Amber Fox Photographer » Stylish Portraits for Hip & Happy High School Seniors & Families in Orange County & Los Angeles, CA

So for the past two weeks, I have been on modified bed rest. What does that mean? It means that most of the day, I am lying in bed or on the couch. Before I tell you all the fun stuff you can do while on bed rest, let me tell you why my doctor put me on bed rest at 24 weeks.

• The main reason to go on bed rest, is because with twins, mommies have a 50% likelihood of going into preterm labor. I have known a bunch of women who didn’t do bed rest and continued to work, and ended up having the babies 2 months earlier than they were supposed to. I don’t want my boys in the NICU for two months!
• I was stressed out at work. Teaching nearly 200 students can be exhausting. I was getting cramps and minor contractions, so I knew I had to leave. I miss the heck out of my students and it is very weird to give up control over my precious classroom to another teacher, but I keep telling myself it’s for the babies. This time has made me realize how much I love what I do.
• I had to go pee all the time! With over 2000 students at my school, it was getting hard to walk to the bathroom during passing periods, when there was a deluge of kids scrambling to class. I seriously have to go to the ladies room every 30 minutes and the long walk was getting exhausting. One of my boys sits right on top of my bladder and lets just say, it was becoming uber painful.
• My right leg goes numb about every 10 minutes. The same little one who sits on my bladder also is sitting on a nerve, so if I am standing for even the littlest bit or walking around to monitor students, my leg goes all tingly.
• I didn’t want to go into forced bed rest at the hospital and be given all sorts of crazy medications. I would much rather relax in my own home and let these babies incubate.
• And I am huge! Even though I am having twins, I am currently measuring at full term if I were having just one baby. I can’t believe I have three months to go!

So for those of you mommies who are out there that are facing the same predicament as I am, there are some fun things to do that can keep you entertained. People keep asking what I do all day, so here it is:

• Read all the books you have been meaning to read. I am in the middle of two books, one book about being a mom to twins, Ready or Not…Here We Come by Elizabeth Lyons and a fun literary fiction book called The Children’s Hospital by Chris Adrain.
• Watch chick flicks. So John and I never watch these sorts of movies, as we typically watch Oscar sort of stuff or documentaries like Wasteland. Since I will soon be outnumbered, I have to get my girl movies on.
• Learn as much as possible about photography. I am truly always seeking ways to improve my craft, so things like Creative Live  or Clickin Moms have been a great resource for learning. And I figure I am going to take a million photos of my babies, so since my strengths lie in Senior and Family portraits, I need to brush up on my newborn skills.
• Hang out with girls friends who are stay at home moms. Every day I try to schedule a social time with one of my girl friends. So they either come here to the house and we sip lemonade on the porch or I go over there and we chit chat while the kiddos are napping.
• Work on my business. Once the boys come,  I know I will never have time to do all the fun things I envision for my website and business, so I am trying to seize the moment and tie up any loose ends now.
• And of course, nest and get things uber organized.

To end the post, I figured I would post a sneak peek to my maternity session that my dear friend Treacy Mize did of me. More on that to come next week, but for now…..