So January 9, 2011 is where we left off. I had a scheduled ultrasound with the REI clinic in Tacoma, WA. Now, WA geography is kinda funky. From where we were living/stationed (Silverdale, WA), there’s a giant body of water called the Puget Sound. To the direct east of us is Seattle, WA, across the water. The only way to get there is to ferry across, or drive down to Tacoma and back up the other side in a  big U shape. So Tacoma is where my hospital and docs were for the REI clinic, and it was about a 45 minute drive. I was being lazy, and after the crazy travel I didn’t want to leave my son at childcare for the morning so I could go down there by myself. After all, we were expecting it to merely be a 15 minute appointment to verify that there was indeed a baby there, that it was doing okay, and I’d be signed off to go to OB up in Silverdale. I had even had my “getting to know you” appointment already with them and had my first real OB appointment schedule for the next week.

So here I am, with 3 year old in tow, waiting in the doctors office. I brought the DVD player with me so my son could watch a movie while we waited, and thought all would be good. The doc came in, and I laid down, and my son thought it was really cool to see the pictures on the screen. He even “understood” when I said that we were going to see a picture of the baby! I say that loosely, because he understood as much as any 3 year old can understand pregnancy and babies (or as much as you want them to anyways).

So there I am, laying on the table, doc doing the ultrasound, and I can’t see anything yet. He gets this worried look on his face. Now remember back to where I said while I was in FL I was cramping and almost went to the hospital? Yeah. I started to freak. What felt like forever later, he finally says…. “Well, you’ve got double the surprise!”

Um… what?!?!

I just started laughing. I couldn’t wait to play a prank on the hubby with the announcement of twins and was absolutely ecstatic.

Then he got really serious. The nurse’s face went white. I started to seriously freak out. I couldn’t help but think the worst. The baby(s) was(were)n’t viable. There was something wrong. I don’t know, but every worst case scenario played through my mind. Then he looked at me, and said, “Well, you’ve got triple the surprise.”

Um… what?!?!

I asked him, “You’re kidding, right?!”

He stopped what he was doing, looked at me in the eyes, and said, “Ma’am, I don’t kid about things this serious.”

I started laughing. Like, full on laughing where tears started streaming down my face from laughing so hard. I mean, really, what do you say/do when you’re told you’re having triplets?!?!

From there, it was a whirlwind. My husband was deployed. On a submarine. In the middle of the ocean. Thousands of miles from civilization. Email? Screened. Phone calls? Non existant. So I did what any good Navy wife would do. I called the Ombudsmen. Went to voicemail. I called the CO’s wife. Went to voicemail. I called my mother-in-law (a Navy wife, and her sister had triplets). Voicemail. At this point I’m laughing/crying so much a nurse comes and asks if I want a room for some privacy. At this point? Too late for that! The whole floor had likely heard the story by now. Little did I know that I would later live less than a hallway away from this room for 4 weeks of hospital bedrest.

Finally, I got in touch with the Ombudsman. I talked to the CO’s wife. I talked to my mother in law. I couldn’t call another soul until my husband knew. I sat there hoping and praying it wouldn’t be long. They run silent for weeks on end sometimes, and I didn’t know when the next time he’d get the message would be or when I’d finally hear that he had gotten the message. The joys of being a Navy wife sometimes!

Next up? My first consult with the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) department. They are responsible for managing mother and babies’ health through a high-risk pregnancy. They’re more specialized than a standard OBGYN, and have more experience in high-risk and multiple pregnancies. Everything from then on was a blur until I got that wonderful email from my husband. He heard. He is over the moon excited. He can’t wait to come home so we can celebrate together.

The next four months went by relatively uneventful. Many more doc appointments than I would have had otherwise. Remember those orders to Japan we were supposed to have? Cancelled. Everything seemed to be progressing textbook perfectly, though, until May 19th. We had gotten orders to Monterey, CA, for Naval Postgraduate School. School was to start in August. The detailer called asking if we could report in JUNE instead so hubby could take some review courses. Ummm, I’m 28 weeks pregnant with triplets!! Amazingly, the docs said it would be okay as long as we had a plan in place. Little did we know what would happen next.