A High Risk High Risk Pregnancy

Many people wonder why we are so cautious to share our good news. I mean, haven't we been trying for years to have a baby--shouldn't we be happy about it and share it?

Being happy about it and sharing are in no way correlated. We just know that just because you are pregnant right now doesn't mean that you will for sure take home a baby. Call us jaded, but while we are thrilled we just know everything that's stacked against us. Last time we really didn't have anything stacked against us, and it didn't end with a baby.

Please don't get us wrong, we want to be excited, we want everyone (especially those who have prayed for and with us) to know and be happy for us, we want these three babies more than you'll know. But again, we've got quite a bit to make it through before we actually get to potentially take these babies home.

We are being seen solely by a high risk doctor due to the volume of appointments we will be having. Non complicated triplet pregnancies can be seen by their regular OB for most of the pregnancy and only consult with the high risk doctor, but that just won't cut it for us.

 Our doctor told us that if we can stick the landing, we will for sure win the gold medal. Meaning that having triplets got us into the Olympics but, just like in gymnastics, we aren't competing at the base level of triplets. We have multiple things that raise us above that base level and qualify us for tons more points. Neat.

The first thing is that our identicals are sharing a placenta, a blood/food supply. At any time, the blood could start to be shared unevenly, putting both babies at risk. Within a short period of time one would have less than what they need and could die, or more than what they need and could die. This means that we will go in every two weeks for ultrasounds to check for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. We could go in every week if needed, and past 26 weeks will anyway.

Another thing that puts me at higher risk is that I've never carried a baby to term. This means that my uterus doesn't know how to stretch and most likely will start trying to put me into labor around the time I measure full term, 24-26 weeks. Obviously we will not make it to our due date no matter what, but our first goal is to make it to viability (where the babies have a greater that 50% chance of survival) at 24 weeks, then 28 weeks, then our ultimate goal is 32 weeks. If we can make it there, we should be great! They won't let me go past 34 weeks due to the placenta sharing but we would be thrilled if we could make it that far. It's not likely, but one can dream, right?

The last (current) thing is that I most likely have placenta previa. This is when the placenta is covering the cervix. In the long run it won't change my method of delivery (a c-section) since it's too risky to attempt a vaginal birth with shared placenta and then a third baby. But it does mean that I could have more bleeding, placental abruption (when the placenta pulls away from the uterine wall, and risk of stillbirth if my cervix shortens too much and I go into labor. We are hopeful that it can correct itself in the next month or so, but when first finding out our doctor said he fully expected me to be admitted to the hospital for bedrest at some point during the 24-28 week range, potentially for the remainder of the pregnancy. Okay.

But as scary as it is, it has all been worth it so far. We are cautiously optimistic and really are hoping that we have a boring, low key pregnancy.