What is bed rest?

After a Facebook exchange with a friend, I got to thinking that perhaps this would be a good question to address in my blog. Having posted about spending some time in the pool, said friend asked a perfectly innocent question about the rules of bed rest and swimming. Of course after my last week with the now infamous buttinsky, I may have been feeling a bit sensitive and may have gone on the defensive. (Sorry friend!) After our exchange it occurred to me that said friend (and anyone else for that matter) doesn't have any reason to know what is and isn't allowed. So I decided to address it here. Of course, I am not a doctor and everything I am about to write comes strictly from my own experience and from what I've read on various online bed rest communities. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.

What is bed rest? What is and isn't allowed? As far as I can tell there are three different forms of bed rest (there may be more). The first seems like the worst kind, strict hospital bed rest. Having never experienced if myself I can only give you a small picture of what it is like and may actually be completely wrong, feel free to correct me if I am. From what I understand the lucky individual on strict hospital bed rest lives in the hospital and is either not allowed out of bed at all (think bedpans and sponge baths) or is allowed out sparingly with the help of nurses. They are allowed out for the bathroom and maybe a shower once or twice a week. Sounds like fun, no?

Next we have the close relative of strict hospital bed rest, strict at-home bed rest. The lucky strict bed resters have slightly varying degrees of restrictions, but for the most part are required to remain flat, on their left side, for 90% of the day. They are allowed to get up for the bathroom and a shower 1-3 times a week. Food and water need to be brought to them and they are not supposed to sit up. The point being to take the pressure off of the cervix and in some ways counteract gravity. If these lucky individuals live in a two-story home many of them will not be allowed to climb the stairs meaning they will either live in their bed upstairs or on their couch downstairs.

Finally we have my category, modified bed rest. This kind of bed rest seems to have the most variations. I strongly suspect that the restrictions you are given depends not only on your particular issues, but on the doctor placing you on bed rest. I have seen people on modified bed rest with a wide variety of restrictions. These range from "stay reclined/seated most of the day and try to only get up for food, water, bathroom and the occasional/daily shower" to "try to stay off your feet and relax for at least four hours a day." I envy the latter group as I fall a little closer to the "sit all day" end of the spectrum.

Now that you have a general picture of the types of bed rest out there I will tell you a little about what my particular restrictions are. Over the last 7-8 weeks things have changed a little. In the beginning, when I was contracting every 2-4 minutes and was 50% effaced I was pretty much stuck on the couch all day. I got up for the bathroom and the occasional snack, but that was it. After several weeks my cervix returned to normal and the contractions, although still very frequent, were not quite as regular. Now I spend most of my days sitting in my recliner, but have been encouraged by the doctor to engage in very light activities at least a few times a week. Getting up and moving around helps to promote blood circulation and prevent blood clots in the legs. Because of this I get to do small activities here and there, like loading the dishwasher (how thrilling!), making dinner, walking to the mailbox, driving myself to doctor's appointments, running a quick errand and even floating around in the pool (floating only, no swimming!). Although I am allowed to certain activities there are definite no-no's; lifting heavy objects, running, jumping and the best part... I'm on pelvic rest. If the words "pelvic rest" aren't self-explanatory well then too bad, you can just google it because I'm not explaining it.

Seems like a lot right? Don't worry, I never do all of these things in one day. Depending on the level of the activity I may only do one or two of those things and then I sit right back down on my bed rest throne. I am also charged with the responsibility of listening to my own body. If at any time any of those activities begin to wear me out or in any way increase my contractions I have to stop what I am doing and rest. At this point I'm pretty good and telling what will and won't work for me. For instance, frequently loading the dishwasher is just too much for my poor little bed ridden body to take. The pool however is a completely different story. ;)

33 Week Survey

How far along: 33 weeks!! 7 weeks to go until the due date!

Total weight gain/loss: +24lbs - after they weighed me they took my blood pressure. It was high. Coincidence? Hmmm.

Maternity clothes: Yes, definitely. I live in Target maternity tank tops. Although today I get to debut my pretty maternity dress.

Stretch marks: Not yet. I still check every day. I assumed I would get them since I a lot of old one from my growth spurt as a teen.

Sleep: TERRIBLE!! I wake up every. single. hour. to pee. It sucks!

