Our BIG news!

Evan and I are so happy to announce that we are expecting again! But....there's more....it's not just one or two babies....it's TRIPLETS! We're totally shocked and surprised, and still trying to wrap our heads around all of this. We found out about 5 weeks ago, and here's the whole story:

Evan and I decided that we were ready to start trying for Baby #2, and figured it would take us awhile since we had a hard time conceiving Tyler. But...the FIRST month we were trying we got pregnant! I took a test at the beginning of May, and we were beyond excited that it was positive. On Tuesday, May 17 we could get an early ultrasound, so we went in to the office to get that. We found out I was about 6 1/2 weeks pregnant. At first when we saw the ultrasound, it looked like there was only one baby, and Evan said, "I only see one baby, so that's a good thing! We were a little nervous about twins, because Heather's dad is a twin." Then the tech said, "Well I better check then." Then she started counting, "one...two...three". I said, "what are you counting?" Like I didn't know. Evan said, "shut up!!" She said "I'm counting heartbeats....there are three babies in here, guys." I panicked. No...I PANICKED. I've never felt such a nervous, stomach dropping to the floor, scared, panicky feeling in my whole life. This couldn't be. We could NOT be having triplets. My hand went up to my head, then on my chest, b/c I felt like I couldn't breathe. I kept looking at Evan with this look of terror saying, "What did we do? What did we do?" As if we had done something to make this happen. Evan was calm, and said later that his first feeling was that he felt happy. After the tech left the room, I totally broke down. I have NO idea how I am going to be able to handle triplets. I can't tell you how many people said to me, "God only gives you what you can handle." But I didn't think that was true in my case. He must have messed up. He knows I can't handle this.
We waited for a little while, and then the Dr. came in and said, "Wow...we haven't seen this in a long time!" He explained that our chances of having triplets was .09%. WHAT???!!! They set us up with a high-risk OB Doctor for later that afternoon. But for now...we were going outside to get some air.
We got in the car, and didn't know what to do with ourselves, so we bawled. Then we prayed. We know these babies are here for God's purpose, and we know we can't do this without Him carrying us through this. Then we called our parents to tell them the news. Everyone has pretty much reacted the same way: They're in shock, but once that's over, they're happy for us and supportive of us.
This has changed our whole life. The first two days I cried straight just b/c of fear of the unknown (will the babies be healthy? How will we take care of them? Who will watch Tyler if I have to go on bed rest? How will Tyler handle this all? How will we be able to love three more babies? Will we enjoy any of this? Will our life be complete chaos from here on??), and because our whole life has to change now. It's like we almost had to grieve the life that we expected to have. Suddenly we're worried about how we're going to fit four car seats in a vehicle, and how we're going to buy diapers for 4 kids (Tyler will not even be two when they get here). It's been a spiritual journey so far, that's for sure. Finding out this news has shown us that we had a pretty tight grasp on what we wanted our life to look like....so much that we had to grieve when we had to let it go. We realize now more than ever that God is driving the ship, and we need to trust that He will carry us through this. And at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether or not we've honored Him, not if we've gotten our way in life. We're learning so much, and these babies are only 12 weeks along. What else will this bring to our lives?
We had our 12 week ultrasound today, and everything looks good, which we're so thankful for. To answer some questions I've heard a lot:

• All three babies are fraternal (in their own sacs with their own placentas), so that's the least risky kind of triplet pregnancy.


• We will find out what we are having, and it could be a mix of boys and girls. I'm pretty sure it's three boys or two boys and a girl. Evan thinks it's two girls and a boy. We can find out in about a month, so I'll be sure to post it!


• My dad is a fraternal twin. We always thought twins could be a possibility for us...but never dreamed we'd have triplets.


• My due date is Jan. 6, 2012, but the average length of a triplet pregnancy is 32 weeks, which would mean they'd get here around mid-November. Best case scenario would be to carry them to 36 weeks, which would be Mid-December. Tyler turns 2 on Dec. 17.


• How am I feeling? SICK. And SO tired. Like it feels like I run a marathon every day. When I lay down in bed, my body is just heavy, and I sleep about 15 hours a day right now (more than Tyler). Hoping that lets up pretty soon, but they say not to expect it with multiples.

So there's our story, and I'll update more as things progress, and I will post pictures eventually of my belly, which is growing FAST! Please pray for us to have peace about all of this, and most importantly for healthy babies.

An additional "wow" factor to this pregnancy is that my best friend Shelly had triplets 3 1/2 years ago, and I took a "shift" every Thursday night when we lived in Milwaukee to help her with her girls. She had three beautiful little girls who are my inspiration right now. If you have time, you should read the post on Shelly's blog from June 8, 2011. She sums this all up amazingly.... www.dooyematriplets.blogspot.com