Making bedrest more comfortable

Hi all --

My wife is 25 weeks pregnant with twins. She has been put on hospital
bedrest, possibly for the rest of the pregnancy. While she's getting
great care, she's having a very tough time being couped up in a
hospital bed.

If there are any moms out there who went through this when they were
pregnant, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

1. What I can provide for her in her room that will make things more
comfortable, besides the usual (flowers, photos, things from home,
etc.)

2. How best to deal with friends who want to visit --- some days she
just doesn't want to have visitors because she doesn't want to dwell on
her situation.

Thanks.

HI There,
I was also put on bed rest at 25 weeks and spent 5 weeks in and 5 weeks
at home. It takes a lot not to go crazy.

1. What I can provide for her in her room that will make things more
comfortable, besides the usual (flowers, photos, things from home,
etc.)
Everything you can think of. Make it like home for here. Bring her
flowers!! I wish my husband did!! This will make her smile when she
looks at it!! I put up photos of my husband, family and my daughter.
This helped when I would get depressed and lonely. Also Lots of cloths
(If she is wearing her own, I hated wearing that gown that my husband
brought me some from home.

2. How best to deal with friends who want to visit --- some days she
just doesn't want to have visitors because she doesn't want to dwell on
her situation.

She needs to be honest. My friends called first to see if I was up for
visiters. She is there for the rest. I couldn't wait to get home and
I wish I had stayed there the whole time. When I got home I did not
get much rest, I got up to much!! This made the my girls come at 35
weeks. Remind her how much you love her and visit her all the time.
My husband could only see me 1 time a week because of our daughter and
it was so hard. I missed them so much. My husband called me every
night at 10 to talk about the day or to talk to me until I was ready
for bed.

Hope this helps you!!

REMEMBER FLOWERS!!! and maybe a nice New pair of PJ to wear whiles
there.

On Oct 4, 10:16 am, "Drew" wrote:
Hi all --

My wife is 25 weeks pregnant with twins. She has been put on hospital
bedrest, possibly for the rest of the pregnancy. While she's getting
great care, she's having a very tough time being couped up in a
hospital bed.

If there are any moms out there who went through this when they were
pregnant, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

1. What I can provide for her in her room that will make things more
comfortable, besides the usual (flowers, photos, things from home,
etc.)

2. How best to deal with friends who want to visit --- some days she
just doesn't want to have visitors because she doesn't want to dwell on
her situation.

Thanks.

Hi Drew,

Along with the emotional front, you can get her (if not already) one of
those long C shaped pillows, my wife loved them towards the end of her
pregnancy. If you have a portable DVD player or a laptop, get her one of the
netflix or blockbuster subscription, so that she can have a few movies to
watch during her day. If she is interested in music maybe you can get her
some cheap portable music players (some come with FM).

As for friends, you have be totally firm with them. People have got to
understand, that this is not easy for person who is going through this. And
I am telling you, it will get even harder in the first few days when she
delivers, you wouldn't get any rest for first few days, and all your friends
and well wishers want to call / come to congratulate you. Esp. keep your
cell phone off that time.

Good luck,
Deepak
Father of 7 month old twin boys.

"Drew" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all --

My wife is 25 weeks pregnant with twins. She has been put on hospital
bedrest, possibly for the rest of the pregnancy. While she's getting
great care, she's having a very tough time being couped up in a
hospital bed.

If there are any moms out there who went through this when they were
pregnant, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

1. What I can provide for her in her room that will make things more
comfortable, besides the usual (flowers, photos, things from home,
etc.)

2. How best to deal with friends who want to visit --- some days she
just doesn't want to have visitors because she doesn't want to dwell on
her situation.

Thanks.

I have so been there, done that! I spent the last 3 weeks of my
pregnancy on hospital bedrest (weeks 29-32) after having already been
on bedrest at home essentially since week 20!

Sounds like you are getting some good ideas already. I would add that
she should really sign up for a Sidelines pregnancy support buddy. If
she has internet access she could do an email buddy, if not, they will
find her a phone buddy. Mine was my saving grace during bedrest and now
I serve as a bedrest buddy myself!
http://www.sidelines.org/

The one other thing that I was SO grateful for while in the hospital
was FOOD! Hospital food, even if it is decent, gets VERY old quickly
since the menu repeats after a couple weeks. My mother in law did a lot
of cooking for my hubby while I was on bedrest, but she also made a lot
of my favorite dishes and packed up a bit just for me. My mom brought
me homemade macaroni and cheese. My 2 best friends would call me on
their way to run errands or their way to university and just drop by
with whatever I asked for from Chic-fil-A (usually a diet lemonade and
some Icedream...YUM!)...they didn't always have time to stay (and
definately didn't when I wasn't feeling up to it), but the food was a
lifesaver. And my hubby would get take out from my favorite
neighborhood restaurants at least once a week and we'd have "date
night" and eat and watch a favorite TV show or movie. Even with all
this, I still ate hospital food MOST of the time, but other stuff was a
welcome break and made it tollerable (and kept me from begging the
nurses to go to the snack machines for junk food).

And if it is at all possible (and ask her doc if you feel you need to),
crawl into her hospital bed and cuddle with her some.

Kat

Hi,
Good luck to you guys!
I was on bed rest at home from week 14 and in the hospital from week 28
to our release date a week after delivery at week 36.

You've gotten all the best advice I can think of. The only other thing
my husband did for me was to bring me my favorite food treats every few
days. I was very ill on top of the twin pregnancy and eating is hard
enough when you're belly is already so full of little people kicking
your stomach. Hospital food is hardly the trick, and even regular
outside meals are hard to deal with when you're laying down.

Healthy snack foods from all food groups were just about the only thing
I ate toward the end. They are much easier to eat lying down.
Sitting up to eat gets to be too much work!

Good luck!
-Drea

I spent 4 weeks in the hospital on bedrest (with one week at home in
between) from 21 to 26 weeks (gave birth at 26 weeks), and I had a 2 year
old at home. It was HELL!! As for friends visiting, I actually really
enjoyed that at times. But it had to be on my terms. Maybe she can ask a
few really close friends who she is close enough with to say "hey, I don't
want to dwell on my situation" to come over to visit. I found I really
liked keeping up on all of the day to day gossip, it really kept my mind off
my situation when I was at my worst. The worst person for me to talk to was
my MIL, she always had a tone to her voice that was so drab and sad.

Also, tell her to take the phone off the hook if she needs to sleep. The
hopsital is the LAST place, in my opinion,, to get any good "bedrest". They
are always in there taking blood pressure, checking temps, etc. I hated
finally falling asleep and havimg the phone ring. Besides ignoring the
phone will be good practice for when she gets home with those twins. Trust
me, there will be no time for that ;-)

Good luck!

Leann

"Drew" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all --

My wife is 25 weeks pregnant with twins. She has been put on hospital
bedrest, possibly for the rest of the pregnancy. While she's getting
great care, she's having a very tough time being couped up in a
hospital bed.

If there are any moms out there who went through this when they were
pregnant, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following:

1. What I can provide for her in her room that will make things more
comfortable, besides the usual (flowers, photos, things from home,
etc.)

2. How best to deal with friends who want to visit --- some days she
just doesn't want to have visitors because she doesn't want to dwell on
her situation.

Thanks.