Rest in 2nd Tri

[Squishy622]

A friend gave my husband a book called "Dad's Guide to Twins." It mentions that the most strongly correlated factor/best kept secret for carrying twins to full term: resting with feet up for an hour, one in the morning and once in the afternoon, every day starting at the beginning of 2nd tri.

It didn't give any actual sources for this, the book is written by a twin dad and he just said "our OB cited multiple sources that said this..."

I don't see the doc again for a couple more weeks, so in the meantime I'm curious what you all have done/what your docs have recommended for an otherwise normal-risk multiple pregnancy at this point. I work in clinical research so I'm admittedly extra snobby about the fact that he didn't cite any actual sources; it makes me hesitant to make major changes to my hectic, unpredictable work days to accommodate for this now. Of course I will do anything in my power to prevent pre-term labor though!

Thoughts?

[beachy]

I think if this was a legitimate study or proven thing it would be a lot more widely known and recommended. I've always heard the opposite, that being active (if you were before) is best. I'm nearing the end of my second tri and neither my OB or MFM have mentioned anything about it. They have both encouraged me to keep my exercise routine as long as possible, even including an 8k I did at 22 weeks.

[sugar4bri]

My OB hasn't had much to say, but my MFM did say at our first appointment that I should take it easy (especially towards the end) and try not to cram a bunch of things in before the babies come (ie cruises/babymoons). Not sure about exercising, because well, I don't do much of that lol. She said that in the 20 years that she's been practicing, the women that go into labor closer to their edd are the ones who stayed relaxed. I have to say, I've tried to be as relaxed/low key as possible, and I have (thankfully) had a very easy pregnancy so far for twins. As far as my job, my hours and days varied, so that was pretty much the only stress I had.

*Just as a reference, I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow. I've never gotten around to making a siggy over here.*

[bluebonnet22]

I haven't seen any studies about this myself, and although I don't work in clinical research I can say I prefer to see actual studies as well! Personally I'm in 2nd trimester and haven't felt the need to cut back on any sort of activity at all. I do relax for an hour or 2 after DS goes to bed in the evening but I was doing that before I got pregnant . As a side note, there are actual studies that say the amount of weight gained between 20-28 weeks is highly correlated to twin mom's preterm labor risks. I'm too lazy to find/link them right now, but just something interesting to keep in mind.

[anotherdreamer]

I highly doubt there are any studies, especially since he didn't cite them. A lot of practices don't prescribe bed rest routinely anymore because they know it's not good for circulation/blood clot risk. However, I do think taking it easy and listening to your body (can not emphasize that enough) is very important.

I carried to 38w4d with a hiccup at 28w (contractions every 2-3 min from the stomach flu and dehydration)- I rested a lot because I couldn't do much later on. Between the extra weight, my asthma and lung compression from baby B, and the contractions, I couldn't do much of anything. I was still somewhat active at 24w (was measuring 34w), I went on a trip with DS and DH to an aquarium and we did a little bit of walking... it was really hard on me though, I had to stop frequently to rest. After that, things got difficult very quickly. Within a less than two month window I caught two colds (regular and bad respiratory) plus two bouts of the stomach flu (the last round landed me in L&D), and I think that was about when I had to stop doing everything, even going to the grocery store. I still tried to, but it was a bad idea. So, in the second tri I was less active but I was still getting around. In the third tri, things got too hard for me.

[nomnom]

The most frequent advice I've run into says that multiple moms should prioritize rest over pushing to get a certain amount of activity in each day. Basically, listen to your body and when it says it's tired, rest. If you don't feel disproportionately tired (either right away or at the end of the day) then you're probably fine.

