Year: 2007

Queen of the Juggle > 2007

29 and 30 Week Update

Posted on by Sherri





I can’t really believe it, but we almost at 30 weeks. We had a very lengthy doctor’s appointment today. The girls went with us and hung in there so well. They did an extensive ultrasound to measure each baby and look at the fluid around each baby to ensure all was ok. Each baby weighs about 3 lbs. and is about 15 inches. We are still in the same range as a singleton baby, which is great! Especially since I have gained just 27 lbs. The goal was between 40 and 60 pounds and it’s not for lack of trying. They know me at Krispy Kreme and Jack In The Box, as we are there at least once a week, sometimes more. Gotta love cheeseburgers and doughnuts. I’m so trying! What a cruel joke….I can only laugh. Never in a million years did I think that someone would be telling me to gain more weight!

The ultrasound also showed plenty of fluid around the babies. They look for 2 centimeters or more and we are well over 3 per baby. All the heads and bellies look good too. We could even see The doctor said we are doing very well and maybe could go past September 1. I’m hopeful we can, but as I said in my last post, my body is pretty tired and I don’t know where I have room to expand.

We then went on to monitor the babies. They put monitors on to look at heart rate of each baby along with measuring any contractions. Still no contractions, which is more good news and the heart rates are right where they need to be at between 140 and 160 beats per minute. They also drew my blood to check my thyroid. There won’t be any news on that until Thursday. So now I go twice a week to monitor heart rates and contractions. We’ll be at the doctor on Mondays and Thursdays now.

The girls are getting so excited too. They rub the belly and talk to the tummy. Gillian has been carrying her doll in the new stroller for the boys. It’s great!

These days at home are off and on. If I can get a good night’s sleep all is good, but if not, it’s a rough day. I have a lot of lower belly pain and when they move sometimes it’s painful. Chip has been so good about rubbing my feet and back almost every day. Sleeping is a real challenge. Chip told me last week that I sounded like I was 90 years old. Some days I feel like it! Getting out of bed is rough! I try to roll over and it’s painful. I’ll be sitting on the sofa and all of a sudden I will just get a painful cramp. That’s when I know they are moving around. It hurts underneath the ribs. I also have 3 times the blood volume of a not pregnant woman, so my veins stick out and I get weird rashes from my blood vessels pumping so much blood. These are things that aren’t fun, but I am so grateful that the babies are doing well and that we are getting this miracle. I’m truly excited to see these boys.

In the pictures above you can see where they showed us that one baby has hair. It’s amazing! Check out the bottom pic for baby b. The babies are so big now we can see neat stuff, but never more than 1 baby at a time. On the picture on the right, you can see a fisted hand next to the side view. It hurts my back to sit for the ultrasound, but I love seeing all the parts from hair to the blood flow to the heart. It is always reassuring to hear the heartbeats too. That part never gets old. We started our second video tape since we have so much ultrasound on video. It will be a great for them to watch later. Maybe I’m just being sentimental.

I also have an updated list of baby items we have/need, which will be posted in both the past post of “updated list of items needed and received” as well as after this post. Thank you again to everyone who has helped us, supported us and who continues to keep in touch. We can’t wait to call of you on the big day.

27 and 28 Week Update

Posted on by Sherri




We’ve finally reached 28 weeks. It seems like it has taken forever to get here. I have to say that we’re so happy that these babies are healthy and growing, but boy, my body is worn out and I have a very big stomach! Feet hurt, belly hurts, hard to sleep, all that goes with pregnancy….some days are hard, but it’s so worth it. It won’t be long now, and I sincerely hope that we can make it to September 1, which will be 33 weeks. I want them to come out so I can see these boys, but I also want them to stay in and grow as long as possible. The next monitoring is Monday, Aug. 6, so we’ll see what is happening then.

Last night we made our first trip to the hospital – in Summerlin – to be monitored. I felt as though the babies weren’t moving as much as in the past and it alarmed me. Immediately, I was thinking the worst and hoping for the best. Turns out the heartbeats were fine and we monitored for an hour or so and came home. Nothing to worry about thank goodness.

I also took the 3 hour glucose test, which was rough on an empty stomach, but it came back normal,which was very good news. It was also amazingly wonderful to get stuck 4 times considering how much I love needles. It will be so worth it when we can cuddle those baby boys. The glucose test was on 7/26/07.

I have been going weekly for monitoring, which has been very uneventful in terms of contractions. I’ve also finally quit working and went on leave as of Friday, August 3. It’s a little scary, as now I really don’t have much to do with with my mind now. At least with work I had that to keep me occupied, however I am also VERY tired because it’s really tough to sleep at night. So now I’ll have plenty of time to rest.

