#AskAbby: How To Manage Your High Risk Pregnancy

I keep getting questions from followers asking how I am managing my “high risk” pregnancy. So I thought I would share whats been happening in the last 29 weeks. I am considered “high risk” because I am carrying two babies, and when you are pregnant with multiples you have a higher risk of developing complications. Usually the most common risk is a premature delivery. This is why you have more doctors appointments, and must be monitored more closely. I seriously feel like I live at the doctor’s office and I am there every single week!

We talked at length about nutrition and a healthy, steady weight gain throughout my pregnancy. This was to ensure that the babies and I were healthy but also to help reduce any risk of gestational diabetes, increased blood pressure or aches and pains due to increased weight gain. As I have mentioned before, I gained 75 pounds with Willow and have severe back problems. So this time around I met with a nutritionist, Kevin Libby and we created a food plan in which I eat every two hours. This has been a major game changer for me, I feel full and have great energy. Thus far I have gained about 36 pounds so far.

I noticed in the last two weeks that I was starting to feel a tightness and pressure in my belly, multiple times an hour. I really thought this was the babies turning over for the longest time. It wasn’t until I saw my accupuncturist that she told me I was having Braxton Hicks contractions. Braxton Hicks contractions are your bodies way of preparing for the real thing, and usually are called “false labor”. I was starting to have them more and more, usually they correlated with me standing and working for long periods of time. Around this time I also started experiencing increased ligament pain that was unrelieved with laying down or a supportive belly belt. So my doctor made the decision to put me on maternity leave and gave me a serious talking-to about taking it easy or I would end up on bed rest.

I will do anything to avoid bed rest at this point, so I obliged and gave up working at the office. Now that I am in my third trimester I have been drastically more hungry and more tired. I really found that I must pay attention to my body to ensure I stay healthy for these two little boys!! After all I want them to stay put for as long as they can! Have you experienced a high risk pregnancy?? Let me know how you dealt with any restrictions in the comments below!