Hospital bedrest

[Anonymous]

Has anyone been on hospital bedrest before? Anyone do it at Georgetown University Hospital? Any comments about the care? Suggestions about how to stave off worry and boredom?

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I've never been through this so sorry if this reply is less than helpful, but just wanted to say I wish you the best of luck. My GP (not OB) had 4 weeks of bedrest at Sibley hospital when she gave birth. She said it was obviously somewhat miserable, but she is willing to get pregnant and risk it again, and she said her worry about the bedrest was worse than the actual bedrest itself. I hope your experience is as pleasant as possible. Do they have wireless internet? Perhaps you could keep a blog about the bedrest (anonymous perhaps so you can kvetch all you want?) or perhaps a more traditional journal that you'd eventually share with your family and child. You could learn how to knit or crochet, maybe if you're slightly artistic bring a sketchbook, and obviously as many trashy magazines as you can find. In fact, maybe you could just load it up with beach reading and try telling yourself it's a vacation. Try not to stress and if you do stress, try not to stress about stressing (note that I'm only saying try.....some stress is probably inevitable -- I doubt it will hurt the baby). Are you there over the holidays? If so, I hope your family will do Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate in the hospital room with you. In any case, I have my fingers crossed that you have a great hospital stay and a nice healthy baby as payoff. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP to PP -- Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Those are great ideas and I am going to look into the wireless internet right away. (I haven't been admitted yet). Anything that keeps me from feeling isolated would be a godsend.

[Anonymous]

I was not but wanted to say that if you have internet access at the hospital - do all your shopping for the baby online - read all the baby books for after the baby arrives bc you definitely wont have time to read when the baby comes. Also - if they offer lactation classes - see if you can get someone to come and talk to you about breastfeeding, it is not as easy as it seems and if you know the tricks of the trade before hand you will do better with it.
Obviously try to get lots of rest and sleep now. Hope you dont have to stay long and that you have family and friends that come by often.

[Anonymous]

I was on hospital bedrest for over almost 12 weeks. Here are some recommendations:

- ask friends to bring home cooked meals (low in sodium)
- handheld games
- puzzles like sudoku
- wifi or dial up (internet access!) just be careful not to read too much on the internets, it can be dangerous. ;-D
- Netflix of TV shows. It's great to spend a day watching an entire season of West Wing or 24 or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- if you're anything like me, you'll sleep a lot more than you think you will.
- visitors! And don't be afraid to kick them out if you're having a bad day. Friends understand.

Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

OP to PP: 12 weeks! Congratulations on making it that long. I hope that it resulted in a healthy baby for you. Was it hard on your family? I have a young child from whom I'll have to be separated, which will be the most difficult thing for me.

[Anonymous]

Sympathies to you -- I spend one NIGHT in the hospital this month and thought it would make me crazy! But, as PP mentioned, I'm sure it gets easy(easier) once you settle in.

I was at Georgetown, and of course my experience was short, but here are a few thoughts:

1. The staff were all wonderful -- from nurses and docs down to the janitor and meal lady. My night nurse was very reassuring about the possibility of a long-term stay. She said they always have someone, and they always get mother and baby through it with flying colors. One of her former patients even jokingly recommends it to all her friends, as the best extended vacation a working mother can hope for! (For what it's worth, I've also been to Sibley for procedures and found the overall atmosphere at Georgetown to be much more welcoming.)

2. There is definitely wireless Internet -- a free code that works for 7 days at a time. The speed was decent for normal Web surfing. Didn't try anything fancy like video, but another way to pass the time might be to watch the free TV and movies on Hulu.com

3. Beds have a single, skimpy pillow. Bring your own!

4. Basically, bring your own ANYTHING. Anything to make you feel more comfortable and settled while you're there. My biggest frustrations were wanting something -- a pillow, a snack, moisturizer, whatever -- in the middle of the night and not having access. Somehow, knowing there was no access made me obsess 10x more. Better just to pack it!

5. It would be a great time to keep in touch with family and friends by phone. Cell phone use is OK, or you could pick up a prepaid calling card to make long distance calls from the room's landline.

