27 weeks!

Sweet baby boy C. Mom said they watched him miss his mouth a few times before he finally found his thumb.

Sweet baby girl B. I can't believe how much their profiles have developed! They really look like little babes now. :)

Yes, Lucy has made it to 27 weeks today! Hooray! I am so proud of her for being so strong this week and being so selfless in all her decisions, everything she has done has been to keep her babies in her womb as long as possible. What a mom she will be!

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Ben reported this morning that he thought he and Lucy slept for 8 hours straight last night. I am so happy for that! Mom also spent the night too, and I am sure it helped them sleep to know someone else was there. Lucy is off the Magnesium and now on a contraction medicine she was taking at home (starts with a p). The doctors are allowing her some pain meds to deal with the contractions and that has helped a lot. I went back to see her around 10 am and she was sound asleep.

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The doctor gave each baby an 8 out of 8 again this morning! He also still heard rattling in Lucy's chest so he decided to do another round of Lasix (thanks Shemia :)) and will do a chest Xray later today if it persists.

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Lucy and Ben are still not taking any visitors. The calm and quiet in her room has put off the cesarian this long, so they are going to keep doing what they are doing to try and keep those sweet little souls in there as long as they can.

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Here's my attempt at the survey :)

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How far along? 27 weeks

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How big are the babies? As of Wednesday, Baby A: 2lbs 1oz, Baby B: 2lbs 6oz, Baby C : 1 lb 15 oz. Lucy has now gotten the full benefits of her steriod injections and they probably have gotten larger!

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Weight gain? I have no clue

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Stretch Marks? I don't think so and I also think this is a bit personal for a blog :)

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Sleep? The begining of the week, terrible. Last night, good.

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Best moment of the week? I think everyone will agree with me here. Finding out that there was not a blood clot in Lucy's lungs. Thank you for all the prayers, they were definitely answered.

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Food and cravings? Since wednesday all they have allowed Lucy is ice chips and a few popsicles. I'm sure she's craving anything right now. She actually sent mom out of the room when she had a starbucks in hand, it was torture!

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Movement? They said Baby A was difficult to ultrasound today because of how much she was moving. Mom thinks she is planning her escape route. Ha!

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What I miss? My guess is Lucy would say her bed from the 6th floor. The labor and delivery beds are much less comfortable. The nurse said she put in an order for an egg crate but I haven't heard anything about it getting there.

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Belly Button? I have no clue how, but its still an innie. That's some deep belly button!

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Looking forward to? I know she would say a shower! She has been asking for days but everytime they are about to let her something else goes wrong.

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Milestone? 27 weeks is a pretty good one!

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Thanks again to everyone for all the thoughts, messages and prayers. It brings me to tears to

think about the about the support this new family has.

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Love,

Aunt Laney

7-30-10

Last night started off well, Lucy and Ben got some sleep and Lucy did not have a contraction for 5 hours.

Lucy became short of breath at some point and the nurse gave her oxygen to help her out. The doctors came in this morning to ultrasound the babies and removed the mask to talk to Lucy. Her oxygen levels began to drop at a rate that alarmed the docs and led them to believe that the shortness of breath was more than anxiety and possibly a blood clot in her lungs. After injecting dye and a CT scan, the doctors confirmed that is was NOT a blood clot. Thank goodness!

Also each baby scored and 8 out of 8 on some scale the doctors use to access their health!

The shortness of breath is being caused by fluid on her lungs as a side effect of the magnesium. They have given her a lasiks (sp?), a diuretic and it will take care of it!

We are so happy to be announcing good news. This morning has been very scary and we are so thankful for all your thoughts and prayers!

7-29-10

I was hoping that I would have no news to report today, but unfortunately we do.

Lucy and Ben said they slept hard and well last night, thank goodness. They were woken up by the nurse around 4am, who told them Lucy was having contractions. This morning when Lucy got up to use the bathroom she had some bleeding so the doctors came in to do an assesment. They were able to rule out that the bleeding was coming from the cerclage or a placenta tear, which were both good things, but it does mean that most likely she is in labor.

