Snow and Sitting...

February 17th, eleven days on bed rest and counting...

Up until a recent conversation with a fellow preemie parent and good friend, I have been a bit skeptical of this bed rest plan.  I have never doubted the doctor's decision, but I know now that I was resistant.  Even with everything that we went through with Jett's birth, I really thought that I was going to be the 'one' that was an exception...that this pregnancy was going to be as normal as anyone else's, and that I would be able to complain with the rest of the mom's that say they couldn't wait to get their 'big' babies out of there.  I go back and forth between realizing I was naive and also knowing that giving Jett a sibling will be the best gift we can ever give him.  

Let me back up to explain my relationship to the voice on the other end of the phone.  Our paths probably would've never crossed if it weren't for our tragic birth stories.  Her little boy, born at 29 weeks has had a rough road since the beginning.  She talked a lot about how she could never go through it again, and said the words, "If you went into labor right now at 20 weeks, he wouldn't survive." The memories of hospital information then flooded my brain.  The fact is, Wake Med and UNC will not attempt to save preemies born before they are 24 weeks gestational age.  Duke will take 23 'weekers', but that's anticipating a lifetime of problems.  By no means did she know that our conversation would weigh so heavily on my mind, but it did put me in check!  Thank you Brooke!

I need to stop fighting this bed rest order and do everything possible to keep Baby Rickards in the oven.  The alternative is just unacceptable.  As each cheek gets numb, and I rotate to the other side, my goal is to stay positive and remember that we do not want the word 'survive' anywhere near our birthing plan!   

It's Feb.6th, 2013 and Joel and I are expecting and as of today, I am 19wks and 5 days pregnant with our second.  Our high-risk obgyn did an ultrasound yesterday and decided to put me on modified bed rest for one week.  I am praying that it will truly be only one week because I have a class that I love and a toddler that needs his mommy!  It has taken me back though, and I wanted to share our first journey with people we love.   Please visit the sidebar to the right to read from the beginning, March 2010.  Below is the very first day of Jett's 'too early' journey....

March 11, 2010...My water broke on Thursday night completely out of the blue. I had just gone to the doctor that afternoon for my glucose test and left the office with great news and feeling great! Joel and I went home, cooked some dinner, I had my nightly ice cream treat and while flipping channels between the Georgia Tech game and Idol, a sudden rush of water happened! I had no pain, just confusion. We called the doctor and she said I needed to go to the hospital.

When arriving at Rex, we were told the baby was coming! Obviously not what we've planned, it was a scary night and we had to move fast. Once there, they realized that I wasn't dilated at all but assumed labor would begin in the next 48 hours so they began monitoring me and the baby. They pumped us full of antibiotic IVs because the risk of infection was their first concern. They also gave us a steroid to help his lungs to develop. At 27 weeks, he's obviously wasn't ready yet. But, the good news was that he wasn't going anywhere.

Since Rex is only a Level 2 nursery, they wanted to transport me right away to a Level 3. We traveled by ambulance shortly after to Duke Women's Hospital. We arrived at 1am Fri morning, they assessed me again and moved me to Labor and Delivery at 5am. After two hours of sleep, my internal alarm clock woke me up for school. Needless to say, it was a long night.