Hi. That’s me. The one with pink hair, not the brick butt. That’s art. Supposedly.
After battling infertility for nearly 18 months, I’m now the mother of TRIPLETS!
About me:
I …
… am Jenny. I’m also called Jennifer and Jen. I embrace the variants of my common name. You might also know me as Jen(n)andtonica – a username I held for many years and have only recently given up.
… write exactly how I speak with friends. This includes words I would not say in front of a toddler, your grandmother, clergy and my BFF’s parents. Of course, if I stub my toe hard enough in front of these people, they just might hear something R-rated. That shit hurts.
… find great difficulty in keeping serious topics 100 percent serious. My favorite brand of mood-relief is self-deprecation. I am a Chandler.
… have a journalism degree I‘m currently only using to write about my life for free once put to work in newsrooms but am now using in the blog world – both personal and freelance writing. Something tells me this is a bit wonky exciting.
… love breaking the journalistic, serious-news rules here by gratuitous parenthesis-use, ALL CAPS and starting sentences with “and” and “but.”
… read what makes me happy. A lot of the books I love fall under the Young Adult genre, and that’s A-OK by me. Some of my favorite books are picture books. I love a good story, and good stories are not limited to Serious Adult Fiction.
… am married to the perfect man. Rob’s my favorite mechanic, comedian, handyman, therapist and rockstar. He supports me better than any bra ever will, and I’m thrilled to call him mine forever and ever.
… have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and am working worked with a team of Reproductive Endocrinologists to make a mini-me, or a mini-Rob AND a mini mix of the two of us. It’s a heartbreaking, frustrating, expensive task, but I hear now know parenthood also claims these adjectives. I’d like to say I have faith in God and modern medicine that Rob and I will successfully procreate, but I’m too rational and know that infertility doesn’t always have that specific happy ending. ** We are fortunate enough to now be an infertility success story.
… am the proud mommy of Tobias, Eleanor and Callista – three fighting babies, born at 28 weeks, 1 day.
… have faith that God is teaching me what I need to know for the plans He has for me.
About my reproductive system:
Meh. I hesitate to include this, as I do not define myself by my infertility journey, but I have a feeling there are at least a few readers who don’t have my medical history memorized.
Dec. 2008 – quit birth control, start charting cycles with suspicion of wonky cycles
Jan., Feb. 2009 – normal cycles, ovulation
March, April 2009 – long, anovulatory cycle – cycle ended without medication
June 2009 – anovulatory cycle, prescribed Provera to end cycle
June – September 2009 – anovulatory cycle, prescribed Prometrium to end cycle
June 2009 – tentatively diagnosed with PCOS, decide it’s time to move forward with medical intervention
Aug. 2009 – consultation with RE, made first RE appointment
Sept. 2009 – first RE appointment, official PCOS diagnosis via ultrasound (bloodwork was normal), HSG shows no endometreosis and clear fallopian tubes; first medicated cycle was canceled because of an ovarian cyst, prescribed Prometrium starting cycle day 17 to end cycle (and not have a long cycle); semen analysis results are stellar. Only one of us has a fertility issue.
October 2009 – prescribed Metformin, Femara and Ovidrel; my body responded well to the medication, and I found out I was pregnant. The pregnancy ended less than a week later.
Nov. 2009 – Feb. 2010 – Metformin, Femara and Ovidrel – body still responding well, but no pregnancies
March 2010 – Metformin, Femara, Ovidrel and Gonal F – added the injectables to produce more eggs
April 2010 – Early miscarriage #2; taking a break and spending the money usually reserved for medication and doctor-visit copays on a venture with a definitely positive outcome – a kitchen makeover!
May 2010 – Metformin, Femara, Gonal F, Ovidrel, Vivelle and Prometrium – IT WORKED!
June 1, 2010 – positive home pregnancy test
10 dpo beta hCG level – 55; 12 dpo – 222; 15 dpo – 706; 18 dpo – 2,175; 23 dpo – 13,154
June 21, 2010 – first ultrasound revealed TRIPLETS, due Feb. 14, 2011.
June 29, 2010 – experienced some bleeding
June 30, 2010 – ultrasound shows we’ve lost Baby C, but Babies A and B are doing great.
