Time seems to be slowing down now. Maybe because I only have a few weeks left, maybe because its so darn awful cold and we can't go do anything.  It also is most likely because I have got to the point that doing much is very tiring and painful.  My hips hurt ALOT, and I get so worn out just trying to cook supper.  But I am going to continue to do what I can and keep going, the end is in sight now, and we are so ready to see these little girls!!!

I had my appt. on Thursday with Dr. Albin, everything was fine, all three girls are moving around and had strong heartbeats. My cervix is still really long and I am not dialated at all, so doc says I am doing great.  No contractions either, guess maybe they want to stay in there forever! :)

I was able to set my c section date, so we have a true countdown now, and Alexis asks every day how many days it is now, she's getting very excited!  Hadleigh kisses my tummy every night before she goes to bed, and tells the babies night-night.  I know they are both going to be wonderful big sisters!!

Have a great weekend!

Only 34 days left to go!!

I somewhat set my c section date today, I don't see my periontalogist doctor at his regular office so he was going to check with his schedule and they will call me the first part of next week to let me know for sure, but he thought December 18th would work out.
Baby A- weighs 3 lbs. 11 ozs. and was right on track for size and gestational age.
Baby B- weighs 3 lbs. 5 ozs. and was right on track for size and gestational age.
Baby C- weighs 3 lbs. 6 ozs. and was right on track for size and gestational age.
They all 3 look great and are healthy. My doc thinks I will do fine and make it to my date. He is not planning on giving me a steroid shot unless I would end up in the hospital within the next couple weeks, so thats great. I feel good and am still doing all the stuff around the house, even though it takes me a lot longer! My blood pressure was great 106/58 and my weight is still doing just fine.  My belly is HUGE! Baby A has her butt way down and you can actually cup her little buns in your hand, its really kinda cool! Painful but neat! LOL!

So I gotta get Mr. Husband to get the babies room DONE! this weekend so I can actually put everything away and take some pictures, and then I will feel good knowing we are ready.

that is the Energizer bunny! HAHA!  I am still going! Feel great, tired yes, but still going and I still do all the housework, laundry, running around just like before. 

I had another appt. today with Dr. Albin and all 3 girls looked great! Moving around alot and heart rates were 136, 142, and 148.  The u/s tech also said she could see them "breathing" so that is very reassuring, that means their tiny bodies all know what to do once they get on the outside! My cervix still looked great and was still nice and long and not dialated, so I am doing fine. I am starting to get anxious, but I also still have ALOT to get done around here so I am glad we still have some time. 44 days to be exact. I am hoping to schedule my c section date next week, so I can make plans for the girls and Christmas.

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone had fun! My girls did, Alexis was skunk and Hadleigh a pumpkin and they got TONS of candy!  I made it to 28 weeks, whohoo!  Although Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I didn't think we would make it to Friday. I felt funny all day Tuesday and then didn't sleep a wink that night, Wednesday morning I felt worse. So I called Dr. Albin and he said to come down, so I made arrangements for Alexis, tough to do at the last minute especially on a day my mom was working, but got it handled. And Matt, Hadleigh and I took off for Norfolk, they did an ultrasound and everything looked fine. Measured my cervix which was still at 4.1 and looking good. They did the fetal fibronectin test which is to see if you could be delivering within the next 2 weeks and told me to take it easy. I slept the whole way home from Norfolk.  Got home and rested all evening. Thursday they called saying the lab said they didn't get a good enough sample so they didn't have any results from the test.  My nurse wondered how I was feeling and I felt quite a bit better Thursday so she said they would just redo the test when I go next week for my appt.  I feel better but starting to notice I get tired much faster and good gravy do my hips hurt!! But I still go all over and do alot of stuff, I can't just sit, it drives me crazy!

Its hard to believe that I really don't have that much time left, 7 weeks is all, and I hope that time doesn't drag by. I am enjoying my pregnancy but also getting anxious to meet the girls! Matt has spent the whole day working around the house trying to get projects finished up. Tomorrow I will spend the whole day cleaning and putting stuff away in the nursery.

I have had so many people ask how things are going and alot of people can't beleieve how well I am doing, but I honestly think it is frame of mind. I set out from day one of this knowing I would carry these babies till it was time for them to come out and so far so good. I really don't mind being pregnant, and I am huge and I know it. Kids stare, adults stare. Adults ask a lot of dumb questions, the biggest thing people say when I tell them I am having triplets is that they are sorry. I have no idea why they would need to be sorry, I am overjoyed!! I ALWAYS wanted multiples, so I feel incredibly blessed! Is it going to be trying at times and stressful, of course, but I know alot of people who only had one baby and were beyond stressed out.  Its all about attitude and I know there might be times that I will want to run, but I guarantee the times that I am snuggled up with 3 beautiful baby girls in my arms are going to outweigh those runaway times by far!  I have also had a few people ask if I have a list of people to help out afterwards and nope not really, I know my mom will be around to help and I know my best friend Suzi would be here all the time if it was possible, but other than that Matt and I will probably do alot of it on our own.

