Week 8: Parinatologist

Baby is the size of a large Raspberry and making spontaneous movements this week. I've been feeling a bit tired and get about 10 hour of sleep plus 2-4 hours napping in every day. Also still feeling nauseous.

We met Dr. Wu our parinatologist (maternal fetal medical specialist) this week in San Francisco. We had another ultrasound and all 3 triplets are still looking good. Because of the complexity of a triplet pregnancy, we will work with the both my local OB/GYN and the parinatologist though-out the pregnancy. Delivery will be cesarean in either Santa Rosa or San Francisco, depending on the timing.

Dr. Wu explained all the risks of triplets and described the option of selective reduction to twins. We listened but decided it wasn't for us. We will be back in SF during week 12 to measure the triplets' necks, to check for down syndrome. In our case, amniocentesis and CVS screening are not options.

Our next step is meeting with our local OB later this week.

Photos from our Petaluma OB ultrasound 3/2/12. Everyone is on track with their sizes and look healthy.

The Do List

After all those Don'ts, thankfully there are also a bunch of Do's. Here are mine:

Do Eat:

• Organic Veggies! Lot of them. Green, Red, Yellow, Other colors- it's all good.
• Organic Fruits! Ditto colors and quantity. 
• Pasture raised, hormone free meat. (Thank you local CSA!)
• Eggs from our chickens. (We know they are happy, healthy and eat well.)
• Organic tofu
• Organic whole wheat bread and pasta (Sorry Acupuncturist, gluten free is out the window now)
• Organic gluten free pastas and grains (quinoa, brown rice...)
• Limited organic, pasteurized cheese. (Sorry Vegans & Acupuncturist, I'm not currently on board with no dairy)

Do Drink:

• 60-80 oz water per day. (The Loo will be your best friend, but that's ok.)
• Calcium fortified, organic, pasteurized fruit juices.
• Hot water with lemon.
• When needed for nausea, club soda with fresh grated ginger.
• Fortified organic rice milk. 
• Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herbal Teas, when prescribed by a reputable herbalist and MD approved.

Do Use/Do:

• Walk for exercise
• Sleep a lot :)
• Use phtalate and sulfate free beauty products. 

The Don't List

There are oh so many Don'ts out there for Preggers people. I'm no OB/GYN, Nutritionist, MD or Vegan but here are some that I am trying to follow from what I've read:

Avoid Eating:

• Raw Egg (some caesar dressing, some eggnog, runny/poached eggs, doughs)
• Processed Meats (ham, lunch meat, hot dogs... This one is easy)
• Unpasturized cheese, juice
• Limit organic pasteurized cheese 
• Anything perishable that has been out of the fridge for 2 hours
• Processed sugar or artificial sweeteners
• Mercury prone fish (mackeral, tile, sword...)
• Limit chunk light tuna 
• Substitute organic fortified rice milk for organic cow's milk 
• Peanuts (Also Tree nuts for me, but that is always my allergy)

Avoid Drinking:

• Alcohol (Duh)
• Caffeine or Stimulants (including decaf coffee, all sodas & some herbal tea)
• Milk
• Anything Carbonated (except for fresh ginger grated in club soda for nausea when needed)

Avoid Doing/Using:

• Taking hot baths or sitting in hot tubs/sauna/steam
• Using Beauty Products with Phtalates or Sulfates
• Jarring exercise
• Cleaning the kitty litter
• Using harsh chemical cleaning products
• Lifting over 10 pounds

Online Resource Links

Information Can Be Found About:


Multiples       www.multiplebirthsfamilies.com

Cosmetic Safety Database     www.ewg.org

Pregnancy Books

A great big Thank You to my friend Sarah (Mom of adorable Cadence) for mailing me a big box of books she enjoyed as well as recommendations for others. I really appreciate it! If you don't have a friend to send you books, check your library. A lot of these will only take one read through.

Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy. A great book to start with. It is a quick afternoon read. Jenny McCarthy is blunt, funny and straight forward. She gives you a heads up that your hormones may cause out of body like craziness and other "fun" preggo realities that other books might not mention.

Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Also a quick read, maybe two afternoons. These ladies are fellow sailor-mouth sufferers. If you have delicate language sensibilities, this book may not be it for you. The ladies encourage an organic vegan diet, breast feeding, organic cloth diapers and baby bedding/mattresses, and careful cosmetic consumption. I agree with a lot of what they suggest. One interesting tid bit is pointing out that all animals are weaned off milk and then never eat dairy again. We are the only species that consumes the milk of other species. Evolutionarily it seems a little off. I can pretty much guarantee I won't be giving up cheese (sorry ladies!) but I am switching out to fortified organic rice or soy milks instead of organic milk for drinking. 

Week 7: Videos with Audio of 3 Heartbeats

Babies are the size of Blueberries this week. Feeling pretty darn nauseous and tired almost all the time. One bout of vomiting this week.

Ultrasound #2 in San Francisco with spiffy equipment. Could see and HEAR all three heart beats.

Video view of all 3 embryos

Video with Audio of Triplet 1's Heartbeat

Video with Audio of Triplet 2's Heartbeat

Video with Audio of Triplet 3's Heartbeat

Week 6: First Ultrasound!!

Baby is the size of a Nail head. This week I started having some nausea. Cravings have moved from Ramen soup to Pad See Ew Thai food and Carne Asada Tacos.

February 17th: First Ultrasound with Nurse Practitioner in Petaluma.

Not one, Not two, But THREE potential little Barbours.

I always thought twins would be really cute and it looks like we will find out. Not sure how my Doc will feel about triplets so we may not be going forward with all three but for right now its TRIPLETS. 

 

Next Ultrasound will be Tuesday in San Francisco with the head honcho Doctor. More details then.

Very Exciting!! 

If it was only one baby , we were going to keep my car (because I love my Benz) I think now we will be upscaling the vehicle sooner than we thought. Mama-wagon here I come.

Beginning Weight: 136 lbs (I'm 5ft 7, so my Body Mass Index is 21 aka normal) 

If it was just one kiddo, I'd expect to gain 25-30 pounds. With three that will be about 45 pounds.