They made it!!

The boys have made it!  They were delivered last Thursday, November 8th, by C-section at Sutter Memorial Hospital.

Jenson Joseph Deen, formally known as Baby A, made his arrival first at 12:42pm.  He weighed 5 pounds 5.6 ounces, and he was 16.9 ounces.

Elliott Jackson Deen, formally known as Baby B, arrived next at 12:43pm.  He weighed 7 pounds 3.1 ounces, and he was 18.9 inches long.

Sidney Miller Deen, formally known as Baby C, arrived last at 12:44pm.  He weighed 7 pounds 8.3 ounces, and he was 20.1 inches long.



Where to start?!?  I've been trying since Saturday to sit down at the computer/IPhone/IPad to write about the experiences of our last week, and needless to say, I've been completely unsuccessful.  Although, in my defense, I've had a few things to be preoccupied with.  :)  So my guess is that the next few blog posts are just going to be "stream of consciousness" blogs that will run from one into the other.  I started this blog entry almost eight hours ago and this is as far as I've gotten.  I guess we'll try again tomorrow...

Lovely 36...

We've made it!  Happy, happy, happy 36 weeks to all!  I'm pretty sure that there aren't any doctors around that would argue with us having full term triplets in my tummy now!  It's so strange to think that  less than six months ago, Jason and I still thought we were having one sweet little baby.  How wrong we were.  And now... here we are less than FIVE DAYS from our scheduled C-section where we will get to meet our three sweet little boys!  And apparently the boys wanted to celebrate this fact by giving me an early gift- they actually let me sleep for 4 HOURS in a row last night!!  I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened more than once or twice since April...

The last few days have been a little bit tough for me physically.  The pain and discomfort in my back, hips, and pelvis has really started to increase, so no body position is comfortable for very long.  I can't be up on my feet for any real length of time.  A week or two ago, I could go for a slow walk around the block with Jason at night, but now even that seems to be too much without careful planning of how long I'll rest before and after!

I pretty much can only leave the house for short periods of time each day, if that.  On days where I don't have medical appointments, I try to plan for a quick errand or a meal out with a friend, just so I can get a change of scenery.  I basically only go to Target, the grocery store, or Costco now because they have the riding carts for me to use to get around the store!  I feel bad using the riding carts because I'm not a sick or disabled person normally (and if I'm using one, that means someone who is disabled may have to wait for a riding cart.  I feel very badly about this fact...), but I literally cannot make it around the grocery store without one anymore.  My only concession to not being totally feeble is to walk from my car into the stores.  One of the cashiers let me know that I could call the store from the parking lot and they'd actually drive a riding cart out to me- thanks, but no thanks!  How sad is it that my daily exercise right now is walking into the store... and this is after I drive around the lot for a while to make sure that I get a parking spot close to the door (before the pregnancy, I didn't care where I parked- I actually used to prefer to park farther back in the lot so I could force some exercise on myself!).

And I have yet to knock over any displays or

run into anything!

I think one of the things that I'm grateful for is the size of my ginormous belly.  Once people see how huge it is, they don't generally question my use of the riding carts.  They don't generally question my moving slowly and are usually very quick to help me.  Here's the usual behavior right now for the strangers that I come across- lots of smiles, lots of offers of help, and lots of offers to send positive thoughts our way.  I feel like I'm back in Minnesota again- everybody smiles at everybody back there!

So even though I struggle with feeling like a feeble burden to those around me, my doctors and nurses are pretty impressed that I've made it this far.  Dr. McElvey told me yesterday that she was fascinated by how well I'm still moving.  And the nurses that do my non-stress tests get so excited when I walk into my appointments ("Oh my goodness- you're still walking around!").  And I guess when I try to cut myself some slack, it does seem kind of neat (and makes me a little bit proud) that I'm still able to get this Humpty Dumpty-like body up and moving.

And that feeling of pride in my body is something that I haven't truly experienced in almost ten years.  In my early 20s, I worked for a couple of summers at a high adventure outdoor camp for teens and adults.  My first year there, I served as a wilderness guide, taking groups for a week at a time into the wilderness with no contact with civilization.  We'd canoe and camp, and I was responsible for everyone's well-being and creating "the best experience" possible for these people.  Prior to this pregnancy, it was the most intensely demanding physical/mental/emotional/spiritual thing that I had ever done.  I lost 30 pounds in less than a month and truly pushed my body to its limits because that is what the job required.  You try carrying an 80 pound canoe on your shoulders through the woods to get from one lake to the next- not exactly easy!!  But I did it.  Not only did I survive that first summer, I thrived there.

