Dear God,

Please help our babies grow so we can bring them home.

We're back on the third floor of North Memorial.  Jesse has just expressed his regret for not naming one of our sons Ernie.  Ernie Nelson.  Apparently that is one of the announcers for March Madness.  A few years ago he thought we should name a kid Smush after one of the college players, so I should probably try to get the remote away from him this time of year.  On the upside, I don't believe we'll be having any more children, so his name ideas will run out of steam pretty quickly.

This is probably the longest I've gone without writing something, so I am trying to think of what has happened since last time.  I'll just go with the most recent stuff.  Our boys have been doing really well, until the last couple of days.  Before the nurses hook up their feedings at meal time, they attach a syringe and pull out of their feeding tubes, to see if there's anything left in their stomachs from the last time.  Well on Thursday we got a call that Rex had some blood come back in his.  They weren't sure at the time what was happening, thought maybe his feeding tube was irritating him.  Turns out he has some kind of bacterial infection and wasn't being his feisty self, so they took out his feeding tube and put in another IV.  He wasn't really interested in eating for awhile, so he needed some nutrition.

Today we found out that the other two boys also have this infection, but don't really have any symptoms.  They're all being given some medicine now and it should be cleared up in five days or so.  Rex is eating again, and is generally back to his old (can I say that about a 3-week old preemie?) self.  When they didn't know if Eero and Magnus had this infection, we were to be wearing gloves and gowns to handle them, which made me feel like we were working with blood borne pathogens rather than our own children, but safety first, I guess.

Please help our babies grow so we can bring them home.

We spend a lot of time in our little suite in the NICU, feeding our babies, taking temperatures, changing diapers and clothes.  It's very peaceful as our boys are so far very good babies who don't really make a peep unless they need something.  That's not really the case in the bigger nursery attached to us.  We're thinking they're regular human babies in there, but they produce some interesting sounds occasionally, which kind of makes us feel like we're in the exotic bird exhibit at the zoo.

Magnus is out of his isolette now, too, so they're all maintaining their temperatures, a big step toward going home.  If we can get them eating via bottle or breast at every feeding, they'll pretty much be good to go.  When that will happen we can't exactly say, but could be only a week or so.  The one doctor told us yesterday that it's often like a light bulb going on, and they are just all of a sudden ready to do everything they need to do to go home.

Please help our babies grow so we can bring them home.

Their feedings are going really well - they're all nursing like champs and take bottles when I'm not there, which is causing them to gain weight steadily.  Eero is up to 5 lbs 6 oz, Rex is up to 4 lbs 15 oz (and would probably be more if he hadn't been slowed down by this infection speed bump), and Magnus is 3 lbs 14 oz.  One nurse on Friday said she has a hard time telling them apart, but we can do it.  Eero is blonde and fair, Rex is darker and has chubby cheeks, and Magnus is darker and of course small, and always has a wrinkled, concerned forehead.  We've taken some more pictures, but I haven't really looked at them yet, so perhaps I'll get them up here tomorrow.

One of the nurses has looked up the meanings of their names, which we didn't really bother to do, and here's what they are:  Eero = ruler, Rex = king, Magnus = great.  We may have a power struggle on our hands.  Plus, throw in Axel.  Something's gotta give.

Please help our babies grow so we can bring them home.

It's been interesting hearing how everyone has ideas on how we will have to handle this when we get home with all of these boys.  It seems we're going to need a full-time nanny, an open-door policy where volunteers come and go as they please, and our mothers will have to move in with us.  No one has said, "I think they'll be just fine on their own."  I have to say I'm vaguely offended by this, but just chalk it up to personality differences.  Everyone else is way more overwhelmed by this situation than Jesse and I are.  Maybe some people would need all of those things, and maybe after a little while we will, but I don't really think we'll know what/if we need until we try it on our own.  I'd like to try.

