Weeks 34-37 :Leading up to birth

So it's been a while since I updated the blog. At the end of this pregnancy my belly got so big it was hard to even work on the computer. The pictures don't really do it justice.

By the end I fit in all of 3 dresses. The pregnancy rash and my size prevented me from wearing pants, and there wasn't a shirt long enough to cover my belly. I got very tired of those dresses.....

So backing up quite a ways. At 34 weeks I went in to see the Dr. ( not my regular Dr. because she was delivering a baby) and while the babies still looked good, by the end of the visit my blood pressure had creeped up and my heart rate was 140. I was not feeling very well at this point. The Dr. told me she didn't want me to leave yet, but to lie down and rest for a while and they would come check my heart rate again. My heart rate did not go down. Back to the hospital for observation. Mom and Isaac dropped me off, and Luke came and met me. My heart rate steadily went back to normal, but I wasn't allowed to leave because my contractions were fairly close together (every 3 minutes). They even admitted us to a delivery room after the normal observation area closed for the day. Despite the frequent contractions I was not dilating, so home we went. The nurse seemed to think she might be seeing us again very soon. She did not know these babies.

36 weeks and a visit with my normal Dr. this time. As soon as I see Dr. Kurian, even before the appointment starts she says, we need to think about getting these babies out. Apparently I had them worried. She said they could even try for that weekend. I really wanted these babies to make it to 37 weeks, full term, and I knew they were doing fine. There had been no more incidences like last week so I knew I could make it a little longer. The plan was set in place. There wasn't a slot open for induction but we were to have our regular visit and our Dr. was just going to say it was time and get us in anyway. Emergency style.... (planned emergency?) I think now I see God's hand in the fact that there was no openings for that week because a couple days later we had a feverish little boy with a nasty cough.

Not taking care of my little man was so hard. The desire to comfort my sick child outweighed my fear of getting sick, how bad could a little cold be? We had a few days before babies were due to be here right? Well this was no ordinary cold, this was a doozy. Isaac got it, then Luke got it, then I got it. It was like being hit by a truck. Coughing with 50 some pounds of baby weight compressing you already is not a fun thing! And what medicine can you take while you are pregnant? I hoped that having the weekend to recover would be enough and we would still get to meet our little girls on Tuesday, but as Tuesday rolled around there was no improvement. Not only was I sick but I knew that it would be better for everyone if I stayed in this increasingly uncomfortable pregnancy for a little while longer. Luke and I made our way to the appointment resigned to the fact that it would be a while longer, and told the Dr. that we didn't think it was time yet. She agreed and helped me figured out all the acceptable drugs to take. We did not do an ultrasound that day, so they had me come back later that week for just that.

Somewhere in here (everything sort of runs together now) Ms. June decided to flip.... again. At 36 weeks? or so she decided to go sideways and in a fairly funky position, so I was concerned how that would effect our upcoming induction. Would that mean a c-section? Should it mean a c-section? But the extra week extended stay and coughing must have convinced our little girl to go back into the head down position, which we saw at our 37 week ultrasound. The illness was one of the first unfortunate circumstances that God ended up using to provide protection, this time for little June.

Now was just the waiting game until Tuesday, May 21st, when we would hopefully get to meet our girls. The coughing and healing continued, and so will the story in the next blog post.

Everyone said, man, you don't even look pregnant from the back, which I didn't believe until Luke took the pictures.