23 Weeks Pregnant and Something isn't right
Fast forward 5 weeks to 23 weeks pregnant. I was healing up great. My arm was finally out of a sling. We purchased a new mattress in hopes that it would help alleviate some of my lower back pain from the accident. Life was just getting back to normal. My boyfriend and I were looking for a new house to get out of a horrible land lord situation and an abundance of black mold coupled with constant harassment. My school semester was winding down so things were getting stressful. I had lots of large assignments to complete as well as exams to study for. I was still catching up from the week or so I took out of school after the accident.
Walking on campus was still a bit terrifying to me. Cars kept whizzing by at high speeds and most of the time they don't even stop for the pedestrian crossing lights. I tried to cross where the lights are because I felt a little safer after being struck in a four way intersection with no lights. I didn't trust a driver to tell me it was okay to cross the street. I always just waived them on and crossed when there were no cars around. There were even times when my boyfriend offered to walk me to class which was very helpful as I had a high level of anxiety walking to and from class.
As work and school got more stressful my boyfriend was stressed out. He wanted me to take a break from it all and just let him handle stuff. Unfortunately, anyone who knows me knows I'm not happy if I'm not in the mix. He begged and pleaded multiple times for me to let him help. Him and I hadn't even been together a year and we were already expecting a baby, he had become a step dad over night and we were living together. Needless to say the growing pains were at an all time high. I thought he was intimidated by my drive and he thought I was so stubborn I would jeopardize this child which was a huge unexpected blessing.
Because I was going to school during the duty day I had to stay later at work and even work half days on Saturdays to make up my time and ensure I didn't get behind on projects. I didn't mind it too much. I got more done when nobody was in the office because there were zero distractions. Until the Friday that I turned 23 weeks pregnant.
My baby sister was about 7 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and this time really allowed us to bond because we had drifted after high school when I left in the military. We both cherished being able to laugh at the uncomfortable changes our bodies were enduring and how our significant others were responding to our hormones. We were texting that Friday about pregnancy and I had super swollen feet so we were giggling about how fat our feet were. I was supposed to be working but I decided a break was nice so we texted for about 30 minutes until I got a tornado WARNING alert on my phone. I calmly asked her, "Hey is a tornado warning the one that means its possible or does it mean there is an actual tornado?" She immediately said "Holy crap! Your city has a tornado warning!" I told her "I guess I better go pick up my kiddo from daycare!" and I left work early to go get her. I was calm and fine but I did call my boyfriend and told him to hurry home because I wanted him home safe and didn't want to sit out a tornado alone with my 4 year old (we already endured that in my car 2 years ago and it was horrible). He assured me he was hauling butt home!
I got to the daycare to get my daughter and it was chaos! Parents running, teachers running, people yelling, kids crying! I was like "OMG where is my kid!?!" I found her just reading a book in the corner of the room. I grabbed her hand and instructed her to walk with me so we could get home quickly. She smiled and said, "Mommy, there is a tornado coming!" I told her I know that's why we need to get home so we don't get stuck in the car like last time. She smiled and was happy to walk with me...as I waddled!
People were tripping over us because we weren't moving fast enough so I went into protective mode and picked her up. It hurt but I had to protect her from these maniacs. I got her in her car seat all buckled up and we headed home. People were driving like psychos so we had to be extra cautious. Made it home in a short 10 mins and got inside the house. I told her to grab her tablet and we grabbed a ton of pillows and hopped in my closet. We sat in there until my boyfriend got home and he jumped in with us as well as the dog and the cat. My daughter was cool and content and I was a nervous wreck. I could hear hail slamming into the windows and I felt my heart racing. I heard the wind howling and I prayed so hard for God to keep us safe. Then we got the all clear. Came out of the closet and there was zero damage so we were happy.
I thought all was fine until I noticed I was bleeding when I went to the restroom. It wasn't heavy so we chalked it up to me being so active that day with the tornado and all of the adult time we had enjoyed the week before. I was experiencing lots of back pain and assumed it was all from the accident 5 weeks prior. So we both just brushed it off. I mentioned it to my doctor and he didn't like the sound of it so he conducted his own exam. He immediately put us on pelvic rest...(which meant NO SEX AT ALL) and tested me for infections too just to be safe. He told me to spend a day or two at home and not return to regular work schedule until the bleeding subsided for at least 48 hours. I took a break from school because the long walks but I had to go to work...so I did. The bleeding subsided and I let him know. He reported I had no infections and that it was probably just cervical irritation. Again we brushed it off. The doctor wasn't too concerned so why should we be. Life went back to normal.