On Thursday we had corned beef and pretended we were Irish, as we've done for the past few years on St. Patrick's Day.  This time I put it all in the crock pot right after lunch and walked away until supper time.  That is a fantastic way to cook; I use my crock pot as much as anyone else, but it might be my new best friend.  If anyone has any slow cooker recipes he/she'd like to share, I would love to hear them.  I'll share mine, too, so it's not a one-way street.

Please help our babies grow so we can bring them home.  We're definitely making the best of this, but it's getting tiring.  Most people go in to the hospital, have a baby, and go home a few days later and carry on.  I stayed in the hospital for over five weeks and the babies have been here for almost four weeks after that.  It's hard.  Please let us bring them home.  Amen.

Here are some more recent photos - this is Eero, Rex, and Magnus.  They've definitely all got their own looks. . .



Happy, happy birthday, babies!

It makes me feel old to say this, but I think the American Idol contestants are getting weirder every year.

Anyway, we carry on living two different lives: the one at home in Kerkhoven that we've had for three years with Axel, and the one that started two weeks ago in Minneapolis when we added three more little boys to our family.  It's hard to know where is the right place to be.

Last Thursday we returned to the hospital for our first visit since we officially checked out.  On the way there, we bought ourselves a new (to us) vehicle to haul all this testosterone around.  Disclaimer: the car is probably way cooler than we are - a black Escalade.  Let's just say we got a good deal, it's got a few miles on it, and I am lucky to have a husband who can greatly extend the life of a car, as that is his job.

We arrived at the hospital to find Eero and Rex actually wearing little sleepers - they look so grown-up!  Magnus was back under the blue lights that day, so he was still in just a diaper, but still adorable.  And by the way, that kid has got some hair.  See the picture below.  The highlight of the evening was that Axel got to meet his brothers.  The nurses let us sneak him in, but he had to be very quiet because there was a couple in the nursery who were upset that their nieces and nephews couldn't meet their newborn.  That seemed like a non-issue to us, because they should have been able to understand a sibling beats nieces and nephews, but whatever.  There are some interesting people in the NICU.  I don't think I've mentioned the woman who didn't know she was pregnant and gave birth in her bathroom at home (and yes, she has been in contact with the show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant").  There was also someone whose friend Xavier could now visit because he just got out of jail.

Back to the point, Axel got to see his brothers, based on the fact that he was current on his vaccinations and had never been in daycare.  He peeked through the isolettes in awe at each one, and was visibly concerned about Magnus's blue lights and protective eyewear.  We took him back to our room after a few minutes, where he hid in the closet and started to cry.  When we asked him what the problem was, he said he didn't want to be in this room.  Why not? we asked.  "I want to see my brothers!" he cried.  There were tears streaming down his face, not his occasional tantrum tears, but tears of real sadness.  This of course got my tears flowing, because he was so genuinely sad.  "I won't make them sick!" he sobbed.  It was a hard few minutes, but reassuring to us - at least he likes them.

When Axel is asked about his brothers, he holds up his fingers and says he has three brothers.  When asked their names, he says, "There's Rex, and Mag-uh-nus (he's turned it into a three-syllable word), and. . . what's the other one?"  Eero! we say.  Eero! he repeats. 

Grandma Mary picked up Axel on Friday morning, and then we were able to spend lots of quality time with our three littler boys.  They're able to come out of their isolettes for longer periods of time now, and although holding them is 95% of what we can do for them right now, it's wonderful to be able to do that.  We are also welcome to change their diapers and take their temperatures.  I was encouraged to start "nuzzling", which is practice breastfeeding.  The little guys were into it as much as they could be at this age, but mostly just sleepy, so I'll try that again when we go back this weekend.

When I called Monday night I was told the boys had all graduated to the next level of nursery.  They're not the smallest or the sickest, not that they ever were sick exactly.  But it's progress. And Eero and Rex are no longer in isolettes; they've moved on to cribs!  At that point they were doing well maintaining their own temperature, which they need to keep doing as well as gaining weight, both of which take a lot of calories.  The nurse said they've still got some growing to do before they're allowed to come home, but it's a step in the right direction.

