The boys officially have names! We've actually had the names for awhile but we've been holding off announcing until we were absolutely sure. It's been nice actually, thinking of them with names and identities.

The naming process was a little harder than I expected. We wanted strong names with strong meanings. We wanted names that were not too common but also not too unusual. I'm very pleased with the names and the few people we've shared with seem to like them too! So, without further adieu, I introduce to you....

Baby A: Mitchell Henry Probeyahn. Mitchell (a form of Michael) means "Who is like God". Henry is Matt's dad's name and it means "Ruler of the home".

Baby B: Nathaniel Robert Probeyahn. Nathaniel in the Bible was an apostle of Jesus and his name means "Gift of God". Robert was my dad's name and it means "Bright Fame"

Baby C: Elias Matthew Probeyahn. Elias (a form of Elijah) was a prophet in the Bible and his name means "The Lord is my God". Matthew of course is his daddy and means "God's Gift".

So there you have it. Mitch, Nate and Eli will soon join the Probeyahn family and we are super excited to meet them!

We received our first round of cloth diapers this week. They are so cute!! I'm both excited and overwhelmed with them. I bought size small in both the covers and the prefolds but they still seem so big!! and I'm a little unsure of how to use them exactly so it feels a little akward. I wish I knew an experienced CD mom in the area who could come over and show me!!

Update: I just spent the last hour watching how-to videos on YouTube. It helped but it has also made me question the choice of prefolds and covers. I like the look of the BumGenius AIOs but they are more expensive. Ahh... too many choices!

I am now 20 weeks pregnant with the triplets. I have gained 10lbs (not enough I know! but I'm working hard to keep gaining) and my belly is measuring 38in diameter. I can feel the babies move all the time now and even Matt and Jordan have been able to feel it a couple times. The second trimester is being nice to me in that I have a little more energy and I'm not throwing up at all, but my back hurts all the time and I've had terrible acid reflux for weeks.

We went to our 20w appointment with the perinatalogist a few days ago. It was the long appointment where they measure every bone and organ. We took Jordan with us so he could see his little brothers moving around. Although he did get bored (to be expected at a 2 hour sonogram!) he was happy to be part of the process. The tech was awesome and switched over to 4D imagery a couple times to see if we could get any good pictures and we were able to get a couple. It's still early for this technology but as the babies grow it's going to be harder and harder to get good pictures because they are going to be more and more crowded.

So as it stands Baby A, my singleton, is measuring 9oz with a gestational age of 19w 2days. He is lowest in my uterus and farthest back toward my spine so we unfortunately didn't get any good pictures of him at this appointment. We hope by the next picture day he'll have grown enough to nudge his brothers up and out of the way a little so we can see his little face!

Baby B, of my identicals, is measuring 11oz with a gestational age of 19w 5days. We were happy to see him make such progress because at the appointment just 2 weeks prior he was measuring the smallest of the three. Now he's the biggest! And his heart rate was right on par with the other two this time. Every other time his heart rate has been a bit higher. Here are a couple photos of Baby B...

Baby C, my other identical, is measuring 10oz and with a gestational age of 19w 4days. His ulatrsound photos are a little less clear because his brother kept getting in the way. In fact in the regular (not 4D) image you can see Baby B's leg appear above C's head. And as I said earlier, it's still early for 4D pics so even though we have them, keep in mind the babies are still too small and under-developed to get perfect pictures. Things look a little distorted, but if you look you will see C has one hand under his chin and one hand up on his face.

Because B and C are so close to each other we actually get many photos where we see them both. Here are a couple 4D shots of them together. In the first one you will see a profile of Baby C and though its not perfectly clear, he has his arm around Baby B. They are laying ying and yang so C's elbow is actually right on top of B's nose.

In this second one, taken from a different angle, you'll see Baby C's face (with his hand under his chin again) and then you see Baby B's legs resting on C's head!

So all is well and the doc seems happy with the progress the boys are making. So far there is no sign of TTTS and that's awesome. We will continue to watch them closely for that but the doctor said after 26 weeks we should be in the clear on that worry. We have amniotic measurment appointments every two weeks from here on out, with one more growth appointment in about a month.

