How the Hansen Huskies Are Handling My Bed Rest

Four weeks of bed rest have gone by surprisingly fast. I’ve spent most of it on Pinterest, watching Netflix and sleeping. I thought five weeks of bed rest would kill me. I normally spend my days cleaning, cooking, doing yard work, and running errands.

How in the world would I manage 35 days on the couch?

Well, they haven’t been all bad. Some days I want to get out of the house and go for a walk, but I don’t. I don't because I know it's best to stay still and calm for my little guy.

Bed rest isn’t so terrible when it’s the middle of winter and the weather is averaging 35 degrees. We haven’t had snow, but we’ve had rain and overcast days. We’ve had a few sunny days, too. They make me anxious to get outside. I just keep reminding myself that Spring is right around the corner. And I will be outside all day.

Slowly, but surely, I managed—with Kelly’s help—to get the nursery in place. We have one final project before the room is done, but we’ve decided to wait until Alexander has arrived before finishing any projects. He won't come home to a house with baseboards or a finished laundry room, but he will come home to a house that is anxiously awaiting his arrival.

The huskies have LOVED me being on bed rest. They spend their days lying on the couch with me. Niko, especially, loves watching Netflix. We watch a lot of Longmire. He won’t look away from the TV when Walt Longmire graces the screen. Niko is really intrigued by bears and horses. He's iffy about other dogs, but if a bear is on the screen, he's sitting upright, staring intently. He fills my days with lots of laughter.

Zailey has been really weird about my pregnancy. She's hot and cold. One day, she'll be laying all over me (which she's never done in the 3 years we've had her) or she'll be giving me the cold shoulder.

Abner. He's my big guy. He waits for me to make the bed every day so he can jump on it spread out. He spends his days running around the backyard and sleeping the afternoons lying in the sun on the bed. Every couple hours, he ventures out of the room to come check on me. He'll put his big head on my belly and stare at me. I tell him I'm fine and then he returns to his nap.

Zoe. My little fireball. She loves to sleep with some part of her body on me. A paw. A leg. Her head. She just likes to be touching me. Constantly. And since I'm pretty sedentary these days, I let her. I don't mind her little head nestled in my arm. When she's not sleeping on me, she's outside in the cold weather, running around the yard. She's our chicken protector. She won't let anything near the cage. And I'm grateful that I find her laying in front of their coop door in the sun. She has no desire to chase the chickens, just protect them.

I'm not sure how the huskies will respond with a newborn baby in the house, but I can only hope that they will love Alexander as much as they love Kelly and me.

--Jessi