Big News!

 

Not really sure how to start this post. So here it goes. I am 19.5 weeks pregnant. Yesterday Richard and I went to the routine ultrasound. We were excited to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl.  The tech explained us that she would do the scan and then show us the baby. So she turned the screen away from us. When she started the ultrasound, she casually asked "Now was this pregnancy natural or were you on fertility treatments?" We replied "natural." She made it sound so casual that we didn't think anything of it. Then a couple minutes later, she said that she'd be right back and needed to go tell the secretary something. Little weird, but again, we weren't alarmed at that point. Well, when she came back, she spent over 45 minutes scanning and moving the probe all over my stomach, I began to think something was up. She FINALLY let me go to the bathroom and I came back and she said she would just need to scan for a few more minutes but that everything was totally fine and that I shouldn't worry (she  mentioned that a few times throughout the scan). Anyways, another 45 minutes went by! My back was killing and I was SO curious as to what was going on! By this time I was bracing myself that she might tell us we were expecting twins. I was a little overwhelmed by the idea, but thought that I had some sister-in-laws who did it and they could help me get through it. Well she finally said she was finished scanning and let me go to the bathroom again. When I got back to the room, the radiologist, and the supervising ultrasound technician were in there. They informed us that we were not having twins, we were having TRIPLETS. And that they are all BOYS!!! We were SHOCKED obviously. With my little medical experience, I did not even know it was possible to have triplets without being on fertility meds. Rich was very surprised too as he knows that the odds of this happening are really slim. But he got a big grin on his face when they said they were all boys! I just sat there stunned and mumbled something about how I really like my sleep. They informed us that all of the triplets are measuring the same size and that they all appear very healthy. They said I would be coming back for lots of ultrasounds and that I should plan on 2.5 hours for each scan (yikes)!

Well, now that the news has had a full day to set in, we are still in shock. But we are really trying to focus on our blessings and the positives. I know how hard it can be for some people to get pregnant/keep pregnancies (I've gone through 2 miscarriages myself, and I know how it feels to lose a pregnancy). Because of that, I can't allow myself to feel bitter at all (overwhelmed, YES) but I am so thankful that I have been able to carry this pregnancy this far. I know that for some strange reason, these boys need to be born together. And I have faith that God is in control and that he can bless me through this. Triplet pregnancies are quite high-risk. The average pregnancy only lasts 32 weeks. And obviously if born that early the triplets need to spend time in the NICU. So right now I am just really focusing on how I can take care of these babies inside of me and ensure they have the best chance of being born healthy. We would appreciate all the prayers we can get!

Also, here is a blog post I came across a few weeks ago. Point number 3 has really sunk in for me in the last day. I am totally overwhelmed and know that I cannot do this alone (luckily we have really supportive families that have offered lots of help). Still I know that without God, I would not be able to do this. So I am just trying to trust in his plan for our family and let him take the lead.

 http://www.shortstopblog.com/2013/08/to-moms-of-one-or-two-children.html

Hopefully I will write more later, I just wanted to let everybody know what is going on. Here are some pictures of the babies!

All 3 together. You can see the heads on the baby on the left and the right. That little mass in the middle left is the other baby. Don't ask me, I have NO clue what body part it it.