Week 21.5 Ultrasound

Baby B appears to be using some "sign language"

Baby A's Face

Baby C's profile with a possible fist pump!

It has been quite a busy 2 weeks for us. The rooms are painted and coming along nicely. The downstairs nursery is a beautiful light blue and the upstairs nursery is a cream and light green. I am very happy with how things are turning out- all of the pretty pink things look so good against those colors.

I met up with a group of triplet/quad mom's for dinner last week and had a very good time. They all were very settled in with their label of triplet mom and probably didn't appreciate me bringing it to the attention of our waitstaff that I had triplets and between all of us at the table there were 61 kids. These ladies just wanted to go out and have some fun together and I just had to tell on us! Everyone was very, very nice and gave some great advice for the busy months ahead.

On Thursday Elle passed her driving test, got licensed and insured and drove off to work by 5pm! She is being very responsible about our rules and extremely helpful about running errands. I am thrilled to be finished with the driving and that she is all set to be able to take care of herself when I go on bedrest. (no date for that thank goodnesss!!)

I had a surprise baby shower at work on Friday that I ruined because I came in early that morning to get some work done before I begin training the new receptionist. I felt bad about ruining all of the hard work- I know they wanted me to walk off the elevator at 10am and right into the party but oh well- being the awesome people they are they understood.

I began to cry the minute I walked in the room- it was filled with pink and white everywhere and the HUGE cake had 3 darling babies in the center of flowers. Besides being so wonderfully supportive emotionally with everything, they absolutely spoiled me and the girls with gifts. I cried at almost every card and gift. Along with the gifts everyone brought food for a huge lunch buffet and also helped me load all the goodies to my car later. I have had so much fun unpacking everything- small diapers on the main floor, larger diapers in the basement, clothes upstairs, bottles and bibs filling my kitchen! Many gifts were handmade and just darling! Some cute little hats that have ears, darling burp cloths and then 2 out of 3 blankets knitted for the girls. I loved that the 2 blankets included an I.O.U. for the third!!! I don't know how she finds the time to knit all of that with a full time job. Everyone's thoughtfulness and extreme generosity to me and my whole family is amazing and makes me feel so special.

Now, about today's ultrasound. Those little angels are full of personality. Yesterday at church, Baby B would just go crazy when the organ played! We thought she was a fun little musical one until we saw the possibility of which finger she is using in the picture above- she may prove to be more difficult than Baby A. Baby A may just be shy instead of difficult. We had initially labeled (children LOVE labels-LOL) Baby C as the lazy baby but today she was moving so much the tech could hardly get the pictures. The whole thing was funny- Baby A wouldn't allow picture, Baby B might have flipped us off, and Baby C wouldn't stop moving. We are in for some serious fun with these three personalities.

Weight: Baby A: 1lb up 5oz from 2/1/10

Baby B: 1lb, 1oz up 7oz from 2/1/10

Baby C: 1lb, 1oz up 6oz from 2/1/10

The doctor is very happy with my progress and the girls growth so far. Things look good and I hope to make it through March at home taking it easy. I can't imagine how big I will be by April so I feel like the possibility of bedrest is likely then just due to my enormous size. I am putting myself on a strict schedule adding rest time as each week goes on. I feel so terrific with energy and exictement that I have to stop myself and rest. By the end of March I will probably be down more than I'm up! That should help my body deal with all the weight it has to carry around- or even just the chore of rolling over- UGH!!!

I hope to post more pictures soon of the shower, the showers to come, and the rooms as they get finished.

Please keep up the prayers for all six of us and also the people on the road while Elle drives. Tee hee!!!!

Happy Days!

Gifts from my parents for the girls to fight over!!!


Well, I have made my "first touchdown"... 20 healthy weeks for me and the girls. The doctor is very pleased with how well it's all going but has warned me that my body can only take so much before beginning to show signs of stress. I have had more energy the past week and have made it many days without a nap- woo hoo!!!