You know what really irks me?? (This has happened a couple times now, from one of the OB docs in the practice I go to and also a couple times from well-meaning moms in forums that I've posted questions to.) When I voice a concern or question regarding the future or outcome of my pregnancy and am told not to worry about that. That instead I should be focusing on the duration of my pregnancy and getting lots of rest and getting these babies here safely. Well DUH! Of course I'm focused on getting them here safely! Every moment of every day I think about that and worry about it. But why does that mean I can't ask questions about breastfeeding techniques and what to expect with the c-section and the possibility of getting my tubes tied after giving birth? These are all very valid concerns and there is nothing wrong with me wanting to prepare myself mentally for these upcoming challenges! If I waited til the babies were here to ask questions about breastfeeding I'm pretty sure I'd find myself overwhelmed. I don't appreciate feeling like my concerns aren't valid or like I'm not focused enough on the right things.

That's all. Just needed to vent.

Friday marked 18 weeks for us! We went to the perinatologist for an amnio check which means the measured the amount of amniotic fluid for each baby to make sure they are thriving appropriately. Because Baby B and C share a placenta they are at risk for Twin-to-Twin transfusion syndrome so the docs are watching them very closely for that. So far all is good! Baby B is slightly smaller than the other two and his heartbeat is always way faster than the others too but the doctor said that its not a significant enough difference to worry yet. We go back for a full measurement in two weeks. I think Baby B is just having to work harder for his place between his two brothers. They are already so crammed in there its hard to believe I still have months to go!

While we were at the appointment Matt asked the US tech to switch to 4D and see if we could get a good shot.With 3 babies in there so close together we've been told that it's not likely we will. But the tech appeased our request and tried. Initially, on Baby A there was nothing to see. But when we were measuring Baby C we asked her to switch it over again because he is on top and might be easier to see. Sure enough we got a GREAT view of him! And as we were focusing in on his little face and hand we noticed another hand in the picture. She adjusted the wand and zoomed out and all of a sudden we could see both B and C together, face-to-face and touching each other. It was AMAZING! I begged her to print the image for me but she refused. Because it's still too early for 4D images the babies' skull bones were not fused together and the picture looked like they both had large holes in their head. She said she didn't want anyone to think anything was wrong with them so she wouldn't give us a printed picture of it. I was so disappointed! But hopefully we'll be able to get a good 4D image photo when the time is right. Despite not having the proof, the memory is priceless and I'm grateful she showed us anyway.

Lastly, we went to the beach today so here is an updated photo of me at 18 weeks...

A friend of mine (and mother of a girl with a boy on the way) wrote me this very clever and fun top ten list of why it's good to have all boys. It made my day so I want to share it!
Top ten reasons it is great to have all boys!

1.Now Matt has to do the all the talk about the “birds and the bees”

2.If you ever have another baby, you can tell people you were trying for a girl and people won’t look at you like your COMPLETELY crazy.

3.You can spend as much time as you want in the bathroom and no one will question you because the boys will just figure you are doing “women things” in there.

4.Just think in a few years you may never have to take the trash out or mow the lawn for the rest of your life!

5.Two words …… NO DRAMA!! i.e. a little thing I like to call “princess moments”

6.You can give them baths all at the same time and not have to worry about the question “what’s that?”

7.You won’t have to sweep up crazy amounts of glitter.

8.You won’t have to spend half the morning getting everyone’s hair done to get out the door.

9.“on call” spider and/or creepy bug killers….. awesome.

10.More love than your heart thought it could hold when they pull weeds out of the yard and try and give their momma “flowers”

Thanks Fran, for making me smile! You rock!

I'm 17 weeks pregnant today! My belly is 37 inches in diameter and I've gained 5 lbs. (I know I need to gain more but for now I'll take it as an accomplishment since I've been actively TRYING to gain weight). Here's a recent picture of me taken in our soon-to-be nursery! The picture behind me is my son Jordan when he was a baby taken by dear friend (and awesome photographer) Suzie and above that you'll see a picture Jordan drew for the babies. Its an Abraham Lincoln Fish. Yep. :)

I went to the doctor this morning and the babies still look good and healthy. From here on out, between the perinatologist and the OB I have appointments every week. I love that I get to see the babies that much! I just hate the WAITING and WAITING at the doctors. Ugh.

Also this last week we nailed down the details for a baby shower (November 6th!) and registered. We registered at Babies'r'Us and at www.fluffenvy.com. It is overwhelming how much stuff we are going to need to care for three infants!! I'm so thankful for all my family and friends who are helping us through this. We couldn't do it without you all!