If you were on bed rest, please help

sweetie645

So a friend of mine is in the hospital on bedrest due to placenta previa. I already sent her all my magazines and a list of good books to download. I'm going to visit soon and would like any suggestions for a care package for her. I was already thinking supplies for mani/pedis? She's also on a GD diet but the hospital food is nasty...any idea of snacks I can take to her? Thanks for any help!

FmrAFBrat

Things that would be nice too are things like dry shampoo and lotion (nice moisturizing kind not scented) and some cute ponytail holders. You could also hit up your local dollar store if she likes things like crossword & other puzzles.

JulieK79

My best advice would be to just visit when you can - especially during the day for lunch if you can. I was on bed rest for three weeks and it felt lonely during the day since I was used to going to work and being around people. Some of my friends who were home during the afternoon or only worked in the morning stopped by a few times with lunch and just talking to people during the day made me feel more normal.

ALP514

I had GD during my pregnancy. Any snacks high in protein help regulate sugars. My faves were almonds, protein bars from Nature Valley, cheese sticks, whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, greek yogurt. 

I was on modified bed rest from March-May. A friend got me a netflix subscription and I spent a lot of time catching up on shows. I also received a magazine subscription which was fun. Maybe some activities she can do for LO in bed. My favorite pick me up gift was from my best friend. She got me a scrapbook kit with a bunch of stickers and stuff so I could put all of LO's ultra sound pictures in. That meant a lot to me.

emmy236

I was on modified bed rest and I second netflix. I was at home though and DH got a Dvr player that had netflix already loaded onto it (so I didn't have to try and get up to plug in anything). Maybe if you have a portable Dvr you can bring her ? If not if she has a kindle, nook, iPad etc get gift cards so she can purchase books or movies. When my mom had foot surgery I went to the local library and "checked out" books on there to her nook. I could get 3 at a time and it was free. When she was done id just take the Nook back and picked out 3 more for her. My sister and I also made food for my dad for when he was home alone and then stuff to have in the freezer for when she got home. We did baked ziti, lasagna, chili, soups, chicken and eggplant parm and spatzel. All my dad had to do was turn on the oven and pop it in.

mommatotwo2

I also had GD. Nuts, peanut butter crackers, popcorn, string cheese (if she has a fridge), were all on my list of easy go to snacks. If you are looking to bring her an actual meal, think high protein, lower carb, though depending on her diet and numbers, some carbs are ok and actually recommended.

I wasn't on bed rest, but I would think anything to keep her busy would be good. Book for sure, magazines, puzzle books, if she doesn't have a baby book yet, maybe get her one, they have lots of stuff that can be filled in before the baby arrives. I also second a Netflix subscription, if she has a laptop or smartphone, she can catch up on shows and that can really help pass the time. An eye mask and ear plugs because the hospital is noisy, maybe even a white noise machine if she is allowed one. Self-care items, like hair ties, chapstick, dry shampoo, nice moisturizing lotion, like Aveeno or something.

I would steer clear of the mani pedi stuff, personally. She probably can't reach her feet all that well, depending on how far along she is, and generally in the hospital, you don't want nailpolish on your fingers because it interferes with the pulse-ox machine, which they will likely have on her occasionally.
 

D&S724

I was on modified bedrest with B, and you've gotten some wonderful suggestions.  Netflix is a great idea! If she has an iPad, you can get her an iTunes gc instead so she can download things onto it. My only other suggestion would be a journal of some kind. 

JulieK79

MrsRed09 said:

My advice is to visit her often even if its just for 30 minutes, and offer to go get anything she might need before baby arrives.  The worst part of bed rest was being alone all the time and feeling like I didn't have everything I needed to have before baby arrived. 

Yes! I forgot about offering to pick things up for her. I all of the sudden couldn't go shopping and still needed some essentials like a cotton nursing bra, pads, nursing pads, ect. I luckily had my sister come into town around that time who helped with that. My DH would've been so confused if I had sent him to target for stuff like that!