Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Four years

Tuesday was called "High Risk Day" in the OB office at the hospital because it was the day that all high risk pregnancies were scheduled for appointments. As you can imagine, almost all of those appointments ran over so it made for a very long day. It wasn't unusual to have to wait an hour past your scheduled time for the doctor to see you. Especially if you were having an ultrasound.

I had been seeing an MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist) from the start of my pregnancy. Before I even knew that I was pregnant with triplets, my pregnancy was considered high risk because they could not conclude on what happened with Abbey.

One of the 10 billion questions we asked after three babies were discovered was when could we expect them to be delivered. My doctor told me that his goal was to get me to 34 weeks. In January, I started asking when we could schedule my c-section appointment. He wouldn't and told us that in all likelihood something would happen before then. My water would break. I would go into labor. "Something" would happen.

I now realize that there was a whole laundry list of items he excluded. Most likely for my sanity. The babies would develop twin-to-twin transfusion. One of the babies would be in distress. Placenta issues. Anna's hydrocephalus. Something would happen to the babies.

So even with a few scares, I was there every Tuesday for my appointment with no signs of the babies coming. It became a running joke. At each appointment, I would ask if we could schedule my c-section. And my doctor wouldn't. When we hit March, I just wanted a date on the calendar to look forward to. I wanted a goal that I could see. Plus, I was getting tired of saying, "We don't know," whenever someone asked when the babies would be born.

Four years ago today, I was 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant. It was extremely uncomfortable to sit upright for more than 10 minutes. I could only sleep for an hour and a half at a time. I waddled into my appointment supporting my belly with one hand while the other held my pants up and was told that my c-section had been scheduled for April 16th, Marathon Monday.

That was four years ago. This is now.

mar29

Well, two days ago. And we won't mention the fact that the television was holding their attention.

And no, the girls weren't born on the 16th. A week later, at my last appointment, I was told, "Surprise! We have to change your c-section due to scheduling conflicts." I received a phone call the next day. "Surprise! Can you be here first thing in the morning?"

Surprise is a good word to use when you have triplets.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

what sweet, sweet faces. :) and happy birthday to the triplets!

Tracy said...

Hope your girls have a wonderful birthday. I always get so nostalgic when birthdays roll around and have to watch the video of their birth. It's rough being pregnant with triplets. I swear I carried them under my boobs and on top of my lungs. Our birth stories are under the link My Miracle Pregnancies at the top of our blog with some pretty scary belly pictures. HUGE!!

Bless you all and your little blonde miracles!!

Michelle said...

Happy Birthday to your beautiful girls!! I love reading your posts.

LifeLover said...

The girls are so cuteee
pleasespread the word to guys follow my blog: www.whatareyouthinking-kari.blogspot.com

Kayla said...

Happy Birthday Girls!

Hey, Sarah, do you have a pre-csection picture - you know, to share with us all of you hugely pregnant? Just wondering.

I know I didn't post one for anyone to see until about a year ago when my girls were 2. One of my friends discovered she was having twins and was wondering how that would work for her body. So I posted a belly picture. It took everyone by surprise, because when my shirts were down, I just didn't look that big, but when the belly was exposed, people were all, "OMG where are you hiding that HUGE belly?"

Kayla said...

That request isn't rude, is it? I don't mean to offend. I just love sharing birth and size stories.

Sarah said...

Thanks, everyone!

Cindy - not rude at all! I actually had one posted a few years ago but I took it down. Apparently, there are some people that have an odd love of pregnant tummies. they have message boards. I know where my readers are coming from and someone had put a link to my blog post and that picture. It was a bit bizarre so I took it down.

I don't have any of those pictures on this computer but I think they are on a CD - maybe I'll cut my head off (LOL) and post some of them. I do have one from the night before my c-section.

Meg said...

Great post, Sarah! :)

Wendy said...

xoxo

Hope's Mama said...

Your "now" looks very lovely. I'm so happy your three girls made it here safely, especially with all you'd been through in the months leading up to their birth.
xo

moplans said...

they are gorgeous!
I just love your story and stumbled upon it years ago when we had a poor prenatal diagnosis.
I do not know any other babies who were born with spina bifida and am so amazed and happy each time i see your updates.