Triplets... it's starting to sink in

Thanks, everyone, for your kind, funny, shocked, and excited messages. All the "holy mackerels" and "holy cows" captures how we feel too!

Dh and I have been reading, talking, laughing, and contemplating. We're trying to absorb the unabsorbable news. How do you feed, change and care for three preemie infants? How do you raise three kids? I'm already wishing I had a 3rd b**b, and another arm!

Our thoughts inevitably jump to the future. We think about a week from now "Will we see three strong heartbeats?" to a few months from now, "How premature will they be born and will they survive or have lifelong disabilities?" to a few years from now, "How amazing would it be to take them places and do fun family stuff?" We imagine their sibling dynamic and interactions, and dream about whether we're expecting boys, girls or a "mixed bag." My prediction: 2 boys and a girl. We are excited, amazed, and scared. Is it too much to ask to have three healthy kids? Our primary emotion is one of realistic optimism and excitement, but I know triplet pregnancies are high risk, and do not always have a good outcome.

We've begun to frequent triplet blogs, triplet forums, and other online triplet or High Order Multiple resources. I've watched triplets being born on YouTube (and cried...), and have searched for narrower carseats, triplet strollers and other things that might help with surviving the hardest first four months, like Miracle Blankets and Bottlesnugglers.

Since I may end up on bedrest before their birth, I've started figuring out my employer and our state's short term disability policy.

On Monday, I'll be 6 weeks pregnant, and my infertility clinic graduates their pregnant patients between 8-10 weeks. This means I have 2-4 weeks to find an OB who specializes in high risk pregnancies, or better yet, a board-certified Maternal Fetal Medicine doc (perinatologist).

Since I live in a rural area with only a level II NICU, I suspect I'll need to travel to the nearest big city for prenatal care and Labor & Delivery. That's fine by me - I'd prefer to be in good hands. Thankfully the same city where my fertility clinic is located also has a university hospital with a great L&D facility and a level IV NICU. There are five perinatologists to choose from, one of whom is a woman (my pick of the bunch.)

We're in information gathering mode this weekend, and have used every second to try and prepare ourselves as best we can.