26 Weeks and The Fish

So, I'm 26 weeks, and look like I'm 46 weeks (in my opinion). But still no stretch marks! WOO HOO! We have another fetal assessment on Monday so I will have more news then. But I don't need the fetal assessment to confirm that these kids are growing like crazy and moving around tons too!

In other news, we acquired a new family member last week. A fish. For Rylen, as he is fascinated by fish, every time he sees an aquarium or fish tank he can spend hours if we let him, just watching and talking to the fish.

Someone gave Mark a little fish tank suitable for a beta fish. So, off Mark and Rylen went to get his new pet. The lady at the pet shop told Mark that beta fish are super easy to take care of and very kid friendly. She assured us that "they can even live out of water!" Well, Mark was sold. What could possibly go wrong?

Although Rylen was super excited about the fish and would not stop talking about him, or looking at him, for some reason he did not want to name him. So we just called him  "Fish" or "Fishie".
We got Fish last Wednesday. The first day he swam around his little tank (and I use the word "tank" loosely....it was more a "cubicle") like it was a fancy 5 star fish palace...seriously he was so excited!

The rules were (according to the lady at the pet store) that the fish would die if anyone stuck their fingers in the tank, or soap, chemicals, people food, etc got in there. She gave us a "procedure" for cleaning the tank to ensure the proper balance of bacteria and whatever else to keep the fish alive (I think she mentioned all of this after Fish was already purchased with understanding that "they are so easy to look after").  We taught Rylen that he was not allowed to touch the fish, only look at him and talk to him. He did pretty good after a few "tests" to see if we meant business (with his finger hovering just over the surface of the water, saying "can I touch? can I touch?" with a mischievous smile on his face).

Anyways, after the first night, I personally felt that Fish became depressed. He seemed a lot more lethargic and wouldn't eat his "supper" that Rylen fed him nightly (maybe it had something to do with the super loud two year old, with his face millimeters from the water yelling "SUPPER TIME!") Or maybe the novelty of his new cubicle wore off. He realized it was not the 5 star accommodation that he originally thought. I'm not sure. Either way, he became less active.

I'm sure you can see what's coming....

Sadly, today, we discovered the Fish is no longer with us. We found him floating perfectly vertical in the water with his little mouth and nose (do they fish have noses?) right at the surface.

Now, there are a few possible causes of death:
1. He froze to death. (This is Mark's theory based on the fact that his pregnant wife insists on sleeping with the windows wide open resulting in temperatures of 59 degrees in the morning. I think this might be his "subtle" way of letting me know that he's freezing his a** off at night and would like me to please turn the heat on!)
2. Someone's fingers ended up in the water ( I think we all know who that someone is)
3. Mark killed it when he cleaned the cubicle/tank yesterday by not following the "procedure".  (My theory, mostly because I am disputing the "freezing to death" theory)

Anyways, we aren't sure what happened. But it is slightly alarming to us that we cannot keep a fish alive for a week and here we are expecting triplets.

Now before you call the authorities ("Seriously they are having triplets and they can't even manage a FISH!") ,keep in mind that we have managed to keep our 2.5 year old alive and well and relatively unscathed for this long. See? Isn't he cute?

 So, are kids easier to raise than fish? One would think not, but apparently in our household this is the case! Thank goodness we already have Rylen as living proof we can be decent parents, otherwise this whole fish thing would be a major confidence killer!

Tomorrow we will likely have another fish (Rylen has not noticed that Fish has disappeared, so we can sneakily replace him). Hopefully this next one lasts a bit longer than a week. A month at least! Surely we can keep a fish alive for a month!

Feel free to post "fish care" tips/advice!

My four little pumpkins

We went to the Meandher Creek Pumpkin Patch this weekend. While Rylen and Mark rode the Pumpkin Train (over and over again) I passed the time creating my own little pumpkin family.

Before we left, Rylen also picked out a Mommy and Daddy pumpkin.

He then proceeded to throw the little pumpkins out of the wagon and on the ground. He seemed quite adamant that he did not want them in the wagon.

