New Pictures!

My little cuddle bugs


Triplet bonding time… Look at those hands!


Peek-a-boo!! David peeking at Aria, and Levi is loving his spot back in the middle of everything.


Another version of a favorite photo


Our “home away from home”. The little ones all snug in their beds.


Here are some personality pictures:

Aria doing what she loves best, stretching! Look at those knees!


Levi VERY upset he had to get naked for his turn on the scale and getting a bath. He’s holding on for dear life!


Levi with one tiny finger stuck under the feeding tube.


David’s deep soulful eyes... very calm, cool and collected.


After a bath time, each babe got a nice clean preemie outfit. These photos give absolutely no perspective as to how tiny they really are! They are in order again: David, Aria and Levi.


Aria looks like she's getting ready to direct her first choir!




Here’s some perspective: MY thumb next to Aria’s leg


Daddy reading David his “birth” day present: Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss. Each baby got a book from Daddy with a love letter inside and Mommy got one too. Could he be more wonderful?


Levi and Daddy doing some “Kangaroo Care”. They fell asleep on the couch.


Angel bears looking over the baby bears. Thanks Aunt MiMi and Aunt Donna!!


Here are the lyrics to a lullaby I like to sing the babies when I have them snuggled close. It’s always been my favorite song and now I hold the ones I’ve dreamed about my whole life.

Masterpiece
(spoken: “You made my whole being. You formed me in my mother’s body. You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother’s body. I praise You because You made me in an amazing and wonderful way.”)

Before you had a name, or opened up your eyes
Or anyone could recognize your face.
You were being formed, so delicate in size
Secluded in God’s safe and hidden place.
With your little tiny hands and little tiny feet
And little eyes that shimmer like a pearl.
He breathed in you a song and to make it all complete
He brought the masterpiece into the world.

You are a masterpiece, a new creation He has formed
And you’re as soft and fresh as a snowy winter morn
And I’m so glad that God has given you to me
Little lamb of God, you are a masterpiece.

So many small miracles...

What a wonderful day! I got to spend 12 hours in the NICU and had the time of my life. The kids are doing awesome! They are so fun. I got to give my first "baby bath" to Aria tonight. I also got to do lots of feedings with everyone. Bonus-(and I'm not even going to be sarcastic), I got to change my first poopy diaper! Actually, they were there, lined up three in a row and all with poopy diapers. It was great. I can't believe I really have three babies and as the mommy, I'm in charge of poopy diapers! WOOHOO! I KNOW-everyone is rolling their eyes at me. I'm sure the romance will wear off sometime but you have no idea how long I've waited for this!

Wow - for all of you who said a prayer today... thank you!! Every single concern I talked about was addressed today! David increased how many bottles he gets to eat and wolfed them down in 30 seconds every time. I bet he increases again tomorrow!! Aria didn't spit up once that I saw today, and I already mentioned I was there for 12hours! Levi only had a couple spells and snapped out of them before we could hardly turn and look at the monitors. He had gone all night without one last night. Finally, Dan actually got to see his kiddos tonight! We had some friends ask about coming up to Sioux Falls and seeing them, and he got to ride along! Soooo perfect. That also meant he got home at a decent time and will be able to get up early for a meeting he has to get to. Pray for his safe travels.

Happy one week old David, Aria and Levi!!

PS-More pictures soon, I promise.

Oh yeah...

I forgot: the triplets mommy is doing really well too. :) I'm feeling so much better with each passing day. I am grateful to have more and more energy to take care of my babies. My tummy is pretty awesome looking from some major bruises, but other than some uncomfort, I'm doing well. I've been saying that walking around with the babies inside me the last week was more painful than walking the first days after they were born. I'm sure a lot of that was due to pain meds, but I can't complain. If my feet would quit swelling now, I'd be just dandy! Ok, off to the NICU!! YEA!

