This Is My Thanksgiving....

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

    and with my song I give THANKS to him. 

~Psalm 28:7

This is my Thanksgiving........ 

31 Weeks! When I found out I was having triplets I thought I literally was going to die during the pregnancy, or spend months in the hospital with my belly up to the ceiling. I am home, I am with my family, I have gotten to be with my son, and make cookies and lick the beaters together..

And occasionally the whole family even joins me on our bed for "bed rest!" 

I have watched people of our city be the hands and feet of Jesus as they have served us through this time, from moving us out of our home, to physically being here to help, to emotionally praying for us, collecting items we need, giving of their finances to help support the many costs we will have, donating hand me downs, sending messages of encouragement, and  leaving meals and care packages at our door. 

4.1, 4.1, and 4.2 Lbs....almost 12 1/2 pounds in there and somewhere between 45 to 50 inches of baby!  

This is my Thanksgiving..... 

Here is to another week... after contractions 10 minutes apart last night that eventually subsided with meds from the Dr. we were told to have our bags packed and ready to go! We are getting close! 3 weeks or less and these girls will make their debut! Still hoping and praying we can hang on at home for a few weeks longer!  

Oh yes, please don't be fooled by the picture above, there is still room in that belly for turkey, sweet potatoes, rolls, and pie! :) 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

from the very GRATEFUL Holmstroms! 

30 Weeks, 30 Fingers & 30 Toes, Almost Over 3 1/2 Pounds Each--- That's a LOT of 3's

30 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!! My second goal! We made it!! When we first found out we were having Triplets our original Dr had said his goal would be to get me to 30 weeks! And here we are! So so thankful, but I can't help but allow my mind to begin to focus on our next goal of 34 weeks-- D-DAY!!!!!! December 17! My eyes are set on the finish line in hopes that I can keep these girls baking until then.  We went to the Dr. this past Monday and he was very happy with how big they are measuring. Baby A is 3.12, Baby B is 3.8 and Baby C is 3.9 lbs! We also saw MANY little fingers and feet on the ultrasound, which I just can't help but laugh when I think of 30 little fingers & 30 little toes in there :)  The Dr. said he thinks I can make it to Dec. 17, but wouldn't be surprised if the girls arrived sooner because of how big they are and because Baby A has dropped down onto my cervix and is putting a lot of added pressure.  

So with that being said, I have kind of hit a new "Survival Mode" these past few days.  I am tired and do not move around well. The energy that I have to exert just to get out of pj's somedays is astronomical (so somedays I don't)!  I am in  pain when trying to move or stand up, and so most of my time is spent laying down.  Night is the worst, and I am up for most of it, only to be exhausted by 6 am and finally ready to sleep.  Many people have asked to come by and visit and I hate that we have to say no, but at this point I barely have enough energy to spend any quality time with Tigh and Gray, and our primary focus is to get these girls as close to Dec. 17 as possible.  If we were to deliver early, our Dr. thinks they would need to be in the NICU at least 6 weeks and there is a much greater possibility of complications that we could run into.  So I don't want to risk it, and I really am listening to my body, and lately it is saying STOP EVERYTHING and DONT MOVE! 

The other night I was talking with my parents and Tigh, and it is so abundantly clear to us that through prayer and the help of all our family and friends we have made it this far.  My parents went from having a TON of room in their house to being shoved upstairs into a little corner, and I know they are enjoying this time we all have together, but I am sure they will be equally relieved when they get their home back.  I am so so grateful for all that they have sacrificed in order to help us get this far- cleaning, shopping, laundry, meals, taking care of Gray and our dog, at times waiting on me hand and foot....etc.  Its been a HUGE blessing and I know we wouldn't be this far with out them! THANK YOU MOM & DAD! And thanks to everyone for your continued prayers, love, and support! 

Here is the 30 week pic....I just keep thinking I can't get any bigger, and I then I do.  

Oh and yes- total weight gain so far ~50lbs! WOWZA! 

Cinnamon Life and Everything Nice....That's What These Little Girls Will Be Made Of

This past Monday I went to the Dr. fully prepared for him to tell me it is time for me to head into the hospital for the remainder of this pregnancy.  It's been getting tough... contractions, pressure, dizzyness, shortness of breath, and it feels like these babies are playing my rib bones like a harp....(it HURTS, and they are bruised).  Not to mention I REALLY don't feel like my stomach can stretch any further with out splitting open. (TOO much info, I am sorry).  But much to my surprise after an ultrasound and exam he concluded that we are still right on track, and the girls are roughly close to 3lbs each!! I was utterly blown away by God's faithfulness yet again!  The fact that I get to be home resting with my son by my side (well not really--running around the house is more like it), but at least I get to be HERE with him, is such a blessing!! I am so thankful the girls are doing well and continuing to grow!  The Dr. asked me what I have been eating to grow these "Texas" size babies as he is referring to them, and my response was "Cinnamon Life!"  Yup that's right, "Cinnamon Life and everything nice, that is what these little girls are made of."  I go through about a box every two days!!!! It really is absurd! But don't get me wrong I am still fitting in protein, and I can NOT eat enough Granny Smith Apples in a day! So here we are at 27 1/2 weeks last week:

It really does freak me out a bit to think that I still have 6 weeks to go, and there are days that I am just REALLY ready, but I know I can't be.   I know that I need to finish strong, I just don't understand HOW my body is going to stretch even further and how I will even move as the weeks go on.  When those thoughts creep up which is often these days, I stop myself and ask God to just continue to sustain my body and these 3 girls, as only he can.  My sweet husband encourages me that I need to "finish strong" as he once did before we had kids and we would go jogging together..... It always got under my skin and I would usually scream something nasty back at him in between gasping for air as I was jogging to "STOP encouraging me, I HATE this, I'm miserable and walking back home!"  I am trying to have a little bit of a better attitude as he cheers me on to the finish line this time....but I don't think the extra hormones are helping the situation much. :)  But then I look at these sweet pictures that you see below, and I realize it is not about me this time... It is about these 3 little souls and I will fight to finish strong, to keep them in as long as possible, to keep them as safe as possible.  Here are our girls, I can't wait to kiss those cheeks!!! 

Baby A 

Baby B (who would not stop yawning and rubbing her eyes during the ulrasound :) 

Baby C (oh that little arm and fingers!!!) 

So with 6 more weeks to go, we are soaking in every minute that we can as a family of 3, and really trying to slow the busyness of life down.  Our church recently merged with another church and we are not sure where our family will land once the girls arrive and we are ready to get back into a church home, but for now we are enjoying the time that Tigh has home with us on Sunday morning instead of drumming.  This was our "church" this morning (below).... we had a fire left over from the night before, sat outside and enjoyed watching Gray run around with the dogs as we drank coffee and I sat in a chair feeling these babies kick.  We counted our blessings, and I am just overwhelmed with thankfulness that as hard as this is, this is my life God has given me.  I can't believe I get to walk it alongside the man God gave me, and that I get to be Gray's mom and these 3 girls mom... 

And finally, Gray has already started taking on the role of BIG brother.  He will go into the girls room and swing a stuffed animal in one of the baby swings and act like he is giving it a paci (we have some work to do, to slow the speed in which he likes to swing it and say "WEEEEE!!" but we have some time to work on that).    The other day as I was laying on the couch, he came to join me and rested his head on my belly to give his "sissies" a hug..... "oh my sweet child, how I LOVE YOU & YOUR HEART!!!!! More than you will EVER know!"  I wish he could stay this age FOREVER!!!