Oxymoron for the day: Bed rest with Children

Week three of being on bed rest is almost over and all I can do is laugh at the whole idea of there actually being such a thing as bed rest when you have little kids. One of which is a potty-training two-year-old with a bladder the size of a pecan shell.

I love the concept of bed rest, and get the whole idea behind it; I even see the benefit of sticking with it. But the practical application of it is a whole different scenario.

I think it might be a bit different if I thought there was an actual medical necessity. If high blood pressure loomed over my head if I moved too much. Or if I was already dilating and really needed to keep still to prevent opening the proverbial (and literal) flood gates. But I think my contractions are more along an annoying alleyway rather than a productive path; so I find that I am not keeping my tail end still as much as the term 'bed rest' would imply.

Groceries still need to be bought. Papers need faxing for this and that. Registration for one thing or the other needs to be turned in. Cherries need to be picked before the flock of robins ravage our tree into oblivion. Dinners need to be prepared because I have a 12 year old who is allergic to browning meat apparently, and a hubby who always seems to be working on some other project that trumps cooking. I do spend a good portion of my day sitting down with my feet up, but there are times when I have to get up and get things done because otherwise they just won't get themselves done alone!

I've have figured out how to lower the amount of pills I take each day, though, while still not allowing the contractions to kick in too strongly. That's helping with my energy level. As long as I take it really calm throughout the day, I only need one pill in the evening to calm things down again. Which is nice because while the pills do calm the contractions, they also lower my blood pressure so much that I feel like a hollowed out grape - just skin with nothing inside. The other day I was feeling really low and I checked my BP and found it was 79/54...too sluggish for my comfort!

I think perhaps, the mix of bed rest and the pills have helped calm Sparky's water balloon apartment down a lot over all. I used to get contractions every 5 minutes as soon as the pill started wearing off, whether I was active or not; now as long as I am calm and somewhat sedate, I can skip the nighttime and early morning ones and make it through the day with minimal contraction discomfort and still have energy to keep my head up and my eyes opened. I think that's a good thing!

I am fully expecting, however, that in three weeks when I can officially get off of my modified bed rest, that Sparky will show his true F family side and will stubbornly stay in there until September ~ past his due date. Just to be a stinker. As it is, he is hanging out transversely (side to side, horizontal instead of up and down like he should be) and not letting his head sink downward where it needs to be. It is like he is trying to make sure his presence is known and that he doesn't get forgotten... there's no chance of that with him making me almost as wide as I am tall!

We'll just have to wait and see what the next 7 weeks brings!