Best moment this week: Husband coming home last night, we ate a tasty dinner and watched old movies together by the fire.

Movement: Yes, and lots of it. He's recently started kicking my ribs. Isn't that sweet of him?

Food cravings: I get random cravings. This week it was a bagel with cream cheese

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: Still having a lot of contractions, but they aren't really doing much other than annoying me.

Belly Button in or out: We're still in belly button limbo. The top half is kind of poking out and the bottom half is still very much in.

What I miss: Sleep. I think it would be a miracle if I could sleep through the night. Or even if I could just go back to getting up once or twice.

What I am looking forward to: Still need to get that prenatal massage and my first baby shower is today.

Other Updates: I went to the doctor yesterday. She said that was the last time they would be doing the fetal fibronectin test. I was checked and my cervix still looked good, closed and high, although it's in a posterior position so it was hard for her to feel. I really wanted her to check with the ultrasound, but she said she didn't need to. So here we are. Hopefully coming to the end of bed rest within the next 3 or 4 weeks. Very exciting!

No Buttinskies Allowed

Occasionally in life people offer up unsolicited advice that makes you wonder 1. what crawled up their patootie and 2. who made them the boss? Sometimes these people might be in your own close circle of family or friends and other times it can come from a complete stranger. Either way, when receiving said "advice" you are bound to feel just a little irked. If you're a rational human being, and the advice doesn't turn in to down right pestering you might be able to blow it off. Smile on the outside, roll your eyes when the person isn't looking (maybe even stick your toungue out at them behind their back?) and move on with your life. Now imagine being seven month pregnant, on bed rest, running on very little sleep, and a mountain of stress threatening to come crashing down on you at any moment then receiving said unsolicited advice over and over and over. What do you do? How do you act? Do you still brush it off. Be the bigger person? Or do you totally flip your #&%@$ lid? You be the judge...

Being pregnant seems to make people think they have free reign to make comments about you and your personal life. It's an interesting phenomenon really. Buying a quart of ice cream at the grocery store pre-pregnancy? No problem. No one bats and eyelash. Try doing it while pregnant. I hear the result can be pretty brutal. Crazy old ladies telling you you are killing your baby. Cranky mothers whispering about how you'll never lose the weight that way. It's enough to make you want to throw the ice cream at their heads and run away crying (*note - not an actual experience of mine, but believe me, it happens). Having been on bed rest for the last seven weeks I have limited experience with the morons of the world, but believe me even I have had my fair share.

Prior to the bed rest I took Husband's car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. That day there was a new woman working behind the counter. As soon as she honed in on my belly the "advice" started pouring out: don't hold him too much; give him honey water to help him sleep; make sure to breastfeed; give him cereal before he's six months, I did it with my boys and they are strapping young men! On and on it went. The longest twenty minute oil change of my life. I stood there, grinning and bearing as best I could until finally my car was done. I grabbed my paperwork and made a dash for the door before she could tell me to give the baby a little whiskey to help soothe him.

Luckily that was pretty much the extent of my experience with buttinskies, that is it was until I was put on bed rest. We have really been blessed to have so much help offered to us during such a stressful time. The people from our church have been amazing. They come by for visits, to clean, to bring meals by and who can forget the great unpacking debacle?? It has been really nice. Really. I promise. That said, recently one particularly nosy woman, a few years older than me (so apparently that much wiser) has started to put her little nose where it doesn't belong. I think it all started with the best of intentions (you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions right?) so I've excused it. When you are stuck at home and people are volunteering to take care of you the least you can do is sit patiently and listen to their advice, no matter how ridiculous.

What do you do when the advice starts to become judgments though? "You drive yourself to your doctor's appointments?? Why doesn't Husband take you?" Followed by a disapproving look only a mom can give you. "Husband is going out of town for work for the day? Well I guess I'll have to stop by to check on you." Ummm, nobody's twisting your arm. I'm fine. "Did you take it easy this weekend?" Yep, sat around by the pool and went church, it was very relaxing. "Oh, so you didn't take it easy then?" More disapproving looks.

Jeez, you would think that I'm up running marathons or something! I have tried gently reminding her that I am on modified bed rest, not strict and that my doctor has approved light activity. In fact, the doctor has said I can do way more than I actually do, I'm just being extremely cautious. Then the comments about Husband not taking care of me... that's where I draw the line. Husband has been the most attentive person around. He works 12+ hours a day, comes home and helps me finish cooking. He cleans on the weekends and runs all of our errands. He brings me water and rubs my back. He is the best. Seriously. And if you try to imply otherwise I might kick you!

