Week 39- Nesting and bed rest

Yes I know. Week 40 begins on Wednesday so i'm a little late. This is the end of my 39th week, but so much happened so you need to be informed.

I was assigned to bed rest for the past 2 weeks. That is hard when you hit your "nesting" stage. Richard will be thankful when the baby comes so I will stop "nesting"...its apparently expensive to "nest." We have bought a new living room, complete with accent pillows and lamps, and I keep thinking of things we need to go get from the grocery store or to finish decorating the nursery. Once in a while I will jump out of bed to dust. I have noticed so many more little things to clean that have never mattered to be before. I can only "nest" for about 15 minutes then I jump back in bed. Richard has had his hands full, but he's the tidy one of the pair of us....so he knows exactly what to do.

My blood pressure has fluctuated and gets crazy high, especially just before i head into the doctor's office, so of course they get concerned. I'm not nervous about the doctor, and no it's not because of something I ate. I didn't run a marathon or try to speed vacuum the whole house (Come on people! i don' vacuum!).  I have the risk of developing preeclemsia, so they have been watching for this.  I have been to the hospital twice already, only to be sent home a few hours later...and with no baby to show for it. Lame.

The first time, Richard and I considered that our "trial run." I had gone to the doctor the day before. They assigned me to bed rest and to watch my blood pressure. My fabulous (then pregnant) friend, Joy, brought me her grandmother's blood pressure cuff so I could watch it throughout the weekend. (Side note: after dropping it off at my house, she took her toddler to the mall, and then checked into the hospital to have a baby. No big deal.... Ok. WOW! she's my hero!). The next day i started feeling dizzy so I called the doctor to see if that was normal and told her my blood pressure had been a little high, but since i called at the end of the day i figured they would just tell me to go lay down again and come up with a better symptom to bother them with. The nurse called back and said "The doctor would like you to go ahead and go to the hospital."

"The WHAT?" I asked, tearing up.

"The hospital."

"The hospital?!" This time more tears.

"Yes. We have already admitted you. Do you know where to go?"

It was on the tour during our birthing class, so I remembered. I called Richard and in mild hysterics told him "The doctor called and wants me to go to the hospital now."

But he heard, "blubber, Can you come home? I don't feel good. blubber." Thankfully he came home, as i melted and then began to pull all our hospital stuff together.

Thankfully I had already packed my bag, but there was so much that needed to be done before we REALLY went to the hospital. I needed to clean out my car, clean my house, finish laundry, get a pedicure (cute toes are a must for labor. you didn't know that?), take a shower, and so much more! What will we do with the dog? Why won't my mother pick up her phone? As I sobbed and packed, Richard waltzes in and asks me "What's wrong?" We then realize he did not make out what I was saying over the phone. When he realized i meant HOSPITAL he jumped. He packed his bag, cleaned out my car, installed the carseat, and 4 other things i hadn't thought of. He even let me go take a shower before we left.

We were out the door in 45 minutes headed to the hospital. We videoed our panic attack in the car, realizing how mentally unprepared we were. This was our wake up call.  We spent a total of 3 hours in the hospital,  my blood pressure went down, and then went to get Chick Fil A milkshakes on our way home. Whew!

I did feel sorry for the other girl in our room that night. She thought she was in labor and made lots of painful gasps and whimpers, only to later be told by the doctor that the contractions weren't that impressive and she needed to take an Ambien to get some sleep.

My parents ended up driving down to stay with us for 48 hours, just in case. Mom made lots of frozen meals and everyone helped clean up and keep me "happy". If anyone was annoying or tried to make fun of me, i would start beeping at them.

Four days later the doctor called wanting me to come back in for a check up, and I was sent  to the hospital again. This time in better spirits because I had done this before...but we didn't have the car packed. Same story. I asked the doctor there if i could take the gown home since apparently my blood pressure went down at the hospital so easily. She thought i was funny, and we giggled.

The girl I shared my room with THAT night was angry and had a cold and complained about the doctor to all the nurses. Something about how she didn't feel very important. Shoulda told a joke, lady!

Today we head to our doctor's appointment, but this time we are packing the car just in case they want to send me over to the hospital. It could happen and we are more mentally prepared. I can't wrap my head around today being THE DAY...much less this being THE WEEK... but I'm excited.

Baby is coming very soon! Keep us in your prayers.