Welcome to antepartum

This is the waiting place. I am currently sitting beside my wife, who has for the last 32 hours been fighting valiantly to keep these babies on the inside rather than on the outside. We sit in a rather odd part of the hospital...a ward filled with expectant mothers who all share one desire...more time. Hence, it is the waiting place. You don't see many people here. They, for the most part, are bed-ridden and if they feel like me, probably don't want small talk anyway so we keep to ourselves. The stakes are high. I look at the patient board and see a variety of gestational ages- 23 wks, 31 wks, 24 wks, 29 wks...etc...and in our case 27 wks 3 d with a big 3 circled next to it referring to the fact that we are the only couple here with triplets on board. We don't want to meet our little babies yet - if we do we are all aware that we may not hold them for long and their little bodies may be...well...just too little. We care desperately about them as only parents do, and I find myself getting emotional as I hope for the chance to take these little guys home some day and show them the life they deserve. Yes, I am overtired too.

I already must ask a favor from my little sons. It is now clear that no matter what happens, they will have to be little fighters. We are hoping for days and maybe weeks now, but ultimately these little guys are going to have to fight and there won't be much I can do for a while. Lets hope for the best.

Let me back up and give you the update on Sherri. Tuesday night we went to bed as usual and although we had had a tough day, there was no sign of trouble. I woke up to Sherri getting really restless about 2:00am and asked her what was up...turns out she had been having contractions that had woken her so we started to time them. I quickly realized that we were going to be headed to the hospital...6 contractions in 15 minutes...need I say more. Our dear friend Bonnie came over to be with Mark, and off we went.
Upon arriving at Swedish, Sherri was basically in full labor...a contraction every 3 min...not what anyone wants at 27 weeks. The nursing staff and doctors were amazing but they had a big job ahead of them...to stop this train that had left the station. Out comes the bazooka.
Apparently Magnesium Sulfate has some practical uses. One of them is that its a smooth muscle relaxant...particularly helpful if the smooth muscle we're talking about is a uterus. This is the drug of last resort when it comes to pre-term labor...injected straight into the bloodstream through an IV it hits you hard and fast. I'm speaking from an onlookers perspective here.
They start apologizing immediately. The nurses. The doctors. Everyone is apologizing. "I'm sorry, this will be terrible...". Dr. Tran..."my last name is a 4-letter word and you'll be using it that way soon...I'm sorry...". "This will be really hard on you Sherri, I'm so sorry...". Pull the trigger...poor Sherri...
Yes it is a smooth muscle relaxant. It is also the next thing to napalm and has a tendancy to completely knock you off your feet. Can't eat. Skin is burning up. Can't lift your arms. Don't even think about standing up. Puking. Can't sleep. You're on fire. All over. And it doesn't stop. No, not for 48 hrs.
The good news is: the crazy stuff seems to work. Her contractions started to slow within a few hours, and over the next 24 they continued to slow to where we're at now - 32 hours later at about 3 an hour...which in our "new normal" is ok. She still feels terrible, but at least we have bought a little time.

Now we wait. Like the others here, we don't know if we'll be here a few days or several weeks, maybe a month. They've given Sherri steriods to help the babies lungs develop faster, and spur their growth as there is no doubt we'll have preemies. The goal is still 32 weeks, but we are realistic...every day now is a gift. I am hopeful we get a couple of weeks at least. I am so proud of my wife- she's the toughest little supermom I know - and I do think we'll all be ok. Nobody ever promised us easy.
We are here at Swedish, the doctors ask for no visitors. This is quiet time. A sign on every wall reads- "Baby Needs to Grow, Mom Needs to Rest". Sherri is doing pretty good, as I said she's been through a lot, but we're up for it. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers!