Bump Day: Week 27

How far along? 27 weeks.  One more week down.

Sleep? Eh, not like I used to.  I wake up every 2 hours or so to turn over... And for me, that's like running stairs.

Maternity Clothes? Pajama pants and XL t-shirts.

Stretch Marks? Nope.  I'm as large as a full-term pregnant Mom with one baby and still no stretch marks.  I'm crossing my fingers, but I have about 6 more weeks to go for our goal.

Best Moment this week? I've been given Wheelchair privileges by my doctor.  So, Saturday and Sunday Brian got to push me around the hospital for about 30 minutes.  It feels so nice to see people and other places besides these four walls I stare at all day.

Miss Anything? My DVR.  Normal clothes, shoes, and makeup.
 

Movement? Definitely.  Especially at night, when I wake up in the morning, and during the monitoring.  I'm beginning to differentiate which one is kicking me (or her sisters).

Size of the Babies? Three Cauliflowers! 

Food Cravings? Not really.  The nutritionist gave me Boost VHC (Very High Calorie) with 530 calories... It's like eating pancake batter.  I have to chew and my mouth gets a workout just sucking it through the tiny straw... Yuck.

Morning Sickness? Nope.

Gender? Three girls.

Bed Rest? Still in the hospital.  My doctor is holding me hostage... which is fine by me.

Limitations? Plenty... just hanging out in bed all day.

Labor Signs? I'm beginning to know when I have a contraction.  Not sure if that is good or bad.  They don't hurt me and the doctor/nurses say it is okay to have 1-2 an hour.  Just my uterus preparing for labor.

Weight Gain? 32 lbs.  Getting up there.

Pregnancy Symptoms?  Shortness of breath when I talk too much, roll over, or lay flat.

Belly Button In or Out? Slightly out.

Wedding Rings On or Off?  They should still fit.

Mood? Optomistic.  That's just me :)
 

Looking Forward To?  Our 5 year anniversary on Friday.

What Brian is Saying: "I spent A LOT of money at Babies R Us"... and if you know my husband, he is the most frugal person.  He is always looking at ways to save money and for him to go spend money without me really even asking says he is willing to do whatever it takes to raise these girls.  I love him.

Bump Photo:

 

 

10 Things I've Learned While On Bed Rest

Well, I'm going on my 41st day of bed rest and my 28th day on hospital bed rest.  Let's just say I'm becoming a PRO at this and these are a few things I've learned along the way...

1.  Bedrails are a SAVIOR when you are 26 weeks pregnant with triplets.  I really don't know how I would roll over or sit up without them.  Pathetic, I know, but at least they are helping keep my upper body strength while my abs waste away.

2.  I don't really have as much free time as I thought I would.  With all of the nurses, aids, meals, visitors, and baby monitoring... there is not much time left for me to check off all of those things on my "Bed rest To Do List".  Plus, I get tired really easily so just getting a little nap here and there takes up time as well.

3.  Back jets in a shower are AMAZING!  When I sit down to shower, I continuously get a flow of hot water on my back and that is a definite perk when trying to shower sitting down.  May seem something silly to eww and awe over but sometimes just getting up to get in the shower is the highlight of my day.  I love those back jets!

4.  If someone offers to bring you food, take up the offer!  After being here for almost 4 weeks, I've grown a little less fond of the hospital food.  They surprise you here and there, but after you eat eggs for almost every breakfast, they can get boring and gross.  Its always nice to get an outside meal to remind myself what I'm missing outside this hospital room I'll be fortunate enough to have again once these baby girls make their presence in this world.

5.  Your nice firm muscles that you have had all your life will turn to mush.  Yes, I'm mushy... all over.  No exercise + eating whatever I want = untoned, flabby, mush.  I do some stretches and theraband exercises but definitely not enough to make up for the couch potatoe lifestyle I'm living.  Don't get me wrong... I'm really good at being lazy, but it is frustrating to watch my muscles go bye-bye.

6.  Chapstick and lotion are must-haves in the hospital.  And make sure they are within reach.  Nothing worse than chapped lips and seeing the chapstick across the room, yet you can't get up to get it.

