A Multiples Survey-Tis A Bloggie Thing! pt1
In what state do you live? Louisiana
How old are you? 33 (34 in August!)
Age when you where pregnant with your multiples? 32
Were your multiples your first pregnancy? Nope! 2nd & LAST!
How many children do you have? 4
How did you come up with the names for your multiples? Very, Very Carefully! See blog, "The Naming of Triplets!"
What is your profession (if you're still working)? If you are now a stay-at-home mom, what did you do before? I WAS a Customer Service Supervisor for Budget Phone (a locally owned yet national pre-paid home phone service) now I am a stay @home mum who writes independently for the stage!
Are your triplets fraternal, identical or questionable? ALL multiples are questionable! Hence the survey! Mine are fraternal!
Were your multiples spontaneous or Fertility treatments? Spontaneous! If your multiples were spontaneous, were you surprised? Anyone who isn’t surprised is FIBBING!!!
How did you tell your spouse/partner that you having more than one baby on the way? I had to provide proof positive (ultra-sound pics) EVERYONE thought I was joking!!
If you had fertility treatments with your pregnancy, were you surprised that you were expecting multiples? n/a
How did your spouse/partner react?What kind of fertility treatments did have? n/a
If IVF how many eggs did you have put back in you? n/a
How many cycles?n/a
How long were you trying for a baby? n/a
When did you discover you were carrying multiples? At about 9 weeks
When did you start to show? At about 3 months- I conceived in early August and was showing by the first weekend of October-so it doesn’t take long!!!
Did you have bad morning sickness? Any tips? Oh yes- its quite unavoidable with multiples- somebody ALWAYS finds your stomache in their way or uses it as a pillow or a hidey hole!- I allowed myself to get sick ONCE and it was SO bad (I couldn’t breath) that I never allowed myself to do it again- Your OB should allow you some sort of antacid that will help a little (not much mind you but any relief is welcome!) and after you get so far along that your kids are active, I had to cut back to basic bland foods because anything more would make me sick! Its not easy ESPECIALLY when you are trying to GAIN weight, not LOSE it!
Were you tired all of the time, and how long did it last? Ha ha ha ha ha ha- that’s funny- my body would get tired and just stop & shut down- I would lie down to rest & find that my mind was perfectly awake & ready to play! It’s a weird sensation really- you get used to knowing when to slow down and when your body is just going to say NOPE your down lie down! & its pretty much just like that too- you just have to adapt & go with that flow til you deliver!
Did you have to get a bigger car? I NEED to get a bigger car- but haven’t as of yet- we have a car- that will seat 5-we are a family of 6 – so we don’t go anywhere as a family unless we take 2 cars- which isn’t fun- something will have to happen soon though, because they are fast outgrowing their babyseats and will need the bigger versions very very SOON!!!
When did you first felt movement with your multiples? Very early, but remember this was my second pregnancy so I knew what to expect! I was feeling them around the time of my first ultrasound really- and they wouldn’t even stop moving even when they were out of room!
Did you see a specialist during your multiple pregnancy? Of course! Dr Lewis who is wonderful! Of course he probably thinks I am crazy, but oh well, he can always write it off as pregnancy hormones!
If so when & why? He doesn’t see you til you are @ least 3 months to ensure that the pregnancy is viable (if its going to miscarry it most likely will have terminated by this time) and I had to because there were 3 munchkins fighting for space in there!!!!
How often did you see your Dr after you found out you were carrying more than 1? Hee hee hee- It seemed like I was going ALL THE TIME! At first I alternated seeing my OB & specialist twice a month, then we went to twice a month on the specialist & once a month on the OB, then near the end I was seeing them weekly, then twice a week the last month when NOBODY could figure out how it was that I was still pregnant! (not very reassuring to hear that one from your doctors!)
How often did you have ultrasounds? Every time I went to see my specialist! Which seemed like all the time! I got where I dreaded my biophysical profiles because my kids would plot & plan for them and hold their breath & all (yes we caught them actually doing just that!)
How much weight were you told to gain during your pregnancy? Ha ha that’s a funny one- well he said 100 lbs by January (6months) because after that I would be fighting the growth spurts and the shear size factor pushing on my stomache-ASK ME IF I MADE THIS GOAL? Um no I didn’t
How much did you actually gain? 23-25 lbs tops- why? Not because I didn’t TRY to eat- (was taken to Superior every Saturday til I was 32 weeks & just couldn’t make the walk from the car to the table then it was delivered to me) also would go to tacobell & order something high in protein(beans) and calorie just to try & get something in there- didn’t work- yes I actually LOST weight while pregnant with triplets- it was very strange…
When did you find out the babies sexes? In December- when I was a little over 5 months along- 2 of em were open about it-my daughter did have to be held in place by 2 people to see, but meanwhile, Kai got his feelings hurt over not being first(he HAS to be first ALWAYS or he pouts bigtime) so he actually turned his back on them when they went to look at him- and stayed that way for 2 whole weeks- but by the 12th we knew who he was! Plus that he was a severe pouter! & still is!
Did you read any books about being pregnant with multiples? Tried to- have the two books in town that I could find about the subject- did better on the internet scouring people’s homepages about their experiences with their own multiples -& the discovery channel has a multiples baby pregnancy show that was helpful..
What books did you read about pregnancy when you were pregnant? Twins,triplets & more & dr luke’s what to expect w/ higher order multiples(not the name of it but is yellow book that is along that lines) neither are very helpful really… because EVERY multiple pregnancy is different in some way so all you can do is scare yourself into understanding that you have to go it alone & must wing it! But it sets the standard for what happens after delivery!!!
Did you go on bed rest? Heck yes!
If so when, why, and how long? Mandatory @ 5 months exactly & it was a bit too tardy for my taste! Tried to work thru to the end of it & had issues @ work!
What did you do while you were on bed rest? I made my own rules based on my body-(not for everyone-you have to be very disciplined to do this)you have to really understand when your body is saying its done & must rest now! I read books, did carpool til the Friday before I delivered(my one daily outing for 30 minutes!) I went to Superior every Saturday for lunch with my daddy til my body wouldn’t allow me to walk from the car to the table then it was delivered to me!) I went shopping for small increments with a friend or my son who could help me put together my little handicapped cart(motorized) –if you can borrow one of those for your bedrest do it! It really helps especially if your on bedrest during Christmas season like me! I also watched the discovery health channel baby baby shows about multiples,scoured the internet for stories by people like me! And lurked on the triplet connection forum! Tried to find a multiples program locally to no avail- did talk to someone who had middle school aged triplets- but it had been awhile!
How hard was it to move after 30 weeks. Ha ha ha ha ha- I am one of those who did whatever I had to do when I needed to do it! So it wasn’t easy walking the 10 feet to the bathroom from the couch, but I did it- of course it hurt- I never stopped doing things even when it hurt-I drove myself to all my dr appts by myself up til the end- I did carpool for my son & niece until the Friday before I delivered(scheduled for the next Monday!) I helped assemble my nursery and oversaw the massive last cleaning o the house prior to delivery! So its hard to move, but I did what I had to do!