Thoughts on Bed Rest

I did have to go on strict bed rest almost two weeks ago. I had another (third) pre-term labor scare. This one landed me in the hospital for two nights and three days. I had to take a LOT of meds to stop contractions and get steroid injections in case the babes did come early. This way their lungs, heart and brain would be protected. While in the hospital, I got an ultrasound from the perinatologist (the preemie doctor basically). There was a certain level of concern because the smaller baby boy didn't have as much fluid around him as the bigger guy. Because of all these things adding up, I was put on strict bed rest. Staying in bed or my recliner most of the day, getting up to go to the bathroom, shower and walk around to make sure my circulation stays flowing.

We did get a follow-up this week and the fluid looked better, so the bed rest is working. But that doesn't mean I get to go off of it anytime soon. I get checked every week from here on out.

But... There are definite plusses and minuses to bed rest. Here they are:

1. It isn't as fun as it sounds. Everyone says "oh you get to watch tv all day and stay in bed!". It's good for about two days and then you have to practically beg your husband to drive you somewhere so you can get a view of the outside world that isn't from your bedroom window. Also, there are many hours during the day that there is nothing on tv. I have to rely on DVR during those times. I am starting to run low.

2. You are alone a lot. Rian goes to work, Cameron goes to my Mom and Dad's and to preschool (just started this week at our church). He wasn't going to start until fall, but they found out our situation and bumped him in! I do have a permanent little heating pad with my dog Nelly, she WILL NOT leave my side.

3. You gain weight faster. I have been very good about my weight gain, but the past two weeks I have gained a lot more. No where to go to burn it off I guess!

4. If you push it too hard one day, you are out of commission for almost two days after that. By pushing it too hard I mean, going to the doctor and dropping Cameron off at school. Tonight I am out of commission. I do not even have enough energy to go downstairs and get Cameron a glass of water.

5. You realize how valuable your husband and mom are. They have done everything for me. Everything. If I asked them to wipe me, they would. Of course they would tease me about it, but they would.

6. Cameron gives me a lot more kisses and hugs. I love it.

7. Rian got me a new iPhone. I play "Words with Friends" all day with about 10 different friends, family members and old students. That helps keep my brain going!

8. Texting is different than calling (ie. Communicating). Now most of you know I love a good text conversation. But...when you are scared and emotional and worried almost every time you stand up that your water might break, an actual phone call once in a while means a lot more than a text. Also, you can text me a thousand times that "I can call for anything." But the ones that mean the most are the "down to business texts and calls." For example, my mom called and said, "I am coming over to clean the bathrooms today, unlock your door.". Or Whitney called and said, "I am going to bring you Noodles for lunch. What do you want?". That means more because I don't have to think about it and it takes the pressure off.

9. Bed rest is a more serious situation than many people think. Read up on it before you say to me some asinine comments about it being fun and that myself and the babies are so big that if they did come now, they would be fine. Yeah, fine. After weeks in the NICU because even though they are big, they aren't fully developed. I do not want babies in a NICU if I can avoid it. You shouldn't either, because you won't get to see them for a long time.

Can you tell I had a bad day?

There is an end in sight. The babies will be here April 27th as long as the amniocentesis on the 26th shows that their lungs are mature. This means they will be delivered at 36 weeks and 2 days which makes me nervous, but I trust my doctor and the perinatologist whole heartedly.

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26 Weeks

Today I turned 26 weeks pregnant. I am giant. Very giant. Giant enough to illicit unwanted comments, stares, and very large measurements at my doctor's office. Here is the picture so you can see what all the hullabaloo is about.

Boy oh Boy oh Boy oh Boy

I just realized I haven't done a post on the sex of these two little kicking babes in my tummy.

TWO BOYS!

So, I will be the one girl in the family with 3 little boys and a husband!

Girl time will be a must.

One of my Mom's good friends, who has three older boys herself, told me that I am lucky because they will love me so much and spoil the heck out of me. Here's hoping!

