Weekly Checkup - 12/30/14

NST and BPP tests both looked good today.  The ultrasound revealed that Baby B has turned and is now breech.  This makes sense and we aren't shocked as Sara had a lot of contractions on Christmas morning (which eventually settled down) and that is when she likely turned.  It isn't a big deal that she has turned as we are having a c-section.
Next appointment in a week which will be NST and BPP again.  A week after that on January 13th we have growth measurements, NST, BPP and OB check.
I'd also like to point out that my wife is a rock star as she is still working 3 half days each week and our nurse said most women have been on bedrest for weeks already. :)
Have a happy new year!
cw

Weekly Checkup - 12/23

Sorry this post is a little late with the busyness of Christmas this past week.
Our checkup last Tuesday went pretty well.  Both girls had biophysical profiles (BPPs).  Baby A got a 6/8 score (which is both passing and appropriate) and Baby B got 8/8.  Looks like we already have "naughty" babies. :)
Also had another non-stress test this week which looked good as well.
Next appointment is this Tuesday 12/30.

Weekly Checkup - 12/16

Today's ultrasound included growth measurements, along with the usual biophysicals and NSTs.  The growth measurements look great.  Baby A is in the 52nd percentile at 3lb 3oz and Baby B is in the 31st percentile at 2lb 13oz, both appropriate for their gestational age.

The biophysicals and NSTs were good as well.

Sara will monitor the girls for 10 kicks per hour and also to make sure that she is only having 5-10 contractions per day.

Sara has been sleeping better at night, but waking up really tired.  Dr. Block says it is like Sara is running a marathon 24 hours per day, constantly jogging.  That would explain why she is tired. :)

Next appointment in a week, Tuesday Dec 23.
cw

Weekly Checkup - 12/9

This week's checkup included another biophysical checkup which checked breathing and movement and, once again, both girls passed by breathing for 30 seconds and by showing great movement.

Sara and the girls also had another non-stress test (NST) and that looked good as well.

Next week's appointment will be growth measurements and scheduling out the delivery on the calendar!  It will likely be scheduled for the beginning of February.

Weekly Checkup -12/3

The girls had a biophysical today which measures breathing and movement; both girls passed.  They also had a non-stress test and both are in the appropriate range for heartbeats as well!  Everything is looking good.

The nurse midwife told us today that every day that the girls stay inside, is three less days in the NICU.  DLS said the cut off for delivery is 37 weeks.

Our next appointment is next Tuesday December 9 where we will have another biophysical and non-stress test.

Keep on keepin' on!

Weekly Checkup - 11/21

Today's checkup (26 weeks, 2 days) included measurements of both girls, to ensure they are growing at a similar rate.  Baby A is 2 lbs and Baby B is 1 lb 15 ounces, so that is great news.  They are both measuring in the 49th and 50th percentile which is great as well, according to DLS.  Bladders and heart rates look good, too.
Sara continues to work 3 half days each week.  She is taking it week by week and will see how long she is able to work.  The doctors - Josh, Ryan, Steve - and the other dental assistants, hygienists and staff at her practice have been so flexible and supportive through all of this, so that has been a blessing.  My new employer, Target, has also been very supportive and flexible as well.
Our next appointment is Wednesday, December 3rd.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

cw

Weekly Checkup - 11/14/14

Our appointment was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but we rescheduled it to today due to the snowstorm.  Today's checkup was another positive one.  Things are stable, the girls fluid is still stable and the hearts, dopplers, stomachs and bladders look good.  Sara had a glucose test, which she passed and her hemoglobin came back good as well.  Our next appointment is next Friday in Maple Grove, where we will have a comprehensive ultrasound with measurements, weights, etc.  We are continuing to pray for "boring" appointments!

Weekly Checkup - 11/4

Our checkup today is what we have been waiting for.  DLS said things look "great"!  A and B both have good bladders, stomachs and the dopplers (blood flow to the brain) look good.
Weekly visits will continue.

This week is also a milestone as we will hit 24 weeks on Wednesday.  If one or both of the girls were to be in distress at this point, we would be able to deliver them and they would be able to survive.  Of course, we want them to "bake" as long as possible, so we will hope for similar checkups like today. :)

Lastly, thanks to everyone who attended our shower on Saturday, along with our friends Leah, Sandi, Ang and Heidi who put it on.  We feel very blessed to have so many people willing to support us on this journey.

Weekly Checkup - 10/28

Sorry for the late update.  We had our weekly checkup on Tuesday.  DLS said the girls are still stable, dopplers and heart rates look good.  He said the fluid for both A and B are "low-ish", but said that it doesn't give him cause for immediate concern and we will continue to monitor weekly, with our next appointment scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon 11/4.

As the girls are getting bigger, Sara is able to feel them moving around a lot more now.