And one of the most important lessons that I learned that summer was to be proud of what my body could DO versus what it looked like.  There aren't many mirrors in the wilderness (thank goodness- if I looked anywhere close to what I smelled like after a week in the woods with no shower... yikes!), so my physical appearance became pretty insignificant compared with what my body could physically handle.

And carrying these munchkins has brought me back to that same feeling.  Obviously I'm not carrying 80 pounds of canoe right now (try 80 pounds of pregnancy weight instead!), but I'm pretty amazed that my body hasn't tried to run away from all of this yet...

Jason and I are trying to relish every last minute of this week.  Soon our lives are going to be totally and completely changed for forever more.  No longer will it be just "Jason and Brittany" (I know, I know, technically it hasn't been just the two of us since March, but it's different when the babes are still in the belly!).  No longer will we be able to get up on a weekend morning and spontaneously decide to go out for breakfast.  No longer will we be able to make last-minute decisions to go out without planning for whether the boys are coming with us or not.  No more picking up new hobbies without weighing the priority of time with our family vs. time alone.

We've been going out to the movies together, going out to dinners together, playing board games together at night... it's almost like we're dating again!  But it's slightly different now compared with when we first started our relationship over six years ago (and not just because I can no longer fit in booths at restaurants).  Now our conversations center around the days, months, and years to come and how they will be filled up with our boys.  How excited we are to finally meet them and hold them for the first time.  How scared we are to mess up as parents.  How worried we are about how we'll handle everything without losing our minds.  How cool it's going to be to watch our munchkins play with us and each other.  How going from two to five will be such an amazing journey.

Happy Halloween!

So, these babies just need to stay in my belly for another 4 hours and then we'll have guaranteed that they have November birthdays!!  For the last 3-4 months, I've just been telling the boys to "Stay in my belly because I want your birth stone to be a topaz!"  Now, I don't even know what a topaz looks like and frankly I have no real preference for any stones in particular (except amethyst- love me some purple).  But I did not really want the boys to be delivered until November rolled around.  Apparently they were listening and obeying, which kind of proves that they will probably take after their daddy!  And I probably shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched- I've still got four hours to go- but I'm so excited that they've made it this far.

Happy Halloween!  It has been so sweet to see parents and kids all over dressing up together for the holiday and to see the excitement that the kids have for trick or treating.  Next year, Jason and I will get to get in on the fun too!  I've never been a huge fan of Halloween- I've never had anything against it, but it just never grabbed me like some of the other holidays.  But the last few days have really made me realize that kids have a way of changing your perspective on things!

Happy Halloween from Coltrane and Hana!

Jason and I are just trying to stay as peaceful and calm as we can right now.  We are down to a single-digit countdown until the scheduled C-section!!!!!  I'm spending most of the days laying on my side and resting in bed at home, and Jason is spending most of his time keeping the house running and taking care of me.  But we are ready for these babes to come home- the nursery has been cleaned and polished one last time, my bag is packed for the hospital, the diaper bag is totally packed with outfits to bring our boys home in (thanks Pat!), dozens and dozens of bottles have been freshly cleaned and are drying as I type this, and I only have one more load of baby clothes and blankets to fold and put away.  Bring on the munchkins!

People are no longer just asking, "When are you due?".  

More frequently I hear, "How many are in there?!?"

Yep, I'm big  :)

One of Jason's childhood friends sent me this pic.

How sweet he looked in grade school- here's

hoping the boys look just like him!

The pumpkin that my carpal tunnel issues

wouldn't allow me to carve...  boo.

This is officially Friday's favorite

perch to hang out on these days

I've really had to modify how I do household chores-

I sit in a chair and bring the ironing board down

to my level.  Or I try to just get the cat to do the ironing.

All systems go...

I had my last official doctor's appointment at the perinatologist's office today.  A little bittersweet... my last ultrasound with Athena, the ultrasound goddess.  The last time I'll have to waddle in there with my ginormous belly.  The last time I'll get the eye-popping looks from other patients in the waiting room because of my ginormous belly (you just know they're praying they don't get this large!).  After I deliver the boys, I'll actually still be followed by the same group of doctors for the next six weeks, so it's not like I'll never see that office again.  I just will hopefully be able to see my own feet by that time (please let the tummy go down quickly after delivery!).  :)

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.  

35 weeks

Happy 35 Weeks to everyone!  

It's official- we've made it to 35 weeks with triplets.  Wow.  What a journey we've been on and it's totally surreal to think that sometime within the next two weeks, Jason and I are going to have three little munchkins to hold in our arms!!  There's not complete consensus on this in the medical field, but a triplet pregnancy is most often considered full-term somewhere between 34-35 weeks.  Dr. Gilbert even told us that because the average triplet pregnancy lasts 33 weeks, some even consider triplets delivered at 33 weeks to be full-term.  Either way, most doctors would say that we are now carrying full-term triplets!!!!!!!

