The Survival guide to being on bed rest

Here is a list of thing that you must have to survive bed rest.  Some things are very serious as bed rest is a serious thing.  And other things are just for fun because you can still have fun when stuck laying in bed for who knows how long.  


If you are not completely satisfied your money will not be refunded because you didn't pay me anything, so please read carefully.




1.     Must have good friends and family to keep you entertained and at the same time be praying for you and  baby. 
       A.  An amazing husband!  He must be 5 to 6 feet tall, bald or balding, handsome, funny, kind of weird at times, understanding, loving, caring, very patient, faithful, a man of God, and entertaining.  He will become your slave.  Yes this is very sad to say but in a way true.  Must be well behaved and not easily irritated.  He must be willing to do everything and anything for you.  He will help you get up, get you food, fill your water multiple times a day, listen to you, and even buy you new underwear.  The underwear will be an adventure that will cause strange looks from the ladies in that department wondering why a bald man is on the phone asking what color, size and material is best, but he will do it with a grin on his face because he knows they aren't for him and he loves you.
     B.  Family that will call you and care about what is going on.  They will pray for you and baby everyday.  They may even make you laugh or teach you something new.  You need a Papa that wears a bright orange beanie in the winter and a straw hat in the summer.  He must make you laugh at all his random and sometimes inappropriate jokes.  A sister that text you everyday just to say hi or they are thinking of you.  A mother in law that teaches you to knit and withstands your long facebook chats just so you aren't board for five minutes.
     C.  Friends!  They are very important.  And you need all different kinds of them.  I like the silly ones like Joelle's.  They are top of the line friends, but they are very hard to find.  She will make you laugh for hours on end about stuff no one else will get.  People may even wonder what kind of drug she gave you but I assure you its just the drug of friendship.  You also need faithful ones like a Kyra that are pretty hard to find too.  I prefer mine to be loving, silly, artist, joyful, bike rider, and awesome.  She will come over to keep you entertained and may even help you plan things like baby showers :)  She will always make you smile and pray for you too.  You need text friends too.  These are friends that text you all the time sometimes all day long.  Talk to you about bed rest, life or just whatever.  They are fun because you get to talk to them about what is going on with them too.  So that way you can forget about bed rest and what is going on for a moment.  (note: other friends and family do the same).  So lots and lots of friends that care!


2.     Next you need dogs!  There are many kinds of dogs that will work just fine.  I prefer pugs and Shepard mixes.  The Shepard mix will cuddle with you and make you feel loved.  The pug will make you laugh.  Normally chasing his tail would make you laugh for a minute or two but these days it will make you laugh for a half hour or more.  And when these two play it will keep you entertained for hours.  Even when they get in trouble you have something to do.  Yell at them!  This is where a husband may comes into play, if yelling doesn't work.  He may need to be there to break them up as you are not allowed to do this on bed rest, but you can still watch.
     
3.     Food!  You need this to survive.  But a fun thing is to make the husband make all the new dishes you've been wanting to try but never want to make.  Now is a good time to try all kinds of things, because you don't have to make them.  Be prepared though if it has a lot of cutting involved the husband will bring the cutting board to you so you can "help."  At least you get to help with something, right?


4.     Water!  Lots of water to drink.  This is good because your suppose to drink 8 oz for every hour your awake.  Plus it makes you have to pee more.  Which is the idea ;)  That way you can get up more.  You must use this as an advantage because going to the bathroom is the only time you can get up.  It is the only adventures in your day.  So go pee as much as you can.  Of course not too much because then you might hurt yourself or baby but you get the idea.  Remember you do have one morning adventure of a five minute timed shower.  Which somehow takes the fun out of it because its timed or does it make it more fun?


5.     A good bathroom.  This goes with #4 but is very important.  Since this will be your only trip of the day it needs to be good.  A pretty bathroom is preferred but not necessary.  Very well stocked with TP since you are not allowed to get up to get more.  Remember if the husband is gone and there is no TP your only option is to drip dry because you are not allowed to get up for anything else.


6.     A good book or two.  This is a good time to catch up on "what to expect when your expecting" and other pregnancy and parenting books.  But also good for many other kinds of books let your imagination run wild.  I like to use some of my time doing devotions.  I do love that I have more time to spend in his word these days.  On a serious note I think this time has taught me to stop and make time to dive into his word everyday.  It is so filling and I never realized how much I truly love this time with God.


