Three Little Birds: Ultrasounds, ultrasounds, ultrasounds

There are some moments in this story we feel deserve an entire post. The ultrasound-revelation that we're having triplets is one such moment.

[Robin] "That morning I started getting really nervous. When you’ve tried that long for a baby and had so many setbacks, you can never really shake the feeling that someone will take it all away from you at any minute. I think we were both equally anxious and excited when we got to the ultrasound room at PREG.

Thankfully, the sweet new nurse kindly explained to me they would do a regular ultrasound first, but would probably not see anything until we did one vaginally. She said all this so I wouldn’t worry, which was greatly appreciated.

However, it wasn’t necessary because the moment our doctor placed the wand on my belly we saw three, separate dark circles. My first thought was I can’t believe my ovaries are that large. My next thought, which I said aloud, was, “Is… Is that what I think it is?” The doc said, rather matter-of-factly, it looked like three individual sacs, with three individual heartbeats, and congratulations we were having triplets.

At this point, we (me, the doc, and the nurse), all slowly turned to look back at Jay who was staring at the screen with a positively unreadable face. He later confessed that he almost passed out, and I probably would have too if I wasn't lying down. At this point, I started nervous laughing so hard that he couldn’t continue take pictures. The doctor told us that each baby was measuring well and each had a strong heartbeat. Great news!

The rest of the ultrasound seemed to take forever because the doctor kept saying this wasn’t our plan for you, and that he was sorry. I am sorry about putting this much pressure on your body. Eventually the doc and the nurse left the room, and Jay and I spent a few minutes laughing, crying, and holding each other.

After that sweet moment, I immediately reverted back to worrying, especially after the doc had profusely apologized. So of course I went home that day and read horrible things. If you google triplet pregnancy (don't google triplet pregnancy) the first ten hits are all about risk factors, birth defects, and the like. For example, there is up to a 40% chance of vanishing twin syndrome where one or more babies will miscarry while the others continue. The next couple of weeks I kept thinking we would go in for an ultrasound and there would only be one baby or two. I found out later that once you have established a strong heart beat this chance lowers significantly, but that is what I get for reading things on the internet. I guess that's all a part of being a mother. I'll never stop worrying."

"Today, a medical doctor, via a magical wand on my wife's tummy, showed us not one, not two, but three (huge) tiny dark circles. In a moment that felt longer than all the other moments combined, and in a domino like fashion, the nurse, the doctor, and the wife, all slow turned, mouths agape, and stared at me. The only way I can explain that feeling was how I imagined Bill Cosby's character in Ghost Dad felt. Was I really there? Did that just happen? Can everyone see me? Pudding pops?

Being someone who is deeply grounded in pop culture, I also thought that the screen, with the aforementioned 3 dark circles, looked like the mask from Scream, as well as the radar screen from Independence Day. Someone tell Will Smith to give me one of those cigars. The proverbial fat lady had sung.

Side note: I just realized the aliens in InDay that attacked "earf" were probably just a small percentage of an ancient and massive alien race, and once they heard what happened will come back and destroy us all, especially now that Harry Connick Jr. was dead. End of ADD road trip.

The doctor then played for us the three (three!) greatest sounds I've ever heard – three (THREE!) perfect sounding tiny heartbeats. I immediately wondered how in the world I was able to hear them over my own. But heard them I did, loud and clear. And it was beautiful.

With the screen zoomed in on Goldblum's laptop, the doc labeled these three (3!) sacs A, B, and C, which I can only assume is some cryptic doctor code for 1, 2, and 3 (¡tres!). Then, finally, the medical team left us alone, soon followed by a flood of happy tears and a loving embrace. I have a pretty good memory, so I can say this with confidence – no other moment up to that point can compare to that one. It wasn't even close."

At the first ultrasound they labeled them Baby A, B, C, (in the order they would be born) and Jay swears that Baby B is a little girl.

Our second ultrasound (at 7 weeks) was at our OB’s office. Since we knew we needed fertility treatments when we moved to Greenville, we went straight to a specialist and I never found a regular OBGYN. PREG gave us a great referral to Piedmont OBGYN. They have doctors there specializing in multiples and high risk pregnancy and they are located at the hospital with the highest level NICU in the city, which is very important as 90% of multiples spend at least some time in the NICU. They told us that we would have an ultrasound at all visits since it is really the only way to check the babies’ heartbeat because a Doppler will detect a heartbeat, but there is no way of knowing who it belongs to. We loved Dr. Moore and all of the nurses there. Dr. Moore seemed serendipitous because the doctor who delivered my and was my first GYN was also name Dr. Moore and because we are clearly having MORE babies. This time Baby A’s heartbeat was 164, Baby B’s was 146, and Baby C’s was 141. We had joked after the transfer that if we had a little runt we would know it was that third embryo that wasn’t quite as developed, but there are all measuring the same size and all have relatively similar heartbeats. The technician said if she had to guess she would say two boys (B and C) and a girl. Jay, of course, rejected that because that meant that baby B wasn’t a girl.