Remember last year around this time? (not one comment on that post. what’s up with that? I guess it’s before we built our following of lovely supporters ).

I remember Tobie asking me if I was going to her weekly doctor’s appointment. I had some stuff to do at work and these appointments were becoming pretty routine so I declined to go to this particular appointment (it should be noted that I had been to every previous appointment like a good husband). At the last minute Tobie’s mom stepped in and decided to go with her. To this day, I don’t know what we would have done if she wasn’t at this appointment with Tobie. Up until this appointment, other than a few contractions, we were the perfect picture of what a triplet pregnancy could be!

I remember sitting at my desk at work when I received a phone call from Tobie on my cell phone. Know that feeling of being so distraught that you literally can’t talk? Without her even saying a word I knew something was terribly wrong. She said something about being rushed to the hospital downtown. Tobie was so taken back with what the doctor had just told her, her mother had to get on the phone and fill me in. I don’t remember asking for details, just what hospital they were going to and that I would meet them there.

I remember getting off the phone and sitting in my empty office. How could of this have happened? It didn’t make sense. How bad was it? Did we lose the babies? Why the $#@! wasn’t I at this appointment? My boss came by my office and started talking about some work nonsense. I just lost it. I could barely speak. Know that feeling of being so distraught that you literally can’t talk? Instead of running out of the office like a mad man, I just sat in my office and cried. Even in a time of crisis the practical side of me knew that I had to get it all out before I hit the road.

I remember driving like a mad man across town. I’m not saying I broke any laws, but I would have liked to see a cop pull me over. Having never been to this hospital, it represented this enormous scary place in a part of town we really aren’t familiar with. Talk about being out of your comfort zone.

I remember walking to the triage desk asking about my wife. “Sir, you’ll want to go through these doors, hang a right, then a left, spin 3 times in place, and then hit the open doors button and ask a nurse”. Do all hospitals feel like a labyrinth?

I remember finally walking into the Tobie’s hospital room. Her mom had a look of sadness in her eyes. I was preparing for the worst. There were nurses running in and out doing what nurses do. In an instance, Tobie had formed new appendages that would stay with her the next 3 weeks. We had 3 IVs, a pulse ox, and something strapped to her belly. Tobie looked terrible (sorry honey, but you did look a little worse for wear, don’t hate the player, hate the game!). How is this possible? She looked absolutely fine a few hours ago and now looked like someone who has been in the hospital for a very long time. Tobie’s face was flushed red. She had been given a shot of Terbutylene to slow her contractions. A few side effects of Terb is your adrenaline gets going and you get heat flashes. Tobie was in pain from the side effects. In addition to the Terb, she was hooked up to a Magnesium Sulfate drip which helps slow her contractions. This drug is more of a muscle relaxer that also causes you to have blurry vision. Talk about being pulled into two different directions! She was also hooked up to a contraction monitor around her belly that monitors her contractions (duh!). The readout looks like the data a seismologist would analyze. I think she was having 15+ contractions an hour or an earthquake was happening. There were so many squiggly humps on the readout, it couldn’t be good news. Only 21 weeks pregnant but we were in active labor!

To be continued…