Sharing our joy

It is so exciting to be able to sit down and fill you in on David, Aria and Levi. I'm going to give some details of how everyone is doing and also some prayer requests. A lot of people tell us to let them know if there is anything they can do for us, and I can't think of anything more important. :)

Big day for the babies! We got a nice surprise this morning. All three kiddos are in little bassinets. They no longer have to be in warmers and are able to maintain their own temperatures! This is big because we have access to them now. I always felt separated from them even when I was standing right their because they were behind glass. It was kind of hard on me. Now I can reach down and pick them up when I want to!

All of the IV's are out! Dan and I are thrilled because we were always scared that we would pull on them and hurt them. The wires they stilll have to put up with are easy to reattach. We still have toput up with the feeding tubes which are relatively easy to avoid. They are getting all of the nutrition needs through their tummys... big step. Now, the next lesson will be growing strong enough to eat all of their meals from the bottle or nursing. They still get tuckered out and have to have some food through the feeding tubes. David is behind by far. He hasn't wanted to put in the effort of eating yet, but we feel he is coming around. Hopefully they increase how much he bottles tomorrow and we can get him on the road of self-sufficiency. Pray for his strength and endurance eating. David weighs 5 lb. 3 oz. A little weight loss after birth is expected.

Aria is eating pretty well, but our latest concern with her has been spitting up. They propped up the end of her mattress slightly and are slowing down her feedings to try and keep more of her calories in her tummy - instead of on the blanket! Pray that her tummy adjusts to eating more and that she grows. Levi will catch her in size soon if she doesn't watch out. She is at 4 lbs, 13 oz. right now.

Levi is trucking along with the eating. Our concern with him has been what they call "spells." Occasionally his heartrate drops drastically and the monitor alarms sound. He always recovers on his own, but it's still scary for mommy and daddy! We've been told numerous times that this is very common in preemie babies. He should grow out of it soon, especially once the feeding tube is removed. Pray for his "spells" to subside and his little heart grows steady and strong. Levi now weighs more than he did at birth - by an ounce and a half!

Being parents has been the most magical time for Dan and me. We are soaking up every precious moment and are moved to tears that God trusted these angels to us. I've never been more moved by anything than watching Dan as a father. What a privilege it is to be his wife and the mother of his children. Pray for him tomorrow and Thursday because he had to return to Rock Rapids for work again. This time he'll be away longer than he has before. I know it's ripping his heart out. Pray for his focus and peace so he can return to us Thursday afternoon with no worries.

I will add a few more pictures from the hospital. I can't access any pictures from our camera right now but hopefully on Thursday I'll have some good ones to post again. Thank you for caring about our family. Sharing David, Levi and Aria with all of you increases our joy immensely.

I can't believe it has been a week since this picture was taken... right before our triplets arrived! The MOST unbelievable part is that the three babies I hold in my arms were ALL inside my belly! I'll never understand how that was possible. I'll always miss that closeness with the greatest miracle I've ever experienced.


Another family photo!


My baby girl curled contently against my chest.


All piled together again... and they seemed very much at home with each other. They make me melt.


God bless you and your families!
Elizabeth

Cradle Roll

Our cradle roll is finally up at Sanford Health! Here is the web address or you can access it through the hospital website.

http://www.sanfordhealth.org/CradleRoll/

So cute!

Triplet Reunion

We have hundreds of new pictures. But, I'm one TIRED mommy and I'm going back to bed. Enjoy!
Levi

David

Aria

David

Aria




Levi

A Happy Reunion

First Family Photo

Detailed update and more pictures!

Hello! We are so excited to have welcomed our children in to the world. Praise the Lord! We give God the glory for these three lives because they are His masterpieces. David, Aria, and Levi are miracles and we can’t thank God enough for them. God has been our strength and provider through this entire adventure and He has amazed us at every step.

The kids are doing wonderful. They are being very well cared for in the NICU. Right now, they are all under special lights for jaundice. We were told almost all babies in the NICU need the lights and so we are accomplishing another step before getting to go home. We know it will probably be at least a couple weeks before the triplets are ready for home, but we’ll be patient. There is so much for them to learn! They are all learning to eat from the bottle, but they aren’t ready to get all their calorie needs from the bottle yet. They still have IV’s and feeding tubes to help them get stronger.