I really hope that wasn't a sign of what is to come.... :-)

25 Weeks

25 weeks today! Time is flying by. It is hard to believe that for sure in 10 weeks or less (hopefully not too much less) I will be a mom to four boys under the age of three. Okay, just saying that gives me shivers.

We had our fetal assessment on Friday and it went awesome. All the babes are growing very well (they are the size of 23 week babies) and yes, they are all STILL boys. Hahaha, perhaps they are sick of me asking, because this time I went home with three distinct pictures of the....ummm...."parts".  Kind of a funny thing to have a picture of. Maybe they will fight later on when they are older about whose fetus parts were larger? I'm not sure how boys minds work...I can see it happening though!

Boy A and C weigh approximately 1 pound 6 oz, and Boy B weighs 1 lb 5 oz. But C is the "tallest", with the longest femur length. I feel sorry for C because he has four legs kicking him all the time. The way they are positioned, is A and B (my identicals) are head down, straight up and down. Boy C makes a "t" across the top...he is transverse. So he has four legs in his belly. Poor guy. And if he wants to fight back, all he can do is punch his brothers' legs. Not very effective defense if you ask me.

I am so interested to see how these guys interact as they grow up. I wonder if the identicals will have a special bond compared to the three of them together. I really, really hope that Rylen develops a special bond with one of them (the singleton maybe?) so that he can have a best buddy too.

On another note, I am feeling well. Probably the best I have felt all pregnancy actually! We had a great Thanksgiving weekend, took Rylen to the zoo and he had a blast playing in the leaves in the park.  I hope I continue to feel well because I sure am enjoying fall and the cooler weather (the heat this summer killed me).

Eww, the zoo stinks!!!!

Go JETS Go!

24 weeks...

And measuring.....37 weeks!

Disturbing picture to follow. (I realize that depending on what I wear I either look really huge or just "bigger than normal" I guess. I think this particular picture might be slightly misleading due to the form fittedness of the tank top...or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better!)

I don't even want to know how big I'll be at the end. On the upside, I feel pretty good and these babes are apparently growing like weeds!

I have another fetal assessment tomorrow. I am curious what their estimated weights are! Will keep everyone posted!

And the winner is....

Part of the reason it has taken me so long to get this blog up and running, is because I couldn't come up with a title! And you need a title right?

Coming up with a blog title is almost as hard as naming three new baby boys! Almost...but not quite. The good thing is,  I can change it at any time.

But for now, my title is: All Mommy Wanted Was a Backrub.... and this title is courtesy of my good friend Derek who suggested it via Facebook. I thought it was halarious and very "tongue in cheek". While technically not true (we did plan for this pregnancy...just didn't think we were getting three for the price of one!) I think it's a good laugh. I may change it later if I feel something else become more appropriate (or if any elderly family members don't get it and need too much of a detailed explanation...)

But for now....thanks Derek! You win the grand prize of diaper duty and midnight feeds! There are plenty of babies to go around so we'll need all the hands we can get!

23 weeks

Well, now that we are mostly up to date, my plan is to start posting weekly, or as often as something interesting happens.

I just reread my post about finding out the news, and I am amazed at how much our mindset has changed. We definitely no longer see this as a negative thing.  The shock is mostly worn off. We are both actually quite excited to be having triplets, and I am actually very happy that they are all boys!

In the past few weeks, we have started organizing our lives to accomodate three new babies.

First, we had to find a vehicle to accomodate all these kids and carseats. It was a long search (did you know alot of vans do not have the tether anchors for caresats in their back row???) but finally we found the Honda Odyssey and traded in our beloved truck for it. I apparently am very sentimental about everything, so this was quite upsetting for me. So much so, that we actually took a family picture in front of the truck right before we drove it to the lot. Once I got the new van, I was in love with it. Vans truly are the most family friendly vehicle out there. Rylen loves that he can get in and out of his carseat on his own (with the help of a stepping stool....so cute!)

