Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Hey there

So Im 26 weeks on Monday and I went for my glucose/sonogram this morning. We've been talking about reducing my schedule (4 days in office, 1 from home) I no longer work long hours and do my best to sit at my desk as often as possible. My work day is generally 8-9 hours and I leave my house at about 7:30 am, getting home around 5-5:30 pm.

When I went in this morning he said he wants me to seriosuly consider working from home full time to avoid the risk of PTL. HE also said that there is nothing indicating that I should be concerned at this point-cervix is good, fluid is good, measuemnts are good, no swelling, blood pressure has been steadt at 100/60 etc. But He just said everything's fine until it's not, and why risk it?

Although I understand his point, I worry that living such a sedentary lifestyle for the next 3 months is going to make my body even more stiff, and complicate labor and make my pregnancy more difficult. Ultiamtely he said it's my decision but that's what he advises.

Anyone have experience, or advice that they can offer me?

Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

some doctors are more conservative - it really dpeends on the doctors. I actually wanted bedrest- i was working 12 hours days (at a desk job) and i was swollen and exhausted - but they told me that as long as everything is good that it was not necessary.
my personal opinion is that doctors are overly concerned about getting sued so they are opting to be even more conservative these days- which is a burden on the patient that maybe would benefit from a more progressive treatment. is your doctor your OB or your high risk doctor? or is he acting as both? if possible get a second opinion.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

If your employer is ok w/you working f/t from home, what about doing that for 2-4 weeks so you at least get past the really critical period.....then see how you're feeling at that point.

Did they measure the babies? I have my hi-risk u/s in 2 wks where they'll measure the growth/weight.
I can't wait!!!!

How did glucose test go?

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

I think the more time you can give yourself not at work,or commuting etc, the better. It does seem weird to go from working FT to just straight up bedrest... can you compromise and work remotely or PT that way you can take it easy and focus on making some babies and getting them as close to term as possible? Full on bed rest just seems like an extreme suggestion without any complications or indicators present.

From a personal standpoint, I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my job and not work and it was great. My doctor was pleased as I had less stress and craziness and avoided bed rest in the longterm and I had two decent sized, healthy babies (though i'm sure i could've done the the same while working, just with a lot more stress lol)

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

At 26 weeks I seemed fine, but uncomfortable. I was off from work bc it was the summer and im a teacher. I was completely taking it easy, floating in my pool all day every day. At 27 weeks my cervix got VERY short and I was put on strict Bed rest. I had my babies at 30 weeks. We spent 6 weeks in the NICU. If I were you I would consider doing what ever you can to take it as easy as possible. If you can work from home in my opinion you should.

GL

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

thanks girls

As of now, my em ployer is aware that I can go out at any point. And they are supportive either way.
Its mostly me who just isn't really ready to commit to being home full time,, especially with no good reason.
@Champ, hearing stories like yours makes me really consider it. I know Im not a doctor but I feel good for the most part.. I just get really tired and winded at the end of the day especially.
I feel better interacting with people-my new office-just transferred-is only 10 minutes from here. The issue is that I often have to go to other locations as well and am in and out of the car ffrequently throughout the day.
Im going to see about a part time from home scenario. DH is fighting me on it too though..
uggh, we'll see.
Thanks again girls!

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

listen to the doctor! i know the idea of being on bedrest for so long seems terrible, but I promise you it is a 100x better than what you will experience if you have your twins come early.

I was fine at my 23wk check up, but at 24wks I was one cm dialated and 50% effaced so I was immediately put on hospital bedrest. I stayed in the hospital for almost a month on all kinds of meds to prevent labor. However, my twins were born at 27 1/2 weeks. My DD spent 70 days in the NICU, but my son had a lot more complications due to their severe prematurity and was in the hospital for 250 days before coming home with private nursing care. He still faces a lot of medical and developmental issues. It has been an extremely difficult year for us. I am not saying this to scare you, but I just wanted to share my experience. Even if you are feeling fine now, things can change really quickly. I really wish my doctors had told me to slow down much earlier on so maybe none of this would've happened or at least we could've kept those babies in a little longer.

Take care of yourself and those babies!! xoxo Good luck

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Of course anything can happen, but I personally would wait until there's a real reason to be put on bedrest- such as a shortened cervix or high BP, etc.

I commute to the city- 1.5 hours each way and its a heII of a commute! Here's what I did- in order to avoid bedrest and PTL, at 24 weeks I went to working one day from home, at 28 weeks I went to working 2 days from home and at 32 weeks I went down to working 3 days from home- and really only going in when I have to. I'm 35 weeks now and no signs of pre-term labor!!! I have to go in 3 days next week but I plan on that being my last week in the office (I will work from home till the end). My dr.s never gave me a problem with this schedule, but if an issue arose they would have put me on bedrest. I also feel better when I go to work- it keeps me active and helps with blood flow.

I would talk to your dr. about a reduced schedule first before total bedrest. Also- have you checked into your company's policy on bedrest? My company counts bedrest before delivery towards the 12 weeks FMLA leave. So if I had to go out on disability early, I would get less time with the babies. Which is why I have to work to the end. Unless they would let you work FT from home without actually going out on disability.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Posted by letsmakeababy

listen to the doctor! i know the idea of being on bedrest for so long seems terrible, but I promise you it is a 100x better than what you will experience if you have your twins come early.

