Ahhh.. Spring!

Well, of course, now that I'm pretty limited, Spring is in full force here below the belt. In fact, today was sunny and beautiful and we got temperatures up in the 80's. I have been so looking forward to getting out in the sun, playing outside with the kids, using the clothes line, and of course, SWIMMING.


So far, I've only been able to enjoy the beautiful weather through the windows. I keep them open all day so I can still feel the warmth and see outside. I'm not entirely sure how things will work out with the bed rest, or for how long I will be on it. I'm hoping that eventually I will be able to get back to a semi-normal routine and possibly still be able to enjoy some swimming in a few months. Not like marathon swimming, more like floating around, possibly treading water... that kind of thing.


In the meantime, I am at least getting to enjoy the early spring and summer fruits and veggies. All of the wonderful people who have brought meals have brought huge bowls of strawberries!!!! I am in strawberry heaven. Not to mention all of the steamed veggies: squash, zucchini, broccoli, carrots...... just YUM! Did I mention that I got strawberries?! This is the time of year when I really enjoy living in the south. The yummy stuff comes a little early.


I am still waiting on a camera full of pictures from B's party, but until then, here are a couple of teasers.

Nadi-B Princess

Elizabeth Princess

All of the kids wearing their crowns that they painted as they came in.

Bed Rest Update

This morning my doctor's office called to schedule my next sonogram. It was originally going to be in about a week, but Dr. Bowen thinks that is too soon to expect to see any change, so has decided to put it off until the 15th of April. So... in about 2 more weeks.

In the meantime I am to limit my activity as much as possible. I can still get up to go to the bathroom and to shower. I am also now allowed to get up and walk around the house a bit if I need to, BUT: No strenuous activity, no chores, no cleaning, no bending, no lifting, no picking up either of the babies, etc. Basically, he said that the less activity the better off I'll be. At least now I can get up to fix my own drink without sneaking around, though, so that is a plus.

I used my uh... "leisure" time this morning to make all the appointments that I have been meaning to make. I have the appointment for my sonogram, my appointment for my doctor's visit, an appointment for Nadi-B to get her 5 year old/before school shots, a dentist appointment for me, and a dentist appointment for Nadia. Whoo-hoo. I HATE the dentist. LOATHE the dentist. UGH. Especially when I'm pregnant. Hooray for swollen gums and cranky cleaning ladies.

Seriously... what is up with those teeth cleaning ladies?! Is it just my area, or are they judgemental and cranky everywhere? Anyway, it will be B's first check-up with the dentist and she is actually kind of excited about them "scraping the barnacles off her teeth." WHERE she gets this stuff, I have no idea.

In other news, B's birthday party went off very well on Sunday and as soon as I get the rest of the pictures that were taken by various family members, I will post a blog on it.

Meanwhile, I am crocheting. I don't know what it is yet. I guess it depends on how much of it actually gets finished. Nothing fancy though, just row after row of mindless single stitches. Could be a scarf.... or if I'm really ambitious, a blanket.... or if I never do much more with it... a really long bookmark.

Laying Around: Harder than it Looks

If you've never been on bed rest... let me just tell you: It. Is. HARD. You would think that laying around all day and doing as little as possible would be the easiest thing ever. You would be WRONG.

I am so frustrated. I hate hearing the baby fussing from the other room and knowing that I can't get up and respond. I hate that I have to call someone in from the other room to bend over and take a piece of paper out of his mouth, or fix Nadi-B a snack... or all the other zillion little things I'm used to doing without thinking.

Don't get me wrong... having other people offer to do my laundry and my dishes is pretty damn awesome, but having to ask someone else to get me a drink of water or a glass of tea is nearly impossible.

Confession: I sent my baby sitter sister to the store for a can of tomatoes today just so I could sneak into the kitchen and fix my own drink. I can't seem to get over having to ask for help for something so trivial.

If you've ever been through it, I'm sure you can relate. Maybe it's easier if you don't already have other children. Anyone? But having other babies and not being able to be Momma really bites. I hate sitting in the bedroom and not being able to see what they are doing in the other room with whatever wonderful, beautiful person has volunteered to help for the day.

Is it still bed rest if I relocate to the couch? I mean.. as long as I'm still in a lying down position?

View from Bedrest: Picture Blog

Yesterday, my friend Heather brought me some goodies, including these flowers to put by my bed to sort of cheer things up a bit.

The baby came to visit for snack time. He is having the delicacy we call "Cheese Puff."

Nom Nom Nom


It was, apparently, delicious



Nadi-B came in this evening after supper.



We colored and watched Hoodwinked.

