Friday the THIRTEENTH...Uugh.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but it seemed a little creepy that we had 2 months in a row with Friday the 13ths...that in itself just doesn't seem right. And I don't even think of myself as a terribly superstitious person usually, but that was just a bit much.

(just some random pictures Brian took of me checking out the baby belly)

We were supposed to have a growth ultrasound on the one in February, but I kindly asked if we could reschedule it to the following Monday...you know, just in case. :) Well, as luck (or no luck) would have it, guess when our next growth ultrasound was scheduled for??? Yep! Friday, MARCH 13th...this time, I decided to be a big girl and just go.

Seemed like we were actually having GOOD LUCK...the morning started off with a call from the FedEx Driver who had apparently been trying to deliver our quad stroller. He offered to re-arrange his whole delivery schedule so he could quickly drop it by our house at 7:15 in the morning after Brian told him we had to leave for the hospital a few minutes later. So wouldn't you know it?? Here comes the FedEx man with our new stroller...and first thing in the morning no less! That's pretty lucky!

Then we hopped in the car and headed for UMC all the while listening to JohnJay and Rich and their listeners' weird superstitions....seriously, there are some strange people out there....but we got to UMC, right on time, and entered into that very precarious parking lot I described a few blogs ago. And guess where we found a parking spot?? Right up front! Woo hoo! This day was not so bad after all!

Well, we checked in at UMC and were quickly called back by Susie, the sonographer....Susie? But where was Casey? We were supposed to see Casey...Don't get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Susie. She might be one of the nicest, most experienced sonographers there is. But we always see Casey and we'd just seen her the day before and left her with a cheery, "see you at 8:00 tomorrow!" So where was she?? Ok, now my superstitious self is wanting to make a bigger deal about this. But I don't. We follow Susie back to the room and away we go! Time to measure the babies!

I'll say that they were largely cooperative....in a span of 4 weeks here are their current measurements:

COLTON

4 lbs 2 oz. (a gain of 1 lb. 5 oz.)

Heartrate: 146 beats per minute

ETHAN

4 lbs. 2 oz. (a gain of 1 lb. 5 oz.)

Heartrate: 143 beats per minute

HUNTER

2 lbs. 10 oz. (a gain of 5 oz.)

Heartrate: 153 beats per minute

So holy moly! Fat little boys we got in there! And a tiny baby girl...was I worried about little Hunter? How could I not be? Susie assured us that her heart was beating fine and she still had good fluid all around her, but that she was just smaller. Again, dainty like her mommy and not like her daddy. :) So I decided not to worry! (I also had a talk with those brothers of hers about the importance of sharing nutrients and food with their sister!) Sheesh! They're not even born yet and already they're hearing the wrath of their kindergarten teacher mommy!

But we left feeling good! Off to our next stop! We went and visited the CCRS (Childrens Clinic for Rehabilitative Services) where we met with a TON of people! The clinic is designed to be a "Team Approach" for children who need special services which could range from orthopedic impairments to Cleft Palates/Lips. (Obviously, that's why we ended up there.) It was a HUGE facility brightly decorated with Disney Characters and Jungle Book stuff everywhere! Very much a kid friendly place! They will be the people who will help us coordinate Colton's surgeries, his speech services if needed, hearing services, nutrition, feeding assistance, even dental and orthodontic care later in life. We left there with a big manual FULL of information, and an even bigger head full of confusion. It was overwhelming, to say the least. One day at a time....take a deep breath!

Off to our next stop! We needed to pick a pediatrician! Well, we polled just about all of our friends with babies or young children and were surprised to find that between all of them, they each go to one of two offices. So we picked the closer one first. Off to Catalina Pediatrics! If first impressions count, then we were already impressed with the exterior and with the doctors! (Brian, not so excited at the number of minivans in the parking lot...he's having anxiety at the idea that we might one day have to be a minivan family) :(

But we went inside and waited until the receptionist was free. In the meantime, Brian says, "I'm going to look around..." and while he does that I decide to be nosy Nellie and ask another mom in there which doctor she sees and what she thinks of the office in general. No sooner than she can start praising the office do I hear - "HONEY, THEY HAVE A DINOSAUR IN THEIR FISH TANK!" Aah, yes. That would be my giant child of a husband. I guess we'd established who will be taking the kids to the doctor's office! Sure enough, there is a giant T-Rex figurine standing at the bottom of a very large fish tank. Well, the woman with whom I'd been speaking confirms Brian's excitement and says, "You know it's a good pediatrician's office when they have dinosaurs in their fish tank.!" Gotta love that!

