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    Twelve Times Two: The Journeys of a Mother on Bed Rest
    Twelve Times Two: The Journeys of a Mother on Bed Rest
    Twelve Times Two: The Journeys of a Mother on Bed Rest
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

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

    By Jamie Giordano

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    About this ebook

    Each year millions of women are gifted with relatively simple pregnancies. Marked only by a growing belly, they are able to go about their everyday lives with little to no major disruptions. Those nine months unfold at the same rate as any other calendar month and culminate with the joyous arrival of a newborn. But alongside every normal pregnancy is one deemed high-risk, one that can make a finite amount of time feel infinite and turn a womans world upside down. The cause of a questionable symptom or the conclusion of a routine visit can instill the greatest fear within a woman, the fear of losing her baby. That fear can manifest itself into anger and depression when that same woman is given the prescription of bed rest, a term that can only be defined by doctors but accurately described by women who have done it.

    Twelve Times Two is a mothers personal testimony of experiencing and surviving three months of bed rest for each of her two children. Follow the author as she provides week-by-week and day-by-day accounts of what life is really like from the confines of a bed. Most importantly, discover her ultimate source of strength and inspiration that carried her through the long days and nights and gave her journey purpose and meaning.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateMar 2, 2015
    ISBN9781490866505
    Twelve Times Two: The Journeys of a Mother on Bed Rest
    Author

    Jamie Giordano

    Jamie Giordano is a mother of two children, who endured twenty-four weeks of prescribed bed rest while carrying them. In addition to being a full-time mother, she is also a full-time teacher, having taught secondary mathematics for the past ten years. She currently resides in Indiana with her husband and children.

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      Book preview

      Twelve Times Two - Jamie Giordano

      cover.jpg

      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

      Acknowledgments

      Preface

      Part I

      Pregnancy #1 Introduction

      Week 1

      Week 2

      Week 3

      Week 4

      Week 5

      Week 6

      Week 7

      Week 8

      Week 9

      Week 10

      Week 11

      Week 12

      Pregnancy #1 Conclusion

      Part II

      Pregnancy #2 Introduction

      Week 1

      Week 2

      Week 3

      Week 4

      Week 5

      Week 6

      Week 7

      Week 8

      Week 9

      Week 10

      Week 11

      Week 12

      Week 13

      Week 14

      Week 15

      Week 16

      Pregnancy#2 Conclusion

      Afterword

      Tips

      Resources

      To my children—

      no sacrifice is too big

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      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.

      PREFACE

      Perhaps you’re reading this book because the verdict has just been announced: bed rest. Like me, maybe you are in a position where you’re 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 you’re in search of someone else’s story so you won’t feel so alone. Perhaps you know of someone who’s confined to bed and you want to be able to empathize with him or her because he or she just can’t seem to find the words or isn’t 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 you’re 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 someone in control of life’s chaos.

      I put my experiences to paper for all those reasons. I’m 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, I’ve succeeded in my duty because this book was, after all, a duty. I didn’t 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 didn’t 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.

      Part I

      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 wasn’t 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 arranged—an eighteen-hole round of golf—and 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 Year’s 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 couldn’t wait, so I watched. First, the indicator line showing the test was working, then—could it be? A faint second line was slowly emerging. It remained barely distinguishable, so I didn’t 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. I’m pregnant? I’m pregnant. I’m 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 wouldn’t 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 wouldn’t

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