Jelly legs...funny bedrest story

So a couple of weeks ago I was getting ready to go in for a doctor's appointment (I have an appt every week), and I decided that I desperately needed to shave my legs. I can't usually shave my legs because it's way too much work, and I couldn't get Chris to shave my legs for me at the time (ha ha). Besides, even showering is a lot of work and I only get to shower every 2-3 days - 5 min showers. Anyway, I decided to shave and I spent like 20 mins in the shower (it sure is hard when your belly is so big!). After all of that effort and then getting dressed and my hair pulled back and my face washed I had been on my feet for probably 45 mins or so. I tried to make it out to the couch to plant myself there for the next few hours and I barely made it to the couch! My legs almost gave out on me. I collapsed on the couch (gently) and my legs were so exhausted feeling that I watched them and they literally shook for the next 45 minutes! I decided to try them out to get something off of the counter and when I stood on them I almost collapsed to the floor! I sat back down and for the next 2-3 hours my legs felt very weak and wobbly. It felt kind of like restless leg syndrome. I made it down our stairs to go to my doctor appointment and thankfully got to sit in a wheelchair most of the time at the hospital (I always use a wheelchair since being on bedrest - besides it's uncomfortable and exhausting to be on my feet!). I get a lot of great looks of pity and comments from people when I'm pushed all over in wheelchairs. One time a girl was walking with her mom and I heard her say "Mommy, what's wrong with that lady?" It was pretty cute. That reminds me, did I ever tell about the time Chris had to take me shopping at Kohl's and he was pushing me around in a wheelchair and he kept doing wheelies with my wheelchair! It was pretty funny but embarrassing because I couldn't get him to stop and I had no control over it! Oh, Chris, what a hoot. ANYWAY...for the rest of that day my legs felt weak and it took some very cautious steps to get around. It was quite an eye opener to me at how weak I have already become! Talk about muscle atrophy. I'm nervous as to how weak I'm going to be by the end of my bedrest confinement. I'm eager to get up at 36 or 37 weeks and to try and rebuild some strength before I have to face labor and household duties again. How long will it take to recover? It will be interesting.....

32 Weeks!!!

I'M STILL PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

29 Weeks & Adorable Maggie Pics

Here I am at 29 weeks! Yahoo! I have once again switched doctors (though in the same clinic) because I didn't feel like I was getting very good advice or consideration from my doctor. My new doctor is wonderful and I now have dr. appointments every single week, exams to monitor any physical changes, and I finally made it far enough to get a Rhogam shot and to do the Group B Step Test and the Glucose-Diabetes test thing. How exciting! I also have my belly measured every appointment now, which is fun. Before this pregnancy I had only had that done once to me! It's fun to be experiencing the third trimester. I'm also going to get Steroid shots next week to strengthen the baby should she be born too early. In the midst of all of this I have seen a light at the end of the tunnel! I got my last prescription of progesterone filled and my last shot is just 6 weeks away! At the same time my shots end I will be ending my bedrest (37 weeks) and trying to build up some muscle strength again while allowing my body to go into labor whenever it's ready. I will be 30 weeks tomorrow and I can't believe I only have 7 more weeks to go! It's incredible!

Below are some adorable pictures of Maggie - she has a lot of fun playing with her cousins and going to parks all the time! I only wish I could be there to watch her. Enjoy :)

QUESTION

Has anyone ever had a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)? I've been really wanting to try it but I just did some research on VBACs and the risks involved and it made me really nervous and I'm actually terrified of having a ruptured uterus from my scar. I'm pretty sure I have a low-transverse scar, which is supposedly the safest incision to try a VBAC with. Does anyone have any advice for me?

A Day in the Life of Bedrest

Wake up late, wash my face, and walk to my "station" in the living room: either the couch or the portable reclining Lafuma borrowed from my in-laws, complete with movable and tiltable tray table. Here I have a small box with a notebook (for writing letters or making lists or charts), my journal (for documenting nearly everything I feel during the pregnancy - esp as a reference for my doctor visits), my scriptures, the book I'm currently reading, and my Personal Progress book (I'm working on some goals in Personal Progress because I'm still in the Young Women's presidency in my ward and they encourage us to work on earning our medallion along with the girls - it's kind of nice to do it again, really). I also keep my "Tray Table List" so that when I'm being left for a few hours I can run down the list and make sure I have everything before my guardian leaves, my "Bedrest Goals" list which is full of all the things I would like to accomplish while I'm on bedrest, and my "Things to do" list, which reminds me of immediate steps I need to take to accomplish my longer bedrest goals.

Depending on my attention span or my mood I will simply work on these little projects throughout the day, or watch TV. Sometimes I can spend hours writing in my journal, sometimes I'll spend hours making up new lists to organize whatever I can think of to organize and make me feel productive. If I happen to have a good book I can read almost the whole day, and if I have company over or a good movie or TV show to watch sometimes I can spend hours crocheting in one day. Most often, however, I spend a little bit of time doing each activity, moving on as soon as I get bored.

My mother gets Maggie up and going in the mornings and takes her on walks, feeds her, takes her over to play with her cousins or to go shopping, or plays with her at home. Mom fixes my breakfast and lunch as well, and makes dinner for all of us each night. It's so wonderful to have Maggie home where I can watch her play and interact with her a little bit that I never get on the computer while she's home (our computer is temporarily in my bedroom while my mom's room has taken over what used to be our office). And when Chris gets home in the evenings I don't use the computer either because he usually does work for his own business in the evenings. So, on occasions when I am home alone I'll sometimes move to the bedroom and recline in our office chair as best I can while I do some typing, research on high-risk pregnancies, online shopping, email and blogging. It's not the most comfortable thing to be doing so I usually limit my computer time.

In the evenings I make sure I'm stationed on the Lafuma because then the couch is available for my mom, Chris, or any visitors we might have. We don't have any other furniture in our living room besides the couch. The evenings are nicer because there is more activity going on around the house - mom making dinner, Chris getting home, Maggie being put to bed - and I can watch and be distracted for awhile. Otherwise my little activities like writing, reading, and crocheting just continue as long as I can stand it. When I'm tired of those projects the TV sometimes can keep me entertained, or else I'll try to take a nap once in awhile. Naps aren't that great though because then I have a harder time sleeping at night. I'm so inactive that I don't sleep nearly as well as I used to.

I've read in a couple of places that a side-effect of bedrest is difficulty concentrating. I've noticed that I often get bored very quickly if something is not entertaining enough. I have started many books and movies and stopped a short way into them because I was so bored. I don't really like talking on the phone most of the time either. I do really enjoy visitors because it is visually and audibly entertaining and I can put away my little projects for awhile.

I only get on my feet to go to the bathroom and I often take that opportunity to also station myself somewhere else for the next couple of hours or so, which is nice to have a variety in my surroundings when I can get it.

There you have it, a day in the life of bedrest. :)