MoreThanWeExpected.com

~ GWEN RHIANNA ~

Born July 1st, 2006 at 7:46 pm, she weighed 9 lbs., 1 oz. and was 21.5" long.

Her APGAR scores were 8/9.

Gwen was always a big baby, which was evident even before she was born.

THE TRIPLETS

~ TESS OLIVIA (aka Baby A) ~

Born February 25th, 2008 at 12:55 am, she weighed 4 lbs., 14 oz. and was 17.9" long.  Her APGAR scores were 6/7.

Tess was the lead baby, at the bottom of the uterus, and therefore was the weakest because she bore the weight of her sister and brother for 8 months.  Tess began her life in the real world on a C-Pap machine for apnea in the Elliot Hospital's NICU where she gained weight and got strong enough to come home just 2 days after her little brother and sister, on March 13th, 2008.

~ NORA PAIGE (aka Baby B) ~

Born February 25th, 2008 at 12:56 am, she weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz. and was 18.5" long.  Her APGAR scores were 7/8.

Nora is Tess' identical twin but spent most of her time in utero hanging out with Holden.  She was the biggest and strongest baby but also needed help breathing and was on an C-Pap machine for apnea and needed some photo-therapy for jaundice a few days after she was born.  She did great in the Elliot's NICU and came home March 10th, 2008, exactly two weeks after being born.

~ HOLDEN ANTHONY (aka Baby C) ~

Born February 25th, 2008 at 12:57 am, he weighed 4 lbs., 13 oz. and was 17.9" long.  His APGAR scores were 7/8.

Holden was the most active in utero and was no exception after being born.  He was the only one I heard cry in the delivery room and needed the least amount of oxygen supplementation and help breathing as his apnea episodes were infrequent and often self corrected.  Holden did have jaundice and needed to spend several days under the UV lamps while it improved.  Holden spent his time with his sisters in the NICU but overcame his jaundice and his apnea to come home on March 10th, 2008.

My belly stretched to planetary proportions; believe it or not I was actually all belly, not much fat (well, not much fatter than when I started anyway, LOL).  Here is what I looked like, at around 33 - 34 weeks, about 1 week before going into labor.  I would never have shared this picture with the world as I think it's a little personal but since my mother has shown pictures of my belly progressing to gigantism to everyone she's come in contact with since I got pregnant it's a moot point.  Oddly enough she thinks breast pumps and nipple shields should be kept private but my naked belly is good enough to share with strangers at the grocery store.