At the hospital

We were going to get our FFN test today but it turned out that Christie was already 1cm dilated so they rushed her to the hospital. Yale-New Haven. Once there she was triaged for a bit and they decided to keep her there just in case. She was still getting some contractions every half hour to hour but very mildly.

18.5 Weeks

At my 18.5 week appointment, all was well with the babies and they measured 8oz, 9oz and 10oz approximately. The doctors told me that they will measure the babies every 4 weeks unless a problem is discovered, due to the fact that the degree of accuracy is within 2 weeks. In about 40% of multiple pregnancies, the doctor said that there is usually a growth problem for one of the babies, often because of a lack of space. This is usually known as IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction.). But so far, everything is looking normal.

I was having quite a bit of back pain and the doctor recommended a prenatal cradle – basically a harness to help hold my stomach up and provide extra support. Unfortunately, it shows under most of my tops, but I think it is starting to help.

Here are some of the ultrasound pictures of A, B and C. One of them shows both A and C's heads together.

18 Weeks

My sister, Becky, visited this weekend and we compared tummies. She is 3.5 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, but only expecting one. We had a slow but enjoyable weekend hanging out, going to Costco, and analyzing the best baby products to buy with the help of Baby Bargains.

Vacation

With our decision made, we took off on vacation at 13 weeks on a cruise starting in Stockholm, and stopping in Visby, Riga, Talinn, Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. We spent 2 days in Copenhagen before returning. We knew this would be our last vacation for a long time and made the most of it! You can view our pictures on shutterfly.

Decisions

CVS testing at 10 and 11 weeks revealed that all three fetuses were genetically normal. The test involved a very large needle inserted into my abdomen. The doctor guided it with help from an ultrasound and scraped some of the cells from the placenta to capture a sample. It was a very uncomfortable feeling and did indeed hurt. The needles left bruises on my belly. The doctor couldn’t reach A on the first visit and we had to go back a second time to get the final CVS. They require a full bladder for the test which is another difficulty and it ended up being the most painful part of the final test since they kept us waiting an extra half hour before calling us in.

Upon receiving the results of the tests, Ted and I had a huge decision to make. Being analytical people, we gathered as many facts as possible on triplets. In the beginning, we felt fairly sure we wanted to reduce to twins, especially after hearing some of the statistics. I didn’t’ know if we could handle the tough pregnancy and the reality that the babies would be born early, very small, and have to struggle in the NICU. We had a tough and emotional two weeks, facing the most difficult decision we had ever faced together in our marriage. We visited NICU’s together, spoke to many doctors and ultimately came to the conclusion that although it’s scary and yes bad things can happen, that is true of any pregnancy – and the statistics are really not that bad. So together we decided to go for it, and see where the journey would take us.

Our Fertility Story

Over a year ago, Ted and I decided that the time was right to try and get pregnant. I went off the pill and we figured that we would just see how things went. After a few months, we weren’t pregnant and I started keeping track of my cycle to pinpoint the optimal time. Several more months went by and with my irregular cycle, I decided to speak with my doctor. She did some initial bloodwork to check hormone levels and also sent me for an internal x-ray to check whether my fallopian tubes were open. The tubes were fine but the hormones were odd, and she recommended that we see a fertility doctor. Ultrasounds of my ovaries helped the fertility doctor to diagnose PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) which essentially means that I don’t or rarely ovulate. In most cases, he said, patients with PCOS are successful getting pregnant with the help of fertility drugs. He said that within a few tries he would expect us to be pregnant.

After our first cycle of clomid, I got blood drawn on Friday April 11. The doctor called with the happy news that I was pregnant. I couldn’t believe it and I remember asking him several times “are you sure?”. This was a belated birthday present for Ted, and for the next few weeks we were so happy. My first ultrasound was scheduled at 6 weeks. Ted came with me to the appointment at the end of April. We knew that there was an increased chance of twins, primarily because an ultrasound had revealed two follicles ready to release eggs, and also because of our family history (my youngest brother and sister are twins). So when the doctor showed us the first embryo and then said “and here’s a second”, I looked at Ted and we were both happy and excited. Then when the doctor said “and there’s a third”, I reached out and put my hand on Ted’s chest for support as we both absorbed the news. The doctor was not very happy to see three embryos and started explaining some of the risks to us then but I don’t think we took in the details. He was also very surprised and said he had only seen triplets occur with clomid one other time in his career. (I have since found that it is not as uncommon.)

The next course of action was just to wait and see. In many cases, we were told, the pregnancy would “resolve itself” and one or more embryos would self-terminate. So each week, we went back to the doctor’s office for another ultrasound. It consistently showed that embryo A was smaller and measuring a week behind, while B and C seemed normal. This was the case for the next three ultrasounds, and I think by that time we had convinced ourselves it would end up being twins. Every Friday appointment was like the movie Groundhog Day, and was a repeat of the last time. At the last ultrasound with the fertility doctor, A had just about caught up to the other two embryos.

We knew that the next step would be a referral to a specialist for CVS testing (chorionic vilius sampling) and possible multi-fetal reduction, having already discussed this option with the fertility doctor.