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.