Still Pregnant!

Alexis, Jack, and Faith were born at 31 weeks and 2 days gestation, which is about average for triplets. Their early arrival was traumatic for me as although we knew that they would be premature, for the most part everything about my pregnancy had been going smoothly. For a long time, it was hard for me to talk about the birth of Alexis, Jack, and Faith as there were so many negative emotions attached to the events leading up to their delivery and our time in the NICU (you can read the birth story here and there are many subsequent posts about our time in the NICU).

Thankfully, this past Monday was the 31 week 2 day mark for this current pregnant and I am quickly approaching 32 weeks! It was odd to look at Alexis, Jack, and Faith on Monday and know that they were the same size (but most likely smaller) as the baby in my tummy right now when they were born. And the most amazing part is that they have zero signs of being premature today.

I am hopeful that this current pregnancy and birth will be a healing experience for me. We are optimistic that this baby will be full term and I am planning on a VBAC (the hospital where Alexis, Jack, and Faith were born would only do a C-section for triplets). I have been doing a lot of research to increase my chance for a successful VBAC, and during my research I have been surprised several times by stories that have brought the emotions from my first pregnancy and birth to the forefront. I find myself mourning over what I missed the first time around as I read about "normal" birth stories and the related feelings of bliss and immediate connection with their newborn. As I said, the birth of our trio was traumatic for me, and it took months for me to truly bond with Alexis, Jack, and Faith for a variety of reasons (they were in the NICU for the first 6-8+ weeks of their lives, they were tiny and fragile, AND I was trying to bond with three babies at once).

During this pregnancy I was originally seeing the OB that I went to for my triplet pregnancy, but I decided to switch to a midwife (which also resulted in me switching hospitals) when I was around 28 weeks gestation. After finding out that 2 of the 8 doctors in my OB's practice did not support VBACs, I felt that my chance of having an unsupportive doctor during labor was too high. Plus, the last appointment I had with my OB left me feeling like I wasn't going to have the birth I am hoping to have, so I talked to a few friends about midwives and decided to make the switch. I will still be delivering at a hospital, I will just have a midwife attending the birth instead of an OB (but there will be an OB available in case I have to have a C-section).

Before switching to the midwife, we did have one scare related to our baby's health. I had to get a second anatomy scan around 25 weeks as the placenta was close to my cervix during the 20 week ultrasound and the doctor wanted to follow up. Although the placenta had moved to a better position, the doctor now thought that a portion of our baby's brain was missing! I had to get a fetal MRI so that the doctor could get a better picture of the brain. Thankfully, the "missing" part is in fact there, but for about 10 days we lived with a lot of uncertainty. Although we know that doctors must let a patient know if they see something concerning, this experience made us feel like the less interaction with doctors the better during this pregnancy as it does feel like doctors are often trying to find something wrong. After we found out that our baby was healthy, I made the switch to the midwife.

I have also decided to hire a doula, which I'm quite excited about. A doula is a non-medical person who is trained to assist during childbirth. Our doula won't replace Micah, but instead she will be a support to both of us. I believe that switching to a midwife and hiring a doula will increase my chance for a successful VBAC, which is important to me.

So far this pregnancy has been so much more bearable than my triplet pregnancy. I know now that I am NOT one of those women that enjoys being pregnant as I definitely have my fair share of complaints (heartburn, feeling big and awkward as I gain weight and my belly grows, constantly feeling hungry, feeling more tired, and catching every sickness since my immune system isn't working that well), but compared to my triplet pregnancy this is a breeze! I could hardly walk around the block in the final weeks of my triplet pregnancy, and I still manage to get in about 10,000 steps a day with this pregnancy. I am not "working out" as I would have hoped, but taking care of Alexis, Jack, and Faith and our house means I take a lot of steps during the day. During my triplet pregnancy my heartburn was horrible even when eating bland foods, but during this pregnancy it's more manageable (although it is starting to get a little worse as time goes on). My chiropractor, acupuncturist, and massage therapist were a part of my regular routine during my triplet pregnancy, but I've only been to the chiropractor a few times, my massage therapist once, and I haven't seen my acupuncturist at all this pregnancy. One ailment I had forgotten about during my triplet pregnancy was tailbone pain. I could hardly sit in a normal chair for an extended period of time because the pain was so bad. This time I haven't felt even the tiniest bit of pain in my tailbone (knock on wood!).