7.     Entertainment!!  This is a big one.  All the above things will keep you entertained but you will be surprised at how slow a day is when you are sitting and laying down all day long.  So you need lots of things like TV, knitting, a computer, phone, coloring books,  how to draw books, how to do different hair style videos, facebook, blogger :) and more.  Things like your computer can entertain you for hours one day and then you won't want anything to do with them the next.  Hence why you need multiple forms of entertainment.  You can use the computer to start a blog..hint hint, check and update your facebook, chat with friends and family, listen to music, watch videos, and learn new things.  Your phone is helpful too because you can call and text people, but remember other people still have lives even though you don't have one right now.  So a text reply may take more than a couple minutes so you must move on to other forms of entertainment in cases like this, such as TV.  And please don't get mad at friends or family when they don't answer your call or text and your board to death.  There is so much to do on bed rest why waste a minute of it:)


So the idea is to have people that are caring, will pray for you and baby, will make you laugh, and keep you entertained.  Also, have lots of random things that will keep you busy while you are sitting on your butt for days on end!!  Hope you are entertained on your bed rest!!  (pretty sure I used that word too many times in this blog, sorry)  

Thank you!

So, bed rest you are not my friend but I am going to win this battle.  I have been on bed rest now for six days.  For those of you that don't know, I was put on strict bed rest for a placental abruption they found last Wednesday.  Basically there is a tear in my placenta that can hurt Rylend.  It made me super scared when I first found out.  Knowing that just the slightest extra movement could cause the flap created by the tear to move over the umbilical cord and cut off his blood flow; made me cry.  I have done a lot of praying since I found out and have started to gain some peace about the situations.  I feel in my heart that he is going to be okay.  God is watching over him and protecting him.  So far he is doing great.  I check his heartbeat everyday when I wake up and before I go to bed.  Its still beating perfectly!  I will find out if the abruption has started to heal or crossing my fingers is all the way healed on the 27th.  I am very anxious for this day to get here but still a bit nervous at the same time.  If it doesn't heal and/or get's worse the chances are bed rest will be a lot longer and possibly be moved to hospital bed rest so that I can be monitored more closely.  


So as much as it is nerve raking just sitting and laying here, I have been blessed by many friends and family that is praying for us and keeping me company.  I find myself even more grateful for my Mother in Law these days.  Last weekend when we went to visit the family she was kind enough to teach me to knit.  Which I wasn't very good at and sure I gave her some strange looks during the teaching process, but I am getting there.  It is gives me something to do and I can't wait until I am good enough to start actually making something and not just a blob of yarn :)  Also, she has been great talking to me pretty much everyday online and keeps me company for a while.  It is nice to have the time to connect more with her and we can talk about anything from serious stuff to things like America's Got Talent.  


I am also grateful for my friend Jessica.  I haven't actually ever meet her in person but we meet through a infertility website over two years ago.  She is so sweet!  She has a little boy Conner who has been through the ringer with heart problems, been in and out of NICU more times than I can could, and more surgeries than any person should have in their lifetime and he is just barely over one year old.  She text me everyday to see how me and Rylend are doing and is constantly praying for us.  She is so sweet and caring.  She is even putting together a care package of stuff for me to do and stuff for Rylend.  I can't wait to see what it is.  I just hope it isn't a monkey in a basket with a trumpet singing "I'm a little tea pot."  


There are so many people I am grateful to have in my life these days.  Kim and Kyra Kanags were amazing and came to visit me last week.  It was nice to have someone other than Mike and the dogs to talk to all the time.  I love seeing them.  They have been so gracious.  Kyra even invited herself over a couple days ago. Which I am totally okay with.  So Kyra when you read this anytime you want you can just ask if you want to invite yourself over again :)  I loved getting to hang out with her and trying to draw woodland animals.  I am pretty sure she is a way better artist than I am.  I can't wait for my baby shower at their house in less than eight weeks :)  They are such a blessing to our lives.  What great friends!


Of course my bestest friend, Joelle!  She just always knows how to listen and make me laugh.  She threw the best facebook party ever for me the other night.  Which I am sure most of you probably thinking I am crazy right now besides Joelle.  The definition of facebook party is, where two or more people come together to post random things on each others walls for an extended period of time.  These things may including but are not limited to funny comments about insides jokes (aka the cart lady), videos of silly things (mostly only lady videos), not understanding that the Ducks are better than the Beavers, and pictures of whatever we feel like.  So thank you Joelle for being so funny and loving at the same time. 


