Pressures

Life these days is certainly becoming more interesting.  After the events of week 24 Meg has been placed on bedrest.  The bedrest was in part our decision based on how we felt about Meg's job and just her challenges in carrying our babies.  With each passing week we are more and more sure of that decision.  Contractions have continued to be a frustrating, confusing component of pregnancy.  There are bursts of time where Meg will have an unusually high number of contractions and other times where she won't have any for hours.  But at what point do you get concerned?  How many is too many?  This past Sunday presented exactly this question.  In the evening she was having 6-8 contractions an hour and after a couple hours we decided to call the doctor.  We called at 8:00.  Thanks to the wonderful service we receive on our cell phones with ATT we didn't get to speak to the doctor until 9:30.  And of course by this time the contractions had slowed down.  We got to stay home Sunday night.  Of course Monday is a new day.  Late in the afternoon Meg's contractions pick up again.  We decided to go visit Dr. Cowles thinking she might be bored and need company.  Meg got on the monitor and we got a chance to see two beautiful strong heartbeats.  What a relief it is to see this in a time of stress and concern over the contractions.  The doctor decides to try to slow down the contractions with a different medicine this time.  After about four hours they slow down and Meg got to go back home, only this time with a new set of guidelines. 

Apparently Meg had not become closely enough acquainted with her bed or the couch during the past month.  So they decided she needed to spend more quality time with them.  In an effort to give her body the best possible conditions they have restricted her bedrest.  No more going out, no more cooking, no more cleaning.  And they are having her stay on the meds to stop contractions.

We also got the opportunity to experience Walgreen's 24 hour pharmacy at midnight!  I would recommend calling in your emergent prescriptions even at such wee hours as we got to wait over an hour to fill a seemingly simple prescription. 

Patience.  Lesson of the month?  Treating contractions with patience vs anxiousness.  Not complaining when we have to wait an hour for a prescription.  Playing the waiting game in the hospital trying to get contractions to slow.  Hard lessons to learn.  Lessons with somewhat minimal consequence right now.  Having patience with a crying baby or even TWO BABIES carries a lot more consequence.  (we're having twins if you haven't heard)  Testing always has a purpose.  Finding the purpose in the midst of the challenge...

Prayer request for this post:  Even today we are faced with new challenges.  Please pray that the contractions are controlled by the medication and Meg's uterus somehow finds a way to expand even more to provide time for growth.  Please pray that we find peace in a stressful time and that we practice patience to grow the character God is refining.