New Member Alert

Here at the Bed Rest Book Club, we welcome new members with mixed feelings. (we meaning myself and Emma. Two members strong). Obviously, we hate to see other pregnant women placed on bed rest but when it's medically necessary, well, you don't have much of a choice. There are some obvious perks to bed rest (sleeping in, afternoon naps, plenty of time to bond with your pets), but the drawbacks can make one start to feel a little crazy in head (the sheer inability to do anything on your own, go anywhere on your own, or retain any level of independence). As I tell most people who ask how things are going, "I have my good days, and then I have my bad days." You never really know how the day will play out.

And so, it is with a heavy heart but open arms I welcome the third official member to the club...my sister Kelly. As previously mentioned, we are both pregnant and due on the same day, September 5th. Also, as previously stated, no, we did not do this on purpose or plan to be pregnant at the same time. I don't think that's possible, to be quite honest. But it is convenient to be exactly the same gestational age, because if I ever forget how pregnant she is, I just have to look at my own calendar. We've even had many of our doctor's appointments on the same day (much to my mother's never-ending anxiety).  As of today, we are officially 33 weeks pregnant. We've both made it through the majority of the 'scary' weeks and are just plugging away to the finish line.

Kelly's most recent doctor's appointment was this past Thursday. She has had some previous medical complications and was high risk from day 1.  Originally, when she first found out she was pregnant, there was serious talk of her going on light duty at her job (she's a nurse) around 18 weeks, bed rest around 24 weeks, and then taking the baby at 34 weeks.  Much to everyone's surprise (and delight), Kelly has been a rock star of pregnancies. She was able to switch her on-her-feet ICU position to a desk job early in her pregnancy, and has been very conciensious of her activity level. Both decisions clearly worked out, and until week 32 (and 5 days), she had been leading a fairly normal life.

Doctors continued to push back her due date to take the baby (from week 34 to week 36 and now, they want her to go to 38 weeks, if possible) mainly because she has done such a great job. And as we all know, everyday the baby stays inside the womb is one to two less days he spends in the NICU. Kelly was buying her baby some serious time.

She got the edict on Thursday, however. Due to some consistent, strong contractions that had been bothering her for weeks, the doctor said she'd be better off with some serious couch time in her future. She had a scare two weeks ago that involved contractions about two minutes apart, and was ultimately treated with a dose of terbutaline.  While the contractions are concerning, the good news is there has been no cervical changes AND the baby looks great. Little Baby Ben, weighing in at four pounds, ten ounces, rocked the ultrasound and the non-stress test. You go, Ben.

I asked Kelly if she wanted to write some reviews for the blog, but I think she's more of the needle-work type. She said she had been saving some projects for this specific situation, and had plenty to keep her busy over the next few weeks. And that made me realize; we are both only about 30 days out from being considered full-term. August 15th is definitely a big day for both of us!

So, welcome Kelly! Enjoy laying on your left side for the next four weeks. Drink lots of wather.  I'm glad Baby B's cousin is in good shape, and I can't help but feel that we are going to go into labor within hours of each other. It's just been one of those weird, psychic connections that defy logic. I think our uteruses (uteri?) may be intrinsically linked or something.

While I (knock on wood) have a good feeling that both of our pregnancies will end in happy, and healthy ways, I think the person we all need to be thinking about is my mom. I can just imagine her sitting at our kitchen table in Indiana, twisting her hands feverishly. While this has been hard on Kelly and I, it's always 100x worse for the person who has to WAIT for the information. So, if you are the praying kind, please kindly redirect them to Indiana.