Still, I continue to ignore the judgments. She's concerned. She trying to help. She's not meaning to be annoying and rude. It's ok... Breathe... Then the final straw. It started off a normal conversation about pediatricians. If you take a look at my earlier post with the list of things to do, you will see "find a pediatrician" listed in bold. At 32 weeks it is an important item, but not urgent. As soon as she found out I hadn't found one yet she started in. "You really need to get on that! I have a great pediatrician. It's important to interview them to make sure it's a good fit. You NEED to take care of it!!!" You would have thought her head was going to explode. I calmly explained to her that I had in fact researched two different pediatric groups in our area and was planning on contacting them within the next week. She visibly relaxed then asked if I would like her to make of copy of the questions from her old pregnancy organizer. - Do they really make those?? What's to organize? - I said that would be nice and then the conversation moved on to less tense topics. That afternoon after she left I made two appointments with pediatricians. Yay, another thing to scratch off my list!

The next day, I find an envelope shoved into the door frame. When it falls to the ground I pick it up and examine it. What do you think is inside?? Sure enough, a copy of the questions with a note attached. "I think finding a pediatrician is something you want to sort out asap." OK, seriously 1. what crawled up your patootie? and 2. who the heck made you the boss of me?? BACK THE %$@# OFF!!!!!!

So, what would you do? Buttinskies are everywhere. You can't escape them. Do you blow your top and let them have it? Or do you continue to stick your tongue out at them behind their backs (or maybe you're more of a "give them the finger" type)? For now, I use my computer and the oh so generous ear of Husband to vent my frustrations so that I can continue to smile at the buttinskies of the world. Don't blame me though if these pregnancy hormones one day get the best of me. :)

Pediatrician Interviews

Apparently all I needed to do was complain about how I have blogger's block to get unblocked. Who says complaining isn't useful??

With approval from my doctor I will be taking about a half hour out of my Wednesday and Thursday next week to interview two pediatricians. I was going to take the slacker route and just take whoever is at the hospital when I go in to labor, but then a nosy mom got super nosy and pushed me to actually do the interviews. So, like an obedient little novice, I have scheduled the appointments. I'm hoping one of them doesn't suck. To make sure I remember everything I have compiled a list (four pages) of questions to ask the doctor/staff/myself. Yep I plan on grilling those suckers. I won't let just anyone handle my little man. Clearly he needs the best that pediatrics has to offer!

In case you are interested I have included the questions here. I'm giving fair warning; it's pretty long so you might fall asleep reading it. Some of the questions were taken from babycenter.com, but I adapted several of them to fit my needs and added a few of my own, including the rating section at the end. I figure I might as well post it in case someone else is looking for questions to ask.

Name of doctor:

Name of practice:

Location:

Phone:

How did you hear of this doctor?


About the Practice - Questions For The Staff

1. Do you take (name of insurance)?

2. Is this a solo or group practice? solo / group

• If group, how often will we see other doctors in the practice?

3. How long has this doctor been in practice? ______ years

4. Does the doctor have any subspecialties?

5. What are your hours?

6. What evening or weekend hours are available?

7. How will we reach you if my child gets sick after hours?

8. How can I reach the doctor in an emergency?

9. When the doctor's not on call, who covers?

10. Which hospitals is the doctor affiliated with?

11. Does the practice have a Web site? yes / no
* If so, what's the URL?

12. How does the practice handle payments, billing, laboratory charges, and insurance claims?


Questions For The Doctor

1. Where are your views on:

• bottle vs. breast-feeding

• circumcision
  

• immunizations/vaccinations (delayed schedule?)
  

• getting babies to sleep (Cry It Out, etc.?)

• Attachment Parenting/4th Trimester

• Holistic/Alternative Medicine?
  

