a long story of misery

I guess I have UPDATES! It has been a long weekend and start of the week to say the LEAST. Friday morning I got my bloodwork results and found out that I am very anemic with a hemoglobin of 9!!! No wonder I have been so tired!! And the coughing 24/7 for 3 weeks hasn't helped anything. That night I figured out that opening our sliders in the bedroom and letting in some fresh air really helped my cough. The only problem is that it was 93 degrees when I figured this out. So, it was a long sleepless night (but I wasn't coughing for the first time in 3 weeks!) So I was grinning and bearing it. And breathing nicely!

I then woke up Saturday in some kind of weak and uncomfy state. I didn't have energy to go to breakfast when my husband offered Cracker Barrel. And that has never happened before! So, I slowly took a shower and got dressed. And noticed a couple of big contractions while I was getting cleaned up. We decided to head out to eat at the crack of noon. So breakfast turned into lunch. And we were already in the home depot parking lot, so we HAD to stop. But for some reason, I could barely get my legs to carry me into the store and I begged to leave after only looking at some paint samples. I guess we were going to fail on any home improvement this weekend!! :)

As we sat down to eat lunch I started contracting enough that my already huge belly was actually protruding enough to push on the table in front of me in the booth. And I coughed for a good half an hour waiting for the food. Ate a few bites and had to go outside to get back into the humidity to breathe. And BOOM, another contraction! I was so uncomfortable that I started crying on our ride home. I think this freaked out my husband!!! And I spent the most miserable afternoon trying to find a comfortable position to sit and just to breathe in our house. I had contractions maybe once an hour. Which is more than I EVER have had. But the rule was to go to the hospital if there were 4 an hour. So, we just chilled at home. As chill as you can be with the sliders open on another 93 degree day.

I ended my Saturday with one more BIG contraction and as it started to subside, I felt this big lump crawl up under my ribcage and start putting pressure on the ribs and lungs. A baby? Maybe! But, I got some sleep and Sunday was much better, much more restful and my only complaint was the nagging pressure under my rib cage on the right side! Until around 9 PM when I was standing up and felt a huge pop and horrific, sharp pain in my ribs. We thought for sure I had just broken a rib! Who knows, maybe I did!? I could not even figure out how to lay down without horrific pain. I finally got some sleep with enough propped pillows and an ice bag on my rib cage!

So Monday brought a whole day of complaints and a phone call to the doctor's office to tell them of my miserable woes. I found myself getting SCOLDED for not coming to the hospital due to the contractions. And I had a stern warning that I was to get in the car and go the hospital with the next set of symptoms. So after 5 contractions between 7 and 8PM. Away we went. I called the doctor on call and he definitely wanted us to go get checked out and called ahead to let the hospital know we were on our way. I could write a book about how ridiculous our triage experience was in the hospital. But, the main point is that FINALLY at 11:30 I was flat in bed, strapped to 3 heart monitors, 3 contraction monitors and a WAY too tight blood pressure cuff. I was a mess, but the babies were doing quite well so we were released to go home around 3AM. By the way, my rock star cervix is still 3.7 with a goal of at least 2.5! You gotta be talented at something right?

So yesterday was another trip to St Pete to see my doctor. I saw the woman in the practice and I LOVE HER. I had seen her a few times before, but she was the perfect solution for me yesterday. So gentle and understanding and just really put me at ease. I found out that Thomas is the rib culprit. His head is stuck under my ribcage. The ribs over on that right side are separated and the muscles are pulled and inflamed. And it's probably not going to get any better. I am FULL of babies and there is just nowhere for anyone to go! Oddly I just keep filling out and not really protruding more. So I am packed full of baby from bladder to neck. She really understood my discomfort and really calmed me down. I now have a new set of parameters to follow for contractions. And it is the first cut and dry rules we have heard this entire pregnancy! She thinks my coughing needs to stop as it is obviously painful and may be causing some of the contractions, so she gave me an RX for some good cough meds. I am back on meds to stop contracions.

I am SO happy to be doing so well with the pregnancy. The babies are THRIVING! And I apologize for the bitch session! But MAN am I UNCOMFORTABLE. And it just seemed to hit me all at once. I am now 27 weeks and only one week from our next big goal! Each week these babies stay in, is a huge blessing. The one really good thing about no sleep is I have lots of time to think about these little munchkins and enjoy their movements. I can actually feel individually where they are now. It makes everything seem so amazing. And it also leaves me lots of time to PRAY!!

Thanks to those of you that stuck it out and made it to the end of this crabby story! Please say an extra prayer for our little growing family. We NEED it!!