Hospital bed rest

neludelu

hey ladies! Silly question... how does hospital bed rest work? In another post some of you wrote you were on hospital bed rest for weeks. Does that mean you were actually in the hospital being monitored for that long? How astronomical were your hospital bills?!

Xath

I was on home bed rest for 2 weeks and then transferred to the hospital for monitoring, but only ended up being there for 2 days before they had to deliver.  Between the extended stay, cesarean, and 2 weeks in the NICU, I want to say the bill was over 6 figures.  But I paid a $125 copay.  

A lot is is going to depend on your insurance.  My insurance at that point said $125 copay per admission, and since that was all under one admission that was what we paid.  

jc_twomamas

@neludelu that would be me! 

Yes, I was actually IN the hospital on bedrest from 27 weeks until 37. There's a separate unit on the OB floor called "OB special care" where high risk pregnancies that need constant monitoring stay. 
It's a private room, which is nice and at about 32 weeks things calmed down enough for me to get "wheelchair" privledges where DH could come and push me around the hospital (whoopie). 

At first I was monitored 24/7, then after a few weeks it was 4x's per day on the monitors. Multiple ultrasounds a week to check baby and my placental abruption (it was nearly 10cm). 
I had to have a IV port placed since I was such a high bleed/transfusion risk so that was changed every 72 hours. Blood draws every 48 hours. 
Ended up with a c section so all in all our PRE insurance hospital bill was upwards of $200,000. 

I had AMAZING insurance at the time through my job (job ALSO paid our deductable) so our total out of pocket was $180 (because I got special cushioning on the bed as I slept in a hospital bed for 10 weeks.)

All in all, the hospital bed rest worked and kept DS alive, me alive and we made it WAAAAY further than any of the doctors would have imagined. (No one would have even bet a dime I would make it past 30 weeks). Pretty insane. 

jc_twomamas

Also, I was a really high risk case. It's not normal at all to stay that long in the hospital but they needed to see at least 14 days with NO new bleeding before considering sending me home and I just could never get to that (on top of preterm labor signs). 
By honestly the graces of miracles, DS looked great throughout the entire thing. (Aside from the initial abruption which he was in tachycardia that settled once I was on Magnesium for a few days). 

neludelu

Did you feel the abruption? That sounds terrifying. 

jc_twomamas

@neludelu no, I didn't. I was at work and had just finished my morning therapy appointments (pediatric OT). I was sitting at my desk, stood up and instantly started gushing blood. I though my water had broke but as I looked down I quickly realized I needed to get 911 on the phone. 
It was all super traumatic and has taken a bit of time (and therapy) to not allow it to consume me, especially during this pregnancy. 
My abruption had no known cause. They suspect that I had a large subchorionic hemorrhage that began to "let go" and as it did that, it pulled part of my placenta away from the uterine wall. 
Theres such a SMALL chance of what happened to me, happening in any pregnancy, so rest assure your pregnancy is going to (likely) be beautiful and uneventful!! 

Edit to add- Shortly after I started bleeding I began contractions every 2-3 minutes which lasted about 4 days until the magnesium helped calm everything down. So, I didn't feel the abruption presay, but I did have cramping and contractions by the time the ambulance got to my work.

JessErinF

@devow27 first of all: OMG how terrifying!!!  I am so happy for you that everything went smoothly (ish) after that!  Oh god, I dont even know how i would deal....  Second of all 10 weeks in a hospital BED?? WHAT DID YOU DO ALL DAY!!! Lol, lots of TV i suppose!! oh  man i am so fidgety that would drive me UP THE WALL!!

jc_twomamas

@JessErinF it was a special kind of hell! I'm constantly "on the go" so it was a HUGE adjustment for me! 

I blogged, learned how to knit and made 273,893 knitted wash clothes, watched daytime TV. I tried to keep a "schedule"...
Wake up, turn on the news, call my nurse to say good morning (and then she would bring me my one cup of coffee  ) nurse would put me on the monitor, then I would take a shower (I was allowed to be "up" for 5-10 to shower and get dressed), eat breakfast, do my blog...etc etc. I knew what days were blood draws, ultrasounds, dr meetings (in my room), changing of my port...so it kept a "schedule" going. My photographer for my maternity photos came up and did my shoot at the hospital! It was so fun and I'm thankful to have those pictures! I wheeled around the hospital for a little while with my nurses hovering over me lol. 
 
