Modified Bed Rest

On Tuesday I had my 34 week appointment and follow-up from our trip to the hospital.  We waltzed in, me on my wheelchair with Blair and Ava in toe.  The doctor looked at me, stunned, and said, "What are you doing?!  Did something happen since I saw you in the hospital?"  I was already trying to hold back tears and replied, "No, you put me on strict bed rest, remember?"  His response, "Uh, some lines got crossed somewhere, you can walk around!"  I felt like a bit of a doofus and was simultaneously furious after the stressful week we'd had trying to scramble together 24/7 help for me to make this bed rest possible.  I was also struck with half relief and half terror at the thought of being allowed to go back to 'taking it easy', something that without help left me contracting the night away and making trips to the hospital.

When we got into the exam room, the doctor came in and explained that in short, the wrong box had been checked on our outpatient form.  He had meant me to be on Modified Bed Rest and instead I was put on Strict Bed Rest, complete with anxiety and a serious directive from the nurses about the risks involved if I were to deliver before 36 weeks.  An honest mistake but one that cost us a considerable amount of worry and inconvenience.

That said, we are relieved to know the alert level on my uterus has been lowered and there is no serious risk of me delivering dangerously early as long as I take it very easy.  We have still been calling on family and friends to come and help--without it it is nearly impossible to rest when my body tells me to while under the rule of one busy little Ava.  But, it is nice to know I can get up to make myself a snack, get Ava to the potty on time or do even more if we have a gap in our schedule of helpers.  What a relief to know I won't single-handedly usher this baby into the world before he's ready simply by doing a few dishes.

Thank you for all of your prayers and to those who have offered help and meals.  At my appointment I was not showing any internal signs of preterm labor and though I've continued to have cramping and contracting, none have been regular since our trip to the hospital.  Though this is not how we imagined it playing out, those prayers were answered!  I am just 6 days shy of the 36 week mark that we were praying for and it feels wonderful to have it in reach.