Baby #4: 38 Weeks

 

Literally the home stretch, 3 8 W E E K S!  Baby is the size of a bowling pin this week, but I feel like probably a little bit bigger haha.  Lots of rolls and squirms and still have our daily hiccups!

Covid sure kicked this pregnant Mama's butt.  I definitely had mild symptoms which I'm SO very thankful for, but it was still difficult being so far along pregnant and SO tired and sick while locked in the house with 3 kids meanwhile trying to recover.  Around day 3 I started a slight gunky cough and it got worse pretty quickly.  Day 5 or 6 I was on mucinex and sudafed 24/7 trying to not cough so hard that I'd almost throw up, keep my airway clear enough to breathe at night while I slept and keep my O2 sats looking good.  I finally saw my OB after not seeing her for 2 weeks at day 11 and she prescribed me an oral steroid pack for my awful lung congestion/cough.  It was miserable.  I was positive I was going to cough so much that I'd prematurely break my own water.  I was getting really concerned I'd have this cough while I underwent my c-section which would be horrible.  Nothing like having all the layers of your abdomen cut open, stitched back together and coughing hard every 10 minutes.  I was so worried I'd break my stitching or worse.  I also got prescribed a rescue inhaler that helped too. FINALLY the night I worked my last shift, my cough improved (day 16).  Currently I'm just clearing my throat a few times a day which is such a welcomed improvement.  The kids or Kit never did test positive!  

Steroids are helping!

First post covid workout, whew!

Around the 37th week I started to have daily contractions and a few got strong enough for me to actually call them a little painful.  I can tell my body is trying to get ready. I'm sleeping the worst I've slept this whole pregnancy.  I'm literally awake every 2 hours rotating myself in bed and peeing then come 6am I'm wide awake.  Awful.  I'm ready for that first postpartum nap that I can actually sleep for 3 hours at once! haha The baby has dropped and I'm feeling vaginal pressure when I stand up too fast or are on my feet a lot.  I got up to almost 30 pounds gained but with covid/going low carb I dropped about 5-6 pounds and haven't gained anything the last 2 weeks.  So far I'm at 25lbs total which is great for me at this point. 

Sitting LOW

We put on a big sister party for the big sisters since we didn't have a baby shower this time to celebrate.  We decorated with a summer theme, had pizza and fancy juice in fancy cups and they each received a gift from the new baby!  Nurse big sis scrubs for the hospital!  They loved it. 

Last week I finished up my last two shifts!  They were rough and long because I still wasn't 100% after covid, but I got through them.  I'm going to miss my coworkers/friends a lot!  It is really nice to have about a week to rest and try to get my body's sleep schedule on track before delivering.  I do get 12 weeks off, but unfortunately none of it is paid.  UGH. 

This last week and weekend we are prepping the house, celebrating father's day Sunday, last various dental/doctor/eye/wax appointments I can squeeze in, making sure we'll all packed up, third week of summer school for the two bigs and hoping I can hang on until baby day!  I'm going to try to take all the pictures I can of this sweet bump, catch some hours at our neighborhood pool and soak in the kiddos before our lives change big time.

Norah and Scarlett count down every day now (Norah especially) on how many days until baby day.  The kids are SO excited.  Kit is just trucking along trying to get things off my list finished up and work things wrapped up.  I'm in disbelief that this is the last week I'll ever have a wiggly baby in my belly.

I'm so ready to meet this last babe but also nervous and anxious.  So.  Many.  Feelings! <3

Felt okay enough to venture out to Tulsa Tough

He will miss my baby shelf!

Baby #4: 36 Weeks

 

Hello 9 months!  I can't believe we are just a few weeks from our scheduled c-section.  These last few weeks have been overwhelming, busy and some tears were definitely shed.

First, baby is the size of a Buzz Lightyear toy!  Baby is still rolling and jabbing me all the time, but moves more at night for sure.  Last week Dr Daily had to cancel our appointment and this week I did so I didn't get to see my OB in the last few weeks.  

Last week I started taking my blood sugars 4 x daily.  I have to take a morning fasting one, then 1 hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The goal for fast is until 90, and the goal for the other after each meal is under 140.  I have found if I keep to under 30-35 carbs per meal then my sugars are on target.  I'm very fortunate to be able to keep it under control by diet only and not need insulin at this time. Anything to keep this baby growing appropriately and healthy!

This week I worked the whole holiday weekend (Fri-Sun nights) at the hospital.  Sunday night around 11pm I started to feel a little achy and had a headache but I had just spent hours in a patient's room pushing/delivering her so I chalked it up to not snacking, drinking or resting the last few hours.  I went home and slept for 5 hours and woke up still feeling body aches so I took an at home covid test fully expecting it to be negative.  I was wrong.  Two lines popped up and I ran in to the office to tell Kit.  I started bawling.  I was so worried for baby, Scarlett and Hazel whom aren't vaccinated yet and what if I go into labor and deliver early while sick?? Just so many what if's.  I decided to go into OB Triage to have baby checked out and an official PCR test ran just to be sure.  Sure enough, test came back positive and baby looked great on the monitor thank goodness. As I'm writing this I'm on Day 6 and feeling much better.  I'm still SO tired, coughing up gunk and have a little runny nose but I consider my case to be relatively mild.  The kids/Dad tested negative on day 4 and we'll test them again tomorrow to be sure (day 7).  

Besides that we have had a busy few weeks with life in general.  Scarlett and Norah both finished up school for the year!  Our neighborhood pool opened so I'm trying to take advantage of that as much as I can before my surgery.  I packed my hospital bag and Dad cleaned out your car seat today.  I feel like we are finally ready for anything at this point.  I have 3 more shifts at the hospital and then baby time!

Dad's stay at home court attire!