Another major difference between the two pregnancies is the amount of time I've spent preparing for the baby. Of course we didn't have any baby stuff before having triplets so I spent a lot of time researching gear and shopping consignment sales for clothes. I also spent a lot of time getting the nursery ready for their arrival. This time, though, I have only bought a $2 pair of Christmas PJ's on clearance for next year, a baby book, a changing table, and a changing pad. Every time I think of something that we "need" we decide we will just wait until the baby gets here to decide if it's necessary. We borrowed quite a few things for our trio so we don't have all of the baby gear, and of course we had strollers appropriate for multiple babies not a singleton, but with our triplets we learned that a baby doesn't actually need that much. I also haven't spent any time preparing the baby's room, partly because we plan on putting him in our room for awhile and partly because I haven't had a lot of time to think about it between taking care of myself, taking care of Alexis, Jack, and Faith, and our various travels and other activities.

One thing I have done like my triplet pregnancy is take photos of my pregnant belly along the way. My last pregnancy post had photos through week 23 here, so following are the photos from weeks 24 through 31. The triplet pregnancy photos are on the left and the current pregnancy is on the right.

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks 

28 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks (vs. 30 weeks with triplets since this was the last photo I took)

Holidays

It's hard to believe 2017 is already here! The last seven weeks have been a blur as we packed in so much activity and time with family.

A rare moment when Micah and I were both home WITHOUT the kids. I dropped the kids off at preschool and he had stayed home that morning so that he could go to the preschool Thanksgiving performance with me.

The preschool Thanksgiving performance was quite entertaining, although Faith didn't even attempt to sing a single word and she started picking her nose at the end when announcements were being made. Everyone contributed to a potluck "feast" afterwards (and now Micah and I have vowed to find a way not to eat at these large group events ever again as we both ended up with the stomach bug days later!).

We went to Denver for the week of Thanksgiving, but we decided to take our time getting there since Micah's parents' house is only slightly out of the way and it nicely broke up our drive. We stopped at this tiny cafe for pizza on our way to Monte Vista.

Unfortunately Jack was sick with the stomach bug the first evening we were at Micah's parents' and Micah felt quite sick for about 24 hours as well, so our drive up to Denver was delayed another night so that the boys could recover. Jack felt great the next morning (kids recover so much more quickly than adults!) so he and the girls enjoyed playing outside at Grammy and Grandpa's house.

We stayed at Micah's sister's house in Denver Monday evening through Saturday morning, and it was fun to see the kids play with their cousins. Sadly, I came down with the stomach bug on Tuesday night (I was vomited on when Jack got sick so it was hard to avoid getting sick) so I was just starting to feel better on Thanksgiving day. We spent Thanksgiving afternoon and evening with some of Micah's old high school friends in Denver. We hoped to spend more of our trip doing fun things as a family, but my being sick put a damper on our plans.

Originally we were going to drive back through Monte Vista on our way home from Denver, but it had been a long week with three of us being sick so we decided to attempt the seven hour drive in one day. It went surprisingly well as we learned that frequent, short breaks are key to keeping our kids comfortable and happy. We did the seven hour drive in only eight hours with stops! The extra day at home over the weekend allowed us to decorate for Christmas as a family and the kids were actually quite helpful this year.

We also did a little yard work as our tree out front had dropped all of its leaves when we were in Denver. Again, the kids were surprisingly helpful.

Micah had to travel for work the week after Thanksgiving, so my mom came to town to help me with the kids. Her first night in town we went to the River of Lights at the Botanic Garden. It was cold, but everyone enjoyed it.

The entire week my mom was in town was quite cold, but we got outside a little bit as it helps the kids burn off some of their crazy energy.

Micah came home on Thursday night and my mom left late Friday morning, but my 20 week ultrasound was scheduled for early Friday morning so she was able to babysit while we went to the ultrasound. We were all very excited to find out that we are adding a boy to the family!

We started a new family tradition this year of opening a Christmas book every day in December leading up to Christmas day. It didn't take long for the kids to understand that they had to take turns opening books each day, and they seemed to look forward to the new books.

