advice for bedrest?

[alexmommy]

I'm on modified bedrest (due to short cervix & beaking) until I'm at least 24-25 weeks. I'm exactly 21 weeks right now. I'll probably be on modified or full bedrest for the duration, since my cervix won't get better. Anyone BTDT? How do I not worry/stress? What did you do to pass the time?

Complicating factors: I have a sweet, active 20mo DS, and my DH is on an extended business trip and will be gone for a long while, he can't come back early. My mom is flying in today, when she leaves my dad will fly in for two weeks, and by then hopefully my MIL will be able to come (she is sick currently) for an indefinite period of time. Thankfully, a couple of friends have already been over to help/talk.

TIA. I expect to be on here a lot more.

[lilycat88]

Been there. I had a cerclage but at 21 weeks, I was starting to efface and had some funneling. Hospital bedrest for several days and then strict bedrest at home for a week and then modified for a month. I was put on Indocin and Procardia. I wasn't having contractions. The meds plus the bedrest worked and after 5 weeks, I was allowed to go back to work. My cervix had "hardened" up again and lengthened. I had a planned delivery at 37 weeks.

The computer, phone and television were my friend. Fortunately, my DD was 5.5 and in kindergarten all day. It's ok for the first month. I was just starting to lose my mind when I was given the ok to be off bedrest. Take it in chunks. The expectation was that I would be on bedrest for 17 weeks. I had a series of goals. First goal was age of viability...25-26 weeks. Next goal was age where vent support would likely not be necessary. Next was 35 weeks and anything over 35 weeks they considered a bonus.

I also contacted Sidelines...www.sidelines.org...and was matched with a support person.

Good luck!

[Kitten007]

Sending you tons of hugs. Sorry you are on bed rest, but I will cheer you on and may it be short lived. Hopefully you will be back up and running in no time. May the time fly by.

[citymama]

Sending you tons of hugs. Sorry you are on bed rest, but I will cheer you on and may it be short lived. Hopefully you will be back up and running in no time. May the time fly by.

What she said. You'll be much further along in your pregnancy before you know it - and hopefully will get to rest and catch up on reading and the boards during your bedrest. Can you hire babysitting or housekeeping help?

I am a product of nearly 3 months of bedrest (incompetent cervix) that my mom had to take when she was of with me and she's never let me forget it! Hopefully I am worth the sacrifice she made nearly 40 yrs ago. All the best to you!

[Carrots]

BTDT. Many hugs for being on bedrest.

I found the first 2 weeks to be the worst. The fist week was OK, the second week reduced me to tears because I felt so helpless. The third week I started to see a pattern for myslef, and that made the rest of my pregnancy bareable.

I had lots of help from my mom, who would do my laundry and make meals. Take advatage of the friends who can help you. Don't be afraid to ask for friends to set up a meal schedule, so that one person provides a dinner each night. If you can, have a home delivery service deliver your groceries. Have people come over to visit so your day is broken up.

I also found that getting up, showering, changing into clothing from my pajamas helped keep my spirits up. I would even dry my hair and put on makeup to make myself feel better. I also kept my bedroom for sleeping and moved to the TV room for the day for a change of scenerey.

[newg]

I had to go on bedrest at week 33 for three weeks (at which point DD2 was born). My MIL and Mom helped me with DD1 who was 2.
I found, like PP said, getting up everyday and taking a shower helped me feel better. I went downstairs and had my designated recliner. DD knew I was not allowed to get out of this chair and she would climb in with me to watch shows, read books, do puzzles, color. Being able to interact with her on a daily basis really made the difference for me.
I was on the internet a lot! I did a lot of baby shopping/browsing....which helped keep me positive and my "eye on the prize"

[JenaW]

Spent 3 weeks in the hospital after my water broke at 22 weeks with my 3rd child. She was born at 25. though she is alive and very healthy today, believe me you do NOT want a 25 week preemie. Bedrest is VERY hard, ESPECIALLY so when you have other kids at home. Accept all the help you can and do not be afraid to reach out for it. I do not like asking for help, but learned quickly that I had to. AND, despite many OBs saying there is no proof that bedrest works, it clearly does. So don't cheat. Find out what your (preferably high risk) OB recommends and follow it. I had bathroom privileges and could shower 2x/week for 5 min. I longed for those days because showering and changing clothes made me feel like a new person. if your cervix is funneling you want to avoid pressure on it as much as you can (i.e. even sitting may not be the best thing for you). And believe it or not, your cervix CAN improve, though it doesn't always. I have had patients and seen other situations where the cervical length has substantially increased with just a week or two of bedrest. However, increased activity (even minimally) can do the opposite, so make sure you are getting frequent monitoring and doing the least you can. It WILL be hard, but your DS probably won't remember too much of this down the road.

Hang in there and good luck!

J

[chiisai]

I was on modified at 18w and complete (laying flat on side or back) at 21w for the duration (well, back to modified at 36 1/2 weeks after the cerclage was taken out, then off completely at 38 weeks). (IC, preventative cerclage placed at 14 weeks, funneling started at 21w which was the reason for the complete bedrest).

- I worked full time from home, and had "stations" around the bed downstairs with work laptop hooked up to the tv, my regular laptop, books, snacks and water.

- A huge comfort factor was this matress topper, holy moly:
http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Studio-2...5721904&sr=8-1

I bought one for the bed downstairs and for the one in the bedroom. I thought I was really not going to make it, i was in so much pain after the first month, but this topper truly changed everything the first night.

- An IC forum also helped, I was on it nearly every evening, specifically for IC'ers: http://ic.hobh.org/forums/

- My husband did EVERYTHING with DS, who was 3 1/2 during this, except for get him dressed in the morning. I helped with that in the morning while sitting up, and only showered 3 times a week as a compromise (I was allowed a 5 min. shower every day, but to make up for the morning help with dressing I called it even to shower 3 times a week).

- Like a pp said, goals, 24 weeks, 28 weeks, 30 weeks, 32 weeks, cerclage out date, getting my hair cut once i got back to modified rest.

- I tried to start to knit, but couldn't get anywhere and didn't have the money to have someone come teach me at my home.

Thinking of you, this is a really really difficult time. I had lost my son at 22 1/2 weeks along, and was often a mess until i was 30 weeks along with DD. The IC forum above helped a lot, along with totally zoning out with work and movies/books.