Bedrest can seem so daunting, and some doctors seem to not prescribe it anymore, but more than once I heard the message that it is a timeless healer. If you’re on bedrest, try your best to see it as a safe place to cradle your baby. Seek out other bedresting moms and breathe deeply.

You are doing the right thing.

BEDREST TIPS & REQUIREMENTS

Furniture:

• Bedside table
• Bed tray or over-bed table: A handy item, if you can find one, to allow for a desk-top surface, when needed. I used a bed tray and a bed-side table for all of my necessities, listed below.
• Commode: I was forced to use one because my doctor didn’t want me out of bed, but it was not too bad. Once restricted to bedrest you don’t really want to get up for fear of agitating things. (Found great deals on my commode and shower seat on eBay)
• Shower Seat: To reduce pressure on my cervix, I got a shower seat. I decided to take a short shower every three days—what a treat!—shaving my legs once a week.

Necessities for Couchside/Bedside:

–  Telephone

–  Books, books on tape

– Laptop if you wish

–  Remote controls if you want

–  Pen, paper, pencil, scissors, eraser, tape, stapler

–  Post-its

–  Datebook

–  Phone book

–  OB & Peri’s phone numbers

–  Hand wipes (I used Costco baby wipes—the best!) and hand sanitizer

–  Kleenex

– Garbage can

–  Ice bucket or cooler with snacks & drinks (kept cool if weather is warm)

–  Large pitcher of water to refill glass yourself (drinking lots of water is very important, especially on bedrest)

– Glass of water with a straw, to keep from sitting up too much or spilling

–  Tylenol, just in case

– Mylanta, solution to heartburn; digestion is much harder when you can’t get up

– Metamucil, daily dose helps when you are physically inactive

–  Prenatal vitamins

– Calcium and iron supplements, if needed, taken at opposite times of day

–  Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and a spit-cup, so you don’t need a sink

–  Handbag nearby

–  Projects: crafts, needlepoint, crochet, cross-stitch, if any of these interest you

– Brain teasers: Sudoku, crossword puzzles

–  Pillows, small ones to support your body, or a larger pregnancy pillow if you prefer. I put a smaller one between my knees to relax my back muscles from being on my side all of the time, and another small one behind my back for support.

–  Extra sweater, scarf, socks

• Schedule:  It helped us to make a schedule. This way, I knew roughly when to expect my partner to be home, do meals, clean up, etc., and he knew what was expected of him. This way it did not sound like me nagging to ask him to do something. He already knew his responsibilities because they were on the list. Amazingly, we developed a routine. This list can include when friends visit, when to return library books, doctor’s appointments, etc.

• Calendar: About two weeks into bedrest I made a calendar which was alternately helpful and not—time moves slowly going forward, fast looking back! But it was great to see our progress. The calendar I made had two parts, one was each day until 40 wks., the other side of the page contained the number of weeks left until my milestones: 20wks, 24 wks., 28 wks., 36 wks.

• Sidelines: www.sidelines.org. 888-447-4754 A wonderful, supportive organization devoted entirely to helping women get through difficult pregnancies. An incredible network of women who have been through challenging pregnancies, you can sign up on line in the “Request Support” category, and Sidelines will assign you to a buddy who will either call or email you (your choice). They do an amazing job of connecting people, and it’s really terrific to have someone both cheering you on and supporting you with wisdom from experience. I can’t recommend them enough. (There is no cost to you, unless you want a phone buddy, then you pay for the phone calls or work it out with your buddy.

• Fertile Thoughts: www.fertilethoughts.com A friend who survived multiple rounds of IVF recommended this site to me. Check out the pregnancy bulletin boards, high risk section. Over time, I was in a group of about eight women going through similar challenges. In the beginning they supported me and toward the end, I helped to support them! We helped each other in ways that no one else could completely understand.

• Determining Discomfort: Obviously, this is no substitute for a doctor’s opinion, but our group on Fertile Thoughts questioned the source of every cramp and worried about each and every one. I made it my mission to try to understand what each one was and put it together for the women following on the boards behind us.

–     Contractions: painful (regular), little to no pain (Braxton Hicks)—both involve the uterus tightening like a ball. If your belly is soft, it is not a contraction. Treatment: wait for it to pass. If you get worried, drink a large glass of water, lie on your left side, and start to count how many you have in an hour. If over 4, call OB.

–     Gas/Gastrointestinal: pain travelling around the GI tract. Sometimes hard to differentiate from other cramps. Lightly put your fingers on the middle of your ribcage and work them down to the belly. If there’s discomfort there, the other pains are probably gas, too. Treatment: Mylanta (heartburn) or Mylanta gas (for painful gas bubbles).

–     Fibroids: local pain, if you can almost point to a place in your belly where pain originates, that is probably fibroid pain. Next time you get an ultra-sound, you may want to find out where your fibroids are. Fibroids, regardless of their sizes, can be uncomfortable. As your little one grows and kicks, he/she could be exacerbating them and causing you considerable pain. Treatment: Tylenol often works. This pain goes in waves and disappears after a while. I found my Chinese doctor had better herbs to help with this than my Western MD.

–    Stretching/Growing Pains: pains that seem to be around the uterus, on the left, right, and lower part/groin area. Can include some shooting pains down the vaginal canal. Treatment: lying down completely, no pillows, Tylenol.

–     Bladder/Urinary Tract Infection: cramps in lower groin area combined with traditional UTI complaints like difficulty in urinating or painful urination, possibly some discharge but not necessarily. (UTIs are different when pregnant.) Treatment: call your OB, needs antibiotics.

–     Baby positioning: In my case, the baby’s head was on my cervix, putting pressure and some pain on my lower abdominal area.

–     Baby kicking: normally doesn’t hurt much… unless he/she hits a fibroid! Overall, I learned that pains which disappeared with Tylenol were not worries for the OB. (Tylenol doesn’t help with contractions!)

• Comments: When I made these lists, everything was in the present tense because I was still on bedrest. I added a final post-script and shipped it off multiple times to women who were starting their bedrest journeys, concluding with the following note: From my experience thus far, one thing I’ve found interesting. As much as I would dearly love to get out of bed, run around and be active, the moment I’m up for a minute, I find I’m eager to get back in bed. Because that’s where we’re the safest. For everything we’ve endured to get pregnant and carry a baby this far, I just want to be SAFE… Lying down is the best medicine. My peri said she sees miracles with bedrest. I wish that and more for you.