I’ve never seen my babies so content as when they are in our arms. I’ve gotten to do some “Kangaroo Care” with each of them. That is where they get to be held skin to skin. They cuddle up to me and seem to go into a happy trance. When I sing some of the songs I’ve sung all along the pregnancy to them, their faces light up and they try and open their eyes. It doesn’t always work because eyelids can be such heavy things to lift!! But, those moments are precious.

Dan is Daddy extraordinaire! He’s changed lots of diapers, feed lots of bottles and knows the ins and outs of their care way more than I do at the moment! I always find myself asking him what the alarms are and how to do this and that. He’s learned so much so far in the NICU, it’s amazing. I’ll be sad when he has to go back to work. I haven’t been able to lean over the isolets yet to be able to change a diaper. I’m still getting my strength back, although this hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.

My c-section went very fast and uneventful. I couldn’t believe it when David was born because it seemed like they had just laid me down and Dan had just gotten there! I didn’t get to see much of the babies as they were born, but I was just glad they all came out crying and doing well. They put David by my face for a kiss. When they wheeled Aria by, she stretched out her hand for me to touch (I’m not surprise the first thing I saw her do was stretch!). And I got a glimpse of Levi cleaned up and wrapped before they were taken to the NICU. Dan followed them and my aunt Donna stepped in to stay with me while the surgery ended. I am shocked at how much of the surgery Dan watched. I’m pretty sure he saw each of them born and some of the after stuff. NOT ME! I didn’t even let them tell me what was happening. I jabbered to Dan the whole time trying to distract myself from what was going on on the other side of the curtain. But, before I knew it, it was all over and I was wheeled back to recovery.

Unfortunately, while in recovery, I was bleeding more than the nurse liked. I guess they had to kind of be aggressive with me to get it taken care of. Luckily, I was numb and didn’t have a clue. They were moving me around and I saw my leg come up off the bed once, and I could’ve sworn I felt it still stretched out on the bed! Weird. I remember just laying there watching Dan’s face and praying that God would heal me soon so I could go see my babies. The bleeding slowed down significantly after that and although I was slightly delayed in recovery, they still rolled my bed over to the NICU to see my newborn children. What a sight to see! Getting to hold Levi right there on my bed did my heart sooo much good and helped me survive until I could return later. The impatient grandparents were also very grateful I got to see the triplets because I didn’t let anyone go see them until I had! I know, it’s cruel but I’m the MOMMA! Obviously, they survived but I believe the newest Grandpa Rigsby was about to throw a fit! ;)

The next 24 hours for me are a bit of a blur. I was on some good meds and I didn’t get much sleep. My first night without the 15 pounds of baby on my bladder was eventful anyway. Between 12am & 1am, my IV alarm kept waking me up. Then at 4 am I woke up with a stabbing pain in the back & neck. It hurt to do anything, especially breathe deeply. I put up with for a couple days before they took an x-ray and discovered the cause was an air bubble in my abdomen from surgery. Today has been the first day it hasn’t really bothered me. Back to the exhausting first hours… I saw a short part of a video Dan had taken and I sounded awful!! I guess I sounded drugged because I was. I was wheeled back & forth to the NICU droopy eyed and falling asleep. It was hard feeling that way while trying to introduce myself to my children and get to know them. Gradually it has gotten much better and I’m ready to feel like my old self again.

I will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow but will probably still spend most of my time up here in the NICU. We can have visitors for short amounts of time, a couple at a time. Please don’t come if you think you may be sick, and no one under the age of 15 is allowed to visit either. Sorry. Otherwise, the babies will be home with Mommy and Daddy before we all know it.

Mommy, Grandma Rigsby, Aria & Levi


David


Levi


Aria


Well, I think that is all I will talk about for now. I’ll see if there are any new pictures I can post for you. I have to give a quick shout out to the triplet’s Aunt Jess. She has been receiving all of my posts and posting them for me since the hospital doesn’t let me log in here.. So, thanks Jessica! We love you! Can wait to see you soon!