7.  Game shows make me envious.  At 10 AM its The Price Is Right, 6:30 PM is Wheel of Fortune, and sometimes in between I'll catch Let's Make a Deal.  It would be so awesome to be on a gameshow but what I'm most envious about are the vacations they are giving away.  If you know Brian and I, you know we love to travel.  I'd give up traveling forever for these girls, but when they show the resorts with the crystal clear water, it just makes me want to walk right outta here and jump on the next plane.  I've got the travel-bug.  But I suppose right now I'd trade traveling to an exotic place for just getting some fresh air downstairs...

8.  I've learned that DVR at home spoiled me.  Having to watch TV live and only being able to use the TV Guide channel to see what is on is almost TORTURE.  It seems like I only turn on the tv now if I know a show is on a certain channel.  Otherwise, I watch shows on my Kindle.

9.  Take advantage of any time you are allowed out of the room.  I was able to go to "Bed Rest Boogie Break" a couple weeks ago which allowed me to go in the wheelchair down the hall to the Great Room.  I got to meet other Moms-to-be and do some crafty things.  Also, just getting wheeled out to get an ultrasound could be the highlight of my day.

10.  Follow the doctor's orders.  I'm here for a reason... to create and grow beautiful baby girls.  Gestating is my job and I will follow the 'rules' if it means having healthy babies.  I stay in bed and only get up to use the restroom or shower.  I know I control the destiny for our babies right now and I want to give them the best opportunities I can.  I love them :)



Three Peas in a Pod Baby Shower



My 'Three Peas in a Pod' Shower was given to us by all of my aunts and surrogate aunts.  They put in a lot of effort to make this an adorable yet elegant baby shower.  Once again Brian went in my place and I rode around on his chest in the form of a Kindle.

 

The invitations and decor were so ADORABLE.

 

 

The stained glass in the back of the room just happened to be three storks... how fitting for a triplets baby shower!

 

 

They had a game set up where you would have to guess what baby item was in each pink bag.  Surprisingly, Brian got most of the answers right!  He is going to be such a great Daddy.

 

 

Here are some pics from Brian opening prezzies.  My cousin's 2 year old daughter helped him open the presents and then would bring them to the Kindle where I could see them.  It was the cutest thing ever.

 

 

Thanks so much to my hostesses.  It was such a wonderful shower and I really wish I could have been there in person.  Brian and I are so blessed to have such generous and amazing people in our lives.  We love each and every one of you.

 

Bump Day: Week 26

How far along? 26 weeks.

Sleep? Some days better than others.

Maternity Clothes? Pajama pants and XL t-shirts.
 

Stretch Marks? Still No.

Best Moment this week? Hearing one or more of the babies have hiccups on the fetal monitors... so cute :)

Miss Anything? I'm missing setting up the nursery and organizing all of the cute baby things we have received.

Movement? Yes, I'm even beginning to feel a head, butt, or foot pressed against the surface of my belly when they change positions.  And yes, there is still room for Baby B and C to change positions.

Size of the Babies? Three Hothouse cucumbers!  (Pictured below since I didn't know there were different types of cucumbers)

Food Cravings? Not very much.  Trying to each as much as I can.

Morning Sickness? Nope.

Gender? Three girls.

Bed Rest? I'm rockin' it here at the hospital.

Limitations? No jumping on trampolines or riding horses. *sarcasm

Labor Signs? Staying pretty stable here at the hospital.  I'm trying to be on my best behavior and be 'boring' for my doctor.

Weight Gain? 29 lbs.  Never thought I would be excited when I gained a pound.
 

Pregnancy Symptoms?  Pelvic pain anytime I roll over or stand up.  That first step is very painful.

Belly Button In or Out? Slightly out.

Wedding Rings On or Off? I don't have them right now, but I'm pretty sure they would still fit.

Mood? Pretty good.  Just happy to make it through each day still preggo.

Looking Forward To?  My next ultrasound.  I want to see how much my girls have grown.

What Brian is Saying: "Guess how many pacifiers we have... 41."  Yes, my Mom, Dad, MIL, and hubby inventoried all of our baby stuff we have been fortunate to recieve at our baby showers.  And then my engineer husband went a step forward and made an excel spreadsheet.  Although, I make fun sometimes, this is definitely going to be useful since I can't see what all we have.  Now, I get to go online shopping!

