11Aug1999

11 August 1999
Babies Are Big
5 Weeks To Go!

We have all sorts of new pictures for you to enjoy. Don't miss the
picture gallery.

The visit to the perinatologist and the growth scan during the visit has given us
some new information on the size of the kids. As best as the machine can
measure, the babies are measuring as follows:

Baby A = 2.5 lbs
Baby B = 2.7 lbs
Baby C = 3.08 lbs

The boy (baby c) who was the smallest on the last growth scan has become
the largest. An average birthweight for triplets tends to be 3.0 - 3.5 lbs
so we're looking pretty good for mid-September.

Names Have Been Decided
It took us a lot of thinking and discussion and trying them on for size.
We had to test initials and making sure they didn't spell out something
profane or unwanted. Most importantly, they had to be good strong
names that the kids can be proud of and that won't get them beat up
in the school yard. We hope you approve.

Baby A - Katherine Grace
Baby B - Rebecca Anne
Baby C - Ian Alexander

Status Report
Rachel has begun to feel contractions a bit more acutely these
days and being pregnant is beginning to lose some of it's fun. She is
fairly comfortable most of the time, but there are times (usually at
night) when the number of contractions per hour has reached eight.
We're not talking labor here, but you get enough of them in a row
and it gets a little uncomfortable.

The babies continue to have good movement and some of the kicks
feel more appropriate for soccer than the inside of Mom. One night
was literally like a barrel of Ping-Pong balls. You just had to be here
to experience it.

Our trip to the regular Obstetrician, last Friday, had Rachel enjoying
a contraction as she was being led to the examining room. The nurse
deciding that a contraction felt should be a contraction checked
immediately summoned the doctor from another room and had her
make sure Rachel wasn't about to deliver three babies in her office.
It was funny at the time, but the poor nurse may have gained a gray
hair on our account.

The next growth scan will be on August 31st. That'll be week 32.

27 July 1999
Third Trimester Begins
Today begins the last three months of pregnancy of which we'll most likely only see
1 1/2 months. It's official, they're now third trimester triplets.

26 July 1999
Another Routine Checkup
Rachel got to see her favorite doctor in the practice and
after checking the basics and discussing the certainty of
a c-section, he sent her home. "Just keep doing what you've
been doing and keep those babies and long as you can."

For those who contributed gift certificates at the baby shower,
you'll be happy to know that the bedding for three cribs and
three cradles were purchased this weekend. Mark had to make
two trips when Rachel decided at the end that she wanted a
completely different look for the cribs. Since most of the decision
making involved Mark, Rachel's mother and father and a very
nice woman at the store describing things over a cellular phone
you have to allow for some "adjustment."

The minivan has been ordered and should be here in mid-August.
Mark called 17 Honda dealers in 3 states and finally found the
right van at the right price... in Columbia. It seems someone had
canceled an order on the exact unit we wanted. Have a look if
you're interested...
1999 Honda Odyssey

Week 27 is fairly special in that it represents what one OB resident
described as a "magic line" for mortality in likely pre-mature babies.
They might have some problems if they were born today, but their
chances of surviving are now better than average. The week 30
milestone is where they claim a high 90's percentage of live births.
It seems the lungs and other bodily functions are just mature enough
to make it with a little help. Count the next three weeks with us.

The next chance for good pictures is Aug. 2 when the next growth
scan is scheduled. We'll do what we can to get some better shots
than last month's "spines on pararde." <grin>

20 July 1999
8 Weeks to Go!
The last doctor's visit was Friday (16 July) and they say that
Rachel is measuring like a woman with a 39 week pregnancy.
That is a stunning 13 weeks ahead of someone with a single
baby. You can see why triplet moms just can't make it to the
standard 40 weeks. Rachel continues to breeze through
bedrest with help from Philip Margolin (author) and her
trusty laptop. Don't be afraid to send her an e-mail or
give her a ring. She spends a fair portion of her day
communicating with friends and keeping everyone up to
date.

Saturday's baby shower was a tremendous success. The
generousity of those who attended was simply amazing. Our
living room was the staging area for a huge array of clothes,
toys, teething rings, bottles, diapers and other necessities for
new triplets coming into the world. We have some pictures of
the party, the food and the presents and when the photos have
been developed we'll share them with you. Thanks to everyone
who came to the shower. Your kindness is very much appreciated
and we'll be making use of everything with due haste. Thank You!

A special thanks to the hostesses who put the shower together.
Your time, money and efforts were appreciated by all who came
and was the reason why everyone had such a good time.

6 July 1999
Good Doctor's Visit,
Bad Pictures.
We had intended to update the picture gallery with new and more
fantastic photos of our little ones but frankly, what we got were
pretty uninteresting. Even to us. As the babies get bigger the ability
for the folks doing the ultrasounds to get "grandma" shots is being
reduced. We have a number of pictures of the babies spines which
I'll go ahead and upload for your viewing pleasure, but don't expect
faces and waving hands like in the past. I intend to find our original
sonographer who is the more senior person and bribe her to get us
much more interesting pictures.

Rachel actually had two visits the week of July 4th and both were
run of the mill. The first was the Perinatologist (high-risk baby doctor)
and where we had the ultrasound done. They determined that the babies
weights were actually ahead of schedule and this made the normally
reserved high-risk doctor break out in a smile. You can see the actual
numbers under "Dates and Statistics" on the links above.

The other visit was to the regular OB who did the blood pressure,
fundal height and "How ya feeling?" visit and then sent her home. They
were also encouraged by her lack of problems and the solid growth of
the babies. Rachel is being monitored for contractions remotely (as I
described in the June 29 update) and her low number of contractions
is keeping everyone very happy. I had the foresight to ask when we
should expect more than two contractions the day before she hit three.
Since then, she has hit four but each time the contraction count that
seemed high at night was zero in the morning. There will be more
highs coming and we've been guaranteed a trip to the hospital to
correct uncontrolled contractions sometime during the pregnancy.
The longer we can put it off, the better. She's doing a good job so
far.

