1st Trimester

When I first found out I was pregnant, I had actually visited the doctor about my abdomen swelling up unusually large. I had looked as though I'd gone from 0 months to 5 months pregnant overnight. It turned out that I had a swollen ovary. Blood tests confirmed I was pregnant. When the doctor did our first ultrasound (at 7 weeks?) we were shocked to learn we were expecting triplets! I just started laughing hysterically and then started crying. The doctor had to give me and John a few minutes to regroup. We finally settled in with the idea of having three babies and were getting real excited.

During my first trimester I was able to check off nearly every single negative pregnancy symptom, the worst being "morning" sickness. Or shall I say, all day and night sickness. I felt as though I had food poisoning 24/7. I didn't always throw up but I always felt like it. Although I was a former health nut in my pre-pregnancy life, I was suddenly turned off by all healthy foods. All I could stomach was bread and cheese. NO vegetables and NO fiber.

Something else I experienced that wasn't exactly a pregnancy symptom was severe cramping on my lower left side that shot down my leg and wrapped around my back. It was debilitating. The pain was sharp and stabbing and came in waves. One day around 3 or 4 a.m., I was just lying on the floor crying, not even wanting to be taken to the emergency room because that involved getting up off the floor. I eventually went in later that day for tests which all came back inconclusive. Doctors assumed it was either a twisted ovary or a kidney stone. After a week, the pain subsided and eventually disappeared.

At 11 1/2 weeks, we had our first visit with the high risk specialist which left us with mixed emotions. Unfortunately, one of our three babies had stopped growing, leaving us with twins. The good news was the remaining two were doing great. They were a healthy 5 cm (2 inches) and growing fast. Two weeks prior they were the size and shape of gummy bears (3/4" with nubs for arms & legs), but at this visit they looked like little babies! We could clearly see their facial profiles, arms, legs, and even little fingers. They were very squirmy, so much in fact that the doc was getting annoyed as he was trying to take photos and measurements. They almost looked like they were swimming at times. So, while we were initially saddened by the loss of one of the babies, we were also overwhelmed with excitement after watching the other two squirm around for about ten minutes.