Bump Photo:

 

3 Amigas Baby Shower, Ole!

 

Brian and I are so incredibly lucky.  Why, you may ask... because we have so many friends and family that care so much about us.  It makes me feel so good to know that we have a huge support group and that we will never be lacking help when these babies get here.  Along with that support, we have had so many people want to help throw babies' showers for us that we ended up with 4 showers.  Needless to say, we have received so many baby gifts and we are so grateful.

 

My sister-in-law (Check out her Blog for more pics), best friends, and their Mom's offered to a shower for my baby girls.  This one happened last weekend and was a FIESTA themed party.  It was soooo adorable and I like to quote Stephanie that, "Pinterest threw up in my house".

 

 

Also, being on hospital bed rest, I was unfortunately unable to make it to my own babies' shower.  But guess you stepped in, my amazing hubby, Brian (they are his kiddos too).  I was also able to skype in to the shower, and even though the image quality was poor, I was still able to talk to all of the guests and see what gifts we received.

 

Proud papa with me on Skype.

 

 

Entry Table

 

 

All of our wonderful hosts, our Mom's, and Brian

 

My Bump Day pictures were spread throughout the house.

 

Nacho Bar

 

Cake and beverage table... I loved the "la CAKE" and "el BAR"

 

Some of our Guests

 

 

The hosts chose such a cute game to play.  They blindfolded Brian, my Mom, and his Mom and made them completely dress cabbage patch dolls.

 

 

On your mark, Get set, Go!

 

 

Time to open presents!  Brian showed me each gift he opened.

 

 

What an awesome time with amazing friends.  I really wish I could have been there in person to see everyone but we did what we could.  My most important job right now is gestating... or growing babies.  Deepest thanks to all of my hosts and friends that came.  Brian and I really appreciate all of the love. 

 

And to Brian, what a good sport you were walking in to a house full of women.  I'm such a lucky woman and these growing girls are lucky to have such a great man as their father.  I love you.

 

 

 

 



Bump Day: Week 25

How far along? 25 weeks.

Sleep? Getting better here at the hospital.  I've come up with a system so they only have to wake me up at 3 AM and 4 AM.

Maternity Clothes? Just jammies most of the time.

Stretch Marks? Zilch.

Best Moment this week? Watching my super cute and awesome babies' shower through skype on Saturday.  Brian went as my stand in again.  Pictures will be up soon.

Miss Anything? The outdoors.  I have a really awesome view which is nice on a pretty day... but I need some of that Vitamin D.
 

Movement? Yes, especially when the nurses are trying to monitor their heartbeats.  The more they move, the longer it takes, and the more uncomfortable Momma gets.

Size of the Babies? Three Rutabagas!  Or according to my ultrasound last Friday... Baby A is 1 lb 5 oz, Baby B is 1 lb 6 oz, and Baby C is 1 lb 9 oz

Food Cravings? Not really, just starting to get tired of hospital food.

Morning Sickness? Nada.

Gender? Three girls.

Bed Rest? Yep yep... hospital bed rest.
 

Limitations? Just stay in bed.
 

Labor Signs? No contractions since I was first admitted to the hospital so doing good.

Weight Gain? 26 lbs.  Slowly but surely gaining weight.

Pregnancy Symptoms?  No core strength = difficulty rolling in bed or sitting up.

Belly Button In or Out? Slightly out.

Wedding Rings On or Off? Still On.

Mood? Spirits are still up.  I'm not completely bored of this place yet.
 

Looking Forward To?  Using my time to do some photobooks and prep for our baby girls.
 

What Brian is Saying: "I miss famiy being home"  Although he knows I'm in the best place right now, I can only imagine how quiet it is at home without me or Ryley.  Soon we will have a FULL house.
 

Bump Photo:

 

Patterson Triplets Reveal

So this may be REALLY late, but I still find it amusing the reactions we received when we told our friends, family, and even strangers that we were having TRIPLETS!  Mostly people seemed confused at first and then shocked and then excited. 

I'll start off by telling about our reaction to the news.  I had an ultrasound done at 6 weeks to confirm we were in fact pregnant.  The ultrasound tech was excited to tell us we were expecting Twins.  Immediately, I was thrilled but overwhelmed since I have always wanted twins.  Brian was mostly overwhelmed and already worrying about raising two babies at once.  The news sank in and we were both very excited.

