"When the Baby's Born..."

Bed Rest Day 8

N is catching onto the fact that Mommy is on bed rest. He is enjoying the fact that he has my undivided attention. So, what do we do all day you ask?? We watch a little tv. I don't want either of us to consume too much, so I try to limit it to the times when I'm really tired and need to lay down. The first 30 minutes or so of TV are entertaining and stimulating, but anything after one to two hours just turns my brain to mush. I turn into what I call a "Zombie Jiggle Brain." N gets cranky and sassy and is hard to deal with. I compare it to eating too much junk food. The first few bites taste so good that you could keep eating and eating it, but after a while you just feel sick and yucky from it. So, I am trying to be creative with what he and I do all day.

We have been playing with the Pop Beads that a friend brought over as a gift to N (thanks again, K. N loves them). I think Pop Beads are marketed towards girls, but they are a great toy for boys because you can build things (mostly jewelry) with them and take them apart. They're also fun to scoop up with a toy excavator or bulldozer. I've honestly had fun making several necklaces myself. I put them on and N says "Beautiful, Mom."

We pulled the hide-a-bed out in the family room. I lay on that while N plays. We play catch. N stands up and throws or rolls the ball to me while I'm laying down and I throw it back to him. We moved the basketball hoop next to the couch. We have two baskets that are next to the hoop. One is full of balls. I give the full basket to N. I place the empty basket under the hoop. N shoots hoops and most of the balls end up in the empty basket. When N's gone through all the balls in the full basket, we switch the baskets and play a new game.

N brings cars, trucks, monster trucks and other toys to the hide-a-bed for me to play with. We read books and sing songs. N plays "obstacle course" on stacks of cushions and blankets. The other day while he was playing obstacle course he asked me to jump with him. I told him "Mommy can't jump right now because my belly hurts, but I will be able to jump with you after the baby's born." He seems to understand that explanation. Now we have numerous conversations each day about what we're going to do "when the baby's born." Today at lunch N decided that I would be able to do all of the following activities with him after the baby's born...
Play steam roller (I roll over and over on the ground log style and pretend I'm going to roll over him), go swimming and play in the fountains at the pool, jump, go for walks, go down the slide at the park and ride four wheelers...oh, and play the banjo..Ha! The four wheeler one is the most funny to me because the weight limit on our four wheeler is like 40 pounds! I think he just misses riding his four wheeler with me walking next to him because if I walk next to him while he drives then he gets to drive farther from the house...

I have my own list of things I'm excited to do "when the baby's born." Some will require a little healing time, but some I hope to do shortly after this birth. I look forward to simply being able to do everything I used to do on a daily basis such as driving, going up and down the steps when I please, lifting things and chores (never thought I'd say that!). I'm also looking forward to cooking. I've discovered that there's not much on the TV or the radio in the afternoons. That's when I do some work on the computer. I have turned on the Food Network channel a few times for background noise. As I listen to the cooking shows I've found myself thinking "Oh, that recipe sounds good, I'll make that next week...Uuuh..never mind. I'm not allowed to cook." I suppose I could print those recipes and stash them away for future reference.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is exercising. I know I have to allow myself time to heal and some time to get into a routine since I'll have two kiddos to juggle, but I'm really looking forward to at least going for walks. I've had several dreams about jogging, some about taking aerobics classes and one about playing hockey! I know! I've never played hockey, so I'm not sure where that came from, but it sure was fun in my dream.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying all the time I'm getting to spend with N. Once the baby's born we will get to do fun things mentioned above, but I won't have the undivided time to devote to N like I do now so I'm savoring it the best I can.

In the meantime, I know I need to rest so this baby can have as much time as possible in the womb to grow to it's fullest, healthiest potential. I'd rather be the one on bed rest, taking medications, going to the doctor and enduring any pain (which I don't really have much pain) than have my child go through it. I keep thinking that each day that I take it easy could be one more day that the baby has to grow inside of me and one less day he might have to spend at the hospital, if any.