Our Birth Story - A Father's Perspective

Wednesday October 26, 2011 started out like many other days have during Kara’s pregnancy. I woke up early to take care of Maddox; Kara got up and I made her some breakfast. There were a few differences, though. Pepper had been with the Vet – Dr. Howard – the previous night because he had battled seizures the day before. Kara was up earlier than normal and put on makeup. She was very calm and relaxed for the appointment. It was a growth ultrasound and all we wanted to know was how much the babies had grown. Was it 3 pounds? A little more? A little less? Probably the biggest thing on our mind was getting Pepper back from the Vet and making sure he was ok.

We went to the Vet before heading off to our appointment because we needed to drop off Pepper’s medication. We told them that we’d see them later and we were off. We reached the doctor’s office shortly after. We had been to that office seemingly a thousand times before that day. Each time seemed like the previous. We’d wait in the waiting area for 10-20 minutes, go back to a tiny room, get an ultrasound, meet with 1-2 doctors, schedule the next appointment, and go home. So many people come in and out of that office seemingly all day. Very nice people there, though. But I can’t say I’m going to miss going there every week.

As soon as they called Kara’s name, I smiled and laughed at her. The lady working the ultrasound was not one of Kara’s favorites. While she was very nice to us, she also seemed to always have difficulty finding the fluid levels or keeping track of which baby she was examining on the screen. Kara flashed me a look. I knew that look pretty well. It was her “I’m not happy but I can’t do anything about it” face. Sure enough once we got started, the tech looked uneasy at the screen. I rolled my eyes to myself, thinking she was just having her usual problems. My only concern at this point was our appointment was going to take an extra hour. Eventually she got the necessary measurements. When we asked how much Georgia weighed, she said 2 pounds, 4 ounces. Kara and I looked at each other confused. “2 pounds, 4 ounces? She was 1 pound, 12 ounces 4 weeks ago?” Again, my initial thought was the ultrasound tech was just not getting things right. “The doctor will figure out what is going on” I thought to myself. Eventually a doctor showed up and started looking at the same images. Except this time there was something else they were reviewing: cord blood flow. I really had no idea what right looked like; I just kept waiting for one of them to reassure us that things were fine. Turns out our day was just starting…

During our scheduled time with the doctor, she told us that they were concerned that Georgia was not gaining enough weight and that her cord blood flow was reversing. She instructed us that we would go to Banner Desert for further observation. We quickly left the premises and headed to Banner Desert. Once we got to the Triage, we were immediately instructed to go to Admitting/Registration – another wrinkle. Now our thoughts were they were going to admit Kara to the hospital and monitor her. I wasn’t crazy about the idea because just a week ago were told we may deliver as late as December 1^st – 35 weeks. 5 weeks in the hospital? Kara was going to be miserable. Add on the challenges of figuring out the dog situation and it was a little stressful. Again we went to an ultrasound where the tech reviewed the same things: Georgia’s measurements and her cord flow. The tech did not say much, only that she would share the information with Dr. Spence. Dr. Spence was someone Kara and I were familiar with. She had actually figured out the sex of the babies just 4 months earlier. But until Dr. Spence could review the ultrasounds…we waited…and waited…and waited. Apparently Dr. Spence was busy with other patients and some kind of meeting. At around 1:30pm they let Kara know she could eat something. It had been 6 hours since we ate anything. 45 minutes later Kara was able to eat a hamburger. In that time we were told that we may or may not be getting admitted to the hospital. So are we going home anytime soon?

Around 3:15pm Dr. Spence finally showed up to articulate her concerns. The cord blood flow on Georgia and her minimal growth meant our week was about change. “We’re either going to do a C-Section later tonight or tomorrow morning. Tomorrow would be preferable because we can get the right team in place right at the start of the day.” Our minds were racing. “I have to get our dog from the Vet before it closes. Do I have to time to get him and drop him off?” Dr. Spence said I should do that now and we’d have a decision made shortly after I got back. Off I went, heading back towards the house. I tried to call my dad and Mary Lou from the van when Kara called me. “We’re doing the C-Section at 5pm. You need to get back here as soon as possible.” 5pm? I had just left and the decision was still up in the air. “What the hell changed in the last five minutes?” Apparently there was an opening at 5pm and Dr. Spence wasn’t going to wait. I drove as quickly as I could to get Pepper, dropped him off at home, grabbed some items, and headed back to the hospital. I texted my best friend Brett to see if he’d get over to the house to keep an eye on Pepper. I also reached my dad and Mary Lou and told them that their grandchildren were coming tonight. Shock, disbelief, excitement, panic, anxiety…how many thoughts/emotions can run through someone’s head in such a short amount of time?