The doctor told Lucy and Ben that she would be very surprised if she were to carry the babies for 3 more days. So right now it is just a waiting game. The doctors will take Lucy back for the C-section when the bleeding gets worse, her temperature goes up, or the pain is unbearable.

Right now Baby A is pressing on her cervix with no amniotic fluid cushion and making the contractions more painful. They are only letting Ben and our mom back right now and are not allowing Lucy to eat or drink anything in case she has to go back for the c-section.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! It means so much to have such a wonderful support system.

Love,

Aunt Laney

7-28-10

Friends and Family,

Lucy had another rough night, but at least this time she was in hospital care. Dr. Pereyo came to check on Lucy and the babes, and her water broke sometime after that. Ben called to inform us of the incident and let us know they were moving Lucy to Labor and Delivery.

This was quite a shock in the middle of the night, and it was even more shocking when we arrived to a very nonchalant staff. This is when we (or at least I) found out that one sac rupturing does not necessarily mean Lucy has to deliver the babies immediately. What it does mean is that the baby is no longer in a sterile environment and there is a risk of infection. This is will gauge when to deliver the babies, when lucy show signs of fever or infection, they will take her in. Sounds like this could be hours, days, or even weeks. Lucy met with Dr. Scardo this morning and he predicted that the babies would stay put for another week to a week and a half.

They started administering steriod shots to Lucy yesterday to help speed the lung development of the babies. She was also started on antibiotics to fight infection and is still on the magnesium drip. She is not feeling well and I don't think it helps that she has been poked and proded, but this is all for the health of the babies. As much as Ben and Lucy would love to see friends and family right now, it's just not a good time. Mom, dad, and I are going to get out of here as soon as I update this post so that mama bear and papa bear can get some rest.

The babies current weights:

baby a: 2lbs 1oz
baby b: 2 lbs 6oz
baby c : 1 lbs 15 oz

Keep praying that these babies stay in the womb as long as they can! The bigger the better!

Love,

Aunt Laney

P.S. Happy birthday Aunt Spencer!

7-27-10

Aunt Laney here!

Today has been the most eventful by far! The Boland babies had an appointment at Maternal Fetal Medicine this morning and wound up admitted to the hospital.

It all started in the wee hours in the morning when Lucy was not feeling well. She and Ben decided to ride out the 3 hrs until her 7:30 appointment at Maternal Fetal Medicine. The nurses checked her cervical length at the beginning of the appointment and all looked well. Lucy felt nauseous and "funny" so the nurses decided to hook her up to a fetal monitor to check her contractions. The monitor showed that Lucy was having contractions as close a a 90 seconds apart and her cervical length shortened.

Lucy was admitted to regional around 10 am and luckily she was only a short wheelchair ride away. She was given a large dose of magnesium sulfate for 45 minutes to help slow the contractions and according to Lucy, this was "no fun." Now a lower dose drip is being administered for the next 24 hrs to keep her contractions from getting worse.

All is looking well and Lucy is feeling much better. We just learned that Lucy's Fetal Fibronectin test--this swabs for a protein in the uterus that is present when a mother is within 2 wks of giving birth--was positive, but we are hoping this will change.

Keep praying for mama and babies! We need those babies to stay where they are for a few more weeks!

Baby Baby Baby Shower

Thanks to all the ladies who helped host. Missing a few in the picture but they were with us in spirit.

Poppin some Bubbley for the Boland Babies!

The table decorated with trees that had helpful notes that the guest could take home with them. Some said things like "Take a delicious dinner to the Bolands week of ??-??" or "Diaper delivery and Rockabye Boland Babies week of ??-??" (of course there were real dates instead of question marks). We also took the trees home to plant in our yard as the babies special trees to grow with them.


Yummy food!

Aunt Laney, Junebug and Aunt Spencer. Don't we coordinate nicely for not even planning to.

The babies got tons of wonderful gifts!

The Boland Babies met Baby Harper for the first time.

Look, a print of a mama and daddy bird with their three little baby birds.

My grandmother made a different quilt for each of the babies. The one in the picture is Baby C's (our boy ). They match our nursery perfectly. Honestly, the picture does no justice for how beautiful they are in person.

So cute!

Cousin Amy and Baby Asa. Good practice but I'm running out of lap space.