We have choosen paint colors for the nursery- light green and cream. We decided that we would have so much pink that pink walls would just be too much. I also gave in on the bedding for the nursery. We are going with a Winnie the Pooh crib set for each girl. We are using mini-cribs and the bedding for these is very hard to find so it just seemed easier to get what was readily available. We have so many projects and things to attend to that searching for bedding is just silly! Slowly but surely I am getting my priorities straight!!

Some things we still need to do: look at cars that fit 3 cars seats easily, find Elle a car, find Elle a college, paint (this weekend), rearrange rooms, begin bathrooms and probably some more. UGH!! I can only help the decisions, I won't pick up anything at all so I just get things organized for others to do them. To do the laundry, I slide the basket down the steps behind me as I go and then kick it to the laundry room. After the laundry is done, I kick the basket back to the stairs and wait for someone to take it upstairs. I like the system and may continue it after the girls arrive.

I have bought some cute dresses for my baby showers and was thrilled to find stuff that fit and was actually cute. So far, the big 'ole belly is still sort of cute- the rest of me has not caught up yet so hopefully I can wear some cute stuff before I completely balloon.

The one sad spot in all of this is my leaving my job. They have found a replacement for me and it just hit me how real it all is that I'm leaving. I have gone in daily knowing this time would come but just being busy with things and not really thinking about it. I have a week to get my things organized before I begin training. I know they hired a good person so it will be easy to transition her to what I do all day, well, 1/2 of all day!!!
It certainly does not help that I have 3X the hormones running through my body and could cry at a car commercial, I don't know how I will keep it together for the next 2 or so weeks. At least I have had a wonderful year and a half to get some great experience with the most wonderful people. I never thought I would find a job I would love as much as teaching but the environment at work has been amazing. So many terrific people have made my time there just plain FUN!
Also, I probably won't go back to teaching after the girls start school. Why in the world would I leave a house of 3 children to go to work with 16 children???? I will most likely work a late shift at a seedy bar so my life has some variety (my mom can't read my blog yet so I can say that!!!).

Please, please, please keep up the prayers- I KNOW they are helping me to be able to truly enjoy this unbelieveblely uncomplicated pregnancy. My next ultrasound is on Feb. 22- I will post more pics of the lovely ladies then!

IT'S PAYBACK TIME!!!!!!!!!

Here are the darling shirts that Elle raced out and bought during the ultrasound!

Baby C with her arm bent!

Baby B with her arm up!

Baby B profile

Baby A's arm

Baby A's profile

After all three of us waited an hour in the lobby we finally were ready for the tech to tell us the genders of our little loves. She rolled over baby A and found out it's a GIRL. Next, we discovered baby B is also a GIRL. Finally it was baby C's turn and wouldn't you know it... IT'S ANOTHER GIRL!!!!!!!!!! We have three darling angel baby girls on their way to us in a few months!!! I had thought of many scenario's of nursery colors, possible names, etc but I never thought of ALL girls- I have to start all over again looking at paint colors for the nursery. This is going to be lots and lots of fun!!!! Elle is already excited and helping with nursery ideas, there is so much cute little girl stuff out there it will be hard to choose.

The whole ultrasound took about 2 hours and when the tech took a break Elle went upstairs and we assumed it was for cell reception. She came back and gave me a gift bag from the hospital gift shop: 3 tiny shirts that say "I'm the little sister". Of course, I burst into tears of joy. I am so happy with all my 4 girls and can't believe how sweet, thoughtful and generous Elle is about all of this. Her reactions to everything make it all so much more special.

Everyone is healthy, me included. Dave maybe in some sort of shock but his general health seems to be OK. The doctor used the word FANTASTIC to describe our health. At our 15 week ultrasound the babies weighed: 6oz, 6oz, and 5oz. Today, the 18 week ultrasound showed their weights as: 11oz, 10oz, and 11oz. I like to post their weights so everyone has a point of reference of why I am so big! I will NOT be posting my weight, now or ever so don't hold your breathe!

I don't write very often because everything is going so well, no news is generally good news! I see my doctor in 2 weeks and another ultrasound in 3 weeks.

Please keep up the prayers!