grocery delivery &other bed rest tricks?
well, after a few days in the hospital with some fluid and minor liver enzyme elevations, they finally ruled out preeclampsia. However, they still want me on bedrest at home.
I question why and the efficacy when preE was ruled out and my bp (and glucose!) has been fine throughout the pregnancy - but that is a whole other post.
What tricks did you use to get things done and establish a new routine?
DH works at home, so I have support and help.
I was thinking of using a grocery delivery service. suggestions for easiest/best/low cost?
Our instructions were ... special? I was told I can do stuff around the house but nothing else. So does that mean I can do laundry and dishes and yoga? haha. I know I will get clarification at our follow up appointment monday. Well, I will ask anyways. When we got discharged I didn't even speak with a doctor and was told to call the office today. When I called the office today, I got the NP who told me I could do stuff around the house.
Re: grocery delivery &other bed rest tricks?
I went on modified bed rest at 32 weeks b/c of PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension). I also had gestational diabetes, but that wasn't a factor in the bed rest.
They said I could do things around the house, but to limit it - like I could fix lunch, but not stay in the kitchen making a 4-course meal. I could fold laundry while sitting down, but not carry the laundry basket up and down stairs. After two weeks or so, they let me go out occasionally, and I could sit up and sew. I still mostly hung out on the couch, and kept my feet up and napped on my left side (lowers bp). I did a lot of reading - I reserved books at the library and had DH pick them up. And a lot of online shopping. And I read the nest a lot. I also had to monitor my bp, and had to do weekly appointments and biophysical profiles.
After 3 weeks of modified bed rest, I was allowed to go back to work at 35 weeks, and my water broke 5 days later at 35 weeks, 5 days and LO was born at 36 weeks. Thank goodness LO was fine, and just a little bit small, but it was very scary.It doesn't really matter now, but I often wonder if he'd have stayed inside longer if I stayed on bedrest longer.
Chances are they won't make you stay on bedrest longer than 36 or 37 weeks anyway, as baby will most likely be safe if you need to deliver at that point.
The high-risk pregnancy board was a real help--they have daily bedrest mama check-ins.
I just had DH take over the grocery shopping and most of the household chores. I was trying to safely gestate our child, so he didn't even think twice about taking on extra.
ETA to remove some preachiness, but my apologies if some remains. I still have some unresolved feelings about my experience.
we talked about that same issue. Even though we think this is an overreaction, we dont have the experience and unfortunately havent had the opportunity to get our questions/concerns addressed yet. We will do what we are told, but plan to question the rationale on Monday. Dh and I are both in health care and are confused without a diagnosis, what this is for. prevention of progression to preE? who knows. I have type 1 diabetes, and have always been well controlled. I know they are extra cautious with us, which I am somewhat OK with. I just want all the info rather than a blanket "you're on bedrest because"
I don't think anything sounded preachy! we have no experience with this so I am seeking out your opinion! thanks for the feedback.
My mom said DH will probably be looking for a reason to get out of the house. haha! i can understand that. I hate to put everything on him. I know he will do it. I just worry about him, too
I was on bedrest from 22w-35w, including 4 weeks in the hospital at Inova Fairfax due to shortened cervix. I delivered at 36w4d (nearly full term for twins).
Ditto PP that even though my dr's were uber-conservative, I did whatever they said b/c I could never forgive myself if something happened to the babies. I do know when I was in the hospital, all five of my hospital roommates had pre-e and type I diabetes, and all of them were sent home on permanent bedrest until they delivered.
Some tips to stay sane:
--Ask your dr very detailed questions about what you can and can't do--how many times a day can you be standing? is it best to be laying on your side all day? can you ride in teh car? can you go to a store in a wheelchair? can you sit up in bed?
--Create a daily schedule/routine for yourself, even if it's just a list of TV shows you will watch.
--Don't worry about things around the house. DH did everything for me/us when we were on bedrest, and he had plenty of time to do it b/c on the weekends and at night, we weren't going anywhere. He also prepared all my meals for me, including bringign me a cooler full of lunch and breakfast foods every day when I was at home.
--Get a Kindle, if you don't already have one. I so wish I had one when I was on bedrest. It would have made life so much easier.
--Feel free to cry every once in a while and feel bad for yourself for being stuck inside on such nice days. I probably cried a few times every week since I was on bedrest from April-August.
--Don't overdo it. I pushed my limits and that is why I think I ended up on hospital bedrest. It's not worth it.
--Enjoy the time, if you can. It seems sucky now, but once the baby is here, you'll wish for so much downtime.
--If your DH won't have time for grocery shopping, I highly encourage you to use Peapod. We didn't use it when I was pregnant but started to after the babies were born, and we love it. It makes weekends so mch easier b/c we don't have to spend half our time figuring out who and when we'll go to the store.
If you have any other bedrest questions, let me know.
I was on modified bed rest from 34-36 weeks due to pre-term labor. I was allowed to be at home on the couch or in bed. I was not supposed to be going up and down stairs, doing laundry or anything that required a lot of standing. I was supposed to chill out and watch tv or read. No driving either. And, I was being monitored 3 days a week and if anything changed I was going to get checked back into the hospital. I followed all the instructions because I wanted to be at home.
