Holy moly, there are going to be three tiny babies living in my house very soon! I have to admit that I'm starting to freak out just a little. Up until now it's all been about managing the pregnancy and hitting those all-important viability milestones. At my appointment last week the doctor gave me clear instructions about who and when to call and when to head in to labor and delivery should I go into labor. I gave him a breezy answer about how I don't plan to go into labor before my scheduled c-section date in two weeks and he looked at me in all seriousness and said "you realize you've passed the average delivery date and these babies can come at any time?" I thought that they would try to stop labor before 35 weeks but apparently not, they'll just deliver them. Gulp. He gave me a course of steroids for the babies' lungs just in case.
Overall, things are going great; the babies continue to measure in the upper 70% percentile for size which is awesome, I managed to work until last Friday and now have two weeks off before the delivery (another reason for those babies to stay put) and other than being tired and swollen and suffering with a horrible rash due to PUPPP for over a week now, I feel good. Speaking of PUPPP, it is horrific. It itches like the fire of a 1000 mosquito bites (and I'm allergic), it covers my feet, legs, lower abdomen and the back of my arms and is as hideous to look at as it is itchy. Combine it with the swelling that happens in my legs over the course of a day and it is misery of the highest proportions. I'm on my second prescription steroid cream and while it helps, I still wake up every hour or two at night scratching my skin raw and have to get up and put cold compresses on my skin. The only thing that helped for the two days I was being treated were the intramuscular betamethasone shots I received to help the babies' lungs mature but once that was out of my system the itching came back with a vengeance. I actually made my husband scrub out the bathtub and help me in and out of the bath so I could soak in tepid water which helps relax me so I can at least get to sleep at night. The "good" thing is that it should go away when the babies come out.
Our home renovations are nearly done, we're just waiting for our new bathroom window to be installed. It was very trying having the work done while heavily pregnant and unable to move any boxes around myself, but now that it's over, we love the results and I'm so glad we did it. I cannot imagine going through that with small children around. I'm having a couple of friends come over this weekend to sort through all the baby stuff I've been given and then I might be able to declare us nearly organized.
I have some great belly shots, but I couldn't find the camera cord, so they'll have to wait.
So exciting! I can't believe your trio will be here so soon! Best of luck with everything because I have a feeling when they decide to make their appearance, you won't be able to post beforehand ;).
ReplyDeleteTry using Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap for the PUPPs rash. You can get it at a health foods store. It smells awful, really awful. But it gives relief of the rash. It's the only thing I've heard of that really works. And it's natural so you don't have to worry about taking something for the itch that will harm the babies.
ReplyDeleteWith a singleton, they would do their best to stop labor before 35ish weeks - but with triplets, they won't. It's harder to stop and triplets are better equipped to be born early than singletons (they have better lung development in utero from the added stress they're under with their apartment-mates).
ReplyDeleteI've never had PUPPP, and thank god for small favors. As it was I had cholestasis and it left me so itchy I thought I was going mad. During my current (SINGLETON) pregnancy, my skin has been ridiculously sensitive to EVERYTHING and I went about 6 or 8 weeks with my entire body itching horrifically all the time, no matter what I did and my skin was literally raw from scratching in my sleep. I ended up being put on IV steroids (I have a PICC line, so that was realistic for me, but probably not so much for you) for the hyperemesis. It didn't help the hyperemesis, but six weeks of those suckers made me stop itching all the time! That alone was worth all the horrific side effects of long-term steroid use!
I can't wait to hear about your babies when they're born. Congratulations on making it this far!