Just in case you want to see the proof:

20 Weeks Pregnant

Here are some of the comments I have heard since returning from Christmas Break:

"OMG Mrs. Kearney! That looks like it hurts!"

"You really got big over break."

"You might want to ask your doctor to check you for twins!" Ummm...read your Memo lady.

The best thing for me about this 20 week photo is that my boobs look kind of small.

Belly Update: Week 17

Going to the doctor today to make sure everything is growing okay! I think it is (obviously).

Can you believe I have only gained 7 pounds? Eating is just not my favorite thing this pregnancy. Actually, strike that. Eating ice cream and cookies is just not my favorite thing this pregnancy. Compared to Cameron, I had gained about 15 by this point. Weird.

Something I am Still a Little Sad About

Must get this off my chest.

I obviously had some pretty bad fertility problems. Not the worst of the worst, but enough for me to possibly need some therapy in the future. Anyways...

Rian and I found out we were pregnant on Day 9 after I had my "get pregnant" procedure. I just had a feeling and took a test. It was WAY early for us to find out, but we did, I went to the doctor and received some very high numbers (they are called Betas, which should double every 48 hours-ish in the first couple months). My betas were SO HIGH the first few times, we kind of had a feeling there was more than one. Possible more than two. My numbers were matching the numbers of triplets and quadruplets.

Then I felt some major cramping. My doc said just to come in and do a quick ultrasound even though I was less than a week away from my official 6 week ultrasound.

The cramping was from the stretching my uterus was already doing because I DEFINITELY had more than one baby in there. At 5weeks and 5 days pregnant, I had 3 babies in there. We couldn't see babies at that time, all you could see were gestational sacs, but there were three. They bumped back my ultrasound to 7 weeks since I had just seen them. Rian and I spent that week and a half in SHOCK. Three babies? OMG. We need a minivan. We need a nanny. I am going to have to go on bed rest at the hospital. What is Cameron's life going to be like? OMG.

At 7 weeks and 1 day pregnant, I went back. There were only two babies. One didn't make it. My doctor tried to make me feel better by saying that it very well could have been a shadow my uterus was making with their ultra-sensitive ultrasound machine, but I just KNOW it was a baby.

While I am ecstatic that I am having twins, and a little relieved that I won't have to be put on mandatory hospital bed rest (like they do with triplets), I am still sad that the third little babe didn't make it.

And...I keep seeing all those damn triplet commercials for the Nissan cars and the Chase Credit card. And the ones with the three cute little girls who all have their own personality but are triplets (I don't remember what company that is for).

Everyday I think about that little babe. But then I try to remember that it is not alone up there, it is up there with the other 2 little babes I lost. I have 3 in heaven now, and soon to be, three on earth. That helps to bring me some comfort every day.

Twin Picture #2

Man. I look large today. But, in defense of myself, I am arching my back pretty bad in this picture.

Cameron's California Adventure

Rian and I wanted to take Cameron on a last hurrah before his brothers or sisters come and also while I was still comfortable traveling. We were supposed to go a few weeks ago, but had to reschedule because of some work related stuff. So we went this past weekend.

WE HAD A BLAST!

I found myself teary eyed a few times because of the fact that Cameron was so excited and smiling and glad to see everything.

So, without further ado, our trip to California...in pictures.

Cameron got his very own seat on the airplane. He was so excited to see the trucks and other planes.

So excited in fact, that he fell asleep 10 minutes after the plane took off and didn't wake up until about 10 minutes before we landed.

We are finally at Disneyland! We are taking the shuttle to Downtown Disney to get some dinner and explore. Cameron loved riding the buses almost more than he enjoyed the rides at Disneyland.

Waiting in line for dinner. Just chillin' with his hands in his pockets.

We ate dinner at a Mexican Restaurant located in Downtown Disney. They had a balloon artist and Cameron requested a shark. Funny story: On the way out of the restaurant, there was a group of 20-something year old girls. Cameron is carrying his shark, he walks by them, sees a girl and pretends the shark is biting her. He shoves the shark into her boobs and growls at her. Hilarious. The girls at the table all got a good laugh and of course told us how cute Cameron is. Mission accomplished.