There’s been a lot going on though. The nursery is all done as far as paint and trim. Now we need to finish decorating. Bunny helped us at Babies R Us pick out a sea theme, which goes very well with the blue/green of the paint. The paint is fantastic! Chip wants more “boy” stuff, but I told him we need to pick a theme. Chip wants some baseballs and stuff. So….the theme may change.

Bunny left on 7//28 and Chip’s other sister Sue came in on 7/31. It’s been nice to see them both! We feel so fortunate to hear from and see so many people. Kristy and Jeff will visit in a couple of weeks, which will be fun and then hopefully mom and dad when babies are born.

26 Week Update

Posted on by Sherri

We had our doctors appointment on 7/16/07 and it was a long one. I did the one hour glucose test first, which wasn’t fun, but wasn’t too bad either. Then we had our ultrasound, which showed that the babies were laying across the bottom of my belly, stacked one on top of the other like a triple decker bus. All heads are laying on the right side and feet were to the left. No wonder I get kicked the most on the left side. Babies A and C are about 2 lbs. and baby B is about 1.5 lbs. and sandwiched in the middle. They are about 14 inches from head to toe. Then we went on to our first monitoring session for contractions. We will be monitoring weekly now for a month. There were no contractions the first session. My cervix has shortened by 1 centimeter and is now at 2 cm. The doctor said this was normal. We looked at the cerclage stitches and it seems to be the ONLY thing holding everything in. Wow, just amazing to see on the screen. Since it was a very lengthy ultrasound, we saw all the hearts, brains, kidneys and blood flow to both the placenta and through the umbilical cord. Very interesting to watch. The doctor thinks we’ll go into the low 30’s for delivery. I’m still shooting for 33 or 34 weeks, but Dr. Bohman will be happy if we make to 31 weeks. We will definitely need to go to Summerlin to deliver.

Tuesday, 7/17/07 we met our new pediatrician, one that is very well known in the Vegas Valley, Ralph Conti. It was good to see his new office and talk face to face about how he manages multiples. I had taken the girls to him 8 or 9 years ago, but his old office was so crowded and the waits were very long. We discussed how we couldn’t bear to do that again, so he really eased our fears and was very good about offering support by providing us a beeper number and a cell number, which is an extreme rarity and we certainly appreciate that he’s making himself available. We’ll see what happens.

Tuesday night Bunny came in and it’s so great to see her! She made 3 baby quilts that are absolutely beautiful! They are so colorful and will be awesome in the nursery and using them on the floor for tummy time for the boys. Bunny, Bill, Jamie and Danny also ordered strollers for the boys and we’ve received one of them. My mom bought the infant seats and we picked those up on Wednesday. Thursday morning I received a call from the doctors office and my glucose test results are high. My blood sugar was 168 and norm is under 135. So Monday I will take a 3 hour glucose and get stuck for blood 4 times. The fun never ends!

Today is Saturday and it was a rough morning for me. Contractions I think. I woke up at 5 a.m. with so much belly pain and back pain. Finally after about an hour or so, I was able to go to sleep again and then at 8 a.m. the pain was back again. I called my doctor, but haven’t received a call back, which is highly irritating to me, but the pain has also subsided. So, I’m not sure what has been going on. It always makes me scared because it’s too early to deliver. Not sure, but maybe he’ll send me to the hospital for monitoring, which I don’t want to do. The last place I want to be is in the hospital.

Also today, Daniel and Christopher are here after coming over last weekend to show us some paint colors. Today all the work is being done. Bunny, Chip, Christopher and Daniel has been working like crazy since about 11 a.m. The girls are here this weekend too and have pitched in to help. We changed our configuration of the upstairs and nursery for the babies. Chip and Bunny primed Gillian’s old pink room, which was very pink! Now it’s the new nursery. The guest room will be our “spare” room which is also getting painted today. I’m so excited! Since I can only go up and down the stairs once a day I haven’t seen the action, but Chip has taken a few pictures, which I’ll post. It looks good from what I’ve seen.

I’ll post whatever pictures I can very soon. We finally replaced our digital camera, which met it’s maker in Hawaii after 5 good years. I’ll have Chip take a belly pic or two and we’ll post those too.

Thank you to everyone who has commented that they read the blog. I am enjoying writing and keeping a good journal of this incredible journey. My body hurts and is tired and my mind isn’t as sharp these days. I need a place to keep all my thoughts in order. Thank you to everyone for their support and help with this endeavor. It has meant the world to us and from the bottom of our hearts we can’t thank everyone enough.