Scary Day

Yesterday did not go according to plan. Everything started out great: Got the Nadi-B off to preschool on time, cupcakes and all, spent the morning playing with the baby, and started a big pot of pintos for dinner that I was planning on pairing with some homemade flour tortillas. Then it started raining and I had to cancel plans for the kiddos to spend the afternoon with B's godparents.

I was supposed to go to the doctor yesterday afternoon for a check up and then on to the hospital for the triple screen blood test. Once it started raining, I decided I really didn't feel like spending the afternoon at the hospital and that I really wasn't feeling very much like having 5 tubes of blood drawn. I decided to reschedule the triple screen for next week and just do my check up since normally, I'm the only one in there and it takes like 10 minutes.

I went in. Weight was normal. Blood pressure was normal. Baby's heartbeat was normal. Then it was just the normal chit chat, Dr. told me everything looked great, and sent me to the front desk to make an appointment for my next ultrasound and my next month's appointment. As I'm standing at the counter waiting on the nurse to call the ultrasound people and set the appointment I feel ... a gush. Oh great, I think. I figured, considering that the waiting room was for once full of people, and considering my normal luck that I was having one of those embarrassing pregger's moments where you accidentally pee on yourself in public. As I'm thinking this, I feel another gush. Okay, I think. I'll just jot to the bathroom really quick while she's doing her thing.

As I'm walking to the bathroom, the gushes continue and get bigger. By the time I reach the toilet, I'm panicking. It was like my worst nightmare come true. I was bleeding. In gushes. So I FREAK. I start yelling for Melissa the nurse, and by the time she answers me I'm hysterical and sobbing and can barely unlock the door for her and Dr. Bowen to get in and see what's up. The nurse freaks. Dr. Bowen freaks. This has all transpired literally 2 minutes after I walked out of the examination room.

Dr. Bowen ushers me out the door and past the waiting room full of people. Let me just take a minute to say that I feel really sorry for those pregnant women. I'm sure when your sitting there thinking everything is normal and then someone who just had a normal happy checkup starts screaming about blood from the bathroom, that it has to be pretty darn disconcerting. He followed me the 1/4 of a mile to the hospital and escorted me into the emergency room.

By the time they get a nurse into the room to start an IV, the bleeding had slowed down considerably. So much for not spending the afternoon at the hospital. The rushed me to the ultrasound room where I had the pleasure of being probed by the SAME ultrasound tech who did my first rather unpleasant ultrasound. I just lay there, holding my breath while she probed and clicked away, peering at the sonar screen... just waiting for the one thing that was important to ME. After a few minutes, I finally breathed a sigh of relief when the baby's heartbeat started, loud and strong, and normal.

10 minutes later, she, Dr. Bowen, and some other doctor were huddled around the ultrasound screen taking turns wielding the sonar wand and babbling incoherently in medical terms I couldn't possibly follow. It didn't help that they all sounded flustered and not 100% sure of what had caused the bleeding, which by that point had just about stopped. There was some talk about how my placenta looked high, or that it had been pulled up, which I gathered was slightly better than it being low. (????)Dr. Bowen then explained that what appeared to have happened is that a part of the placenta had pulled away from the wall, causing the bleed and that it was already starting to clot. He admitted me for overnight observation and put me on strict bed rest. I was not allowed to eat or drink anything except for ice chips in case of any other emergencies.

The bleeding, thankfully didn't start up again, though I did have a small amount this morning while still at the hospital. The hope is that the blood will continue to clot and form scar tissue, and that as the placenta grows with the baby that it will reattach itself. Apparently, this is a more common issue later in pregnancies, but more rare in someone as early on as what I am.

I am now home, but on strict bed rest for the next 10 days. I am only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. I may take showers no longer than 5 minutes. I am to move as little as possible. After which I will go back for another ultrasound. I will then be on moderate bed rest for the next 2 months. My activity will be limited to bathroom, showers, and occasionally walking around the house or sitting on the couch... but no lifting, no activity such as cleaning or bending... etc. I will be monitored closely with frequent dr.'s visits and will pretty much have to take it easy even after the 2 months bed rest. This is all of course, barring any other incidents which may result in more bed rest or trips to the hospital. (which we are of course, praying is not the case). The idea is to get me past the 22-25 week marker, before which the baby can't feasibly make it outside of the womb.

It has been a scary couple of days. I take back all the whining and such I did about the throwing up. I will take throwing up any day instead of bleeding. Yep. Bring on the vomit! *sighs* So for now, I am stranded in my bed with a busted laptop and not much else to do but wait. Times like these, I am so grateful that we have formed ourselves a community of friends and loved ones as offers to help with the kids, the house, dinners, etc. have come pouring in from all sides. I must say though, that that sister wife Heather was advertising for the other day would be awesome right now. I will keep you all posted at least as far as bed rest is interesting. In the meantime, I hope you all do a lot of posting because I'm going to be in desperate need of entertainment.