Well, it looks like Baby #2 is hanging in there until the last possible moment. I have a C-section scheduled for Monday morning.
I must admit, I’m nervous to go back to “being a mom” again. Of course I never really stopped being a mom, but many of my mommy duties were assumed by my husband and mother while I was on bed rest. How on earth am I going to take care of two little boys everyday?
After a few weeks of me on bed rest, Ian got used to the “mommy in bed all day” routine. If I got out of bed, he would run and point to the bathroom door, because he knew that was the only place I was allowed to go. When I finished in the bathroom, he would point to my pillow back on the bed. As I’ve gained a little bit of my mobility over the past couple of weeks, Ian seems to be readjusting to me as a “normal mommy” again. I get more hugs and requests for play and reading time. Unfortunately, he also requests that I pick him up, which isn’t allowed yet. Just a couple more weeks, buddy!
I definitely have my own bed rest routines to break. I am still the most comfortable near my bed….physically comfortable, yes, but mentally comfortable, too. I remember hearing on bed rest message boards that it can be hard to leave the bedroom when we have spent several months living almost exclusively in that space. By this point, almost everything I need is 12 inches away from my mattress, so walking about the house seems unnecessary and even foolhardy. Happily, the nesting instinct is driving me to get up each day and do a little bit around the house (at least until the baby pressure in my tummy makes me sit back down!).
I guess we’ll adjust to life as a four-person family, just like we have adjusted to everything else. That has been a blessing of bed rest — the ability to shrug my shoulders and let things come as they may.
Lots of big transitions on the horizon. No, not on the horizon – right in front of you! I’d be nervous, too — but you are a fabulous mom, no matter how you have to live that out. I’m not saying it will be easy, I’m just saying that I know you will handle these transitions with the same grace that you have handled the past 21 weeks. And your team of helpers are still there for you, including me! Love you, sis.