Day 11 of Bedrest

Today marks my 11th day of bedrest and I'm happy to say that I haven't gone insane yet.

I am so fortunate that my mother-in-law, Cindy, was here most of this week. She showed up on Tuesday and just left today and what a savior! She was a busy little bee the entire time she was here... cooking, laundry, errands. She did more in a week than I would have accomplished in a month! I bet she did a half a dozen loads of laundry or more! And our fridge and freezer are loaded with great eats... we're set for at least a week or two! She filled prescriptions, walked the dog and even brought flowers one day. Who can ask for more?

So as you can imagine, this week of bedrest flew by. The fact that I am still working helps a ton too. The weekdays feel about the same except I get to wear my comfy clothes and stretch out on the couch to do my work instead of going to my stuffy, windowless office. I worry more about weekends since I don't have the work distraction, but so far I've come up with several projects to pass the time. And of course Netflix has been handy for my constant movie supply.

When I came to terms with the fact that the only thing getting me off of bedrest is having babies, I sort of started appreciating bedrest. I guess it only gets harder from here so why not absorb as much R&R as possible :-)

January 20th - Inauguration & Bed Rest

January 20th was a major day in history. Our 44th president was sworn in and I was told that for the remainder of my pregnancy I will be on bed rest. Ok, I admit that bed rest isn't quite as historical as Obama's presidency, but it's certainly a memorable day for me.

I also knew that bed rest could be a likely scenario for me. It's very common for multiple pregnancies to have to spend some time on bed rest. However, I really thought I'd defy the odds. I've had a gold-star pregnancy up until this point. I've been feeling great and all my tests, check-ups and visits have been thumbs up. Until the 32 week mark.

The 32 week appointment started with an ultrasound and good news. For the first time ever, both babies showed to be head down which means that I might be able to avoid a c-section. Great news! Then, we got Baby A's measurements and he grew a bunch in the last month. He's at 4lbs, 11 oz which is above the 50th percentile for twins. More good news!

Then we moved on to measure Baby B.

Unfortunately, Baby B grew very little in the last month. He's only weighing 3lbs, 11oz which puts him in the less than 5th percentile for size. Up until now, he has been about 6oz behind his brother, but now the discordance increased to a full pound. This difference caused growth concerned for the docs.

Immediately a new plan was put into action. As of that moment, my mobility would be restricted to the house. The guidelines are that I can shower each morning, go downstairs once, and get up 5 minutes per hour throughout the day. At the end of the day, I can go back upstairs to sleep. And that's it. This news triggered instant tears for me as my mind started racing:

• Will my maternity leave clock start ticking now?
• The babies' room isn't at all ready
• I have a billion errands to do
• Mark is going to have to take care of me

Then the doc told me that she wants me coming in twice per week for non-stress tests, once per week for doc check ups and another ultrasound in 3 weeks. More tears.

Once I calmed down, I was able to calm a lot of my concerns...
Fortunately, the doc is ok with me working from home so the maternity clock is still in tact.
And, more great news... Mark's mom booked a ticket within minutes of finding out our predicament and is flying out here to help next week. What a savior! She will be able to help prepare the babies' room and hopefully knock off some of those errands I'm worried about.

And, Mark has been AWESOME helping me at home. He's taken over the kitchen, dog walking, and my constant requests... without complaint. What a champ! I guess it's good practice for both of us once the babies are here.

Today is Saturday so I've now experience 3.5 days of bed rest. The weekdays were pretty easy. Since I'm still working, the days pass by pretty fast and I get to wear comfy clothes instead of work clothes. Bonus! I'm a little concerned about the weekends feeling long, but I have several projects I want to work on and I increased my Netflix account so I'll have lots of movies to choose from.

All-in-all I want to do what's best for the babies. And, I know that this forced relaxation will be really missed once the babies arrive. So I'm making the most of it and keeping a positive attitude. Plus, I have a great network of friends and family that have jumped into action to help out. I'm very lucky.

These photos aren't the greatest, but here are the latest ultrasound images of both boys. Baby A is very photogenic this time around. Baby B is more curled up and laying face down. Enjoy!

Baby Shower!

I am the luckiest person in the world. I had the most amazing baby shower!

I was especially grateful that my mom and Cara were able to fly in from Los Angeles for the weekend. It just wouldn't have been the same without them. My fabulous hostess (Cyndi, Christine, Kelly and Trina) spared no detail. Their special touches and thoughtfulness were over the top! I can't even begin to explain it... I'll let the photos tell the story at the end of this post.

As for the event...
We arrived at noon at Kelly's house to a house full of guests. We mingled for awhile and snacked until the hostess gathered everyone's attention for a welcome toast. Christine did the honors and had me crying within mere minutes (1st cry of many that day!). Then Trina introduced another special treat... she explained that there was a basket of books and asked each guest to leave a special message in each so when I read books to the boys, I can read these special notes. So sweet!

Next, we moved on to lunch and trivia. Cyndi and Kelly were very clever with this game. They created a quiz about twins and pop culture. Can you name the famous twins from Star Wars? Or, can you name the actors from the movies 'Twins'? What famous columnists are also twin sisters?

Next it was time to open presents (2nd cry). Kelly introduced the most amazing baby book ever. She created a book for Mark and I to read to the boys that is about us; where we're from, what we did when we were kids, how we met... all documented with photos collected from family. The book was passed around the room so each guest could read a page out loud. A very special gift!

Then the marathon of gift opening began. Now I know why they call it a shower since I was certainly showered with love and gifts. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. It was so surreal!

My mom gave me a couple very special gifts (3rd cry). She gave me a book that she made for my grandmother about me and my first year. When my grandmother Dorothy passed away, my parents went through her apartment and found this book. My mom saved this book for 30 years and handed it off to me at the shower. I was stunned. And... my mom also gave me my baby book that she kept about my childhood. She was quite detailed about every milestone. I'm afraid I have a lot to live up to if I'm going to document the boys as well as my mom documented my childhood!

Home for the Holidays

With the doctor's permission, I was able to spend a much-needed week in LA. It was so great to be home and especially nice that my family was finally able to see my pregnant belly. They seemed quite surprised to see how large I am. Even with all the photos, you can't beat seeing for yourself. The babies have been very active so it was fun letting everyone feel the kicking... even my nephews!

We had fun opening presents on Xmas day, Mark and I got to have a nice walk on the beach, we visited the Getty museum and hit Gladstones in Malibu for happy hour (water for me!). Mark headed back to Boulder on Sunday and I stuck around for a few more days. Who knows when my next trip to LA will be so I wanted to soak up home as much as I could.

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what I looked like on December 25. Notice my new favorite comfy shirt from my brother. Very appropriate ;-)