2. Does your practice encourage parents to call for routine/non-emergency questions? yes/no

3. Do you communicate via e-mail? yes / no

4. Do you see newborns in the hospital or at the first office visit?

5. If I go in to preterm labor will you be taking care of the baby at the hospital?

6. Will you be available for discussions about my child's behavioral developments (discipline issues, social development, ADD/ADHD, etc.)? yes / no

7. What do you like best about your job?


Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Was everything clean? yes / no

2. Is the waiting room pleasant and kid-friendly? yes / no

3. Were toys and books available to occupy your child? yes / no

4. Were the office staff and nurses helpful and patient? yes / no

5. How long were you kept waiting?

• In the waiting room?

• In the exam room?

6. Is there a chair in the room for the doctor? yes / no (This is important to me because it indicates whether or not the doctor takes time to actually sit with the patient vs. get out as quickly as possible).

7. Does the doctor seem to welcome questions? yes / no

8. Does the doctor seem to know about the latest medical advances? yes / no

9. Is the doctor's style of communication a good fit with yours? yes / no

10. Is the doctor more inclined to give you directions or offer you options? directions / options

11. Did you feel comfortable with the doctor? yes / no

12. Was parking readily available? yes / no

13. Is there a separate waiting area for sick vs well children? yes/no

14. Does the doctor respect my religious beliefs?

Rate:

Office Staff Overall Friendliness

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Doctor Overall Friendliness

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Office Atmosphere

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Doctor’s Knowledge/Experience

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Our Beautiful Boy

I almost forgot! We did get a 3D/4D ultrasound done for Husband's 30th birthday. We had one done a while ago around 23 weeks before the great bed rest debacle and we were excited to see how much he has grown. He was absolutely perfect and quite the little ham. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.

Our little sleepy boy at 31 weeks.



Blowing us a a kiss.

Licking his umbilical cord. MMMM...


Silly duck face baby.



The view from the outside (32 weeks).



Can't wait to meet our beautiful boy!

Blogger's Block

Is that a thing? Like writer's block? If it is I certainly have it. I have nothing to say. Maybe that's what six plus weeks of bed rest will do to a person, I don't know. It's not really due to a lack of topics. I have had plenty of things going on in my world worthy of entire blog posts and yet I'm just not inspired. I could tell you about our "vacation" that wasn't but I think that's one of those things you laugh about later and "later" hasn't come yet. I could tell you about my loved one who had surgery but I really don't feel like talking about that. Or there are the more light and fluffy topics like why I hate "Your Pregnancy Week By Week" which should really be called "101 Ways Your Baby Could Die." I'm guessing they wouldn't get as many buyers with a title like that though. Or maybe a post about the crib renovation and my thoughts on whether or not a crib from the early 80's with a drop side is safe. Hmmm. Yeah, no, not inspired. So instead I leave you with this... enjoy!

32 Week Survey

How far along: 32 weeks!! This is a major bed rest milestone. Grow baby grow!

Total weight gain/loss: +20lbs at the last doctor's appointment. I don't weigh myself in between.

Maternity clothes: Yes, definitely. I live in Target maternity tank tops.

Stretch marks: Not yet. Let's hope I can make it eight more weeks.

Sleep: Poor. Very very poor. Getting out of bed is becoming more and more difficult.

Best moment this week: Seeing our little man on a 3-D ultrasound and Husbands 30th birthday.

Movement: Yes, and lots of it. He's recently started kicking my ribs. Isn't that sweet of him?

Food cravings: I like food. All of it.

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: Still having a lot of contractions, but they aren't really doing much other than annoying me.

Belly Button in or out: We're still in belly button limbo. The top half is kind of poking out and the bottom half is still very much in.

What I miss: Wine, coffee, sleep.

What I am looking forward to: A prenatal massage and a hair appointment. Also my first baby shower is next weekend! Yay!

Other Updates: Lots going on on, too much to update here. I will post about all my adventures later this week. I'm sure you will all be waiting with bated breath.

F.Y.I.

I'm HUGE!



I'm just a little scared of what it's going to look like by the end of all of this. Also, my mirror needs to be cleaned. Crap, another thing to add to that darn "to-do" list!

So Little Time!

AHHHHH!!!! I'm 31 weeks. That means I have six weeks left until I am considered full term. At that point I will be off of bed rest and the doctor will not do anything stop labor. LABOR! I have to give birth!! Panic! Panic! Panic!

In an effort to help ease the panic that has been setting in, I sat down to make a list of the things that need to be done. Lists help, right? Yeah, no, not so much. Take a look at what needs to be done in the next six weeks.

