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What is the one thing every twin momma dreads? Hospital Bed Rest.

We are all told from the beginning that bed rest is very likely towards the end of our pregnancy. Twin pregnancy creates a LOT of stress on our bodies. But none of us think it’ll happen to us.

I was one of those that didn’t take the idea of bed rest seriously. So I didn’t plan for it. I hadn’t even started planning my leave before I was put on hospital bed rest.

When I was told I was going to stay in the hospital until the babies arrived, I was in complete shock. I was also super anxious. I wasn’t going home. My husband and I were going to basically be separated for the next who knows how long. Oh god. And nothing was done.

We had the baby shower the week before I was admitted and we literally just shoved everything into the baby room. I didn’t even know what all we had, or what all we needed.

Aside from my anxiety about home life, I was terrified about what was going on with me and the babies. I mean, my doctors said I was so sick I had to be monitored 24/7. That means I was pretty dang sick, right?

Well turns out I had severe pre-eclampsia. If you don’t know what that is- it is basically a sickness caused by the placentas (they think) that if not monitored leads to vital organs shutting down, seizures, and in very extreme cases, death.

Luckily, after about three days in the hospital, my team of doctors and nurses got my pre-e under control for the most part. I had spikes here and there of high BP’s, but other than that I was doing OK. But I still couldn’t go home.

Because of the severity of the sickness, doctors will not let a pregnant woman go home once they have been diagnosed. This is because when the sickness does take a turn for the worst, it can all happen in a matter of minutes. You might not have time to get to the hospital, admitted, and have time for delivery.

So… I was stuck. For four weeks before I delivered, and then another week after that. I spent five weeks out of this year in the hospital.

Those five weeks were hard. I was away from my home, dogs and husband. I was only allowed to leave the hospital bed for bathroom and shower breaks. I was constantly monitored and asked 500 questions per day. But because of that experience, I do have a good list of tips that will help you get through hospital bed rest if that is what your pregnancy comes down to.

Lets dive in!

Tips for Hospital Bed Rest

• Schedule

Being stuck in a bed, let alone a hospital bed, is a lot different from your normal life. This was probably the hardest thing for me to adjust to. I wasn’t waking up at 6 am anymore to leave for work by 7. My entire world was flipped upside down. One of my nurses noticed how distraught I was by it all and she suggested I create a schedule for my new days.

I didn’t schedule anything crazy, it was more of an outline. I bought myself this planner and wrote out my plan. I made myself get ‘up’ for the day after the 7:30 AM rounds. That is when I would order breakfast and turn on the lights in my room. Then my next thing was to shower around 10 AM. After the morning tasks I would play some sudoku, maybe have a visitor come by, color, order lunch and dinner, and wait for my husband to show up around 7pm. Sometimes he would bring dinner for us.

The days are pretty laid back, and sometimes got boring. But most were actually okay when I kept myself busy.

• Visitors

My next suggestion is to have your friends and family visit! I am sure they want to. When I was first admitted I had friends and family asking left and right if they could come see me. At first I didn’t want to see anyone. And sometimes a person every single day is a lot. But having someone close to you come and hang out for a few hours just to talk feels great.

• Snacks

A great thing to have is snacks! That hospital food might not be too bad at first. But it DOES get boring. One of the first weekends I was there my mom brought me brownies, pumpkin bars, cheese its and apple sauce pouches. I ate them way too fast, but hey. I was also VERY pregnant!

• Make it Home

Something a lot of people don’t think about is that you can bring whatever you want into your room. I had pictures, baskets of stuff to do, baskets of snacks, all of my own pillows and blankets, and flowers to make my room a little homier. My favorite things were my fuzzy blanket and pillows to make that hospital bed a little more comfortable!

• Shower

Another great way to spend your day- take a shower! If you are able to, get off your bed for a while and sit in a warm shower. You actually have nothing better to do. So while you have some energy in the mornings, take a hot shower. Have your spouse bring your favorite shower products to make it an even better shower!

• Sudoku/Games

One of my favorite things to do in the afternoon was play sudoku or games on my phone. Facebook messenger has games, so I would play back and forth with my husband. I found out I really liked a game named Hex.

Another thing to do is color. Coloring is very time consuming, so I could get a whole intricate page done in a day! This cuss word coloring book was fun 🙂

• Choose your Nurses

Something you might not know right away is that you can request nurses. Now, you can only have them if they are actually working. But once I found this out I was so happy! You’ll see a lot of nurses if you are in the hospital for weeks on end, so being able to request your favorites is awesome! And you will for sure have some that are NOT your favorite.

My favorite nurse (actually, she was also my admitting nurse) Betsy was awesome. She did everything at the same times and the same ways so when I had other nurses that did things backwards, I got very annoyed. I had her every single day that she worked during my five week stay. I wish I would have gotten her number to stay in touch.

• Learn all of the Policies

My last tip is to learn all of the policies for your hospital. I found out that if I wasn’t on ‘protocol’ (essentially, my BP stayed nice and low) for more than four or five days, I could leave my room. I couldn’t leave the floor, but I was able to walk around the department or go out onto the balcony with a nurse. It never happened, but it was something I was always looking forward to!

Another cool thing I learned was that my L&D department allowed long term patients dogs to visit. I thought that was the coolest thing! So every weekend either my husband or mom would bring my dog, Abbie, with. My husband tried with our GSD, Sig, but he freaked out in the elevator so they went home.

Now hopefully you don’t have to use my tips. But if you do get stuck in the hospital for weeks on end, or even for just a little while, hopefully my tips help you make it through without going insane!

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