Weekly Checkup - 10/21

We had our weekly checkup today in Minneapolis.  Both girls look really good!  Measurements are looking good with Baby A weighing 15 ounces and Baby B at 14 ounces.  B once again showed a bladder so that's great.

Sara needed to have some blood drawn as she has been itching quite a bit the last few days.  Dr. Block said it could be cholestasis of pregnancy, but we will wait for the lab results to confirm.  If it is cholestasis of pregnancy, luckily there is some medication Sara can take to help alleviate the itching.

Sara was also told that she needs to put on some more weight, so it looks like I will need to start baking.  Might be time to call Betty Crocker Darin Albrecht for some recipes.

Lastly, when Sara had the last procedure done on October 10, they took some amniotic fluid and sent it in for chromosome testing.  We received word today that the results of the test came back normal, so that was also good news.

Next checkup Tuesday, October 28.

cw

Good Update

We had a checkup today in Minneapolis.  We were mainly hoping and praying for two heartbeats and two beautiful heartbeats is exactly what we got!  Baby B is now also showing a very small bladder, which means that she is likely starting to produce her own fluid and that makes us cautiously optimistic that the two procedures Sara had were hopefully successful.

We are still sad and grieving the loss of Tenley and she will forever be in our hearts and minds.  But we are also hopeful for the future that the other two girls will continue to be healthy and thrive.  We will have routine weekly appointments from here on out.

It has been a roller coaster of emotions the past few weeks and we have greatly appreciated your thoughts and prayers.

Angel Wings

This morning at about 9:00am, DLS did an ultrasound to check the girls prior to our discharge.  Unfortunately, Baby C - Tenley Lane Wilke - did not have a heartbeat.  We are obviously heartbroken by the news.  DLS didn't have an explanation  as to why or what might have happened at this time.  She had a good heartbeat as of her last check last night at 7:00pm.

We are comforted by the fact that when Tenley entered heaven last night, she was greeted not only by Jesus, but also by my Grandma LaVonne, Sara's brother Joel and others who have gone before us.

Babies A and B both had good heartbeats and looked good as of this morning.  We are planning to check them here in Hutch this weekend to see how they are doing and for some peace of mind, as we don't have another appointment in Minneapolis until Tuesday.

We are so thankful for the care we have received at both the MN Perinatal Institute along with the Mother Baby Center in Minneapolis.  They are phenomenal.  We are also very thankful for your thoughts and prayers throughout this process.  We will continue to need them as we go forward, in hopes that our other two girls will continue to be healthy and survive.

Surgery complete

Sara came out of surgery about 2pm.  The procedure went well and she and the girls are resting comfortably.  They were able to seal off 7 blood vessels between B and C.  DLS said he hopes that Baby B will now start making her own fluid.  We won't know that for probably a week or so.

During the procedure Sara's block wore off again and it started to get painful toward the end of the procedure.

DLS took some pictures of the girls while he was in there.  It's unbelievable to see their little faces, noses and lips in something other than an ultrasound.  Sure makes it all real.

If everything continues to go well, we will head home tomorrow sometime.

Procedure/surgery again today

DLS took a look at the girls this morning and everyone still looks stable.  Because they're all stable, he said now is the time to seal off the blood vessels between B and C.  Sara is having surgery at Noon today.  I'll update after she is out of recovery.

Checkup today - stable

We went in for a checkup today and things are stable.  The twin to twin transfusion is between B and C and it is possible, even likely, we will need to do the laser procedure again on those two, to seal off the blood vessels.  Baby B still shows very little fluid, but her heart and dopplers all look good, as is the case for all of the girls.

We are going back on Friday morning for a check up and under the assumption we will do the procedure that day again.

Check Up - Good

DLS did an ultrasound this morning and checked the girls.  All three of them look to be doing well.  All have good heartbeats, dopplers look good.  They seem to be a little closer in there, but that is to be expected after 3 pounds of fluid is removed.

We are home now and Sara is resting.  We head back on Tuesday for a re-check.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers over the past few days.  We really could feel all of you lifting us up.

Procedure Went Well

The procedure went well this morning.  We arrived at the hospital a little after 5am.  Sara went in at 7:30am and was in recovery shortly before 10am.  The babies did awesome during the whole procedure and their hearts rates were/are good.  Dr. Lynch-Salamon (DLS) drained fluid from both A and C down to about 6 and was able to seal off blood vessels on A.    Sara is having some contractions, which is to be expected since they drained fluid.  Hopefully this means that B and C will now share fluid nicely.  DLS will be back tomorrow morning hopefully around 8am to take a look at the girls and see how everything looks.  After that, we can hopefully go home.

Procedure Needed

At today's checkup, Dr. Lynch-Salamon said we are at the point where we need to do something.  The fluid levels in Babies A and C have risen to 10, while Baby B continues to not have much fluid, which indicates the twin to twin transfusion syndrome has progressed to stage 2. 