Things to do: (in no particular order)

1. Computer (our desktop died - very sad)

• transfer hard drive
• fix or buy new computer
  

2. Clean out room/organize!!

• Donate unwanted items
• Buy storage bins for extra items
  

4. Set up Nursery

5. Crib

• fix
• sand/paint
  

6. Wall Decal

• order ✓ - it arrived a couple of days ago and is adorable!
• apply to wall
  

7. Assemble

• changing table ✓ - I woke up this morning to find Husband putting it together
• other furniture
  

8. Baby Clothes

• sort unwanted items
• pre-wash
• hang/organize
  

9. Birth announcements

• Choose seller/design

10. Car seats

• install
• get inspected?
  

11. Bedding

12. Day bed from parents?

13. Shop for extra baby items still needed after showers

14. Pack hospital bag

15. Make playlist for hospital

16. Buy snacks for hospital

17. Meals

• plan menu (5-10 meals)
• groceries
• cook meals to be frozen
  

18. Find pediatrician!

19. Attend childbirth and breastfeeding classes

20. Attend showers

• Write thank-you notes
• Find hostess gifts
  

PANIC!!!!

Let's talk briefly just about item number two on the list. Normally this wouldn't really be that big of a deal, but let's recap shall we? We moved in to our current place just prior to our big bed rest debacle. I am now on bed rest with no obvious end in sight. Husband works 12+ hours a day. Mr. Chatner helps where he can, but really at this point we're lucky we even have our dishes unpacked! The only reason our main living area looks even remotely presentable is because Husband was kind enough to move all of our boxes out so that I'm not completely humiliated when we have guests (bed rest makes you super popular in the church communities, if you want friends you should try it some time). So where did said boxes get moved? Yep, you guessed it. Baby's room! He's not using it.

In an effort to make sure my readers get the full impact of the task that is ahead of us (really ahead of Husband) I am willing to share with you a glimpse into the cave also known as Mr. Chatner's litter box room.

Sadly, that isn't even the half of it. If I could get a more panoramic view you would find more boxes to the left as well as a closet jam packed full of miscellaneous items. *sigh* Just looking at this picture is stressing me out. How will we ever get it all done? I don't have time for this bed rest nonsense! Seriously ridiculous. Oh and when I said Mr Chatner helps... well you judge for yourself...


P.S. I also have a long list of books I need to read as well as a long list of items that need to be packed for the hospital.

P.P.S. Running in to your OBGYN at Pizza My Heart is awkward.

31 Week Survey

How far along: 31 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: +20lbs at the last doctor's appointment. I don't weigh myself in between.

Maternity clothes: Yes, definitely.

Stretch marks: Still nothing yet. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Sleep: I "sleep" at least 10 hours a night. When I wake up I feel like I've slept about 4 hours.

Best moment this week: Husband coming home last night. We are officially on vacation!

Movement: Yes, and lots of it. He's quite the little spaz.

Food cravings: I tend to want things randomly. I'll see food on tv and want it pretty badly for about 20 minutes and then it passes.

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: Still having a lot of contractions, but they aren't really doing much other than annoying me.

Belly Button in or out: We're still in belly button limbo. The top half is kind of poking out and the bottom half is still very much in.

What I miss: Wine, coffee, sleep.

What I am looking forward to: Another 3-D ultrasound on Husband's 30th birthday and a week of relaxing together.

Other Updates: Nothing much going on here. It's boring in bed rest town.

Spread The Love - Find A Cure

Someone I love is in the midst of breast cancer treatments and will be undergoing surgery in the next week for a metastasized brain tumor. Please pray for her and her two beautiful daughters and for every woman afflicted with this terrible disease. If you have the time and means please donate to a very important cause, The Susan G. Komen Foundation. It's easy to donate. You can do in online, through a text or by mail. Every little bit helps!

Spread The Word!

I feel that it is my calling to spread the word (at least my calling for the day) that pregnancy does in fact last 9 months, not 10! Before getting pregnant I saw posts from women all over the internet making the claim that pregnancy is actually 10 months. At the time I didn't think much of their poor math skills and just continued on with my merry life. Now that I am pregnant and have way too much time on my hands I find this idea to be more and more irritating. So here it is. I know it's complex, but I'm sure you all can follow me.

