20 weeks

(20 weeks front)

(20 weeks side)

(20 weeks side)

I finally had the guts to take a picture. This is 20 weeks.

Baby Names

I think that we have finally decided on first names for the boys! We are thinking they will be named Nathaniel, Noah, and Ethan. We are still deciding on middle names, which is still difficult, but at least we have some first names! Things have been going pretty well yet. I am tired and sore, but that is to be expected. We have our level 2 ultrasound on October 25. This is the one where they will look at each baby in detail to make sure they are all doing well, growing as they should be, and to check for birth defects or anything that may need to be addressed at their birth. With Aidan, it took about an hour and a half, this time my OB wants us to plan on at least three hours and probably more. I hope he's putting potty breaks in there!!I am still working on how to figure out our scanner to get pictures of the boys up and hopefully, some belly shots also. That has been incredible this time. I am, at almost five months, about the size I was with Aidan when I was about 7 1/2 months pregnant! It is so amazing to think of three little babies growing in there. They are getting more and more active as they days pass, also. Wow...they are all starting to move all over! It is so neat to feel!! Aidan loves talking to the babies and kissing my tummy. He gives each baby a kiss and talks to them all the time. He can say Noah pretty well, Ethan is pronounced "Efan," and Nathaniel is "Bafano." We'll keep working on it. Austin and Aidan began sharing a room yesterday. Austin's room has a lot more space than I realized! Aidan was quite annoying last night, though, and wouldn't quit talking to Austin. When Austin ignored him, he would just climb into bed with Austin. Tonight, Austin has 4H, so I am putting Aidan to bed while Austin is gone and hopefully he will be asleep long before Austin gets home! Thanks for all the prayers!

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!!!!

Well, we finally had another u/s today. We were supposed to go in yesterday, but my doctor had a family emergency, so he canceled. Based on his appearance and silentness, he should not have been in today, either. He just really wasn't himself. Anyhoo....the babies are doing GREAT! They are measuring about a week ahead of schedule, which is excellent, and they are all almost the exact same size, which is also excellent. Their little hearts were beating away and you could clearly see all four chambers today on all three babies. He printed off two pictures of faces and one of “the goods” and in one of the face pictures it looks like the baby is smiling at us. In some ways, it reminds me of what Aidan looked like when I was pregnant with him. They are still pretty skinny, of course, so that worried Austin a bit. One is still more active than the other two...starting to worry me a tad! Fluid around all the babies is terrific and my cervix is staying the same size/length with no thinning whatsoever. Which means the contractions I am having really are just BH and not worrisome. Thank goodness!Sooooo.....we also were able to find out what they were. They were REALLY proud of themselves and put it ALL on display. I knew Baby C (fraternal) was a boy, and I was right. I had no clue about the identical babies. ALL THREE ARE BOYS!!!! We now have FIVE boys!!!! Steve and the boys and I are all very excited. I think Austin was the most excited, though! Now we just really have to work on names. I have a couple that I really like, but I am not sure about the third or if hubby agrees on the other two. Although he picked one of them. We have time to pick them out though! Anyway, we appreciate any and all prayers said on our behalf...the babies are doing great and God is wonderful!!! Keep saying them please!Trista and her SIX boys!

First OB Visit

Today’s ultrasound and doctor’s appointment went terrific! The babies are all doing excellent and he was very reassuring about everything, also. (This will probably take a while to explain everything, so I thought I’d put that in there first….if you don’t want to read further, you don’t have to!)He did his regular history, but since I’ve had him for the last four years and I’ve seen him several times a month for the last year (except the last three!), he just wanted to update everything. That was pretty painless and didn’t take him long. Then he did a quick exam, thankfully no pap!!! Then it was time for the ultrasound. The babies were really active…it was so neat to see! They all have allof their little baby parts. We saw hands, feet, toes, fingers EVERYWHERE!!! Baby A or B was waving away to us and Dr. Hintz waved back and said “hi baby!” and the baby waved again! It was so cute to see and was so funny! We very clearly saw baby B’s foot, too. Their little hearts were a beating away, too. It was so reassuring to see everyone in there and it is nothing short of a miracle to witness God’s creation(s) like that. We discussed pre-term delivery and he said I have a few really good things going in my favor. I have had two full-term, healthy babies and my cervix is extra long. Both are excellent indicators that I shouldn’t go too super early with these three, but again, nothing is guaranteed with triplets. He said that the average gestation of triplets is 33 weeks, but 35-36 is certainly not unheard of, and neither is earlier. So, we’re still on a guessing game with when they will get here, but it certainly doesn’t sound like nearly as early as we feared!He also thinks that I will have “minimal” bedrest….not at all what the doctors in Iowa City had said. He said that the benefits of it aren’t that great, so he doesn’t anticipate too much time in bed. Thank goodness!!!He said the two identicals DO have a membrane between them and showed us that. There is another one between the identical babies and the “fraternal,” “singleton,” or “The Boss” (as Granny calls him!) and that one is much thicker. It was fascinating to see the difference. They are all measuring exactly the same size and correct for dates, also. He also said that even though they have a membrane (which completely demolishes the chance of cord compression or strangulation), because they are identical, the instance of twin to twin transfer is 100%. But, 85% of identical twins have a pretty minor degree of it and 15% have it so bad that it causes death in both babies. He measured the nucal fold and said that they will be OK and not have serious issues with it. He said the thicker the fold is at this stage the higher the likely-hood of it becoming fatal. Baby B’s was 1.7, which he said was excellent and VERY normal, and Baby A was “way too active” to be able to get a good measure on it. However, he said that what he did see of it is definitely normal and he’s not concerned considering that Baby B’s is so good. So we are very relieved to hear that! Dr. Hintz said that he will do an ultrasound at every appointment because he said you can’t get accurate heart rates and measurements any other way with multiples. So, we’ll have lots of pictures by the time they arrive! We will get our scanner hooked back up and then I will post today’s picture on here, also. All in all, today’s visit was fantastic! We go back on September 21 for another visit. Until then, everything is great!Thanks so much for all of the prayers….God is great and I am feeling so blessed to be able to experience this miracle!!!!

Fair Updates

Things are continuing about the same. I have been pretty nausous the last couple of weeks, and the computer makes it worse, which is why I am not on very often. I was given a prescription for Zofram yesterday, but that's like gold, so I am saving it for when I REALLY need it!I have also been incredibly tired. I am amazed by the amount of time I can actually sleep if I'm allowed! Sunday I went to bed at 6:15 and didn't get up until 8:30 Monday morning!We are anxiously awaiting our next appointment back with my regular OB on August 22. He is on vacation now, so couldn't get me in any sooner. We will have an ultrasound that day, also, so we are looking forward to that!

Austin had his 4H fair last week. He did awesome! He recieved a blue ribbon for his photo and was talked through what he could change for next year, which was great. He also recieved three blue ribbons for his rabbits. The two does (Thumper and Pippa) recieved first and second place of their class and Thumper went on to win Reserve Grand Champion (second place) of the entire group!! It was very exciting! Austin also earned Reserve Junior Showman (second place) for his showmanship!! We are so proud of him. He did such a good job and really accomplished his goals. His hard work of the last six months really paid off. We were approached by a couple of different breeders who suggested that we show the two does in a "professional" show, so we are considering the show at Cattle Congress in September.

All in all, it was a very exciting first fair experience!Please continue to keep me and the babies in your prayers...we need them!!