I was fine at my 23wk check up, but at 24wks I was one cm dialated and 50% effaced so I was immediately put on hospital bedrest. I stayed in the hospital for almost a month on all kinds of meds to prevent labor. However, my twins were born at 27 1/2 weeks. My DD spent 70 days in the NICU, but my son had a lot more complications due to their severe prematurity and was in the hospital for 250 days before coming home with private nursing care. He still faces a lot of medical and developmental issues. It has been an extremely difficult year for us. I am not saying this to scare you, but I just wanted to share my experience. Even if you are feeling fine now, things can change really quickly. I really wish my doctors had told me to slow down much earlier on so maybe none of this would've happened or at least we could've kept those babies in a little longer.

Take care of yourself and those babies!! xoxo Good luck

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

I had a very conservative OB and was up front wi me from beginning that I would be done with work at 26 weeks, I didn't think it was necessary because I never had any issues, always felt good, babies measured great, etc. he said exactly and we want it to stay that way.

His goal was to get me to at least 35 weeks and he said he has a high success rate by doing this. My were born at 37w3d. No issues. Had I still worked would it have been the same? Maybe. But I'll never know and I don't regret taking a little extra time before they were born (like you I was lucky and had a very supportive and secure job). I didn't want something to god forbid happen and me always wonder what if I stayed home sooner. I figured he is the dr. and I trusted him up until this point and was trusting him with my delivery(what could be scarier than that??) so I would trust his expert opinion.

I think the extra time before they were born did help. I began to get so tired at the end of my pregnancy, I honestly don't know how I would have worked. Not to mention, the feet swelling at the very very end. It also allowed me to do a lot of little things to prep before they came home which kept me busy and was honestly so much fun. My mom and I bonded so much those 11 weeks before the babies arrived (she helped me with a lot of stuff while DH was at work).

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

I worked part time as a teacher with twins and was having no issues.... and lo and behold at 29.5 I went into preterm labor, and fully dilated and had my babies. They were in the NICU for 2 months. They are fine now but I can't help but think about what if I hadn't worked anymore.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

it sounds like the doctor is not putting you on bedrest, just suggesting you slow down a little. am i right??

i would listen. even if it means doing half of your days at the office and half from home. carrying twins is a strain on your body. i wouldn't go on bedrest at this point but i wold def try to slow down a little more.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

I would listen to your doctor. My Dr was very over protective but I made it to 33weeks. You don't.want to kick yourself godforbid something were to happen and you didn't listen to your doctor. Your lucky you can work from home and that you don't have to be on bedrest.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Posted by Journey33

Posted by letsmakeababy

listen to the doctor! i know the idea of being on bedrest for so long seems terrible, but I promise you it is a 100x better than what you will experience if you have your twins come early.

I was fine at my 23wk check up, but at 24wks I was one cm dialated and 50% effaced so I was immediately put on hospital bedrest. I stayed in the hospital for almost a month on all kinds of meds to prevent labor. However, my twins were born at 27 1/2 weeks. My DD spent 70 days in the NICU, but my son had a lot more complications due to their severe prematurity and was in the hospital for 250 days before coming home with private nursing care. He still faces a lot of medical and developmental issues. It has been an extremely difficult year for us. I am not saying this to scare you, but I just wanted to share my experience. Even if you are feeling fine now, things can change really quickly. I really wish my doctors had told me to slow down much earlier on so maybe none of this would've happened or at least we could've kept those babies in a little longer.

Take care of yourself and those babies!! xoxo Good luck

Thank you for sharing this. Im so sorry to see what you had to go through. out of curiosity, did your Dr have reason to believe that it could have been avoided, had you been less active throughout your pregnancy?

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Id tell them the dr said bedrest but you want to do an extra day from home. That way it's a little less commuting

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

My Dr wanted to slow me down at 20 weeks and wanted me to work from home as much as i could. I wish now i had listened becuase at 24.5 weeks, i went into PTL and almost lost my twins. I had to go to brooklyn to the hospital my high risk is affiliated with and have an emergency cerclage. I always wonder if I could have avoided that had I listened to my OB. IMO, if you are able to work from home, i would do it. Better to be safe than sorry. GL

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

Posted by luckysmom

My Dr wanted to slow me down at 20 weeks and wanted me to work from home as much as i could. I wish now i had listened becuase at 24.5 weeks, i went into PTL and almost lost my twins. I had to go to brooklyn to the hospital my high risk is affiliated with and have an emergency cerclage. I always wonder if I could have avoided that had I listened to my OB. IMO, if you are able to work from home, i would do it. Better to be safe than sorry. GL

Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.

No PTL symptoms. I did have BH a lot like a day or 2 before but other than that, nothing that caused alarm to me. Had I not gone to the dr when I did though, it would have been too late for a Verlaine and I would have delivered at 25 weeks. Everything was fine up until that point.

Re: Dr wants me on bedrest but Im totally fine.. please offer insight.