Week 32 ~ An ending to start a new beginning...

Well let me start off by saying that this has been the craziest week of my life... What I thought had started as another uneventful week of laying on my couch basting these babies to perfection started changing pretty quickly...  Monday went off without a hitch, same old same old, then Tuesday came and I woke up with some puffiness around my eyes.  As pre-eclampsia has always been a worry of mine as I know that it's the reason behind many pre-term deliveries with multiples, the puffiness worried me a little.  My feet have been puffy since week 12 and so have many other parts of my body, but the eyes was a different story.  I called my doctor she told me that if the swelling hadn't gone down by noon (it was 9:30), to come in to labor and delivery and get myself checked out.  So by noon, the swelling had gone down a bit, but not enough to satisfy my paranoid self.  I called Gabe and told him that I'd feel better if I went in to get checked out.  We came in and got some testing done and they said that everything looked ok and my blood pressure was good but they would take some blood tests just to be sure.  As this point I'm like... perfect! I just came in to waste everyone's time... well I guess I needed at least ONE paranoid trip to labor and delivery!  My doctor came in about an hour later and told me that they had found protein in my urine, which is one of the signs of early onset pre-eclampsia.  She thought it best to admit me.  So I go and get myself a wonderful room in the maternity ward and start regular blood pressure tests, blood tests and this 24 hour urine sample where every bit of my urine has to go in a container for 24 hours so they can test it.  This starts at 6am the next day (Wednesday).  The nurse had told me not to worry, that if I filled the container, they could bring me another one.  I saw this as a challenge and I accepted it!  I could fill that container, I know how to drink my water!!  Well during the whole day/night, I must have drank about 3L of water and I made sure I kept going to pee.  I had a great day with visits from Sarah and Isaac and my aunt Marie and cousin Tanya and that night my friend Becky brought me some treats, it was a pretty good day.  I was getting ready to be staying in the hospital for at least a week to try to give the babies the best chance, so I was not worried that much.  Thursday morning comes around and I swear to you there may have been two fingers width of pee in that jug within 24 hours... They had also weighed me within that time period and in 24 hours, I had gained TEN POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!  So right away alarms went off, I was retaining all the water I was taking in, my kidneys were starting to shut down.  The doctor came into my room that morning and told me to stop drinking and stop eating right away as she was going to deliver that afternoon!  I started freaking out and crying and worrying about how early it all was but everyone kept reassuring me that I had done great getting them this far.  So here we are, Thursday morning at 10am, finding out that we were going to meet our boys that afternoon. Gabe leaves work, rushes over to be with me while we try to absorb this news and get the family ready.  We call our family right away, thankfully my mom was already with me... She had made it back from Florida the previous night at like midnight!  Can you say perfect timing?   So we begin to get ready, I get poked and prodded for the next 4 hours... the part that hurt the worst that whole day was when the nurses were trying to put my IVs in and I was so swollen and my veins were so hard to find that they had to try to poke me 6 times in one arm (with quite a big needle mind you) until they gave up and called an expert.  She switched arms and got it in two tries, but she also had a hard time finding a vein that would co-operate, and then she informs me that she had to do it one more time as I needed two of those IVs... anyways, the time flew by.  Four fifteen rolls around, my family surrounding me, Gabe waiting in his scrubs, looking as though he's part of the delivery team, and they tell me it's time.
They roll me into the delivery room where there are at least 20 people in the room waiting for me and the babies.  There were 4 people assigned per baby, the anesthesiologist (the ones who would put a spinal in my back to numb me chest down) my OB and her student, nurses to help her out, a nurse with me to make sure I was doing ok and some other nurses who just wanted to be in there because they hadn't seen a triplet birth before... so quite a big crowd.  I'm so lucky to have the husband that I do because him being in there with me calmed me down.  Once they finally got the spinal in (it took her forever because she didn't get that I couldn't bend over as much as she wanted me to...due to my being pregnant with THREE BABIES!!!), I was laid down and we waited while the drugs took over my body.  Gabe and I were just talking at this point about how 3 1/2 years ago, on our first date at Boston Pizza, we never would have anticipated this very day... As we were talking, I kept trying to ignore the fact that they were soon going to cut into my belly and I was so scared I was going to feel it all... The anesthesiologist looks at me and says that they're getting closer.  I asked her: "Oh, they're getting ready to cut?" and she says "No hun, you're wide open, they're getting ready to go get your babies!".  I hadn't felt a thing! Phew, what a relief!!! It took them a little while to get to my uterus as I was quite swollen on the inside too.  I guess what happened in the end was that my placentas were making so many demands that my body couldn't handle that they started attacking my liver and kidney functions, so it's a really good thing that I went in for my so called paranoid trip to labor and delivery!  So they finally get to baby #1 (who was Baby B), and shortly after 4:30pm, our beautiful Zachary was born.  Then Samuel (baby A) came out to join his brother and even though it took a little while to get to him and they had to go elbow deep in me to do so, Jacob finally emerged.  All three were crying probably wondering what the hell was happening to them.  I didn't get to see them as they had to be rushed right away to the NICU to get tested but here's a look at what they looked like before being rushed off...