Pregnancy = 9 months

Think of it like birthdays. When a baby is born how old is it? Is it zero or is it one? Your answer should be zero. As odd as it is to think of a newborn being "zero" that is in fact what it is. The baby has entered its first year of life. It is working on becoming "one." The baby will only be considered one year old once it has completed one full year of life. On the baby's first birthday it will officially be one year old and starting it's second year of life. Just because it has started it's second year doesn't mean you would say that baby is two years old would you? I hope not.

Pregnancy is very similar. I will use myself as an example. I found out that I was pregnant at 3 weeks 5 days. In terms of months how far along was I? Zero! I was working on (or in) my first month. I was not officially one month until the following week (some time around 4.5 weeks). At 4.5 weeks I could officially say I was 1 month along and in my second month. So how many months was I? One or two? Correct answer? One. Still with me?

Fast forward to now. I am 30 weeks 3 days. Let's figure out how many months I am shall we. Month 6 starts at 22 weeks 2 days and ends at 26 weeks 5 days. Month 7 starts at 26 weeks 6 days and ends 32 weeks 1(or 2) days. So this big question: Am I 6 or 7 months. Let's think about it for a minute....

Correct answer is....

6 Months!! If month 7 doesn't end until the the 32nd week then I have clearly not completed 7 entire months. I have completed 6 months plus a big portion of the the 7th month. Therefore, I am only working on (or in) my 7th month. At approximately 32 weeks I will officially be 7 months along and working on (or in) my 8th month. Around 36 weeks I will officially be 8 months and working on (or in) my 9th month. I will not officially be 9 months until my due date.

Just like how right now I am 28 years old and am working on (or in) my 29th year. I can't go around saying I'm 29 years old just because I'm in my 29th year can I? Well, I guess I could, no one would arrest me, but it would be really weird if I did, because I'm not 29, I'm 28. In the same way I shouldn't go around telling people I'm 7 months just because I'm in my 7th month. Make sense? If not here's a little math to help out.

Most people with the 10 month misconception are operating under some faulty logic/math. The assumption with the 10 month theorists is that there are 40 weeks in a pregnancy (Correct!). Then that there are 4 weeks in a month (Incorrect! - except for February). The math then looks like this:

40 (weeks in a pregnancy)/4 (weeks in a month) = 10 (months) Simple right?? Sure, if there were in fact only 4 weeks in every month then we would in fact pregnant for 10 months. Unfortunately the math isn't that simple. Let's break it down.

There are 365 days in a year. That comes out to 51.177 weeks in a year. To find out how many weeks are in a month we divided that number by 12 (months).

51.117/12=4.4<----- the magic number!! There are an average of 4.4 weeks in a month, not an even four weeks! If you need a brain break go ahead and take one. I hate math, but I swear this is important!

Ok, ready to keep going? Good!

With our new number let's try that equation again:

40 (weeks in a pregnancy) / 4.4 (weeks in a month) = 9 months!!

Whew!! Glad that's over! So spread the word!! Pregnancy is more or less (frequently less) 9 months, not 10! No matter how you count it!

My civic duty is done for the day!

30 Week Survey

How far along: 30 weeks. Whoohoo, out of the 20's!!!!

Total weight gain/loss: +20lbs :( When the nurse weighed me yesterday I must have made a face (or I may have groaned) because she said "It's all baby honey! Don't worry!" God, I hope that's not all baby!! I mean, I'm no medical professional, but I'm pretty sure the baby is only about 3lbs, then there's a few pounds for the uterus, amniotic fluid, placenta and breast tissue. The rest? The pregnancy books like to call it "maternal stores." As if that makes it sound prettier. What do I call it? Fat! Thank you baby!

Maternity clothes: Yes, definitely.

Stretch marks: Still nothing yet. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Sleep: the combination of trips to the bathroom, intense back pain, round ligament pain, and contractions doesn't make for a very restful night. To add to that, I have now started waking up with an insanely stuffy nose and a dry mouth. Turns out this isn't a lot of fun.

Best moment this week: Eating that delicious grilled chicken sandwich. Mmmmmm! Oh! Also my iced decaf caramel macchiato - Heaven!

Movement: Yes, and lots of it. He's quite the little spaz.

Food cravings: I want Chili!

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: Unfortunately, many contractions, all the freaking time. Thus, the bed rest.

