I honestly had started to believe that my pregnancy was going to be smooth sailing. Mumsy kept joking with me about how I kept talking like the pregnancy was nearly over; however at that point still having 10 weeks to go.
Well here I am, 33 weeks pregnant and sentenced to bed rest. When I went into the office for an "emergency visit" for a rash I had developed on my hands/feet/legs/arms, I left with absolutely no diagnosis for the rash, but determination that I now had high blood pressure and was experiencing contractions. My blood pressure was 150/100 as of that day and my feet and hands were/are nicely swollen. Dr H said to me, "So you are having some swelling.", I said "No, not really right now." He then said that I was and pushed in on my cankle for me to see. Opps.
That day, I was honestly in shock. Complete bed rest... that was never something I envisioned for the pregnancy. I will do whatever is necessary to keep Maddox and myself healthy, but it is a huge adjustment on so many levels. I take care of a majority of things within our household, because I like to. It is a big change for me to not do laundry, wash dishes, make my hubby dinner, even just get the mail! Hubs is amazing though. He has certainly stepped up to the plate, even taking the opportunity to rearrange a few things to ways he likes them! He brings me a cooler in the morning filled with food and drinks to keep me supplied for the day while he is at work. He calls during the day to check in on me too, which I think is sweet. I have stopped calling him because I don't want him to think that something is wrong every time he sees my name come up on the phone.
I spoke with Dr H as well about still working on bed rest. He supports that, as long as I "listen to my body" and remain free of stress. When you factor in the high blood pressure, the elevated heart rate, and the "real" contractions, I run the risk of Maddox not going full term. I need to keep him cooking in my belly for as long as possible!!
A wonderful friend of mine did point out to me that she was born 7 weeks early and she turned out ok :-) I truly needed to hear that! Sometimes people say the right things at just the right times.
So at this point, I am at an overwhelmed stage of preparing for 7 weeks of bed rest. I worry foremost about the baby. Trying to work out working from home on bed rest has been less than thrilling, but we are working through it all and I am sure after a week of it, it will flow easily. I feel badly for Hubs working all day, then coming home and making dinner, doing dishes, and getting food ready for the next day. He seems happy though- I secretly think it makes him happy to take care of me and little Maddox. I am not necessarily bored yet, but anticipate that in a matter of weeks that could set in.
I have also determined, that for me at least, bed rest has not been restful. I was put on bed rest on Tuesday. Wednesday, I had to go for an ultrasound and Friday I had a doctors appointment. Then of course with my swirling mind of thoughts...I am going to refocus my energy this weekend though and hopefully start the next week in a better state of mind.
To top everything off my friends...I still have an itchy undiagnosed rash. I will be seeing the dermatologist though, so stay tuned.
