Triplet Pregnancy Update - 28 Weeks

I can't believe I made it to 28 weeks already!

Here I am...large and in charge and ready for week 28!

It's been a while...so this will probably be a longer update. Week 25 was ok, EXCEPT I had a terrible cold and a cough that brought me to tears a couple days. Who knew coughing would be so painful for a pregnant woman. But...we survived. Week 26 was also pretty good overall.

This last week - #27 - has been the roughest thus far. I think carrying these babies is finally starting to wear on my body (and my mind). 

Physically - I'm experiencing more lower back pain when I'm up and moving. Especially by the evening. I'm not able to lift or carry hardly anything without feeling it. I just kind of 'hit a wall' mid afternoon, and around 8pm and I'm ready to just lay down. I'm not sleeping as well because I have to flip from side to side 2-3 times a night to stay comfortable. I think I've gained around 25-30 lbs. I don't weigh myself at home...so I'll know for sure on Tuesday.

My belly is definitely feeling stretched and tightens a lot. The babies do their fair share of moving and pushing around in there. I think they are most active (or I just notice it the most) from about 8-10 pm. I usually enjoy the feeling...but lately their movements also make me feel a bit uncomfortable almost. Who knows what other organs they are poking and pushing on in there! LOL! Josh is NOT a fan of feeling them kick hard or feeling body parts push out.

Mentally - I have to admit I cried a couple times this week when feeling sorry for myself for feeling lousy and feeling like I'm not accomplishing anything. Also, just feeling 'not myself' is sometimes sad. It's been kinda hard this holiday season only because I still want to take M to Festival of Trees, and we have to cut our tree and decorate the house. I'm determined to do both of those things this week. It's also been GOOD to be pregnant because for ONCE in my life I'm not procrastinating on shopping for gifts or our holiday cards!

I am getting more used to stares and questions when we are out and about. But, sometimes I still get self-conscience with all the stares I get from the public. I know my baby belly must look pretty shocking to most people...they are probably just worried I'm going to go into labor! But most of you know me, and know that I'm not one to necessarily like all the attention, and I still get uncomfortable. Oh well. I better get used to it!

It's hard to believe that I'm hoping to stay pregnant for at least 4 more weeks. Sometimes I feel like I can definitely do that...and sometimes...that feels like a LONG time. But...I'm pretty determined to NOT have them born before Christmas. So, we'll see!  Don't worry too much about me though. I'm doing my best to do as much as I still can WITHOUT overdoing it. I know it's important to take care of myself for my whole family.

I am SO happy to have made it to 28 weeks. It was my main goal from the beginning. My next goal is to make it to 30 weeks.

(Jengo photo-bombed my picture of myself from today!)

Josh says I move like a 90 year old man. It's true. But hey...at least I'm still moving! :) Josh has been very supportive. He's always worried about me resting, eating, and drinking enough water. He is finishing the floor in the downstairs basement this week, and once we get our bedroom moved down there I'll be ready to start cleaning and organizing the master bedroom for the triplets. Josh works so hard for our family and me, and I'm so incredibly thankful for him.

Starting in December I think I'll be needing more help around the house with minor cleaning and organizing. We have a lot to de-clutter and get organized before the boys arrive I've just been waiting for us to get moved and settled. So, if you are free for a morning or afternoon randomly in December...let me know! Or, if I need something, be ready for a FB request or text! :)

Madison talks about the babies and my belly a lot. The other night we were laying in her bed and she told me she had a baby in her belly...and she put her hand on her belly and told me she could feel him move. One day M also asked me where my lap went since she can't really sit on my lap anymore. LOL! I love her so much, and it's been hard on me not picking her up and cuddling her as much But, she is SO sweet and tells me a lot that she can't wait to help feed her brothers and give them baths.

I *THINK* we have finally agreed on their names. I'm still mulling over one of them...but...for now...I think we are set. This is kinda a teaser of an update since we WILL NOT be sharing until they are born! Sorry!

We go on Tuesday for our growth ultrasound, appointment with my doctors, and our NICU tour and consult. Hopefully they are all growing well and are healthy! I'll be back on Tuesday to post how everything goes.

P.S. We figured out that my steering wheel moves back. So...I've still got some wiggle room and am able t drive! Wohoo!!!

M's Got a Fever...

SPRING FEVER!

This morning when we woke up...the temperature was already in the 50s believe it or not!

As soon as she finished breakfast we were headed outside. Why not?!

BUBBLES!

And more bubbles. She's been asking to do bubbles for weeks!

Running.

Puddles!

Riding her bike.

Jengo the supervisor.


She was laughing because she just finished pulling the cat's tail. Poor kitty.

And here she's screaming, "Me-WOW," in his face.

