Jamie Giordano - Twelve Times Two: The Journeys of a Mother on Bed Rest

Copyright 2015 Jamie Giordano.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION and NIV are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 (866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6651-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6652-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6650-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015900694

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/02/2015

CONTENTS

To my chil dren

no sacrifice is too big

A huge thanks to those family members and friends who supported this big undertaking and encouraged me along the way, especially to my dear husband, Joe Giordano, and my mother, Sue Wallentin, for sitting through and listening to multiple revisions, additions, and omissions. And to my sister, Jennifer Speer, and my colleague/friend, Lori Kixmiller, thank you for thoroughly reading and editing this memoir. Your honest and sound feedback helped me to better tell my story.

Perhaps youre reading this book because the verdict has just been announced: bed rest . Like me, maybe you are in a position where youre trying to prolong a pregnancy as much as possible, and bed rest is the only reasonable option. Reasonable is being used very loosely here. Maybe you are bedridden for other medical reasons, and youre in search of someone elses story so you wont feel so alone. Perhaps you know of someone whos confined to bed and you want to be able to empathize with him or her because he or she just cant seem to find the words or isnt ready to discuss the toll this experience is having on him or her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Or maybe none of the above applies to you, and youre simply looking for inspiration in a difficult situation to assure yourself that even dark moments can be used as light sources, and there is something or some one in control of lifes chaos.

I put my experiences to paper for all those reasons. Im not doing it for notoriety, money, or self-gratification. If I can help one person better cope with his or her current predicament, be it pregnancy-related bed rest or another storm, Ive succeeded in my duty because this book was, after all, a duty. I didnt know what would become of my experience until well after I finished my first bed-rest term. I just found writing to be a therapeutic outlet for the broad range of emotions I felt through my ordeal. However, in time it became strikingly clear that God didnt want me to keep those written words to myself. Realizing there were too few published testimonies out there that would have sympathized with someone in my situation, I felt driven by the Lord to share my story with you. Most of my journey will be told through the pages of my journal, which will allow you to understand what was happening and how I was feeling at that moment . I hope you find some solace and encouragement by reading my story. You are not alone, and you will get through this.

PREGNANCY 1

Introduction

My husband, Joe, and I were high school sweethearts but not in the traditional sense. We met and fell in love while teaching at a public metropolitan high school in the city of Indianapolis. We were both mathematics teachers; I was just starting my career, and my husband had one year under his belt. I initially thought he was cocky but undeniably brilliant; he appreciated my dry wit and thought I was easy on the eyes. I realized early on that he wasnt going to make the first move, so I enlisted the help of a colleague to get the ball rolling. I was reliving memories of junior high as our mutual friend exchanged pleasantries between the two of us. I never went as far as delivering a handwritten date request with accompanying yes or no boxes to checkmark, but we were headed there. Our first date was finally arrangedan eighteen-hole round of golfand my husband knew it was a match made in heaven. We married along the beautiful beaches of San Diego in 2005 and eventually reached phase two in our union as husband and wife.

When we decided to start a family, we thought we could time my pregnancy and simply select the months that we would conceive and thereafter deliver. Both being educators, we had hoped the baby would come at the beginning of our summer break so that both of us would be home during those sleep-deprived first few months. God had other plans though, that at first frustrated us but then made perfect sense.

After the final month of trying in our designated window, I discovered I was pregnant on New Years Day of 2008. What a monumental beginning to the year! I had taken pregnancy tests before, only to be disappointed after waiting those two agonizingly long minutes for a negative result. This time I couldnt wait, so I watched. First, the indicator line showing the test was working, thencould it be? A faint second line was slowly emerging. It remained barely distinguishable, so I didnt want to trust my own eyes. I reread the test instructions and closely examined the example diagrams could it be!

I nonchalantly called my husband into the bathroom, asking him to look at something. With an equally casual response, he simply said, Yep, looks positive. Then we both stared at each other. The realization took a moment to sink in. Im pregnant? Im pregnant. Im pregnant! It only took three more store-bought pregnancy tests to convince me that we were having a baby.

Our son was projected to arrive in early September. The news meant we wouldnt be celebrating the beginning of our summer break with a baby, but the promise of a boy brought great happiness and partial relief. The instant the gender was announced, I knew my husband would have his sought-after male child, and we wouldnt one day be living in a household of teenage girls after multiple attempts at trying for a boy.

I was fortunate to have a relatively easy first half to my pregnancy. Of course, I had to visit the bathroom quite frequently and thoroughly enjoyed napping, but the only thing that really ailed me was an occasional pain behind my left rib cage, which was later written off as purely muscular-skeletal from my expanding midsection. I was able to maintain my role as a teacher and managed to conjure up enough energy to get through each day. Once I hit my second trimester, pregnancy was bliss but not for long. I was just beginning to enjoy a clearly visible belly, shopping for maternity clothes, and registering for baby items when all the excitement came crashing down, replaced instead by panic, worry, anger, and isolation.