Another day in bed.  Today I’m officially 24 weeks.

I thought being on bed rest would be sheer heaven, days and days of doing nothing.  Not until I was actually put on it.  I can’t even go down to have my meals anymore.  I’m only allowed bathroom privileges like going to the toilet and taking a shower.  Other than that, I’m stuck in bed, and I take my meals in bed.   

And with the long endless hours that I spend in bed, you can’t help but have all these thoughts and worries. 

I worry that I won’t be able to carry our baby to term. 
I worry that with all the medication I am taking right now, that our baby will be affected and not be healthy. 
I worry that I will have an emergency and I won’t have any way to contact Rod to take me to the hospital. 
I worry about all the work that I have left behind in the office. 
I worry that I won’t be able to cope with the pain of labor. 
I worry that I won’t get better and I will be on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy.
I worry that my husband would get sick and tired of me and just leave me all alone.
I worry that I won’t be a good mother.

Being on bed rest is very isolating and it can be depressing.  You feel so all alone and you just wait for the time to pass you by.  The television and your laptop become your best friends.  The most exciting time of my day is when I hear the gate opening and I know that my husband is home.  How pathetic is that?  You also feel like you are sick with some grave disease because people tend to stay away and keep their distance.  Seems like they don’t want to catch whatever is bothering you. 

In spite of all these worries and sadness that I am feeling, I am still thankful and happy about some things.

I am thankful for the time that I get to spend on my own so that I can get some much needed rest.     
I am happy when I feel my baby kicking me hard in my belly.  This reassures me that he is growing fine and healthy.
I am happy because every uneventful day that I spend in bed means that I am a day closer to delivering a healthy baby.
Most of all, I am thankful that my husband is still very malambing and very caring.  He takes very good care of me and never fails to tell me and show me that he loves me very much.

That’s all for today.  Later.

Honey, two lines....

After being married for 8 months, we are finally pregnant.  The last 4 months have been a roller coaster ride for me and Rod.  A lot of stress, tears, as well as joy and laughter.

Finding out that I was pregnant was definitely a surprise for us.  Rod and I decided to wait for a few months after we got married before trying for a baby.  We still had a lot of things to do, and we still needed to move into our new house, so we decided to wait till we move in before getting to work, so to speak. 

We officially moved into our house on August 4, 2007.  Moving was an experience in itself.  I learned how OC my husband can be when it comes to the cleanliness of our home, and how disorganized he can be when putting away his clothes and other junk.  In short, I had to be the one to put all of his clothes into the closet.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to finish it in a week!

Adjusting into a new routine was a good exercise for us.  We had to establish new times to wake up to get ready for work, time to come home so that we can have dinner together, new times for Rod to get some exercise into his routine, and time for us to do our weekly grocery shopping.  We also had to “break-in” our new maid with our requirements and with our own quirks.  We also had to establish our finances and who had to pay the bills on time.

We officially found out that we were pregnant when I was thinking of going to visit a gynecologist for a routine checkup, and it suddenly dawned on me that I haven’t had my period in a while.  I was a bit worried about it because I’ve never had this before.  I decided to ask Rod to buy me a home pregnancy test so that we can both find out, before visiting the doctor.

When I tried the home pregnancy kit the first time, I couldn’t believe my eyes when two purple lines popped up!  I told Rod to buy me another kit just to be sure.  Rod was cooler about it than me, but lo and behold, the second test also came out positive.  So off we went to the doctor’s office for my first prenatal checkup.

My obstetrician / gynecologist is Dr. Anita Poblete.  She’s the same OB that my cousins go to so I was relaxed when I first visited her.  She’s also very accommodating and has very light hands, so the dreaded speculum and internal exams are not so bad.  Our first visit did confirm that I was pregnant at about 6 weeks.  Both our families were ecstatic about the news.  Only thing I was bummed about was I had to cancel our trip to Bali for Ros and Mark’s wedding.

The first trimester of my pregnancy had been uneventful.  I can say it was a textbook case as I experienced the occasional queasiness, food aversions, frequent urination, general sleepiness and fatigue.  I could sleep for hours, there was even a time that I slept for 12 straight hours and took a nap in the afternoon on top of that!  After getting through the first trimester, I thought things will be a breeze after that, but boy was I wrong!

My fourth month started out as uneventful as the previous months, but on my 20^th week, I experienced some slight spotting.  This got me worried and I had to go to the delivery room, as my OB was sick on the day that I experienced the spotting.  Gosh, the whole experience was so stressful.  The resident OB had to do a speculum and internal exam on me and it was so painful!  The doctor advised me to go on bed rest for a week and I was also prescribed Duvadilan, an anti-contraction medication.  Dr. Poblete told me that the reason I might be bleeding was because the baby’s position was upside down and his kicking was causing the pressure on my cervix.  After one week of bed rest, I was allowed to go back to work and some light activities.

I’m now on my 23^rd week 6 days, and I am back on bed rest again for 2 weeks this time.  I had some bleeding again last Sunday and I was told that I had a cervical polyp which is causing the spotting.  I was prescribed some antibiotics and a vaginal suppository to stop the bleeding and also to ward off infection.

I never thought pregnancy can be this hard.  If it were this hard, how come so many people still give birth to so many babies?  Look at Chinaand their 1 billion population!?!  And all people can tell you is either to take care, or “ang hina mo naman”, or “it’s going to be ok.”

I have to continue this tomorrow, my husband is home and it’s time for dinner.