Ah, the first week - how to sum it up? Oddly, as soon as I knew I was going to be in this position, I was desperate to get my laptop up and running so as to fully document this experience. I even had all kinds of profound things I was going to say. However, once I got my computer, caught up with emails, gave a quick update on the blog, paid bills and such, I kind of ran out of steam. So here I am.
The first couple of days were spent mostly coordinating what was going on with the kids, getting my "affairs in order", getting people up to speed, etc. Then I settled into a rhythm of sorts: up with Tristen (who thankfully is quite self-sufficient), make sure he eats, has lunch and school stuff together, then see him off to his ride; sleep a little on the couch until Mace wakes up; let him watch TV until Monster gets up; get all of us breakfast; lay back down; have Mace get dressed, get him set for school, wait for his ride; lay back down; hang out and watch whatever Monster wants to watch on TV the rest of the day; get us lunch sometime in the middle; boys come home; Dad comes home. And take my meds every 4 hours. Yep, that's my day.
Thankfully, PJ had a major change of heart (and more importantly, attitude) a couple of days into this, so that's made things a lot more pleasant around here. He has the oh, so enviable job of being dad and mom, plus mom's gopher, plus working all day, plus walking to and from the bus in the rapidly cooling weather. Not the end of the world, but certainly more than any one parent who is normally part of a pair wants to do for 7 weeks.
Of course, once I had internet access again, I lost no time in researching pre-term labor, preemies and all that stuff. Very helpful to my state of mind. But hey, that's what I do.
Measurements:
Waist: 35.75"
Belly Button: 39"
3" Down: 39.5"
Hips: 42"
Weight: 160.2
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Bedrest - Intro
So I go for my scheduled check-up on Tuesday. Peggy and I talk about my pains (she doesn't suspect SPD, rather pulled ligaments & wants me to try physical therapy) and the continuing contractions. She writes me a prescription for a different med to try and stop them, then decides to send me over for a quick ultrasound to check my cervical length and make sure the contractions haven't been doing anything untoward. I schedule to come back in 2 weeks and head over to ultrasound, then presumably to go home.
So I see my buddy the ultrasound lady (hmm, I don't actually know her name, though I've been in there I think 5 times.) and all goes like normal, then she gets to actually looking at my cervix and stops chatting. She gets much more serious and then says I have some funneling of my cervix. I ask if that shouldn't be happening yet, and she says it's really not very good. She walks me back to the office, orders them to get me a play to lie down, then says I need to wait to talk to Peggy and make a "game plan".
So I lay there freaking out but trying hard not to for the next 45 minutes (Peggy is now quite backed up). I call PJ and he Googles "funneling of cervix", so we find out that no, this isn't good. It means the cervix is opening from the inside, and "baby can potentially fall right out". So I'm in labor, right? Awesome. And one of the nurses comes in and chats with me, then says we just want to get me to 34 weeks. Wow.
Peggy makes it in and I learn the news: my cervix was 3.5 cm long at my last ultrasound 3 weeks ago - it's now 2.5 cm. She isn't too concerned about the funneling, but wants to get the contractions much more under control so they stop working on my cervix. So she orders "modified bedrest" where I can get the kids to school, take care of Monster and myself, but try to be down as much as possible. However, if this all doesn't work, the next step is bedrest in the hospital, nothing in between.
So I drive myself home, get in the recliner and start making calls. I line up rides to school for the boys, because I figure even if she said I can take them, it might be nice if they can just hitch a ride with someone else. PJ has lots of questions for me which I just don't know the answers to, so I leave a message to have Peggy call him and address them. So around 7 pm, she calls him and it turns out, she's changed her orders - I am now on bedrest. I can be up to go the bathroom, get food for MaraJade and myself, but nothing else. She stresses the importance of me staying down, and that this is the last step before staying in the hospital. In the hospital, they can hook me up to IV drugs that completely stop the contractions. Yeah, 6-8 weeks there ought to be real cheap. Plus, with me completely out of the picture, the difficulties I'm trying to figure out now will be just impossible. PJ would have to stay home; I'd miss the holidays. Oh, and kids aren't allowed in L&D these days because of swine flu, so I wouldn't even be able to see the kids until this is over. So we absolutely don't want to end up there.