I didn't have any appointments outside of the house today, so I've spent most of the day in bed just laying on my side, which is how I spend most of my time these days.  I don't have the energy to do much of anything physically speaking, plus it's best for the boys at this point for me to just be peaceful and rest.  I feel a little bit like a chicken on a rotisserie because I try to rotate from my left side to my right side every so often so that I don't get too sore.  It gets a little monotonous, but I try to keep my mind occupied with books and movies, talking on the phone, planning things for the babes, etc.

As I was laying in bed today, my mind flashed back to my trip home to Minnesota last June.  Our nephew, Quinn, was only a few weeks old at that point.  On one of my mornings there, he and I got to snuggle in bed while everyone else in the house was still sleeping.  I remember being so at peace just cuddling with that beautiful little boy (seriously- my sister makes beautiful babies!) and being in awe of this tiny little person in my arms.  Even now thinking back to that morning, I'm smiling.  And today, I had the surreal thought that soon Jason and I are going to have THREE of those tiny little people to snuggle in bed with.  The thought just makes my heart smile- 

Jason and I are so excited that we will soon get to share these three little peanuts with everyone.  We've had lots of offers of help from friends and family and we will definitely be taking you all up on them!  I do, however, want to respectfully address some of our wishes for those coming to the house to visit and help with the peanuts after they're born.

As newborns, they'll have pretty weak immune systems to begin with, further complicated by the fact that they'll be born earlier than normal.  Because of those weaker immune systems, we really want to protect them from being exposed to germs and cooties in general.  Based on suggestions (and in some cases, stern warnings!) from our doctors, we would like to gently ask that people be mindful of the following...

-We will be asking all visitors to wash their hands frequently!  One of the best ways of preventing illness is hand washing, so we promise to be stocked up on some sassy hand soap for everyone to use, plus we now have hand sanitizer all over the house (I may have gone a little crazy with the hand sanitizer... sorry in advance!)

-Please, please, please: no visitors under the age of 14.  It's not that Jason and I don't adore our friends' children, but there is no way of getting around the fact that kids have cooties that we can't afford to have the munchkins exposed to.  Our doctors were pretty stern about wanting us to implement this rule.       As an oncology nurse, I personally work with cancer patients where pretty much everyone has a compromised immune system, and the policy on that unit is for no visitors under the age of 14.  I feel badly about having to turn away kids from our house, but I do promise that eventually this ban will be lifted.  Plus with three boys, I don't know if it's a good idea anyway to expose other peoples' kids to the chaos that will be the Deen household!  :)

-If you are feeling any signs of a cold or the flu, please let us know in advance so that we can set up a better time/day for you to visit.  Sniffles, coughs, stuffy nose, headache, fatigue, sore throat, any general aches or pains, or just not feeling good... we'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers until you're feeling better!

-We encourage everyone to be up to date on their seasonal flu shots and whooping cough vaccinations.  While we will be pretty big sticklers on the previous three safety requests, this last one is more of a "it would be nice, but we won't necessarily be requiring it" type of guideline.  :)

Thank you all in advance for being gracious about these requests.  My intention is not to insult by addressing them, but I feel like it is always better to put your expectations out there early so that we can avoid any issues later.  And I don't want to limit anyone's ability to be around the munchkins, but we do have to be mindful of what's best for everyone involved.  So I thank you for your patience, and I can't wait to welcome you to our home after the babes come home!!

BIG babies!

So I've been in a little bit of a state of shock and put off writing this entry...  please forgive me!

On Monday, Jason and I went to our last growth ultrasound.  We were so relieved to hear that everything is still progressing well/safely with the pregnancy.  My cervix is staying long and strong, my blood pressure is staying in its usual range, and I'm feeling okay.

The babies are still all taking a bath in big enough amounts of amniotic fluid.  While the amounts are slowly going down, this is a totally normal thing to be happening at this time in the pregnancy- nothing to be afraid of there!  The babies all passed their non-stress test Monday like the little champs that they are, so they just continue to be happy as little clams in my tummy.

The reason why I've been in a state of shock has to do with their weights... suffice it to say that as of Monday, I was carrying almost 18 pounds of pure baby!!!! 

Baby A, who has consistently been the smallest guy throughout the pregnancy, is now weighing in at 4 pounds 8 ounces, which puts him at the 9th percentile on the growth chart.  That may seem like a low percentile, but the important thing to focus on is that his rate of growth is steady- he keeps gaining weight like a champ!  Both the doctors and Jason and I have been worried about his growth over the past few months- worried that his growth would either slow down or stop.  But nope!  This little guy is a fighter and continues to astound us with his weight gains.

