Cayden's Birthday

Cayden's Birthday was really June 2nd, but I'm just now getting around to updating for that.

I think Cayden is going to always think that he gets to celebrate his birthday twice. We celebrated his birthday with my sister, Lisa, and her family over Memorial weekend. We did a cake with cupcakes, and I think that Cayden thought the best part was when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.





Then we celebrated Cayden's birthday again the following weekend. He insisted on a "McQueen" cake (from the movie Cars). I had made him his first cakes for his first two birthdays, but I didn't feel like taking on McQueen this year. So we ordered him one. I'm glad we did because there is no way I could have made one this cute!





One of Cayden's favorite gifts was a Spiderman scooter. Scott also found some nice knee pads, elbow pads and gloves that we told Cayden he has to wear when he rides his scooter outside. (No I didn't forget about the helmet, but he already had that for his trike). He's not crazy about all of the padding, but he tried a scooter once without the pads and had to learn the hard way, scraping up his knee a little (I wasn't there to witness that fall. Someone else was in charge then).

25 weeks and 2 days

This is my second attempt at this post. For some reason, when I hit post, I lost everything. Hopefully, I can remember everything.

I'm in Minneapolis now at Fairview Riverside Hospital, which is part of the University of Minnesota. I was received and ambulance ride from the Minot Hospital to the Minot airport. Then I "got" to ride in an air ambulance to St. Paul, MN. And from there I got to ride in another ambulance to the hospital. I arrived here yesterday around noon. It was difficult being here the first days without Scott and Cayden, but the staff here has been wonderful and very friendly.

Yesterday afternoon they took me to have another ultrasound done. Things looked to be about the same. Babies A and C measured one ounce lighter than they did in Minot, but Baby B measured the same. In Minot, I could never see the ultrasound, but here they have a nice big flat screen on the wall so I could see everything. The ultrasound tech also told me what she was looking for as she was doing each thing, and it seems everything is good. They also did another cervical ultrasound. They didn't tell me anything about it, but from what I could tell, it looked about the same (I thought I saw the measurements to be about the same). I was hoping that somehow my cervix would magically grow, but I guess not. We have lots of ultrasound pics to upload, but no way of doing it right now. Maybe Scott can get them uploaded at Lisa's sometime. It looks like all of the babies have Cayden's little button nose!

Scott and Cayden left Minot yesterday afternoon and drove as far as Fargo, ND last night. There was some more nasty weather, and I think that they were both getting tired. They got here around noon today. It was really great seeing them. Then Auntie Lisa came by with lunch for them. Once Cayden knew that Auntie Lisa was coming, all he could talk about was his cousins Addy and Ash. So Scott is going to take Cayden over to Lisa's this evening, and I think that they all might be headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Just happens to be one of Cayden's favorite things to do here.

Other than that, there haven't been any new developments. I'm just laying low trying to keep these babies comfy in my belly as long as I can. I have been told here that each day that the babies stay in is really a blessing, so that is why I made sure to include the "and 2 days" in the subject.

I also want to thank you all for the kind words and prayers you are sending our way. I hope to reply back to the emails we've been getting, but lying down and typing isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I will do my best.

I guess that is all for now.

Love,
Shayna

Pregnancy Update

Well, I'm way behind in my updates. Sorry to those of you who check regularily. Let me sum up the last month of activities. My teaching ended mid-May. The first week after school was out, I decided Cayden needed a big boy bedroom - no more yellow walls! He really enjoys his "new room" with red and blue walls (we have some pictures, those will come later). Lisa (my sister) and family came to visit over Memorial Weekend and we celebrated Cayden's Birthday with them (his birthday was the following week). After Lisa and family left, we started working on the babies room. I don't think we have any pictures of that yet, but we'll get some when we can. It's hard trying to fit three cribs in one room. Then we celebrated Cayden's Birthday June 2nd. I also started my last class of my Graduate program that day, and we had a check up at the doctor's for the babies. Everything was fine there!

Here's the real pregnancy update: On June 10th, we went in for another ultrasound (those pics are somewhere as well, but I don't have them on my computer). The babies looked great. Baby A (girl) was 1 pound 13 ounces. Baby B (boy) was 1 pound 10 ounces. And Baby C (girl) was 1 pound 12 ounces. They also did a cervical ultrasound to determine my cervical length. After the ultrasound tech was done, she said she needed to call my doctor to see if there was anything else he needed. I secretly though "Uh, oh" in my head. Apparently my cervix length is only 1.4 cm, and ideally it should be 3 cm or more. So, we were sent up to the doctor's office immediately after the ultrasound. From his office, I was sent to the hospital for further observation. (I have been in a horizontal position to not put pressure on my cervix). We were told yesterday at the hospital that the neonatologist that is in Minot is not comfortable taking care of all three babies if they were to be delivered now. So we needed to make a decision as to where we wanted to go for care that could handle all three. We were to pick from Fargo, ND or Minneapolis, MN. We decided Minneapolis for a couple of reasons: 1) Lisa lives there and 2). they have more resources than Fargo. So all day today they have been trying to locate an air ambulance that can get me from Minot to Minneapolis. Unfortunately, there have been some nasty thunderstorms between here and there, that no one was willing to fly yet. So, we hope tomorrow that I will be able to get to Minneapolis.