For those in the first group (Neighbors and Family) there will be a
baby shower this Saturday. If you weren't invited, don't fret.
There will be another one for the folks in Columbia and those up
here that missed the first one. We're just going to wait until the
kids are here so you can actually meet the people you're showering
instead of just looking at grey ultrasound pictures. If you're coming
to the first shower, I'll remind you that we're registered at
Babies R Us at a location near you. The "Gift Registry" link above
will help you find a store nearby.

A special thanks for the herculean efforts of those who are bringing
dinner to us. I risk leaving someone out by naming them but I'm going
to try.

Debbie Reich (and Julia her faithful delivery-girl)
Lori White
Lisa Homiak
Beth Chapman
Martha Rosenburg
Rody McClure (Mom! Filled our freezer.)

and MaryLee Thompson (Rachel's Mom) who faithfully brings no
less than two meals a week. She has an hour round-trip each time
she comes and we certainly appreciate it.

The next doctor's appointment is July 16 and it's a regular OB visit.
The next big picture taking opportunity isn't until August 2nd.

29 June 1999
Three heartbeats,
situation normal.
The visit to the doctor's office on Monday was a normal
checkup with no surprises. We're to continue doing what
we're doing. The next milestone that we're approaching
is 24 weeks (July 6). This is the earliest that a baby could
survive if born prematurely.

The next office visit is to the perinatologist (high risk baby
doctor) who will be checking the babies' growth and measure
every inch. This means lot's of new pictures! We'll have 'em
up here as soon as possible.

11 weeks to go.

22 June 1999
Two Weeks of Bed Rest
...and counting.
Only 12 weeks to go! Her routine was abruptly interrupted two weeks ago
when the doctor told her that her days of working were over (for now.)
She has become one with the couch and despite the lure of daytime TV,
she has immersed herself with her friend's wedding plans, her own baby
shower details and is consuming "whodunnit" novels at a fierce pace. The
rest of her time is spent trying to chuckle under her breath as her husband
tries to remember his bachelor skills when he last did laundry last.

After a particularly long doctor's visit this morning (they were busy) Rachel
was given a status quo review and told to remain doing what she was doing.
Stay in bed, stay on the couch or eat meals at the table. Period. While this
isn't particularly excited news, we were very happy with a routine visit
considering the "excitement" of the last two Mondays office visits.

We have been given the watch for the later term warnings signs of pre-term
labor, namely contractions. Since they aren't easy to feel at this stage of the
game, the doctors have assigned a home nursing company to bring a
electronic contraction monitor by the house. Rachel now gets to enjoy an
hour in the morning and an hour in the evening with a little white box that
happily blinks a green light and records any uterine movement. When the hour
is up, she plugs the little box into a big box and a few minutes later a nurse
calls and tells her how many contractions she's had. Pretty neat system.

The tally so far has been none to one to two contractions during the hourlong
session. If five contractions show up in an hour, there is a nurse to call the
doctor immediately and see if they want to do anything from more monitoring
to a trip to the hospital. The mystical people on the other end of the phone and
our doctor's visit this morning found all the medical professions in agreement
that Rachel was doing a bang-up job.

There is another "checkup," next Monday where we hope to get the same
report. For those of you looking for more pictures, the next BIG round of
pictures is the July 6th visit to the doctor where they measure the babies
in detail. Give us a day or so to scan them and set them up on the website.

If you feel for a Mom who has another three months in bed, call her or send
her an occasional e-mail at the following address:

rachel.mcclure@ibm.net

I know that she'll appreciate your efforts.

14 June 1999
Bed Rest Has Come
On June 7th, Rachel had a regularly scheduled visit with the perinatologist
(or High Risk Pregnancy doctor) who did an ultrasound on her cervix to check
the size and shape. When the sonographer stopped and paged the doctor
from his rounds at the hospital, you knew it wasn't going to be a
regular visit. They found a bubble in the cervix which shouldn't be there.
Normally, when viewed by an ultrasound, the cervix is a long gray line
on the screen. Now the line had a bubble in the middle and the high-risk
doctor began having a conversation with the regular OB doctor.

Rachel was given a time to arrive at the hospital that evening (around 5:00pm)
and was scheduled for a cerclage. She stayed overnight and went home
the next day. The doctors told her that she was done working, she was done
standing for long periods and that she was allowed to go from the bed, to the
table, to the couch. Period.

On the June 14th appointment, she went to the regular OB who also gave
her cervix a look. They noticed on this visit that the cervix which normally
measured in the 3.5 to 3.7 inch range was now measuring 1.6 inches. Not
exactly the most welcome development. The doctors re-affirmed their
call for bedrest and despite our concern, they were calm and told Rachel
to go home and rest. Her only job from now on is to gestate.

The goal is to get the babies to 32-34 weeks when they are fully developed
and ready to join the world. Whether we'll make it that far is completely
in the hands of God and these babies.

If you have the time, I'm sure Rachel would appreciate your e-mails and
phone calls. She has a lot of time on her hands while her husband learns
how hard she worked when she was walking around.

24 May 1999
Girl - Girl - Boy (Again!)
All right... it's more official now than it was at 16 weeks.
We now have had two sonographers tell us that we're having
2 girls and 1 boy. They claim that they can still be wrong right
up until the babies are born. You can make the call yourself
if you look at the latest ultrasounds in the picture gallery.

Most common complaint from the mother to be...
Exhaustion!

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