Week 25 Update

Posted on by Sherri



We don’t have a doctor appointment until July 16, so no photos of the boys this time. Chip has been really busy putting together pack ‘n plays and we’ve been washing all the new gifts from the shower. We also received a glider rocker so Chip has that on his agenda to put together this week as well.

I am still working full time at home and sleeping less and less at night. I must say I’m not making life very fun for the rest of the folks in the house. Despite being VERY excited for these babies, my whole body just really hurts, especially the underside of my stomach. Chip gets to enjoy me tossing and turning throughout the night. He always asks what he can do, but there’s not really much. The end result is that I am crabby sometimes and everyone feels it. I just keep apologizing. Both of the girls have stepped up so much and are doing a lot more around the house. Chip is a champ too and does all the running for the girls as well as taking good care of me.

I’m still working, just working exclusively at home. I’m putting my plan for leave together and need to get it to my boss by Friday. It’s hard to leave my little work babies too, but will be one less thing to worry about. I’m torn about how long to work. It keeps my mind busy, which is very good, but it wears me out some days. I’m going to keep going as long as I can, not sure how long that will be.

I’ll post new ultrasound photos as well as new information that we learn at the next appointment.

Chris and Daniel are headed over this weekend to paint the nursery and next week Chip’s sister Bunny is coming out to visit from Florida and help us get ready with more painting and organizing. Our list of items to be done is everything from changing faucets in our upstairs bath to repainting Gillian’s old room which has become out guest/help bedroom. Right now it’s very pink and I hope to tone that down a bit. We’d also like to get the upstairs bathroom painted as well. We’ll need to put another crib together and pick up a third. Still so much to do, not sure how much time we have to do it before these boys show up.

We learned we will be delivering across town in Summerlin and I am trying to get a tour of the NICU, but apparently it’s a popular place. July is already full and August isn’t open yet. I’d like to take a look before there are wires and machines all over the boys (hopefully that won’t be needed) and we are freaking out because we don’t know what anything is.

I’m still at a weight gain of only 20 lbs. but feel huge. I’ll have Chip take some more belly pictures and post those soon. All of us are enjoying the baby kicks all day long too. The babies are more and more active. It’s just amazing that I can feel so much.

We’ll post again soon.

Baby Shower

Posted on by Sherri





Today was the baby shower than Lin Goldstein threw for us. Lin did an absolutely fantastic job. WOW! It was just wonderful. We had a great time with all the good people we have in our lives. It was so good to see everyone and we are now a little better prepared for the babies. All the gifts were things we really need. Kristy came from Winnemucca Sunday morning and we took video and tried to stream over the internet so mom and dad could watch. That didn’t go so well, but at least we pictures and we are sending out a DVD to Kristy. Kaitlyn and Gillian came over for the shower as well. We had a fantastic afternoon, but boy it wore me out!

Lin brought a chocolate fountain and did tons of hard work! She had some great games that we played after folks left, but Lin just went all out. Chip and Dan brought sandwiches from one of our stores. So much yummy food and good company. We had the following guests: Deann Paulen, Jennie Gauchi, Christopher Brighton, Daniel Wathen, Don Kachline, Hank Hope, Laura Besiada, Lori Buchanen and her friend Stacie, Kristy Newman and Teresa Cortorillo

Kristy being here was such a big help! She took all the pictures and made sure we got video. Chip got a break for a couple of days. Kristy trimmed bushes in the back yard, did dishes, made us breakfast and grilled an awesome tri tip on the grill. It was just too short of a time! Sure wish she could have brought her whole family and stayed longer. She promised she would come back in January. Can’t wait!

I will post photos on the photo page.

23 Week Update

Posted on by Sherri


Went to the doctor today and babies are doing great! The photo is of all 3 babies. My cervix length is back to 3 cm, which is very good. Who knew it could contract and expand??? Dr. Bohman says we need to keep doing what we’re doing and that means not much for me. Our doc is optimistic that we can make it to 33 weeks. WOO HOO!!! That will be a projected delivery date of around September 6. It makes me so happy that we are doing the things we need to do to ensure these little monkeys are born as late as possible. Dr. Bohman indicated that we’ll go as long as we can unless someone (either me or one of them) gets distressed or becomes ill. Chip and I also learned today that we will be delivering most likely at Summerlin Hospital, which has the best level III NICU in Las Vegas. It’s 45 minutes away from here, but they need that care and can get it up there. I’ve heard great things about the hospital facility, so that makes me feel good too.

