Restrictions during my pregnancy as of today

What is my life like right now?

I thought I would share what my life has been like during this pregnancy thus far.  I am often surprised at the things that people ask me to do that I thought knew I needed to be careful, so I decided to enlighten you!

I started seeing and MFM at RMH in December around 13/14 weeks.  Ever since then I have had quite a few "restrictions" put on my every day life.  I am supposed to avoid straining and using my abdominal muscles and those muscles are kind of important to do most things!

I can't lift things - They didn't give me an amount that I can lift up to but I pretty much don't lift or carry anything that is remotely significant in weight.  This can definitely make you feel pretty useless at times.  I can't tell you how many times I have simply stood staring at something wishing i could just pick it up and move it to where I want it to go.  Laundry baskets full of clothes, bags of groceries, and a lot of other things that you don't even think about until you go to pick it up.

I can't work - my doc said no work, this pretty much just means that I don't go into work and work on my feet.  Since we run a restaurant I have the luxury of doing some things from home such as scheduling, marketing and all the other computer work and paperwork that I usually do along with working in the restaurant.  I still attend meetings, go to the office and stop by work a few times a week.  I have been going in more often lately than I had been.  I was really nervous around 17-20 weeks so I really just stayed home most of the time and relaxed as much as possible.

I can't push a shopping cart - that's right, no pushing of shopping carts!  It seems strange but really you use your abdominal muscles to push the cart and doc said this is a big no no for me!  I feel like a kid sometimes because I cannot go shopping alone since I cannot push a cart and I cannot carry too much at once.  I always have a chaperone with me now :)  Thanks to my sister Jenny who is my constant shopping buddy when dh is working (and because he doesn't really enjoy shopping when he actually does get a day off!).

I can't mop or vacuum - Same as the shopping cart.  This is especially irritating because I generally mop and vacuum many many times a week.  Now I am constantly bothering dh to do it, and of course, "it only needs to be done once a month" according to him….LOL

I can't stand for long periods of time - I usually use the rule no standing for longer than 2 hours straight. Some days I feel more comfortable moving around and walking longer periods of time at once but I really have to take it easy on myself.  If i go shopping for more than 2 hours I'm supposed to use a wheel chair, however, I have made sure that I am not shopping too long because I do not want to drive one of those electric wheel chairs that never work!  I also know from watching my mom use them over the years that people just simply do not move for them and I would be tempted to start running people over :D

My biggest instruction from my doc was to avoid stress to avoid preterm labor.  I think overall we have been doing a pretty good job of that!  That 17P injections help with that too obviously, even though the injection sites have been incredibly itchy lately!

What do I do all day then?

The work I do on my laptop actually takes days at a time to accomplish so that keeps me pretty busy.

I am "nesting" - cleaning and organizing rooms, drawers, closets is a fun thing for me!  I have to enlist help for bigger jobs from family but there are always tons of things to clean and organize around the house, that is a never ending job!

I am working on baby stuff!  Collecting info, planning the nursery, crocheting his baby blanket, working on scrapbooks, painting and soon I will be working on painting the artwork that will hang in the nursery!  I will post pics as we go!

I want to do more baking but I just have been using my standing time for other things lately.

So, no, I am not just sitting at home on the couch all day.  Thankfully I get to move around and can keep myself busy!  I do enjoy doing things for myself too such as reading, taking the occasional nap, I have gotten a mani/pedi, a massage, a hair cut and have been indulging in buying flowers for around the house once in a while too!  And now that is winter, freezing outside and snowy I don't really like to leave the house!  Especially since I have a nice cozy fireplace in the living room that I am utilizing as much as possible!
I need to post some more pics of baby soon!