Belly Button in or out: I think it's in belly button limbo. The top half is kind of poking out and the bottom half is still very much in.

What I miss: Walking without pain and regular coffee.

What I am looking forward to: Another week with my little man safe and sound inside my belly.

Other Updates: I went to the OB yesterday and she did another exam and fetal fibronectin test. All looks good. The test came back negative which means we have at least another two weeks. Yay!

Four Weeks and a New Dress

Today marks four whole weeks of bed rest. Who knew it could be done? Seriously if you think it's easy, just try one week of bed rest and then get back to me. That's not to say that it's the worst thing in the world, it certainly could be worse, but the loss of muscle, back/neck/shoulder/everything pain combined with sheer boredom is no walk in the park. Over the past four weeks I've logged countless hours online, become intimately connected to my T.V. (turns out A Baby Story will make me cry every. single. time. - go figure!) and have somehow avoided reading all of my childbirth and parenting books (whoops!).

It hasn't all been bad though. I do get to sleep in every day, I have sole control of the remote, and I have frequent visitors. Turns out being the Queen of Bed Rest makes you semi-popular. Today my lovely church lady friend brought me the most delicious grilled chicken sandwich on a croissant, some decaf iced tea and a mini eclair! Then as if that wasn't nice enough she vacuumed!! I am so thankful for how supportive everyone in my life has been. The phone calls and visits have helped prevent me from losing my mind. It has been an amazing four weeks of discovery and love. Husband has stepped up and taken care of everything. After twelve hours of work he comes home and either helps me finish make dinner or makes it himself. He cleans up the messes, takes care of Mr. Chatner, then continues to do work on the computer. Plus he always finds time to give me a kiss and hug. How great is he?!? Aww, I got all mushy on you.

Today it really hit me how much my life has changed in the last four weeks. One day I was preparing to go in to work and being told I had to go to labor and delivery instead and the next I was taken out of work and put on bed rest. That day I was sure I would go in and they would send me home telling me I was just overreacting to Braxton Hicks contractions. No such luck. I went from going to work every day to be stuck on the couch and watching Dr. Phil. How did I start watching Dr. Phil?? I can't stand him! Or least I couldn't stand him... Today the clock struck 3:00pm and I actually raced (as much as a pregnant bed rest lady can) to the remote because God forbid I miss the McGraw grandbaby making her television debut. (OMG so freaking adorable!) How did I get here? So sad.

I've also developed a serious online *window* shopping addiction. My latest obsession has been maternity dresses. Although I think maternity fashion has greatly improved over the years, for some reason maternity dresses have not. Unless I wanted to pay $75+ for a dress I was only going to wear a few times, it seemed I was going to be stuck in a frumpy colorless sack for my baby showers. Finally I turned to ebay. I usually don't like trusting ebay sellers when it comes to clothing, but since I'm stuck on bed rest it's not like I can spend time looking in the stores anyway. After a month of searching I found this:


Pretty, no? It came today and fits very nicely. It's a hand-dyed silk dress by Japanese Weekend. Their dresses normally retail for $75+ and I got it for $25, quite the steal! I still have my black belt in shopping!

Nursery Progress

If you are expecting some pictures of a a half-finished nursery you're out of luck. Let's not forget I'm on bed rest here. In fact, if I were to take a picture of the "nursery" now you would see a room full of boxes and a litter box. So for now all of the progress is in my head. Really that's half the battle though. Without planning, baby blue would end up sleeping in one of the boxes. Hey, if it's good enough for Mr Chatner...

Here's what I have so far:

We will be using my old crib by Jenny Lind. The plan is to sand it and paint it yellow, either light yellow like this Land of Nod design


or a more vibrant yellow like this one found on the design site ohbeedoh


For the bedding we (my mom) will be making a set inspired by this fabric


And for the wall I think we will be using this decal from etsy seller PopVinylStudio



with the owl and branch in blue and the leaves either in green or yellow and obviously not the name "Lucas Henry" underneath.

So there you have it, a sort of plan. Now how to get it all done in the next six or seven weeks? Looks like Husband has some work ahead of him. :)

525,600 Contractions...

How do you measure, measure my life?

Sorry, only my readers who are familiar with the musical "Rent" will get that reference, but still I think it gets across the point. I may not have had 525,600 contractions, but I sure have had a lot and this morning was no exception.

