How to Prepare for Bed Rest

A large chunk of my life is — not exactly missing — but not all there, either. The five months I spent on bed rest are an odd blur of everything and nothing. They were hard months.

This week someone dear to me is having surgery, and she mentioned she would look to me for advice on preparing for a few weeks of recovering in bed. I thought, “Oh, I’ll send her my blog post on tips for bed rest.” And then I realized I didn’t have a blog post on tips for bed rest. So here goes.

So you’ve been put on bed rest. If you are interested in this post, I’m guessing you or someone you know will be counting bed rest in weeks or months, not days.

Making a Nest/Control Center

The first step is to make yourself as comfortable, safe, and happy as possible. Figure out what you need within arms’ reach, and then figure out how to get it there. Generally this will involve you making a list and somebody else doing the shopping or furniture rearranging.

Here are a few suggestions:
-Laptop or tablet. This was my lifeline. I could communicate with friends, watch movies, read articles, and connect with other people on bed rest.
-Phone. Obviously this is nice for chatting with loved ones, but it’s extra important in case you have a medical (or other) emergency.
-Water. Lots.
-Flashlight. Good for power outages and shadow puppets.
-Comb. In case of visitors. Maybe add lip gloss, too.
-Entertainment. More on this later.
-Grabber Reachy Thing (Like this. Because you will drop your phone or the TV remote 5 times a day)
-Snacks. If you are going to be home alone part of the time, you might even consider a mini-fridge stocked with apples, hummus, and other nutritious snacks that require little preparation.
-Tray. This keeps food off your sheets and means you don’t burn your legs while holding a laptop all day.
-Back Pillow

Bed Rest Fashion

What? Bed rest and fashion in the same sentence? Oh, yes, my friends. When I started my bed rest term I spent much of the day in pajamas and sweatpants. I soon found that, for my mental health, I needed to upgrade my wardrobe. I’d bought some cute maternity items to get me through the pregnancy, but the maternity skinny jeans and cute sun dress were not comfortable once I spent my entire day in bed. If you are on bed rest, jersey knit is your friend. It doesn’t wrinkle, it’s ridiculously comfortable, and it’s fairly cheap. Adding several knit pieces to my wardrobe — ones that would have been nice enough for a business casual environment — gave me a good range of things I could wear. And taking a few minutes to put on real clothes each day helped me feel like I was still part of the universe. Plus, I was ready for any unexpected visitors.

Entertainment

Digital services are a miracle for those confined to bed rest. Ebooks were such a treasure to me when I was stuck in bed. I loved the ability to get new books without depending on anyone else. I bought a few, but most I checked out via the internet and my local library’s website. Netflix, also, was a wonderful diversion. NextIssue wasn’t around during my bed rest time, but it’s another great service, especially for magazine fans.

Even if you don’t have a way to get some of these services, try to build up your selection of entertainment one way or another. Several friends brought me their favorite books when I was on bed rest. I discovered The Hunger Games and the Vorkosigan Saga that way. I depended heavily on escapist fiction because I could hardly bear the thought of being in bed for five months. Which leads me to…

Sanity-Savers

This one is up to you. Find what keeps you sane. For me, that was my toddler son, the prayers of friends, my supportive husband…..also chocolate, my cat, House Hunters International, and — eventually — Zoloft. That’s what I needed to get through my time. For you, it might be an MLB television package or a tiny electric piano to play. Just find what works.

Of course there are lots of other aspects of bed rest. Medications, plans for childcare, meals from friends… but hopefully this is a good start for anyone facing a few weeks or months stuck in bed.

Feel free to continue the discussion in the comments. Do you have any tips for bed rest, whether for pregnancy, chronic illness, or recovery periods?