After the shock of finding out that I had to be in the hospital for a long long did I say long time. I decided to try to find the bright side. No dishes to clean. No house to clean. No clothes to wash. No toys to pick up. No chasing after the little one after a long day at work (actually I miss that part of my day.)
But the most important one . . . . wait for it. . . wait for it. . . . 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ahhhhhh can you hear the heavenly music playing. Well scratch that record (for my younger readers - records is how we listened to music before MP3 and CD's). I still have my Prince 1999 album.
The first thing I learned is that bed rest (and this is not an educated answer it is only my opinion) means I am physically confined to the bed preferably in a lying down position. The goal is to prevent me from putting pressure on my cervix which is already more than 50% shorter than it should be at this time. According to the doctors my cervix should be between 2.5 and 3 centimeters but is 1.43 centimeters. Fascinating huh?
Anywho. . .Bed rest does not = sleep. Let me explain by describing my first few days in the hospital.
The baby has to be monitored as well as my contractions. This required that I have two circular monitors the size of a big cookie and about 1/4 inch thick strapped to my belly. Now one would think in an age of wireless computers that the monitors are wireless but nooooooooo. I was tethered to a computer by two wires.
Then there is the medication (Nifedipine - helps prevent contractions) which I have to take every 6 hours and also Prometrium (helps prevent prelabor) which is given once a day. The nurses had to take my vitals (blood pressure, oxygen level, temp) before giving me the Nifedipine because it reduces blood pressure. Vitals along with routine questions were also taken at each of the shift changes. Don't forget to include breakfast, lunch and dinner. So my typical day went like this:
2 a.m. - awaken to take Nifedipine
6 or 6:30 a.m. - awaken to monitor the baby, take vitals, answer questions
8 a.m. - breakfast, vitals, Nifedipine, Colace, Vitamins
9 a.m. - 12 p.m. - shower, Dr visits, room cleaned, nutritionist takes menu for next day, physical therapist visit
12 p.m. - lunch (yeah hubby visits)
2 p.m. - Nifedipine, vitals, monitor baby
3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. -Snack and dare I take a nap
5:30 - 6 p.m. - Dinner (sometimes visit from hubby and my little one)
7:00 p.m. - Shift change vitals and questions
8 p.m. - Nifedipine, Colace, vitals
10 p.m. - Prometrium and baby monitored
11 p.m. - Sleep until 2 a.m. when it starts all over again.
Hmmm - not quite the 8 hours of continuous sleep I was expecting.
But God smiled on me and yesterday the Dr. agreed to have my 2 a.m. Nifedipine given to me at 12 a.m. and to allow me to rest uninterrupted from 12 a.m. - 8 a.m. Also, because the baby appears to be healthy in my belly she is only monitored once a day for 30 minutes. So now I only have one monitor on all day and so far so good my contractions have been few.
So call bed rest what you may but make no mistake about it. Bed rest for my unborn baby should really be called Life Saving Life Changing Rest.
Glory to God because today we have made it to week 27 of my pregnancy. Praise God for the little victories.
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