Natalie & Ryan: The B Word

My last pregnancy post was about how invincible I felt....it didn't last long. About a week after my last post, I hit my 3rd trimester wall. At first I was just indescribably tired, and then my whole body decided to rebel and shut down.

Either the babies rotated head down, or dropped. The pain in my sciatic is so incredibly bad, I literally can't walk, stand, or sit. At first I thought I just injured myself (since I loaded my HEAVY wheelchair into my car by myself), but it's been several weeks, and the pain isn't letting up. Anyone that's experienced sciatic pain knows that it isn't just the back that suffers. I have shooting nerve pain that fires off like a gun, sending pain down my legs and into my feet all day. I made the mistake of trying to go to the store, despite experiencing this pain, and I think every single employee that saw me asked if I was okay. I thought I was going to pass out in the middle of Target. After that, my mom and Ryan decided it was time to introduce the "B" word into our vocabulary. BEDREST! We knew it was going to happen towards the end of this pregnancy, but I was doing so well, physically, that we all thought we may have a while more before it set in.

My bedrest Nazis, as I call them, made a secret pact that I was not allowed to leave the house alone, and that they would team up to take care of me, so I wouldn't make my pain any worse. They went as far as taking my car keys!! My mom has been letting me sleep in until 9, brings me and Lilly lunch, puts Lilly down for her nap, gets her up from her nap, lets me get a long nap, and then cooks and serves dinner. If I have to run errands, she either takes me and pushes me in a wheelchair, or just takes my grocery list and runs the errands for me. Now, while my mom and Ryan have been INCREDIBLY helpful, I can't help but feel INCREDIBLY guilty about it. I think I take after my mom in this regard, and accepting help is hard for me. I should be able to take care of myself, but I just can't.

It wasn't until this weekend that I realized that something was off about my appointment schedule with my doctor. I last saw my doctor on October 29th, and my next appointment isn't until December 17th. What?! With the pain in my back getting worse, and a SEVERE, sharp, throbbing, pain getting worse in my rib cage (along with another handful of painful symptoms), I decided to call my doctor. I was dreading the official bedrest order, because then all outings and fun holiday activities would be out the window. They had me go in and get my blood drawn today, and they'll discuss the results at my new appointment on Monday. I want to keep these babies in as long as I can, but there's also only so much pain that I can take. We're aiming for early-to-mid December. My body feels like it may be preparing to go sooner, but we'll see. Until then, my bed and my mom (mostly my mom) are my best friends.

The lab tech was really sweet to Lilly. She let Lilly help find my vein, let her clean off the spot with the alcohol wipe, and then let her touch the purple gloves. Lilly's been pretend poking everyone all day, and saying she's a doctor