That being said, we are scheduled for the laser ablation procedure tomorrow morning at 7:30am.  Sara will be awake for the procedure and will need to spend one night in the hospital.  If all goes well, she will be able to come home Saturday morning.  He is leaning toward sealing off the blood vessels of one baby (likely A), then monitoring to see how things progress.

We don't know the prognosis or outcome as this is such a rare case (Monochorionic-triamniotic triplets).  They will watch Sara to see if they need to do a second laser ablation surgery on Baby C in the near future.

There is good news, too.  The perinatal cardiologist took a look at the hearts of all of the girls and she said they look "beautiful".  And overall, the girls all look good health wise.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow and in the days to come that the procedure would be successful and that Sara and the girls would come through the procedure safe and sound.

Thank you!
cw

Status Quo

We had a re-check today and our Doctor told us everything is status quo and very similar to Friday, which is good.  So, we are still just monitoring and will re-check again on Thursday.

After our appointment, we were able to have a little bit of normalcy and watched the Vikings beat the Falcons at TCF Bank Stadium. Our seats were in the sun, but Sara was a trooper and spent some time watching below deck on a chair in the shade.  One of the vendors even gave her a free snow cone. :)  Skol!

Our Story

In the summer of 2014, we found out we were expecting.  Throughout the beginning of the pregnancy, Sara was more ill and nauseous than she recalled from her previous two pregnancies.  Since Sara would be turning 35 soon and entering the higher risk category, we were scheduled for an ultrasound at 12 weeks.

So, on August 12, 2014, we went in to the Hutchinson Medical Center for what we thought would be a quick, routine check of our baby.  Initially, the ultrasound tech said "are you ready for this" and we immediately knew it was more than one.  She told us she saw twins.  About 30 seconds later, she said, "hold on, I think I see one more". 

A few minutes later the shocker of a lifetime was confirmed by the doctor...We were pregnant with triplets!

We were then referred to the Minnesota Perinatal Institute in Minneapolis for follow up and consultation. 

At our first appointment with them, they had another surprise in store for us.  The babies were all identical girls!  While exciting, this posed yet an even higher risk.  All of the babies share the same placenta, which means very close monitoring every 2 weeks.  The term for our pregnancy is spontaneous identical triplets.  Which means, completely natural identical triplets without the use of any fertility drugs or treatments.  We finished up our first appointment with a thorough ultrasound of each girl, including measurements, weights and fluid levels.  All of the girls looked to be growing at the exact same rate with the same amount of fluid.

Our second appointment was a shorter, limited ultrasound a couple of weeks later.  They checked mainly the fluid levels and umbilical cord insertions.  Again, all of the girls were tracking well and the fluid levels looked really good.

On Tuesday, September 23, we went in for another detailed ultrasound.  The ultrasound seemed to be going well and the measurements of each of the girls was about the same.  Toward the end of the ultrasound, we took a break.  After that break the Doctor came in and told us that Baby B looked to have less fluid around her and that she wasn't exhibiting the same function of emptying her bladder every 15 minutes like the other two girls.  She said she consulted a colleague and they suspected the girls may have what is called twin to twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby takes more fluid from another, leaving one baby with more fluid and the other with much less.

Our Doctor indicated that we were to come back the next day to re-check the fluid levels and prepare for the possibility of a laparoscopic procedure to seal off some blood vessels to even out the fluid.

We went in the next day (Wednesday).  The Doctor re-checked the fluid levels and they were roughly the same as the previous day.  He said since our case is so rare, he was consulting some colleagues across the country for advice.  He advised us that the best thing to do was to wait a couple more days to see if the levels had changed and then discuss again.

We then went in on Friday and re-checked again.  Baby B's fluid level had dropped a little, but she was still moving around and being fairly active.  The Doctor said it was best to wait a couple more days and re-check again.  So, we are going in again tomorrow (Sunday) to re-check fluid levels.

Throughout this past week, we have had a wide range of emotions.  At one point, we thought that if we were to lose one baby, we would lose them all.  We thankfully found out that isn't the case.  We also found out that any number of things could happen.

1) If things don't change much, we likely could ride this out for a while and keep monitoring for any major changes or "watershed" events.
2) It is very possible even likely, though, that we will need to do some sort of intervention.
3) There is also a possibility, be it a last option, that if the fluid level of Baby B continues to drop and the risk of doing the laparoscopic procedure is too high, we might be faced with doing a selective reduction and cutting her off so the other two girls aren't jeopardized further.  We hope not to get to that point.

That is why we have started this blog.  To keep you all updated on the status and progress of our triplet girls.  We greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we go through this process.

cw

Starting a blog

Hello World!  We are starting this blog to keep everyone updated on the happenings in our (growing) family!