Triplets @ 23 Weeks & 3 Days, Bedrest Day 9

For my picture this week, instead of showing you what I actually look like, I thought I would show you how I feel. Yes, that is a beached whale. Yes, that is how I feel. To some extent, that is how I look too. :)

Well, we are officially at 23 weeks and 3 days. At this point, each day is a day to celebrate. I did start out the week with a quick trip to the hospital on Monday morning. Thankfully everything was okay. The dr. told me that with triplets and where I'm at, we will probably be on a first name basis before this is all over. Um...no thanks. He also told me that pain is to be expected and doesn't necessarily mean anything, so I should start adding daily Tylenol to my pre-natals. I'm not 100% comfortable with that. I guess I want to know that I am feeling what is actually happening and not feel like I'm always in a drugged state. I know Tylenol wouldn't make me not feel anything, but still...

Today marks Day 9 of bedrest. Bedrest is an interesting thing. To clarify, my current form of bedrest is that I'm only supposed to get up to go to the bathroom and to take a quick shower every few days. I don't have to be in bed the whole time, but can be on a couch and I don't have to lie 100% flat...just weight neutral. The weight of the babies can't be pushing down, so I can't sit straight up. When it comes to lying down, I'm not supposed to lie on my back because the weight of the babies can cut off circulation both to me and to them and that isn't a good thing. I can't lie on my right side for long because I get this stabbing pain in my chest that just doesn't feel pleasant. So, my left side gets tons of lying down action. The hardest part of that is that my left hip and left shoulder start to ache fairly easily. More than the physical aches of bedrest come the mental aches of bedrest. I read an article that said that bedrest often leads to depression (and have also heard some testimony of this from others) because your friends think you are on a mini-vacation (and who among us wouldn't enjoy the thought of being forced to rest and not do anything for a few days) while each day you go through gets tougher and tougher. You run out of things to do. Your mind is losing it from boredom. Your body just wants to move. You wonder about the weather. You start thinking about how nice it would be just to walk out and get the mail. You realize you took for granted how easily you could obtain Taco Bell. And the list goes on and on.

I will say that I'm currently VERY blessed because Mike's grandma is staying with us until next Friday and his mom is coming in next Thursday, so I will have company for at least the next 2 weeks. That is a huge blessing. Having someone to talk to in the middle of the day is nice and having help to get food and water and etc is a big help.

I guess the biggest thing I've taken away from these last 9 days is a new appreciation for those who are put on bedrest and even more so for shut-ins. For me, I know my bedrest is temporary and, Lord willing, will result in giving a healthier start to three precious lives that we have loved and longed for. For others, bedrest doesn't have that happy ending for which to look forward. How discouraging must it be to be trapped in your house with no countdown to when that changes? How many of us think to pray for our shut-ins? Though I know my life will be crazy in the next little while, I wonder if God will open the door for me in the future to have some sort of outreach to those who are stuck at home or stuck in a nursing home or hospital room.

One of the ways I'm hoping to combat restlessness during this time is to go through an intensive Bible reading program. One of my friends sent me a link that charts out reading through your Bible in 90 days. I'm going to start that today and I'm kind of excited about it. When she first brought up the program a few months ago, I knew there was no way with my schedule that I could do it. I was taking care of Jonathan all day, plus coaching, plus dr. appointments, plus life in general. Now that I'm limited in what I can do, I'm going to start the program and see how it goes.

Without a doubt, the hardest part of bedrest for me so far has been having to say goodbye to my little man each morning and not see him until the evening. Many times he is so exhausted from a full day of playing that he falls asleep on the way home and doesn't really wake back up much, if at all, when he gets home. It has been hard to go from full-time stay-at-home mom to only see him for such a short period of time. I cried several times the first few days because I felt like I was a failure and couldn't meet his needs. But, I have had to remind myself that right now I am the only one humanly who can take care of the triplets and that is what my priority has to be. Jonathan has been able to stay with friends that we trust who will treat him as one of their own. I know that he is in good hands and that makes it easier, but I do miss my little guy.

Mike has been amazing through it all. I know you must get sick of hearing me talk about his greatness, but he truly has been great. He gets himself and Jonathan ready in the morning, gets Jonathan dropped off, survives a full day of work, survives the Tampa traffic to get Jonathan and come home, goes to the post office for me, picks up slushies for me (my current craving because it makes my heartburn feel better), goes grocery shopping, rubs my aching back, takes care of Jonathan in the night, and every other thing you can imagine that I can't do. And not once have I heard him complain about it. I am blessed with a true man and I'm thankful for him.

Well, this update is getting long, so I should let you go. Extra points if you made it this far in reading it. Monday is my next ultrasound and I'm looking forward to hearing how big the babies have grown. Each ounce will help them if/when they come early.

As always, thank you for your prayers. We do not take them for granted and we know that the effectual fervant prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5).