Charlie O'Brien blog: Pregnant and feeling the heat? Here's how to cope

by Charlie O'Brien

I’ve been itching for the summer to arrive – but at 26 weeks pregnant I’ve been finding this recent heatwave in Kent really hard to deal with!

I don’t think it matters how far along you are – because pregnancy tends to make you much hotter anyway.

So here are my top tips, and how I’ve been surviving these past few days!

1. Put your feet in cold water

It’s so true, if you put your feet and hands in cold water, the rest of you feels cooler! This week I’ve been sitting with my feet in my son’s tiny paddling pool with a cool drink. And when that wasn’t enough, I ordered a huge paddling pool with a seat that took up the whole garden! It could even double up as a birthing pool!?

2. Fans, fans, fans

We have fans EVERYWHERE. But the best one is the one that blows on my face in the night. Sounds annoying, but actually it’s been a total lifesaver. Nights can be hard when you’re pregnant anyway – loo stops, weird dreams and an uncomfortable bump. Then throw a heatwave into the mix and you’re getting NO sleep but the fan definitely helps a bit.

We've fans of every shape and size all over the house

3. Cool activities

If you’ve already got children it can be hard to keep up with them as well as staying sane in the heat. This week all we’ve really done is played in the paddling pool and played with water beads which are lovely and therapeutic! Oh and had the TV on with the curtains shut and fans on!

4. Iced lollies and iced drinks

Sounds basic doesn’t it? But if you’re busy it can be easy to forget to stay extra hydrated when you’re pregnant. I’ve been loving twister lollies and big bottles of water with loads of ice Another thing I’ve been having is frozen yoghurt bark, which is great for children too. I got the recipe from food blogger – My Fussy Eater.

http://www.myfussyeater.com/peanut-butter-jelly-frozen-yogurt-bark/

Getting me through the week - Twisters and frozen yogurt bark

5. Avoid the midday sun

This can be hard if you’re around town for work and meetings, or you have a toddler group at lunchtime. But if you can – avoid the hottest part of the day. I’ve been getting my errands done either early on or later. To be honest all I feel like doing between midday and 3pm is lying on my sofa, being fanned and fed frozen grapes by an Adonis (This is sadly just a fantasy and my husband won’t oblige!)

Stay cool!

Charlie X