I most of all want to thank my wonderful husband!  He has been so understanding and supportive.  It means so much to me.  He has always been such a blessing to me but I seem to always be reminded of how lucky I am to be his wife.  Everyday not just during this he makes me love him more and more.  He sadly has been my slave this last week since I have not been able to do a darn thing but go to the bathroom.  I can't believe he has yet to get irritated by all my silly requests for food, to hand me something, to let the dogs out, or to help me get up cause it hurts too much.  So he deserves the biggest thanks for being so great.  God made a perfect husband for me.  Thank you!  I love you hunny bunny!!


I think this blog could get really long because there have been so many people that have been their for us in this last week.  Please know I am grateful for you all; my Papa, my Sisters, Tasha, Kaleo, both Danielles, Laura, Sheri, Mandy,  Janice, Pastor Aaron and Paula, Pastor Zac and Gina, Hailey, Jodi, Holly and Matt, Alisha, Ashley, Katie, Kim, Rachel, Brandi, Gentry, the other Jessica, Elizabeth, Darcie, and so many more.  Sorry if I missed you.  I appreciate everyone that has been praying and all the other things you guys have done for me.

In the beginning...

I decided I would start this blog to share how the road to becoming a parent has been for us.  Especially since I have a lot of extra time on my hands at the moment since I am on bed rest as most of you know.  Which isn't the funnest thing in the world but at least I am doing whatever is in my power to keep my baby safe and healthy.  So here goes my best shot.  

We started trying to have a child pretty much as soon as we got married, so about three years now.  We both knew we were meant to be parents.  I knew from a young age it wouldn't be easy for me to become a mother due to infertility issues.  However we felt it was important to try naturally for as long as God wanted us to.  So we didn't focus on trying and if it happened it was meant to happen.  After about a year of trying we choice to talk to my doctor about options.  After a few different attempts with fertility drugs we took a break and went back to trying naturally.  During all of this time I would pray every night to become a mother.  Whether I was using medical help or naturally I always made sure to pray for my future children.  I knew that God would bless us when the timing was right.

We had been praying for guidance from God on which direction to go since things were not working.  I kept coming back to the passage about Moses crossing the Red Sea.  I've read this scripture many times but looked at it differently this time.  God didn't just part the sea and say there you go.  Instead it states first "Moses took a step forward then the Red Sea parted."  After praying on this for awhile it was clear that God wanted us to take a step forward in faith as Moses did.  This step was for us was to try medical help again.  After two months of medication we became pregnant with our little baby boy Boden Zane.  Sadly after two months we lost him to miscarriage.  It was a very hard time for us and we will forever miss Boden.  We know that he is now our little guardian angel.  As hard as it was to loss him it really made us grow even closer together.  We waited some months before we felt ready to start trying to convince again.  

This time around we tried another three months on the same medication with no luck.  We were finally referred to a reproductive endocrinologist (RE) to help us with our infertility issues.  They specialize in helping couples become parents.  This is all they do unlike a normal OB which can help but only to a small extent.  The closest RE was three hour drive each way but very worth it.   After visiting the RE for the first time we learned that iui was the best option for us at the time.  I was unable to try for a month due to cysts.  When you get a cyst(s) over a certain size you can't take fertility medication because it will cause them to grow and can cause damage.

Our first round of iui took a lot of traveling back and forth.  For those that don't know much about how infertility medical procedures work.  There is a lot of monitoring to make sure everything is growing right, the medication is working as it should, and that there are no problems.  This all has to be done on exact days so its very important that you are there for each visit or you could miss something important and/or waste a cycle.  Because timing is so important.  There were days that we made appointments and had to drop everything and go to Portland that day.  Luckily, we were fortunate enough to make it work.  And all our visits went great during this cycle.  We even had three mature follicles which was the most I have had.  A follicle is what breaks open and release the egg.  It must be more than 18mm to be considered mature and this was still on the small side.  In all my other monitored cycles I was lucky to have one of okay size.  Sparing all the fun details.  The iui worked!  We are now pregnant with Rylend! 


I left quite a bit of details out otherwise this would be the longest blog in history :)  So if you have any questions feel free to ask me.