I also was allowed to have my dogs come and visit so 2-3 times a week my husband would bring one of my pups to visit. That was THE BEST! I'm going to attach a pic! 


It was in the middle of flu season too so the only visitors I could have were my husband, in laws and parents when they were in town. In March they lifted the visitor restriction so I had a rotation of "dinner dates" with girlfriends and such. It was crazy. 
After my c section I asked to leave after 24 hours. I could NOT WAIT get out of that place!! 

Mashunya425

@devow27 The things parents do for their kids! You are SUCH a trooper!

jc_twomamas

@Mashunya425 yes! And thank you. 

I'd like to be done special snowflaking myself so if anyone else has some experience, chime in! Half kidding, I don't mind sharing my story. 
But seriously, if and when any of us go on bedrest, I have many tips and tricks for staying sane and navigating everything that goes along with it! 

sls

Ok, super dumb question here, but if you're on home bed rest, does that mean... All day every day in bed? You can get up to walk to the bathroom to pee and that's it? Or can you get up for short time periods? What about stairs?

I hope I don't have to experience it, but being pregnant with twins makes me nervous.

n0soup4u

@sls I was on bedrest with DD for 6 weeks. I had restrictions and was only allowed to go to the bathroom, get the mail and make myself something to eat. Otherwise I was in bed or on the couch. 

soontobemrsdavis

sls said:

Ok, super dumb question here, but if you're on home bed rest, does that mean... All day every day in bed? You can get up to walk to the bathroom to pee and that's it? Or can you get up for short time periods? What about stairs?

I hope I don't have to experience it, but being pregnant with twins makes me nervous.

I was on strict bed rest at home from 2/28 until the middle of June. I was told to only shower a couple times a week and I needed to lay down, I could only to sit up to eat. Going to my appointments became a major event, I would get all dolled up and eat lunch at the diner by the hospital! When June hit they told me I was free and I couldn't get up soon enough. I just knew he would come early, but nope he didn't. He ended up coming 40w2d. I always say he just didn't want me to be at work and needed all the attention on him even from inside the womb. 

sls

Thanks for the answers! I don't want to "love" your posts because yiiiiikes. The laying down thing is blowing my mind.

Xath

sls said:

Ok, super dumb question here, but if you're on home bed rest, does that mean... All day every day in bed? You can get up to walk to the bathroom to pee and that's it? Or can you get up for short time periods? What about stairs?

I hope I don't have to experience it, but being pregnant with twins makes me nervous.

I think that will also depend on what the condition is that's putting you on bed rest.  I know people who were on "home rest" where they couldn't work, and needed to rest most of the day, but they could be seated or fold laundry.  I also know folks who had cervical issues who needed to be flat (or inverted) for 99% of the time except when using the bathroom.  

My OBs saved bed rest as a last resort because they believe it usually causes as many issues as it resolves (mainly the blood clot issue).  I was told to rest most of the time, but I could still shower, use the restroom, and make myself food when my husband wasn't home.  I also drove myself to my own OB and MFM appointments. 

LAMCH1980

@devow27, That's awesome that they let you have your dogs visit! I hope you can avoid the hospital bed rest this time. 

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I was on bed rest at home for 11 weeks. I went into preterm labor at 28 weeks. I had a monitor that I had to use 4 times a day. It reported contractions to a nurse who would call me. If I went over a certain threshold, I had to go in to the hospital. I was so lucky to stay at home. Sitting still was really hard for me. At first I thought, the doctor is forcing me to rest? Amazing! That wore off in about two days. 

I was allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and shower and make a sandwich, but that was about it. I watched a lot of TV! I also handmade things like a mobile for the nursery. 

ama7165

I was on hospital bed rest due to my water breaking at 32 weeks. I was to stay on hospital bed rest until I delivered. I sent into labor a week later and had my son at 33 + 2. I could not imagine weeks of hospital bed rest! Luckily I was allowed to shower and I could walk a little in my room.