Anyone out there thinking, “All this fitness during pregnancy stuff is great…but what if I CAN’T. Can’t as in…bedrest.” We don’t want to ignore this incredibly difficult occurrence! 

For now, let’s welcome Lindsey from Outside Mom! During her first pregnancy she was “the poster child of an active pregnant woman.” She kept skiing, hiking, biking and climbing until 41 weeks. Her second pregnancy was harder, but generally the same. She was put on bed rest only near the end. But her third…well…I’ll let her share the story! (Originally posted here.)

I spent the first 24 weeks (of my third pregnancy) feeling incredibly nauseous; all food sounded terrible and I didn’t sleep well. Consequently there was not a lot of extra energy to go around. I tried to keep exercising a few times a week, as exercise was the only thing that helped with my nausea, but most days it took what little energy I had just to take care of my kids.

When I finally got over the nausea, I had two really great weeks.  I celebrated with an awesome November bike ride. Alas, at 26 weeks I (again) started showing signs of pre-term labor. I was put on “low mobility”. This means walking at a snail’s pace, and as infrequently as possible.  No hiking, no biking, no jogging, no cavorting, no anything vigorous, exciting, or otherwise resembling ‘fun’.  I felt like I’d been grounded for bad behavior.

At 31 weeks I went into labor.  They put me in a bed in the hospital with instructions not to move a muscle, this turned out to be pretty easy considering they pumped me full of horrible anti-contraction medicines that turned off all muscle control.  I spent four days staring at a ceiling that I couldn’t make focus, willing my baby not to make an early appearance.  When they finally sent me home it was with instructions for full bed rest.  They weren’t kidding.  I tried to drive to Kinko’s and almost went into labor in the parking lot.  Thankfully, and by holding very still for seven weeks, Viv made it to 38 weeks.

Did I want to have an active pregnancy?  Most definitely!  Did I go insane with all that bed rest?  Completely!  It was incredibly hard.  I’d planned to be pregnant during the winter since winter sports are my least favorite.  I’d planned to give birth a month before kayaking season was in full swing.  Imagine my dismay when Mother Nature opted for a snow-free winter (i.e. year-round mountain biking weather, and a short early kayak season).  Knowing the joy I was missing out on REALLY didn’t help.

I truly believe that staying active during pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for you and your baby.  But no matter how much some of us WANT to have an active pregnancy, it’s just not always a reality.

The thing is, being outdoors is vital to my sanity, so I had to make some modifications. I thought I’d share a few tips from my coping strategy on the off chance that other outside moms encounter a similar situation.

1. Get a hammock
Bed rest is actually borderline enjoyable when you HAVE to lay around outside. On second thought I take that back, “enjoyable” is not really the right word… but you get my point. Aside from having a hammock in the yard there were days when Joe would come home from work, pack up the hammock, the kids… and me, and we’d head out into the hills. I’d lay in the hammock while he explored with the kids. Just being outside made me feel infinetly more sane.

2. Take a 50 foot saunter
When I was on low mobility the kids and I would head off down our favorite trail until we found the closest place to play. We often stopped at a big dirt pile just off the trail about 50 feet from the trailhead. The kids would play on that hill for hours while I propped myself up next to a boulder and watched them, while also enjoying a little sun on my face.

3. Live vicariously through others
I was actually pretty content being a shuttle bunny. I’d drop Ari and Joe off at the top of a trailhead with their Mt.Bike set-up, then find a place to park along the trail, pull out my chair, and then Isaac and I would throw rocks in the creek and wait for them to pass. Likewise watching kayakers at the kayak park was a great substitute for the real thing. I also didn’t mind shutteling friends and family to and from adventures I couldn’t attend.

4. Park your chair by a window
Bed rest meant I could also lounge in my lazy boy, so I parked it where I would stare out the window. Since it was the end of winter I kept tabs on when certain species of birds came back from their winter quarters, monitered the blossums, the polinators, my wind chime etc. Nerd? Maybe.

5. Modify your adventures
I don’t know if you saw, or remember my post last Valentines Day about our van party. There was a reason for this. I couldn’t walk very far, so instead of staying home with no festivities we had a party in our van parked in the closest national forest. It worked, I recall those simple little adventures being a high point for all of us.

6. Make sure your kids get out
If me AND my kids were stuck sitting around that would have been a pretty bad combo. This is where your spouse, friends or family come in handy. My kids still got to take walks and do some outside exploring with their Dad. Sometimes I’d stay home, but a lot of the time I’d go and just recline in the van with a good book, my coat and beanie on and the windows rolled down.

The kids also got full reign of the backyard. I’d send them outside and they’d have the hose on in the middle of winter. I didn’t care as long as they were getting out, and I think they enjoyed their lawless backyard time.

7. Take a drive
I felt like my Grandparents on several occassions. Sometimes we’d take a drive just to be taking a drive. We wouldn’t go far, in fact our favorite spot was a series of cow fields owned by the University. We’d drive the fields looking for birds, marmotts, rabbits and deer. Not something I’d normally enjoy, but it did my mental stability good.

8. Remember that there is an end
I had to keep reminding myself that  I was not terminally pregnant. I knew there was an end in sight, and that before I knew it I would be back to my active self. Turns out I was right…