The appointment went very well overall. The ultrasound showed that the boys are all doing just fine. They didn't measure their estimated weights, so it will be a nice little surprise to see how big they are when they come out. But the boys do have plenty of amniotic fluid in each of their sacs- thank you God! It's very normal for the amniotic fluid levels to be decreasing by this point, but it could be a problem if they decreased too much too quickly. But that is not the case with my sweet pumpkins- they've got enough.
My blood pressure continues to stay in the normal range, which is just amazing. Any elevation of my blood pressure could signal that something is going wrong with either the babies or with me, so I get so thrilled every time the results come back as "steady". I've probably had my blood pressure taken more in the last few months than I have the entire rest of my life combined. But part of that is actually my own doing- our grocery store has a free blood pressure machine in its pharmacy, so I make frequent trips over there mainly to check my BP (and I guess to pick up a daily snack or treat!).
I've officially gained almost 75 pounds so far. Wow. Just wow. Of course at this point, I'm probably carrying somewhere around 20 pounds of pure baby (not including placentas, amniotic fluid, etc.). I can't wait to measure my "waist" circumference and weight right before I go into the operating room and again as soon as they let me get out of bed after the delivery. They'll be pumping me full of fluids during the delivery, so that will probably skew the measurements a little, but I can probably plan on losing somewhere around 30-35 pounds during delivery- hooray!
Which I think my body will really, really appreciate. I feel so very proud of what my body has been able to accomplish so far. Nourishing three little munchkins for as long as it has is nothing short of a miracle, and the majority of the credit has to go to genetics and divine intervention. Not every body could physically handle the rigors of carrying triplets, and we just lucked out that my body has been able to. But it hasn't always been easy. My back is now pretty much sore/painful most of the time, and I'm feeling discomfort in my hips/pelvis that defies reality. I'm so congested, due to the hormones and edema, that I have to wear a nasal strip on my nose at night to make my snoring tolerable (prior to my third trimester, I rarely ever snored. According to Jason, my snoring now could wake the dead... in another state...). My carpal tunnel issues just get worse and worse by the day, to the point where I'm hardly able to open jars at times (I almost went over to the neighbor's the other day while Jason was at work to ask them to open the caramel jar!) and it was physically impossible for me to carve my Halloween pumpkin this weekend. My toes are officially the size of sausages, at least when I get a quick glimpse of them from around my belly, which now rests heavily on my legs when I'm sitting upright. And don't even get me started on how easily I get fatigued by the simplest of physical tasks...
But it's all worth it. I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not actually looking for sympathy. I share these things with you so that you can get a better sense of what it's like to carry triplets. I'm sure a lot of singleton pregnancy moms have the same issues too.
It's all worth it. All of these physical issues signal to me that something amazing is happening in my tummy. All of these physical issues help to remind me of how blessed I am to not have to live with them on a permanent basis when I'm not pregnant. After all, I feel like one can do anything when they know there's a goal, an endpoint that they have to work towards.
Plus I like to think of it all in this way... I used to get so mad when I'd have to stop at red lights, especially when I was on my way to work. I didn't like having to stop and I always thought they were slowing me down! But it occurred to me one day that perhaps what I saw as a negative (having to stop) was actually God's way of saving me from something much worse (a potential accident, etc). Since then, it's been much easier to just accept the red lights and slow down.
So yeah, all of these physical "maladies" are slowing me down and are super frustrating at times. As a general rule, I don't like them. But they've been saving us from potentially much worse things (premature labor, etc) and for that I am grateful.
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