Friday February 29, 2008

I needed to wait until today to update about yesterday's appointment as I have been going faster than I am able. I brought Taylor home with me yesterday for the weekend and that has proven to be too good of a time. Once she reached her bedroom she did not know what to play with first. Off came the clothes and right into her favorite "Queen" dress, out came the barbies, and the rest of whatever she could get a hold of. She needed someone to play with as she is already missing her cousins and the companionship. There was only one other person for her to play with so I was it. It proved to be a good time for both of us.
The appointment went awesome once again! The babies continue to grow and post great gains. Currently the boys are both at 3 lbs. 8 oz. +/- 10 oz. Baby C is at 2 lbs. 1 oz. +/- 4 oz. Baby C proved to be quite the trial for the poor ultrasound tech. She was once again practicing her breathing, this time to the tune of a pant. She would pant for a about 15 seconds, rest, and then continue. Baby B was also practicing his breathing. We have yet to see baby A practice but I am not saying that it doesn't, we just have not caught him in the act just yet.
Game plan: Melissa will now visit the Doctor's Office once a week. At this time they will do a Non Stress Test (NST). The nurse will put sensors on Melissa's tummy looking for the baby's heartbeats, one per baby, and then other sensor to monitor contractions. They will be watching for the babies activity. While they are active their heart rate increases. This helps to strengthen the heart and prepare for birth. They would like to see a 15-20 beat increase about 3-4 times within 20 minutes. Baby C was the winner yesterday. She passed her test within minutes while the boys were slackers and took the entire 20 minutes to perform. This is very encouraging given the scare that Baby C gave us a month ago. She is proving to be quite the little fighter.
Melissa posted a three pound weight gain from the last appointment. This helped relieve our worries because of her sickness lately. Unfortunately, we have to give the gain to the babies as their combined total equaled the three lbs. I know that is much more of where Melissa would like to see the gain. :)
Taylor and I had an excellent opportunity to talk as we traveled home yesterday afternoon. She is very excited about the babies and the chance to be a big sister. Taylor looks to her mother as a major example wants to be just like her. Just look at this picture taken on one of our trips from Boise. Look close enough and you will see her "baby."

Her baby is under her shirt... Just like Mommy!