We did a lot of baking during December as I think my sweet tooth has been even more out of control during this pregnancy. The kids enjoy helping, although I honestly don't let them do much yet as I'm quite a germ-a-phobe. 

One afternoon I decided to get crafty and the kids made some very simple Christmas ornaments for our tree. We had some random supplies in the house and I kept it very simple...all they had to do was glue, but they were quite proud.

Micah had to travel for work again, so his mom came to town to help me with the kids (I feel very fortunate that the grandmas are so willing to help with the kids... especially since I'm pregnant and lacking some energy!). We took the kids to see Santa and although they were excited about going, they all panicked when they saw him. I had already decided we would buy the photos since we made the effort to get to the mall, so Karen and I sat down with Santa and the kids. At least it was memorable!

Faith and Jack smiled a bit by the tree near Santa, but Lexi just pouted.

The preschool Christmas performance was in the evening and it started at 7:00, which is normally our kids' bedtime so they were quite tired by the time they got on stage. This time Faith attempted to sing along to some of the songs, but Jack and Lexi were not into it at all. Micah missed this concert since he was out of town for work, but Karen was able to go with me.

Grammy, the kids, and I made spritz cookies for our church Community Group Christmas party. Micah made it back in time for this event.

The last day of school before break was pajama day, and all three kids thought this was great! Both girls wanted to wear the pink pajamas, so we compromised and split the pair between them.

Micah's mom actually flew down to Albuquerque from Alamosa, so his dad drove to ABQ for the weekend and then they drove back to CO together. We decided to take advantage of having grandparents in town and go car shopping. This is one of the few things we need to do in preparation for our new baby, and we knew that the end of the year is usually the best time to buy a car. We ended up getting a great deal on a Yukon XL. The kids are very excited to now be forward facing (our goal was to make it to age 4, but the third row of the Yukon is actually too small for rear facing car seats, so we turned everyone around). The first time they rode forward facing they were extreme backseat drivers telling me to turn, to slow down, speed up, and oohing when going downhill. I didn't realize how much they missed by rear facing!

Our new car. It's going to take me awhile to get used to parking this in tight spots, but it doesn't feel that different to drive than our 4Runner.

My birthday was the 22nd, so Micah took the morning off so that I could sleep in and we could go out to breakfast as a family. The kids are getting better at restaurants and it was actually quite enjoyable!

My annual birthday pic. I look tired, but I am almost 23 weeks pregnant in this pic, plus I take care of three 3-year-olds every day, so I think I have reason to feel and look tired.

The kids helped me bring the presents down to the tree on thee 23rd so that they would be ready to open on the 24th. We still haven't decided how much we want to incorporate Santa into our family traditions, so we didn't pretend Santa came to our house to drop off presents.

Christmas Eve morning. We opened presents with the five of us on Christmas Eve since we left that afternoon for Micah's parents' house and we wanted to make sure we had our own family celebration.

Faith seriously talked about the cash register she wanted for Christmas every day since the beginning of November when they had one in their classroom, so they all wanted to play with it as soon as they opened it. We don't give our kids that many gifts (we figure they get plenty when family gifts are added into the mix, plus they are only 3-years-old), but it took us over an hour to open everything since they wanted to thoroughly play with it all immediately. It was fun to see their excitement and enthusiasm for their gifts.

We drove up to Monte Vista on Christmas Eve afternoon and the drive went very smoothly. Again, we stopped frequently and we enjoyed the fact that the kids could get up and move around (and use our travel potty) without even leaving the car since there is so much space in our new vehicle! There was a little snow on the grass but not the road, but we did encounter some intense fog as we got closer to Monte Vista (it looks like a low lying cloud in the pic and then we drove right into it).

Christmas morning in Monte Vista. Jack and Lexi were not in the mood for a pic.

Christmas doggies

We had a white Christmas, and the kids enjoyed playing in the snow and "helping" their grandparents clear the driveway and sidewalk.

Their new Christmas toys kept everyone very entertained for the few days were in Monte Vista.

Our kids love the snow, but it's even better when Daddy is playing out there with them!

We drove back to ABQ on Tuesday, Dec. 27th and my brother's family arrived from Michigan that day in time for dinner! We were excited to have them in town since it had been three years since they had last come for a visit, and the kids are a great age for playing with their older cousins. On their first full day here we enjoyed the aquarium and Botanic Garden.

