Will I ever enjoy food again?

I'm sure at some point I will. I mean I can't stay nauseous forever right? Sometimes I wish I could just get all my meals through an IV because chewing, swallowing, and digesting food is just so dang hard! This is such a strange phenomenon to me because, let's face it, I love food. I love the way food smells and tastes. I'm from the south where food equals love. When someone is born, or dies, or gets married, or just for any old reason we southerners bring food. I come from a long line of people who love food! But since the babies have taken residence in my tummy, food is a thing of the past. I literally have to force myself to sit down and take small bites of food because I know they need the nourishment. Ugggg!

Yesterday was the worst day. I was feeling ok until I let my dog outside to potty. Suddenly this huge tidal wave of nausea swept over me and I lost it right there in the grass. I'm glad none of my neighbors were around to see this little fiasco. I'm on my knees vomiting in the grass and at the same time yelling at my dog to get away from the vomit. Something about it had intrigued her. Perhaps the partially digested bagel? Sorry, gross I know. Ever since then the nausea has been even worse than it was before. Today my abs and chest muscles hurt from getting sick so many times. Oh the joys of pregnancy!

The fatigue is tough to deal with too. I didn't really notice much fatigue in my first pregnancy. Maybe with 3 the fatigue is tripled? My day pretty much consists of going to work, coming home from work, napping, eating what I can for supper, and going back to bed. I feel like a walking zombie most of the time. Sometimes I wonder if it's even safe to be on the road. It's just that bad!

I am only 2 weeks from my 2nd trimester so maybe I can look forward to some relief then. This turned out to be a real downer post. It was meant to be an update but all I did was complain. Sorry! On a happier note, I have my first visit with the perinatologist on Monday afternoon. We get to see the babies again and I should have new pics to share.

Unsolicited comments!

Something happens to people when you tell them you are having triplets. It's like that part of the brain that filters out things others might find offensive just shuts off completely. People ask all sorts of well-intentioned questions and give every piece of "multiples" advice they've ever heard or read. Which I think is sweet. But some things are just too much. When we tell people we're having triplets this look of terror comes over many of their faces followed by "better you than me" or "I'd lose my mind if I were in your place". They act as though in 6 months or so I'll be giving birth to 3 gremlins instead of God's precious gifts. But the one comment that really got under my skin was a women who asked me "so would you be really upset if one of them died?". I was a little stunned at her question otherwise I might have had some snappy comeback. Or else I may have questioned her if she would be upset if one of her children died? Actually I really felt like channeling some of the comedian Bill Engvall and saying "here's your sign". She deserved it!

A four hour tour, a four hour tour

On Wednesday, July 22nd, I went to my first visit with my new OBGYN Dr. Wooten. When I first realized I wouldn't be able to go back to my previous doctor I was pretty bummed. I also won't be able to go back to Piedmont-Fayette Hospital where I delivered before. So new doctor and new hospital. Which isn't terrible because I will get to deliver at Northside Hospital where I was born. Plus it is likely Mrs. Meri Mac will be on the delivery team so there is a lot to be excited about. But the doctor's appointment was a disaster! Through a whole bunch of mishaps from the office not receiving my prior medical records to them giving me the wrong cup to pee in, the visit took 4 hours! I was so ill by the time the appointment was over I wanted to run screaming from the place. Plus then I had to drive home in rush hour traffic which is soooooo not what a frustrated, hungry, nauseous, hormonal pregnant lady needed! My only saving grace through this debacle was my dear Meredith. She kept me entertained with laughs and sorority walk-songs. Bless you saint Meredith! My next visit will be in 2 weeks with the perinatolgist (high risk doc) and then I'll be back to see Dr. Wooten in a month. I will pretty much be seeing one of the docs every 2 weeks for now and eventually every week. I will hate the long drives to the doc but I'm glad they'll be keeping a close eye on me and the babies.

Back to the doctor!