Do you think we wore our little guy out? Airplane, bus, Downtown Disney, hitting on chicks, dinner = tired babe.

Most of the rides wouldn't allow photography during the ride. So a lot of our pictures are from waiting in line. This was our very first ride, "Pirates of the Carribean." Cameron was a tiny bit scared going down the little hills on the boat, but all of the characters and other stuff, he was just fine. If you were on our boat, you would of heard things like, "Oooohhh, look at that cute puppy." "Wow! Treasure!" "I don't want to get wet Mommy."

Being the boy he is, Cameron was more interested in the flying spaceships instead of the flying Dumbo ride. Daddy took him on this one while I put my feet up and rested a while.

Mommy and Cameron on one of Cameron's potential "favorites" for the day. He LOVED the carousel and cried when we had to get off. The other big favorite: The Jungle Cruise. The only ride that we actually rode twice that day.

Mommy and Cameron after "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!"


Did I mention that the day we were there was the first day of Disney Christmas? It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The entire park was decorated in Christmas decorations. It was the first day of the Christmas parade. There was a giant Christmas tree. Above is Sleeping Beauty's castle. Do you see the snow on it? That was the first day! At 5:30 when it got dark, they did a lighting of the castle and made it snow in Disneyland! THEY MADE IT SNOW! The castle was lit up with millions of icicle lights.

One of the trees that I got a picture of in the park.

Disneyland all day. Drive to Oceanside right afterwards (about an hour and a half). What a trooper. He fell asleep in this position and didn't wake up when we changed his diaper, shirt or pants. He slept like a little rock. So did Rian and I.

Day 2. Sea World. We also ate lunch at In N' Out Burger before heading there...delicious as usual. We hit up Sea World and it was far from crowded. We felt like no one was there compared to Disneyland the day before. Here is Daddy and Cameron touching starfish!

Cameron waiting to see the Shamu show. We got there a bit early and were watching them play. There were 2 babies and 3 larger ones. You should have seen the babies playing. Jumping all over the place and entertaining us! Isn't Cameron's new Lighting McQueen hat from Disneyland cute? He has barely taken it off even to sleep the past four days.

Daddy and Cameron watching the Shamu show. They both thought it was hysterical when Shamu splashed everyone in the first few rows.

Shamu.

Daddy and Cameron after the show checking out Shamu up close.

Cameron loves sharks. He was very interested in this one.

The brand new dolphin show at Sea World. Pretty awesome. A bunch of dolphins, divers and crazy tricks!

When we were leaving Sea World, we saw these two people taking pictures of each other by their cars. We thought it was kind of funny, so we did the same. It was a beautiful view and sunset in the background, but there were a lot of cars too. Rian is obviously trying to be a serious model in this picture.

And last but not least...the view from our hotel in Oceanside. This was right across the street from us.

We had a glorious time in California. Now it is time for us to focus on getting ready for these twins.

1st Picture of Twins (in my belly)

It has been a rough week for me! Last Saturday, Rian and I went to a Halloween party and had a blast for it not necessarily being our favorite holiday to celebrate. We danced, danced, danced. And I paid for it. At about midnight, I hit a wall, or, the wall hit me square in the face. We went home immediately and I went straight to bed.

I didn't get out of bed ALL DAY Sunday. I felt like crap. Exhausted, my back was hurting, I was cramping, I had a headache. Basically, I felt like I had a horrible hangover with cramps on top of it.

I have a pretty good schedule at work and the next morning, I only had to teach during first period. I came home immediately after that and went back to bed. I decided in the wee hours of Tuesday to call in sick. That day I went and saw my doctor.

Everything is great with the babes and my body is really just feeling the effects of ligament and uterus stretching. It hurts. Today is the first day that I am not feeling any cramping (yet).

I need to stay positive and just realize that realistically, this will probably be the last time that I am pregnant. I need to enjoy the ride. This week was tough and I am sure there will be more tough weeks, but, I am getting to little babies for it in the end. Worth it? TOTALLY.