My best girls!!! These ladies will be a huge part of our babies lives. Look at how fat my ankles are, haha.

Please notice that Kim Gravlee is rubbing my feet! Matter of fact, both the Gravlee girls took some time to pamper me. This could very well be the best present I got all day.

Last Saturday, I had my baby shower in Spartanburg. It was nothing short of fantastic! We had the most delicious food including my favorites, strawberry pettifor cakes from Strossners and mini peanut butter pies. (The shower took place before I found out I had gestational diabetes so I got to eat all the goodies.......I'm drooling just thinking about it). The babies got tons of gifts and Ben and I are beginning to think we may actually able to do this whole triplets thing without going into massive debt. The hostesses (aka most wonderful women in the world) even pooled together to get the babies their cribs. It was a fabulous day filled with the ladies I love most.....what can i say, doesn't get any better than that.

24 weeks

Sorry we have had some Internet problems in the Boland household. So I'm a little behind on blog posting. I'll try to catch up over the next couple of days.

Papa bear putting the cribs together.

Sitting across the hall from me is a bedroom with 3 little cribs in it!!!!!!!!! We had new carpet put in the bedrooms this week, so I had to be out of the house for a night. Ben surprised me by having two of the three cribs put together when I got home the next day. I was glad he didn't get all three put together, because I wanted to get pictures of him putting them together (kind of a big deal).

On the down side of my 24th week of pregnancy, we found out that I have gestational diabetes. I'm not real sure what this means yet, but I know it will be a dramatic diet change for me. I have gotten through this pregnancy on fruit, ice cream and pasta and I will clearly have to change that. The diabetes clinic is going to call me at the beginning of next week and set up an appointment. As I said, I'm not real sure what all of this means yet, but I'll let y'all know how my doctors appointment goes......just what i need another doctor!

How far along? 24 weeks.

How big are babies? None of the fruit crap this week, we got the real deal from the doctor. Baby A weights 1lb 10oz. Baby B weights 1lb 7oz. Baby C weights 1lb 80z.

Weight gain? 26 lbs. I read that I should be gaining 2 to 2.5 lbs a week......got to get these babies nice and big

Stretchmarks? No stretchmarks yet......but I'm really itchy! If I make it though this whole pregnancy without stretchmarks (not likely) I'll post a proof picture.

Sleep? Its getting harder everyday. There is a lot of tossing and turning (that is even getting hard to do) and usually by the time I get get comfortable I have to get up and go to the bathroom. Then the process repeats.

Best moment of the week? My baby shower (blog post to come soon).

Food and Cravings? Ice, yes I know this means I need more iron in my diet.

Movement? Somebody going most all of the time. The other night I was laying in bed (duh) and about to doze off when I felt this huge earth quaking, bed bouncing jolt. I mean I have felt kicks, turns and punches.....this was different. I'm glad it only happened once I think I would have freaked out if it would have happen again.

What I miss? Getting out of the house (besides for doctors appointment). I just want to go to target!!!!!

Belly Button? If it hasn't popped out by now, I don't think it will. I guess only time will tell.

Looking forward too? Well, the Baby Showers are over. The house remodel is over (almost). I guess we are looking forward to the arrival of our babies.......but not to soon, we got to keep them cooking for AT LEAST 6 more weeks.

Milestone? Viability, a huge milestone in a triplet pregnancy.

23 weeks

Here I am 23 weeks (looking more like 40 weeks) pregnant with triplets!(Pinch, slap)....Is this really happening! I saw myself doing a lot of amazing things in my life, but I didn't see this one coming. I have absolutely loved being pregnant but I have to be honest, its starting to wear on me a little bit.

I have started getting more nervous about everything. Every little pain or twinge I feel, I think, "OMG, do we need to go to the doctor?" Ben doesn't really help, because every time I make a sour face or slight moan he thinks we should go straight to the hospital. I think its pretty normal to feel a little anxiety when you are having 3 babies, so I'm not too worried about it.

