Did you say “Three”???? Oh my God!!!!

Written on 8/2/2010...posted on 8/17/2010:

So, where do I begin? A few weeks ago, on Monday, 7/12, Chase turned 2 years old. On Tuesday, 7/13, Melissa had a doctor’s appt at the OBGYN for the first ultrasound of the new pregnancy. After some difficulty getting pregnant over the last 6 months or so, she had finally gotten good news from the “pee-stick” so we were going to the OBGYN in order to hopefully confirm everything and get a first glimpse of the heart beat. Because of the difficulties getting pregnant, and the miscarriage from last year, we were both a little nervous about the appointment. After about a 10 minute wait the nurse escorted us back to the ultrasound room. The ultrasound tech came in and started to do her thing. I was holding Chase, so the three of us had our eyes glued to the 20 inch flat screen on the wall (times have changed at the OB’s office, even since Chase was born). For those of you who have never had the privilege of seeing a live ultrasound, especially in the first trimester, laypeople (like us) really has no idea what they’re looking at. It really does seem like you’re looking for a lost ring at the bottom of a murky lake (yes, I’ve done that…you can’t see anything down there). Anyway, the ultrasound tech does her thing and after 30 seconds or so, she casually says “Melissa, is this your first ultrasound?” This is not what we wanted to hear. Both of us made the assumption that meant she couldn’t find a heartbeat. Our hearts sunk just a little. Melissa responded with one word…”yes”. There was silence for what seemed like 60 seconds…it was probably more like 6 seconds. Then the ultrasound tech said “Have you been on fertility drugs?” Six simple words and our lives had taken a drastic turn. It was obvious now that our original concern about finding a heartbeat was not the issue. It was now more like how many heartbeats. Melissa responded with one word again…“Femara”. Femara is a prescription drug that helps regulate the ovulation cycle in women. More on that later, but the Ultrasound tech obviously knows all about Femara. According to the doctor who prescribed it, Femara has a multiple pregnancy rate of 2% - 4% (for those familiar with it, that’s compared to 7% - 10% for Clomid). So, we knew that there was a small chance of twins, so when the ultrasound tech asked about fertility drugs, we figured she meant twins, and were not floored…yet. I “calmly” asked her what she meant by that question. “Are you saying that you see twins? Or…exactly what are you saying?” She hesitated for, again, what seemed to be several minutes. Finally she uttered “I see three”. OK, now we were officially floored. Yes, TRIPLETS!! I really do wish I had a picture of our faces in that moment to capture it. Over the next few minutes (as we somehow tried to absorb this information), the ultrasound tech measured all three and eventually got one picture with all three in the same picture. Unbelievable!!

Ever since that moment, we have been in something that I would call a mix of surreal joy and utter panic. It still doesn’t seem real. This kind of stuff happens to other people right? The thoughts that run through your head when you find this kind of information out are crazy. Health concerns is at the top of the list obviously…for both Melissa and the babies. Financial concerns. Automobile concerns. Some of Melissa’s first words after hearing this news were “I guess I’m going to have to get that mini-van after all”. Turns out, we’re not even sure a minivan is big enough for 4 car seats, a couple of strollers and all the gear that you need with 4 children under the age of 3 (see, you hadn’t thought about that yet had you)!

Life has certainly taken a unique twist for us. Twist…who am I kidding? It took a hard banked turn at about 3 G-forces! In a nutshell, all we knew leaving that doctor’s appointment on 7/13 was that we would probably be referred out to either Duke or UNC Hospital since Rex doesn’t deliver triplets. The three babies measured 7 weeks and 3 days (A), 7 weeks and 3 days (B) and 7 weeks and 1 day (C). That was a great sign, as that means they are all developing at an even pace, which is a very good thing. Albeit very early on, our triplets seem to be developing well and seem very healthy.