15 weeks!

15 weeks today! The first trimester is officially over, and I *think* my nausea may finally be passing. I still don't have much of an appetite, but my mornings in particular are starting to ease up and the food I manage to actually eat is staying down, so I'm hopeful these babies will soon get the nutrition they need!

My AMAZING sister started a GoFundMe campaign for us to be able to afford a 6+ passenger vehicle. Being able to afford a new car (we have no choice with 4 car seats!) is my biggest stress and worry, because it's just not in our budget right now. Check it out here!!

http://www.gofundme.com/sokolovtriplets

I also had an appointment with my doctor last week, and seems all three babies are doing well so far. One of the big concerns with carrying triplets is the cervix, so they also did a base check for the length at my last appointment. It looks nice and thick now, which is good, and they will monitor it at every appointment from here on out to make sure it doesn't shorten. So far so good!

Here is baby A, who already likes to sleep on his/her stomach!

Here is Baby B! 

And last but not least, here is baby C!

They name them A, B & C depending on where they are located. A is farthest down, and C is farthest up. They'll stay in those positions for the duration of the pregnancy, which definitely makes it easier to keep track of who is who!

It's official!

It's been posted on Facebook, so now it's official- we'll be having triplets in February! 

I had my first appointment with my maternal fetal medicine doctor (otherwise known as perinatologist or high-risk doctor) Dr. Parilla, and I really think I'm going to like her. She was very positive about the pregnancy and much more laid back than I expected, which I like. We got to see all three babies wiggling around and hear their little heartbeats, and it was amazing! Makes it so much more real. (Although, I have to say I don't think it's truly going to sink in that I'm actually having three babies until they're all here!) 

Here's Baby A- he/she did not want to cooperate and kept showing us his/her little back, so here's the ultrasound of th back of the head and spine!

Baby B wasn't much better, and kept trying to wiggle his/her little head down for a cushy little nap so we couldn't see!

Baby C was much more cooperative- we got a nice (if not alien-esque) little profile shot! 

It's already looking cramped in there/ I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in a few months!

One of the things I was happy to hear from my dr is that she's okay with trying our best to keep the babies in as long as possible. It's been kind of terrifying to see all the complications that can come with triplet pregnancies, and pre-term labor is pretty much guaranteed. Most triplet births happen via c-section between 30-34 weeks, and triplets have an average birth weight of 3lbs 12oz, which is half the size of a "normal" single baby. We can pretty much count on them all going straight to the nicu when they are born, and chances are high that one or more of them may have complications from being born early. Babies born early and those with lower birth weights often have respiratory problems, birth defects and are at a much greater risk for long term disabilities. So keeping them in there for as long as possible is best!

For me, genetics is coming in really handy (thanks, Dad!) because the fact that I'm 5'11" and started pregnancy at a healthy weight means that there's more room for those babies and I have a better chance of making it to 36 weeks, which is my goal. No doctor would let me go all the way to 40 weeks because the risk of rupturing my uterus would be far to high. 

Speaking of that, the number of complications that can arise for me are pretty high too. :/ The risks of both gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia pretty much sky-rocket with high-order multiples, and post-partum hemorrhaging is also fairly common. I've been told that starting between 16-20 weeks I'll need to spend 2-3 hours of my waking day on bed rest, and that by the third trimester it is highly likely I'll be on full bed rest or even hospital bed rest to prevent pre-term labor. 

This all seems terrifying to me. I know it's a lot of doom and gloom for what could turn out to be a totally easy and normal (ish) pregnancy (and I would love all prayers that it will be!) but I like knowing the risks and being prepared. While I hope and pray that they'll all be born perfect and healthy, I know that statistics say they will at the very least be in the nicu for at least a short period of time and I want to be mentally prepared for that. 

I'm almost twelve weeks now, which means I'm oh so close to the second trimester already! I'll be excited for this nausea to go away and my appetite to return, and to start feeling all those little kicks! This picture was from last week, but I'm getting bigger every day...

As scary as all this is, I am SO EXCITED. We always wanted a big family and didn't think it could happen, but whaddya know! Triplets!