Magnus may be there for awhile longer - he's just so little.  This weekend I held him for the first time without crying.  Something about him just makes me cry . . . I think it's just that he's so small and had to fight so hard inside me to get as big as he did.  They had to change his feeding schedule - instead of getting a large amount of milk every three hours, he gets a small amount every hour, a continuous drip.  His tummy wasn't digesting the larger quantity as well as they'd like him to, but this seems to be going much better.

I am going to close with a few random tidbits.  My wedding ring has made it back onto my previously fat, sausage-like fingers - hooray!  Rex projectile pooped on Jesse when he was changing his diaper, but we shouldn't be surprised. . . he also peed on the doctor as she removed him from my stomach (remember, I said Baby B would be naughty).  We got the bill for my helicopter ride - without insurance, $26,000.  Luckily we have insurance and our final cost is significantly less.  Finally, the one thing I can do regularly for my little boys is hook myself up to a breast pump and bring the milk to the hospital.  Axel came upon this one day, and very plainly told me, "Your bigs are boob."  Of course I am blessed when I am not pregnant or breastfeeding, but he is right.  My bigs are boob.

His brothers have a perfectly respectable amount of hair, but they can't compare to Magnus.

I'll take more pictures this weekend when we go back to see them.  Happy two week birthday, boys!

Home Bittersweet Home

Well there is nothing to make a person appreciate her own bed like a five-week sleep in a hospital bed.  We arrived back at the big green house outside of Kerkhoven late Sunday night with a car full of stuff, exhausted.  The house actually looked pretty good when we came in, at least until Jesse unloaded the car. . . then we could no longer see the dining room table, the floor around it, the island, etc.  I wandered around as if I'd never been there before, I think in disbelief that I had actually made it home - at some point I managed to squeak out, "It's a nice house."  And it is.  I went up some stairs for the first time since I left home, and it took longer than I'd like to admit, but that's where the bed is.  And God bless whoever invented pillow-top mattresses and down comforters.  They are amazing. 

Axel stayed with the grandparents one more night, so the house felt very empty and sort of depressing.  We have four children and none of them were home - something a lot of people, myself included, might normally be excited about, but it was actually quite sad.  All of my time in the last couple months has been about producing healthy children, and I had done that but come home empty-handed.  It's kind of an exclusive club, having a baby or babies and not getting to bring them home from the hospital right away.  It's not a feeling I'd wish on anyone!  I think it's probably hard to imagine if you are not a parent, and even if you are, it was way tougher than I even thought it would be.

I had Jesse call the NICU last night to check on the boys.  If I had called I think I would have cried, something I am prone to do lately, especially when missing my babies.  Their feeding amount had already doubled since we left them on Sunday night.  Eero was finishing up under the blue lights.  Magnus, the little champ, had already had his IV taken out, and Rex and Eero would probably lose theirs by this morning.  So they are breathing on their own, and only hooked up to little feeding tubes right now - swallowing is one of the last things to develop in babies and they probably haven't mastered that yet, but the nurse told me they try to start sucking/eating by 34 weeks, which would be next Wednesday already.  They're doing great!

Before we left on Sunday night we got to do a kangaroo hold (I think that's what they said). . . we take our shirts off and hold the babies up against our chests, one at a time.  They snuggled up and the nurses cover them with blankets and we just sit and rock and hold them, our bodies keeping them warm.  It was the greatest hour of my life since we found out we were having triplets.  I can't wait to go back and do it again!

We were going to try to hold out on going back until the weekend, but neither Jesse nor I can stand it anymore so we're heading back tomorrow morning.  There are boarding rooms at the hospital for parents of babies in the NICU, so we'll go back to our hospital sleeping arrangements.  It's pretty much a regular hospital room without the housekeeping and nurses, so it doesn't differ that much from my previous extended stay where the housekeepers never showed up and I had to remind the nurses that I needed care! 

Axel is going to stay with Grandma Mary again.  He is not allowed in the NICU because he is a germy kid under the age of 12.  That was the other sad part of this situation - when he finally came to the hospital to see us after the babies were born, he was not allowed to see them.  He asked us many times if he could, and though he wasn't terribly upset by it, it was hard to tell him he could not meet them yet.

