Here are a few things that have made my pregnancy a little bit easier or more comfortable. Unless otherwise specified, brands aren't known to be relevant. I will post new things as I find/remember them. I'm also open to hints and suggestions (about the pregnancy. Not about what to name the baby or what religion to raise the baby or how to dress the baby)
I ordered this for running, since it was recommended by a writer for Runner's World. My running has not continued as I had hoped (or at all), but now I need the thing just to sit upright. My back has been killing me this week. My sister-in-law recommended a chiropractor who specializes in prenatal cases and sees one in Northwest Arkansas, but we don't really have anything like that down here.
These won't make you feel sexy, but neither will swollen feet and ankles. I sleep in them when I'm having particularly bad edema issues. Wearing them with sneakers and going for a vigorous walk seems to get the swelling down more than swimming, elevation, hydration, or anything else. I think I got mine at Walmart. I have an open toed pair from Wal-greens, which are nice for summer, but your feet can swell around the openings, which is unpleasant. These suckers aren't cheap ($16-$32 a pair), but they are FSA eligible.
I haven't actually tried this thing, but when you're swollen, the compression stockings are a pain in the ass to get on, particularly if you can't reach your feet.
I can't stop thinking about ice. I don't normally drink sodas, but I've been going to Sonic's happy hour just because I wanted a Rt. 44 of ice. This has saved me driving, snow cone money, and blood sugar crashes. I got this little cheap one at Walmart. I don't know if it will still work next summer, and I don't care. The ice isn't as fine as it would be at a shaved ice stand, but it isn't $4 a cup either. I'm toying with the idea of packing the shaved ice into ice cube trays and seeing if it would refreeze like Quick Trip ice.
We are iced tea snobs in my family, so I don't usually order tea in fast food joints and certainly not in gas stations. When Papa (iced tea guru) raved about the tea at QT, though I had to try it. For a buck something, you can get 52 oz of awesome with their famous ice. I'm so hot and so thirsty, that it's perfect. The service is great too. Unfortunately, we don't have them here. If we did, I'd be there right now.
I got Belly Baby, Amira's Belly Dance for Yoga & Pregnancy, and Belly Dance Prenatal Fitness with Naia during the first trimester. I watched them, and found the moves too slow and boring to try. I already know how to belly dance, so the moves were really dull. Now that I'm too encumbered to do the flashy moves though, I'm glad to have something that's adapted to be lower impact. Things are also more targeted toward helping lower back pain, easing swelling, and facilitating labor. Be warned that the words "vaginal muscles" come up way more often than in normal belly dance dvd's.
I already had an excercise ball, but it was sitting on a shelf deflated. I'm so glad that the midwife recommended that I get one for the pregnancy. My ribs and back have started causing me horrible discomfort. To stretch out and get some relief, I put a mat down, sit on the ball, and walk out until I'm bent backward over the ball. This feels wonderful and has the bizarre side effect (for me anyway) of making it to where I can see a rough outline of the baby. The midwife also recommended that I use a ball at my desk instead of an office chair. I doubt that brand matters other than the fact that I got a Cathe ball from WM, and the smell of it is so strong that I can't stand to have it near me.
I could talk about this one for a while, so if you're interested or want to know more, contact me. I knew I didn't want a c-section and that I didn't want to give birth or die in a hospital. I think I'm a lot less scared and have been getting better care than I would be had I gone a "traditional" route. The link is to Birthworks in Little Rock. They actually recommended my current midwife to me. Her name is Barbara Muller, and she's based out of Hot Springs.
Of all the things that I could have been worrying about during the past few months, it may seem stupid that having pretty toes ranks on the list at all. The thing is, pregancy has not made me feel pretty. It's sandal time, and I need this little bit of control over my body. The ideal would be to go get a pedicure. You know you aren't going to have time or money to do it once the baby's born, so you might as well. Unfortunately, with money tight and a baby on the way, I can't bring myself to pay for a pedicure while my ankles and feet are so hideously swollen. That leaves contortion or making the husband do it. Either way, these little pens and some Scotch tape make the whole process a little easier. You'll want to let it dry completely and then put a coat of something else over it. Otherwise, it flakes off suspiciously like White Out.
This is one of the first movies I watched when I got pregnant. I went into it thinking I probably wanted to have my baby at home. When it was over, I knew for sure that I wanted to have my baby at home. I've done a lot of research since then, but most of it just reiterated what was said in this movie. I watched several other documentaries on home birth, but they just interviewed the same experts that were in this one, most notably Ina May Gaskin. The personal stories varied from film to film, but this one had the best production quality. It's definitely the most useful thing Ricki Lake's ever done. Be warned that they are not shy about showing anything. That seems to be a trend with documentaries on pregnancy.
When I called and told my OB's office that my insurance would not cover the prenatal vitamin they had prescribed, they said, "Oh, just take an over the counter one. They're the same thing." I'd read that, but the OTC ones with DHA were really expensive. I tried fish oil, but burping fish oil while suffering from morning sickness is . . .unpleasant. I found these gummy suppliments that are meant for toddlers at Walgreens, and they are much better to burp than fish oil. I've also been getting Horizon milk with DHA, since I drink so much milk. It too lacks the fishy aftertaste.
These are not medically sound, and if you have insurance, of course you should get an ultrasound with the doctor. If you are going to have to pay out of your own pocket and just want to count fingers or know the sex, you can get a keepsake ultrasound done for less than what your copay would be on a plain old 2D. We went because the MD couldn't determine the sex on the first ultrasound and insurance only paid for one. My copay was $165. A few weeks later, we went to Expectations in Saint Louis, and for $99 we found out the sex and got to see his little face with the cleft chin. I've been having some bonding issues with the fetus due largely to the fact that I don't believe that that there's a baby living in my body. This kind of helped with that. I've not been anywhere else, but I would definitely recommend Expectations. It was much cheaper than it would have been in Arkansas or Louisiana, they gave us a lot more, Matt and my in-laws got to watch a live feed of it back home, and they were super nice. When I called to make the appointment at 30 weeks and gave her my name, she remembered me from the appointment at 21 weeks. Since we'd already been there, we got a discount, and because they were running a special, we got the deluxe package for $135.
I wasn't a Crocs-hater before, so it wasn't a big deal for me to go get some that were dressier than the standard-issue clogs. Even though it was early in the second trimester, I figured I wouldn't buy down a size like I usually do. The next week after I bought several roomy pairs of crocs heels and platforms, my feet swelled. The crocs are the only shoes I've been able to wear since then. I can't get anything else on my foot, and if I could, I don't think I could stand it. They don't look like Prada, but it at least looks like I'm putting forth some effort for work, and that's all I care about right now.
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