Ten Weeks of Bed Rest

Today concludes ten weeks of bed rest. When I say "concludes" I don't necessarily mean that it's ending, but just that ten weeks have passed, and it's sort of ending (but probably not really). Yesterday or today were the first time since 25 January that I:

• Went shopping (I can't carry anything, but I can go along for the ride)
• Had a meal in a restaurant (dim sum!)
• Cooked
• Washed dishes
• Took a bus
• Went downtown
• Second time (other than the Passover seder) when I left the house to do something other than see a doctor or get a shot in my ass

I am at nearly 23 weeks now, and the baby is doing great, and I'm doing better. The pregnancy has mostly healed, but the doctor expects problems to come back around 28-32 weeks. He said that normally when people have what I had, and still have lots of stuff floating around in the amniotic fluid, that it usually becomes problematic in the third trimester. In the meantime, I get to enjoy limited mobility. We had our 22 week anatomy scan of the baby last week, and they said that all organs are in place and the measurements were as they should be. And yes, it's a boy or a girl.

Now I have been cleared to do some things that I don't have to do. I can go to the mall and walk around. I can get a haircut (I have been waiting for this for MONTHS! I am donating a foot of it!). I can go get my favorite coffee or food or bubble tea. I can go to a friend's house and sit. I still need to rest a lot, and I'm super weak from doing nothing for the last ten weeks. My muscles are so weak that I actually have bad balance because they can't pull me back up when I topple a little. I can barely step up a big step and lift myself. It's very weird, since I have always been such an active, healthy and strong person. 

I have now gained 2 kgs (about 4 pounds) in this pregnancy. It took something like 16 or 18 weeks before I passed my pre-pregnancy weight, because all of my muscle weight has disappeared and turned into baby (plus whatever else is in there) weight. My other weird symptom is that I'm nearly dead with my blood pressure - it's about 85/55. I guess bed rest really does make you relax!

In other news my mother will arrive tomorrow night and can help train our new helper, Alma. She worked for a Chinese family for five years, so she knows lots of Chinese cooking, but she doesn't know anything we eat - even the types of vegetables, pasta, cous cous...never heard of it. She is absolutely fantastic with Samara, and Samara loves her, so I'll take that any day over cooking (and now I can even cook a little bit! YEAH!). My mom will definitely have to teach her how to make challah, because that one I have never mastered, though I have tried.

Equally exciting is that Michigan is in the NCAA Finals!!! We will probably watch on Tuesday morning, either at our place with Slingbox or at our friend, Eric's, if it's on local TV. The Michigan Alumni Club in Singapore watches together, and they had more than 50 people for the Final Four game today! While I would love to join them, I don't think I could sit at a bar for 2 hours - a couch will do me better. Go Blue!!!!!

I think the next few weeks will be very difficult for me in terms of where I set my limits on activity, what I choose to do (get coffee, take Sam to school) and what I choose not to do (dishes, cleaning). I will do my best, and I'm sure Matt will have lots of opinions on the topic.