Week 21

This last week I have worked hard to get some of my continuing professional education done, and after today I should have 35 of my 40 hours complete!  I have plans to listen to 5 more webcasts during April and then I will have all of my credits for the year and I won't have to worry about it after the babies are born.  This is such a relief.  Now if my contract work could move ahead as smoothly...

This past weekend was productive.  I went to the Moms of Twins garage sale on Saturday.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to go as I feel like I have so much of what we need already, but I decided I would see what they had left and try to meet a few moms in the club as I plan on joining tonight.  I was excited to find a double breastfeeding pillow, a Baby Bjorn (only $15!), a few preemie outfits, and a few maternity shirts for myself.  I also met two moms of triplets!  It sounds like there are currently seven triplet families in the club, so I'm hoping I can gain some insight and support from those in the group.  We'll see how the meeting goes tonight!

One of the preemie girl outfits I got at the sale.  This is for babies UP TO 5 lbs :).

As I get bigger and more concerned about preterm labor (since I am at such a high risk with triplets), I get more nervous about overdoing it and I am unable to do many things.  We had a long list of things to do around the house this weekend, and Micah was VERY helpful in getting most of it done.  Sometimes he is just better at tasks than I am too, such as hanging the diplomas PERFECTLY on the wall.  I guess this is the engineer / perfectionist in him :).

The pencil line on the wall so that the frames are all the exact height

The frames perfectly aligned

We decided the weekend was a good time to buy the cars eats as we had three 20% off coupons to Babies R Us that were going to expire.  We haven't taken them out of the box yet as we know it is still early, but in the next month or so we will take them out to be absolutely sure that they will fit across the back of the 4Runner.  We decided to get two different colors so that the boy has a different seat.  So we got this one for the girls: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3155366 and this one for the boy: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=18244686&searchURL=false.

Yesterday we had another positive ultrasound.  All of the babies looked great, and for the first time they told us their estimated weights.  The boy is about 14 ounces, and the two girls are about 13 ounces.  According to this website: http://www.babycenter.com/average-fetal-length-weight-chart, the average weight for babies at week 21 is 12.7 ounces so all three of ours are doing great!  It is also encouraging that they are all close in size as this is going to be a major concern throughout the pregnancy.  If they start growing at different rates I will probably be put on bed rest, and if it gets really bad later on they will be delivered early.  So far, though, all looks good.  Prayers for their equal growth are appreciated!

3D pic of the boy

The babies have all been even more active this week, and a few times I have actually seen them moving when looking at my stomach!  This is fun as it makes it seem so much more real.  I'm trying to enjoy the movement now before it gets too annoying and interferes with my sleep :).


The midwife that we meet with once a month to track my weight and discuss any questions we have about a triplet pregnancy was extremely happy with my weight gain yesterday.  She said that most women are not able to gain the required amount of weight and at 21 weeks she has had some women who were 20 pounds behind their goal weight gain!  This has NOT been a problem for me, which I still find amazing as my weight has not fluctuated much over the years but I have easily packed on 2-3 pounds each week throughout this pregnancy (since learning that I had to eat so much and gain so much weight).  My total weight gain so far has been 39 pounds, which means I'm right now track for gaining 60+ pounds.  The thought is that I won't gain as much in the later part of my pregnancy as I won't be able to eat as much, but I'm starting to get worried that I might gain even more than the recommended amount.  I hope this just means that the babies will be big and healthy, even though they will be born early.

Week 21 pic