I really feel fine, no swelling, no pain anywhere, and apparently I'm having some contractions (can tell when I'm hooked up on a monitor), but I can't feel them. Cayden and Scott have been great through all of this. Scott has spent much of his time with me and doing all of my to-do lists (packing for the air ambulance trip and for the stay in Minneapolis). Cayden has spent most of his time with Grandma Connie and Grandpa Harley, and he's loving that too. Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa.

So, in a nut shell, I'm hopefully heading off to Minneapolis tomorrow, weather permitting. My current doctor said that he wants me to go there for 4 weeks. Then I should be able to come back to Minot and have the babies (that is if they cooperate and "bake" some more for those four weeks). Scott and Cayden will come down in Scott's car after I leave. They both plan on staying in Minneapolis with me the entire time.

If you want to email me or Scott, you can email me at my email shayna_gibbons@yahoo.com If you want to email Scott, you can send it to me, and I will forward it on.

I will definitely keep the blog updated more often now, as I apparently have more time on my hands now, and I know many of you are interested in how we are doing.

I think that is it for now.
Love,
Shayna

They are...

2 GIRLS AND A BOY! The babies are labeled A, B, and C. The babies are sort of stacked in there. Baby A is the lowest on the stack and more on my left side. Baby B is in the middle and more on my right side. And Baby C is located on the top kind of to my left side and middle. Babies A and C are the girls and poor Baby B who is stuck in the middle is our boy. During the ultrasound on Friday (May 9th), Baby C was kicking baby A in the head with both feet! Let the sibling fights begin! All of the babies seem to be having a party in my belly, as I have really been feeling them move the last couple of weeks or so.

Here are some ultrasound pictures. Some of them picutres look like blobs, but I can make out a few of them. I think if you click on the picutres, you can enlarge them. (If you enlarge the pictures, hit the back button on your browser to go back to the blog. If you "x" out, you will close your browser window). The pictures say at the bottom of each picture what the picture is supposed to be. Good luck making sense of them.





The next picture is supposed to be a picture of all 3 babies. The top picture sort of shows all three babies. The bottom picture is supposed to be of all three heads. The ultrasound tech/nurse whatever she is called labeled the babies so the letter is right next to their heads or on the edge of their heads.

It snowed May 9th!

We went to bed on May 9th, and it was snowing out! It must have snowed a while, as we got up the next morning to 3-4 inches of snow. So we took Cayden out to play in the snow for a little while.




Then, I thought I would show Cayden how to make a snow angel. I made the mistake of giving Scott the camera, and this is the beautiful picture he took. He insisted that I put this picture on here, so I gave in. You all want a belly picture, well, here it is!



And here is the outcome of my snow angel.

20 Week Belly Picture

Here's a couple more belly shots for everyone to see. This is me at 20 weeks. I have people asking me when I'm due. They are quite shocked when I tell them that I am at 20 weeks. I feel like I'm ready to pop, and I'm only half way there!

What an imagination...

One night recently Cayden was not in a big hurry to go to sleep. I heard him making noises in his room, so I thought I would check on him. Cayden informed that he was watching TV. Apparently, his pillow is his pretend TV. The things that kids come up with.

18 Weeks Belly Picture

I've had requests for some belly pictures. So here is one of my belly at 18 weeks (which was around April 25th).

Train Ride Home From MN

Here's Cayden and his Daddy acting too cool on the train ride home. The train ride home was so rocky and bumpy. We got a sleeper car. Cayden and I slept on the bottom and Scott slept on the top. Scott said that there were a couple of times where he felt like he was going to roll of the top. There was a cargo net that I guess was supposed to keep him from falling all the way down, but Scott didn't think it was going to help.

Minneapolis Trip April 18-20

The reasons for our trip were to see Auntie Lisa and Family and also to see the Backyardigans. Well, Cayden also thinks that when he gets to see Auntie Lisa, he also gets to make a visit to Chuck E. Cheese. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures at the Backyardigans Live, but Cayden and cousins Addy and Ash all seemed to really like the show.

Here's our trip to Chuck E. Cheese. In the back row is Scott and Auntie Lisa, the second row left to right is Cousin Addy, Cayden and Cousin Ash. Uncle Greg was driving, and that's my finger on the left side of the screen. Ooops.



Here's just some pictures of Cayden with Chuck E. Cheese.

