Week 29 Appointment

This Wednesday we had our 29th week appointment. Everything went really well - there were no issues at all really. We had an ultrasound to check the babies' heart rates and fluid levels, and these were all normal. Then John and I talked to one of the doctors about my symptoms and lab work, and that all was fine as well. Smooth and steady so far!

A lot of people have been asking when the amigos are going to make their debut, so I thought I'd write a little bit about that. Gestational age, or the age of the baby, is calculated from the first day of the mother's last menstrual period. The average length of gestation for a single baby is 40 weeks - many people also think of this in terms of 9 months. For triplets, the nationwide average gestation is 34 weeks. The reason this is so much shorter is that the uterus is meant to grow to a certain size, and then the body knows it's time to give birth. All sorts of hormones are released saying "It's time!" Well, if you've seen my recent pictures, you know my body must be really confused! It's thinking it's time, but nothing's happening! This is why bed rest is so important. The weight of the uterus being pulled downward by gravity can also lead your body to think it's time. So everything we're doing now is to prevent my body from going into labor, just because of the physical size of my belly!

Even if I were to start into labor, that doesn't mean I would have to deliver the babies. There are all sorts of things that the doctors can do to stop labor in most cases. This could include administering drugs called tocolytics and/or being on super strict hospital bedrest.

OK, so the average gestational length for triplets is 34 weeks. My doctor's average is 35 weeks, so that's our goal. Why is one more week so important? Well, at 34 weeks, that's when most babies have developed the ability to breathe on their own, due to the presence of surfactant, a substance that helps keep the lungs open. The babies also should have developed the sucking reflex around 32 weeks, which means they should be able to eat on their own when born. At 34 weeks, all organ systems have been developed and the babies will just be growing bigger. The bigger the babies are, the less time they will probably need to spend in the hospital after birth. So our personal goal is 35 weeks, and 4.5 lbs. per baby. That makes the magic date October 29. We haven't scheduled the borth yet, but if everything goes well for the next couple of weeks, we will schedule the C-section! It seems like it's really coming fast!