On the way to the metro area we are stopping to look at a bigger vehicle, our most necessary adjustment to being a family of six.  I hope it works out, because it makes me feel like we're closer to bringing our little boys home - we'll have a car that we'll all fit in!

They're heeee-rre. . .

My body is preparing me to not sleep for the next 20 years or so.  I haven't really slept at all the last two nights for some reason. . . It's probably similar to Axel being too tired to sleep sometimes, except that we handle it differently.  He throws a fit; I lie awake staring at the ceiling, thinking about the magnitude of the last couple of days and thanking God for both the man on the pull-out bed next to me and the blessings of four incredible sons.  I may feel differently in a few years when I'm cleaning up the pee on the bathroom floor, but we'll worry about that when it comes.

Word travels fast, and surely most of you who are reading this have heard that we've welcomed our triplets into the world and are on the road to living under one roof, the six of us.  We had scheduled the operation for Wednesday morning at 8:00.  The specialist we'd been seeing really wanted to be a part of the procedure, and that was the first day she suggested.  I was ready to meet these little monsters, so that became the day.

Things couldn't have gone better in the operating room - the doctors were thankful to be able to perform the surgery in a controlled environment, with staff in place and no chaos.  There were 18 people in the room including Jesse and myself (21 if you count the babies); they'd turned down a few calls from medical students and other hospital staffers who thought it would be interesting to observe triplets being born.  Even in a big city hospital that deals in high risk pregnancies regularly, delivering three babies at once is a big deal apparently.

I was wheeled in to the surgery at 8:00, and was back in my room recovering before 9:00.  Jesse put on his blue paper clothes and was escorted in as they were beginning the surgery. At 8:23 we had our first boy, and within that same minute Jesse stood up and was able to tell me himself we had another boy.  Baby C was tucked up in there pretty high, but two minutes later, at 8:25, the whole room laughed in disbelief as they announced the third, a boy.  We were all pretty sure there was at least one girl in there - Jesse and I each have a brother who thought we were having three boys, and I know a few of you out there voted that way (voting is closed, FYI!), but it seemed unlikely to us to have three of a kind.  However, it is also unlikely to have three babies at one time, so we ignored statistics again. 

As for their names, we were not entirely prepared for three boys (or three girls)!  We had a few of each that we had talked about, and really settled on two of each, figuring that would be safe.  In the end, we landed on Scandinavian first names and used our grandpas' names as middles.  Eero (sounds like 'arrow') seems to raise the most eyebrows, so let me tell you where we got that.  I am an architecture and design nerd, and one of my favorite designers is Eero Saarinen.  You are all familiar with his work and probably have no idea - seen the arch in St. Louis?  JFK Airport?  The art museum on the lakefront in Milwaukee?  These are all his works!  And so we have Eero Winston, from Mr. Saarinen and my grandpa Winston.

I actually had a great uncle named Rex, who I can't say I ever met, but Jesse thought that was an excellent name and liked that it also had an X in it (like Axel) - then so is named our Rex Herbert, after Jesse's grandpa Herb.

Magnus is one we had discussed when Axel was being named, and honestly I don't know if we thought we could get away with naming a kid Magnus.  The name Axel surprised a lot of people but those who know him know what an Axel he is, and we figured the same could work for our youngest and smallest boy.  It's a big name for a little guy, but he is a fighter and will absolutely grow into it.  Magnus Arthur, as we each have an Arthur in our family trees.

I'm quite often too enamored with my little dollies in the isolettes to really hear what the neonatal staff is telling us - thank God Jesse is listening.  For the sole purpose of not giving you the wrong information, I'm going to say only that each one is doing well and will be joining us at home in a few weeks.  Eero, born 4 lbs 0 oz and 17 3/4 inches long, has not needed much assistance of any kind.  Rex, 4 lbs 2 oz and 16 1/4 inches long, and Magnus, 2 lbs 14 oz and 15 3/4 inches long, each had some assistance keeping their airways open but have graduated from that, and are spending some time under the blue lights for the jaundice stuff.  Magnus had an issue with his cord implantation inside the womb and that is why he was so much smaller, but he's just as strong as his brothers.

