Houston, we have a delivery date!!

That's right! There's an end (and a great big beginning) in sight! After years of hoping and waiting, and 33 weeks of cooking, the Bunch Babies will be making their grand entrance into the world on:

Monday, March 23, 2009

Many of you have asked how we finally arrived at a date, and at this one in particular...so here's the lowdown. Yesterday, I went in for my weekly checkup and frankly, everything was looking GREAT! (My blood pressure was a tad high, but after lying on my left side for 5 minutes, it went back to normal!) So in comes Dr. Maciulla, we do a quick ultrasound, we see three quick beating hearts and a couple of big heads (again....we thank Brian for that...) and then we sit up to chat!

Now, all the stars must have aligned just right, because the first question on Brian's and my "Things to ask" list was, 1. At what point do we commit to a date? Interestingly enough though, I didn't have to ask it, because Dr. Maciulla did first! I believe his words were, "So, how much longer do you think you can make it?" To which I, glass half full, say, "However much longer you want me to make it! "

Well, he basically said that for someone who is only 5'2" tall and started out at 99 lbs., (currently tipping the scale at 144lbs.) I have done remarkably well. He said I'd already passed every milestone he hoped I would get to in terms of babies' health and my health, PLUS I'd made it far past the # of weeks he expected me to! (Again, he was realistically thinking I'd make it to 28 weeks, hoping I'd make it to 30 weeks, and now rejoicing that I made it to a "typical triplet gestation" of 33 weeks. ) So he said rather than tempt fate and play a game of risk, it was his opinion that we shoot for a delivery sometime in the 33rd week as opposed to waiting till week 34.

It probably helped my case that I mentioned my discomfort from the night before with baby Ethan's butt literally camped out in the exact same spot RIGHT under my rib cage for about 12 hours making the simple art of taking a deep breath quite painful...He kind of chuckled and said, "You know, for most people, the uterus stops several inches below their rib cage, but in your case, your uterus literally did grow right up to your rib cage!" So this was another reason to move forward with delivery sooner rather than later!

So he looked at us and said, so what day do you want? We went back and forth and we all decided on Monday, March 23rd....(exactly one month before my birthday...April 23rd). Plus I like the numbers....3 babies in the 3rd month, at exactly 33 weeks! It just works for me...

So folks, barring any other major catastrophes that happen in the hospital (unrelated to us) that cause us to have to reschedule, we are scheduled for a C-Section at about 9:30 in the morning on Monday! That gives me just 3 full days left with babies where I can control them!! :)

After that, this is what Brian and I will be wearing....hopefully these shirts will explain the fatigue on our faces without having to actually make words come out of our mouths.... :)

And Piper was SO excited about HER new shirt that her Gramma Daniels had embroidered for her at "Doggie Duds" that she's already wearing it around the house....she's practicing how to be the "Big Sister." And doing a mighty fine job, I might add... :) I know she doesn't know exactly what's going on yet, but she's certainly smart enough to know that something is happening in that belly of mine and something is soon to be coming to that nursery we spend so much time in....I know that after a short adjustment period, she's going to be so wonderful and so protective of her three babies. :)

So for now, we wait.....Brian and I are SO excited to finally meet these three little people who've been rolling around in my belly for weeks now. I know that Monday will bring with it TONS of nerves for both of us, (more so for me because it is I who obviously has to go through the surgery part.) Luckily I'm generally Ok with surgery. I've had several now and I'm not bothered by needles or IV's and anesthesia typically works with me...which brings up another exciting note!

Barring any weird circumstances that dictate otherwise, my long time friend, Tony Lucas (many of you know him,) will be my anesthesiologist! Thank God somebody paid attention in HS Chemistry and Biology and went on to pursue a career that would benefit ME!....I can't remember if Tony and I first met through our church youth group or at Sahuaro HS...either way, it's been at least 17 - 18 years that we've been friends if you go all the way back to our freshman year of high school! He is now an anesthesiologist at UMC and is planning to be there Monday Morning with needles in hand! Woo hoo! That makes at least 3 friendly faces (Brian, Tony, Dr. M.) in a room of what I imagine will be FULL of doctors and nurses.... :)

Hopefully everyone doesn't want to throw things at me for putting this picture up here, but this is a part of our "high school group" hanging out at the Cactus Moon only a few months ago.! (Ok well, it was before I was pregnant, so I guess it was more than a few months ago...Jenny LaCoss, and I think Melanie were somewhere at the Moon this night too...I don't know why they're not in this picture!

L to R is : Leigh, Rick, Me, Heather, Tony (aka...Super Anesthesiologist) and Matt!

So anyway, for now, I guess that's all! If you had wanted to come by the hospital, please don't worry about trying to make it there on Monday....I'll be recovering for several hours, Brian will be with me and the babies will be in NICU, unable to be visited without being escorted by either Brian or me, so there's not a lot of reason to hurry out there on Monday! I'll either send out a mass text message and/or hopefully with the assistance of Mary's laptop, we can get pictures and updates about visiting and the babies on the blog as soon as I'm officially able!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for the months of support, prayers, meals, encouragement, baby clothes, coupons and positive thoughts that have gotten us this far and with never having to go on bed rest! Amazing! I can't wait for you to meet our babies! Stay tuned!