Anyway, when I was finally able to see the receptionist, I told her why we were there and asked if they were accepting new patients. Then I asked her if they were accepting THREE new patients! :) She smiled and said we are ALWAYS taking new patients and we'd love to have your three! Super. Done deal. Our minds were made. No need to visit the other office. We were perfectly happy here. Don't get me wrong, I have a feeling the other office is just as nice and the doctors are just as good, but sometimes, in the interest of time and energy, you just take what you like first and be done with it! SO WE FOUND A PEDIATRICIAN! Another stroke of good luck on Friday the 13th!!

(We selected Dr. Goldberg who is on the far left)

Well, the office is literally around the corner from my dad's office, so we decided to stop in and say hello! After visiting with dad and Auntie Val for a little while, we decided to eat some lunch and go home! Whew! I know I was tired! Well, it was such a beautiful day out, that Brian had decided once we got home to spend a little time in the fresh air of the front yard and garage and do a little "tinkering around" as he puts it. So while he was just beginning to enjoy his time to himself. I am inside answering the phone.
"Hi Ami?"
"Yes.."
"It's Dr. Maciulla. What are you doing?"
"Um, just resting....why?"
"Well, I was wondering if you could come back to the hospital."

(Now, you need to understand that even though this sounds very serious and alarming to me, Dr. M is STILL making jokes and making light of the situation so as not to scare me...this is why we picked him. :)

"Uh, sure. Why? Is something wrong?"
"I was just looking at your ultrasound from this morning and I'd just like to keep a closer eye on all the babies. I'd like for you to come in so that we can do some monitoring...Since you're getting closer to the end, I think it's time to really watch how everyone's doing in there..."

(CRAP. This is more Friday the 13th like....)

"Ok, sure. When should I be there?"
"Well, go ahead and go to LabCorp first and have your blood drawn and then just come down from there."
"Ok. I'm on my way."

(so here's the thing....in retrospect, I'm now pretty sure that Dr. M. made no specific mention of wanting me to come in just to monitor Hunter. But when he mentioned the ultrasound, that's what I attributed it to....and that's what had me so upset...I was already worried about our little girl and this was just confirming that for me...I now realize he said ALL the babies.)

So with tears in my eyes and a little fear, I have to go out and tell Brian who has JUST begun to enjoy the sunshine that I need to go back to the Lab and the Hospital. :( Well, being the rock that he is, and sensing my sadness, he simply closes the garage door and says, "no problem. Let me change my shirt and we'll go!"

There is nothing exciting I can report about LabCorp. Nothing. It's the most god-awful boring place to sit and wait. Which we did. For an hour until it was my turn to have my blood drawn. But then we were off to UMC.

Checked in...made small talk with Yolanda, the Unit Coordinator about the poor quality of the mattresses on the beds at the hospital and then we waited. Normally, we would not have to wait, but in this case, with triplets, they needed to reserve 2 beds side by side, as that is the only way they could have 2 monitors side by side. (We really didn't need the 2nd bed, just the 2nd monitor because only 2 heartbeats fit on a monitor.) So we roamed around downstairs in the cafeteria and found a MUCH better coke room that people can wait in while they're at the hospital. (Particularly for my brother in law Emilio!) We're always looking out for him! Finally it was our turn!

(Brian and Me in the "new" Coke Room)

(here's the new Coke Room)

So basically, I was there for an NST (Non-Stress-Test). They strap one monitor for each baby onto my belly, plus one to monitor contractions. The first feat is getting the baby to hold still long enough to get a "read" on its heartbeat. So that took a few minutes. We couldn't get started immediately because poor Colton had the hiccups for a solid minute or two! Finally, all three babies heartbeats were reading and I was just lying there trying not to move!

These are the 2 monitors we needed...Hunter's heartrate is being monitored on the one on the left, and Ethan, Colton's and my contractions are on the right monitor)

They have to get a solid 20 minute reading per baby, (which is usually easy with one baby, but with multiples, they kick eachother out of position and roll around which can cause the monitor to lose track of the heartbeat. ) But our babies were SO cooperative! They stayed on their readings for an hour! And all three heartrates fell within the normal range! Go babies! Go babies! As for me, I hear my nurse, Tempest, (the one who also has triplets) call out to me from behind the curtain, "Ami, What's with all these contractions?? If it were just for the babies, you'd be home by now! But we might need to examine you to make sure you're not going into pre-term labor...." (great...my mind immediately flashes to the partially packed bags I have at home...) Well, fortunately, Dr. Maciulla wanders in and takes a look at the screen. He determines that I'm ok to go home. These contractions aren't severe enough yet and so I can go home! YAY! (He also reminds me that as we get closer, he won't be as tolerant...) :)

So anyway, the plan is to do these NSTs twice a week until I deliver! Woo hoo! What fun! Enjoy these (incredibly unflattering) pictures of my hot NST pose!

(I'm too sexy for my 4 monitors...too sexy for my monitors...)