thirty-four weeks | baby five

I think it is safe to say I'm in the home stretch!  An induction date of January 12th has been set if she doesn't decide to come on her own (or get evicted) before then.  Exactly one month or less to go!

To be honest though, I'll be surprised if we make it to the 12th.  Last Monday I was sitting at the counter (waiting shamelessly for my husband to bring me Sheridans, because PREGNANT), when all of the sudden I got a head rush, followed by a headache and nausea.  It was bizarre and I could tell something was off.  I asked Chris to take my blood pressure when he got home, and it was 150/90.  We rechecked in the morning and it was the same.  That evening it was down to 140/80, but Wednesday morning when we checked it was 160/95.  At that point I figured I better at least be seen to rule out pre-eclampsia.  But Wednesday wasn't convenient so I said I couldn't make it in until Thursday.  When the nurse called back she didn't seem amused, and said my doctor wanted me to head to triage in labor and delivery at some point to be evaluated.  I felt like that escalated quickly!  I didn't want to end up stuck in KC in the dark or driving back late at night so I convinced them (basically refused to come) to let me come in Thursday morning.  Wednesday evening my pressure was better and Thursday morning it was a normal 120/80.  I still went in and had labs drawn, but everything checked out just fine.  It was definitely bizarre.  I felt like an idiot for calling, but it was the right thing to do.

I had another doctor's appointment today, and for the most part all still looks well.  My blood pressure was 135/80, and I'm measuring two weeks ahead which seems to be freaking my doctor out for some reason (I've measure ahead with every pregnancy and not had large babies, stop trying to scare me!).  But otherwise, everything is fine.  She wants us to keep monitoring my blood pressure at home and call if I have any other crazy symptoms, or it gets to 150/90 again.

how far along:  34 weeks + 2 days (compare to 34 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  A Savoy Cabbage.  This app and it's weird foods.  Baby girl should be around 18 inches and in the neighborhood of five pounds.

weight gain: +27 pounds.

maternity clothes: Yes.  A decent portion of my maternity shirts don't fully cover my belly.  Fail.

symptoms:  Restless legs, back pain, constipation, headaches, and a long list of other random crap that is annoying.  Really overall I feel 'fine', just pregnant.  I'm not miserable by any means, but I don't know very many people who could claim the last six weeks of pregnancy comfortable.

exercise:  Since my blood pressure has been weird I've been trying to take it easy.  So basically I feel like a lazy lump.  But on the days where my step count is under 7,000 my back hurts less and I have few to no braxton hicks.

cravings/aversions:  Light foods, nothing too greasy.  I can't eat very much before I'm uncomfortably full. 

movement:  I cannot begin to describe the amount of movement from this kid.  I posted a video on instagram of her shenanigans.  She is constantly moving all over the place.  Which leads me to believe she can't be as gigantic as my OB is making her out to be, she clearly has plenty of room to move around.  At church on Sunday she was moving and kicking throughout the entire hour.  It is just now starting to become slightly painful at times, but for the the most part it is just funny.

sleep:  Some nights are fine, some nights are more restless, but I'm not finding myself awake for hours at night so I'll take it.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to: The little blood pressure incident prompted me to start getting my butt in gear and I've been making lots of lists and crossing things off.  Thea made the transition to her new room and new bed over the weekend, and now there are itty bitty baby clothes hanging in the nursery closet.  I can't wait for the wall paper and custom sign I ordered to be delivered so we can get baby girl's room all set up!

worries:  That this girl actually will be a giant.  I think I'm in the minority, but I love my teeny tiny newborns.  And they come out pretty easy.

best moment this week:  Thea successfully switching to the new bed just feels pretty huge.  It wasn't seamless, but she is doing a great job!  Also the girls desperately want to know what baby sister's name will be, and just their excitement over all of it is fun.  A swaddle with her name on it was delivered yesterday so I think we'll share with them in the next couple of days!

