So this is what I have learned so far....
-It takes FOREVER to shower and make yourself look presentable when you can only do it in 15 minute increments every hour!!
-My butt is sore from sitting :( and it's only been 2 days....
-When I start reading a good book I find it nearly impossible to put it down (I knew this pre-bed rest) but I learned that while on bed rest I'm going to have to limit how often I pick up a new book if I intend to do anything productive - perfect example, yesterday I literally did nothing but sit on my tush and read ALL DAY LONG until I finished the silly book :)
-only being able to go up and down the stairs once a day STINKS!! So far I'm having trouble determining when the best time to come downstairs is, cause once I'm down....I'm stuck - unless I want to be totally anti-social for the rest of the evening!!
-Though I cannot explain it, bed rest is exhausting!! I'm amazed at how exhausted I am by evening time after doing NOTHING all day!! Pretty crazy to think that one week ago I was working full time, keeping up with 2 toddlers, cooking dinner, keeping house, doing laundry etc!! (I have been told this is totally normal and will likely get worse - so it's not all in my head!!)
Mom is still here (until Sunday) which has been great! The kids have really enjoyed having her undivided attention and she is naturally in hog heaven as well!! They played outside all day yesterday and today went to the mall and got to ride the train and ride the escalator which was like the best day ever in their little worlds!! I have a feeling poor Emilee (our babysitter) is in for a tough week next week!!
Stephen also seems to be feeling better - so thank you for the prayers! He is still fighting a cough but says he feels 100% and the cough only seems to bother him in the evenings.
I overall am feeling great! I've been able to gradually decrease the pain meds I'm taking - only taking 1 every 24 hours or so now just to take the edge off and doing really well. Sleeping is no fun in general - I am sure that is partially because of the surgery and partially just because I'm pregnant - it sort of comes with the territory!! The heart burn has also kicked it up a major notch since the surgery - don't think the two are related just think that that lovely pregnancy symptom has arrived (I had it really bad with the twins too!!) Other than the regular woes of pregnancy, my incision is healing nicely and I'm feeling back to my normal self - which means yes, at times it has been a little difficult to make myself sit down and do the whole bed rest thing. I have been a pretty good patient though. Actually have found myself setting the timer on my phone to track my allotted 15 minutes up each hour - I have no concept of time so it helps to have something keeping track of it.
I have my first doctors appointment which will include an ultrasound to check little guys fluid levels and ventricle size scheduled for Monday morning. So far both of my OB doctors down in Jacksonville have been wonderful!! They were very helpful in getting my prescriptions from Nashville transferred back down to Florida and have been able to rearrange appointments for me so that they are easy for me to get to! It's going to be a really long 4 months visiting the doctor EVERY WEEK!! Feel like I am going to owe everyone in these offices some yummy baked goods by the end of this :)
Stephen and I continue to be so humbled by all of the support that has surrounded us! I've already had several friends come over to spend lunch time with me, which is a wonderful distraction! We continue to get countless cards and messages sending encouragement and prayers and even several unexpected offers for financial assistance which is such a blessing at such a scary time - with me not working :(
God is so good and continues to walk before us each and every step of this journey. Now, I feel like we are in a holding pattern. We have done what we can and now there isn't much we can do but continue to lift our little guy and his future up, knowing that God has big plans for him....then sit back and wait to see what He has in store. It's kind of a funny place to be for someone like me who is such a do-er!! I find myself wanting to know now what his future is going to look like, what our families future is going to look like...it's going to be a long 4 months :)!!
For those of you keeping track, I am 24 weeks now - which means we have a viable little guy (that means that if I went into labor right now, doctors would do whatever they could to keep him alive) - but obviously having a son born at 24 weeks is not what we want, just a big hurdle to jump over. From here on things just get better as far as prematurity is concerned! The goal is 37 weeks - when they will schedule my c-section. They do not want me to go into spontaneous labor because I'm at pretty big risk of uterine rupture so they will watch me close for signs that that is the direction I'm headed and do a c-section sooner if needed (lets hope not!!) My 37th week starts May 1st so our little guy's birthday should be sometime that week!!
Thank you for the continued prayers! You can pray that my butt doesn't totally flatten out by the end of this!! :)
Love and Hugs!!