When I got back to the hospital Kara was getting prepped for the surgery. I was told to put on a hospital gown. I learned that they design the hospital gowns as if every man is as large as Shaquille O’Neal. After finally tightening them the point where they wouldn’t come off I went back to see Kara. Eventually they led us to the room where the C-Section would be performed. I was asked to wait outside while they prepped Kara. I was only out in the hallway for about 15 minutes, but in that time I saw 12 nurses walk by (all of whom presumably knowing what I was going through). I just paced around the area like I do when I’m stressed or anxious about something. Kara makes fun of me because I do that when the Steelers are playing.

Once they let me in I asked Kara, “Are you ready to be a mom?” I smiled for her. I knew she was dealing with a hell of a lot more than I was and I did my best to be calm and reassuring about everything. I truly wasn’t nervous about the procedure or the health of the babies. I just hated the sitting around and waiting, even if it was only a few minutes. Once they got started, though, things happened quickly. I was not allowed beyond this large sheet, so everything was happening behind it. Before I even registered we were really starting, we heard a baby cry – it was Georgia! She was born at 5:27pm. They briefly showed us to her and she was whisked away to her team of doctors/nurses. Mickey came next. He was born at 5:28pm. Mickey didn’t seem very happy to be here, to be quite honest. He was in the most comfortable position inside Kara, so this whole experience probably pissed him off. When they brought him over to see us, he had this angry look on his face, almost saying to us “What is your problem? I was just fine in there!” Jolynne was born at 5:29pm. Each was being tended to by a team of professionals. I was asked to cut Mickey’s cord and as soon as each one was ready they were brought upstairs to the NICU. I followed Jolynne out as the third and final baby to reach the NICU.

The NICU is really something to see. The babies are in their own little cocoons. They have monitors telling the team everything from heart rate, oxygen levels, and everything else in between. I was allowed to roam free throughout the process, though I still felt weird being up there. “Am I in the way?” “Do you need me to come back?” “Are they ok?” Everyone was doing fine and nobody was bothered by my presence.

At some point after things calmed down, I was able to sit and look at each of my children without disruption. I’m going to try to articulate that feeling I had that night (and still have since). I have been through stressful situations before. I have experienced plenty in my time on this earth. I have read all about becoming a parent and what that is like. But I wasn’t completely prepared for that feeling. I am in awe of those babies. I can’t imagine my life without them now. There are moments in our lives and we all know them when they happen that change you. I have even had a few of those moments in my lifetime. To me, the entire world looked different; smelled different; and felt different after my children were born. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

~Tommy Comer

NICU = Roller Coaster

The NICU is just as I was told it would be  - a roller coaster ride! There are some days (most days) they all seem to be doing well, and then out of nowhere, we get bad news! Those days are very hard. You want so badly for your babies to keep taking steps forward, the sooner they do, the sooner they come home, but being so small, its not that easy, they are doing the best they can.

The good news is they are all stable and on the right track now. I will update you on each of them, starting with Jolynne's surgery. At first she was doing great, breathing on her own, etc. Then on Saturday, the nurses noticed her belly was a little distended and swollen. They did and x ray and found some things outside of her intestine that shouldn't be there, meaning there was a hole in her intestine and they needed to do surgery right away. We were told there is possibility being so little she will not make it through the surgery, but if she doesn't have the surgery, she will likely pass away within hours. Ummm...this was probably the most difficult moment of my life. And because of all the meds I was on and being sick myself, I had no way to control my emotions. I was a mess. Period. Tommy and I both were having a really hard time. It was longest two hours EVER! Obviously we decided to do the surgery, where they would remove the section of the intestine where the hole was (hopefully it was not big and there was only one, something they cannot tell until they get in there). Our baby, the fighter that she is, survived the surgery and did really well. We breathed a sigh of relief but knew it would be a difficult road ahead. Luckily it was a small piece and so they removed it, but because she is so small, they cannot just sew the other intestine back together or it will grow closed and nothing can get through there so she has two pieces coming out of her stomach (a stoma). It is not as bad as it sounds. In 6-8 weeks, when she is bigger, they will go back in and reconnect the intestine, and then she will have to recover from that surgery as well.

