Bed rest

Is anyone still reading this? Judging by the spacing of my post I'm betting that not many are. Well good news, my post are about to become more frequent! At least for the next three weeks.

Last week was eventful, not just for me but for the country as well. Will was out of town for the first part of the week and I had the joy of single parenting for a few days. After three days of running errands, two photo shoots and trying to catch up on Christmas preparations, I found myself feeling a little...exhausted. I started cramping on Wednesday but decided to push through and finish doing what needed to get done. Okay I'll admit, going to DI to look for ugly Chirstmas sweaters was not a necessity. 

Will got home and Thursday was pretty low key. My girl friends and I had a play date planned for Friday morning. I had some light cramping in the morning but Lincoln was really excited and I figured it would go away. I headed out the door around nine to run a few errands first. After five minutes in the dollar store, it was very apparent that I would not be running any other errands. I sat in the car for a minute and tried to figure out what to do. The cramping lightened up and I headed to my friends house. We were about five minutes away when the cramping got worse and was accompanied by dizziness and nausea. I pulled over, and started balling. I was sure I wouldn't be able to move ever again. I said a quick prayer and regained enough strength to drive the rest of the way. Cramping started again and I felt like I needed a gurney to get me in the house. I called Will and asked him to call my midwife and ask her what I should do. I got the boys out of the car, got in the door and collapsed on the couch. My midwife called me a minute later and asked me what was going on. I told her I was dying and I didn't know what to do. Luckily she knows me well enough to know that I was only slightly exaggerating and told me to take a bath and she would be come over shortly to check the baby and make sure I wasn't dilating any.

I took a bath and the cramps stopped. Then as soon as I got out, they started again. My wonderful friends took care of my kids while I laid down on the couch. Will showed up and I again started crying. My cramping was very painful and they were starting to come in waves, which scared me. My midwife showed up, gave me some nasty medicine to stop the cramping, a spoon full of magnesium and calcium, and checked the baby. His heart rate was great and he didn't seam to be under any kind of stress. She checked me and said cervix was dropped down and my outer cervix was dilated to a two. She said I would need to stay on bed rest for the weekend and we would go from there. She also told me that I needed to be done nursing Spencer, cold turkey, no more nursing. He was only nursing morning and night, but I was enjoying the time to cuddle up and bond with my little rambunctious toddler. I also found comfort in the fact that he was getting some nutrition on those days he stuck up his nose at everything else we tried to feed him.

So anyway we went home and I rested the rest of the day. But the cramping didn't go away completely. I kept taking the yucky anti cramp around the clock but every time I would get up to use the bathroom, or move it would hurt. The next morning I called my midwife and told her what was going on. She told me to put her on speaker so she could talk to both Will and I. She consulted with an OBGYN and they both agreed that I needed to go on full bed rest until I am 37 weeks. I immediately started balling and handed the phone to Will. "No cooking, No walking, No lifting, No cleaning......" All of my plans for Christmas went down the drain, and I regained enough composure to say I didn't think I could make it that long. Angie said that in three weeks I can try to start doing small things again and see what I can handle. But the last thing I wanted was a micro preemie, so I needed to be careful.

Sigh. And so the last five days I have been sitting on my tush, thinking about all of the things that I need to get done. Mostly Christmas things. Trips to see Santa, trips to see the lights, playing in the snow, making cookies. Oh well, maybe next year. The important thing is, I can still tell Lincoln about the nativity, and teach him the true meaning of Christmas. The important thing is, this baby is fine, I'm fine, and we are both healthy.

Yesterday I went to my Grandmas funeral. The walk from the car to the church made me start cramping so the graveside service was out of the question. But it put a lot of things in perspective and I will write more about the services tomorrow for those that were unable to attend. She passed away Friday, 10 years after my grandpa. She was a wonderful woman and embodied love. I will miss her, but I am glad she is finally reunited with the love of her life.