Next, we told our parents.  It was the night before Thanksgiving that we went over to Brian's parents house.  And just in mid-conversation... Brian threw out, "Oh and we are pregnant."  His Mom and Dad were so excited.  We then proceeded to show them our ultrasound pictures..."There is a baby in his/her sack, and there is ANOTHER baby in his/her sack."  They were so excited that we were expecting twins.  But then we had to have Brian's Mom swear to secrecy as she left the next day for a two week vacation with her sister.  Sorry about that Susan!

We wanted to tell my parents the same night, so we drove to their house.  There were no cars in the driveway and the lights were off.  Dang, they weren't home.  So I called my Mom and did some detective work and realized that they were at a wine bar nearby.  We drove to the bar, found their car, and waited in the parking lot.  My morning sickness and fatigue became too much so our "steak out" lasted for about 10 minutes.  We would try again in the morning.  The next day was Thanksgiving and we decided to just show up again at their house before we were supposed to meet at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  So when we arrived and knocked on the door, my Dad answered and Brian and I both yelled, "We're pregnant!"  My Dad started jumping up and down and then you could hear my Mom from around the corner, "Wait, what?  Julie, come here!"  She was still in her Pj's so I went to greet her and told her the good news as well.  They were both so happy for us.  We did the same thing with the ultrasound pictures as we did with Brian's parents.  They couldn't believe we were having twins and there were a few tears shed.  Once again, they were sworn to secrecy until Brian and I were ready to tell the rest of the family.  I somehow made it through Thanksgiving without too much morning sickness but the weekend that followed was miserable.  I don't think I left the couch.

At 8 weeks, we went in for a second ultrasound.  This time the doctor did the ultrasound and she knew almost immediately that they were not twins.   She looked at me and said, "Are you sitting down?"... Well obviously.  "Do  you see what I see?"  And I responded, "Are there three?"  "Yes, congratulations.  You are having triplets!"

Jaw drops and I fall back on the table.  Hands down, the most shocking news I've ever received.  The next few minutes were a blur.  At some point I remember Brian saying, "Oh S%!T" and the doctor doing measurements and saying that we needed to go buy lottery tickets since we were so lucky.  She informed us that we now needed to go see a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor that specializes in high risk pregnancy.

Wow, triplets.  Three babies.  We can do this.  Brian and I spent the next week or so letting the news sink in.  I would be sitting on the couch and just blurt out, "Three babies" because I was picturing there being three children running around us.  The shock gradually turned in to excitement and although I still sometimes have to remind myself that I am carrying three babies, it is such a blessing.  A lot of people have said to Brian and I that if there is one couple that could handle this, that it would be us.  And I couldn't agree more.  I can't wait to raise these three little girls.

Next, we decided to tell our parents... again... but this time that we were having TRIPLETS.  We invited all of them over to our house on a Wednesday night.  The Patterson's arrived for dinner so we told them first and then my parents arrived a couple hours later and we spilled the news.  They were shocked as well, but both grandmothers were in full swing trying to plan on how to take care of me and then how we were going to get help caring for the triplets.  Typical Moms.  I love them.

We waited until I was 9 weeks along to tell my brother and his wife, Stephanie.  You can see their reactions in the video posted below.  And we waited until about 11 weeks to tell our close friends and other family.  It was so much fun to tell people.  My close girl friends thought we were lying (as you can see in the video as well) when we said I was pregnant and then they really didn't believe us when I said it was triplets as you can see by no one really even reacting to the news.  I think the funniest reaction is from my cousin, Natalie, at our family Christmas at the River House.  We always do a Chinese gift exchange and Stephanie rigged it so I would pick first.  I knew which gift to open that revealed we were having triplets (You can watch this in the video as well). 

Others we gave this film strip printed from our photo booth (Have I mentioned we have a photo booth company... Snap Happy Photos).  Most people were confused at first when looking at the pictures and we would have to explain that we were indeed having 3 babies.  Oh, and it is skinny me in the picture :)

 

 

So that is how our friends and family found out that Brian and I are being blessed with triplets.  We are so excited for their arrival.

One more thing... shout out to my sissy-in-law Stephanie who dislocated her shoulder yesterday.  Send her some well wishes to her blog Beautiful Mess.