I've had plenty of days where being ordered to stay in my house, wear comfy clothes, eat whatever I like, avoid working like the plague, and not get off the couch would have sounded heavenly.

In theory, it sounds awesome: who doesn't want to be under doctor's orders to pig out, watch TV and read all day? In practice, it's not so great. It's Friday at 8:30 p.m., which means I've been out of the hospital for a little over 24 hours, and I'm already going loco.

I'm not on bedrest, exactly, but I've been told to reduce my activity levels pretty drastically. I'm not allowed to go to the gym, vacuum the floor, carry anything heavy, walk the dog, travel, and so on - basically nothing that could send fetus into a tailspin and get him or her all aggravated again. I'm supposed to "take it easy" and stick close to home. I'll see my doctor on Monday afternoon, where I'll get a more specific list of do's and don'ts, but until then, I'm scared to do much more than creep off the couch to get a glass of water or have a shower.

I've been pussyfooting around all day like a 95-year-old woman-slash-George Bluth in season 2 of Arrested Development, alternating between being frustrated that I can't go anywhere and scared every time I have to go to the toilet in case the gravitational pull (TMI, I'M SO SORRY!!) reminds the baby that there is an escape hatch and prompts them to want to head out. On one hand, I don't want to be totally lazy and sedentary and feel all gross; on the other hand, I want what's best for the baby and would do anything to make sure he or she is safe and healthy even if it means three weeks of slothlike living.

Until Monday, I'll be sticking around the house and not venturing too far from the bed, couch, or toilet. In the meantime here's a list I'm starting of things to keep myself (safely) occupied until I get the green light to start being a normal human being again:

1. Read. Luckily, I love to read. I'm halfway through the second Hunger Games book right now and am loving it. My friends and hubby also brought me tons of magazines to read in the hospital too, so I have reading material for weeks! If I do run out I can send hubby to the library with my card to sign me out some new books, or maybe I'll be allowed to leave the house for quick errands so I may even be able to *gasp* choose a book for myself!

2. Netflix. What did we do before sweet, sweet Netflix? I'm making my way through Mad Men season 4, and we've almost finished Arrested Development (hence the George Bluth reference). I have some DVDs to watch too - Friday Night Lights, The Office, 90210, and last but not least, Dawson's Creek. Over the past week I've determined that daytime TV is the shits. Netflix and DVDs are where it's at.

3. Crafts. Crafts aren't overly strenuous, right? I have a front door begging for a new fall wreath, a dining room table that wants to be adorned with a new centrepiece, and a baby's room that may be lacking in a lot of the essentials but by god, it'll look cute. Until I get the all-clear to make trips to the store over the next week or so, I'll have to send Peter to Michael's with my shopping lists, which he's absolutely going to love.

I would also add "baking" to the list, but with baking comes eating, and I don't necessarily need to be cramming my face with cinnamon buns and pumpkin spice cakes when I'm not able to burn them off at the gym.

4. Pinterest. So I held out on Pinterest, because I thought it was stupid and frankly I didn't get it. Now I'm a Pinterest convert! I can easily kill an hour pinning stuff. Crafts, recipes, fashion, quotes...so so so much good stuff.

5. Play games! I love board games. I have a Nintendo DS that I can dust off for some Animal Crossing action. And while I suck at Xbox games, I do have a soft spot for Mortal Kombat.

6. Online shopping. So bad for me especially now that I'm going to be on the dole for mat leave, but I can get a jump on Christmas shopping before it becomes pandemonium.

7. On that note - set up a budget. Might as well get responsible and start tracking my smaller income carefully.

8. Organize things. Pack my hospital bag. Get all my mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses in one place for birth announcements and this year's Christmas card list. Create new iPod playlists. Wash up the baby's clothes. Set up folders on my laptop for keeping photos and bills filed away. I may not be able to do any heavy lifting or cleaning but there are little things I can do to help make life easier both now and after baby arrives when I'm too exhausted to make an effort.

Any other suggestions for how I can survive my house arrest? Has anyone else been on bedrest/reduced activity - how did you get through it?