I also weighed in today. I’ve gained approximately 20 pounds. According to the books and advice we’ve been given, this isn’t nearly enough. Ideally, I would have gained 40 pounds by now. Babies are growing great, so the doctor told us not to worry. So now at 20 pounds with the pregnancy, at almost 6 months, I weigh and am as big as when I delivered Kaitlyn at full term. Amazing! My belly is so rock hard sometimes, I wonder how they have room in there! We are both so grateful that everyone is so healthy and doing so well, but I wonder what this body of mine will look like after we’re all done. That’s a problem I’m fine with having!

Getting Ready For Babies!

Posted on by Sherri

On Sunday, 6/24/07 Gillian, Kaitlyn, Chip and I washed and folded all the baby things that we’ve accumulated. I had more than I realized and will publish what we have, but we still need so much stuff! Anyway, the girls and I had a blast folding the little things and taking them up to the baby room.

Today we traded in our Honda Accord for a Chrysler Town & Country minivan. Quite a day around here…one more thing to get ready for babies to cross off the list. We definitely will have more options for stowing and carrying stuff with the new car. All the seats fold down into the floor. Nope, not glamorous, but VERY functional. So it’s a good thing.

I was sad to see the Honda go, but boy, we’re going to need the space. The girls are enjoying pressing all the buttons and checking out gadgets. We didn’t get tons of gadgets, but something new is always interesting for them.

I’m still working and it’s going fine. The only thing I’ve had to stop doing is physical meetings in the casinos.

This Sunday, July 1, Lin Goldstein is giving us a baby shower! 10 people have RSVP’d! Who knew we had so many local friends! I have been on rest for almost 2 weeks so I am ready for new faces. It’s been really nice to have Deann come by with lunch and Bonnie too. It really helps the time pass more quickly.

20 and 21 Week Update

Posted on by Sherri




We are back from vacation and diving into all the baby stuff. My friend Lin offered to do a baby shower for us, so we are going to have the big event on July 1, 2007. I’m excited to see friends! So the first thing I did was to give Lin my guest list. Many of the invites are to be mailed to family. So, I have attempted to register at Target, Babies ‘R Us and maybe Walmart. I am finding as I put these registries together that we are SO NOT READY for these babies! Trying to though now. I’ve bought a few more items like baby towels, wash cloths and bibs. We still have almost nothing else. I’ve tried to go to both Babies ‘R Us and Walmart. I’m seriously overwhelmed by the baby products out there. We’ll keep on and see what happens. Amidst the baby shower planning, we’ve gone to our 21 week appointment. More interesting news just keeps coming!

Chip has been so great too! He moved things around upstairs and put the crib and changing table together. He also brought the curio cabinet from the garage along with all the other goodies we had packed up to sell our house. We’ve taken the house off the market and will stay here for awhile. At least until we can wrap our heads around what day to day life will be for our family with 3 new babies and all our existing responsibilities.

We saw Dr. Bohman for our 21 week appointment June 14. Babies are growing great. I’ve been really feeling good too. Just normal pregnancy stuff….tired, in the bathroom a lot and growing a big belly! The ultrasound looks great. All are still boys. Each baby measures at about 11 inches each and about a pound each. My belly keeps growing every day too it seems. After the baby ultrasound, Dr. Bohman took a look at the cerclage stitches and the length of my cervix. It has shrunk over a centimeter in 2 weeks. My body is thinking it’s growing so much that it’s time to begin to prepare for birth. It’s way too early. So, Dr. Bohman has instructed me to be on limited activity….bed rest! I can’t walk more than 20 yards, 1 outing per day, need to be in a recliner or bed, preferably on my side. So that wasn’t good news to receive because I feel great. Day to day life as I knew it has come to a screeching halt. It’s hard to just sit all the time. I am thankfully working so at least that’s a good distraction.

Chip has been taking good care of me since my rest period started. He is becoming an expert grocery shopper and he’s really good at running the girls where they need to be. He’s staying on top of keeping the place clean and also becoming our household chef. He’s been cooking a lot. I am trying to do so stuff if I can and updating the baby registry online. I am working on the computer a lot and trying to prepare for the baby shower next week. I wish I could do more, but basically for me, it’s life on the sofa or in bed. Along with trying to buy almost everything online to get ready, we are also shopping for a mini van to cart this brood around. So, online we go again for that too. We looked at a Chrysler and think we’ll go with either a Dodge Caravan or Chrysler Town & Country. We test drove one the other day and it will suit our needs, be good on gas and be better on the environment that a full size SUV. The price is much more appealing than a full SUV also. That is a work in progress that needs to get done very soon. The only downside is that I am trading in my Honda, which despite having a bad “please damage me” vibe, has been a good car that has so many miles left on it. So…..we’ll see.