thirty-two weeks | baby five

I really can't believe I'm already 32+ weeks.  Saw my doctor yesterday for a regular check-up yesterday.  All is looking well.  I'm measuring a week ahead, but she also noted it was difficult to really find the top of my uterus because baby girl was so high up.  She seemed surprised, but girlfriend is still head down so I'll take it!  My blood pressure still looks good.  For now we have scheduled an induction for 39 weeks, which by her calendar is January 12th.  Less than seven weeks until I'll have a newborn in my arms.  And reality is she could come in as little as 4.5 weeks.  Oh man...

how far along:  32 weeks + 3 days (compare to 32 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  A Florida pomelo? I don't know what that is.  Possibly close to 18 inches long and about four pounds.

weight gain: +26 pounds the last time I checked over the weekend.

maternity clothes: Yes, and I swear I don't have any comfortable pants at all.

symptoms:  Restless legs, exhaustion and occasionally hormonal.  But none of that has been too bad.  My back muscles have just been getting incredibly tight.  Overall I can't complain too much, but I do long to remember what it feels like to not be pregnant.  Lol.

exercise:  Walking walking walking.  Not as much as I'd like because I haven't been sleeping as well so I can't always get up before the kids to get on the treadmill.  Still managing 90,000-100,000 steps a week.

cravings/aversions:  Something that I don't have to cook myself?  But nothing too heavy.  Food is just irritating.  Not a lot sounds good, and having to make anything really drives me nuts.

movement:  She is pretty much insane.

sleep:  I had a few really really rough nights.  So I took benadryl a couple of nights.  Last night and the night before I woke up once to go to the bathroom, but managed to quickly fall back asleep.  So that is nice.  But I usually have a headache in the middle of the night when I wake up which is just annoying.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to:  Lots of things.  I'd say there are more things that I am anxious to get accomplished than actually looking forward to.  I want to get Christmas gifts wrapped and cards made and mailed.  I need to finish organizing the big girls' room and buy a mattress for Thea's new bed.  I need to order the wall paper for the nursery and I can't wait to get that set up.  But to be perfectly honest I fantasize about when I can crawl in my bed and lie completely on my stomach.  No joke.  Ask Christopher.  I talk about it all the time.  I'm 100% a stomach sleeper and I miss it so so much towards the end of pregnancy.

worries:  I've started to worry a bit about the whole labor and delivery process.  Overall, I assume it will go pretty much as it has with the last three girls, and that isn't a big deal at all.  I'm more worried about something throwing me a curve ball, needing a c-section, something popping up that I'm not at all prepared for.  But I'm sure we'll survive.

best moment this week:  Chris's aunt gave me the blanket she crocheted for baby girl and it is so pretty.  I love it.  A little sneak peak...

Also we haven't told the girls the name we've chosen yet, and it is driving Ryann crazy.  Ryann said something about baby sister this morning, and then she followed up with "Ugh! I can't keep calling her baby sister!  I need to call her by HER NAME."  Lol, poor girl.  I'm waiting until the Trendy Timber sign I ordered comes in.  Do a little reveal.  But on the bright side I know Ryann likes the name so she'll be happy.  :)

my photo from 31 weeks

thea says

Me:  "Do you see the moon up there?"
Thea:  "Yeah, I wike it.  It's pitty awesome."

Me:  "What do you want to wear today?"
Thea:  "I want to wear a pitty dress!  I want to pin and twirl in it!"

Me:  "I love you Thea!"
Thea:  "I love you so much mama."
Me:  "I love YOU so much!"
Thea:  "Thanks mama."
Me:  "You're so sweet."
Thea:  "I not sweet.  I toot (cute)!"

Thea:  "Hey!  I've got a gweat idea!"