Joynne is doing well considering everything she has been through. They took her off the continuous pain meds yesterday and hopefully she will be back off the breathing tube today or tomorrow. We are fortunate at this time, she does not have too many other issues holding her back, so as soon as she heals, and starts to grow, we are moving in the right direction.

Our little Mickey as it turns out, has meningitis (fluid around the brain) or so they think. All his blood cultures were negative but they did a spinal tap and the white blood cells were elevated which I guess is an indication of meningitis. They say he is in the gray area, where he is not having any seizures (thank god) and his test was not alarmingly positive where they can say without out a doubt that's what it is, but there is enough evidence to suggest that is what it is and because we know he was sick with something it makes the most sense to the doctors, but there is a small chance he does not have it. The doctors think because we caught it early and started him on several antibiotics to treat several different things, that may be why it is not showing in the blood and hopefully he will continue to improve. He is getting better. The biggest concern here is that it increases his risk for disability or developmental issues later in life, but being premature does that anyway, so we will never know. It is still a small chance, maybe 20-30% this will be an issue, but bottom line, he will be ok now, we need to just get through today and worry about later, later. Other wise, his lungs are getting better and so is his stomach so he is also moving in the right direction, slowly but surely. Baby Steps.

Georgia as I have mentioned continues to show off :-) Which is fine with us. She is doing so well. She is very alert and will lay on her back and look around and suck on the pacifier all by herself and move her arms and legs around and is actually acting a few weeks older than she is, so good for her! I am going to post some pics of Georgia and Mickey below. Jolynne is harder to get good pics of because of all the cords and tubes. After she gets her breathing tube removed, which is hopefully today, I will get some good shots of her as well.

Right now Tommy and I are going back and forth to the NICU at least twice a day for a couple hours at a time. Today I am having him drop me off so I can just be there. Going back and forth is very tiring, especially as I am still recovering from the surgery. I still cant drive so I have to go when Tommy can go, based on his work schedule. Next week, it will hopefully be easier once I can drive. While I am there we get to help change diapers, take temperatures, clean faces, etc. and I can try to hold them depending on what kind of day it is. I can talk to them and hold their hand and let them know that mommy's there and they are not alone.

Every day we leave the NICU

Here is Mickey...

Here is Georgia...

Our Birth Story - One Crazy, but very special day!

October 26, 2011

Georgia Dawn - 5:27 pm, 2 lbs, 9 ounces

Mickey Aaron - 5:28pm, 2 lbs, 11 ounces

Jolynne Marie - 5:29pm, 2 lbs, 6 ounces 

As you know, our beautiful babies came into the world on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011, quite unexpectedly at 29 weeks 6 days. Since I have not had much time for anything but I wanted to post a quick update and how it all happened. I cannot possibly summarize everything that has gone on in the last 5 days but we'll start with day 1 and I will update more once I have more time.

It all started with our weekly doctor appointment Wednesday morning. They were going to measure growth on all three babies and do the normal check on me, blood pressure, protein, etc. etc. To back up a little, our appointment last week at 28 weeks, 6 days went well. All heart rates were looking good as with fluid levels. They gave me a Rhogam shot because I am RH negative and also steroid shots just as a precaution if the babies came early, this helps develop their lungs. It was our choice to do it, the doctors did not have any concerns, it was just in case.

At our appointment on Wednesday, the u/s tech was struggling to get their measurements, but what she came up with was that Georgia was only 2 lbs, 4 ounces, which is only 8 ounces bigger than she was a month ago. I started to become a little concerned right away. The next thing they noticed was that her cord blood flow was absent at times, so there might be an issue with the placenta and maybe she was not getting the nutrients she needed to grow. The other two babies looked good. While we waited for the doctor, I told Tommy that they better not tell us "lets wait and see" because I knew I would just worry. Based on everything I researched all the babies should be close to three pounds at this point so her only measuring 2.4 really concerned me. Well, they didn't say "lets wait and see". The doctor said we needed to go the hospital where they could monitor me closely to see what was going on with Baby A. She said she didn't think we would have to deliver or anything but at this critical time period, we just needed to watch her.

SO, Tommy and I headed down the street to the hospital. When I arrived at registration, I was told I was being directly admitted, which I didn't realize, I thought I would go through triage, they might run some tests and then I might be admitted for further observation, but at that point I realized I was not going anywhere. I was a little worried at this point also about Pepper who most of you know started having seizures the day before. We were supposed to pick him from the vet right after our appointment but Tommy called and we got that extended until close of business. Luckily he was doing better, I just didn't want to leave him home alone in case he had another seizure.