Love,
Elizabeth

New Pictures of the little Nebelsick Triplets!!

David Andrew


David Andrew


David Andrew with Daddy


David Andrew with Mommy and Daddy


Aria Louise


Aria Louise


Aria Louise with Daddy's hand by her head.


Aria Louise with her legs stretched out. She loves to stretch and move!


Aria Louise with Grandma Nebelsick


Aria Louise with Grandpa Nebelsick


Levi Timothy


Levi Timothy


Levi Timothy being fed by Daddy!


Levi Timothy with Grandma Rigsby


Levi Timothy with Grandpa Rigsby

No breathing help!

We're so excited to update you on our babies! They are not even 24 hours old yet and they are all breathing on their own. No help for any of them! We get to see their precious faces without tubes on them! We saw them briefly this morning (before their Mommy crashed from exhaustion) and they are sooo gorgeous! WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH! So precious. Anyway, we are finishing lunch and then we will go back down to see them soon. We can't wait to get you more pictures of them and their beautiful faces. Please be patient, I can't believe how crazy it's been here. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your prayers. Our children are such miracles and they have done so much better than we could have hoped for.

More updates and pictures later!
Love, Dan and Elizabeth

Happy Birthday to my BABIES!

We’ve got BABIES! I don’t have a ton of time or energy to get into details tonight, but I’ll elaborate later. Announcing the newest Nebelsicks!!

David Andrew Nebelsick (Initials DAN) – Born at 3:02pm. 5lbs. 6oz. 18.5”
Aria Louise Nebelsick (Pronounced “R”-ee-ah) – Born at 3:02, 5lbs 4oz. 18.5”
Levi Timothy Nebelsick – Born at 3:03, 4lbs 7oz. 18.75” (He’s long and skinny!)

They are doing WONDERFUL! And SO cute!!! The surgery was much easier to handle than I had imagined. More details when I have the brain capacity to sort it all out. Back to BABIES!

Levi has no problems with breathing and isn’t needing any help! Both Dan and I have gotten to hold him briefly. YEA! Most amazing moment ever! David and Aria are both getting a little help with breathing for now. We’re praying all three stay stable with their wonderful conditions and improve soon! The nurses say they are doing very, very well and we are pretty confident about their health.

Ok, that’s all I can get typed for now. I’ll post some pictures and call it good for the night. Time for sleep.

Mommy and Daddy the night before!


David


Aria


Levi on his Mommy, holding his Daddy’s thumb


More pictures coming later!

We love you all!!!
The Nebelsick Family

The Day After Tomorrow

Happy Memorial Day! It was four years ago this weekend that Dan and I moved into our house. We raced to get the truck unloaded before it stormed, and boy did it storm! Sioux Falls flooded that weekend, Dan's family had to race to avoid the swirling tornado-like clouds, and we discovered that our house didn't have rain gutters! The plants I painstakingly brought from Rapid City sat on our porch and got gutted by the flood off of the roof. We had potting soil blasted to the side of the house for the next year. It was quite the night. Ahh, memories.

So, we're at 49 hours and counting! The day after tomorrow seems so close, and yet at painful moments, so far away. I've really enjoyed being pregnant. I know I'll be sad when it's over. But, this past week surely has been God's way of helping me seperate myself from the babies in me. I'm SO ready to have my body back and move freely again. I'm looking forward to going on a walk. I haven't done that since this fall. The itching is OUT of control! Stretch marks are bulging and stretching more this last week than ever. I can tell my babies are getting big and strong and they are getting a workout on me! The other night, our baby girl was stretching and it felt like she was pushing her feet off my hip and her head was coming out my side. Yowzers! We are beyond excited to hold our babies and cuddle them. We've been thinking this will happen for weeks, so knowing it's 2 days away seems unreal. I'm really excited to introduce them to the world and announce their names. I feel like I already know them a little and their names seem appropriate.