No new news from bed rest. Everyday gets a little harder to sit still and I have to work pretty hard to keep a good attitude. Thank god for my awesome family and friends that have been bringing meals and helping with house work.......I'm going to owe quite a few people a favor after this! I'm almost finished with Pat Conroy's South of Broad. I have loved reading it and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good summer read. It helps my baby anxiety to read non baby books. Anyone have any suggestions for my next book??

Our babies are doing good. The fuild around Baby B and Baby C are still high (Baby C more so than Baby B). The Doctors have asurred me that this is nothing to worry about yet, we just need to keep a close eye on them. You can tell in the pictures, that it is getting harder to get a solo picture of the babies.......getting pretty crowded in there. Baby B managed to make her way into all the pictures this week (Thats her head in Baby A's picture and her legs in Baby C's picture)

How far along? 23 weeks

How big are babies? Still papayas.......I'm starting to question these fruit analogies

Weight gain? I'm sure I am gaining plenty of weight. I'll found out Monday.

Stretchmarks? Still none......I'm keeping this thing greased up. Honestly, I cant believe I don't have stretchmarks yet, it a small miracle

Maternity clothes?

Sleep? Its not what it used to be. I do try to sleep as much as possible because it keeps me laying down and passes time. The last time I only wanted to sleep to pass time was when I still believed in Santa Claus.

Best moment of the week? Its harder to find the "Best moment of the week" when your layed up. I just love any free moment I get with Ben, I'm starting to get sad about the fact its not just going to be "us" for much longer

Food and cravings? Nothing special this week. Since most meals are brought to me these days, I cant be too picky.

Movement? All the time. Before, I was feeling both Baby B and Baby C much more than I was feeling Baby A. Now, Baby A is doing flips with her brother and sister. You can defanintly see them moving around from the outside now.

What I miss? Comfort.

Belly Button? Ben said the sweetest thing the other day, "Looks like your belly button is smiling at me instead of frowning"

Looking forward too? My baby shower in Spartanburg!!!!!

Milestone? Close to viability ( 24 weeks, tomorrow)

22 weeks

My 22nd week of this crazy pregnancy was uneventful........which is just how we like it. We had a grand total of 3 doctors appointments, which was ok with me because it gets me out of this house. They all went pretty good. As of last Monday, my uterus was measuring 35 weeks pregnant, I'm sure its up to 36 weeks (or more)by now. The fluid levels around Baby B and Baby C are on the high side, which can be a sign of gestational diabetes. I have my glucose test in a little over a week, so we"ll see how that goes (fingers crossed.......I don't know how I will respond if they tell me I cant eat ice cream) Bed rest is going pretty well. I'm reading some good books and taking lots of naps. (The pictures if the babies are from last week. Its hard for me to get the most up to date pictures scanned since I'm on bed rest).

How far along? 22 weeks

How big are babies? as big as a papaya...hope that helps you more than it helps me, I have no idea what a papaya looks like.

Weight gain? its got to be up with the amount that I've been eating lately

Stretchmarks? Still none. The skin on my belly is so tight that I feel like its going to pop......hope that's not the first sign of stretch marks.

Maternity clothes? irrelevant, since I'm in the bed all day

Sleep? I'm so glad that I have been sleeping well this week. It really helps to pass the time. The only problem is I have no sleep schedule, I just sleep when I get tired, no matter what time of day that it might be

Best moment of the week? Having three good doctors appointment. My sisters also went to my appointment Friday. I loved watching them get there first glimpse of the nieces and nephew.

Food and Cravings? This hot weather has got me wanting ice cream all the time. I never thought I would have to exercise such self control to eat only one bowl of ice cream a day. ( Plus, Winn Taylor made me the most delicious hot fudge sauce. It gets the babies super excited. After I eat it I literally feel like I have

Gender? A boy and 2 girls!!!!!!

Movement?Holy Moly!!!!! No words can describe whats going on in there. Every time I get an ultrasound (at least once a week) the tech comments on how active my babies are. At most times of the day, somebody is going strong. My sweet girl, Baby B, is a wild child.

What I miss? Bed rest makes me miss everything. I really miss cooking a lot more than I thought I would.

Belly Button? all most completely flat.

Looking forward too? Getting this house ready for the babies (Ben finishing the downstairs). Its killing me that I can't do anything.

Milestone? Our 1st baby shower!