I've accurately predicted that Baby A (Eero) would be calm and cooperative; Baby B (Rex) is the naughty one (the staff has said to us as we enter the nursery that he's the feisty one), and Baby C (Magnus) is the fighter. 

I'm going to stop writing now, just because I think I could fall asleep and should take advantage of that, and because I've been working on this posting for a couple hours and am tired of holding the computer in my lap! Also I'm realizing that this is maybe not the most well-organized writing, but again, my brain is scattered.  We will update again when I am more educated about the actual medical status of our babes, and have settled in a little bit to being parents of four!  Tried to attach some pictures down here - see if it works.  We held them for the first time today, and as I expected, it's hard to put them down because we can only take them out once a day for about 15 minutes.  Precious time!  This is turning us into very sappy people.

 Eero

 Rex

Magnus

Thanks for reading, everyone, and for the prayers and well wishes - we couldn't be happier!

Welcome, winter?

It's another day to appreciate being stuck inside. . . Axel is here with us now - he spent the week with Grandma Mary and she brought him to the hospital yesterday to stay and then he was to go home with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson today.  Looks like he'll be with us another day, because the blizzard has already landed in western Minnesota!  He was pretty wound up yesterday, missing his nap and coming off a week at Grandma's, but he's in much better shape today.  His stories and babblings have been the highlight of the day since he started talking, and he had a pretty good one this morning.  Told us his ear was itchy, and there was a "wack" in it.  I said, Oh, you have some wax in your ear?  No, he said, it's just one wack.

Yesterday we took a wheelchair ride to the cafeteria for lunch - Axel likes to ride, too, so Jesse pushes the five of us.  It's good for him.  I decided after a stroll around the place that I would just have a piece of pizza, and wanted to put some crushed red pepper on it.  Well some wise guy unscrewed the cover, and so as soon as I tipped it over to shake the flakes there was a pepper mountain on my plate.  We dumped it off as best we could, but I didn't really taste that piece of pizza.  I thought that kind of thing only happened in school cafeterias, not hospital cafeterias.

Friday we had another biophysical, and all the babies are doing well.  They don't have much room to move around anymore, so they're getting easier to find and monitor.  I continue to have contractions occasionally - not enough to alarm anyone or do anything about, just enough to be bothersome to me.  Now I am almost 44 weeks pregnant, size-wise, so this is still quite normal. 

My forearms are pretty beat up from all the IV switching.  I'm starting to look like my Grandpa Ray without the natural turquoise watch.  The IV people always like to comment on how much arm hair I have (not after all the bandage-ripping-off), another self-esteem boosting element to my stay here.  And I love having visitors, which I've had a few of this week, but everyone always looks so cute and I can't help but remember I've been wearing stretchy pants and oversized t-shirts sitting in bed for over four weeks.  Bleh.

It gets really busy in the labor and delivery wing here - one evening there were seven babies born.  We would have no idea about this in our quiet little corner, except that occasionally we hear a woman screaming in agony, and the nurses disappear for awhile.  Sometimes I don't see them for hours and have to call and ask if they plan on bringing me my medication.  That's a little irritating at times, because I shouldn't be in charge of my own care.  I could be doing that at home.

Yesterday they sent in the nurse I detest - the one who was here with my last round of bleeding and didn't bother to monitor Baby C.  They promised me I wouldn't have to see her anymore, so that kind of ruined my day.  She came in to my room full of visitors and said, Hi, remember me?  I was here when you had all that bleeding last time.  You're not going to do that again, right?  Well, I don't know, Smarty, I'll try not to make you work during your shift.  I had to remind her that I need my blood pressure taken before I'm given a certain medication, because if it's too low I can't have it.  Then she came later and made me put the cuffs on my legs that inflate and reduce swelling/blood clots.  I said to her that I've worn those like three times since I got here, and she said she was going to put them on anyway.  When I speak to this woman she must hear Wah Wah Wah like the adults on Charlie Brown.

