Bed Rest

I've been a little behind on our pregnancy update. We've had a couple scares lately- which has resulted in the ever so dreaded BED REST. On February 17th, after working a much longer day that I had been advised not to (10 1/2 hr day to be exact)- I had my first complication with my placenta previa. I called the on-call at 10:00 pm- and was advised that I needed to head to the hospital immediately.  Rob and I were completely caught off guard- we had just put Grayden down for bed, and with no family in town, we hadn't set up any plans for an emergency hospital visit. So we woke him up, and the 3 of us headed to the hospital. I spent the night in the hospital and after 24 hours of monitoring, my OB said I could go home on strict bed-rest. STRICT BED REST??? Basically I was given instructions that I was allowed to get up to use the bathroom and shower. Mind you- at the time I was 28 1/2 weeks. I asked my doctor when I could return to work and she said we could discuss once I get closer to 34 weeks. I was also given 2 shots of steroids while in the hospital to help with lung development. Fast forward one long week of bed rest later, I had a f/u appointment on Friday, February 24th. I was actually looking forward to that appointment- as it was my first time out of the house in a week- and Rob had agreed to stop at Sweet Cece's afterwards for some frozen yogurt. I had an ultrasound first and confirmed my placenta was still a complete previa. I then met with my OB- who informed me that my amniotic fluid levels had dropped to a 2. Two weeks prior- my level was a 12. She said this was concerning because it could mean several things - problems with my placenta, leaking fluids, etc- and so- I was sent to labor and delivery to be admitted to the hospital. Are you kidding? 2 hospital visits within a week of each other? I was admitted- in which I was given an excessive amt of IV fluids. One of the possible reasons for my low fluid levels was possible dehydration- I had a f/u ultrasound 24 hours later and my levels resumed to a 9- so I was sent home on strict bed rest- and instructed to increase my fluid intake. We are now at 31 weeks. - I had an appointment last week and my ultrasound showed that my levels are back up to 13, baby is growing well, I still have a complete previa, and still to be on bed rest. I was given permission to up my activity- which basically means I can "piddle" more (to quote my OB). She said I still can't work, no exercise, no standing, no cooking, no cleaning, no lifting...which means I do a whole lot of NOTHING. The plan is to continue to monitor my placenta previa- and if it persists (most likely will)- I will be scheduled for a c-section between 37 to 38 weeks. 


So. That is where we currently are. I have to say we are so blessed with family, friends, and our church family who have been so overwhelmingly helpful. I have had to take short term disability for work, which in itself is a bit stressful, but we are prayerful that God will continue to bless us and watch over us. We ask for prayers during the last 6-9 weeks of our pregnancy. We are anxiously awaiting his arrival- but we want him to stay in as long as possible! We also want to announce that we have decided on  name- for those who may have missed the memo: We are happy to introduce Grayden's baby brother- as Reed Emerson. 


Please keep baby Reed and myself in your prayers- We'll continue to keep you updated.