I've had most of those in a note on my phone since September.  To be perfectly honest I still can't understand what Thea says half the time.  She isn't 2.5 yet so I shouldn't be all that worried, but she talks so much that her inability to enunciate words is relatively prominent.  The other morning Chris and I were chatting before he left for work while Thea was sitting in her high chair with her breakfast.  She kept repeating the same thing, and I swear it sounded like "I want Sarah."  I wasn't sure who or what she was talking about, I thought maybe the dinosaur vitamins that we had a while back and the triceratops perhaps?  So I kind of nodded, brushed her off, etc.  I was getting frustrated that she wasn't eating her breakfast, we needed to get dressed and get moving.  Just as Chris was walking out the door, I finally got it.  "SYRUP!  You want some syrup for your waffle."  "Yes.  I want 'sarah'." It sounded so much like she was saying Sarah.  I gave her some syrup and the kid proceeded to chow down on her breakfast.  Mom fail.

A couple of other great phrases that Thea has picked up include "Just weave me awone!" and "Just don't talk to me wight now!"  Thank you, older sisters, for teaching her those.  Oy.

Overall Thea has become quite the stubborn, intense (for lack of a better word) child the last few weeks.  Tuesday night we had quite the 45 minute battle at bedtime, because she wanted to sleep in the Elsa dress-up costume.  Now normally I don't really care what my kids wear or sleep in, but in this case the sleeves were scratchy, and the cape could actually be a hazard, so it just wasn't going to happen.  There was lots of screaming, flailing, trying to climb out of her crib, ripping off her pajamas, etc. etc. etc...  It was rough.  Finally when she was somewhat calm she decided I needed to change her diaper.  The dang thing was dry, but at that point I did not want to set her off again so I changed the stupid thing.  The kid then rolls over and tells me she is going to sleep right there on the floor.  I may or may not have proceeded to tell her that was a bad idea because sometimes at night bugs come out and they would crawl all over her, but they don't crawl in the crib.  Mean mom much?  But it worked.  "I be safe in my cwib?" "Yes, your crib is safe." "The bug crawl on da floor, but not in my cwib?" "Yep, not in your crib." I felt like a jerk, but she got in her crib and went to bed after that.  You do what you gotta do?  Let's just hope she doesn't start having nightmares about bugs...

thirty weeks | baby five

 

Reality? I'm likely giving birth in eight weeks or less.  To our fourth child.  Is that not insane?  I'm in denial.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited, but we've still got Thanksgiving, my Dad's birthday, Christmas, and a million other things happening before baby and then all the sudden, BOOM.  It is going to be baby time.

I had my 30 week check-up yesterday.  All is well, I've been feeling good, my blood pressure was good (114/78), I got my rhogam injection, baby sounded great and is head down, and I was in and out of the office in about 25 minutes total.  Not too shabby.  I'm now on bi-weekly appointments.  The end of this pregnancy is going to fly by no doubt!

how far along:  30 weeks + 3 days (compare to 30 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  A summer cantaloupe.  Likely around 17 inches long and near 3.5 pounds. 

weight gain: +24 pounds.  Hoping I can I slow the weight gain down as I finish out this pregnancy, but let's be real, Thanksgiving + Christmas...

maternity clothes: Yes.

symptoms:  For the most part it has just been restless legs and exhaustion, but yesterday and today my back has been hurting quite a bit.  It is frustrating, but I guess not unexpected.  I scheduled a prenatal massage in hopes that it will help, because I'm not quite ready to slow down and take it easy just yet.

exercise:  Still just walking, which is pretty much what I intend to do for the rest of the pregnancy.  I look back at my pregnancy with Elsie and seriously can't believe how much I was able to work out.  I know I do a lot more chasing kids around and stairs and such than I did during that pregnancy, but still.

cravings/aversions:  Nothing in particular.  Actually I've been dreaming about white cheese dip from El Mez for nearly two months, however I don't want to eat any other food from there and I have a feeling it would make me feel sick, so I'm trying to convince myself it isn't worth it.

movement:  I've gone from feeling regular movement to OMG she is trying to bust out of my stomach all the time in a matter of two weeks.  There are periods where she is just not still at all and I swear it is like a cartoon when an animal swallows something, and then it proceeds to toss him around from the inside.  Does that make sense?  Anyway, definitely not lacking any movement these days.

