20 Week Update

We've made it to the halfway point in the pregnancy! It feels like the time has gone by so fast and yet so slow at the same time -- fast in that it's weird to say I am 5 months pregnant now and slow because of how yucky I felt for a couple months.

Had my 20 week check-up with my regular OB today. The last time I saw him was 4 weeks ago, right before Thanksgiving. Everything is still looking good with the stitches he put in and my cervix has remained tightly closed. The baby is doing well -- good heartbeat, growing well -- the last two sonograms showed everything looked healthy, including the fetal echocardiagram (detailed scan of the baby's heart).

So on to the bed rest topic.... the ever daunting topic that I never want to discuss. Keep in mind that none of this is a surprise because I knew my doctor felt this way about this pregnancy all along. The medical guidance on cerclage + bed rest has changed over the decades -- 70's said that if you need a cerclage, you sure as heck should be on bed rest too; 80's said a cerclage should be good enough and bed rest is only needed in extreme cases; 90's went back to the school of thought that the combination of cerclage and bed rest was best for carrying a baby to full term; and now, it's a little combination of both. My doctor said he feels good about the stitches and doesn't see anything to cause much alarm, but thinks that we're better to be safe than sorry and would prefer that I be on bed rest. Especially during these next critical 6 weeks where if the baby were to be born, the chances of survival are so slim (but let's not think about that...). So he asked me if me going on bed rest would cause any financial hardship or issues with job security. I am fortunate enough to be able to say no to those questions since I can either work from home or take disability through work. He said he'd like me to talk to my boss and see what we can work out so I can try to spend as much time on bed rest as possible and we also agreed that I would come back in two weeks for another check-up to see how things are going. So, more to come on all of this.

On another note, the Gunning household has been plagued with sickness, but luckily we're all getting better now before the holidays. Poor Jakey had croup again last week and a lingering cold that is now clearing up. Everyone else (including Jake) was hit with the fun 24 hour stomach flu... Better to get it all out of our systems now! This seems to be a bad winter for sickness. Seems like everyone we know has had a flu-type virus in one form or another. Hope everyone is better in time for Christmas!!