Mothering Forum banner

Surviving bed rest

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  *Lindsey* 
#1 ·
Today marks the end of the first full week of "partial" bed rest. I'm not supposed to be on my feet long, though my peri did say I can make "simple meals that don't take too long". So, I'm trying to limit it to no more than 15 minutes at a time. (I was put on bed rest after my 2nd vaginal u/s to check my cervix revealed that I'd gone from 35mm 4 weeks earlier to 21mm this past Friday.)

I am getting lots of time off my feet, as our families have been life-savers and have been here everyday helping out. What a blessing!

My kids are also handling it pretty well, and DS (almost 4) understands that mommy has to rest a lot so the babies don't come too early and have to stay in the hospital.

I can see myself slowly going crazy if I have to keep this up for the rest of my pregnancy, and I know I will go nuts if I have to go on full bed rest.

So, mamas who have been there, how did you do it? Why were you put on bed rest? Were you on bed rest and then let off? For how long? Basically, I'd love to hear all about your bed rest experiences...all of it.
 
#2 ·
I was on full bedrest from 28 weeks until I delivered at 34w2d. I had also had several stays in the hospital that were either a couple of days to an entire week. I started to dilate to 2 cm starting at 28 weeks.

You're lucky you have help! Unfortunately, we didn't. I also have an older daughter. Since we had no one to watch her, we had to put her in a daycare for a few weeks. Bill (my DH) took on the housework, the grocery shopping, the cooking .

What helped me was lots of computer games, internet and www.sidelines.org--this is a site that will match you with a "buddy" that will either call or email you to help you though bedrest..

Hang in there!
 
#3 ·
WOW...My stats were exactly the same as kalynnsmom. My family was two hrs away and my dh was gone from 8:00 until 11:00 pm every day. I'm a pretty solitary person to begin with but there were times I thought I would go nuts. I loved my weekly checkups cause I got to go someplace.

I found it best to get into a routine...I would eat breakfast, have to monitor my contractions for an hour, get a shower, nap, tv, read/write, lunch, phone calls, nap, monitor contractions, etc. Just doing the same things at the same time everyday made each day easier to get through.

Looking back I don't remember doing much but watching TV. I couldn't lay down and use the computer at the same time. I love to read but had a really hard time concentrating. I did some crosswords and sudoko when I could think. I love to write, draw, knit and sew, but my hands were numb most of the time which made it hard to hold a pencil or a needle. Wow...I don't know how I made it through!

Just cherish every minute of your alone time because it won't last long and you'll long for the days when you where forced to lay down all day!
 
#4 ·
I was on partial bedrest for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. No standing for long periods of time, no heavy lifting, mandatory 2 hour left side rest mid afternoon. This was for pre-eclampsia as opposed to PTL.

I spent most of the day on the couch on my left side. My DS who is 20 months old would climb up me for stories and songs. Learned ways to keep him out of too much trouble and I learned to change diapers on surfaces he could climb to. It was an adjustment, but thankfully not as bad as if it were complete bedrest. The last 2 days my partner had to stay home with me because I was getting worse and needed to stay in bed more.

I just slept the times I was in bed or I entertained my DS when He was awake. It was tough but we got by. If I had been on complete bedrest, he'd have had to go to his grandparent's house 2 hours away since we have NO family nearby to help.
 
#5 ·
Bed rest was not easy for me. I had a 5 and 6 yr old. I was put on bed rest at 20 weeks for pre term labor with dilation. It was strict bed rest and the girls understood that mommy had to stay in bed all day and rest. I would get up to use the bathroom and that was about it. I spent alot of time online and found support through sidelines.orgThey have a message board and 2 weekly chats. The women there are so supportive and it gave me something to do when I had to stay in bed. I started knitting the boys their baby blankets and watched lots of movies and read lots of books. At 22 weeks I had pre term labor again that never really stopped even with meds. I was admitted into the hospital and remained there until they were born at 26w5d. I contracted all the time, sometimes more than others. At first the terb seemed to work and i would stop contracting but several hours they would be back. At one point my cervix had closed some but the next day I dilated even more. 25 weeks my water broke and I made it another week before the boys could not be stopped and they made their appearance. They are 10 days old now and I have a long road ahead of me in the NICU. I hope you are more sucessful with bed rest than I was. Good luck!
 
#6 ·
I'm so glad you posted. I was wondering how you where doing. I'm glad to hear things are well. I'm still on bedrest till next Thursday when I'm 34wks. Then I'll go onto modified bedrest but, that's fine because at this point if I'm up to much I have extreme pelvic and pubic bone pain. I hope that's not to much info.
I will still have to do the twice a day monitoring and turb pump though but, at least I get to leave the house for brief periods rather than just to go to the doctors appointments. I'm thankful I haven't had to be on bedrest for to long. The funny thing is my cervis has gone up in length this week at the peri.

One thing I found that helped me was I took a new post it pad and for everyday I right down the week and days and how many days to my goal dates which for me have been 34wks and 37wks. For example for today post it says:
Aug 4 Sat
26 till 37wks
5 till 34 wks
33/2 wks
It so nice to tear off a new page everyday as silly as it sounds it makes you feel like you've made it through another milestone.

Best of wishes!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top