can't find lid for coffee mug. Make huge racket in kitchen.
12. Can't find favorite work hat.
13. Wander around aimlessly looking for hat.
14. Dog follows for a while then gives up and goes to sleep on couch.
15. Find hat.
16. Get more coffee and shut off all the lights and get ready to leave.
17. Literally fall over wooden T.V. tray that is sitting in front of couch.
18. Tray, contents, Mike, coffee, phone, ear buds, and hat crash to ground.
19. Clean up all the coffee from the floor while cursing.
20. Re-Fill Coffee.
21. Leave house.

We get to the appointment, and Dr. Jones does his sonogram. He is basically measuring the babies, and checking their growth rate ect. He measures their bones and the size of their heads. He looks at their kidneys and their little four chamber hearts. They look really good. They each weigh around 1 pound 10 ounces. At the end, he says to his assistant:

Dr. Jones: Let's take a look at her Cervix. Did we get a measurement on that?

Assistant: Not yet.

Dr. Jones: Let's try to do that real quick.

They have to switch ultrasound devices if you know what I mean, but finally they are able to see exactly what is going on.

Cervical Funneling.

Dr. Jones: Your Cervix is funneling and this is not a good thing.

Carrie: What do we do?

Dr. Jones: Get dressed, and I will come back and we will talk about it.

I am already doing a Google search for it on my phone.

Carrie is scared.

Carrie gets dressed and here comes Dr. Jones.

Dr. Jones: Your cervix is funneling, which means it is opening from the inside out. This happens frequently in triplet pregnancies. I have already called ahead to the hospital in Temple. Go there and check in. They will be expecting you. They are going to give you some magnesium sulfate and some other stuff. They are very good there. I'm sure I will will see you when I get back there. I'm very sorry this is happening.

Carrie starts to cry.

Mike: How freaked out should we be?

Dr. Jones: This is about a 4 on a 10 scale. If it were an emergency, then you would be in an ambulance.

Carrie: So...we can go home and get some stuff before we go to Temple?

Dr. Jones: Yes. Take your time. Just get there.

We head out of the office and to the car.

At this point I know two things.

1. Panic is not an option. Carrie needs to be as calm as possible.
2. Carrie and I are AWESOME at the art of panic.

I realize I have to be completely calm and cool. After the initial shock, Carrie is doing remarkably well. We head home, pack some things, and head to the hospital. On the way, we stop at What-A-Burger. We are both starving, and What-A-Burger is a fine thing to do when one is starving. True Texans love What-A-Burger.

We arrive at the hospital, we both have completely forgotten where Dr. Jones told us to go.

I drop Carrie off and try to find a place to park. There is no parking. Cars are waiting in line. I decide to call Dr. Handcock. Why? Dr. Jones says they are going to give Carrie Magnesium Sulfate. Dr. Handcock had told us that they don't use that anymore. I am confused. I can't find a place to park. Deep down I'm freaking out. I park the car literally as far away as possible from where I dropped off Carrie. On my walk back to where I dropped her off, which was like the Bataan Death March, I pass a valet parking stand. "FREE VALET PARKING". Missed that one. That would have been nice. I just didn't expect valet parking at a hospital. Dr. Handcock calls me.

Dr. Handcock: Where are you? Where is Carrie?

Mike: I have no idea. There's no parking here.

Dr. Handcock: They know you are coming.

Mike: I know. They just didn't reserve us a parking spot. They said Magnesium Sulfate.

Dr. Handcock: I understand why you are confused. I said they have better things for preterm labor, but it is used to help the brain of the babies.

Mike: Okay.

Dr. Handcock: Have you found Carrie?

Mike: No. I have no idea where I am.

Dr. Handcock: You are going to meet some great people. Everything is going to be fine.

He really is a great guy. He called me right back and I truly know that he cares.

I finally find Carrie and after a bit we check into a room. They get a heart monitor on the babies and a contraction detector on Carrie.

Next they give her a steroid shot and put her on an IV. The steroid shot is to help the babies lungs to develop. The IV is filled with Magnesium Sulfate. Now, Magnesium Sulfate is quite the substance. It's like beer. It has many uses.

One use is for agriculture and gardening. In the automotive world, it is used to eliminate sulfate buildup on battery plates.

In the medical world it is used to help stop preterm labor, and studies have shown that it will help prevent cerebral palsy in preterm babies.

So, we have several things going on.

Wife on IV.

Wife on steroids.

Terms like "lung development" and "cerebral palsy" flying around.

They do another ultrasound on the boys. They are doing awesome.

Okay.

What's the story?

What's the score?

Well, we have no idea and neither do they.

Here is what we know;

1. Carrie's cervix is closed.
2. She is not in labor.

We spent the night in the hospital and waited. They are watching her and making sure she doesn't go into labor. That's basically it. I left the hospital at around 11:30 this morning. Her Mom is there right now. I have to leave for a three day road trip with the band at 5:00 a.m. That is 6 hours and 10 minutes from right now. I just talked to her and she is fine. The only thing she can do is have absolute rest. She can't do anything except go to the bathroom and take a shower. That's it. They are going to keep her for a while. If nothing changes, they will let her come home and she can be on bed rest here. If something changes, then she will stay in the hospital until the boys come.

So we wait. That is just the way it is. They are convinced she is having contractions and just doesn't know what they are. Each time they have the device on her, nothing happens. Contractions happen all the time during pregnancy. They are called Braxton-Hicks contractions. They aren't the real thing. Carrie thinks that they are keeping her there to teach her exactly what these contractions are. They want her to be able to recognize them and know when something is happening before they send her home.

We are currently at 24 weeks and 1 day. They told us today that full term for triplets is considered 32 weeks.

8 weeks
56 days
1344 hours
80,640 minutes
4,838,400 seconds

Carrie and I would like to thank everyone for all of their prayers, support, and good thoughts they you are sending our way. If you have time, please send a prayer up to whatever you believe in or just send a positive thought our way. We really appreciate it. I can't talk to them right now, but I want to say something to our boys.

Dear Boys,

Your mother and I love you more than you will understand until you have your own babies. I know I never understood why my Mom and Dad loved me so much. I do now. Please stay in there as long as you can. I have to go on the road right now and you can't be born while I'm gone. You have no idea what your mother is going through to have you. I hope someday you appreciate it. You can miss all the Father's Days you want, but if you ever miss Mother's Day, you will have me to answer to. Since you are all boys, you need to know one fact. You spend the first part of your lives trying to get out of one. After you are born you will spend the rest of your lives trying to get back into another. Bear that in mind.

Love,

Dad