Today’s Appointment

Ok, so my appointment was…eye opening.

My blood pressure was 110/70 (high bp is 140/90) so that was GREAT. I’m still not swollen at all…wearing all my rings and shoes like normal.

The midwife asked me how I was feeling and I told her the truth: Really tired, wiped out, no energy, back hurts, hard to get comfortable….”I feel like I’ve been doing yard work all day long and then cleaned my house and it’s now 9:00 at night and this is the first time I’ve sat down…except that all I’ve done is taken a shower and blow dried my hair and it’s only 7:30 a.m.”

My uterus measures 37 weeks…and I’m 26 weeks. That’s a 10 centimeter growth in just four weeks!!!

“Well no wonder you are so tired and uncomfortable! You are measuring full term! Most women who measure 37 weeks are pretty miserable!”

Right. That would explain why when people tell me I don’t look like I’m carrying twins (that’s because I just look full term with ONE)…and I tell them, “well, I feel HUGE”…yeah, that’s because I never GOT this far with Henry!!!

So then I mentioned Henry’s surgery. I didn’t mean much by it, more of an FYI than anything else….I just kinda said something about it in passing, not thinking anything of it…

That’s when her eyes got wide as saucers. She wanted to write me out of work right then. When I started crying and told her it just seemed too soon/early, she said that she wanted me to cut back to part time AT LEAST. Basically, this is what she said:

“I can’t tell you to not be there for your son. But I want you to know that at 32 weeks pregnant with twins, you are at a very real possibility of going into pre-term labor because of the stress from that situation. Between the travel and the pre-op stuff and being in a children’s hospital where you will see all kinds of sick kids, and your small son in surgery…that’s a pretty bad combination. I’m not saying it WILL happen, but you need to wrap your head around the fact that you may very well be having your babies down in L.A. and quite early…we obviously don’t want that to happen, and I’m not saying it WILL, but you might find yourself in Labor and Delivery. So, you should find out where the nearest L&D; is to where your son is, just in case. In the meantime, everything is PICTURE PERFECT with your pregnancy so far…so we need to do everything we can to keep it that way between now and your son’s surgery. So that means lots of rest, lots of water, as little stress as possible. I’d prefer you stop working now, but I can’t make you do anything and you obviously aren’t very happy about that. But know that while it is early, you are measuring full term, and most women measuring 37 weeks aren’t working anymore…”

I was really shocked.

I mean, I knew that stress COULD cause pre-term labor, but the way she explained it, made it sound like it was more than a possibility…

I called Brenda for a second opinion and to get a feel for how serious all of this was…or if it was an over-reaction. I wasn’t surprised when Brenda said that she would be recommending the same thing…that I only have one chance to cook these babies, so I need to focus on that.

As much as I’m hating working right now with as uncomfortable and exhausted as I am, I’m really upset. It’s not because I WANT to work, or because I love it so much that I want to stick it out…it’s just that it’s hard to feel out of control and feel like I’m “sick” or something. Although I guess the whole point is that I’m NOT sick, so we need to KEEP it that way. I feel like my life is so crazy right now and I have no control over any of these situations. And I feel like a wuss or something. I’m not surprised, but I guess I thought I could be Superwoman for a little longer…

I’m not being told to be on bedrest (thankfully!)…just to take it really easy…still take Henry to daycare three days a week even though I’m home. I can run errands and make dinner and whatnot, but I need to sit with my feet up and just plain avoid stress in general.

So, I’ll finish out this week and next week at work so that I can tie up loose ends and get things situated for being gone for a while. Then, it looks like I’m on maternity leave for a while! Which sounds fabulous, but it’s hard for me to be “forced” into something rather than it being MY decision, you know?

I’ll add a belly pic to this post later tonight when Andy gets home…

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jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

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