Bed Rest at 34 Weeks

I was put on bed rest at 34 weeks. My ankles and legs started swelling in late November/early December. I went to my prenatal appointment on January 3rd and everything looked fine. I went back in 2 weeks later as expected with Kimball in tow. I was called back to check my vitals. The look on the nurses face was not the usual reaction I have been getting. She told me that my blood pressure was high. She sent me back to the waiting room to wait for the doctor. I waited for an hour and Kimball was very restless at this point. I had run out of snacks and she was bored of playing games on my kindle. We were called back and the doctor said that she was concerned about my BP being so high. She told me to go to my happy place and she would send a nurse in to take my BP again to see if it had come down. She said if it was still high, she would send me to the hospital to be monitored and get serial blood pressures taken. She said at the very least, she would send me home to be on STRICT BED REST! My BP was taken and sure enough it was still high, so off to the hospital I went.

First I had to call someone to come pick Kimball up from the hospital. Luckily a good friend of mine was available to come pick Kimball up from. Rachelle was my lifesaver! We squeezed Kimball’s car seat into her car and off they went. I was very emotional at this point because my doc had given me the worse case scenario. She didn’t want to deliver me at 34 weeks. Of course, this is the day where Kevin is slammed at work and I cannot reach him on his phone. I called his office for the first time and asked them to get him for me. He was right in the middle of a procedure, so I was on hold for a good 5 minutes. The poor receptionist kept coming on the phone to let me know I have not been forgotten. The girls at the office knew something wasn’t right because I never call them. Kevin came on the phone and I couldn’t talk for the first minute, I just totally broke down and was stressed out. Kevin listened and did what he could for me on the phone. He said that he could have his patients rescheduled and he could come be with me. I told him that it wasn’t necessary since I was just being monitored. Now if they were going to deliver the baby, that would be a different story ;)

After being monitored for a couple hours, my BP came back down and the labs came back normal, so they sent me home. I went to grab a Jamba Juice and then went to pick Kimball up from my friend’s house. My bribe during the whole doctor appointment was that we would go to Jamba after. Even though my BP had come down, my doctor still put me on strict bed rest. She said that I could only get up to use the restroom. I thought, yeah right, I have a toddler and there is not way I can stay laying down all the time. I had “Pregnancy Induced Hypertension” with Kimball, but wasn’t put on bed rest until 38 weeks. How was I going to get through 5-6 weeks of laying down. Thank goodness for DVR – I had a lot of TV shows to watch to keep me busy :)

Kevin really stepped up to the plate and went above and beyond to take care of everything at home! I had endless calls from the sisters in Relief Society to offer meals, rides for Kimball to preschool, grocery shopping, etc. I am one that has a tough time accepting help from anyone because we can get by on our own. I had to humble myself and really accept help from those that were offering. Kevin really did it all! He would come home, make dinner clean the house, get Kimball ready for bed and didn’t get to sit down until 9:00 every night. He had to go grocery shopping a few times (not his favorite past time at all :) My doc didn’t even want me getting up to make lunch for myself, so Kevin would even make a lunch for me and Kimball every morning before he left for work. He was scheduled to attend a CE course in Houston the weekend after I was put on bed rest. We decided that he would go and I would be fine. Thank goodness for visiting teachers who brought me enough food for dinner for 2 nights at least :) Kevin’s parents were already planning to come for a week at the end of January, so they arrived the Saturday Kevin was at his course. They were inspired to plan that trip.

I really enjoy entertaining and having everything ready to go when people come to visit. Kevin did what he could, but I didn’t feel as organized as I like to be. His parents flew into Corpus Christi at 2:00pm, rented a car and came over to our house. They sat down for a minute, then went grocery shopping with Kimball. As if they didn’t have a long enough day themselves. They were a HUGE help while they were here. Kevin’s mom even decided to extend her trip an extra week, so that she could help us out even more. We were very appreciative of her generous offer. They took Kimball to and from preschool, to the aquarium, park, etc. Kimball was just as grateful to have grandma and grandpa here. Thank you so much mom and dad for coming out and helping out as much as you did. You truly lightened the load and we can’t thank you enough.

When Kevin’s mom left we only had one more week to fend for ourselves before my mom came to town February 16th. I was scheduled to be induced February 18th. Kimball and I played a lot of Candyland, memory and watched A LOT of movies. I guess at Primary one day, the question was asked how your parents show they love you and Kimball’s response was, “we watch lots of movies!” I am grateful for the many hands that made it possible to survive the few weeks I was on bed rest. Words cannot express how grateful I am for everyone that stepped in to help! I am especially grateful for Kevin! He made a lot of sacrifices to take care of us! He is a great dad and Kimball loves spending time with him :)