Starting back up again

Well, the pregnancy journey has begun again!! Yes, I'm pregnant, and it's TRIPLETS!

But we'll get to that later, because yet again, there is quite a bit that happened to get me there. So let's go back in time...

After John was born, I was hopeful that my "body would reset" which apparently is a common thing for women with infertility issues. Of course, I did not fall into this group, and everything was the same as before.

By the time John was 1 1/2, we were ready to start actively "trying" again, which meant going back to the doctor for the same treatments that I had to get John. So back to Dr. Leya I went, and jumped right back into the crazy number of appointments and hormone shots and timing and everything, but with no luck. Of all the failed treatments I did to get John, the first failed treatment I did after him was by far the most emotionally difficult. Having him made me feel like I was "fixed" and I might actually be able to have as many children as I wanted! I was so hopeful, and so devastated when it didn't work.

But we decided to give it another try, and the results of this next treatment were even worse. The medication (which we had to pay for out of pocket for various reasons- yikes!) didn't do what it was supposed to do- my eggs never released, and I never even got my period. When going through treatments, everything is so specifically timed and whether you get your period or not is usually the main indicator of being pregnant or not. This made for about a month of me being in compete denial about not being pregnant. I had been shot full of hormones which never had a release and I was so sure that these treatments had to work that when literally NOTHING happened, not a positive pregnancy test nor a period, I pretty much gave up hope. The only option that seemed left to us was In vitro fertilization, which posed some very moral and ethical questions for us. My doctor was not encouraging, and we more or less decided to just stop trying for the time being.

Neither Philip nor I felt right about giving up. We spent the next year discussing whether or not we were okay with never having any more children, how we felt about IVF, how viable other options were, etc. and decided the best way to approach it was to talk to my doctor about our options and about our options regarding IVF in particular.

So I called Dr. Leya, but instead of setting up an appointment with her to discuss things she chose to refer me to The Fertility Center of Illinois because she did not do IVF. While I was scared to try a new doctor, I was also excited about the idea of a fresh start.

I'm kind of particular about female doctors, so I researched the centers closest to me that had appointments available with a female doctor. I settled on Dr. Nani in Hoffman Estates, and made an appointment as soon as possible, which was only a week out. During that time, I decided that because of all the changes in healthcare that had been happening, I would call my insurance company to clarify their policy on IVF. After being tossed around by different people at Aetna, calling and emailing my work to find out which exact state I'm insured under (it's NY even though I live in IL!) and just an all-around hassle of a couple days, I found out IVF is no longer covered with my particular insurance.  Again with the devastation. We hadn't actually decided that we were going to go the IVF route, but having the decision made for us was hard. I wanted to just give up at that point- I was tired. Tired of the uncertainty for the future, tired of the emotional roller coaster, tired of the injections and the poking and prodding and tired of the cost of it all. Seriously, having hormones that make you crazy injected into your body is almost the least stressful part of infertility. But Philip convinced me that since we had an appointment already scheduled we might as well just go and make our decision to keep trying or not when we had exhausted this last chance of possibility. 

So, we met and talked with Dr. Nani. I went in that office feeling defeated and hopeless, and left feeling like we would have another baby in a year's time. Her attitude and demeanor was so open and positive and encouraging- she had gone over all of my previous records and told us she didn't see any reason for us to have to do IVF and that she could easily see me getting pregnant with the same treatments I did to get John. I know we asked a lot of questions and although I don't remember the exact conversations now she really made both Philip and I feel very secure in starting the process up again. 

Even though she had all my previous records, because it had been a few years since many of my fertility health checks had been done she wanted another full evaluation of health including lots of blood tests, pelvic exams and ultrasounds and a Hysterosalpinogram. This all revealed that yes, I definitely have PCOS, my vitamin d was low and I had polyps on my uterus, which was probably why the previous two treatments had not worked. 