PJ is angry. I'm freaking out in twelve different directions. It's awesome.
Measurements:
Waist: 35"
Belly Button: 39"
3" Down: 39.50"
Hips: 41.5"
Weight: 157.6
So I see my buddy the ultrasound lady (hmm, I don't actually know her name, though I've been in there I think 5 times.) and all goes like normal, then she gets to actually looking at my cervix and stops chatting. She gets much more serious and then says I have some funneling of my cervix. I ask if that shouldn't be happening yet, and she says it's really not very good. She walks me back to the office, orders them to get me a play to lie down, then says I need to wait to talk to Peggy and make a "game plan".
So I lay there freaking out but trying hard not to for the next 45 minutes (Peggy is now quite backed up). I call PJ and he Googles "funneling of cervix", so we find out that no, this isn't good. It means the cervix is opening from the inside, and "baby can potentially fall right out". So I'm in labor, right? Awesome. And one of the nurses comes in and chats with me, then says we just want to get me to 34 weeks. Wow.
Peggy makes it in and I learn the news: my cervix was 3.5 cm long at my last ultrasound 3 weeks ago - it's now 2.5 cm. She isn't too concerned about the funneling, but wants to get the contractions much more under control so they stop working on my cervix. So she orders "modified bedrest" where I can get the kids to school, take care of Monster and myself, but try to be down as much as possible. However, if this all doesn't work, the next step is bedrest in the hospital, nothing in between.
So I drive myself home, get in the recliner and start making calls. I line up rides to school for the boys, because I figure even if she said I can take them, it might be nice if they can just hitch a ride with someone else. PJ has lots of questions for me which I just don't know the answers to, so I leave a message to have Peggy call him and address them. So around 7 pm, she calls him and it turns out, she's changed her orders - I am now on bedrest. I can be up to go the bathroom, get food for MaraJade and myself, but nothing else. She stresses the importance of me staying down, and that this is the last step before staying in the hospital. In the hospital, they can hook me up to IV drugs that completely stop the contractions. Yeah, 6-8 weeks there ought to be real cheap. Plus, with me completely out of the picture, the difficulties I'm trying to figure out now will be just impossible. PJ would have to stay home; I'd miss the holidays. Oh, and kids aren't allowed in L&D these days because of swine flu, so I wouldn't even be able to see the kids until this is over. So we absolutely don't want to end up there.
PJ is angry. I'm freaking out in twelve different directions. It's awesome.
Measurements:
Waist: 35"
Belly Button: 39"
3" Down: 39.50"
Hips: 41.5"
Weight: 157.6
Friday, November 6, 2009
Weeks 25-26 Recap
Yeah, I missed a week, but it was uneventful, so....
Anyway, I should have a separate listing for the Malady of the Week! Seems like I just can't catch a break. The newest complication? Well, after spending roughly 6-8 hours in the dining room chair over 2 days sewing Monster's Halloween costume, I discovered I was in a great deal of pain in my groin area. By Friday night, it felt like I'd been kicked repeatedly down there. I figured I was just sore from the unusual position. By Saturday night, I was still sore, plus my inner thighs felt like I'd pulled the muscles, and when I tried to roll over on the couch while watching TV, almost couldn't. Then when trying to walk up the stairs, almost couldn't because of the pain. Plus, the front of my groin was sore to the touch. Again, I chalked it up to the hours of sewing.
By Tuesday, when I went to work, the pain really hadn't lessened much, so I googled "groin pain in pregnancy" and what did I find? Overwhelmingly, SPD or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (or Pelvic Girdle Pain) - see articles here: http://www.birthsource.com/scripts/article.asp?articleid=189 and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysis_pubis_dysfunction. And wouldn't you know, all my symptoms are right there. Essentially, too much relaxin (hormone) in my body has caused the knot of cartilage holding my pelvis sturdy to loosen up, allowing my pelvis to move more than it should, causing lots of pain. Oh, joy.