Update from April 18

So, I'm falling way behind in my updating, but I made my mind up to start some updating this weekend. On April 18th Scott, Cayden and I loaded into the train to go to Minneapolis to see The Backyardigans Live. Cayden is our typical little boy. He was so excited about riding on the train. It didn't matter that it was 10 pm when we finally got going, he wasn't about to go to sleep. This is Cayden before we left. Grandma was standing outside waving to him.




This is Cayden saying goodbye to Grandma on my cell phone.

2 and A Half Hours Later...

We finally got to see Dora the Explorer and Boots! Dora and Boots were at our mall on Saturday. So we thought we would get to the mall around 10:45 thinking that it wouldn't take too long. Were we in for a surprise! We stood in line for 2 and a half hours so Cayden could get his picture taken with Dora and Boots. He wasn't sure what to think at first. He was okay standing by her. Then she slowly extended her hand, and Cayden thought that it would be okay to hold her hand. He did really well for waiting all that time.

This is Cayden waiting patiently. We had maybe been in line for 30 minutes at this time. Shortly after this picture, the company that was hosting the event brought sack lunches of hot dogs and chips to everyone. That was a huge life-saver for us!



We have the end in sight. Cayden decided it was cool to be up on Dad's shoulders looking at Dora. He would yell her name and then wave. He learned to do that because the little girl behind us was doing the same.



Cayden wanted to take a picture of Daddy. So this was Daddy's best pose. I think he wanted this fun to be over.



Finally, we get to Dora!!




Did I mention that this is how I got to spend my birthday? With hundreds of excited, screaming, crying, whining kids... It was worth it though. Cayden had a blast!

Love,
Shayna

For our Southern Friends and Family

This may gross some of the northern friends and family out, maybe even some of the southerners too. But maybe not...

On Friday, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson made supper for everyone. Grandma got this wild and crazy hair in her (from a grocery sale ad, I think) to cook up some crawfish. Let me correct that... They were already cooked, so she just had to reheat them. They were actually quite yummy. However, I don't think that we served the south very well, as we didn't suck the juices out of their heads. Hmmmm... doesn't that sound appetizing? From what I hear, most of "ya'll" don't even do that yourselves, "ya'll" just talk big about it. :) Cayden tried a couple, but he told us that they were sour. Actually, they had a cajun seasoning to them, so they had a little kick that he didn't care for.


Here is a picture for you in case you haven't ever seen a crawfish. They look like little lobsters, but in my opinion they are more creepy than a lobster. The picture is a close up so they look bigger than they really are.

Love, Shayna

Update on Scott's Orders

Well, I think it is safe to say it now, but with the military anything can change at anytime. A week ago yesterday, Scott received notice that his orders were cancelled!! I'm very excited about it, but like I said, with the military, anything can happen. It is one less thing to worry about for now! Scott said that he was going to look into putting in for the 5 year control tour that is offered here-not sure if he has done so yet. We have been here for 3 years already (wow, time has flown by!). If he gets the 5 year control tour, that would mean that we would have 2 years left to stay. I wouldn't mind staying, not sure about Scott though. Having family and a network of friends so close will be helpful when our triplets arrive!

That's about all on the orders. Hopefully, I got all of the information correct, as I'm writing this based on what I think Scott told me. He always tells me that I only hear what I want to hear. If there is anything that I got wrong, I'm sure he'll let me know and I'll update the update on the orders.

Love,
Shayna

March Doctor's Appointment Update

We went in for our monthly doctor's appointment yesterday. Everything seems to be going fine so far! There was another doctor who was following my normal doctor and he did the check up first. First, he was shocked to see that we are having triplets. Then he "attempted" to listen to the heartbeats. I'm not sure what he was really thinking, if he thought he heard all 3 or not, but he said "120, 150 and 120". Then my normal doctor came in and found only one heart beat at 159. I asked, what about the other two. He said that it is very difficult to find all three heart beats when not using ultrasound. He also made a point of letting us know that it is nothing to worry about.

We have another appointment on April 28. I will be 18.5 weeks then. Then the doctor said that we will schedule another ultrasound for 20 weeks. I'm so excited for that. Just to see all three little munchkins moving would be great! I don't think I have been able to feel them move yet. The kids at school tease me about when all three start moving, and how that is going to feel. I can't imagine what that is going to be like.

Oh, and there is another lady having triplets in town. Her husband works in the same building as Scott. We saw them at the doctor's office yesterday. She is 30 weeks along, and she does not look like it! She looks like she is just pregnant with one. I have a feeling I'm going to be a blimp! I'm blaming her nice belly on the fact that she is a lot taller than me, therefore her tummy is more stretched up and down. Mine is just going to explode outward (pleasant thought, isn't it??) I'll put pictures of the precious triplet house, aka, my belly on sometime in the near future.

I think that is everything for now. Happy April Fools Day!

Love, Shayna