The last couple of weeks have been a tad stressful for me. Two weeks ago (at not quite 20 wks) I began experiencing contractions. It had been a very long, physically and mentally hard day, and I was already in bed at the time, so I just stayed there. I read and tried to relax in the hopes that they would just stop--which, after about an hour and a half, they did. Remarkably I was able to get a very good night's sleep afterwards.
For any who are concerned and/or startled that I did not seek medical attention, I will explain--at that point in a pregnancy, there isn't much to be done other than trying to relax. Had the contractions increased in intensity or lasted much longer than they had, I would have called in my midwives and followed their guidance.
As soon as the birth center opened the following morning I did in fact call, and had a very emotional conversation with Valerie who recommended that I stay resting all day, drink lots and lots and lots of water, and take lots of calcium/magnesium (consequently, magnesium is what would have been administered had I gone to the hospital, but probably through an IV. Same results, though). Her mentioning hydration really made me want to smack myself, as I know good and well that dehydration causes contractions, and I knew that day that I was too thirsty, but at the time I was too tired and brain-twisted to get up and get a drink.
The kids were awesome that day--they played nicely, kept each other entertained, and checked on me regularly. Garrett was especially conscientious--at one point when I snunk upstairs to check my email, he busted into the den with, "What are you DOING? You're SUPPOSED to be resting in BED!" When he spoke with Troy later in the day, and Troy asked if I'd been doing what I needed to, he explained, "I just checked her water and she drank everything in the glass and there's only a little bit left in the canteen. She's in her bed, reading." I was well taken care of. And he's five. He even made us all PB&J's for lunch. Morgan was helpful, too, though her help mainly consisted of showing me all the pictures in her princess book. Repeatedly.
So anyway, since then things have been OK (even after attending two births in as many days), but if I am too active by the end of the day I will start getting crampy again. After a midwife appt yesterday the general consensus is that the baby is telling me to slow down and focus on my belly, and that my iron levels are too low. So I'm doing much less and taking LOTS of iron, and we'll know in the next couple of weeks whether we'll need to be more aggressive or not (which would mean medication). I'm leaning towards not. I'm finding a balance in my daily activities, and trying to keep relaxed about my laundry piling up and the house being in a general state of disarray--Troy has some time off coming up and together we can get things organized. What's really driving me crazy about it is that the pelvic joint pain I normally have when pregnant is sooooooo much better this time (I love YOGA!!) that I was looking forward to NOT having to lay low and dump so much on Troy. Oh well, he can take it. He hasn't even started complaining yet.
Aside from that things are really going well--I'm 22 wks along today (I'll post some pics, I have to upload them) and finally feel like I have a real belly. Morgan and Garrett are excited about the baby, but amazingly patient-G still asks if we're going to take the baby out at each midwife appt, but other than that they're completely accepting of the baby being inside me for so long and the changes that has brought to my behavior. Morgan talks to the baby through my belly button and Garrett FINALLY (after many tries) felt the baby move the other night, which he couldn't stop talking about. And today the weather was really nice (considering it was snowing Monday) and they got to play outside for quite awhile, making the whole household happy. Garrett has suddenly developed a deep love of the arts, and there are butcher paper murals taped all over our walls (in every room) full of Batman drawings. The windows are adorned with cut-paper snowflakes. He is amazing good at recreating things he's seen elsewhere, and will sit for hours filling in every space on the paper. Morgan is a lover of art as well, but prefers to apply it to her body--so she is encouraged away from the markers and spends most of her time putting babies to sleep on every flat surface in the house. Seriously, I have to step over them going up the stairs (each step is a bed, you see).
I will end this rather long-winded blog with some helpful advice: when pouring cereal for yourself and your little sister, should you realize there is no gluten-free cereal in the cupboard (and not wanting to repeat the mistake of eating some that isn't), simply substitute chocolate-covered raisins (just make sure you have way more in hiding under your milk than she does).
No comments:
Post a Comment