I remember thinking, "This has been such an eventful pregnancy. I assume its going to calm down soon. How much worse can it get?" I never should have even said those words in my head. As you can guess, it did get worse.
Walking on campus was still a bit terrifying to me. Cars kept whizzing by at high speeds and most of the time they don't even stop for the pedestrian crossing lights. I tried to cross where the lights are because I felt a little safer after being struck in a four way intersection with no lights. I didn't trust a driver to tell me it was okay to cross the street. I always just waived them on and crossed when there were no cars around. There were even times when my boyfriend offered to walk me to class which was very helpful as I had a high level of anxiety walking to and from class.
As work and school got more stressful my boyfriend was stressed out. He wanted me to take a break from it all and just let him handle stuff. Unfortunately, anyone who knows me knows I'm not happy if I'm not in the mix. He begged and pleaded multiple times for me to let him help. Him and I hadn't even been together a year and we were already expecting a baby, he had become a step dad over night and we were living together. Needless to say the growing pains were at an all time high. I thought he was intimidated by my drive and he thought I was so stubborn I would jeopardize this child which was a huge unexpected blessing.
Because I was going to school during the duty day I had to stay later at work and even work half days on Saturdays to make up my time and ensure I didn't get behind on projects. I didn't mind it too much. I got more done when nobody was in the office because there were zero distractions. Until the Friday that I turned 23 weeks pregnant.
My baby sister was about 7 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and this time really allowed us to bond because we had drifted after high school when I left in the military. We both cherished being able to laugh at the uncomfortable changes our bodies were enduring and how our significant others were responding to our hormones. We were texting that Friday about pregnancy and I had super swollen feet so we were giggling about how fat our feet were. I was supposed to be working but I decided a break was nice so we texted for about 30 minutes until I got a tornado WARNING alert on my phone. I calmly asked her, "Hey is a tornado warning the one that means its possible or does it mean there is an actual tornado?" She immediately said "Holy crap! Your city has a tornado warning!" I told her "I guess I better go pick up my kiddo from daycare!" and I left work early to go get her. I was calm and fine but I did call my boyfriend and told him to hurry home because I wanted him home safe and didn't want to sit out a tornado alone with my 4 year old (we already endured that in my car 2 years ago and it was horrible). He assured me he was hauling butt home!
I got to the daycare to get my daughter and it was chaos! Parents running, teachers running, people yelling, kids crying! I was like "OMG where is my kid!?!" I found her just reading a book in the corner of the room. I grabbed her hand and instructed her to walk with me so we could get home quickly. She smiled and said, "Mommy, there is a tornado coming!" I told her I know that's why we need to get home so we don't get stuck in the car like last time. She smiled and was happy to walk with me...as I waddled!
People were tripping over us because we weren't moving fast enough so I went into protective mode and picked her up. It hurt but I had to protect her from these maniacs. I got her in her car seat all buckled up and we headed home. People were driving like psychos so we had to be extra cautious. Made it home in a short 10 mins and got inside the house. I told her to grab her tablet and we grabbed a ton of pillows and hopped in my closet. We sat in there until my boyfriend got home and he jumped in with us as well as the dog and the cat. My daughter was cool and content and I was a nervous wreck. I could hear hail slamming into the windows and I felt my heart racing. I heard the wind howling and I prayed so hard for God to keep us safe. Then we got the all clear. Came out of the closet and there was zero damage so we were happy.
I thought all was fine until I noticed I was bleeding when I went to the restroom. It wasn't heavy so we chalked it up to me being so active that day with the tornado and all of the adult time we had enjoyed the week before. I was experiencing lots of back pain and assumed it was all from the accident 5 weeks prior. So we both just brushed it off. I mentioned it to my doctor and he didn't like the sound of it so he conducted his own exam. He immediately put us on pelvic rest...(which meant NO SEX AT ALL) and tested me for infections too just to be safe. He told me to spend a day or two at home and not return to regular work schedule until the bleeding subsided for at least 48 hours. I took a break from school because the long walks but I had to go to work...so I did. The bleeding subsided and I let him know. He reported I had no infections and that it was probably just cervical irritation. Again we brushed it off. The doctor wasn't too concerned so why should we be. Life went back to normal.
I remember thinking, "This has been such an eventful pregnancy. I assume its going to calm down soon. How much worse can it get?" I never should have even said those words in my head. As you can guess, it did get worse.
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