So, they did another ultrasound which confirmed there was an issue with Georgia's blood flow. Not only was it absent, it was now reversed, which means it had gotten progressively worse. We waited hours to talk to a doctor, they told me I could eat so we finally had lunch at the hospital around 2:30pm, a nice juicy cheeseburger and fries...I was starving at this point, as were my babies. The doctor came in at 3pm and very bluntly told us that if we did not deliver today or tomorrow, we could lose Baby A and that since she is identical to Baby B and they share a placenta, we could lose Baby B. The only reason why they would wait until the next day is because I had just ate. (Well, they said I could, so I did, I was not expecting this!) But they wanted to run one more test to make sure she could make it through the night, otherwise, it would be that night! Tommy quickly left to get Pepper and drop him off. 5 minutes later the doctor came in and said "call your husband, we are doing it at 5pm"! It was 3:30pm! Tommy got Pepper and came back by 4:30pm. Meanwhile I was suddenly terrified. I thought I had been ready for anything for weeks, but apparently I was not. I was very nervous and feeling nauseous, not to mention, I had just ate a big juicy cheeseburger and was a little worried I would not be able to keep it down during the surgery, but luckily that turned out to not be an issue. There were lots of people coming in and out of my room, poking me and talking to me about risks, the details of how it would happen, etc., but I was there alone, shaking and I don't think I heard anything they said to me. Tommy got back, my mom was there briefly too before they wheeled me away to get started. The C section went as great as can be expected. I was shaking the whole time (its the strangest sensation to be completely numb from the chest down) but in the end, all three babies came into this world beautifully. I got to see all three of them and kiss their faces before they were taken up to the NICU. Tommy went with them while they finished with me and took me to recovery.

The first night all three babies were breathing on their own through c pap machines. They did very well with no issues. The next day Mickey had to be put on a breathing tube as his lungs were not as developed as his sisters. He is on room air with no extra oxygen but the machine is just helping him breathe a little. They dont know why he is a little behind his sisters developmentally (physically speaking), even though he was bigger than both of them. They think it might be that the girls had to fight a little harder in utero since they were sharing everything and he kind of had it made in there. He also has developed an infection and they are running more tests today. This has been going on a few days now.

Jolynne had to have surgery on Saturday, which I will detail in the next update. She is stable now, but in critical condition and this has been a set back for her. Saturday was a very difficult day for us to say the least. Georgia is doing fantastic and far ahead of her siblings at this point. She does not need help breathing at all, no infections, nothing so far. We are praying it stays that way!

As for me, I got an infection immediately following the surgery and was running a high fever for several days. This was frustrating as its hard to be completely present and focused on three babies while you cant get out of bed or think clearly with all the meds. Luckily I am doing better and got to go home yesterday. Now, I can be there 100% for my babies that need me.

The experience of this day is hard to put into words but this is the only thing I know to compare it to only in an opposites (positive) way. When my dad passed away, it was like something switched inside me and suddenly the world looked different to me and felt different to me, nothing was ever the same, including all the little every day things. I felt his absence everywhere. - Now that my 3 little angels are in the world, it is kind of the same, the world looks better and feels better to me, nothing will every be the same, only richer, and fuller. There is this light inside me that I cant explain. Its nothing I can touch but only feel and its absolutely wonderful.

These pictures are of Georgia - our rockstar. She's doing very well and we are crossing fingers it stays that way. We have already learned with her sister how quickly things can change in the NICU. Ironically, Georgia is the one they worried about on Wednesday and why they had to be delivered. Now she is the healthiest at this point.

This is Mickey - the stubborn one. He likes to do things on his own schedule, when and if he is ready. He is feisty, but I have been told they all are, which is a good thing to be in the NICU.

And this is Jolynne - our little fighter. She has been through a lot already. All the pictures of her are pre-surgery. The machine around her face in the pictures of me is just a c pap, the help inflate her lungs. She is still breathing on her own. Although since the surgery, she now has a breathing tube until she gets stronger.

More updates and details coming soon!!!!

