16 Weeks and Counting

I am almost 16 weeks pregnant with triplets. I am measuring as big as a woman who is 6-7 months pregnant. My belly “popped” as they say at 10 weeks. At least I look pregnant :)

I feel pregnant every day. My doctor and all the books assure me that women with multiples experience pregnancy differently. By that he means worse. Triple the hormones. Triple the pain. Triple the size. Triple the vomiting, heart burn, and food aversions. 

Triple the misery and triple the joy. 

I wish I had a little more joy in between bouts of throwing up. I have had real trouble gaining weight because I throw up so much and food in general is still overshadowed by the nausea. I may have sounded a bit like the exorcist when my husband tried to put garlic in our fridge. I used to loooove garlic. Now the mere thought of it tainting my food is enough to make me threaten the man I love with a sharp object.

The acid reflux is pretty awful, too. One night I thought I had a muscle cramp in my back between my shoulder blades. Weirdly, it felt as if it were traveling through my chest into my sternum. It felt (I imagine) like a heart attack. I had my husband massage my back and I sobbed and sobbed until it finally subsided. 

As a side note, it is in these moments that my husband feels truly powerless to help. He wants so badly to make me feel better, but so often can only hold me as I cry. As you can probably tell, I have also gained the emotional side-effects of pregnancy. 

When I asked my nurse about the supposed back pain, she said it was acid reflux and the pain was from the acid burning a hole in the back of my esophagus next to my spine. She said that they see it all the time in the ER. People come in thinking they are having a heart attack and thousands of dollars later they are given Malox and some lidocaine. 

I guess I’m lucky I chose crying over the ER. 

I am also tired a lot. Or, I get tired a lot. Depends on the day. Shopping at Costco is often enough to tank me for the rest of the afternoon. As we left the store yesterday, I may have quoted a movie as I ambled toward the door.

“What, are we moving at warp speed?!”

I don’t walk as quickly as I used to. Those round ligaments protest. And if you find yourself laughing because you are picturing the bulk that I will become, you are not alone. My doctor, the nurses, and my husband all look at me with pity in their eyes. The pity says: you haven’t seen anything yet.

Positives:

·         People have been so supportive and helpful and excited for us.

·         My hair and nails are doing the good things that pregnancy has them do.

·         I get to tell funny jokes to the ultrasound technician about what we are going to name our three kids.

·         We see the babies all the time and that helps my anxiety a lot.

·         My skin is fine so far. I fully expect my belly to look like a bear hibernated in it for the winter and then mauled it, but right now it is great.

·         We have an army of friends ready to lend aid.

·         We are remodeling the kitchen (countertops and backsplash), we cleared out the spare bedroom, and organized the office. Nesting anyone?

·         We have names picked out.

·         We know the gender of the babies (finally!!) and can work on the nursery.

·         I have the best husband in the world who has been the most supportive person for whom I could have asked. I hope that I can get these three babies through all of this so that he can be an amazing father as well. When he kisses the belly three times, it makes it all worth it.