[SassyPants150]

I think it just completely depends on the person. I am a group fitness instructor and continued teaching all of my classes until the 29th week. Obviously these were modified but still breaking a good sweat. Then as of this month I am going down to my low impact seniors classes only at 34 weeks (on Friday). I have zipped around and even without the extra activity continued to be very active doing home improvement projects, cleaning, and lots of on my feet shopping for all the new things I've been putting up in my house. I had the one scare at around 27 weeks where my cervix took a big jump but was still in the normal range. Two weeks later it hadn't changed and then 4 weeks later I was still at 2.3cm. I was just telling my mom how fortunate I have been because all in all, aside from the indigestion and the fatigue that gets me exhausted much faster, I have felt great and my body has been responding well to a multiple pregnancy. I'm only 5'1 so this torso is maxed out as it is. I took a bump picture today and noticed that my posture was also pretty impressive to have the extra weight pulling down my front side.

I agree with nomnom on listening to your body. Even when my cervix made a very big jump, the MFM doctor said as long as I wasn't leading people in jumping jacks that he recommended I continue what I'm doing and just listen to my body for cues on what to do.

[sunnyb]

I try to rest a lot, mostly because of things that have happened during my preganancy thus far (started with SCH, then had a previa with Baby B's placenta, then had a few scary contractions after days of too much activity). I agree that it depends on the person. My girl, beachy is amazing and so physically fit. I think it would be worse for someone like her to just all of a sudden start laying around a lot.

[beachy]

Apr 1, 2015 14:32:48 GMT -5 sunnyb said:

I try to rest a lot, mostly because of things that have happened during my preganancy thus far (started with SCH, then had a previa with Baby B's placenta, then had a few scary contractions after days of too much activity). I agree that it depends on the person. My girl, beachy is amazing and so physically fit. I think it would be worse for someone like her to just all of a sudden start laying around a lot.

❤️

[Squishy622]

Thanks all. I really like this board, you guys always have such thoughtful answers.

What nomnom said resonated with me. I was feeling really off all day yesterday, very lethargic, achy, and slow. I was worried that was a sign of things to come, it felt way too early to be feeling that off. I am feeling fine today though so I will be listening closely to my body from now on!

[Deleted]

I have nothing to add that hasn't been covered. I just wanted to say that when I was early on in the pregnancy I didn't get the whole "listen to your body" thing at all, but now that I'm close to the third tri I know exactly what it means. I can totally tell when I've been pushing too hard-- sometimes even a day out doing errands can totally kick my ass and make me lethargic the next day. And I think that threshold is completely different for everyone.

[cml112]

I have nothing to add except, how the heck do all of you excercise so much? Lol I do have a physically demanding job, however doing 2 flights of stairs makes me feel like I need to be on oxygen!

[wamom]

Another vote for listening to your body. Everyone is different. Only you know when you are over doing it.

[sarums]

No research to cite here, but my OB did make a big deal two weeks ago that now is the time that I need to start lying down for 1 hour every afternoon. I asked her if sitting with feet propped up was the same (as I try to do in my office now) , and she said no--that sitting w/feet up is good to prevent swelling, but lying down is purely to take pressure off the cervix, which is her bigger concern. So now I joke with my husband when I'm lying down (when I can...) that I'm doing my "cervical rest." I don't think this contradicts being active and exercising, but just giving your cervix a break from time to time in addition. I'll make sure to ask my OB at the next appointment where this information comes from. It makes sense, but data would be good!!

[nomnom]

Apr 1, 2015 15:11:09 GMT -5 Squishy622 said:

I was feeling really off all day yesterday, very lethargic, achy, and slow. I was worried that was a sign of things to come, it felt way too early to be feeling that off. I am feeling fine today though so I will be listening closely to my body from now on!

That's what happened when I spent 3+ hours making meatloaf out of 10 pounds of ground beef. Advice makes much more sense when you run into it head-on. :-D

cml112 I'm with you. No idea how exercise would still work. I used to do hour-long bike rides with sprints in the middle and heavy weight lifting. Now, walking to work and back makes me sleep more. I think it's getting better after 1st tri. Maybe I'll try some biking again (stationary, of course).

[carrotcake]

Another vote for listening to your body. None of my drs recommended bed rest, even after a pre-e dx. I got to a point early in third tri where just getting ready in the morning was exhausting. A 20 min walk around IKEA wore me out for the entire day.

I made it to 34w. I had my singleton at 37w, my water broke spontaneously both times. I really don't think that anything would've changed that.