Freebies

Here is another list of freebies from the MoneySavingMom blog! I love this blog so much I can't even tell you. Every time I sign up for freebies I get awesome coupons.

Helpful links

Sorry for not posting for a few days. We had an eventful few days. My sister came to visit (we live far from each other so it was a big deal). Then little man had an allergic reaction to something- but we still have no clue what it was. Thankfully that wasn't that big of a deal and he recovered very quickly.

Today I wanted to share some links that may be helpful.
Sidelines Non-profit for complicated pregnancies and premature births
Bedrest Checklist- (from Sidelines)Take this to your Dr as a guide for your activity level on bedrest
17P info (from Sidelines)
Gestational Diabetes (from Sidelines)
Preterm Labor (from Sidelines)
Pregnant with multiples (from Sidelines)
March of Dimes
ADA Gestational Diabetes page
Baby Center Gestational Diabetes page
Baby Center Bedrest page
Baby Center Preclampsia page
Baby Center Preterm labor page
Baby Center IUGR page
Baby Center Placenta Previa Page
Baby Center Placental Abruption page
Baby Center Excessive Amniotic Fluid Page
Baby Center Cervical Insufficiency page
Preeclampsia Foundation

Quick Meals

I will not claim you can "cook" while on bedrest. I am suggesting you can make a meal for your family.
Buy precooked meats, or cuts that can be cooked in the crock pot. Use microwavable meals, I personally loved Hormel Refrigerated entrees which cook in about 4 minutes. Take advantage of your grocery store's bakery for things like dinner rolls. Keep your ingredients to a minimum. It means less time standing in your kitchen assembling. Use canned soups and precut fruit and veggies as shortcuts. They make frozen vegetable's in steamable bags that cook in about 4-6 minutes. There are even complete meals that will cook like the steamable veggies.

I should mention that my wonderful husband usually cleaned up after the meals. There are several things I did to keep cleaning as easy as possible. We used paper plates and disposable utensils. I am normally more Eco-friendly but this was a situation where I didn't mind being a little wasteful. They also make slow cooker liners which I highly suggest using. These are just a few ideas I hope you find helpful.

When bedrest gets depressing

I struggled with my emotions while I was on bedrest. A lot.

I felt like a failure as a woman because I couldn't keep my baby baking without medical intervention. I was so upset at the thought of him being early. I agonized over the health issues that he could face. I cried because I felt useless and trapped. I was upset because I thought my husband could never find me attractive on days when I couldn't stand up long enough to put on make up or do my hair, or even change out of my pj's. I was miserable because my house was a mess and I couldn't clean it. I wanted food but I couldn't cook. I was sick of TV but I couldn't leave the house.

At some points I was just plain angry. Why was this happening to me? I waited to get pregnant until I had finished school and had a decent job. I felt I had done virtually everything right (not that there is a right way or wrong way). To add insult to injury I had trouble getting pregnant in the first place, and now I can't even handle carrying my child to term? I had taken so many pregnancy tests that came back negative that I didn't bother to try another until my husband suspected I might be pregnant. I was shocked when I saw a positive. So shocked I took two more tests and then went to the OB before we both actually believed it. That was the part about being high risk that hurt the most. It was how incredibly bad I had wanted Little Man, how I didn't think we would ever have him, and then to face so many uncertainties. It was heart-wrenching.

Pregnancy hormones certainly don't help the situation. The worst part is the isolation though. Lucky for our generation we are more connected then ever. Take advantage of this- Skype, Facebook, Tweet, go on message boards, or call someone.

Bedrest can definitely leave you depressed. That's precisely why I wanted to start my blog. Don't be afraid to reach out, don't feel alone. You are not alone, there are plenty who have been there or are there right now.

Are you staying hydrated?

Dehydration can cause contractions. Its important to stay hydrated especially while pregnant. When I was pregnant I became dehydrated and ended up in the emergency room. I found it hard to drink water all day so I ate a ton of watermelon and cantaloupe as snack foods. I also ate cereal for breakfast and soups for lunch.