sleep:  I'm definitely needing more and more sleep to function well.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to:  Setting up her nursery.  We decided on a name, that I may or may not share before she is born, and we've slowly started towards getting all the rooms switched around.  I'm hoping once we actually make a room for her that it feels a little more real!

worries: In the last few weeks Thea has become quite the handful.  Stubborn and persistent and just a touch difficult to deal with at times!  She is a runner and does not listen to me in public and I'm terrified that when I have a baby in my arms she is going to bolt and there won't be a thing I can do about it.

best moment this week:  I can't think of anything specific pregnancy related.  My mom and I worked on organizing the playroom and that was rather satisfying.  Unfortunately we then moved everything out of Ryann's room so we could paint and start the process of moving Elsie in, so the house is still in shambles per the usual.  I think that is just our life now.

A few more photos from the last two weeks... The snuggles, my 29 week belly (apparently I've been wearing red lately?), and with Whit, who is due just a few days after me!  Her first babe came almost right at 35 weeks, and I've never made it to 40 weeks, so it'll be fun to see who delivers first.

twenty-eight weeks | baby five

how far along:  28 weeks (compare to 28 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  A coconut, roughly 16 inches and about 2.5 pounds. 

weight gain: +22 pounds.

maternity clothes: Yep, and some of them are bordering on too short.  LOVELY.

symptoms:  Pretty much I just get tired easily, and my legs are restless.  Same old same old.

exercise:  Walking walking walking!  I've been shooting to get in 100,000 steps a week.  Helps that I've started binge watching This is Us while I'm on the treadmill.

cravings/aversions:  No super strong cravings or aversions that aren't typical for me.  I'm not craving sweets be we have so much crap around the house right now.  Loving that it is consistently soup weather now!

movement:  Reading my old pregnancy posts I don't think she is as crazy in there as her sisters were, but the movement continues to get stronger and stronger.

sleep:  I could always use more.  I took a nap this afternoon and woke up thrilled to go to bed tonight.  Haha.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to:  Picking a name.  I want to order a personalized sign for the nursery this weekend, so I am determined to decide.

worries:  Late term loss is always in the back of my head.  Also a little scared of how I'm going to get in and out of places with three to four kids in tow.  It is hard enough getting Elsie and Thea out of preschool when they have a ton of crap to come home with them.  We just have to survive January through May and then Elsie will be in kindergarten next year.  I can do it, right?  Right...

best moment this week:  Thea has taken to 'talking' for baby sister.  She uses this funny little voice and pretends to be saying stuff for the baby, or she'll tell me "Baby sister said...."  I love it.  I just can't wait to see Thea hold her, I think my heart is just going to burst.  Assuming Thea doesn't suddenly change her mind and decide to hate babies.

Chris and I had planned to go the pregnant housewife and milkman route for Halloween this year (because I stupidly got rid of my pumpkin shirt from when I was pregnant with Elsie, why?!?!), and then I realized how awkward that was to try and explain to Ryann and Elsie.  So we threw these outfits on last minute and called it good.  The girls were thrilled that I was Pikachu.  Lol.

twenty-seven weeks | baby five

Somehow here we are in the third trimester.  Despite my obvious belly, I still don't feel 'very pregnant'.  It is so strange.  But less than three months and another little lady will be joining our bunch!

how far along:  27 weeks (compare to 27 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  A banana.  Probably around 15 inches long and a little over two pounds. 

weight gain: +22 pounds.

maternity clothes: Yes.  Really I want to wear 'comfy clothes' most of the time, except I don't really even have any acceptable comfortable clothes.  The majority of my maternity stuff is from when I was pregnant with Elsie, when I was a solid 10 pounds or so lighter, so most of my workout clothes and lounge clothes worked a little better.  Now?  Not so much.  I don't want to buy anything, but at the same time, 10-12 weeks of not having anything I really want to wear also sounds like no fun.

