Last week I had appointments with my obstetrician and cardiologist to assess where things stand with my bedrest. As I noted in my blog after two weeks of bed rest, my blood pressure numbers have stabilized. I continue to use my personal blood pressure machine at home (oh the joys!) and take my numbers every day. Thankfully, we haven't had any more scares like the one that jumpstarted my bedrest on January 7th.
But, they believe my numbers have stabilized because I am on bedrest. As my ob says, "the bedrest is working, why would we change things?" I pushed back a bit about letting me go back to work and resume normal activity and he that the problem with resuming a normal schedule is that if my blood pressure spikes again and turns into preeclampsia (which can be very dangerous), there's no turning back. It's not like we can then say "well, the numbers are high again, so we'll resume bedrest and get the numbers to go back down." Once it becomes preeclampsia, there's nothing we can do and would have to deliver the baby early.
So, it looks like the next few weeks will be more of the same "modified" bedrest. THANKFULLY, it is not strict bedrest. I know women who have been on strict bedrest for 3-4 months and they're only allowed to get out of bed to shower or go to the bathroom. Otherwise they have to be on their backs. I think I would lose my mind.
My prescribed "modified" bedrest allows me 1 outting/day - which usually is a doctor's appointment or something that will not require me to be on my feet. I can go out for short trips as long as I'm sitting down most of the time. I can occasionally go to a meeting for one of my volunteer organizations as my "outting of the day" as long as I'm sitting down during it. It could be a lot worse and I'm beginning to get used to this new routine.
I'm not allowed to exercise at all and feel like I'm becoming a slug. I've been carefully monitoring my diet to make sure I don't gain too much 3rd trimester babyweight due to the lack of exercise - and it seems to be working! I only gained 1 pound over the past 2 weeks which is terrific! However, the Easter candy is out now and I have such a weakness for Cadbury eggs. Don't ask, but I love them.
I continue to work my normal work schedule from home. My office has been amazingly supportive and much of my job can be done remotely which is terrific. We've had a number of friends and relatives in town to help with Sam and meals. Brad has been phenomenal and taken over pretty much all of the household chores.
Most importantly, baby boy #2 is doing GREAT! He kicks like crazy, is measuring normally, and has listened to his mama's advice about staying in my belly! Monday marked 33 weeks in the pregnancy which is amazing for me. I try to stay positive, but every morning I wake up and say a prayer of thanks that I'm still pregnant. Each day I'm pregnant is one less day we'd have to spend in a NICU. I know it's a slightly negative perspective on this time in the pregnancy, but a day with a baby in the NICU is one of the most draining and exhausting experiences one can endure.
Baby boy has given me some pretty painful Braxton Hicks contractions 4-5x/day. I'm even waking up at 3am with Braxton Hicks contractions. But, they never last more than 30 minutes and are irregular, so I try to relax and just work through them. Unfortunately I have a very hard time going back to sleep and I'm routinely up from 3-5am.
So, that's where things stand. Thanks for everyone's support, it has meant so much to us. I will keep you all posted with future updates!
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