I never would have called myself necessarily "active" in the past. In fact, I would have argued that, despite all appearances, I'm relatively sedentary: my day-to-day job consists of me sitting and working on a computer (hence the carpal tunnel) and when I get home, it consists of more of the same. I wrote blog posts, I read the news, I work on my NaNoWriMo plans. I'm not out jogging.
However, bed rest changed things.
I started to realize just how often, and how much, I am up and around. I clean the kitchen every night; I vacuum and Swiffer as much as I can; I put away clothes, fret over Forrest's room, and generally spend a lot of time walking back and forth. Being unable to stand at the stove and cook, or stand at the sink and wash dishes, made me realize that even though I am, yes, kind of sedentary, I also spend a ridiculous amount of time on my feet.
And so, when I can't be on my feet, I get antsy. I can't wash the dishes or clean up the living room like I'd like. I can't do the laundry I'd been planning to do or the reorganizing session I'd planned for Forrest's closet, the laundry room, or the pantry. I can't shampoo the carpets or wash the baseboards or anything. In prime nesting mode, I can't do any of the things I'd wanted to do.
I don't want to say "bed rest sucks," because, honestly and truly, it doesn't. It can be annoying to have other people cleaning my house (it makes me feel lazy) and it can be annoying to not be able to cook the meals I want to cook or go for a walk or anything like that. But bed rest really isn't so bad. It's annoying and it's disruptive to my daily schedule, but it's actually really awesome to be able to stay in bed all day.
That being said, I obviously get bored easily. I like to switch between tasks to prevent my own personal boredom and I like to have lots and lots of things to do at all times. Considering that my options with bed rest are "computer," "read a book," "watch a movie," or "play on my phone", that makes things a little, well, dull after a while. Not unpleasant, but just dull.
Luckily, I'll only be on bed rest for two weeks at the absolute most. Some women are put on bed rest early in their pregnancies (shout out to my sister's "couch potato rest" from 20-ish weeks on), which would probably get really, really boring after a while.
The thing that tends to strike me the most, as I lay in bed, is loneliness. It was my number one problem when I was in the hospital: when my mom and Danny left on the first evening, I cried for hours (but didn't tell them). Watching hospital TV and asking the nurses for snacks was boring, but I could deal with it. I couldn't deal with how alone I felt, especially since I was worried and anxious. When I was released from the hospital, the thing that hit me when I finally got home and curled into bed (my spot for the next few weeks, unless I migrated to my desk or the couch), was that I was going to get really lonely. Despite being a relatively solitary person, I do like talking to other people; I do like having people around. Being able to clean the kitchen while Danny played video games and we talked was a nightly ritual. Instead, I was stuck upstairs, feeling isolated and very alone.
If someone you love (me) is put on bed rest, the number one thing you can do is be there for them (and the people who love them, like my mom and Danny). The cleaning is great and so is making food. But mostly, it's nice to just have someone to talk to during the day--even if it's via text.