On Monday of this week (July 13th) I had my 8 week check up and ultrasound. I was really nervous to see how the babies were doing. At 6 weeks their heartbeats were 109, 117, and 120 which sounded low to me compared to my first pregnancy. The doctor said they like to see over 100 so they were all within a normal range but the one baby was on the lower end of normal. But today my 3 little overachievers had blossomed nicely into the 160's. Baby A measured 1.27cm (my middle weight child) and has a heart rate of 160 bpm. Baby B measured 1.18cm (the shrimp of the bunch) and has a heart rate of 164 bpm. Baby C measured 1.37 cm (the big bruiser) and has a heart rate of 167 bpm. The doctor said everything is right on track and released me from the fertility office to my new permanent OBGYN. I will start seeing Dr. Wooten of OBGYN of Atlanta next Wednesday and he will care for me throughout the pregnancy. I will also be seen by another "high risk" doctor known as a perinatologist soon too. Unfortunately since the triplets put me in the high risk category I can no longer see my regular OBGYN (the one that delivered me before) or deliver at Piedmont-Fayette Hospital as I had planned. I will be delivering at Northside Hospital in Atlanta (where I was also born!) and will likely be under the care of the best L&D nurse in town (love ya Meredith :) which is exciting although I am dreading the drive back and forth to the doctor and/or hospital. But if I have a high risk pregnancy and/or a high risk delivery I want to be at Northside for sure! Only a few more days until my next appointment. The top picture is from my appointment and you can clearly see all 3 sacs but can only see babies A & C (they are labeled C, B, and A from left to right). Baby B was determined to hide so the ultrasound tech took another picture of Baby B along with Baby C and that is the second picture (C is on the left and B on the right). But the way the sacs are this time baby A is completely hidden! I can already tell these 3 are going to be a handful!

The start of a new journey...

After prodding from several sources and reading another blog started by a friend of a friend, I decided to start my own. That way any and everyone can read about what we've been through, where we are now, and what lies ahead.

Boy meets girl:

Kurt and I met at UGA in 2001. After 2 years of dating, Kurt popped the big question. We got married on a cool November day in 2004; 3 years to the day of our first date. Here we are sharing one of our very first kisses as the new Mr. and Mrs.

On the move:

In 2005 we decided our apartment was too small so we started looking for a house. We found the perfect 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in Suwanee. Although we only lasted there 11 months because I took a transfer with my company. Kurt and I were off to Newnan and found a second perfect house in March 2006.

Starting a family:

Kurt and I always talked about having a family but really got serious about our plans after we'd been married for about 2 years. We took a cruise shortly thereafter to "kick off" the baby making efforts. At first it was all fun and games but as the months went by with no success we started to wonder if there was something wrong. Several months and several doctors later, our problems were mostly blamed on PCOS, a disease that affects a women's fertility. The doctor started me on several medications but none proved any success. A girlfriend of mine recommended a doctor at Emory in Atlanta. After meeting with him and even more testing, we were told IVF was our best option.

We did it!

Our first round of IVF in July 2008 was tough. So many injections, so many doctor's appointments. I was cranky, bloated, uncomfortable, and more. I didn't know anyone else going through it, so I often felt very alone. Kurt was as supportive as possible, but even he did not understand the physical and emotional roller coaster I was on. In the end, we transferred 2 perfect looking embryos. And one of them stuck. We were pregnant!

The bumpy road ahead:

Pregnancy wasn't quite what I expected. Between 7 and 8 weeks I started getting the worst morning sickness. Only it wasn't confined to the morning. It was all day long sickness. I was miserable! I was so thankful to Kurt for taking care of me. He is a saint! Other than that things were mostly uneventful until the day of our "big" ultrasound. On that day found out our daughter had passed away in utero. The next day I was induced and delivered our little girl Leyna Koenig. I spent a few minutes with her and then said goodbye. This was officially the worst day of my life. I just felt broken.

Moving on:

Months went by before either one of us felt semi-normal again. A lot of tears were shed and a lot of healing took place before we wanted to go down that road again. But in March 2009 we decided to give it another try. This time was much easier because I had been through it before and because the regiment was less involved as we had frozen embryos left over from our first IVF cycle. On March 30th we transferred 3 of our frozen embryos into my womb. Unfortunately we did not get lucky this time. We did not get pregnant. In May, we tried again this time transferring 3 perfect embryos from a fresh cycle. This one was the jackpot! Pregnant!

Not quite what we expected:

On July 2nd we had our very first ultrasound to get a look at our little baby. But as the scan started, it quickly turned into something quite unexpected. Luba the ultrasound technician asked me "How many did you want?". That was a very strange question. She then turned the monitor toward me and I could see all 3 perfect little babies. I left the doctor that day in shock. I'm not sure how many times I looked at that ultrasound but it was a lot! So here we are. Just 6 weeks into what will be the most amazing journey we've ever been on. Come follow along!