Well, back to watching everyone clean. That stinks. I wish I could be more help and get up and DO the things I just have to explain sometimes. Oh well. This too shall pass. I don't know if I'll post again before our pre-op appointment tomorrow, so until then... Bye!

Elizabeth

Our non-news

Dear faithful readers,
I apologize for my children leading you astray. Dan and I are baffled at how convinced everyone was that we were about meet our babies. I also can’t believe that I have just been discharged from the hospital! I was practically begging to go. I could tell I was not going anywhere with the labor. In fact, they just checked and there was no change. So, I’m free! I not free in body, but in spirit. :) It will be lovely to have visiting time with all my Gillette relatives that flew back for the babies. Ha, now they have to still concentrate their affection on me. Soon I will be the triplets mom, not Elizabeth. Just kidding. It WILL be a big help to have my mom help me finish up the nursery.

So, everytime I would get up to go to the bathroom (at least a hundred times a day…) Dan would get a quick break from the uncomfortable wooden rocking chair and he’d hop in my nest. The hospital bed was pretty comfy and I don’t blame him a bit. But, when I came out laughing at him once, he decided to be a clown. I captured this picture for your enjoyment. Now, no mocking him… or I’ll have to remove it! Isn’t he cute? I told him he’ll be the one who is the most grateful these babies because then he won’t be the star of the blog anymore… babies will be!

Big news is we have a c-section scheduled for May 28th. If I don’t go into labor before then, babies will be born anyway. I’m so relieved to have some sort of end in sight and a final goal. I’ll be 35 weeks and the doctor was very satisfied with that gestation. We are too.

It’s time for dinner now with my family! Yea!! Homemade pizza, yummy. And now I’ve come back to food… I better go. Pray we can make it safely to Wednesday and then meet our wonderful children. Thanks for your support so far and we can feel and see the benefits of your prayers. Thank you so much!

All our love,
Elizabeth (plus Dan, A, B, & C)

Not Yet

Well, no babies yet. The contractions slowed down after they gave me a shot and some fluids. It helped to have Dan here too. I don’t know how much longer I can convince the babies to stay put… probably not very long from the way I’m feeling and medical staff are acting. I’ll keep trying to get updates posted as I know what’s going on. I feel bad like I was teasing everyone with a false alarm, but none of us can predict what’s happening.

I get to eat. HALLELUIA! But, I don’t know why I’m throwing a fit about not eating. One of these days I’m actually going to have to go the long duration with no food and quit whining. I’m not looking forward to it. I’m sure Dan’s not either since his pregnant wife turns into a scary creature when not properly nourished. I should start mentally preparing for that too. I’ll probably be back soon!

Today or Tomorrow? That is the Question!

So, I’m in the hospital again. This time the contractions aren’t slowing down, they are getting more regular. The nurses seem to be preparing me for the imminent c-section. They just came in the insert my IV… yuck! I survived and can still kind of type to you. It sounds like the floor I’m on is kind of active and busy, so maybe I can get them to hold off a little while. I still can’t wrap my head around becoming a mother to three babies soon!!

So, yesterday I was having some irregular but frequent contractions. Dan convinced me I should call… I don’t know why I didn’t want to. They had us come to the clinic to be checked. I wasn’t dilated anymore but they decided to keep me to monitor the contractions. After a while of that, the doctor wanted to keep me overnight for observation. The advantage: yummy grilled cheese sandwich and vanilla ice cream at midnight. I don’t get that kind of service at home! The disadvantage: 5 and a half hours of sleep last night. I think they finished my non-stress test at about midnight. That’s where the nurses listen to the heartbeats until they hear three accelerations in the rates. My sleeper, Baby A, passed the test in the first 5 minutes! My acrobat, Baby C, took forever! I finally woke him up with my hand and then he moved around enough. Silly kids.