Peek a Boo

Look who decided to come out of hiding! Georgia Dawn! For the last couple of months she has been so low we could not even really see her head, but yesterday she decided to show her pretty face. Still lots of other body parts and such keeping us from getting a real clear view, but hey, we'll take it! The other two - they are not shy :-)

28 Weeks - Getting Closer to Meeting My Babies!

On Wednesday, Tommy and I had our latest doctor appointment so I wanted to update everyone on that. We also hit 28 weeks yesterday, if you can believe it! We are now in the home stretch! On Wednesday, the babies looked good. They did an echo cardiogram where they look at their hearts really closely for defects, not because they suspect anything, but because I guess these defects are more common with triplets. Everything they saw looked normal, thank goodness, but there were some things they could not see so they cannot check off the list just yet. Its very hard now that they are getting so big because there are always other arms and legs in the way of seeing what they need to. There really is not a lot of space in there and even though my stomach feels huge right now and very heavy, I still look down and wonder how 3 babies could possibly fit in there, but somehow they do. The only thing that was off as far as the babies go on Wednesday was Mickey's fluid level was 8.9cm and normal is below 8cm. The doctors don't seem worried about it, they said it could just be unexplained and when I asked how they knew it was unexplained, he said because he doesn't see anything else wrong with him, so I am doing my best to listen to the doctors and try not to worry but after everything we have been through, I am secretly worrying about it. If anything it would be a digestive issue because Mickey has his own placenta so he is not sharing, but if everything could go semi smoothly from here on out, I wouldn't mind one bit. I know things could be a lot worse, I have seen how bad they can get and I am very thankful my babies are ok, but I would be lying if I said I was not extremely exhausted emotionally and physically from this pregnancy. I am very, very tired, but very anxious and excited at the same time.

In my office visit Wednesday the doc said from here on out, my appointments would be weekly again. There are so many risks to mom and babies in triplet pregnancies, they need to monitor my blood pressure and a few other things very closely, so I will have office visits every week and ultrasounds every other week. We were basically told on Wednesday to be prepared for them to hospitalize me at any time moving forward and to make sure we are ready for that. I guess it is pretty common for triplet moms to have to spend at least some time in the hospital before the babies come, Actually, I think I am pretty lucky I have made it this far without having to do that. I know a lot of others who have been admitted at 24-25 weeks, so I guess I am doing quite well, considering.

So, we are at 28 weeks and once we get to 31-32 weeks, if I have not had the babies they will schedule the C section for no later than 34 weeks. That's less than 6 weeks from now at the most . Holy Cow! 34 weeks exactly would be Thanksgiving Day, so we will have 3 new Tommy and Kara babies by Thanksgiving if not sooner. They said to determine when to deliver, it is based on several factors, one being the babies, do they still have room to grow, are they showing signs of distress, etc., and two, am I doing ok physically. Is my body still handling the pregnancy well, my heart, my kidney's, etc. The doc said we could possibly go longer than 34 weeks but that it is highly unlikely. So, the message was clear, and Tommy and I are ready for anything at this point. My goal, again, is to make it to at least 32 weeks (at least) and I think I can do it.

Please continue to pray for us and the babies if you can. Now is a critical time where anything could happen at any moment. I am a little nervous about the C section as we get closer but there is no way around it. Please pray that all continues to go well for us and that the babies and myself be healthy.

I am including some pictures below of Jolynne and Mickey. Georgia is so far down at this point we cant really see her head anymore. But she probably looks just like her sister since they are identical. The first pictures are of Jolynne. In one of them her feet and legs are bent completely over her head. The other pictures are of Mickey, you can even see him yawning.

26 weeks

Today is Monday, October, 3rd, and I am 26 weeks 4 days pregnant with these guys (and girls). Today is my first day off work and on leave. SO far, so good. I have been really concerned about boredom but its to early to tell if that will be an issue for me. I am enjoying not having to worry about getting something done and just resting whenever I want. The last two weeks have been pretty painful for me. Standing more than a minute or two is very hard because of all the pressure. My knees are very sore probably from lack of exercise. My back is killing me. My upper back just from how I am sitting and then my lower back and hips from sleeping on my side. Sleeping on my side, all the weight is on top of whatever hip I am laying on so I sleep on one side until I wake up and feel the pain and then I turn to the other side. When I lay down even on my side I start to breathe really heavy. I need to find out if this normal but I assume it is. I think pretty soon I may not be able to sleep laying down at all. I say all this not to complain, but just to document what I am experiencing. One day, I will look back and read this and laugh and who knows maybe it will help someone else having triplets know what to expect.