Unfortunately, I came down with the stomach bug AGAIN only five weeks after I got it the first time, so I missed out on the trip to the zoo. But it sounded like everyone had a great time.

Although I was still weak and tired on Friday, I joined everyone at the Petroglyphs for a little hiking and honestly I think the fresh air, sunshine, and walking helped me feel a little better. Thankfully, no one else caught the bug that I had.

Saturday was colder and a little rainy, so we didn't do much. We had an appetizer dinner in celebration of New Year's Eve, we played a game after our three kids went to bed, and then we watched the NYE's coverage on TV, but we were sad to find out that they didn't show the ball drop on EST this year! We had no intention of staying up to midnight on MST, so it was a bit of a letdown to miss the ball drop. Although it was an anticlimactic NYE, it was nice to not be super tired on New Year's Day. The weather was pleasant so we went to the foothills for a short hike. The top of the Sandias in the background have snow on top.

Adelle loved reading to the kids and it was nice for us to have a break from reading. Faith and Adelle were buddies during this trip as Faith was always sitting on her lap, holding her hand, or having Adelle carry her.

My brother's family left very early on Monday morning as they had a 22 hour drive back to Michigan. Micah had the day off of work (his last day of Winter Shut Down), so after doing some stuff around the house in the morning we drove to the back side of the Sandias and found snow to play in. I thought I had an original idea when I suggested it, so I was shocked to see so many people playing in the snow at the different points along the road. We had to go quite a ways up to find an open spot in a parking lot. The kids enjoyed playing in the snow, but they loved watching the older kids sled down the hills.

We packed in so much since mid November, but we aren't done yet! My parents arrive in a couple of days and we are going to do a small Christmas celebration with them when they get here. Micah then has to travel for work yet again, so my parents will be here to help me with the kids. It will feel weird to not have any plans with family once my parents leave ABQ since we've been lucky to see so much of our family in the last couple of months. The next time we spend this much time with family there will be another baby in the mix!

Pregnancy Comparison Thus Far

It is impossible not to compare my current singleton pregnancy with my triplet pregnancy. Although the triplet pregnancy had great results as we now have three wonderful children, I am thankful every day that this time around I am only growing one baby inside of me. Pregnancy is tough, whether it's one baby or three, and I can't imagine trying to take care of Alexis, Jack, and Faith while being pregnant with triplets as eating and resting were practically a full-time job the first time around.

These are some observations I've made between the two pregnancies so far:

• The first trimester of my current pregnancy felt hard, especially because Alexis, Jack, and Faith no longer nap and I needed a nap most afternoons (Jack gave up his nap during the first trimester, much to my chagrin).  There were many days that I turned on a movie for the kids just so they would be entertained while I napped. Even during the second trimester I still need a short nap occasionally, so I sleep on the couch while the kids watch a short show. During the first trimester I spent most evenings resting once Micah got home from work (I'm thankful for a husband that was willing and able to put the kids to bed most nights by himself for weeks!). 

•  I think I felt "good" for about a month of my triplet pregnancy...maybe between weeks 15 and 20, which is after the first trimester and before I started getting really big. So far the second trimester of this pregnancy has proved to be somewhat easier. Unfortunately I had two colds and a stomach bug between weeks 15 and 20 (I don't think I EVER had even a minor cold when I was pregnant with triplets as it was much easier to stay away from germs before I had kids), which depleted my energy, but even with those sicknesses I was able to care for our kids while being pregnant. Now I'm 23 weeks along and lately I have felt much better (knock on wood!), although I have come to realize that I probably won't ever have my "normal" energy level until I'm not pregnant. Plus, I'm just plain exhausted at the end of every day since I'm taking care of three rambunctious, strong-willed 3-year-olds.

• Up until a couple of weeks ago I could still wear some looser fitting non-maternity tops (and even at 23 weeks I have a couple of looser non-maternity tops that I've purchased since becoming pregnant that I can still wear). I can also still zip my winter coats, although I probably only have a couple of more weeks left of being able to do that. I gained so much weight with the triplet pregnancy that this would not have been possible, so I love that I can still squeeze into some of my "regular" clothes. 