This morning, I was checked and the “play it cool” doctor (who I was sure would release me) decided I should stay. He’s the most relaxed out of everyone we’ve seen. Mornings are always the worst for contractions for me. Well, my breakfast took an hour and 15 minutes to come (it got lost, I guess) and I had too much time to start stressing myself out with thoughts of all I’d like to have done, then the contractions started getting worse. All of a sudden, everyone started talking about delivering the babies today! What? That’s not my plan! Ha ha. My plan? That’s funny.

Dan has come to camp out with me now. I sent him home last night because I need someone to get some good sleep (and Dan does NOT do well on no sleep). I think he went to work for about an hour before I called him to come back. I think I’m more stressed sitting here alone and that equals more contractions.

Have a mentioned I’m starving?? I ate breakfast but have been banned from all solids and liquids since then! Dan walked in with his Taco Johns lunch when he got here!! He’s lucky I’m wired down! Just kidding. I actually didn’t mind because he had totally pre-redeemed himself yesterday. I was at home and he was heading home from a meeting and I asked if he’d stop by Subway for me for lunch. When he got home, he delivered Taco Johns!! He had purchased it in Luverne, MN and drove it home. Normally, it probably would have been cold and disgusting, but Dan is too thoughtful for that. He ordered softshells with no lettuce, with a side of lettuce! Why would a person do that? Because he kept my tacos and my potato oles warm on the heater during the 17 mile drive home. Hot lettuce would have been disgusting. The meal was some of the best Taco Johns I’ve ever had.

Well, this is about as long as I can distract myself typing for now. Dan and I are going to start a movie. They couldn’t do a csection right now because of the food in my tummy. Thank goodness for breakfast! We’ll be sure to keep you all updated when we can. Here’s a picture of me yesterday. I was 33 weeks and 5 days along. And yes, I'm huge. According to my loving husband, my belly now deserves its own zip code. Ha ha Dan.

Like I saw another triplet mom saying: the mothership is signing off!

Celebrations

Yesterday was a great day! We had a doctor's appointment, spent time with family, got to eat birthday cake, and I celebrated an important anniversary: 6 years since the day I met Dan.

First, the appointment where we saw our sons and daughter! They were measured and here's what we have:
Baby Boy A - 4lbs. 6 oz.
Baby Girl B - 4 lbs. 5 oz.
Baby Boy C - 5 lbs. 2 oz.

That's almost 14 pounds of baby!!! I told Dan as I was getting out of the van to go in to the doctors office that they were getting heavy. I wasn't imagining things! The doc seemed really pleased at the weights. I don't have to keep going in twice a week anymore. We were told that if I go into labor, they won't stop it anymore. The babies will just be delivered! I hope we have a little warning! We'll try and get notice to our parents in time. Now the most exciting time starts: the waiting for labor! I could actually have something normal happen during this pregnancy!! Could it happen tomorrow? or next week? Only the Lord knows. We don't have another appointment until Friday and it would be two weeks until the next growth check. I mentioned to Dan during the ultrasound that this could be the last time we have a growth ultrasound. Yikes! The babies looked so healthy and squished! Baby C’s head was under my left ribs and Baby B regularly kicks my right ribs. It has made typing hard because I sit most of the day with my right fist protecting my rib cage. I have a theme song for this time in my life. It goes to the tune of the Chili’s babyback rib song. Here are my words, “I want my body back, body back, body back, and my ribs!” It’s much better when it is sung. Big healthy babies was all I really wanted for my birthday and I got it. I’ve decided the Nebelsick babies theme song right now is “I Like to Move It, Move It” – you know…. from the movie “Madagascar”?


Yesterday was my birthday. I kept thinking about how I’ve been so blessed in my life through an event 6 years ago on May 16th. Daniel Nebelsick came into my life. I met him on my 21st birthday. That night I sent an email to my best friend called “I met a boy…” It was filled with many details of the evening, but this is how it started.

Kenzie,
Wouldn't it be interesting to someday be able to say that my husband was the best birthday present I ever got? Okay, that may be jumping to conclusions and way over-dreaming this thing... but I think it's funny.
I also just thought that would be an appropriately shocking way to start this letter.


