Crumbs on my Belly Shelf

I've been a frequent visitor at the OBGYN over the past few weeks.

• At 26 weeks I was measuring 27 cm.  I had a blood pressure of ~98/62 - which explained my dizziness.  My labs showed that I needed iron even though I was taking iron everyday, so they have me doubling it now.  I started seeing Dr. Pipitone, because Dr. Bernardoni had her baby girl!
• At 29 weeks I was measuring 29 cm.  I showed up to my appointment a full day early!  haha!  They were so nice and squeezed me in.  I'm not sure how I messed that up in my google calendar!  They gave me a TDAP vaccine, because they've found that it crosses the placenta barrier and give the baby a little boost against pertussis.
• At 31 weeks I was measuring 31 cm.  Baby's heart rate was around 110, which is low.  So they put me on the monitor for a NST.  Her heart rate bounced right back up.  The Dr thinks that the baby was just in a very restful state earlier and there is nothing to worry about.
• At 33 weeks I was measuring 32 cm.  Heart rate was 135, everything looks great!
• Right now I'm at 34 weeks.  We're in the "Safe delivery zone" now - late preterm babies rarely have long term complications (like the twirls).  Sooooo.... it's time for everyone to start praying like crazy that I go into labor.  Preferably mid-April.  I just want Baby Girl #4 to have her own birthday - it's going to be hard enough to make the twirls feel unique at the beginning of May, I can't imagine adding another person in the mix!  I don't feel like I'm going to go into labor soon - so get working on those prayers folks!  We can do it!  ;-)

Just about a month ago I started having wicked contractions.  They started on a Sunday and kept waking me up all night.  I called the OB the next day and they got me right in.  My cervix isn't showing any signs of labor so she just told me to stop exercising (haha as if I was doing that!) and notify her if they get regular.  I still have contractions every day, but they don't always wake me up or hurt that bad.  I really attribute their getting better to Jami taking care of me.  She made me sleep in, take naps, and do less.  Jami really helped this baby bake!

I still need Zofran.  I was trying to wean off of it and threw up like crazy.  GRRR!  No idea why this morning sickness is staying the entire time!  My visiting teachers came over one day and they spent most of their visit watching my kids while I was upstairs sprawled out on the bathroom floor next to the toilet trying to keep down the Zofran I just took.  So now I've been taking it every day and sometimes even twice a day.

I went to the allergist today.  My breathing is great!  He wants me to start a nasal spray and increase my preventative inhaler in preparation for the spring (much safer than having a big attack and steroids).  The only bummer was I took all my girls and Jaide cried the ENTIRE time (the girls woke up waaaay too early today).  Luckily Dr. Leo was super understanding.  He was like "Don't worry, remember I see kids, you're my oldest patient!"  Haha!  I pointed out that with my kids I have an average age closer to his other patients.

Little baby girl #4 was kicking on my right side, but now she's on my left.  I'm at the glamorous point in pregnancy where I sometimes pee a little when I stand up and I'm always sweaty.  The blood vessels in my face and upper torso are popping and look all red and gross - the twirls often will kiss my "owies".  The dermatologist, when we went for the twirls, was looking at my face and said "I didn't notice these before" that's cause I was wearing makeup before!  She said they can laser them if they don't go away after pregnancy.  The baby gets the hiccups often and I think they are cute.  If my head is lower than my shoulders my face instantly turns red with blood - so much blood!!!  I get a lot of Braxton Hicks that don't hurt during the day - I told Braxtyn that she gets a spanking each time I have one - I'm keeping track too! :-)

A real snapshot of my life right now...

My Dr office has pregnancy parking - boo ya!  Yes, at night I often find crumbs on my belly shelf (usually they are Oreos - waste not, want not!)

31 weeks and getting huge.  I made the mistake of looking at my Whole30 post from last May - terrible idea to look at photos of my old body while feeling so miserable in my current one.  I miss being able to bend over, sleeping on my back, and seeing my toes!

The pregnancy is affecting everyone.  Scarlett asked "Can I have a marker that's not a pregnant one?"  haha, took me a few seconds to realize she meant "permanent".  When we were at Target one day the manager lady who is my friend (yes, we go there too much) told Scarlett to take care of me. Scarlett replied "she can take care of herself."  hahahaha!!!  She didn't mean to be sassy, but it sure sounded that way!

I've been wearing my moo moos a lot lately - you can't beat that flowey fabric with room to spare!  One day all three girls wanted to hide inside my dress with me - at the same time!  I guess technically all 4 of my girls were in there!

If you are ever pregnant, you should invest in a Snoogle.  Worth every penny!  It's a huge pain to get in and out of at night, but it is the only way I can sleep.  It supports your head, back, hips, knees, and belly all at the same time!

And sometimes I'll roll it up into a donut, put my belly in the hole, and rest!  I don't sleep on my tummy normally, but somehow I still desperately miss it.

The bagger lady at Kroger told me "I'd get my tubes tied if I were you!"  haha crazy lady.  Luckly the cashier is my fave lady, Jasbir, and she promptly said "I always say the bigger the family the better."

People often ask if we are going to try for a boy.  I've mentioned Jake's response: "Why mess with perfection?"  I've been trying to come up with my perfect response.  I tried out several on Jami while she was here.  This was her favorite:
"Are you going to try for that boy?"
"Maybe we already have one!  We're not going to push gender on our kids.  That Caitlin Jenner is so brave."

haha I doubt that I'll even be sassy enough to say this with a straight face.  Especially cause I try hard to share kindness (WWJD).  But part of me thinks that those silly people deserve a silly response.  We'll see...

Jake threw out his back a few months ago.  It's been giving him issues and seizing up occasionally.  In fact, many of his Christmas presents this year were focused on back health.  But still it will put him in bed every once in a while.  Between Jake's back, my pregnancy, and Jami's ... body... we laughed that we barely can piece together one functioning adult!