29 weeks

AKA: The Long Overdue Update

Ack.  So much to cover.  It's a little intimidating.  I'll try to go chronologically.

1.  Last Friday, at 28 weeks, I had my last appointment with Dr. Haeri.  Same old, same old-- everything looked good.  All of the babies were breech, though, with their heads all together (which is the picture I posted last week).  Stinkers.  I was not pleased with them.  My cervix was slightly shorter-- just under 4 as I recall.  He said that's still better than many of the singletons he sees at 28 weeks, so yay me.  When I told him I'd be sad to leave him, he said "We'll be sad to lose you!  We love you!  We love your cervix!  I wish we could hold on to you until 40 weeks and write a paper about you."  Ha!  Of course that was hyperbole, but I still love it.

2.  Also on Friday, I got a sore throat, which was to blossom into a nasty head cold that refuses to let go.  Harumph.  That's my best excuse for not blogging this week.  Not being able to breathe takes a lot out of me.  Unfortunately, I've since passed it to Rick, Andie, and my mom.  I do feel better, just not 100%.

3.  But that didn't stop me from packing up everything and moving to Houston on Sunday!  I did no pre-packing at all, since I was feeling so puny.  So Sunday morning, I got up, tried on a bunch of clothes (trying to figure out what still fit) and eventually got the girls and myself into the car.  Teared up a little driving away from the house, knowing it would be two months before I came home again, but the drive wasn't bad and we got to Houston at about 1:00.  Rick had come straight from work and beat us here by a little bit.  So we hung out Sunday and Monday and then they left to go home.  Not going to lie-- watching them drive away was really hard and I had a big, ugly cry on N's shoulder when they were gone.  But that was the "pulling off the bandaid" part-- it's been easier since then.  And thanks to the wonders of FaceTime, I've seen them most days.  Andie and Rick will be back today to visit.

4.  Tuesday morning, we had the first appointment with Dr. Carpenter.  M went with me.  The exam room was teeny tiny, and we had the two of us, Dr. C's nurse, Dr. C, a nursing student, and a med student in there.  Cozy.  Poor M was sitting right up against me and trying to divert his eyes as I was instructed to pull my skirt and underwear down to mid-thigh for the ultrasound.  Eek!  It was a very quick peek at the babies-- basically just checking position.  Baby B had moved to cephalic (head-down) presentation, but A was still breech and C was transverse, as tends to be his preference.  It was good to meet Dr. Carpenter in person.  He was saying that, left alone, 15% or so of triplets would make it to term (37 weeks), but people don't leave them alone.  He will, though, so long as everything is going well.  So that's good.  We're on the same page.  37 weeks, here we come.

5.  Wednesday began my chiropractor saga.  I wanted to start seeing a chiropractor, in hopes that it would convince the babies (or Baby A, really) to turn.  I belong to a Houston Pregnancy and Birth group on facebook and they recommended two different chiropractors-- Dr. Chung and Dr. Long.  Dr. Long is closer, so I called her office at West U Wellness first.  The first appointment I could get was 9/24, when I would be nearly 32 weeks pregnant.  Eek!  So I took that appointment, but called Dr. Chung.  He had an opening at 4:00, so I ended up going over there that afternoon.  As it turns out, it was for nothing.  It's about a 30 minute drive away.  I got there, filled out the mountain of paperwork, and then he told me that because his techniques induced labor, he couldn't treat me (it was too soon).  He could see me three weeks prior to my due date.  Well, though I certainly don't want to induce labor, that timing isn't going to work for me.  These babies need to turn while there's still room!  Bleh.  On the way home, I called West U Wellness again and asked to be put on the cancellation list.  It was all very discouraging.

6.  Thursday morning, M worked his magic and got me an appointment with Dr. Long on Friday at 3.  Frustrations relieved!

7.  Friday morning, I had an appointment with Dr. Dryden.  Babies were still in the same positions they were in on Tuesday, but everything looked good.  Dr. Dryden will be out of the country for the last two weeks of September, so I won't have another appointment with her until October 4, at 33 weeks.  I feel pretty confident we're not going to have September babies, so that should be fine. 

8.  Friday afternoon, I had the appointment with Dr. Long.  She really is fabulous-- I see why she gets all the rave reviews.  Young, bright, personable.  She found several issues to address and took care of those.  We scheduled two more appointments for next week, in an attempt to get some movement before my appointment with Dr. Carpenter on Friday (which will be a full growth scan).  She also did some adjustments to help with drainage in my head because of this rotten cold.  When I got home, I spent some time inverted on an inclined ironing board (much to M's amusement).  Flip, babies!

So that's the speedy update of a million and one happenings since I last wrote.  I'm sure I left some stuff out, but c'est la vie.

At 29 weeks, I've gained about 52 pounds.  I now have some carpal tunnel pain in my fingers-- I'd always thought that was just a wrist pain thing, but no.  Apparently, the extra fluid/blood in my body puts pressure on the wrist joints and that affects how my fingers feel.  They feel swollen, but they're not.  It's worst first thing in the morning, but it's nothing I can't deal with.

My other new ache and pain is much more uncomfortable.  Just in the past week or few days, when I chew on the right side, I'll occasionally get terrible, sharp pain in my jaw joint, up by my ear.  It hurts quite a bit-- almost feels like burning.  I asked N about it this morning to confirm my guess that it was TMJ, and she said it could be caused by the extra fluid generally, or specifically by all the goop in my head from this darned cold.  I have no love for this virus.  Go away.

Other than that, I'm feeling fine and getting around just fine.  Last time I measured, I was 45" around.  Headed rapidly for three feet.  A yard.  8 weeks or less to go.