Sometime around the middle of May I ended up in this really bad place. Almost every morning I would wake up in pain. I can remember two morning sitting at the vanity trying to get ready to go to work and just crying. All of the pain was taking a real toll on me. I had almost decided to stop blogging until I realized that I needed to continue blogging so I would have the full record of Slurpee’s pregnancy. Unfortunately things started happening so fast I couldn’t keep up.  So, here is what I could keep up with in bullet fashion.

• At 33 weeks I had an OB appointment. I weighed 201 at that appointment for a total weight gain of 38 pounds. My blood pressure was 110/68 – not too bad. The fundal height was 30cm. Pretty much where I should have been. I was still concerned about Slurpee being breech and asked about what would happen. I was still told that they would not deliver until 39 weeks. Ugh!! I was told to come back in two weeks.
• Shortly after that visit on a Sunday night I developed a pretty bad headache. We went to the store to check my blood pressure which was slightly elevated but the doctor wasn’t concerned when I called. I tried to ignore the pain, but when it woke me up 1:30 I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I had been swelling pretty bad and with the headache I was concerned about pre-eclampsia so we headed to L&D. (That made trip 3) They decided I was having a migraine and gave me a shot of morphine. My blood pressure was elevated, but they thought that was because of the pain. I was also diagnosed with a UTI and was put on antibiotics. I spent most of Monday sleeping the morphine off.
• Somehow my body must know when I got to L&D. If I go once, you could almost set your clock by me, because 36 hours later I would be back. Tuesday afternoon I had to leave work to go back to L&D (trip 4) because I was having contractions. They weren’t painful but they were there. I was still not making any changes. My blood pressure was elevated again, but they still didn’t seem concerned. I was diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis and put on another antibiotic. They tried to send me home while I was having contractions and I almost had a breakdown. For some reason, they hooked me back up to the monitors and gave me a shot of terbutaline before sending me home.  I was also asked to do a 24-hour urine sample when I finished the meds for the UTI.
• A few days after the last trip to L&D the boys went to visit the in-laws. There are some issues that needed to be taken care of so we decided it would be a good idea if they went before I hit 36 weeks. Gran was finished with school 2 days before they left, so that put her on baby watch while they were gone. I was slightly concerned, but figured that nothing really serious could happen. They were only a plane ride away. Gran came over that day to help get Slurpee’s room ready and go through all of the gifts we had gotten at the two showers I was given. (more on the showers later)
• The night the boys left Gran sent my nephew to stay at my house just in case something happened. He’s 15 and can’t drive. I don’t know what he would have done. I woke up Sunday with a really bad sore throat. Since strep throat had been going around I wanted to be sure that wasn’t it. Gran came and took me to the doctor who said I had a sinus infection. So another prescription for another antibiotic and I was off. Gran came back to the house with me so that we could finish washing Slurpee’s plethora of clothes and put them away. (For the record, some of them are still piled around her room.
• That night I started having contractions again. I can’t remember now exactly what time we left, but off the L&D we headed again. (trip 5) My blood pressure was elevated again. The contractions were not making any changes to my cervix. We waited until we were pretty sure they were not going to keep me to call Neely. Apparenly there was some concern at this point about my blood pressure and I was asked again to do the 24-hour urine sample. I had just taken my last antibiotic so I was able to start it once I got home. With a bunch of fluids the contractions stopped. I had had a lot of trouble drinking enough that day because of my sore throat. The doctor was nice enough to send me home with an Ambien so that I could get some sleep. Right before we left I asked about work and the lovely doctor told me I was now on bed rest because of my blood pressure. I almost kissed her.

Since the boys were gone Gran said I was going to stay with her until they got home. We headed to my house about 1 in the morning so I could grab whatever I thought I would need. I had already taken the Ambien and was walking around like I was drunk. I’m sure it looked pretty funny. I’m not even sure what I grabbed. Gran said when she got in bed I asked if the medicine was supposed to work through the pain and them immediately started snoring. I guess it worked. Gran helped me collect the urine sample. For some reason I gagged everytime I tried to pour it into the collection jug.

• That Tuesday I had an OB and perinatologist appointment. I weighed in at 216. A gain of 15 pounds in two weeks. No one seemed concerned, but I was concerned because of all of the swelling. My blood pressure was a nice 120/80. We discussed Slurpee being breech, still no talk of early delivery. At this point I was 35 weeks 1 day and I was hoping to convince someone to deliver me at 36 or 37 weeks. Remember the pain? That was still there. We turned in the 24-hour urine sample to the lab and then headed to the perinatologist. Slurpee was actually head down. Her head was right over my left leg. Her butt was sticking out at my belly button. I used to poke her butt all the time because she would stick it out. She measured in at 7 pounds 14 ounces (that’s important, don’t forget that) and there was concern about her size. The doctor talked again about the possibility of a c-section because of her size. I was also given my last P-17 shot at this visit. I talked to the nurse about what had been going on. She told me the next time I went in to tell them I was having headaches, feeling really bad, and seeing spots so they would keep me. She was the funniest nurse I have ever had.

So that catches you up for the most part to the birth of Slurpee. When I learned that Slurpee had turned head down I was a little concerned. I think I had convinced myself that she would be born via c-section and had hyped myself up for that and when it changed I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. The boys came home the next afternoon. Gran did a good job of taking care of me. I joked all day Wednesday that I was feeling bad and seeing spots. Turns out it wasn’t much of a joke.