Pregnancy #3, Baby #5: Weeks 32-36

Phew! I can't believe we are here already. 

Here I am today at 36 Weeks:

Please excuse no make-up and the exhausted look on my face!

THE END of this LAST pregnancy. 

THE COUNTDOWN is on!! 3 weeks to go from today, May 15th, 2013. I cannot believe it! 3 weeks or sooner and little miss Anna-Kate will be here!

I have moments where I think there is NO WAY I can make it for another 3 whole weeks, but then again, I think back to Emily and she took her sweet time and didn't come until 39w6d, so really I don't think she will be here any sooner than induction day in 3 weeks.

I am having A LOT of contractions. A LOT of pain. A LOT of pressure. I swear I can't remember ever having this much pain in my pregnancy with Emily, only with the triplets. I can't sleep. I feel like a whale when I roll over and I have to hold my breath it hurts so much. My liver is completely smushed up in my ribs again, just as it was with the triplets and that is causing me a lot of pain. (More on this below!) My feet are really starting to swell more and more each day. My hands are so numb and tingly on certain days when AK is on my left side pushing on a certain nerve. I have random pains down in my lower back and down my leg (mostly the left leg). I am so extremely exhausted this time around, way more than I can ever remember from my last two pregnancies. I wake up tired. I'm so weak and literally feel like I am going to collapse when I walk up and down the stairs. I am always completely out of breath. Almost every day I have a moment where I just want to cry, cry and cry. 

Still eating lots of sweets. Been craving lots of steak and cheese sandwiches and anything fried.

Belly button has been out for awhile.

Weight wise, I am at 158lbs (starting weight was 135lbs). Definitely the least amount of weight I have gained in any of my pregnancies.

Anna-Kate moves all the time. She has the hiccups on average about twice per day.

She is definitely still head down.

Very thirsty.

My husband would say I'm very cranky.

I have an OB Appointment with sonogram on Thursday, May 16th and I have my LAST perinatology appointment on Monday, May 20th.

Also, I have her crib ready to be set up in our bedroom, all her clothes are washed and put away. I have about ten more things on my to-do list that will get done this week and next.

My Visit to Labor and Delivery: 

May 4, 2013

All day on Friday, May 3rd, I couldn't eat, I was having really bad heart burn, pain in my top left side, I was super nauseous and by the evening I began really, really, really starting to itch on my feet and hands. I was so nauseous and even threw-up once. (I thought I was getting what Tim and the girls all had, so I didn't think much of it.) I have been having the itching on and off, but it got so bad that night I just couldn't sleep, I couldn't think, it was bothering me SO bad. Almost like panic-attack bothering me. I was taking tylenol and benadryl but it was driving me insane! Also every time I went to use the bathroom, my urine was VERY dark. Almost like tea colored. I knew something wasn't right and I remembered when I had the same symptoms when I was pregnant with the triplets.

So the first thing I did in the am was call the doctor. He, Dr. R (the one who delivered Ems) of course, wanted me to come into Labor and Delivery (and it was convenient since he was there that day!) to be checked and have sonogram of my liver, gall bladder, and also urine test and blood work done. Of course, this was the worst day possible for this. The girls were just getting over their viruses, Tim was SO sick and stuck in bed, barely able to make it to the bathroom, my MIL's hubby had just had shoulder surgery the day before, my mom was getting her hair done and my dad was at work. I felt like crap and had no energy, but just in time, my dad got off work, and was able to meet me at the hospital. (Not that I had to have someone come with me, but it's much better to wait with someone, then alone.) I put the girls down for nap and my mom would be up to our house before they woke up...amen!

So I was at the hospital and checked in at 1pm. We waited maybe five minutes and were brought back to Labor and Delivery Triage. Ironically, the SAME nurse, Carrie, I have had EVERY SINGLE TIME I have been in the triage. It's crazy! She is so sweet! She literally is one of the nicest and sweetest, young nurses I have had! She hooked my up the contraction monitor and within ten minutes of laying there, I started having hard contractions. Every two to three minutes. After every one, like clockwork, I would just look at my dad and say, "the doctor is not going to like this!" I was so afraid they were going to give me a shot of terbutaline. Yuck! Even though I have contractions ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT, I feel it confirms when I see them with my own eyes on the machine, it proves to me that I'm not exaggerating on how many I have and how close together they are. Honestly, there were a few minutes where I got a little anxious thinking maybe they aren't going to let me leave!

I went down for a sonogram and of course found out that my liver is "compromised" which just basically means it's very squished and therefore causing me pain. My gall bladder looked fine, thank goodness!

My blood work showed that my potassium was low (second time I have been told this during this pregnancy) and that my liver enzymes were elevated, but not as bad as it was when I was pregnant with the triplets. It's totally more common in multiple pregnancies but once you have it in one pregnancy, you are more likely to have it again. 

So I am back on the Ursidol (same thing I was on with the girls) and an anti-itch, which is helping me sleep too! I have forgotten to take the anti itch half way through the day and by the evening I am itching like crazy, so I know it's working wonders.

I also had my cervix checked due to the contractions, and all was good. Just a little effaced, not dilated any and my cervix is still pretty posterior. 

Oh, and they found that I had some blood in my urine and they aren't sure where that's coming from or why.

So, all and all, it wasn't too bad to get everything checked out and we were out of there by 4:00PM. I was super happy because I had a sewing class at 5pm and I wanted to make, which I did, just five minutes into the class. The other ladies, whom I had a class with just a few days earlier, were all joking saying, I bet she is in labor...and so they were actually shocked when they were I had just come from the hospital!)