At my weekly doctor appointment, my blood pressure was high. So they took it again. High again. Apparantly, it has been creeping up slowly the past few weeks. I don’t have swelling, no protein in the urine, or anything else that sets off alarms. Just this stupid slightly high BP. So the doc casually announced to me during the question portion of my appointment that she’d be writing me a doctor’s note that I was to stay home. Really! A doctor’s note! Like, to hand in to the principal!
I asked her the purpose, since at work I sit behind a desk all day. She said it was all the getting up and down she didn’t want. I could work from home, if possible, but I should really take it easy. Slightly appalled at the thought of sitting on the couch all day, I asked about walking the dogs. That’s healthy, right? Good for the heart? “No,” she replied, “You really just need to take it easy.” “Vacuuming?” I asked, picturing the layer of doghair that I was scheduled to get rid of this week (yes, I have a regular cleaning schedule in my head that makes some, namely my husband, call me slightly anal). “No vacuuming,” she replied.
The kicker of it all is, I feel fine! That kills me! So I sit, and look for excuses to get up if it’s been too many hours. Wally’s not leaving me many chances, though, since he’s cooking, grocery shopping, vacuuming (my hero!), letting the dogs out, entertaining them, and basically taking care of, well, everything. The doctor’s note, instead of being written to my work, was written to “to whom it may concern,” with the instructions, “no work,” so I handed it in to Wally as a “get out of cooking free” card. I guess he took it seriously. So I get to sit here and wait.
It hasn’t been terribly bad. Luckily I can work from home, so my mind is kept active wrapping things up at work, and I don’t have to start my leave and use any of my precious time off pre-SmallWal. And the weekend has been rather relaxing. It was hard to sit while Wally cleaned the house (the guilt!), but at the same time, it’s nice to be taken care of. And I know, believe me, I know, this is the last chance for us to sit and do nothing for the next 18 years or so. I worked on craft projects. I watched mind-candy TV (Top Model! Say Yes to the Dress!). And this is embarassing, but I’m going to admit it…while crafting, I “instant watch”ed 13 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. Over half a season! In one weekend! (Until this weekend, I didn’t know what they meant when they would say every patient’s BP. Because of my new condition, I had that aha moment in about the 7th episode.)
I called in my BPs to the doc office, and they’ve been good enough that we’re not talking about inducing yet. Just more of this “modified bedrest,” as the doc calls it, since she’s okay with me working from home. So if Wally V waits until his due date (Oct. 30) to make his appearance, we’re talking 2 more weeks of this fun. And I swear, this bedrest thing makes that looming sense of waiting that comes with the last month of pregnancy extremely torturous. I think about Wally V all the time.
I go daily from being afraid and not quite ready to go into labor (yesterday…ultra-relief when we were told we weren’t inducing yet!) to extremely ready to have him (today! I practiced receiving blanket wraps on a stuffed animal monkey!). Here’s to hoping the day he comes is one of my ready days. And if not, I’ll buck up out of necessity. Until then, we’re just waiting, waiting, waiting…
On Being Pregnant 
hey kiddo-have been thinking about you since your mom told me last Wed. you were on bedrest. Enjoy it because as you said you have 18+ years of activity to keep you quite busy. Hang in there! (13 episodes-really?)
I knew there was a reason why I left my stuffed monkey there… I just hope Wally V doesn’t quite have as long of limbs as him… but if he does I will love him just the same, maybe even more since as a newborn he would be able to wrap those chubby long monkey arms around me for a hug!!
All of my days are ready days!!
I’m thinking of series of shows you can watch while you’re waiting, waiting, waiting… have you watched any “Jeeves and Wooster”? It’s British comedy from the 90s starring Hugh Laurie, of “House” fame. They made 4 seasons of it, so that could keep you occupied for a little while. And if you like that, you could check out “Blackadder” – more of a historical comedy.
Um, what else? That blogger I told you about posted parts 2 and 3 of her breastfeeding series. That will take up… 15-20 minutes of your time. The New Yorker has long articles, and sometimes Slate does, too. Have you got Tetris? Wait, that’s bad for my blood pressure, so maybe don’t do that if you need to keep the BP down.
Perhaps the best way to relax is to remind yourself that WeeVee is full term, and both his parents are the kind of folks who do everything to take care of him, so he’ll be just fine. And you’ve got all this bonus swaddling practice. Not bad!
I’m so sorry Mollie! I’ve had modified bed-rest with both kids so far, and will most likely have to with this one as well- It stinks. I used to think, oh wouldn’t that be great to have to lay on the couch all day and read and watch TV. Boy was I wrong, it was boring! And my back would ache from being so pregnant and just laying there. I still see rerun episodes on HGTV that I watched while on bed-rest with Ethan (that was almost 6 years ago!). I’m just glad you are full term. No matter when weevee comes he be nicely baked and ready for life. Both my kiddos were two weeks early, and truthfully I wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, that’s not true I hope this one is only a week early so I can go see New Moon the night before he’s born. A girl can dream.