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Mike & Amy
We had been an the website about a month and a half and we recieved an email from a couple. We hit it off immediately. We both knew it was a perfect match and had a great feeling about it. We are now talking daily on the phone to the couple and are forming a friendship that will last forever. Thank you so much for having such a fantastic website and more ...
Bed Rest
When you first find out you are pregnant, you plan the next 9 months as if it's all going to be a text book pregnancy. Unfortunately, not all pregnancies are text book perfect, and some of them become a little complicated. If you start to feel that all is not going according to plan, or you have abdominal pains/cramps, or vaginal bleeding you need to see a doctor immediately. Although many times this is a precaution only and the reasons for concern disappear as fast as they appeared with no explanation, occasionally these are the warning signs that your pregnancy is in danger and extra care is needed. It could be something like a threatened miscarriage situation, or a fear of developing pre-eclampsia, or a possibility of premature labor which poses the risk that has your doctor order bed rest for you until the danger is past. Bed rest can be for any duration as prescribed by your doctor. It could be that you are told to stay in bed for anything from a few days up to the remainder of your pregnancy.
The bed rest will take care of your physical well being, but your mental well being is a different issue. Most bed rest mothers-to-be are allowed out of bed only to go to the bathroom. This means spending most of the days alone and feeling like a spectator on their real lives that are going on outside the bedroom door. In this situation, the worst enemies are boredom and depression.
There are ways of beating boredom and blues that your family and friends can help with so that you still feel part of your normal social circle, despite your confinement. If you find yourself on bed rest, try some of the following to keep your spirits up until you are allowed back on your feet:
1. Make your bedroom the focus of family activity. Have everyone meet there at the end of their day to share what they have been doing with you.2. If you are easily tired, have each member of the family come and visit you for 15-30 minutes so that you get to spend some one-on-one time with them. This is especially important if you have other younger children where the separation can cause distress for both you and the child. Perhaps you could have them come to you for their bedtime story before they go off to sleep.
3. Have a pizza party for friends in your bedroom.
4. Organize with your partner to have your friends call around on a rota system so that you have one or two visitors frequently rather than everyone at once and then long periods on your own.
5. Ask friends for old magazines or books that they recommend as interesting reading. See if you can find a jigsaw board and start doing jigsaws (start with smaller ones and progress to larger more complicated ones). Is there a craft you used to enjoy? If this can be done from your bed, get your partner to collect the necessary materials in order for you to take it up once again.
6. If there is no television/video player/dvd player in your bedroom - now may be a good time to either invest or borrow one. Even if you aren't someone who watches much television, it will let you keep up-to-date with the world outside your bedroom door and stop your thinking only of your own situation.
7. Unless you have been advised against it, have a friend come around and pamper you with a manicure, or pedicure, facial, massage or other treatment that will make you relaxed and feeling great.
8. Think ahead to the birth and get organized. Is your birth plan in order? Are your announcement cards addressed? Are your thank you cards addressed? Do you have a contact telephone list for your partner to inform all the important people that the baby has been born? Use your bed rest as an opportunity to get a little ahead with these tasks.
Bed rest isn't an ideal situation in which to find yourself, but it is possible to find a way of passing the time without it weighing too heavy on your hands.
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