Good thing we went out when we did. After a TOO long appointment at the veterinarian's office, we headed home in cold rain, and the temp. dropped, too.

We can't wait for Spring! Too bad snow it's supposed to start snowing late tonight and into tomorrow! Oh well...she loves snow, too!

Foto Friday - Nala

Nala has finally wised up and generally runs from M so she can't do this (see below) as much as she'd like anymore!

M still loves her Nala though!

Foto Friday - New Addition

We welcomed a new kitty cat (out in the shop) to our family.

M really loves her new kitty, Nala!

Our Week in Camera Phone Pics (4)

Monday (the 24th) Watchin' some Doc McStuffins while munchin' on some cereal. After dropping her off at music class with Grandma Tracy, I actually got to shop without a cute 2 year old in my cart. Swinging. Makin' (eatin') cookies.


Tuesday (the 25th) We went to toddler time at CFA. M actually sat and listened during story time! Makin' her craft. Frosting a dessert bread with Great Grandma Bev for a family dinner.


Wednesday (the 26th) Painting her own pottery for our weekly play date. Visiting our good friends' farm. It was a super fun day for M!


Thursday (the 27th) Helping me scramble some eggs for breakfast. Going to the library for the first time. Playing around with her cousin Jason (since he was staying/working with us for the week).


Friday (the 28th) After a breakfast date, Jason had to leave. At the park after Stroller Strides. Playin' with a fun toy at Great Grandma Bev's. Bath time!


Saturday (the 29th) At another playground. Again. Paintin' the kitty's face.


Sunday (the 30th) GO VIKINGS! Helpin' Daddy patch a hole in our wall. At her desk. Shopping (she got candy of course since Josh was with us!). Family pic outside of Chili's before dinner with Tracy and my Dad.

23 Months

WTF(udge)!!!! She's almost 2. TWO!

Believe or not, I've done NO planning for her birthday party. Zero.

What's wrong with me? I don't know. Do you know? If so, let me know.

Anyways...back to M. :) Yes, I'm starting with my rambling...the rest of the pics are at the end.

M is definitely in her 'terrible two's.' And, while sometimes frustrating for me (and for her I'm sure), it's really not ALL that terrible of course. I know she's just soaking in all kinds of new things, testing her limits, and developing her independence...all while having low impulse control and a lack of complete verbal communication with me. If I were in her shoes, I'm sure I'd have a tantrum here and there, too!

K. Time for the funny/cute/random updates about our little M.

She calls flies - bees. It's so cute. She'll point at it and say, "Mama, bee." She doesn't really like them. And that's why she tells me about them...every single one of them...and every time she sees them. :)

She loves stepping on ants outside on the sidewalks.

Dave-what she's decided to call my Dad. She has yet to say Grandpa (or Grandma), and never took to Papa or any other names...so, he's Dave for now.

We started to let her watch full length animated films when we drive...of course she LOVES Mulan and Mulan II. Seriously...did you think I'd let her start her Disney movie watchin' with anything other than Mulan??

Her favorite cartoon is probably Curious George. Although, she still loves her Mickey Mouse and Yo Gabba Gabba. (Which also reminds me I have a post in the works about her TV watching....)

Ew. Her new favorite word. Like when I try and get her to try a new food. She'll say, "Ew," and promptly hand the food back to me. Or when I go wipe her mouth after she eats. She'll scream, "Ewwwww," until I'm done. It's pretty funny actually. I asked Josh where he thought she learned that word...then, I later realized it was from me. Oops. Ew.

She also knows the color purple. And, I think she knows pink. We are working on saying names of colors...but she's still learning how to distinguish them.

As I mentioned early, she's started having slight tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She likes to express her anger/frustration with whining, crying, throwing her toys, knocking things over, oh, and spitting. Yep...that's my girl. Josh says she deals with anger like he does. :) I do believe it's ok for her to express her anger in any way that's not a danger to herself or others...but the spitting, I can't stand. We just started putting her in two minute time-outs if she spits. We'll see how that goes...

We're taking potty training slow...but she's gone #1 and #2 on her little potty quite a few times. She usually just gets to sit on her potty at night before bed, or occasionally during the day if she asks. She knows the word "poo-poo," and uses it for both #1 and #2. She knows what goes on in the bathroom. So watch out if you come over and use the bathroom in her view. We'll probably have a conversation that involves her pointing at you (and/or the bathroom while you're in there) and saying, "Poo-poo," a few times. (Seriously...before having kids...did you EVER think you'd deal with and talk about poop so much?! It's unreal sometimes!)

During our road trips earlier in July, she learned what semis are...and she loved pointing them out and saying, "shimmy." Too cute.

Choo-Choo - She loves trains...but refers to all large moving objects as "Choo-Choos." We are working on that...hence our excitement when she learned semi.