symptoms: I'm tired, and overall I've got random aches and pains, but I really really shouldn't complain too much.  I've noticed a little bit of swelling, today I couldn't comfortably zip my tall boots.  Per the usual my most prominent symptom is restless legs.  I don't think it is as bad as it was with Thea, but I'm not sure.  It is pretty frustrating.

exercise:  I stopped trying to run, and haven't really been doing too much strength training, and somehow my body feels much better.  What can you do.  I hate watching the muscle tone disappear, but I was getting headaches while working out, and I don't particularly like being in pain, so I guess it is better this way.

cravings/aversions:  I still would prefer fruit and salads.  Or soup.  But I think that is just me in general, not necessarily pregnancy related.  I'm getting full a lot faster.

movement:  Lots and lots more movement all the time.  Chris can regularly feel her wiggling around, the girls don't have enough patience.  But they have all felt her move at least once.

sleep: Same old same old.  In theory I'm sleeping fine, but I still wake up exhausted.  I think I'm needing more sleep, but if I sleep in I don't get any alone time before the kids wake up and that just makes me irritable.  I need to not be needed first thing in the morning.  And I know that is coming to an end soon so I'm trying to enjoy it when I can.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to: Getting the girls rooms ready!  Really I only have a solid plan for the nursery, and part of it is dependent on picking a name, but I'm excited.

worries:  That something really bad will happen, or this child will somehow randomly have a giant head and not come out as easily.  You know, because those two things are close on the spectrum.  It is how my brain works, I can't help it!

best moment this week:  Name conversations have become pretty entertaining.  Especially when they include the girls.  We have two front runners but I can't commit to either.  So we keep throwing them out there.  Ryann suggests normal names, but most of them are pretty popular.  Elsie naturally throws in things like Cookie Pizza and Princess Pickles and Shimmer.  And Thea really really wants us to call her Ella.  Which is a lovely name, but rather popular and too much like Elsie.  I just think it is cute that she has randomly attached to a name.

Thea snuggling with my belly and last weekend at 26 weeks. :o)

twenty four weeks | baby five

 
how far along:  24 weeks 2 days (compare to 24 weeks with Ryann, Elsie and Thea)

size of baby:  An eggplant? 

weight gain: +19 pounds.  I can't get enough peanut m&ms...

maternity clothes: For sure.  The weather teased me there and actually felt like fall for a day or two, which expanded my wardrobe, but then it was back to 85+ degrees.

symptoms: I've actually been pretty tired the last week.  To the point that I fell asleep while the girls were playing and woke up a couple minutes later to Thea drawing with blue marker on the wall.  Fail.  Other than that, just noticing the belly more and more.

exercise:  Lots of walking.  About 100,000 steps a week.  And trying to do the occasional squats, push-ups and planks.

cravings/aversions:  I can't say I'm craving anything in particular, but I'm eating way too many sweets.

movement:  Some days I feel lots of movement, some days she is pretty quiet.  I'm hoping it is just in relation to the anterior placenta and how she is positioned at that particular time.  But the quiet days always increase my anxiety a bit.

sleep: I don't feel like I'm getting very restful sleep.  I'm not waking up in the middle of the night too much, but in the morning I definitely don't feel refreshed by any means.

gender:  Girl

looking forward to: Actually deciding on a name, and getting started on the great game of musical rooms.  Decisions in the design department aren't my forte right now either.  This weekend my parents are keeping the girls for a bit so Chris and I are venturing to IKEA and Home Goods.  Hoping I get a few things to start the room switching process!

worries:  Right now I pretty much focus on whether or not I'm feeling enough movement.  Her heartbeat is still nice and strong when I use the doppler, which I've tamed down to maybe once a week just to calm my nerves.  I know the rest of the pregnancy is going to go by really fast, and I don't want to wish it away, but I want her safely in my arms so bad.

best moment this week:  Viability week!  Baby girl has a chance.  :o)

And just another picture I took this past week because I actually got dressed in regular clothes on a weekday.