more good news!!!

we had a doctor appointment yesterday and received more good news. the babies look great with a good amount of fluid around them and umbilical blood flow. the technician had a hard time telling who was who because they have been shifting so much, which explains all the rib and back pain i have been having the past week. oh well! baby B is even growing hair that we were able to see on the ultrasound - it was great! the doctor is very happy with how well things are going. our next appointment is friday, june 8. we will keep you posted.

update

the weekend was great! we had two wonderful showers where we were surrounded by family and friends and felt a great deal of love and support. we received wonderful gifts for our three little treasures. thad was blessed by extra hands helping him work on house projects friday night (until midnight) and all day saturday. thanks so much to Thad's parents, Thomas and Betty, and Adam. we are so grateful for all your help - i hope we can repay you sometime. i was amazed by all that got done!

we had a doctor appointment yesterday morning with the high risk doctor. all is well - praise the Lord! the babies were even in sync with the same heart rates at 158. CRAZY! thad spoke with our primary doctor today who reviewed the chart from our appointment yesterday and said she wants to begin seeing me every week until the babies are born. nothing major - with only 7 weeks to go she said it is time to come on a weekly basis. i am excited about getting to see the babies each week and hear their heartbeats.

we also had an appointment yesterday afternoon with a neonatologist and got a tour of the neonatal floor at Spectrum. it was really helpful to see the floor and hear from a very kindhearted doctor in the unit. it was also a little overwhelming to hear about potential problems and see these tiny babies hooked up to various contraptions. i am comforted by the thought that the Lord loves our babies even more than we do and will be with them through it all. i also learned the neonatal floor is open to us as parents 24/7 so we can spend lots of time there with them. plus they will put the girls by each other, which is comforting. the nurses and staff seemed really caring and knowledgeable.

needless to say, yesterday was an extremely long and tiring day. i was completely worn out. it doesn't take much these days to tire me out. this upcoming weekend we will be having another house project weekend. my dad will come into town (my mom has been here since monday afternoon) and he and thad are moving the washer and dryer to the first floor from the basement. a group of my coworkers are coming on saturday to help with various projects around the house - what a blessing! we have so much to be thankful for.

this weekend

i have not created a post for a few days now because i have been in a lot of rib and back pain. it is getting better though, which is such a relief! my mom came last week Tuesday to take me to the doctor appointment and help around the house. it has been such a blessing having her here working on projects for me and taking excellent care of me. in fact, i am most likely headed back to Corunna with her this week Thursday for a couple days because of the family shower in Corunna on Saturday. Thad plans to stay back in GR to work on a few house projects he has not been able to do because of the chemical smells being dangerous to me and the girls. so he hopes to work Thurs & Fri evenings and all day Saturday on finishing the stripping project in the living room. if anyone is interested in helping him out, we would be extremely grateful. he had used a heat gun on the majority of the crown molding and only has a couple areas to go. then he will use chemical stripper to get the remaining paint off. next will be staining and sealing the woodwork. it is the crown molding up high between the ceiling and the walls so if you are available and handy on a ladder, let us know. i feel bad for Thad because he has been working so hard every day and usually on his own. i would love for someone to be able to help him out.

i will be heading back to GR Saturday evening with my sister after the shower. then on Sunday, Thad's parents are throwing us a shower at their house. should be a great weekend. thanks everyone for continuing to support us and pray for us.

our awesome niece and nephew

Kristy sent me these pictures this week of Chloe and Bryce and I had to share them on the blog. They took the kids to the Tulip Festival a couple nights ago dressed up as little Hollanders. They are so stinking cute!!! Bryce looks like the ride over on the ship was a bit rough. Kristy said he was not excited about wearing the outfit and the only way she got Chloe to wear her outfit was by saying she looked like Snow White! How funny. Our girls are going to love their cousins.

THREE GIRLS!!!

Well, the ultrasound technician was pretty sure Baby B is a girl! Three girls in the home...good thing we have two bathrooms. We had a great visit and another wonderful report. My cervix is nice and long, which is such a blessing. The high risk doctor said that he was confident with the length of the cervix that I would not go into premature labor in the next two weeks. He gave me permission to travel to Corunna on May 19 for the Family Baby Shower - another blessing!

When I saw my regular doctor today, I told her about this cold that I have had for the past couple weeks and how I got better and then it came back and I am sick again. She said with the babies pushing up on my diaphragm so much, that I am a good candidate to get pneumonia so she put me on an antibiotic to avoid that. She also said there is not much I can do about the back and rib pain. And unfortunately, she said it will only get worse. She said I am measuring at about 36 weeks even though I am at 25 weeks, which explains why strangers keep telling me I look like I am going to pop any day now. Overall, she was really encouraged by the way things look so far. It was so reassuring to hear that all is well with me and the babies. What an answer to prayer.

The babies looked great via ultrasound. They are really cute (not that I am biased or anything!). Each baby gained weight over the past two weeks - Baby A weighs 1 lb. 11 oz. (up 7 oz.), Baby B weighs 1 lb. 13 oz. (up 8 oz.), and Baby C weighs 1 lb. 7 oz. (up 4 oz.). I am proud of our girls and praising the Lord for all of the blessings he has been giving us.

the new nursery

when we learned that we were having triplets, we had to pick another room for the nursery because the first one was too small for three cribs. the only problem was that the room for the second nursery was a work in progress. thad and i had begun stripping the woodwork in the room and had just finished the hardwood floors. it was no where ready to be used as a nursery for our three little treasures. fortunately, thad's mom has been over several times a week to work on the room (stripping the windows, staining and sealing the woodwork, patching and sanding the walls, etc). this past weekend, the new windows were put in the nursery, which are a huge blessing. the room is much quieter now with the new windows! tonight is incredibly exciting because the first coat of green paint is going on the walls. the new nursery looks wonderful and i am encouraged that we will soon be able to set up the cribs and baby furniture! (i guess it is the "nesting" i am going through because i want that room ready for the babies the sooner the better!!!!)

sisters

ever since i have been on bed rest (5 weeks now), my sister has come EVERY week and picked up laundry to do for me and thad. i cannot begin to tell you what a help it has been. lynnette and i were talking the other day about how i always used to say that i wanted to have two girls someday so they could experience the relationship of having a sister. in my opinion, babies A & C (maybe B too) are so fortunate to have a sister(s). don't get me wrong, my sister and i had our hard years when i was a bratty little sister and we did not really like each other or get along. but now, lynnette is my best friend and i thank the Lord for the blessing of having a great sister!