She is quite the little miss bossy-pants. When playing with her, she'll point to where she wants you to go, and she loves directing people to, "Mooooove." So, watch out if you're in her way or not in your place. She pushes, too...again...something for us to work on.

I tried to weigh and measure her...I think she's about 34 and half inches tall, and around 32 lbs. She's in mostly 2T and some 3T clothes.

I think she's finally got all her teeth...except for her two-year molars. I haven't really been able to look back there and see if anything's happening. Maybe they are already there and I didn't even know it...I hope that's the case.

She's talking more...but it's definitely not an area that I feel she excels in. I need to work with her more I think.

At this time, besides dog and kitty (oh, and bees), she refuses to call any animals by their names, and only calls them by their sound. So...even if I ask her to try and say cow, she'll only say, "Moooo." And, she only makes monkey noises when she wants to watch Curious George. She knows a lot of animal sounds...oh, wait, except for bunny, she calls them, "hop-hop." So...is this a problem? I hope not...she knows what the animals are and can point them out to me when I only use their names...so, I think we're ok?! I always obsess about something with her...and currently, it's her language development. I'll stop now because I know she's perfectly fine and all kids develop differently and at different rates...yaddah, yaddah, yaddah...but I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't admit that I'm slightly jealous that my friend's 18 month old (love you SG!!!) says full sentences like, "Bye Megan. Hi Madison. I missed you." And yes, even I can totally understand her. Ok. Moving on...

Miss Madison does not like having her hair washed, combed, or brushed. I can't wait to try and get it into a ponytail!

Her newest favorite songs are "The Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It."

She LOVES loves LOVES playin' outside. She loves going to parks, running around like a crazy girl, her water table, her bike, her bubbles, her chalk. Anything outside. She'll always ask me "Shoes?" because she wants to go out and play.

Wow. I wrote a lot. I could probably write even more. I'm sure some day I'll appreciate all my ramblings.

Ok. Onto the pictures. They were taken on Friday morning, and there aren't too many. She was far more interested in playing than having her picture taken of course. So...I kinda gave up. Oh well.

My first attempt. She's mad...as you can see from her face.

She managed to sit next to Winnie for a few seconds... 

Cute!

Her and Kitty checkin' out her sign.

Finally a goofy smile because I told her we were done and we could go play now.

"Kitty, aren't you glad Mom finally let us go play!!!"

Riding her bike. Still trying to figure out the pedals.

Carrying her bike. Her response to me telling her that the bike couldn't really go on the grass.

Bubbles! She's pretty good at blowing her own bubbles now.

Love her little mouth.

Next time I write a monthly post...she'll be 2! Ugh. I can't believe it!

M In Action!

Just a random video of M playing from earlier today.
I wanted to capture what she's like and how she moves and plays at this age.



My reaction after watching it back:
1) I estimate she loses about half her water while traveling.
2) We should probably move that empty keg. It is just for root beer...but yes, my kid plays with a keg on an almost daily basis.
3) Her 'careful walking' makes her look like she's moving in slow motion. And, I can't believe she actually listened to me!
4) I can't believe she kicked the cat...but then again...I do that, too...so...
5) Ew. Sorry for my sniffles at the end.

22 Months

I realized too late yesterday that it was M's 22 month 'birthday' so I attempted to take some photos of her today. She was pretty uninterested so I didn't get that many great shots of her with her sign, but oh well. Also, it is past 11pm now (way past my bedtime), and I didn't keep great notes of what M has been up to this past month, so bear with me on the updates. In fact...let's just start with the photos. That's the best part anyways! I'll close the post with my mindless babbling about M (and my favorite picture of M from today!).

Checking out her sign of course.

Hiding behind Winnie. She wasn't in the mood I guess.

And then...apparently something was pretty funny.

 

Eating: 

Nothing new really. Except, she now loves Kiwi, and she ate an apple slice. Seriously, I was SO excited she ate an apple slice. I've been trying to get her to eat whole apple slices (instead of just apple sauce all the time) for like forever.

She loves Ritz crackers and those applesauce pouches. And, muffins.

Sleep: 

Same ol' sleeping schedule. Except, she's waking closer to 7am now instead of 8am...oh well. Still napping just once every afternoon.

Vocabulary: 

Although she's not always clear or consistent, M tries new words a lot when I ask her. I am also really trying to teach her to start stringing two words together. I'm sure she'll get it soon! I am trying to teach her the names of the colors (she can say quite a few). And we're still working on her ABCs.

Her most frequent words used daily are (in no particular order):

Mommy (yes, she started calling me Mommy lately)

Daddy

Mine

No

Uncle

Please

Dat (That)

Nummy

Oooooh

She also loves songs and singing. She more or less hums, but it's singing to her! We sing a lot actually...her favorites are still Old MacDonald, 5 Little Ducks, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Tiny Tim  (the turtle/bubble song).

