Pregnant and on bed rest...

32 weeks 5 days
Wednesday 8/5/2009

I had a standard OB appointment to check Baby Rachel. I mentioned to the doctor that I had some blood tinged discharge and she wanted to check me a little closer than they normally do at this point in the pregnancy. Everything seemed to be going well. Her heartbeat was 157 bpm (which is within the normal range) and she was measuring normal in size.

Then the doctor did an exam and told me that I am already 2 cm dilated and had to go on immediate bed rest. This was very shocking news to hear. I was by myself and Paul was in Arizona on business and would not be home until late Thursday night. She told me that I could not get up for more than 30 minutes a day and that I could not be elevated more than 30 degrees. She also told me that she would be putting me on medication to stop my labor. The medication that she put me on is Procardia and needs to be taken every 4 hours even at night. So I have to set an alarm to wake me up at night to take my medication.

She then wanted me to come back on Thursday (the next day) to have an ultrasound done to check the baby and see how she was doing. During this time my mom flew out to be with me and help with Jeremiah. Paul was due to come home but not until late that night. The technician checked my amniotic fluid level (which look normal), the size of the baby (she weighs 4 lbs 15 oz), the lungs, heart (heart beat was 142 bpm still normal), and all the other organs, measured her bones and checked the length of my cervix. My cervix is shortening and is measuring 1.5 cm. A normal cervix length is 4cm.

The technician told me that my doctor would call me later that day to let me know the results of my ultrasound. I have yet to hear from her. They only things I have to gone on is that if things looked really bad she would have called me. I go by the old saying "no news is good news!"

So here I sit or rather lay waiting to hear from my doctor. I do see my doctor this coming Tuesday where she will check to see if I have dilated any further than I already am. If I do start to get worse or if I do not comply with the bed rest then she will have to put me into the hospital.

At this point I am not sure how long my mom will be able to stay. Her boss is out of town of business. He won't be back until Monday. She is going to see if she can work out of our house and help us. Paul is home and has today off. So he is here helping along with my mom.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers during this very difficult time and will keep everyone posted when I receive updates.