• Multiple people have told me I'm still "tiny." Although I have been gaining weight steadily, and I will most likely go over the recommended max weight gain of 35 lbs (the holidays definitely didn't help me keep my weight gain in check!), compared to my triplet pregnancy I am tiny. As of 23 weeks I had gained 46 lbs with the triplet pregnancy, but with this pregnancy I've gained just over 20. I don't feel small since 20 lbs is significant, but the difference between the weight gains during the pregnancies is huge.

• I have to eat often, but not nearly as often or as much as the triplet pregnancy. I literally had to force myself to eat with the triplet pregnancy, since I was told that the more weight I gained the better off the babies would be, but this time around I eat when I feel like it. 

• My cravings are different this time around, although I'm sure that happens with different pregnancies for everyone. I loved Kraft Mac n Cheese and McDonald's during my triplet pregnancy. Since having kids, I no longer make Kraft Mac n Cheese because I've realized it's actually a bit gross, but my kids love Annie's. I've had an abundance of mac n cheese over the last couple of years because of the kids, though, so this is NOT something I crave. I also have only had McDonald's on road trips as it really doesn't sound that good (generally we don't eat much fast food). BUT this time around I have had too many Twisters Bandito Breakfast Burritos to count (they only cost $2 and they are the perfect little size for a second breakfast, so I didn't feel too bad going through the drive thru often during the first trimester). We also ate pizza once a week during the first trimester (I might have kept this up if heartburn wasn't a factor now). 

• During my triplet pregnancy I ate ice cream almost every single day because I was told it was a good way to get more calcium and fat. This time around I've only had a tiny amount of ice cream as I correlate it with massive weight gain during pregnancy. 

• Like my triplet pregnancy I have heartburn, but so far it is very mild compared to my triplet pregnancy. I'm hoping that it doesn't get any worse as during my triplet pregnancy I had to sleep sitting up most nights, which was miserable.

• I was hopeful that I would keep running and climbing during this pregnancy since that was something I longed to do during my triplet pregnancy, but that hasn't worked out for me this time either. I was way too exhausted to do these activities during the first trimester, and now I find it hard to find the time and energy to do these things along with taking care of Alexis, Jack, and Faith. Also, when I have tried running and climbing it just didn't "feel right" since my body has gone through a big change already. Instead, I'm trying to make sure I keep moving and at least go to the zoo and parks with the kids so that I'm getting a lot of walking in. I honestly don't get much downtime in my day since Alexis, Jack, and Faith require a lot of attention and supervision, so I'm pretty sure I'll be in better shape at the end of this pregnancy than I was at the end of the triplet pregnancy (just squatting to pick up millions of toys strewn about the house is more than I did during my first pregnancy!).

• I felt movement early on with this pregnancy, but I wasn't confident it was the baby until 20 weeks when it suddenly became much more obvious. Between 20 and 21 weeks I started seeing the movement. But I still don't feel movement as much as I'd like to and I think this is because I'm comparing it to my triplet pregnancy when I felt movement all of the time. I have to keep reminding myself that I had three babies dancing in my belly the first time around, so it makes sense that the movement feels much less frequent this time.

• I feel much more relaxed about my current pregnancy. During the triplet pregnancy I had a lot of time to think since I wasn't working and I spent my days growing babies, reading about triplets and triplet pregnancies, and preparing for their arrival. This time I'm honestly too busy to think about the pregnancy very much since Alexis, Jack, and Faith demand a lot of attention. It's also not a high risk pregnancy like the triplet pregnancy, so there isn't much to worry and think about. Also, we have most of the stuff we need, and we know we can survive without other things if we don't have them right away, so there is zero prep that needs to be done besides picking out a name! I'm actually getting weekly emails to update me on the pregnancy and I'm paying attention to the fruit / vegetable size comparisons. I was much too stressed to read about fun things like this during my triplet pregnancy.

I have been taking weekly pictures and I've enjoyed comparing my photos to the same gestation in my triplet pregnancy. Thankfully, overall I think I look much more rested and much smaller. The triplet pregnancy took a huge toll on my body, and I think this pregnancy is helping me understand how difficult it really was for me. In the photos below, the triplet pregnancy photos are on the left and the current singleton pregnancy photos are on the right.

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks 

19 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

22 weeks 

23 weeks