Wednesday, October 2, 2013

9/11/13 (Week 13) Dance Party!

No morning sickness!  It's really interesting to me the amount of sarcastic hate I've been getting from women who hear that I'm not suffering as they have suffered.  It's pretty hilarious on some days, and a little irksome on others.  Let's remember ladies, that life is going to be a beautiful hell once these little ones are here.  

I'm going to be a sleepless milk cow zombie, don't I deserve a little peace before the chaos?

The ultrasound this week was a lot of fun with the babies dancing and spinning with every press of the ultrasound wand.  One downside is that they won't let me or don't have the ability to let me listen to their heartbeat.  They just have a sound band that pops up on the screen.  The only way to get their heartbeats in this office is with the Doppler, which definitely doesn't work on the larger ladies or with triplets.   

 I also had my first silent tech moment during an ultrasound and that gave me palpitations for a quick sec.  I noticed that she was measuring stuff that wasn't the babies, wasn't the placenta, not the uterus, or the cervix.  What else could there possibly be?  

When I asked the tech, she was NOT willing to discuss the issue.  Just kept saying that super creepy phrase, oh the doctor will review all of this with you.  I pressed and pressed until she told me that there was a small hemorrhage in my uterus, in between the uterus and one of the placentas.  Doc Awesome assured me that it's not a big deal...yet, and not to even think about it.  So I'm putting that worry away for now.

9/9/13 (Week 12) and boy have I been spoiled!

I did not fully comprehend how incredibly lucky we were to be getting a bazillion images of the babies every week until I was cut off with a regular ob/gyn.  Even worse, our videos  have been cut off, much to my mother's despair Anyone know a good place for spy glasses?  The tech just about bit my husband head off when he attempted to video the ultrasound.  She couldn't have been polite about instructing us on their policy?  Instead she acted as if we had broken several major laws.  So unprofessional and rude!     

However, I really wasn't prepared for one picture of each kid, and the totally unclear images that are a part of a regular ultrasound.  Who would have thought that I would miss the weekly assault of the trans-vaginal ultrasound.  I know, I know, three babies, shut my mouth already, but isn't part of the joy of pregnancy the part where I get to complain about this stuff?

Don't get me wrong, I love our new dr, care of my friend Kristy Pier.  She recommended a stupendous doc who treats me kindly.  She's also super supportive of the triplets.  Instead of hearing more recommendations for reductions, she said "Meh, it's just one more baby, what's the big deal?"  

For those of you who didn't hear about the doc drama, I almost ended up with no doctor at all.  I had visions of wandering through the halls of the hospital, with babies popping out and no one willing to deliver. 

Our infertility doc gave us a recommendation for a high risk doctor.  I called, was told they wouldn't see me because my infertility dr hadn't sent a referral in, I argued that she had, they insisted she hadn't and wouldn't even put me on the books while I had the referral reissued.  I asked for the manager, argued with her, beating my head against the brick wall of bureaucracy.  My infertility doc had sent a letter directly to their physician who hadn't relayed the info to his staff. We knew we needed to get in to someone, so I went to Kristy so I could poach her ob/gyn.

When we met our new doctor she began the conversation with a "small" issue.  Small in that technically she is unable to treat a triplet mom.........WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTT! (picture minon here)

Evidently it is incredibly hard to get permission to treat multiples (higher than twins), at least in the Schaumburg area.  Theories abound as to why.  (name that movie)  Liability, perhaps?  My doc was waiting to get approval from her owner/partner doc.  She had previously been told to turn a triplet mother away.  She was sent all the way to Naperville and others are usually sent downtown.  I pictured trying to get downtown in the snow of the new year, or trying to drive down every day to feed my NICU babies.  
  
In the meantime she swore to me that she would find another provider, and proceeded to go in the hall and make phone calls. 

 She called NCH, which responded "Ohhhh, triplets?  Yeah, we don't do those."  
How does a hospital not DO triplets?

She called her husband, another ob/gyn at CDH.  He had previously delivered several sets of triplets.
Unfortunately they had just been bought out, and were no longer allowed to deal with triplets.
She returned, relayed this information, and explained that she still hadn't heard from her boss.  

Sooooooooo, we have no doctor?  Cue panic, heart palpitations, and a certain hormonal glisten in my eyes. 

Two hours later I had a voicemail from our doc saying, miracle of miracles, she could take us.  Her dedication to caring for us was incredibly touching and so unexpected.