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A friend of mine is not due until February but has been put on bed rest 20 hours a day. She is mostly a scrapbooker and I am looking for ideas on what to give her to help pass the time and with the restlessness. Any ideas?
Thanks!
I'd get her a bunch of Scrapbook idea books, a sketch pad & some post-its. Using those items, she can find fun ideas & plan pages that go with her pictures. Becky Higgins Sketch book is one of the best.
I know you said she mostly a scrapbooker, but when I was on bedrest I made all my baby announcements and the thank you's for gifts and the people that helped me during my bedrest. She could also do Christmas cards since she has plenty of time! Or you could have her write out a list of books she's interested in reading and offer to get them at the library for her.
But really the best thing is human (and female) companionship. Husbands just don't get it (the boredom and anxiety), and after a while television and all the projects you have planned for yourself get awful boring. I was lucky when I was on bedrest - I had a different family member staying with me each week for the 2 months I was confined. Having a different person to talk to each week helped me keep my sanity. Maybe you could offer to visit her for an hour a week or every few days?
I'm with Kendra. My first thought were some scrapbooking magazines or idea books. I love looking at them. I was on complete bedrest when I was preg. with my first. I did a lot of watching TV. Maybe you could get her a gift cert. to a video store and/or offer to rent a video for her once a week. Is she into romance, action, mystery. Get her a few books. Maybe, even a extra large tray where she could make little things, like thank you note for an up coming shower or for when the baby is born. And you can never go wrong with a small box of chocolates. I feel for your friend. This won't be to bad!!! It's all worht it for the baby.
__________________ *Proud mom of 2 Stampers in Training*
--GO SMOKE!--
"I've learned that when you have pains, you don't have to be one!"
-Maya Angelou
My real suggestion would be to take all your magazines, I am assuming everyone has masses of SB magazines around like I do, and start an idea book broken into catagories.
Such as: Birthday layouts,
Sketches I like,
Holidays,
Organization tips etc.....
When my upline was bedridden during her pregnancy she organized all her stamp sets. She numbered them and stamped them with basic black on white CS to organize them. She had like 200 or something at the time. It passed the time well.
And I agree about the sleep, she won't have much of a chance to do that after baby is born!
One thing that really helped me was two friends would call me before they went shopping. I would give them a list of what I needed and they would pick up my groceries. That was such a help.
Another friend would stop by for her lunch. Even little visits were so appreicated. I loved the company.
Books on tape were great and one friend loaned me movies.
If she has other children, maybe you could take them to a park or pick them up after school.
Help her keep her eyes on the goal! I did the bedrest faithfully and my twins were born at full term.
Visiting is the best thing - I was relegated to 3 weeks of hospital bedrest when I was pregnant and it was awful.....there was no one around during the day - I couldn't get up - they kept trying to get me to eat cottage cheese and peaches - ewwwwww
I would suggest a bunch of magazines - maybe some really cheesy and trashy ones like In Touch and The National Enquirer. I love to read but I didn't have the concentration power to read a book while I was incarcerated but I could read short little things...
Maybe create a thank you card prototype and cut all the cardstock and everything and let her borrow a set of stamps and ink and some markers, pencils, etc so she can make her own Thank you cards
A basket of pampering stuff - maybe stuff to do her nails - every day while I was in the hospital I did my nails - it became a routine with me - my mom bought me some fancy cuticle cream and some gagets and about 5 different shades of polish...I had the best looking nails my last month of pregnancy....
__________________ Jenni -Happy SU Demo - MY GALLERY & MY CHAOTIC LIFE One kid makes you a Parent - Two makes you a Referee
Wow these are all excellent ideas When I was on bed rest I could've used some great friends nearby like you all!
My suggestions is to also offer to throw in a load of laundry, sweep her floor & tidy up a bit Don't ask her, just start kinda doing it when you stop by & tell her You know she would do the same for you! also she can't vacuum, so that is an easy way to help her if she needs that. Fold laundry, sort socks, you know just stuff while you visit. It helps me to rest when my house is in order - then I can get down to creating= the FUN -
Bring over your crafting & do it together.
Offer to check out some books from the library for her, did you know libraries also check out magazines? There are alot o fun Baby mags
throw dinner in her crockpot so she doesn't have to worry abt it at dinnertime,(esp if she already has children) Her husband will love the help too I'm sure :o)
If she has photos to sort maybe you could help her or get her a photo box or whatever system she'd like.
Share some nice soothing music - a favorite cd you could loan her.
Do your nails together have a pamper me day, scented lotion..pretty flowers, fresh fruit smoothies...
watch a movie - with her It gets boring when you are stuck inside for a length of time...
bake cookies & stick them in her freezer for holidays
Sign her up for Netflix. It is the best invention ever! Also, stock up on the idea books. Has she ever tried beading? It is a fun hobby, super easy to learn, and if you have a tray, it is easy to do in bed.
I was on bed rest (3 weeks the first time, 5 the second time). I found that I couldn't really stamp or scrap but didn't realize until nearly the last week of it all that I could look through and organize pictures and write journaling. I would put together all the pictures of one event/or for 1 Layout and then write the journaling for it. So maybe you could get her a journal or a photo organizing box.
I wish I knew all of you when I was on bedrest!!! I didn't get into scrapbooking or stamping until after my son was born, so I did a lot of reading and watching tv. The things I enjoyed most were visits (and phone calls) from family and friends. My church also brought meals which was absolutely wonderful. My husband's aunt filled a goody basket with a manicure set, a couple books, magazines, a small puzzle to put together, crossword puzzles and notecards. There was such a variety of things to do in that small basket that it made the time go faster. It's not easy but definitely worth it in the end! She is very lucky to have a friend like you.
I was gonna suggest a set of all-purpose stamps, pre-cut cardstock, and black ink pad and chalks with the blender pens. Call it a coloring book for grown-ups. (You could even pre-cut cardstock blocks so she can just stamp on the block, color it in and then attach to a colored background.) Simple, but she'd wind up with cards for the year done even if she only played a few minutes a day.
Also, Jennifer Crusie writes a great romance novel...very funny. I love them.
need ideas for a pregnant woman on bed rest.