Yesterday I went on a little adventure (approved by the doctor) and unfortunately may have overdone it. Husband had to run a few errands so I decided to go with him. Most of my time was spent sitting in the car except for a quick trip into Target to pick out a swim suit (boy do I look funny in a bikini) and then what should have been a quick trip into AT&T Mobility to get Husband a new phone. This was where everything turned to crap. Long story short, I ended up having to stand there for about 45 minutes (no chairs in the whole freaking store) while the ditz behind the counter fumbled around with my phone because somehow, inexplicably, the computer switched my SIM card with Husbands. She said it was no big deal and gave me a new SIM card, but when she did that she lost over half of my numbers. After a solid half hour of her fumbling around I told her I was done, to give me the phone and I was leaving. How do I go into a store to get Husband a new phone and end up leaving with mine all jacked up? Lame.

Needless to say, I was pretty pissed and evidently so was my uterus because it's been complaining ever since. This morning I woke up at 5:30 with regular contractions, every 2-5 minutes. Normally, although I feel a little concerned, I am able to brush them off because I know that I had a negative fetal fibronectin and they don't hurt. This time they were accompanied by some pretty uncomfortable cramping. After about 2.5 hours of this I finally decided to call my doctor just to see if I should worry. Unfortunately my doctor was not available so I had to talk with the on-call doctor who I can't stand. Let's just say she's incredibly flighty and the last time I dealt with her she completely brushed me off. This time was no different.

She said that because the fFN was negative I would not go in to labor and that the contractions are fine as long as they aren't changing my cervix. Right... and how am I supposed to know if they are changing my cervix or not?? Check it myself?!?! She told me I could take the Procardia (contraction med) if I wanted to ease my mind, but that was about it. WTF?? I'm not taking Procardia just to make my fears go away! I only want to take it if it is medically necessary. The last time I took Procardia I ended up in the hospital with a terrible reaction (which she knew about).

Then the best part, she actually laughed and said something about how this is my first pregnancy and it will all pass, soon it will all be a distant memory. WTF?? I get that this is all very routine for you, but it's not for me! Don't treat me like I'm some sort of overly paranoid first-timer either. I'm not calling about Braxton Hicks here! These are contractions that are regular and painful and that's NOT NORMAL! At least it's not normal for a regular person. Maybe this is just my lot in life and that IS normal for me and I am actually fine. I don't know. It sure would be nice if someone would tell me, wouldn't it?

Ultimately I decided to wait it out and go to labor and delivery if the contractions didn't ease up. Fortunately they have calmed down considerably and although I'm still feeling crampy I think I'm just going to continue to rest at home. Apparently this is just all one big guessing game. Fun isn't it?

In case you were curious about the Rent reference at the beginning of this post... Seasons of Love from the musical Rent:



Brings me back to high school.

29 Week Survey

How far along: 29 weeks exactly

Total weight gain/loss: +18lbs, at the last doctor appointment. I try not to weigh myself at home so we'll have to wait and see if I've gained anything.

Maternity clothes: Yes, definitely. I can still fit in to some of my regular tops and even my old workout pants though. I'm searching for a nice maternity dress, but I'm beginning to suspect that might actually be an oxymoron. Nice maternity dresses don't exist. I might be better off wearing a potato sack.

Stretch marks: Not yet. I suspect I'll make it a few more weeks and the, wham! Just when I think I'm not going to get any there they'll be, like nasty little purple worms all over my belly.

Sleep: the combination of trips to the bathroom, intense back pain, round ligament pain, and contractions doesn't make for a very restful night. To add to that, I have now started waking up with an insanely stuffy nose and a dry mouth. Turns out this isn't a lot of fun.

Best moment this week: Maybe when Husband came home last night. Friday nights are always nice.

Movement: Yes, and lots of it. He's quite the little spaz.

Food cravings: Nope. None.

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: Unfortunately, many contractions, all the freaking time. Thus, the bed rest.

Belly Button in or out: Still in. It's getting there though. I have a feeling that within the next few weeks it will at least be flat.

What I miss: The ability to do things for myself, like hmmm, maybe unpacking my own boxes!

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully we'll be sitting by the pool this weekend. Very relaxing!

Other Updates: None.