If you thought I was high maintenance before, you have no idea how much more I have become (insert 'Poor Brant' here). Everything, and I mean everything, is exhausting these days. Just sitting up on my way to the restroom I have to pause to catch my breath before I can even think about standing. Mental note to self for future: Don't gain 65lbs and expect to be able to do anything.
I have included a picture of my non stress test this week as I find the chaos that is my belly entertaining. A non stress test makes sure that the babies heart rates are fluctuating properly while I am resting and so far, things look pretty good. But let's talk about the necessary equipment needed to get this test done on me these days.
There is a pod per baby - in the picture Alpha is the lowest and pink, Beta is blue and to my left while Gamma is the highest and pink. No, the colors don't mean anything (nice try). There is also another blue pod which is higher up on my belly to monitor contractions - notice that you can't even seen this pod because my belly is SO gigantic. Also connected to my body is an oxygen saturation monitor on my finger. Then there is a button, a button I am supposed to push whenever I feel a baby move - now let's remember that I have three babies inside and that I am not good at video games. I'm afraid my ability to hit the button each time a baby moves was rather unsuccessful, but it helps pass the time (approx 20 min). Maybe I should have just held down the button nonstop - perhaps something to consider next week. So you are thinking to yourself, wow - that is a lot of equipment. Well then I have to add the high maintenance part. The machine only allows two babies to be monitored at a time, so I have to hook up to two separate machines. Then there are the babies....maybe it isn't me that is high maintenance but the babies. Brant was put to work holding the pod on Alpha at a certain angle as Alpha continued to squirm in order to keep the results consistent regardless of movement. Apparently, Beta also wanted this attention and was trying to hide from the pod, so the nurse had to hold that pod in place the whole time. So picture it, two machines, 6 cords going from me to these machines, Brant and the nurse holding the pods in place and finally myself trying to push a button each time someone moved. Needless to say I think I was the most interesting non stress test the nurse had done in a while.
While doing my home monitoring this week, I have also reached my maximum allowance two separate days - 5 contractions per hour. The nurses keep reminding me that this is to be expected and not necessarily an indicator of going into labor. Little do they know, that I hope to make it several more weeks if not a month. Regardless reaching my maximum allowance is a bit scary. If I get 6 of more contractions an hour then I must re-monitor for another hour to confirm the number and then my doctor gets a phone call and I likely go into the hospital. Of course, even if I go into the hospital it doesn't mean that I am going to deliver, it (hopefully) just means that I need to be more closely watched. And being as though 32 weeks is the average gestation for triplets - and my 32 weeks starts Tuesday 5/26 - I guess it is to be expected that things are getting a little cramped in there - but as I have mentioned previously, I have no interest in being average.