Obviously I thought a lot of the man I had just and was very interested in getting to know him. That was the perfect start to this ongoing adventure which is our relationship. My prediction turned out to be right. And all my dreams came true. If you were me, that’s what you’d be celebrating on May 16th also. He is now the father of my three children and a thoughtful caretaker of me. I’ve heard that the most important decision you will ever make is your spouse… and I did good! (I I thank God every day for bringing Dan into my life and answering all my prayers. The Lord wrote a beautiful love story for us and it gets better every day. I cannot wait to meet Dan’s children and watch him be a dad.


Okay, enough with the gooey stuff about Dan. The rest of my b-day was very nice. We had tacos and cake at my aunt Donna’s house and then I watched Dan and my brother trim trees and pull our bushes from Donna’s landscaping. We had gotten some more baby shopping done that afternoon also. All in all, a very nice day.

There was something else I was going to type about on here, but I’ll have to come back when I think of it… So for now, I will sign off.

Love, Elizabeth

Sorry! It's been a while.

Ok, so I know I've been neglecting my faithful readers. Sorry. I've been more and more lethargic than before. Exhaustion is setting in, besides the fact that it is very hard to type when the majority of the time I have a fist in my ribs to protect them from Baby B. She's gotten the nickname from me "The Abuser." Just for now... I'm sure she'll be very sweet as soon as her feet are no longer near my ribs.

I'm STILL home!! How exciting is that? It seems unbelievable for being 2 days away from 33 weeks. I was sure I'd be camped out in the hospital by now. We had two appointments last week. Both were uneventful. The babies looked great. Baby A was quite sleepy both times we saw him. I feel him move all the time but he must get stage fright for the ultrasound. Hopefully he does some dancing for the appointments this week. Otherwise, I'm not dilated anymore than I have been before. On Friday, the nurse even said I was boring! That's a very good thing. They want boring! We go in again today and FINALLY get another measurement of the kids on Friday (Happy Birthday to me! - I just want healthy babies!) Everyone asks if they've grown or how big they think they are but we only get to find out every two weeks. They don't measure more often than that. So, we'll let you know then.

We had an awesome relaxing weekend together as a family. Dan and I hung out all day on Saturday and watched some TV and watched some of the bouncy waterbed that is my belly. Dan has started reading to them every day, mostly before bedtime. On Saturday he found a book I bought a while ago called "Let Me Hold You Longer" by Karen Kingsbury. Kind of a sad book - more for parents than kids. But, it kind of got to us and made Dan a little sad... he had a couple tears roll down the cheeks. He's so sweet. We are realizing that the days of feeling our babies kick inside me are drawing to a close. We'll soon be on to a new phase. We just want to treasure every second of this one and our final days of just us together. We've really enjoyed our years as a couple but we're excited for the adventure of parenthood. Anyway, I better go because it's time to leave for Sioux Falls! Thanks for reading!

Love, Elizabeth

Update

We had an appointment on Friday. Yea! for getting to see our babies. They were measured again but we didn't get the news we thought we would. Two weeks ago, they all were 3 lbs, 3 ozs. I was expecting to hear they are now around 4 lbs. The offical weight estimates were 3lbs - 4oz, 3lbs - 5oz, 3lbs - 11oz. The doctor showed small concern about the lack of growth but mostly about the small abdomin measurement on Babies A and B. But, they monitored the blood flow to the babies and it looked good. Now they are going to monitor me twice a week, looking for the blood flow in the umbilical chords and the practice breathing movements in the babies. They aren't overly concerned yet, just being cautious.

So, since I need to get to Sioux Falls twice this week, I'm going to be staying at my aunt Donna's for a few days. Dan will be able to have a few evenings to get stuff done around the house without cooking and cleaning for me. Poor guy needs a break!

Not much else to write today. I'm pretty much in a constant state of exhaustion now so it's probably time for another nap. Eyes... heavy and watering.... night night.

Love, Elizabeth