A big help to me was to have a container of whatever I wanted to drink (usually a gallon jug- although be careful to set it where you don't have to lift it to drink from it if you do this- use a straw) and mark it in 3rds. Then I set my cell phone's alarm to go off every so often and made it a goal to have 1/3 gone in say for example 3 hrs. If you keep track of your progress its much easier to stay ahead of the dehydration.

Anyone else have useful tips to keep dehydration at bay?

My friend the DVR

Why is it there is never anything good on TV when all you can do is watch TV, surf the internet or read a book. Daytime TV is awful, I mean AWFUL. There was nothing that I wanted to watch besides Rachel Ray's talk show in the morning. For a few days I became obsessed with CNN (partly because I couldn't figure out how Don Lemon was in his 40's, he looks like he's 22 years old) but that quickly wore off.

One of my smarter moves on bedrest was recording anything and everything that I would find interesting. I under normal circumstances didn't record a lot, only shows I really loved and I never recorded reruns. Once on bedrest that quickly changed. If something was on at 3 o'clock in the morning and I was sleeping usually I would assume it would play again. Now I would record anything so I'd have it when I could no longer take staring at my computer screen or I had finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the 4th time. Now in the morning when all that was on TV was QVC highlighting the latest fashions from the Quaker Factory and I was about to lose it *light bulb* THE DVR! Seriously, I loved that thing. I DVR'ed every Harry Potter movie that played on TV, Psych, Burn Notice, NCIS, and the Soup.

Strict Bedrest

Strict bedrest is awful. I was jealous of those allowed to go down stairs. I would have loved to do laundry- something I would have never ever said before bedrest. I was initally given the green light to do light shopping once a week when I first was in preterm labor. After I ended up in the hospital for several days though everything about my Dr's orders became much more strict. After I had little man this resulted in a two hour Target trip. I filled 2 shopping carts full of stuff I had been so eager to buy but didn't trust to my husband (Ex. nursing bras). My point is your sanity is even more likely to go out the door the more strict you have it.

Here are some things to consider:

Shop online for baby items you still need.
Check to see if your grocery store has a delivery service (Giant uses Peapod in my area)
Check out sites like DoortoDoorOrganics.com for delivery of fresh veggies and fruit
If you have the cash, hire a cleaning service to do a small cleaning of your house
Sign up for deal sites to see if a cleaning service in your area comes up
Try a new hobby- I picked up knitting using Youtube!
Learn a language- seriously the internet is vast and awesome
Have a career that requires continuing education?- try earning your CEU's online
Try watching some new shows
Have netflix? Search for movies, there are a lot that don't just pop up in the categories
Order take out- its nice to have warm food you didn't have to cook/when you can't cook
Have someone rent you some movies
Do your hair/make up/nails
Invite friends over
Have a 'virtual' baby shower if you need to- use skype!
Or bring your baby shower to you if you can
Sign up on all the baby formula and diaper websites- Hello coupons!
Have someone bring you trashy celeb magazines
Read a book before you can't because there is a screaming baby


Feel free to add suggestions in the comments.

Bedrest on a holiday.

 I know what a bummer it is to be stuck on bedrest during a holiday. The second time I was in PTL it was the 4th of July. It sucked. I sympathize I really do. I wanted to be outside at a picnic or at the very least just to be outside! I am sure you want to be anywhere but your bed.


My best advice is to keep your head held high and remember that you are doing this to keep your little one safe. Always take bed rest day by day, don't turn down visitors, ask for help when you need it, and remember the "I am keeping my baby safe" mantra!

Getting money back while shopping.

I'm going to keep it short and simple today. I shop at Target. Why? Because I earn gift cards for my purchases. I have a stash of gift cards in my wallet totaling $25 dollars from the last 6 weeks.

Shopping at Target is one of the easiest ways for me to save money. They have deals all the time where if you buy two products you can earn a $5 or $10 dollar gift card. Just look in this weeks flyer. The deals are usually on diapers and formula so it works out very well when you start to need that sort of stuff! You can also get rebates on various products (breast pumps are a big one for getting rebates) so watch for those.