I really debated sharing this. Compared to other pregnancies or problems that could arise, I know I’ve got it easy. I have been on pelvic rest this entire pregnancy, with a week of modified bed rest thrown into the mix. It’s a combination of there being some small complications, and my OB being overly cautious since I had preterm labor with Chloe.

I started bleeding less than a week after I found out about this pregnancy. It was enough of a blood loss that it warranted an early ultrasound, so I went in a 4w6d.  My RE wanted to confirm an inter-uterine pregnancy. There wasn’t much to see — just a gestational sac that confirmed the pregnancy implanted where it should have — and nothing was cause for alarm. As a precaution, I was put on pelvic rest. For me, that meant no lifting over 10lbs and no intercourse or orgasm.

I bled again at 7 and 8 weeks, and at my 8 week ultrasound my RE was able to see that I had a small subchorionic hematoma.  She didn’t seem concerned about it, and said that it would either bleed out (which it did) or reabsorb by the time I went in for my 11 week scan. I bled a lot compared to the size of my hematoma, and admit that I used my home doppler more than I probably should have. I really needed reassurance that everything was alright!

At my 11 week ultrasound, there was no evidence of an SCH, but I was diagnosed with placenta previa. It’s not uncommon to have previa that early in pregnancy and I was told it would likely correct itself by the time I was 20 weeks along, which it did.  But, it explained my ongoing bleeding and I was told to remain on pelvic rest. I bled very heavily at 13 weeks, 16 weeks and again at 20 weeks. Twice the bleeding landed me in the ER, which earned me pictures of my sweet girl, a cervical check (no dilation) and strict orders to be on modified bed rest. For me, this meant no going up or down stairs, no lifting anything, minimal bending, no baths, resting as much as possible and no intercourse/orgasm. At this point in my pregnancy, almost in the third trimester, the general rule of thumb is no bleeding = pelvic rest, active bleed = modified rest & trip to L&D.

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It’s been tough, but we’ve made it work.  We made adjustments at home to get us through this.  But, I didn’t realize how active I actually was until I was told to relax and not do as much!

My no lifting orders were the most difficult to adjust to. I’m a work at home mom, and I take care most of the household chores during the day. We had a really great housework balance until I was put on pelvic rest and modified bed rest. We have a busy toddler who goes to school twice a week, so this meant we had to teach her (and help her) climb into the car and her carseat so I could avoid lifting her 30lb body. It also meant I couldn’t do the grocery shopping or carry laundry baskets up and down our steps. These were simple fixes: I made the grocery list and clipped coupons, and my husband did 100% of the grocery shopping. I would make sure we had a basket of clothes for him to take down in the morning, and I’d do laundry while he was at work. When he got home, he’d carry the dry clothes upstairs so I could fold and put them away.

Once I was on modified bed rest, though, my chores went out the window.  No bending meant I couldn’t even empty the dishwasher. I understood why I couldn’t, but I really did feel useless around the house. My husband was quick to assure me that I wasn’t useless, and never once complained about taking care of my responsibilities. Pelvic rest is much easier to handle, and is what I’m “on” most of the time. Modified bed rest only applies when there is an active bleed which thankfully, is usually short-lived.

Here are my do’s and don’ts for surviving pelvic and modified bed rest:

DO:
– drink plenty of water
– ask for help and delegate
– re-evaluate your to-do list. Cleaning the toilet or doing laundry is suddenly not so important. It can wait, or ask for help!
– trust your spouse. My husband may not do things the way I do (I’m a control freak and even the towels need folded a certain way!) but his way doesn’t mean wrong.

DON’T
– push yourself.  If your doctor says slow down, then slow down.
– feel guilty.
– read google.  Dr.  Google makes everything 1,00000x worse.
– eat too much junk food.  Pelvic rest means I can go for a light walk, and modified bed rest means hanging out on the couch as much as possible.  It’s easy to sit and munch, and no exercise means the pounds can easily pack on.

Were you put on pelvic rest or bed rest during your pregnancy?