Recharing the Ol' Batteries

Well, it’s a monumental day in my house. I’ve been on bedrest for three weeks due to a pre-term labor scare and I’m now on the homestretch- only one more week! I should preface that there has been no question that Baby is healthy and doing well, so that takes a great weight off my shoulders. I’m sure if there were health factors at play, I’d be viewing this whole experience in a different light. But because the goal is just to give Little One some more time to “cook” (there’s a reason they are called “buns in the oven”!), this past month has been more like a required respite than a giant “time out” that sentences me to my room. I’ve been asked several times if being on bed rest leaves me feeling bored.. It’s a valid question. When you’re laying around all day, there can only be so much to do, right? Wrong! I’ve actually enjoyed the gift of free time- a foreign concept for most busy moms! Since my two older children have been under the watchful eye of family and friends during this time, I’ve tried to utilize this break to my advantage. These are some of the things filling my time right now.

Reading. We’re bibliophiles around here. The local library staff knows my children and me by name, we may or may not bring a carry-on suitcase to pick up a new stash of Newberry and Caldecott award winners, and if you don’t believe me... well, I have the late fees to prove it! Last year, one of my New Years Resolutions was to read my way through a booklist I made covering a whole slew of topics- fiction, health, education, biographies, and theology. It was a lofty goal, but I completed my last book before the year ended and it whet my appetite for more. Unfortunately, this year hasn’t lent itself towards as much free time in the evenings (I usually read when the kids go to bed)... well, that is, until now! I’ve been able to dive into five books that have sat on my nightstand for the last several months and consequently, have enjoyed the “brain vacation” (my body has been bound to bed, but my mind has enjoyed taking trips to far off locations thanks to some great reads!).

Anticipating Baby. This pregnancy has gone by at at breakneck speed, mainly because my attention has been diverted with meeting the demands of my other two children. Having some downtime has given me opportunity to really build some anticipation for the new bundle of joy entering our family soon. I’ve enjoyed filling in the pre-story in his baby book, reading out loud to him (something I did when pregnant with our oldest two but hadn’t done exclusively for #3 before), praying for him, and writing letters to him.

Corresponding with Others. There’s a comic floating around the internet that showcases an exhausted mom with kids at her heels begging for her attention while she takes a phone call. Her response to the call goes something like this:  “Do you mind if I call you back in about five years?” Any parent of little ones can laugh because they’ve been there and done that! Returning e-mails and phone calls throughout the day can be challenging with toddlers underfoot, but in a unique season such as this, it’s nice to be able to do it immediately without it being at the expense of caring for my kids. This means, I can enjoy long extended phone conversations and I’m able to write handwritten thank you cards to the family and friends that have helped watch our kids and bring us meals recently (they’re worth the extra time... and well, that’s something I have plenty of these days!).

Following a TV Show to Completion. My husband and I gave up on following any prime time TV shows soon after our first was born because we don’t own a DVR and anything we were interested in aired right at our son’s bedtime, which meant our poor little guy got the short end of the stick when it came to my attention (I may or may not have gotten him ready for bed during commercial breaks). It was hard going cold turkey, but anymore I don’t know what I’m missing. I was flipping through our Netflix Instant Que soon after I was put on bedrest and a show called Call the Midwife immediately caught my eye (gee, I wonder why?). Within the first ten minutes, I was hooked. Like many BBC shows, episodes are a bit long (over an hour) but there aren’t very many in a season so there’s not a long time commitment to finish it. Whether you’re on bedrest or not, I highly recommend it (and if you’re pregnant, it’s especially interesting!)

Getting Naps. Ha! I know that sounds like a joke of a routine, but I can’t tell you how good it feels to recharge my batteries! Both my older children gave up on napping when they were two years old and quiet time is something of a misnomer around here. I wish I would have taken up the sage advice to “rest when Baby rests” when I had my first- but I didn’t. Instead, I used that time to clean house, pay bills, return phone calls, and make dinner. By the time I wised up and realized the value of resting with my Little One, I then had two children whose nap times and bedtimes didn’t coincide, so I lost my opportunity! I’ve been able to cash in a year’s worth of lost nap times over the course of this month and I’m not gonna lie... it’s been pretty wonderful!

Being idle makes me go shack-whacky but this reprieve from real life responsibilities is something of a gift, giving me a chance to rest up so I can soon hit the ground running with my brood of three little ones... to which I say, bring it on!!!

If you were put on bedrest during your pregnancy, what are some ways that you chose to combat the “boredom bug”?