July 4, 2010 – experienced more bleeding
July 5, 2010 – It’s triplets! Again! Baby C, who we lovingly call “Ninja Baby” from this point on, made a miraculous comeback.
Nov. 3, 2010 – Preterm labor lands me in the hospital for five nights at 25 weeks, 3 days pregnant. The experience is traumatizing and miraculous, all at once.
Nov. 22, 2010 – Our triplets were delivered via emergency c-section after my membranes prematurely erupted. Tobias was born at 9:11 a.m. and was 2 lbs. 8.5 oz. and 14.37″ long (Baby B in utero); Eleanor was born at 9:12 a.m. and was 2 lbs. 5 oz., 15″ long (Baby A in utero); and Callista was born at 9:13 a.m. and was 2 lbs. 7 oz, 15″ long (Baby C – ninja baby! – in utero). Happy birthday, babies!
About my blog:
“Jennandtonica” is an homage to Adam Sandler, one of my favorite funny people. “What the blog?” reflects my most excellent sense of humor.
Actual Jenny – I’m real, I exist in fact, I’m current, I’m actual. And my name is Jenny. It’s really not that complicated, and neither am I.
My very first entry, written back in October 2007, sums up pretty well what you’ll read here.
I’ve blogged about a myriad of topics that have dominated my life since: weight, fitness, health, cooking, eating, reading, infertility, being pregnant with triplets and now my new life as I work to combine the old me with this new person, the mother of triplets.
Through it all, I aim to keep things honest and personal – just not the kind of personal that sends creepers to follow me around town and peep through my windows.
Behind the scenes:
Do you like my blog header and badge? I’ve proudly rocked work from Lisa at My Little Buffalo in the past. I love her work and am thrilled with what she designed for me. I’m currently using pieces and parts I mixed together from Miss Tiina, and my elephants were illustrated by Audrey.
For hosting purposes, the ladies of Twenty70 Hosting take good care of me, and I completely recommend them for all your hosting needs!
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[...] y’all know my friend Jenny? You should. To sum it up? She’s the awesomest, sweetest, kindest, dearest, toughest, [...]
It’s wonderful to read an infertility success story. It gives me hope. thank you!
You are inspiration, overall (in reproductive, normal, and social-media life)
I don’t comment often, but I read often.
My husband & I are only 10 months into our marriage and have yet to try to further our family. The way you conduct your blog, twitter feed, and life inspires me.
Thank you!
Just stumbled upon your blog from a shared post on Facebook about breast pumps. Somehow managed to read for 30 minutes while nursing my boy back to sleep. Love your writing and am intrigued by CDing triplets! Really am interested in CDing and getting a late start. My son is 17 mos but if he is anything like big brother will be in diapers for awhile more. Plus we are TTC again too. Now to talk the hubby in to it.
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Whoa! Ninja baby is right! What a rollercoaster but how cool that he or she (not sure which was it was) made such a miraculous comeback!
I have PCOS and am currently doing IUI with femara, ovidrel and metformin…when that stuff doesn’t make me throw up…ugh.
Your story gives us hope! We are almost 4 years TTC , spent 2 long heart aching years with a specialist only to switch and find out the previous Dr was not caring for us and basically just took our savings for treatments that weren’t even beneficial
we were told it was a good sign, I mean how was I supposed to know when he’s the specialists tell a recent scaing us. New specialists is amazing and has 2 goals…healthy patient….to create a healthy mommy 
however a recent scan showed several polyps, so sometime within this month I will be undergoing a procedure to remove them and start treatments again.
Hello Jenny!
I am 18 weeks pregnant with triplets, 2 girls and a boy. I am due January 23rd but of course with multiples they always come earlier than the due date. I am starting to get prepared for the arrival and doing my baby registry. I would love to get advice and opinions on other parents who have had triplets regarding cloth diapering, feeding, etc… We also battled the infertility emotional roller coaster ride and ended up doing IVF with ICSI. We were successful the first go around and all 3 embryos made a home. I’m starting to get pretty nervous on how I’m going to tackle this wonderful but stressful journey with triplets. Once I finally find a routine I’ll feel a lot better. I would love to hear other peoples routines and how they fed 3 babies. I plan on breastfeeding and pumping(prayers said and fingers crossed) I know its possible to do it, hopefully I can produce enough milk.
Sorry for the long comment but I have a lot to ask