Have a good Sunday, enjoy some time with your families!  ~Amber and Babies

Today is the 25th of October and I only have 54 days left! Somewhat hard to believe. But I am so excited!

I had an appt with Dr. Fleming on Friday and things look great! All 3 girls are moving around and growing just fine! Baby A weighed 2 lbs 5 ozs, Baby B&C weighed 2 lbs 6 ozs. all 3 girls are above average, so thats another huge relief, now they just gotta keep growing and gaining!!!  Dr. Fleming says I am a wonderful pregnant woman! He says I should maybe go into the business! LOL! Overall I am doing fine and he says that we will schedule a c section date for sure at my next appt which is in November.  All 3 girls heartbeats were in the 140's so that is also wonderful!

My u/s tech Bree thinks I am amazing, I lay on my back for the whole hour long u/s and she said alot of pregnant mamas with just one start complaining about being on their back, I do all I can to try to make her job easier and it doesn't bother me too much to be on my back. Bree and Dr. Fleming both think I look great and can't believe how at ease I seem to be. I really am not that uncomfortable and get along just fine. I do have pains in my back, but those have been there pretty much my whole life so I just deal with it.

The nursery is slowly coming together, maybe by next weekend we will have it all finished. Matt seems to be getting slower with age!   Alexis, Hadleigh and I have all had this cold stuff and went to see Tubbs Monday to see if we could get over it, all 3 of us are on meds and I finally feel better, last week was pretty slow around here.  I will post pics once we finally get the nursery together and maybe another belly shot sometime soon also.

Take care! ~Amber and baby girls

Its kind of amazing to think about what I have done so far. I am at 26 weeks and 3 days today! That in itself is a milestone but the fact that I have got there with NO complications/problems is an even bigger milestone.  My last appt was Wednesday with Dr. Albin and everything looked great once again. Matt got to go along this time so he got to see the babies on u/s and was so happy.  It truly is amazing!  I feel great, other than the girls and I have this miserable cough. So we went to see Tubbs today since I am tired of feeling like crap every morning when I get up.  We are all on an antibiotic so we'll see how we feel in a couple days.

Next appt is Friday with Dr. Fleming and I hope to get a lot of questions answered.  I am really hoping since I am doing so well still that he will not want me to start being seen twice a week already, if we can just ride it out a little longer it will really help. 

~amber & baby girls

I will be 25 weeks tomorrow, which means I only have 10 weeks left! WHOHOO!!

I had an appt on Wednesday and everything went fine. I still feel really good, other than this insanely painful spot in my right ribs which is making life very miserable, but I am trying so hard to stay positive because if I let myself get down about all this its going to make the next 10 weeks really long and miserable.

The triplets looked wonderful, they measured great, heartbeats great and moving around alot.  Everything was fine with me too. Blood pressure is fine, urine is fine and cervix is still really, really long and closed up tight.  Sometimes I can't beleive how much info I am posting on here, but hey its what matters right now! LOL!

My best friend who was due the 26th had her baby today, a little girl! Anslee Joy and I am so happy for her! I want to go see her but money is tight so I will have to wait, maybe next week I can get away. 

In case anyone is wondering we do have several registries, they are listed on this site.  We do still "need" some things and "want" things also.  I had several people ask me about a shower, no one has offered to throw one for us, so I doubt there will be one.  We are not being greedy at all, and I am SOOOO grateful for the things people have already given us, but if you were waiting for a shower to give us a gift, I really doubt there will be one.  I have to say a big Thank you! to Matt's cousin Sam who sent us a HUGE box of stuff from Colorado, and we needed everything in there! Also to an old friend Melissa Rock who sent us stuff and found us an Awesome! deal on a crib and changing table.  I also have these Amazing!!! internet friends that I have made through a forum I visit and they have sent me things and are still sending things, they really are some of my best friends right now!  Also to Susan and Mark Rossman for the baby stuff they have gave us and the unconditional love they give to me and my girls and for their help with watching the girls.  And Most of all to my mom and dad, they have helped out SOO much already with Alexis and Hadleigh, they also have bought things for the triplets and I am sure there will be more to come, so thank you! so much to all of you that have shown that you care, we really, really do appreciate it!

~The Stracke's

Dr. appt. with Dr. Albin today, things look wonderful. My cervix is at 4.6 same as last week, so thats super!  Checkup next week again just to check babies heart rates and my blood pressure and urine.  I have no complications so far at all, everything is going smooth.  My only complaint so far is I have this HORRIBLE pain in my ribs on the right side, it makes it nearly impossible to sleep.  But I can't or won't complain much as things could be so much worse.

I will post a picture of the belly later tonight and hopefully by Sunday afternoon I will be able to post some pics of the nursery.