If you've been counting, this week is 32 weeks.  I think I mentioned before that this will not go past 32 weeks, and that is true.  That's all I'm going to say about that - we've got to have some mystery here! - but keep your ears open if you're interested.  The Nelson family will be doubling in size this week.

Puffed up for Valentine's Day

Happy happy Valentine's Day everybody.  Hope you are all able to celebrate as you like - I know some people really go to town with gifts and outings.  Luckily, we are not those people.  The last couple years we had a little family celebration, making a homemade heart-shaped pizza and heart cookies, brownies, etc.  Axel's big on helping in the kitchen, and putting on pizza toppings or sprinkles brings him as much happiness as anything else.  We'll be missing out on that this year, but it's definitely something we can do when we get home.

Jesse moved in on Thursday and with him a lot of stuff.  Our room is definitely "lived in."  This will be another testament to the strength of our marriage, I believe . . . for those of you who are married, imagine sitting next to each other in the same room for days on end and sharing the remote for a limited number of channels.  We are doing well, but I can see that it has the potential to be rather stressful on a relationship!  Axel went to stay with Grandma Mary again, and is keeping her very busy, of course.  When I call to check on them, she sighs and says he's on the move all the time and into everything.  Yes, Mom, this is not brand new information.  I live with him, remember?

Saturday we had some family visitors, which breaks up the day for sure.  They were all enjoying the nice weather outside, but didn't really rub it in.  Thanks guys!  I'm sure by the time we're done here it will be cold again.  When Axel was born it was about two degrees, so it probably won't be that bad, but who knows - it is Minnesota.  Sunday I sent Jesse to McDonald's for supper, sort of against his will . . . partly because he doesn't really like McDonald's and partly because I made him go at 4:45.  I'm on the hospital / early bird meal schedule, so I (the four of us) get hungry earlier than most people.

Now for the babies (you probably thought I was never going to get to them).  Saturday evening I started having pretty regular contractions, more than they thought I should be having, but a pill later they had subsided.  The doctor said my body is definitely preparing to deliver the babies, that's why the contractions.  When a person is carrying three babies, her uterus is 12 weeks bigger than a person carrying one baby - that means right now, I am almost 43 weeks pregnant.  Feels like it.  Cousin Gabe and his wife Katie had brought us some cookies and hoped they wouldn't make me go into labor, so we kind of chuckled after I ate one and started having contractions.  I ate one yesterday, too, and nothing happened, so that was just a coincidence.

It was a good day to have those distractions. . . Saturday marked four years since my dad passed away.  I have to say a little while trying not to make myself sob, I do miss him every day and especially at times like this when something happens that he would have been a big part of.  To never have him meet my kids, or have them meet him, is heartbreaking!  But some of his best advice was "God won't give us anything we can't handle," and he keeps finding ways to prove that to me, e.g. carrying triplets and being hospitalized for a month.  I get it, Dad!  I'm ready to have these kids any day, but I really hoped it wouldn't be that day, because it'd be hard to commemorate the worst day of my life and one of the best at the same time.


This morning we finally got to have an ultrasound to check the growth of these little monsters.  The news was pretty good - Baby A is 3 lbs 11 oz, Baby B is 3 lbs 13 oz, and C (the runt) is 2 lbs 10 oz.  Add it up, that's over ten pounds of baby. Ugh.  Everyone is still functioning well and the doctors are ecstatic that we've almost made it to 31 weeks (tomorrow). 

Whenever the babies are ready to come out, I, too, am ready.  The nurses told me the other day my face looks puffy (which means fatter in my book), and today the doctor did what he called a finger test on my leg.  He pushed three fingers into the top of my ankle and held them there for a few seconds, and when he removed his fingers the indents were still there.  Cute.  Any day now, kids.  The compression socks are getting old.

Okay, well I guess I'm done now. Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love. 

