Friend on Bedrest

I spent a month in the hospital from complications after having my son. Just spending time with her is the best thing. My friends also brought me word puzzles, workbooks, word searches, & stuff like that. They also brought me magazines & library books.

My friend did a gift basket for her friend who had to have an early hystorectomy. She put little soaps and lotions, candles, reader digests, magazines, crossword or mad gab type puzzles, homemade brownies, snacks like fruit and crackers, eye mask, a little cross stitch kit...

Hi S.!

I wound up in the hospital from May 22nd till July 3rd when I had preemclampsia too. Also had GDiabetes as well. NO fun..

Great meals that she can have are always welcomed. I enjoyed having the computer set up, so that I could get on the internet, movies, DVD, books to read and also encouraging music as well to listen too. Audio books are great too. Can she get up to take a shower? If so, things from Bath & Body works always made me feel nice and a cute pair of PJ's as well. I also liked puzzles to put together (not hard ones), had my hairdresser come and do my hair a couple of times, that was nice.

What else, I did enjoy my cards, flowers and plants that folks brought me! Lots of Magazines were nice too! I enjoyed having company too ...

Hope this helps!

Gladys

I spent 3 months on bedrest and I was miserable... I hated every minute of it! I had people bring me books, videos, crossword puzzles, snacks, meals, etc. It was hard having guests though because I wasn't able to get dressed everyday - only bathroom breaks.
My saving grace was my laptop and the TV. Looking back the time passed really fast - and I would give ANYTHING to have a few days of bedrest now, with nearly 3 yr old twins!
Tell your friend about Sidelines.org. You are hooked up with a "buddy" who has been there and they email you daily or more, IM... help you through the long days. I was lucky that I was matched with someone who also had twin boys born premature - which ended up being extra support for me when they arrived nearly 4 months early.
I'm also willing to take a meal for the family if they are in the Flower Mound area???

I was on strict bedrest from 28 weeks on. I was only allowed to shower on Tuesday/Thursday when I had my dr's appointments and only allowed bathroom breaks. The thing that helped me the most was people visiting and spending time with me/my tv/and my laptop. without those things I would not have survived.

TV Shows on DVD are awesome, because you can really get caught up in them and spend hours watching and pass time so fast. There are so many good shows on DVD out there. You can either buy a season or two for her or rent some. Sports Night was my favorite. Friends is a good one or Gilmore Girls, Sex In The City, etc.

My SIL was on strict bedrest from 23 weeks on. One thing that she really enjoyed was kinda a girls pampering night. Her MIL had a friend that did hair so she came and did her hair and then they did pedicures and facials and such. It made her feel nice being able to get all pretty without having to get up! They brought the spa to her. :)

I was on bedrest for the last 6-8 weeks of my pregnancy and what I loved was scrapbooking stuff. I made a ton of pages to where after the baby was born all I had to do was stick in a few pictures and write down the info. It was the only way I probably would have gotten anything done in it otherwise lol.

Hi S.! OK, been there done that - bedrest! I did 4 week of bedrest with our twins 5 years ago and things that helped me were movies, books, and a laptop (I have to say that this was a huge help for me - I read a lot of message boards, found great recipes, etc).

The snack basket is GREAT! I had one in the hospital and we lived on it....literally :) I would also suggest that you send out an e-mail to everyone you know to sign up for meals - a late lunch/early dinner were the greatest things for me, personally. Guests weren't always easy to have over b/c I couldn't get out of bed and doing my hair, etc. didn't always happen, but I'm telling you, especially since she'll be by herself all that time, if someone could make her plate lunches and dinners that she could eat in bed, she'd probably be thrilled. Having high blood pressure, I'd ask about any limitations, but from there, just e-mail out and you'll probably find the friends everywhere that are willing to do this. I always bring my meals on paperplates with plastic wear b/c then they can just throw it all away :)

That's it from me! If she lives in McKinney or nearby, let me know, I'd be happy to do a meal myself for her.

D.

I would love to help out if I could!! Like the others, I just enjoyed about ANYTHING people would bring me that would take my mind off of not being able to do for myself :) If she has a DVD/TV near the bed a netflix subscription is a great idea! She can swap movies as much as she wants!!! Find out a list of favorite authors, magazines she enjoys, favorite scents for bathgoodies, or candles if she can't shower. Believe me, when you are in that bed, you appreciate ANY effort people put forth on your behalf!! I live in the North Garland area. Please let me know if there is anything I can do! I have a lot of books, maybe she would enjoy those? Just let me know!!! I would LOVE to help...

One thing I would caution about is getting her too many of those what to expect type baby books. I ALWAYS managed to lie in bed and worry myself to DEATH with those silly things until my hubby finally took them away from me....Just a suggestions though!!!!! In my opinion, it is best to get that kind of information once the baby is HERE and you KNOW what you are dealing with and what you need information on....

hugs and the brightest of blessings
H.