Preemies

Lurker with a bed rest question

Hi Ladies, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but after lurking a bit I noticed that some of you were on hospital bed rest before your babies were born and thought I would start here. 

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant with twins and suffering from a shortened cervix,  I have been put on bed rest indefinitely at home for now but have been told that I will spend some of my bed rest in the hospital.  (which is freaking me out).  So the question is..... What are some things that made your hospital bed rest managable?  I would like to start getting things ready now so my husband has a bag packed and ready to bring to me when the time comes.

 TIA!

TTC since 4/2009 IUI 1-5 all BFN IVF 1 BFP!!!!!! TWINS... Lost our boys at 16 weeks 6 days Lilypie Angel and Memorial tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers http://pinterest.com/gigglegurls/pins/

Re: Lurker with a bed rest question

  • I was on hospital bed rest with my twins from 24-27 weeks.  I'm not going to lie to you, it sucks.  The thing that made it most bearable to me was having a "schedule" most days looked like this...

    6am wake up (rounds, order breakfast, call DH to wake him up and have a quick am chat)

    7am eat breakfast, check in with new nurse

    8am find the babies! on the monitors while watching the news 

    9am shower (if it was shower day) or at least brush my hair and put on make up

    10am-12pm bump, facebook, read, order lunch

    1pm eat lunch

    2p-4p visitors! (I tried to have at least one afternoon visitor a day)

    4p-5p nap 

    5p-6p catch up with DH (he would come by after work), order dinner

    630p dinner

    630-830  night time visits

    9p find the babies night time edition! bump facebook and primetime shows while on the monitor

    10p DH leaves

    11p bed 

     

    My laptop, IPAD, books, and board games (for when I had visitors or just for DH and I) were bed rest saviors!

    Good luck and HTH, I would also cross post this on high risk and multiples for more advice.  

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  • I was on hospital bedrest from 28-29 weeks and then again from 30 weeks until I delivered. While it wasnt my favorite thing in the world - it really wasnt that bad (however my hospital was 5 minutes from my house.)

    I tried to keep a schedule/routine and get to know the nurses (I still talk with some of them!) That always made things easier.  I kept busy on my computer and watched movies all day until my husband came after work. We'd have dinner together and bedtime would be early (mostly because they woke me up twice a night for vital/ fetal activity check). I read a TON of parenting multiples books and wrote out my thank you cards from my shower.

    What I LOVED about hospital bedrest: for someone neurotic and anxious like me, I adored having someone there 24 hours a day to make me feel better and check my symptoms. If I was worried someone wasnt kicking that much that day, they would just hook me right up to the monitors and I could listen for as long as I wanted. I had ultrasounds every other day - that part of hospital bedrest was heaven. 

    Wishing you tons of good luck to keep those babies cookin' as long as you can :) Twins are AWESOME. 

     

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  • I was on hospital bedrest for a week but it was very unexpected so I didn't really have anything with me.  What I found I really wanted, though (and got, little by little was)...

    Books, magazines, computer-- my hospital room didn't have a DVD player and the cable kind of sucked so this was essential.

    Food!  You have to pick off the same menu day after day and it wasn't great.  Think about things that will taste good to you and be prepared to ask someone to bring them.

    Body stuff-- lotions, creams, perfume, nail polish, etc.  My showering was restricted so I felt pretty gross most of the time.  Having girly, nice smelling stuff really helped.

    Your own clothes-- this may sound obvious but check with your hospital to see if they'll let you wear your own PJs and if they have any restrictions about what kind they have to be.

    A soft blanket-- someone brought me a super soft, luxurious throw and it was such a comforting pick-me-up.  It also made the room seem less hospital-y.

    Nice towels from home-- hospital ones suck.

    A small basket to put on your night stand-- to catch your chapstick, handlotion, cell phone, wet wipes (wet wipes were another must-have for me), etc.

    All in all, hospital bedrest is not the best thing ever but if it keeps that baby in for even one day longer, it's sooooo worth it.  Good luck!!

     

  • I didnt have the FFN testing as my MFM does not use that test but I did have a shorten cervix. I was admitted at 26 weeks for hospital bedrest. I had no measurable cerivx and was 2cm dialted. I was in the hospital almost 6 weeks on bedrest until I delivered my LO at 31 weeks. I had my laptop, watched tv and read books and mags. It was hard but I knew I was doing it for my LO and trying to keep her baking for as long as I could!! Good Luck!!
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  • Thanks for your responses.  As I am not looking forward to hospital bedrest, I am a little more relieved being able to prepare.

    TTC since 4/2009 IUI 1-5 all BFN IVF 1 BFP!!!!!! TWINS... Lost our boys at 16 weeks 6 days Lilypie Angel and Memorial tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers http://pinterest.com/gigglegurls/pins/
  • I was on hospital bedrest from weeks 24-28 for my shortened/incompetent cervix, sent home for 10 days then came back to deliver at 29 weeks 2 days. 

    1.  Pick up a universal remote control from radio Shack or somewhere.  The hospital remote is attached to a cord and a pain in the butt.  Mine just had arrows for scrolling up and down and you could not punch in numbers.

    2.  Visitors!  I also had visitors a lot which made the time pass.  I also spent a ton of time on the phone catching up with everyone.

    3.  I am usually an avid reader, but could not concentrate and read a book since I was so preoccupied.  Magazines were great. 

    4.  Snacks.  I loved having a variey of snacks. 

    5.  Pictures, blanket, homey stuff.  My sister came and decorated my room to make it feel like home.  She brought me my pillow, a quilt, and pics from home.

    6.  A bathmat, bathrobe, towel from home and slippers.  Bathmat- sounds nuts but it was so nice stepping out of my shower on to a mat vs a hospital towel.

    7.  Yoga pants, tank tops and sports bras.  This was my uniform for 27 days.

    8. Make up bag!  It was nice once a week or so to make myself feel human and fix myself up before guests arrived.  This maybe happened twice in 27 days- but it felt great!

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