When my doctor first said to take one week of bed rest because of an infection, I thought I would get bored pretty quickly. When I went in for a check up one week later and doc asked how I was feeling, I was extremely tempted to ask for one more week.
My week of bed rest happened to coincide with the week that my all-day sickness (to correct the misnomer of morning sickness) was at its worst and my barf bucket felt more like an extra appendage. If I had been feeling perfectly healthy and energized, I probably would have gotten bored pretty quickly. Moving around only intensified the nausea, so I was perfectly content staying in bed on or on the couch all day.
I lost about four pounds from nausea, and after being excited when my pants started to get too tight a few weeks ago, fitting back in to my pre-maternity pants was a little depressing (after all, this is the one time in my life where I can be happy about gaining a little weight and starting to show). So, between feeling tired from not being able to eat enough and feeling tired just from being pregnant, I was also content to stay off my feet and keep as many calories for me and the baby as I could (greedy, I know).
I wasn't restricted to just lying down as long as I was relaxing most of the day, and I was able to do some work on my computer to help pass the time. But the time went by rather quickly. I had a stack of books I was planning to read and I only managed to finish one; I had several writing projects waiting and only worked on a few.
The cooking, cleaning and errands magically finished themselves (though if you asked my husband, parents or in-laws about a second voluntary week of bed rest, they might have something to say about that…so thank you “magic” cleaning-cooking-errand crew). My cat was ecstatic to have unlimited cuddle time and the dogs played outside most of the day.
Overall, the week of bed rest (which I dreaded at first) turned out to be rather revitalizing. Which made me realize that (i.e., cue cheesy ending), since I have six more months to go and things could get better or they could get worse, pregnancy is much more bearable with a positive attitude—whether that means looking at baby clothes online when I need some cheering up, finding ways to laugh at the not-so-nice side effects of pregnancy, or just enjoying the many unexpected, new experiences that come with being a first time mom.