Play:

She loves being outside! She loves going to the park and swinging, climbing, and going down slides (although she won't go down tube slides just yet). She loves throwing, chasing, and kicking her ball. She likes to run and be chased or chase others. She likes tickling. She loves bubbles. She will sometimes color and enjoys painting, too. She enjoys 'playing' with her doggies and her kitty. She loves her water table and is mildly obsessed with the hose and running water.

How resourceful. Watch out Kitty!

Water:

We started Swim Lessons this month! I'm SO glad. She's coming around to the water and hopefully she'll be a 'little fish' after this summer with lessons and plenty of pool time (since we joined a pool and go as a family on Sunday). She loves playing in her bath...but every time I have to wash her hair it's usually NOT fun for either of us.

Funny Stories:

M came up to me one morning with a penny. I had no clue where she got it from.

Me: "Madison, what is that? Oh, hey, that's a penny. Where'd you get that?"

M: Staring straight at me and as serious as ever. She replied, "Uncle."

Her first lie. :) Now, my brother had been over the night before, but I was fairly certain he wouldn't give her money. I texted him just to be sure, and to let him know M told her first lie and implicated him in it!

She loves wearing her rain boots. I hide them from her now.

One day she was looking at one of her books and there was a picture of a muffin. I told her what it was and she was all like, "Oooh....oooo....yummy, nummy, mmm-mmm." It just so happened I had muffins at the house that day, so she got one for a snack, and it seriously made her day...she was jumping up and down she was SO happy to get a muffin. Too cute.

Ok. It's late. Too late. I can't believe I'm up still. Please forgive any grammatical/typo errors...just wanted to get this done! NIGHT!

 We love this little munchkin SO much...can't believe she'll be 2 in just 2 more months!!! Ay!!!

M and Her Kitty

I wanted to post a few pictures of M with her favorite "kiiiittty" Jengo. (Our other cat ran away, but don't worry he was neutered so he's not contributing to the overpopulation of cats.)

Whenever we play outside she always wants to play with "Kitty." Jengo lives out in the shop and is an outdoor cat, but he LOVES M and kinda acts like a dog almost because he will come when you call him and follow her around and such. She loves when he chases her and she loves playing with him in general. She hugs him and laughes when his tail tickles her face.

Anyways, here's some pictures from the past month or so that I just wanted to be sure were documented on here.

Kitty loves chasing bubbles. 

Sometimes I think Kitty is laughing to himself when he ignores M's attempts to get him to chase her. She is dragging a string behind her.

But, eventually he gives in (I may or may not have nudged him a bit to get him moving).

Just chillin'.

Shakin' his string for him.

Running around the big tree together.

I really didn't want a cat out in the shop...but I have to admit watching M and Kitty together always makes me smile. :)

18...I mean 17 Months

Our little M is 18 months old. Half way to 2! Yikes! (I started this post a couple days ago.)

I'm an idiot she's only 17 months old.

Do me a favor and pretend the sign in her pictures say 17 instead of 18, k?!

The snow fell just in time for her monthly pictures. I'll be short and sweet on her updates...then we can get to the pictures quicker. :)

Loves:

Suckers
Mickey Mouse Club and saying "Daisy"

Daddy

Eating

Feeding herself with her fork/spoon

Petting her kitties that we have out in the shop

Reading books before bed

Brushing her teeth with Mama

Collecting sticks outside

New Facinations:

Dipping with her food

Blowing on her food if it's too hot

Stacking her toys

Coloring

Climbing

New Words:

Please

"Cheese" for her pictures

Boo

Uh-oh

Random Stuff:

She's finally getting more teeth! She has two molars coming in on the top.

She still naps twice a day, and goes to bed around 8:30pm and wakes around 7:30am. I think she's on her way to dropping a nap though...

We started a Mommy and Me Music class on Monday! It's lots of fun!

Ok, onto the pictures!
(I had a lot of good ones...so I'm going to post the rest on FB.)

First picture this afternoon. She had been outside yesterday (post on that tomorrow!), so she new what the snow was. I think she was wondering what was going on since I had just went to hang her sign.

There was a decent drift in front of the fence, but just enough room for her and Winnie to fit.

She loved feeling the snow...I couldn't find any good waterproof mittens for her, so these ones had to do. Good thing we were quick today!

After her shots by the fence...she was more interested in finding a stick.

She then sees her mislabeled sign. Bad Mama!

Poor Winnie gettin' the cold (literally and figuratively) shoulder today.

She did not like seeing the snow on the bottom of her boots and spent some time trying to brush it off.

Look at her little footprints!

"Ooooohhhhh, snow on my stick!!!"

Happy 17 months, baby M! We love you!