August 27, 2015 – 31 weeks…

Cover photo: rare Panda Triplets!!!

FOSHAN, CHINA – DECEMBER 09: (CHINA OUT) The world’s only live panda triplets play together at Chimelong Safari Park on December 9, 2014 in Foshan, China. The world’s only live giant panda triplets (two boys and one girl) started living together with their mother, giant panda Juxiao, after taking turns living with her since their birth at the Chimelong Safari Park on Tuesday. The triplets were born on July 29 and after over 100 days they now all weigh over 8 kg and are doing well. They will stay with their mother and meet with visitors at 13:00 – 15:00 and 16:00 – 18:00 from Tuesday. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

Hi everybody!

Rachel made it to the 31 week mark! We are very excited to meet the boys! I think Rachel is more excited to not have to carry around the extra weight of those 3 BIG Hawaiian babies for 1 minute longer than she has to!!! 😀

On Tuesday we went to Kaiser’s occupational therapist because Rachel has been feeling the effects of Carpal Tunnel in both wrists. This is a common side effect of some pregnancies and should go away once the babies are born. We purchased a new wrist wrap (she has some tendinitis in addition to the carpal tunnel) for her left arm and the therapist went over some stretching exercises that she can do to help improve the blood circulation to the affected areas.

The results from last week’s blood test came in and Rachel’s liver and kidney functions are normal. Her blood count was good, however the size of her red blood cells were bigger than normal. This is a sign of a condition called Marocytosis, it isn’t a specific disease – but it could signal an underlying problem like Hypothyroidism, Vitamin B12 deficiency, Folate deficiency, Liver disease, etc. Dr. Wu didn’t think we should be too concerned at this time. He did order another round of blood tests. We got back the test results and they showed good B12 & Folate levels, however the thyroid test showed that her thyroid function is borderline. She was prescribed a thyroid supplement to take on a daily basis. The thyroid condition could cause her to feel tired (more so than just the lack of sleep she is already experiencing!). If the red cells are still large after the thyroid condition is corrected, she will be referred to a hematologist after the babies are delivered.

Rachel is so uncomfortable! I feel so bad for her, I wish I could take the weight of the babies and carry them around for her! My only solution is to try to do the little things to help make life easier and more bearable as she focuses on making it to our 36 week goal of September 30th! The staircase in our house might as well be Mount Everest or El Capitán!!! At this point in the pregnancy, it is turning in to an insurmountable obstacle requiring all of the effort she can muster just to traverse it in the morning and at night. She has made it a point of only taking 1 trip UP/DOWN per day. She has been doing well until this past week, when she finally accepted assistance from me. The only problem issue is that most nights I go to bed Early (9pm) & I wake up Early (430am)! While that schedule will be useful once the boys get here, it doesn’t really mesh well with Rachel’s sleep pattern (which is practically non-existent). She is more of a night owl by nature and she also struggles to get comfortable. Fortunately a solution has presented itself – Normally I wake up between midnight and 2am (Hey, what can I say – Nature calls!!! 😀  ) and I have made use of that time to go down and help her up the stairs. She usually wakes up around 10am, so I go home from work and help her get down the stairs. Plus, I have time to fix her a little something for breakfast. Fortunately we live pretty close to the office and our company has been very supportive throughout this process!!! 🙂

Up for this weekend – Saturday: Sonoma County MoM’s has their annual Multiples Swap (no they don’t swap kids silly!) It is a great opportunity to either pass on or receive some well loved kid’s gear for the member’s of the group! If you are from the Bay Area and are interested in joining – please check them out here –> SCMoM’s website

Only 33 days to go…

Mahalo ke Akua!!! Thank you God!!!