#bakingbabies

        Long gone, but soon to return, are those days where I am too busy to think!  Being on bed rest has given my brain time to re-coup and plan for all the things coming up! Not much else to do but think, which also gave me motivation to rest and heal, because too much time to think is never a good thing!  I was scanned by my ob twice this week and she determined that the babies don't appear to be in any trouble, so I will gladly take the physical pain my body must endure to keep growing these babies.
      A little insight in to the pain I'm referring to, while I was at the doctor, laying down flat getting scanned, I started having trouble breathing(not too uncommon, because your vena cava(the vein that returns blood back to the heart from your lower body)  can be "squished" by the baby(s), while in this position.)  When she went to help me sit, she offered me her hand to help pull me back up; however, she offered no resistance (similar feeling to when you shake someone's hand and they let it rest limply in your grasped hand...gives me the heebie jeebies) and when I sat myself up I experienced the most excruciating spasm.  I can closely relate it to a Charlie Horse(a calf cramp) that you experience in the middle of the night, except times that pain by three and imagine it in your uterus!  I was screaming, and crying trying to lift my belly to get some relief.  She was trying to help lift and kept telling me I needed to breath, I was hyperventilating and she was trying to keep me from passing out.  Several minutes later the spasm calmed and I was able to regain my composure.  I looked at her through tear filled eyes and asked "WHAT WAS THAT? I can't do that again!" She said it was most likely caused by me laying flat and her pushing on my uterus(for the ultrasound) for so long.  I asked if it could be related to scar tissue from my previous c-sections or if it was muscles stretching.  She said it could be one or both and I could probably add in some nerve strain as well.  I pray I never have another spasm like that for the remainder of this pregnancy, especially if I am alone or in the car!  She was not concerned with it happening again without it being triggered(by the laying flat and the uterus pushing). She was, however, concerned that the "right upper quadrant" pain I had told her about at the beginning of the appointment could be related to my gallbladder and sent me in for an ultra sound of that organ.  The gallbladder ultra sound was the following day and thankfully no spasm!  I did however struggle to make it to my 10:20am appointment; I was not allowed to eat or drink since midnight the night before(cruel for anyone, torture for a pregnant woman, and just plain wrong for a pregnant woman with multiples.)  I felt like the babies were sucking every bit of moisture from my skin and nourishment from my organs.  I felt like pregnant Bella from the Twilight movie Breaking Dawn Part 1(google it).  I did not, under any means, look like her, but I felt how she looked.   I will get the gallbladder results Monday.
      In the mean time, I have been switched from bed rest to "modified activity."  My goal is to get what I can get done before 12pm and rest the remaining part of the day.  I have placed a stool in our laundry room so I can sit while switching the clothes over, Campbell and Jack have been helping feed the animals and handing me dishes from the bottom rack of the dish washer.  Jack was a trooper the other day helping me to put my socks and shoes on.  I am trying to think of a way to install railing all through my house and in the bathroom so I can pull myself up from a seated position.  Currently I have to spread my feet wide(imagine a sumo wrestler) and then push myself up using my legs.  Good thing I took on the 1000 squat challenge before I got pregnant!
         I am amazed at how much my stomach has grown this past week, my center of gravity has definitely been thrown off.  I can see the day when I have to wear the bright yellow hospital band that reads FALL RISK!  I jokingly talk about how I need a Segway(the motorized, stand up transportation system); however, now with my belly being so large I realize I will never be able to stop the S
egway.  The movement is controlled by balance(lean forward-move forward, lean back to stop) I could be standing up straight yet still "leaning" forward.  I will, on the other hand, start utilizing the motorized carts at the grocery store, and will most likely be needing a shopping buddy to walk a cart along with me.  This pregnancy has definitely shown me the need to throw all pride out the window, and accept any and all forms of help when offered.

how I look vs how I feel 

        As a part of my "high order multiples support group" I have been introduced to a website that is geared towards organizing help.  whatfriendsdo.com  my sister has been so kind to coordinate my team.  Some moms who have used it were so thankful that they did not have to try and figure out who needed to do what and who needed to go where, etc. Friends would constantly say "let me know if I can help,"  but when the moms were in the NICU they could hardly think straight. Having their "team" in place, eliminated all the stress of organization.  I am fully aware of how busy life is and am so blessed for even a simple text to let me know you are praying for me and my family, it lifts my spirits and re-energizes me to stay focused on what is important...baking these babies!! Especially when it feels like they could burst out of my belly button at any moment.  I am as big at 18 weeks as I was full term with my singleton pregnancies.  I asked the doctor if my body is responding to the babies' gestational age or the size of my uterus, to which she responded "both."  No wonder I am physically, mentally, and emotionally all over the place.  My body can't decide how to function.

   

if you would like to join my team of support you can visit this site and click Find a Team, enter my name, and join!