Being on bed rest is not easy. If I could choose I’d rather work all day than to rest all day. But for my sake and my baby’s sake I had to endure being on bed rest for one month. At first, the hours are long but when I took the hang of it, I realized that it wasn’t bad after all.
To maintain my sanity, I did the common ones like reading books and listening to music but I also tried not so common ways.
These are the common things that I did to be productive even while on bed rest:
1. Read
I love to read. I took this opportunity to read the unfinished pregnancy books/magazines/blogs I saved in my USB/laptop. I learned a lot about pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing from different perspectives of authors. I compared and I chose the ones that I feel are compatible for me and my circumstance.
I also read the newspaper daily. I’m thankful for my husband who is always providing a supply of newspaper every day. Even though I’m at home, I still know what’s going on around me especially the current issues faced by the city where I live. I could read news online but I prefer to read the old fashioned way because I don’t want to use my computer for a long time.
2. Listen
When I got tired of reading, I switched to listening to music. My love for reading is equal to my love for music. I even downloaded classical music for my unborn baby. Listening to this music relaxes me and I believe that it also relaxes my baby.
3. Watch
I like this because it involves my sense of hearing and sense of sight. I chose to watch lighthearted movies that will make me laugh. Before I got pregnant, I liked watching horror and suspense movies. But this time, I want to feel good so I chose these kinds of movies.
4. Communicate
My husband and I live away from our family so I communicated with them through messenger, text messages, or calls. I feel good when they ask me how I feel and I update them about my condition. I may not be around physically but constant communication with them strengthens our bond.
I also reached out to other women who experienced bed rest and successfully handled it. It gives me strength to follow their examples.
These are the not so common things that I did to be productive even while on bed rest:
1. Write
I love to write about my thoughts. When I found out that I am pregnant, I bought a pregnancy organizer and journal. This journal is divided into 40 weeks and each page has an area where I can record what I’m feeling in my heart, what I’m feeling physically, what I ate today, what I weighed today, daily tasks and memorable events of the day. This might be long or unimportant for others but this is helpful so I can keep track of everything. And I plan to give this to my child when he or she is old enough to understand this.
2. Scrapbook
I want my special events to last long so I decided to make a scrapbook. Getting married, moving out, and getting a new job made me busy that I didn’t have time to make it. I simply sorted and pasted on paper some photos, letters, and memorabilia/keepsakes. I also added some embellishments.
3. Blog
I’ve been wanting to do this but I was busy at work. Now that I have all the time in the world, I started to blog. Because I’m still practicing it, I used a free blogging site. Once I become used to this, I might as well pay for the website.
4. Study
I consider myself blessed because there’s a free online class for one month that coincides with my sick leave. This class only requires 4 hours a week so I think it is not that stressful. At the end of the course, I could request for a certificate and I can use this for possible job opportunities. Accomplishing something even while on bed rest is worth it.
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