At this point, we’re creeping up on two days old, but since I didn’t intend to update today, and it’s currently 1:30 a.m. EST, that’s where we’re at.
Good night!
Tobias, born at 9:11 a.m. – 2 lbs. 8.5 oz., 14.37″ long (Baby B in utero)
Eleanor, born at 9:12 a.m. on Nov. 22 – 2 lbs. 5 oz., 15″ long (Baby A in utero)
Callista, born at 9:13 a.m. on Nov. 22 – 2 lbs. 7 oz, 15″ long (Baby C – ninja baby! – in utero)
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PB&J were born when I was 28 weeks, 1 day.
Toby is on a ventilator but was down to 65 percent oxygen the last time Rob visited.
Eleanor and Callista are only on CPAPs for some extra breathing help.
You can call me Bessie, because my first attempt at pumping produced 19 mL of milk. Seeing as they’ll start the babies on just part of 1 mL, I already have a stock saved up!
Your thoughts, prayers and well wishes are beyond appreciated. We’re all doing well, but we have a long, long road ahead of us. Continued prayers would be awesome!
(oh, me? I’m doing pretty well. I’m sore but not in much pain. My c-section went amazingly well – no blood transfusion necessary. I hear they’re going to try to get my up on my feet tonight. Owie! But I’ll do it. I’m a champ, just like my three gorgeous babies.)
(oh, Rob? He can’t stop grinning and staring at his bracelets that claim the babies as his. He’s been to see them several times. To say he is a proud papa is the understatement of the century.)
If you’re feeling clicky, mosey on over to the sidebar and vote for What the Blog? for best overall in The Bump’s 2nd Mommy Blog Awards. An iPad would be pretty sweet about now, right?
It’s a question I’m already fielding: Are your triplets natural?
My response is always the same: Well, they certainly aren’t robots.
This is then met with a confused face, THEN the questioner fumbles over her (because a man hasn’t asked me yet) words and usually spits out something about fertility drugs or IVF.
Parents of singletons can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems a question reserved for parents of multiples.
Sometimes, the questioner is another person who has been through the ART ringer, ready to commiserate with the headache that is advanced reproductive technology. Most of the time, however, it’s just another nosy nelly.
Normally, I would consider these questions great teaching moments, a perfect opportunity to spread awareness about infertility. But people aren’t interested in that. They want the nitty gritty, short soundbites to gossip about, not the long story about how and why I don’t ovulate and what lengths we went to to get my body functioning as it should.
The question in its nosy state kills me.
Why?
All pregnancies are natural, regardless of the technology used to help achieve them.
The key word in that sentence is “help.” There is still a moment of conception that doctors cannot touch. Beyond that, embryos must implant, and that is not a technological guarantee. Nature (since we’re talking natural vs. unnatural) still has overall say in whether a pregnancy actually happens, regardless of the technology or lack thereof.
Likewise, a couple whose method of conception is without medical assistance but involves using some freaky sex apparatus that I can’t even dream up (but I just know must exist. Tangent – did you know dicks.com is NOT the sporting goods store’s Web site? BIG at-work mistake) conceives just as naturally as Duggars do. I just can’t see the Duggars whipping out dicks.com’s toy of the month, nor can I see them calling use of said apparatus “natural.”
I digress. My point: People cannot choose to conceive. Conception is beyond anyone’s control, including a team of the best doctors and your neighbor who swears by Kama Sutra page 436.
This is the precise reason asking if a pregnancy is natural is so very hurtful to those of us who have used ART for the extra help in conception. We understand how very not in control we are. We have had all the perfect pieces, all the perfect timing, all the elements that should make conception work. And it hasn’t.
The people who ask about a natural pregnancy? They can’t fathom that feeling. They don’t know just how much nature is in control. And the fact that they have the balls to ask that painful question, to seek out gossip material – that is what is a slap in the face.
And that is why you’ll always hear me reply, “Well, they aren’t robots.”
Two weeks ago, I was admitted to a room in labor & delivery and was told by nurses and doctors that we’d likely meet our triplets in the next 24 hours.
I was 25 weeks, 3 days pregnant.
Call it what you will, but those doctors and nurses were wrong that day. Today, I am 27 weeks, 3 days pregnant.
This blog entry isn’t for me. It isn’t for PB&J. Not yet. They’ll be born before they are full term, but I hope their birth story isn’t one that focuses on how hard they, we and their doctors and nurses are fighting. I hope their birth story is one of nothing but joy and comfort and happiness.
I hope you’ll forgive me, but I can’t write this blog entry about PB&J. My emotions are still too tied up in that day three weeks ago, how far we’ve come and how far we have left to go in this pregnancy. I just can’t write about this while thinking of them and what they may or may not face.
Instead, I write thinking about the countless babies I know of who have been born far too soon. Some have grown into amazing people, and their beginnings as a preemie are just one part of their long past. Some are still fighting in the NICU. Some have lost their heartbreaking battle.
Each one has a different story, a different outcome. All are part of what pushes the March of Dimes to continue research to provide as much help for these little fighters. All are part of what drive the amazing hospitals, doctors and nurses to care for and help fight with these sweet babies and their families.
Today is Prematurity Awareness Day. Visit the March of Dimes and see what you can do to help support the millions of babies who fight to live because they were born too soon.
Thanks to you, dear readers, What the blog? has been named Best Fertility Blog in The Bump’s 2nd Mommy Blog Awards!
I’m proud of this blog and how pouring my heart and soul out during our fight with infertility has struck a chord with so many others. My blog has always been just that – a blog. My content comes from nothing but my own head, and to receive recognition for being as personal as I can safely be online – well, it kind of makes me all weepy.
Fertility is still a complete mystery to so many (probably the majority of people), and infertility just plain old sucks. My only hopes in sharing our journey are that it somehow helps others pave their own and helps friends of those struggling become part of a stronger, more understanding support system.
Now! What’s next in these awards? Voting for Best Overall Blog, that’s what! The grand prize winner receives an iPad, keyboard docking station – pretty sweet, no?
As you might suspect, the competition is TOUGH. The finalists are all amazing bloggers, each with his or her own great stories to tell. I do not expect to win. I’d love to – don’t get me wrong. But I’m not about to say I deserve the title as much or more than any one of the finalists.
I’m just thrilled to pieces to be sharing the final round with them, to be included in such a great group of e-personalities.
Go forth! Cast your votes (as many as you want)! Start reading some wonderful blogs you may not have seen before! Just make sure you come back here.
Thanks again, readers! Your support amazes me!