Baby B's estimated weight is now 5 pounds 15 ounces, which puts him at the 75th percentile on the growth chart.  He's almost 6 pounds!!!  My little man just keeps hanging out in the middle of my tummy (remember he's the peacemaker of the bunch, keeping his two brothers connected!) and gaining good weight.  Way to go little one!

And then we get to Baby C.

Baby C's estimated weight is now 7 pounds 6 ounces.  Let me write that again so that we all know that is not a typo.  Baby C is estimated to weigh 7 pounds 6 ounces.  Wow.  Yikes.  Wow.  Dr. Gilbert laughed when I asked if we needed to be worried about Baby C trying to eat one of his brothers- obviously the kid is getting some calories in!

If I have learned anything during this pregnancy to pass on to others, here are two things that you all should know:

1.  It is probably not a good sign when your OB starts "numbering" your babies at your first ultrasound.  (i.e.  you are not having just one baby like you had planned on).

2.  It is probably not a usual thing to have your normally "calm as a cucumber" ultrasound maven blurt out "oh wow!" during your growth ultrasound.  This probably means that she is seeing something that she normally doesn't see everyday.  :)

Athena's "oh wow" moment came right before she told us what the babes' weights were.  And once we heard the weights, we were just as shocked as she was!  We've got some big, big babies hanging out in my tummy.  And while we are totally shocked, we are so thankful that they are growing and developing as well as they are.  I'm so proud of all of our boys!

And of course knowing how darn big these munchkins are helps me to be more forgiving of my body's need for sleep and rest and general level of discomfort.  I guess nurturing 18 pounds of baby is a pretty valid excuse...

So with those weights, there is a very real possibility that some or all of them may not even need to go to the NICU after they're born!  If we can keep them in for at least another week, even Baby A will probably be above the five pound mark, making all of the boys bigger than five pounds, which is absolutely astounding for triplets.  The doctors have warned us that there is a very real possibility that the babes might actually get to be discharged from the hospital at the same time that I am!!  Holy Cow!

Now of course there are still a lot of unknowns.  Just because they are all growing nice and big doesn't mean that they won't have any health issues or medical conditions that might keep them in the hospital longer after delivery.  And unfortunately we won't know about those, for the most part, until after the babies are born.  But things are looking very positive right now for everyone involved!  So we'll continue to keep our fingers crossed, prayers said, and hope for the best.

I actually had another non-stress test this morning (I have them every Monday and Thursday) and the boys all did amazing.  They all passed in less than 15 minutes and were very well-behaved for Fran, my  nurse.

So thank you everyone for being so loving and supportive of our three little munchkins- keep those prayers coming.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Keep sending positive vibes our way.  They're all working and we are so appreciative of everything!!  It just warms my heart so much whenever I hear that someone's keeping us in their thoughts or prayers...  :)

Waiting...

This just might be the worst part of being pregnant- the waiting game.  Waiting for the next appointment, waiting for the test result to come back, waiting a seeming eternity for the doctor to come into the room at the end of an ultrasound to see if there's going to be any change to the plan, waiting for the babies to come...  sometimes it seems like all I do is wait.

Wait for my next trip to the bathroom, wait to fall back to sleep after each nighttime bathroom trip, wait for the next carb- and protein-laden meal, wait for the next "funny/weird physical thing due to being pregnant" to manifest itself, wait for my hips/joints/belly to "settle" whenever I change positions, wait to find a comfortable position when the previous one proves to not be comfortable anymore...

Wait for the next kick from each baby to reassure myself that they're okay, wait whenever I feel a contraction to see if it's still just Braxton-Hicks or is it something more, wait for a few seconds whenever I stand up to see if this will be the time that my water breaks...

On the one hand, I hate waiting.  I hate the not knowing, the having to be patient while things that are out of my control continue to be out of my control.  When they were handing out patience, I was apparently too impatient to wait in line to get my fair share.

But on the other hand, I'm oddly at peace with the waiting.  Each day that passes seems to flash right on by- it seems like just a few minutes ago I was waiting for the results on Baby A's weight at our 32 week ultrasound and that was well over two weeks ago...  which means that while I've been waiting, the munchkins have been growing.  They've been getting bigger and stronger and more ready to survive and thrive outside the womb.  And that makes the waiting seem like a small price to pay if it means that the peanuts are benefitting from it all...

34 week belly

(sometimes I forget just how big it is

until someone who hasn't seen it in a while

reacts to its size.  Halloween seems like an

appropriate time to have this big of a belly

because I keep scaring friends and family

with it)