I was scheduled for a Hysteroscopy and a Polypectomy to remove the polyps. This was an outpatient surgery, and after it was over I just had to rest for a few days and call if there was any significant bleeding. Well, the day after the surgery I had some strange cramping and started bleeding quite a bit. Of course, this started on a Friday afternoon after the doctor's office was closed, and the on-call doctor said to go in right away on Monday morning. This made for a very stressful weekend to say the least! Luckily our friends Anna and Anika came over to help me with John while Philip was working and I was able to take it easy and rest as much as possible.

So, I went in right away Monday morning, and it turns out that the bleeding was actually my period, which apparently can happen (although very rarely!) in women with pcos after the surgery. The pain and cramping was just a combination of period cramps and surgical recovery. Really, best case scenario! 

For anyone who has ever done fertility treatments, you know that getting your period starts the countdown to treatment. Since Monday was day 3 after it started, we decided to start the injections the next day and get things rolling! So, for the next few days, I took various injections of Gonal-F (a follicle stimulating hormone to make the eggs grow on my ovaries) and then the "trigger" shot of Ovidrel to make the eggs release. During this time I also had multiple ultrasounds to check on the size of the eggs and make sure they were of prime size to release. I had two eggs that were in the "zone" of where we wanted, and two others that were slightly smaller when I took the trigger shot. Then it was just regular ol' timed intercourse. ;) Supposedly, the chances of more than one or two of these eggs fertilizing should have been slim...

After that, it was all about the two week wait. Those two weeks where you "could" be pregnant, with a lot of "is that a pregnancy symptom?" " I think I feel nauseated- maybe I'm pregnant!" or "what if it didn't work?!?!" and the like. It's pretty much self-inflicted mental torture. Peeing on a stick every day even when you KNOW it's too early to show up positive. Those two weeks are the worst.  

But of course, with my luck things couldn't just be about waiting. A few days into the waiting period and I started having a few shooting pains when I would sit up or twist a certain way or lift something. Then, one morning, the pain was so bad I was hunched over crying and the pain alone made me vomit. I immediately called my doctor and they had me come in for an ultrasound. It turns out I yet again had Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. This is common with PCOS, although it comes in varying degrees. When I had it back in 2010, it was quite severe to the point of ending up in the hospital and having my lungs drained of fluids twice. This time was moderate. I had some pretty giant cysts on my ovaries-some measuring as big as an orange. The fluid in my abdomen, however, was minimal, which was good. They think that one of my ovaries may have twisted because of the cyst, which is what caused the pain and vomiting. Luckily, it must have untwisted itself. A twisted ovary can be extremely dangerous, as it could cut off blood circulation and kill the ovary, and/or they'd have to surgically remove the ovary. So, I was put on modified bed rest until the cysts went down in size.. I could lift no more than 5-10 lbs and I was told not to anything as strenuous as vacuuming. Really? Vacuuming is strenuous?! However, this turned out to be a good thing because the pain was terrible if I moved just slightly the wrong way. Ugh. I was also told not to drink any water, only Gatorade or other salty drinks and to go on a high salt/high protein diet. Apparently the salt helps keep the fluid from building up in the abdomen somehow. 

This lasted for about 3-4 weeks. Yay. However, during this time, we found out that, yes, it worked and we were pregnant! So at least I was going through all this for a good reason! 

By the time I was 6 weeks pregnant the nausea, puking, exhaustion, hot flashes, and all of the rest of those awesome pregnancy symptoms had started. So far things are not as awful as they were with John (only puking 1-2 times a day instead of 4-6 times!)  But I still wish I could be like those lucky few women who barely know they're pregnant and have little to no nausea. And at 6 weeks we saw the first ultrasound!! It was too early to see heartbeats, but SURPRISE! there are three in there! 

Since then, we've had an ultrasound a week, saw all three heartbeats and have now been sent off to see a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, otherwise known as a high-risk OB. So our next appointment will be with Dr. Parilla after we get home from Hawaii in two weeks! YAY FOR BABIES!! THREE OF THEM!!!

Two months later...

It's been over two months since I last posted, and wow has life changed! Johannus Henry Sokolov was born at 4:29 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring 20.5 inches!