Of course, my next appointment isn't for 2 more weeks, plus Peggy's currently on vacation, so I can't find out for sure, but I'm really quite sure that's what's going on, since here it is 1 week later and I'm still hurting just as much. So, it won't kill me, I just have to adjust the way I move (in/out of the car; sit to change pants; small steps/no waddling), hopefully chiropractic will help (but I won't do that until I see Peggy), I need to be careful during labor, probably no epidural, and such.
However, I can't help but think this might contribute to me ending up on bedrest. Because as the baby gets bigger & heavier & rests more on my pelvis (as all my babies sit so very low), wouldn't that be something to avoid if my pelvis is no longer completely stable and spreading? So that's my big worry right now. I'm already taking my meds for the contractions (which are awesome - I love being jittery and hyper and exhausted at the same time!), so I'm hoping that I can come to some sort of compromise with Peggy regarding my activity that doesn't put me on complete bedrest??? I could just take the boys to school and back, be up for like 15 minutes every couple of hours, then spend the rest on the couch? That should be OK, right?
So woo-hoo. Another week, another problem. And it only hurts when I move, so that's no big deal, right?
Measurements:
Waist: 34"
Belly Button: 39"
3" Down: 39"
Hips: 41.50"
Anyway, I should have a separate listing for the Malady of the Week! Seems like I just can't catch a break. The newest complication? Well, after spending roughly 6-8 hours in the dining room chair over 2 days sewing Monster's Halloween costume, I discovered I was in a great deal of pain in my groin area. By Friday night, it felt like I'd been kicked repeatedly down there. I figured I was just sore from the unusual position. By Saturday night, I was still sore, plus my inner thighs felt like I'd pulled the muscles, and when I tried to roll over on the couch while watching TV, almost couldn't. Then when trying to walk up the stairs, almost couldn't because of the pain. Plus, the front of my groin was sore to the touch. Again, I chalked it up to the hours of sewing.
By Tuesday, when I went to work, the pain really hadn't lessened much, so I googled "groin pain in pregnancy" and what did I find? Overwhelmingly, SPD or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (or Pelvic Girdle Pain) - see articles here: http://www.birthsource.com/scripts/article.asp?articleid=189 and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphysis_pubis_dysfunction. And wouldn't you know, all my symptoms are right there. Essentially, too much relaxin (hormone) in my body has caused the knot of cartilage holding my pelvis sturdy to loosen up, allowing my pelvis to move more than it should, causing lots of pain. Oh, joy.
Of course, my next appointment isn't for 2 more weeks, plus Peggy's currently on vacation, so I can't find out for sure, but I'm really quite sure that's what's going on, since here it is 1 week later and I'm still hurting just as much. So, it won't kill me, I just have to adjust the way I move (in/out of the car; sit to change pants; small steps/no waddling), hopefully chiropractic will help (but I won't do that until I see Peggy), I need to be careful during labor, probably no epidural, and such.
However, I can't help but think this might contribute to me ending up on bedrest. Because as the baby gets bigger & heavier & rests more on my pelvis (as all my babies sit so very low), wouldn't that be something to avoid if my pelvis is no longer completely stable and spreading? So that's my big worry right now. I'm already taking my meds for the contractions (which are awesome - I love being jittery and hyper and exhausted at the same time!), so I'm hoping that I can come to some sort of compromise with Peggy regarding my activity that doesn't put me on complete bedrest??? I could just take the boys to school and back, be up for like 15 minutes every couple of hours, then spend the rest on the couch? That should be OK, right?
So woo-hoo. Another week, another problem. And it only hurts when I move, so that's no big deal, right?
Measurements:
Waist: 34"
Belly Button: 39"
3" Down: 39"
Hips: 41.50"
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