I watched a lot of on demand, surfed the internet and read. DH did everything around the house and we did get groceries delivered (and I was not allowed to lift anything so he put them all away).
Seriously, take it easy.
I agree with ka that you should allow yourself to feel angry and irritated! It sucks to be on bedrest. I called my EAP and got set up with a phone counselor. I think I talked to her twice and it was helpful. She helped me do some breathing exercises to help with relaxation and it was just nice to talk to someone about feeling panicky and sad.
Also, be prepared that by being on bedrest, you might be more likely to experience PPD after delivery. My OB said that high-risk pregnancy mamas are more likely to get PPD because they are likely to get depressed during pregnancy and depression during pregnancy is a risk factor for PPD.
I agree with mssaint about the depression thing. I also think, in some ways, it made it a bit harder for me to bond with my babies. After being stuck inside for months on end, when the babies came, I really just wanted my freedom back and a tiny semblance of what my life was like pre-pregnancy. But, I was still stuck inside caring for two little ones. It contributed to what I now recognize as PPD, and I wish I had gotten treated for it when I was going through it (but I didn't realize how bad I felt until I was feeling better around 7 months).
For work, I worked part time at home until I went on hospital bedrest at 28w, taking sick time for the hours I missed. Once I was on hospital bedrest, I couldn't work any longer, so I went out on STD, which required that I take the first 2w as sick leave. Then, I was paid 60% of my salary until I had the babies. After I had the babies, that counted as as second STD claim, so I got the full 8w of STD for having a c/s. However, I didn't have to take any more sick time before the second round of STD kicked in. After my 8w of post-baby STD ran out, I used my remaining vacation and sick time and LWOP until I went back to work at 4 months. Overall, my employer was very flexible and told me they'd hold my job for at least a year before I'd have to worry about anything (I've been with my company for 11 years).
If you don't have to, I'd encourage not working from home. That only stressed me out, especially if your dr's orders are to be laying down most of the day. If you're eligible for STD, just take it.
THANK YOU! this is so reassuring. I hope it works the same way for me.
I used my accrued leave for my bedrest (but if I had not had accrued leave it would have been short term disability) and then on 'maternity leave'/std after DD arrived. HR at my company said that 'maternity leave' did not kick in until the baby arrived.
I did not work at home because I did not feel like I could be relied on and would just cause more issues for my co-workers.
The timing was really fortuitous for me. I got put on bedrest on the Friday before I was planning to take 3 weeks off for the holidays. The 3 weeks was days the office was closed, combined with use or lose leave that had to be used before January 1. Because that was already planned vacation hours, they didn't count it against FMLA totals (and honestly, I don't think they would have even if I had used sick leave).
I will say that I didn't really get that the doctors were serious during that appointment until I asked if I could go to work and start bedrest the next day. My OB looked at me like I was really dumb, and said to go straight home.
I answered a couple of emails while I was out, but volume was pretty low. People knew I was out and it was the holidays. Also, if you are using STD, you may not be allowed to work at all.
My office was very flexible with me. I hope your office is understanding!
I didn't get the chance to read all of PP's advice but I was put on modified bedrest at 34 weeks because I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced (I think?). I had no other issues whatsoever, but my midwives wanted to make sure I made it to 37 weeks (considered full term). For the first week I was instructed to do no more than 10 minutes of standing at a time, and to basically sit on the couch or bed with my feet up most of the day - no lifting of any kind. We had a 3 level townhouse and she said to make one trip to the main level at the beginning of the day and stay there, then make a trip back upstairs to go to bed.
When I was checked at 35 weeks I had stayed the same so she said I could up the activity a little, but not go crazy and still no lifting and only a few trips of stairs a day. At 36 weeks I was a little more dilated and effaced but she said I was doing ok and to continue the less restrictive bed rest. Once I got to 37 weeks she said I could go back to normal activity but still try to take it easy.
Because I had great short term disability benefits and I couldn't really do my work with the "take it easy" restriction (and it was better for my company that I be on leave rather than unbillable) I was on STD until my water broke and I delivered at 39 weeks (and 0 days). Then I had a second STD claim for the typical 6 weeks post delivery.
Hope this helps and good luck! I think the bedrest and taking it easy really did slow things down. Right before I was initially put on bedrest I had been active like crazy, at work and at home. As the weeks went on I could really see that the less active I was the slower I dilated, etc.
GL!
Oh and I did a lot of planning/organizing from the couch - all our family is OOT so I wrote up information for them on the hospital (direction, parking, hours, etc.), our alarm system at the house and where stuff was in our house (since they were going to stay there while we were in the hospital), nearby hotels, etc.
I also wrote up instructions for the pets and made a little chart for people to fill in when they walked or fed the dog so the next person would know what she did or didn't do. (I was clearly running out of things to do!)
I cleaned up our list of friends/family addresses to send baby announcements and tried to get any pre-maternity leave paperwork filled out and compare insurance plans, etc. to decide how we would handle the baby's insurance, etc.
I also sewed and made some things for DS's room like a hamper, small pillow for the armchair, and mobile.
I honestly really liked my time on modified bedrest! It was a great way to wind down and get prepared before DS arrived and everything changed
peapod delivered today. best idea ever.
we live on the 3rd floor and it was awesome to not have to carry them up or wait for DH to go get them. Agh 