Bedrest 101
Sounds like from the comments on the last post we have some veteran bed resters out there! I feel in good company. But others may be new to the concept, so let me 'splain. I had two previous pregnancies with no complications. But twins make things more complicated. For the past while, my uterus has been the size of a woman one month overdue, while still being 2 months from the due date. A body may decide the size of the uterus means it's time for baby! But the babies are still too small. Every moment I spend standing or even sitting up increases the pressure on my cervix, and that can lead to early dilation. Any activity I undertake (like sitting up or rolling over) causes contractions. So the doctor tells me I need to do nothing. I have two positions I can be in: lying on left side or right side. Oh how grateful I am to be this far already! I'm weeping for the commenter who spent 20 weeks on bedrest with each child. You are a warrior woman.
One thing I didn't realize before all this is how precious every day is inside the womb. Babies just grow better in there. Miraculously so. Each week they're born earlier than week 37 will probably mean another week in the NICU. I'm told if born now, they have a 90% survival rate. I'm told this asif it's comforting. I can't imagine sending my first grader to schoolwith the understanding that he has a 90% chance of survival. If I delivered today, even if they made it, my babies might stay for a month in the NICU. Because they're not fully developed yet, they would probably require a lot of medical intervention to catch up--feeding tubes, oxygen, incubator, drugs, even surgery. But for every day they keep cooking in the mommy pot, they'll be that much more ready for life on the outside.
This is important for me to constantly remember. Each day of bedrest isn't about how much my body hurts from being trapped in one of two positions or how frustrated I am at lying here useless and frustrated. I have to focus on the little wigglers inside. Each day is about giving them another shot at great health, time for their lungs to develop, time for their hearts to be strong, time for them to gain fat layers to keep them warm out of the womb. Grow, babies, grow! I will assert my warrior nature. The battle is a'waging, and I am fighting hard! While lying perfectly still. Passive resistance. Victory through inaction. Stillness before life.