6. If you're on the L&D wing, I think the visitor restriction is 3 at a time. Make sure your visitors stop at the info desk on their way in/out for a parking validation sticker, as parking is *significantly* cheaper with validation.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP, does it have to be bedrest at a hospital? When I was pregnant (ultra high risk, multiples), my OB team worked with me to find a way to not have to be at the hospital. I ended up doing strict bedrest at home for 8 weeks with a terb pump that was hooked into my thigh giving me tocolytics 24/7 while at the same time wearing a fetal monitor and contractions monitor that was hooked through my phone line to a nurse's station that was continually monitored. I checked in twice/day to give blood pressure and heart rate readings and/or they would call me if the data received from the belts merited changes to meds or a visit to the hospital (hospital visits usually happened once/week and included an ultrasound). My insurance plan covered everything (so happy they weren't paying for a hospital room) and even sent a nurse once/couple days to check in on me, my meds and the pump. Maybe this could work for you???

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to both the PPs for being so helpful. All of this is information that I can use. Helps to hear from people who have been there.

I don't know if home bed rest will be feasible for me or not, but am exploring that simultaenously.

[Anonymous]

12 week bedrester here. My end result: healthy twins who are now crazy 4 year olds. Worth EVERY SINGLE SECOND laying in that bed. I was dilated and had NO cervix left so they could not send me home. The 15 minutes it would have taken me to get to the hospital could have meant life or death for me or my babies.

And my hospital bill was over $150K and I paid a total of $100. That didn't include my children's care, which was another $100K or so (they each spent about a month in the NICU for feeding and growing). Thank god for insurance!

[Anonymous]

PP, who was your doctor and which hospital were you in? How long did you last after you were found to be dilated? (It sounds like my situation is similar to yours!)

[Anonymous]

OP :

I was on hospital bedrest for 3 months and home bedrest for another 2 months. Like the previous poster, I had no cervix left at all and had to stay at the hospital, for an emergency cerclage first, and then so that they could observe me and the baby. It actually really reassured my mind to know that they were there at hand and that at the slightest sign of trouble I could call the nurse and get checked. I had another 5 months bedrest at home for a previous child and the hospital bedrest was much easier psychologically in comparison. Both my kids were born full term and needed no NICU stay at all. They are now very healthy and active and delightful and I rarely think about bedrest at all ! I would do it again in a heartbeat.

There is wireless internet at the hospital, the nurses are very friendly and supportive, and were all like friends at the end. Also I had my own room.
Bring everything you think will make you comfortable.
I did watch lots of Law and Order episodes and Oprah, lol.
There was a bedrest circle of friends at the hospital, and we all met once a week to get support from each other.

Good luck !

[Anonymous]

I was on bedrest at Georgetown (and at home) a few years ago. It was a total of 7 weeks and was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I was also pregnant with twins and went into labor at 26 weeks. Now two years later it was incredibly worth it and I would do it again in a second. I loved Georgetown and have since had a baby there. The nurses are amazing and you will get to know them like friends. I tried to limit the amount of tv I watched and only turned it on to watch certain shows each day )Oprah, the View, Wheel of Fortune and something at night). I tried to follow a routine everyday and would sometimes even change from one nightgown to another to try and differientate between night and day. There is something so weird about not getting out of bed all day but you do get "used" to it over the weeks and it becomes your new normal. I also found scheduling visitors was really important and tried to have someone come and visit every day.

The food at Georgetown isnt the best but you can always order bagels, grilled chesse, etc. even if its not on the menu. I also ordered out a lot- ask the nurses for the delivery menus- but Jetties and Listrani's were my favorite.

Good luck. It is really hard. No one will really understand it unless they've been through it!

[Anonymous]

12 week hospital bedrester here again. I went into Fairfax hospital at 23 weeks, dilated to 1cm and contracting with no cervix left (they couldn't do a cerclage). After the initial week of checking and wondering if I was going to go into labor I started REFUSING cervical checks (both by internal u/s and manual checks). Figured all it was going to do was stir up trouble and if I found out I was dilating further it might have affected my overall belief that I could make it to a healthy week to deliver. I delivered my twins at just shy of 34 weeks. I saw Dr. Khoury's practice in the hospital.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all those who posted. To 00:56 on 12/24, you've inspired me. Congratulations on lasting so long after being dilated.