Let's get on the same page here.

30 weeks!  Yesterday we made it to 30 weeks.  This is big doings in the triplet world, apparently, and now the doctors are confident that everyone will do well when out.  When that will be seems to vary based on who I talk to, but the timeline has been shortened, and here's the story on that.

Jesse and Axel had been here for the weekend; Axel left with Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday - a 3 year old can spend only so much time in a hospital room before we've exhausted all forms of entertainment for him.  Jesse decided he'd spend Sunday night here, too, and go back Monday morning.  We watched the Super Bowl on the 30" TV in my hospital room, and not the 60" plasma at home (sniff, sniff).  Did you see the Volkswagen commercial with little Darth Vadar?  That cracked me up, because it is so something my own dad would have done to us when we were growing up.  Here's the link to see it on YouTube if you missed it, and even if you saw it and knew my dad, it may be worth watching again just to imagine him doing that.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

I decided to use the bathroom one more time before bed, and again with the bleeding.  Called in the nurse, who I had just met that night and instantly disliked, and she came to check out the situation.  The monitors got hooked up again to see if everyone was okay, but this joker decided that it was too much of a pain to find Baby C, so she just monitored A and B.  I was pretty anxious at this point, which is not usually my style, and thought even if I don't like her I should not be telling her how to do her job (the next day the specialist I see often was appalled that Baby C was not monitored after a bleed, so she may have gotten in trouble, heh heh).

You may remember me saying last time that if I bleed anymore they will take the babies out, which is probably why I was suddenly anxious at 11:00 Sunday night, and so was Jesse.  His teeth were even chattering, and he, too, is not a nervous person.  The doctor on call thought if I was fine and the babies were fine they weren't going to do anything about it that night.  Let's get on the same page here, people.  That's not what the other doctor said on Friday.  Jesse pointed out that if it was not 11:00 at night they might have thought harder about it, which leaves me wondering if it is only okay to have a medical emergency during regular business hours.  Isn't that why I'm living in the hospital? 

The next morning I had a biophysical; babies are still in good shape, and a blood test showed that my hemoglobin was actually higher than before.  If it had dropped below a certain point they were going to take the babies out Monday morning, so Jesse stuck around for the test results, but when they determined it was not immediately necessary they told him he could go home.  The specialist who checks on me regularly came later to say that this will now not go on past 32 weeks.  That is about average for triplets, she said, and given that there seems to be a pattern of bleeding now it's not necessary to drag that out for any longer.  So, less than two weeks now!  If I make it that long, I will have been here for five weeks, which is long enough.

In the last couple days I've started having stronger contractions, so that's another factor that could contribute to the arrival of the babies.  Every night they ask me if I want to take something to help me sleep, and I never need it, but last night thought maybe that'd be okay because my stomach was hurting on a regular basis and perhaps I could sleep through it then.  So I got my drugs and turned out the lights about ten, and woke up later from a contraction.  It was 11:00.  So no, I did not sleep better.  I woke up every hour with a horrible cramping stomach.  This makes me sound like a whiner, but I just want to get a good night's sleep!

 The nurse and doctor told me this morning that I looked tired, so I thought maybe I'd take a nap this afternoon.  I told my nurse and she told me she'd tell people I was sleeping and not to come in.  Apparently they didn't all get the message, because a little later a different nurse came in.  Wow, it's so quiet in here, she says.  Yeah, and maybe you noticed I'd fully reclined my bed and had my eyes shut.  Do you want some Jell-O? she asks.  That's why she came.  To see if I wanted Jell-O.  Another nurse saw the door open so she came in, too, asking if the ice cream she brought me on Sunday caused the bleeding.  If it did, I said, then bring me more ice cream and let's end this!

Jesse is coming back tomorrow and waiting this out with me.  If / when something does happen, he'd never make it here in time, and since they've put it under two weeks he's decided to move in and play it safe.  Hopefully it's not too long!  Everyone here, us and the staff (and probably many of you) are so excited to see what we've got in here.

PS, thanks for the mail - the address works!