So there I was at the doctor’s office in my 29th week of a twin pregnancy. I had already peed in the cup, and the medical assistant had already taken my blood pressure twice to make sure she had the right number. Then the doctor came in, and our conversation went something like this.
Doctor: “Hi Jessica, how are you doing?” Me: “Fine, I guess.”
Doctor (taking a look at my blood pressure number and checking out the general area where my ankles used to be): “How is bed rest going?” Me: “Bed rest? I’m not on bed rest.”
Doctor: “Are you sure? Well, if you weren’t before, you are now.”
Because I was having twins and because my blood pressure had starting going up pretty early on in my pregnancy, I knew that the dreaded bed rest was a possibility. Then it came upon me, and I felt like I was cursed. However, it turned out to be not so bad for me, and it can be not so bad for you too.
In the end I was on bed rest for seven weeks. I delivered at 36 weeks, which is considered full term for twins. I truly believe that the only reason I made it until 36 weeks is because I literally went on bed rest. I went to the doctor and almost no where else. At home I stayed either on the couch or in the bed and did no housework. My husband helped as much as he could, but between work and helping me he didn’t have much time. By the end of my pregnancy, our house was pretty messy. None of that mattered though. All that mattered was me not developing preclampsia. That is what got me through the bed rest from first to last: I was doing this so my babies could be born healthy and strong.
So, you might ask, what did I do while on bed rest? Well, Netflix became my best friend. I put the movies I wanted to watch in my queue, and then presto they came in the mail. I caught up on all the seasons of ER. I ordered books on Amazon. Friends brought me books to read. If I was having a good day (which happened twice), I went to the library with my husband and checked out books. Yes, I spent a lot of time reading.
I have never been crafty, but a friend of mine did scrapbooking and craft projects while on bed rest. She set herself up in the morning and then worked on her projects throughout the day. When my mom was on bed rest with my youngest sister, she tied strips of fabric and made a rug. I’m fairly sure I remember it being rather ugly, but she accomplished something. That is the point. Find something that you like to do that you can do and then do it.
If I had had older children, it would have been much more difficult. I would have had to accept help from anyone who offered it, and then I would have had to ask for help from those who didn’t. When my sister-in-law went on bed rest with her third and fourth babies, she had to send her older children to family two hours away because she went into preterm labor whenever she tried to do anything. You do what you have to do to make the pregnancy last as long as possible.
I am not going to lie; having to go on bedrest can be difficult and at times boring. However, it is worth it in the end. When I finally delivered two small but perfectly healthy babies, I was glad that I had followed through with my doctor’s orders. That made it all worth it.
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