Bedrest . . .

Exactly 6 weeks ago at our 20 week ultrasound appointment for our 3rd little bundle we were informed that I have complete placenta previa and I was immediately on bedrest...now mind you when we walked into our routine ultrasound/check up we thought everything was going perfect as our previous pregnancies had been going.  Being the extremely active family that we are this rocked our world like I never would have imagined.  I completely broke down with our amazing Ultrasound Tech Doctor and quite bluntly asked "how am I supposed to go on bedrest?  I don't have time for bedrest"  My husband is a CPA, so this was the time of year we only really see him on Sundays so my role is crucial to keep things rolling in our household, we have no family in town to help us out and we have a 4.5 & 2.5yr old to care for.  Our 4.5yr old has school 3 days a week as well as extra curricular activities to attend and our 2.5yr old has dance once a week to attend.  My head was spinning at the thought of not being able to do anything for who knows how long absolutely rocked my world and terrified me. We immediately went to our OB office to discuss what this all meant and what we really had to do; of course baby comes first and everything else will follow, we would do whatever we had to, but it just felt like a nightmare as it was so unrealistic to think of bedrest. Our OB was just as concerned and started talking in terms of a 22week/24week old baby and how very scary that would be and our goal is to keep this babe cooking for as long as we can, each week speaks volumes when in utero.  Again, I was an absolute & utter mess.  Anyone that has so much as even met me before knows my only hearts desire is to be a Wife & Mama...I love being a Mama so much I am sure it freaks my hubs out a tad as we may end up with our own army ;)  To think of the thought of if I didn't follow "the rules" (which I hate rules, always have & probably always will, lol!) that I could actually have my life threatened, which at first I hadn't even thought of as I was just thinking about the baby, the baby, the baby!!  I needed to do this FOR MY CURRENT BABIES!!!  I couldn't be foolish and just say yea ok bedrest, I'll do what I can and worse case we deliver a very pre term babe, no way my 4.5 & 2.5yr old depend on me, I would never want them to have to grow up without their Mama.  A Mama who lived & breathed for them and kept our calendar so jammed packed so they would have the worlds absolute best memories growing up.  They needed both Mama & Dada, that is the way Jesus intended it and that was now not only docs orders but my mission...to get this babe as full term as we possibly can.  We gathered our things and headed home.  I was always SO EXCITED to call my Mama & give her all the updates after each appt, but I didn't want to call after this appt.  I didn't want to talk to anyone, I wanted to crawl into bed and just pretend it was all a very bad dream.  But, Braden had school the next morning and I was told I can't take him...so I called Mom and lost it the second she answered the phone.  She was SO EXCITED waiting for our call to learn all about the updates on the babe...and little did she know we had very hard news to swallow.  Without even seconds passing by of the difficult news she without hesitation said "I can come up and help you, I will get things ready tonight and be up asap"...of course Jesse & I had talked about asking her if she could come help us out, but the thought of asking her to come up for possibly 16-17 weeks seemed harsh when she & my Dad haven't been apart for more than a few weeks at a time during their 36 years of marriage, but they are my bestest friends and I knew they wanted as much as us what was best for this precious baby.  Soon after I got off the phone with Mom I sent out a text to our best friends letting them know the news and asking for help for the following morning until Mom got into town to take over.  I am so beyond grateful for the amazing friends that the Lord has truly blessed us with up here.  We have an amazing group of friends that we all celebrate our littles bdays, each others bdays, game nights, holidays and being there for each other when we need each other most, without hesitation.  They not only jumped in to help take our son to & from school, but dinners began showing up that day as well, not just 1, but 2 meals, including one of my best friends setting up a meal calendar where meals started coming practically daily.  Mom was here by nightfall that same day with arms wide open to love on us and help where needed, constant checking in on how things were going from family & friends, my wonderful Mother in Law on her way up with a Costco run for us...I felt like a terrible person because people were calling to check in and I just couldn't handle talking to anyone besides my hubs, Mom & Dad; it was all too emotional and overwhelming and was getting me more and more anxious, which caused me to get contractions, to think about talking about it more on the phone...to keep rehashing it was just making it harder.

Here are some bump pics to break up this ridiculously long post!
 {phone pic :: 9 week bump w/ my incredible girlfriends}

 {phone pic :: 14week bump, big sis lovies}

 {phone pic :: 18week bump}

{phone pic :: 18wks & littles finally get to feel this crazy tiny tot kickin their Mama :)}

{phone pic:: 19week bump}

{phone pic :: 20wk bump; had to take a break from play with littles due to contractions}

{phone pic :: hello world!  I'm 20.5 weeks young}

{phone pic :: 22wks; survived 1st week of bedrest}

{phone pic :: 1st month of bedrest survived, WOOOOHOOO!!!  
after nap sillies w/ my lil loves}

    {phone pic :: 23week bump}

 {photo pic :: easier moments of bedrest}

 
{phone pic :: kisses from best big bro}

 {photo pic :: 26week bump, bye bye toes!}

 {phone pic :: 25week bump}

 {photo pic :: 26week bump}

  {phone pic :: on our way to our 24 week check up; littles love to love on their baby bro/sis}

 {phone pic :: 25week bump}

Fast forward to 6 weeks, 
we have all survived!  
 It is truly amazing to me how fast it really has gone.  The days go by incredibly fast, shockingly...probably since they are always off doing something, which I suspected would drag for me being left behind.  And of course there are days that do, but my Mom & I have made a list of "projects" to keep my mind busy...and things are slowly being checked off my never ending project list (thanks pinterest!)!  It is the weekly marks that do seem to drag a tad.  We are now 26weeks 6days along; WOOOOHOOO!  **If** the babe ended up coming this early I believe babe would survive, but we would be working with the NICU at this point.  We are extremely optimistic to make it as full term as we can get, which will be 36/37 weeks.  I trust the Lord has His hand covering us and protecting us.  I'm a big time planner and am learning (slowly) that His plan is ALWAYS BETTER than our plan.   Thankfully the Lord has it all under control in His perfect timing.

Until next time...