Time keeps on ticking....

We saw the perinatologist on April 13 and I am once again happy to report that all babies are doing well! Although none of them wanted to really pose for pictures - it is getting very, very crowded in there.

It was a detailed growth scan so we now know how much babies weigh! Here are their respective measurements at 28 weeks, 5 days:

Baby A - 2 lbs. 15 oz. with a heart rate of 158

Baby B - 3 lbs. 0 oz. with a heart rate of 153

Baby C - 2 lbs 12 oz. with a heart rate of 155

So, that is a total of 8 lbs 11 oz of baby - exactly what Joshua was when he was born. :-) These weights are really very good for triplets and, actually, track pretty closely to what the babies would be if they were singletons at this gestation. While the chances of their survival now is quite good if they had to be born, our obvious goal now is to just keep them in for as long as possible and let them grow.

As for me, my blood pressure remains very low and I continue to gain weight. They keep telling me that the weight gain is going to slow down, but I've stopped believing them! As some of you know, we had our first mini-issue arise last week. I was exhibiting some of the classic symptoms of cholestasis of pregnancy. This is a rare condition that impacts gall bladder & liver function during pregnancy. Moms carrying multiples are more at risk because of the increased pregnancy hormones. Essentially, the gallbladder overproduces bile salts that the pregnancy hormones prevent the liver from processing. You then end up having an allergic reaction to the bile salts in your system. However, the first part of the tests they performed on me came back normal and we should have the second part of the tests back sometime this week. The doctors are very optimistic that all will be well and that I've just developed super-sensitive pregnancy skin.

We truly are in the home stretch now. We will start having Biophysical Profiles ("BPPs") weekly starting next Thursday April 23 until the babies are born. What is a BPP you ask? I'm so glad you asked!

A BPP is a test administered via ultrasound to assess each babies' health. The sonographer will look at each baby for its heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid. Each category is scored. A score of 8 or more is perfect and all is well. If the score of one of the babies is 6 or 7 they may have us come back the next day to repeat the test. If the score drops to around 4 or below then it is a sign that there is more they can do for the babies outside of the womb as opposed to inside and the C-Section will be scheduled ASAP. Each baby will be assigned a score each time and my understanding is the baby with the lowest score controls.

For those of you that just MUST have more info :), see:

http://www.webmd.com/baby/biophysical-profile-bpp

I think that's it. Consider yourselves officially caught up! More after our next appointment on the 23rd!