The worst part right now is the cramping. I get it all the time, cramping and pressure. I have still been unable to go a full two weeks without either a trip to the doctor or to the OB triage at the hospital. Two weeks ago we were at the hospital for the cramping, they monitored me for contractions and checked a few other things and all was good. Last week at the doctors office I mentioned the pain again, not because I cant take it, because I just want to be sure the babies are ok and that its normal. The doctors say go to triage twice a week if you have to, with triplets you cant be too careful, you never know when things are going to change. I told him its hard because I have never been pregnant before I don't know what is normal and whats not, and he said even if you had been pregnant before, you are having triplets and its very different from a regular pregnancy. So, as much as Tommy hates our trips to the hospital, we probably have a few more by the time the babies get here. We have been through too much and I am not risking anything when it comes to these babies.

At our last visit the babies were growing quite well. Georgia was 1 pound 12 ounces, Jolynne was 1 pound 13 ounces and Mickey was a whooping 1 pound 15 ounces. Up until this point Jolynne has always been about a week behind and smaller than the other two and now she is only a ounce different than Georgia. All of their fluid levels looked great and they were moving all over the place. Its hard to get good pictures of their faces because there are arms and legs everywhere and so many shadows. There is just not a lot of space in there. If you think about it, that appoint. was a week ago tomorrow so the babies are probably all 2 pounds at this point, that's 6 pounds of baby, plus two placentas and all the extra blood and fluids, no wonder I can barely move.

I don't remember if I blogged about our tour of the hospital but I will summarize quickly. We got to see, the recovery area for after my surgery, the waiting rooms, the rooms where you stay if you are hospitalized before the surgery and the rooms where you stay after the surgery and then we saw the NICU. We saw the sweetest, tiniest babies and even though they were hooked up to machines, they looked precious. They were all miracles. I thought I would be scared to see them, but it was so reassuring to see how these babies were there beating all the odds and they were being taken such good care of.

This past Saturday Tommy went down to Tucson for a diaper party thrown by his family (so sweet). I could not go as I am not supposed to go on long car rides, I need to have my feet up and I get nervous being to far from the hospital in case something happens. I went over to my moms for the day so I didn't have to stay home by myself and we went down the street to get mani/pedis. When I was getting up to leave, I was bending over trying to pick my purse up off the ground and struggling a bit to do so. These two ladies were staring at me and commenting how difficult normal stuff like that must be and I said "yes, it is". They asked me the due date and I told them the usual spiel, I am 26 weeks but I am having triplets, I don't know when they will be here.We are planning on November as that is the average for triplets. One lady said she just had her baby in June at 24 weeks! She is still in the NICU at Banner Desert and told me the babies name. I swear it was one of the babies we saw during the tour. she said they are there every day and how wonderful all the doctors and nurses were there. She didn't have triplets but she has been through a lot.

So, as I mentioned Tommy had a diaper party on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who brought diapers and goodies, we will for sure need them. He brought me home some cake, hes a very smart man. He said we had 3 cakes, Strawberry, Vanilla and Chocolate, I said I will have some of all three :-).

I was looking back at some of the pictures I have posted on this blog and boy do I look tiny in some of them. I think in every picture I thought, how could I get any bigger than this and I did. I feel humongous now, I will post more recent pictures soon. The maternity pictures were me at 22 weeks, so that was a month ago already.

So, I have set two goals now that we are getting closer. The first is to make it to 32 weeks (at least) which would be November 10th, maybe I can go longer but things are getting harder for me, so I want to be realistic. the doctors say they will be thrilled if I can get to 32 weeks with triplets. And that would be about a 4 week NICU stay for the babies on average.

The second goal is that the babies need to all be weighing over 3 pounds. I think if I get to 32 weeks, they will be but you never know. There are all kinds of issues to worry about with preemie babies, but if they are under 3 pounds, there are even more.

The good news is, I am almost 27 weeks, and at 28 weeks, survival rate for babies born that early is 90%. I think Georgia, Jolynne and Mickey are pretty comfortable for now and I don't anticipate their arrival that early, but just in case I feel better knowing that.

The nursery as you saw is coming together nicely. We got the rocker/recliner last week and sometimes I just go sit in there in the quiet. It is my new happy place. The next step is getting all the little stuff and finding a place for all of it. I hope the babies like their room. I love it. I cant stay away.

Its weird to think we have made it this far. I have to admit I certainly was not sure if we would but I am so happy and feel so blessed to be at this point. I know I am super uncomfortable and not sleeping a lot but that's ok. Only a couple more months, if that and they will be here! I cant wait to see their sweet faces!

Pictures of the nursery

A work in progress...