I also am done working now. My last shift was Aug 29, I was 19 weeks. The doctor said I am suppposed to be "resting", but with a 2 year old at home that isn't the easiest. Being off work was hard at first, I really didn't want to be. But Mark was totally against me working because he saw how tired I was after a shift and he is feeling very protective of these little guys inside of me. I had to remind myself that I have a different job now: to keep growing these babies as long as I can!  Now that I have been off for awhile it just seems normal. I miss my coworkers like crazy, but am enjoying being able to get organized around the house and take a nap everyday (who doesn't like naps??)

My new favorite reality show is Making Room for Multiples on TLC. Although, not very realistic at times (the last one I watched, the crazy mom took her 3 year old triplets and newborn twins grocery shopping by herself, pushing a cart, and pulling the stroller.....OMG) it does help to see how crazy everyone's house is once the babies come home and makes me feel so lucky to have lots of great support around and a husband who actually knows how to change a diaper!

Rylen now knows there are three babies in there....well sort of. When asked how many, he just starts counting, and I think we have stopped him at three so many times that it is just habit for him to say "one, two, three".  He likes to kiss my belly and is learning that he is only allowed to wrestle with Daddy, not Mommy.

As far as I go, I am feeling alright. I have good days and bad days. I get tired easily but the last few weeks the pain in my pelvis and groin has been a little bit better. I am taking iron supplements which has really increased my energy level. This came at a great time, because Mark has been on exercise in Shilo for a week and a bit (he has to sleep there, cannot come home) so I have been on my own with Rylen. I feel similar to how I did at the end of pregnancy with Rylen, except I have awhile left to go with these guys. It scares me a bit, I can't imagine how I will look and feel at the end of this pregnancy (OMG, I googled: Triplet Bellies and just about fainted).

The days go by so fast and I am excited and nervous that in potentially 10 weeks (but hopefully longer) our family will be doubling in size!!!

Our beloved Ridgeline

17 weeks and the life changing news!

At 17 weeks we found out we were having triplets!

What happened was that my triple screen bloodwork came back with "an elevated AFP" which basically means that there were certain risk factors that were present which warranted further investigation. One of the things that was a potential worry for the baby was Spina Bifida.

But, there are other reasons that AFP can be elevated, one of which is more than one baby! I knew this, but even so, I never dreamed that boring old Mark and I would ever have something so crazy happen to us! We were more convinced that something was wrong with the baby and we were worried like crazy.

We got referred for genetic counselling in Winnipeg. We did a family history and medical history with the very nice genetic counsellor and she kept asking us questions about fertility drugs and stuff but even then it didn't dawn on us that everyone else was suspecting a multiple pregnancy except us!

Finally we went in for the ultrasound, TERRIFIED about what news we would get. I immediately saw two "blobs" (ie: heads) on the screen but denial was still flowing strong and it wasn't until the nurse spelled it out for me that I believed it: TWO babies. 

"Okay, I can do twins" I thought. (Even though, several times, Mark and I have joked that twins would be a nightmare and how on earth would we ever handle TWO Rylen's?????)

 And then she moved the wand a bit more and exclaimed "Oh! What's that!? There's another one! TRIPLETS!".

The rest I don't remember. I think I was hysterical. I think I thought I was dreaming.  I was laughing and shaking and crying. Someone really should have slapped me or something.

Mark was in shock also, kept asking "How did this happen? Did we try too hard?"

We then asked for a refresher lesson in how triplets get made because we honestly could not comprehend how this occurred!  For those who don't know, basically I lay eggs like a hen (Mark's words, not mine) and released two eggs, both got fertilized and then one split into two babies: voila! So in the end we ended up with two identical twins plus a single baby who just decided to join the party apparently :-)

Anyways, then followed a 2 hour long ultrasound where they tried to get the anatomy of all three babies. The whole time, I kept thinking that this was crazy and could not really be happening. People kept coming in to "see" them on the screen and congratulating us. The genetic counsellor revealed that she suspected multiples since all my levels on my blood work were so high (three babies produce three times the hormones, proteins etc...) I half expected a tv crew to pop in there was so much fuss made of us!

The nurse asked if we wanted to know the gender. Mark and I have always liked a good surprise and had discussed before hand that we didn't want to know. Well, we figured we had enough surprise for awhile and I also said logically "if they are all boys, I need to get my head around that, because we are NOT doing this again!"  So, the nurse started looking for boy/girl parts....