There they are, all over 3 lbs, all pink and rosy... They are now in incubators, all breathing on their own, but not eating normally yet.  They all have a feeding tube and are either getting their nutriments that way or they are supplemented by IVs.  Jacob is not tolerating milk and he's not digesting it, so he's just taking mostly IV nutrients until his little body decides its ready to take milk.  I had to try to get a little bit of milk from me to give to him to see if he would respond better but he's just not ready.  So Jacob is, for now, still getting most of his nutrients from an IV, Zachary wasn't tolerating cow's milk so they switched him to another type of non-dairy milk and some of mine and he's doing better on that and Samuel has just been taking it all in like a champ.  Now is time for them to grow some more and to get lots of mommy and daddy love.  We try (and are able to), see them as often as we can but we know they need their rest so while they rest, I'm taking care of myself the best that I can.  All my liver and kidney functions seem to have come back to normal and aside from feeling like I've been hit by a 50lbs brick in my mid-section, my body is doing ok.  I walk a little more everyday, although I need to take frequent breaks as my back is also all out of whack having carried a tonne of weight for the last bit of my pregnancy.  I'm taking some drugs to try and help me sleep and make it through the day.  My swelling has gone down a bit but still has a ways to go.  I currently look like a regular 9 month pregnant lady ready to give birth, so I'm getting smaller :).  I actually had my first post-delivery comment today as I was downstairs in the hospital lobby waiting for Gabe to take me home to shower... I was sitting in a wheelchair, minding my business and this lady looks at me as she walks in and says "so it's not happening today huh? False alarm?" (or something of the sort) and I just look at her and smile and said "Nope, I already had them".  She walks away all sheepish and says sorry... I mean, I can't fault her, I do look super pregnant but still!!

So anyways, there's a lot of information right there and I know I've left a lot out but it's getting time for me to got get more cuddles in with my boys soon.  Most of the immediate family has gotten a chance to meet them and that's all they're allowing right now.  I had let my niece in with me this afternoon and thinking she was my daughter, they let her in but then I was told that she wasn't allowed as she wasn't a sibling.  I know this will break my other niece's heart but rules are rules and as much as it pains to have to say no to some people, my boys' health have to come numero uno so for now, it'll be what it has to be.  I look at it as though they were still technically in my belly and they need to be as isolated as possible.

I was discharged this morning after they removed my staples and gave me all sorts of information about taking care of me.  I'm still in the hospital but I'm using one of their on site hostel rooms for mothers of babies in the NICU.  It's not bigger than my bathroom and I do have to share it (there's a small curtain dividing us) but since I can't drive for at least 2 weeks, we figured this would be the best way for me to be near the babies at all times.  I also get the use of the Ronald McDonald room where I can shower, eat some home cooked meals (from incredible volunteers) and have fridge left-overs if I miss the meals.  We will do this, with Gabe coming to see us at the end of the day after work, until I can drive again and then we will re-evaluate.

They are starting this program here in conjunction with a US university where they're trying to get parents (mostly the one staying with the babies) to learn how to take care of their babies in the NICU.  From feeding them, to weighing them, to writing logs down on their heart rates and all the stuff that goes on there and they want us to get comfortable actually presenting our own babies to the doctors doing their rounds every morning.  So I will be one busy momma soon with having to do all of that with all three of my babies!  Right now, it's just cuddle time and making sure mommy recovers time though so it's a little easier going as I let the wonderful NICU staff take care of my boys.  I have also been blessed to have the most wonderful man at my side through all of this, he has been strong and he has been weak at times where I needed him to be and he hasn't faltered once.  Some people say that having triplets will forever alter our relationship and it will, I'm sure there will be times when the kids are out of here and driving us crazy that I'm going to want to stab him in the heart, but for now, all I can say is that I love that man more than ever.  Here's a few shots of us getting some skin to skin cuddle times...

 





This has been a very emotionally trying week and I kid you not, I cry every time I'm alone... It can be hormones, it can be just knowing how little they are and thinking my stupid body is the reason they had to come out or it can be just the fact that this is a crazy situation for all of us involved and our lives are now completely turned upside down never to be the same again.  All I know is that I love those boys more than anything in the world and I cannot wait to see what they become, but until then, this momma is checking out and going to get some cuddle time with her little men.

What a wild ride!!!

Welcome to the world Jacob (bottom), Zachary (top right) and Samuel (top left)... we love you!!!