One boy....
Two boys......

and.....

THREE boys.

Seriously. I was so mad at Mark. I think I may even have swatted him. All those babies and he couldn't even have given me one girl? Honestly. He was just as upset with me for "laying too many eggs". Oh, what the nurse must have thought of us and our craziness.

The nurse tried to reassure me that I could always try for a girl later.

Hahhahahaa, that was halarious.  (I think we both laughed hysterically at that.)

The awesome thing is that all three boys were healthy and growing well. We were so relieved as we had been so scared that something was seriously wrong. And, I love boys. They are so crazy and fun and lively. I never did think I'd be a mom of girls, just didn't think it was in the cards for me (although I hoped). So, the shock of being a mom to four boys wore off quick. I got over it fast. But the whole THREE BABIES thing....well that took longer.....

We went home, completely shell shocked and thinking random crazy thoughts all the way home:

"What are we going to name them?"
"When are you booking your vasectomy?"
"Imagine this happened on a one night stand??
"OMG,OMG, OMG"
"Is this a dream?"
"Which one of our parents are we going to force retirement upon?"
"Maybe one will turn into a girl...."
"Is it possible for one to change into a girl??? That's creepy.."
"Poor Rylen"
"How did this happen again???"
"We should buy a lottery ticket" (which we did)

Anyways, the next two weeks were full of many emotions. People asked how I felt and I'm ashamed now to admit to some of the things I was feeling. But, I will be honest and not sugar coat this for the benefit of any other moms out there that may be reading and feeling the same things:

I felt: 
terrified,
overwhelmed,
panicked,
amazed,
out of control,
angry, (after all, I didn't choose this, nobody asked me if it was a good idea or not!!!)
happy they were healthy,
scared for us, our marriage and for Rylen
scared for our bank account!
scared for what my body is going to have to endure
intense longing to only have ONE baby in there
over protective of Rylen ( I was convinced we had just ruined his life by making him a big brother x 3)
and at times I felt like the world was ending. You know, the "WHY ME???" feeling.

Basically I was in bed with a migraine and cried for two days.

I later read in a book, that when a mom finds out she is expecting multiples, she goes through the five stages of grief. I would totally agree with this. It is so shocking and so life changing that your whole world gets shaken.

It was hard to accept everyone's well wishes and congratulations, knowing that most of them were thinking "I'm so glad it's not us".  That being said, I also knew that there are couples out there that would give anything to be in our shoes, to just have one baby would be a miracle for them, and here we are blessed so effortlessly with three at once. Life isn't fair.

I am so happy to say that now that a few weeks has passed, and we have slowly gotten used to the reality of triplets, that we are feeling much better about things. Mark got to that point sooner than I did, but we are both now excited, thrilled, amazed, happy, and confident that we can do this!!!!! We feel lucky, and I am so amazed at my body and how it can grow three little babies and still somewhat function normally (for now anyways!) We are so thankful that all the babies are healthy and feel so fortunate that we are going to have the large family that other people dream of.  We are also blown away by the generosity of all the people in our lives who have offerred help, encouragement and well wishes. We really are very lucky people.

We looked up the odds for conceiving triplets naturally: 1 in 8100. Wow!
We are looking forward to meeting these little guys and have started organizing our life to accomodate our new family which will be doubling in size!  We now see the triplets as a very welcome enhancement to our lives and my sadness for Rylen has disapeared. I think he will be an awesome big brother and will one day love having three little brothers to boss around and play with.

I still ask at each ultrasound, "are they still all boys??" I don't know why. It would actually complicate things more if one was a girl (room sharing, clothes etc...) At the last visit the nurse gave me a very explicit view of "the parts" which my boys were showing off so modestly for the whole word to see. Yes, they are definitely all boys.

And I love them so much already. :-)

17 weeks, getting bigger rapidly!

Our new and expanded family photo gallery (I think we will need to choose a bigger wall)

We posted the ultrasound pictures for a good dose of reality every day while we were trying to get our heads around the news. Mark said he felt like he was dreaming and it helped him to look at the pictures all the time.