25 Weeks - Dedicated to the Magic Tuby-Grip

This blog is dedicated to the Magic of Tuby-Grip. Tuby-Grip is a wide, elasticised stocking-bandage, about 25 cm diameter when unstretched. It stretches a LOT, as it is now wrapping all the way round my belly, from my chest to my hips.

I need it because my abdominal muscles separated badly last I time was pregnant (about 3 finger-widths apart). Despite occasionally diligent tummy-squeezing excercise, I only brought them back to 1 finger-width separation before getting pregant again. This puts a lot of strain on my back, especially with a 2 year old whose favourite words seem to be "Up cuddle" and "Carry"! (Putting her in the car seat is a particularly horrible torture for me. While she is able to get in herself, she's not often willing).

Anyway, when I mentioned this to the Midwife Victoria, she promptly arranged for two lengths of Tuby-Grip to be delivered to my house. I resisted wearing it for a little while since it's uncomfortably tight at first, but now I'm wearing it all my waking hours and it's helped my back soooo much.

What's Baby up to?

Baby has been kicking quite a lot for the last few weeks. She(?) seemed to particularly enjoy the Justine Clarke concert that I took Cassie to last Friday - I'm sure she was dancing. Like Cassie, she seems to have active days and quiet days. I try not to get too paranoid on the quiet days, but maybe some degree of paranoia is inevitable for many parents, including me.

Speaking of which, I've also recently experienced the first Braxton-Hicks contractions. This is worrying, as I never really noticed any at all with Cassie. But according to my pregancy book, they can start as early as 20 weeks. Several people have mentioned to me how your body responds more quickly to the hormones the second time around. Maybe that's one reason why I'm finding this pregnancy physically harder than last time, with generally more back ache and pelvic pain.

Trying to stay fit.

I've been making an effort to recover my fitness since getting over the morning sickness.

Unfortunately, my resolution to emulate Geoff's 40-something-year-old colleague and keep riding my bike up until 38 weeks gestation has already fallen by the wayside. I've taken Cassie to daycare in the bike trailer twice in the last fortnight, but I've now decided that towing the trailer is just too hard. It's up-hill all the way home and even empty, the trailer is pretty heavy. I kind of wish we had have spent the extra money to get the lovely, lighter, streamlined Chariot. Instead, we have the cheaper, stodgy-but-reliable Croozer. But I think Geoff's colleague had an advantage because she lives in the flat inner-North. And she wasn't towing a toddler. Anyway, it's not a competition...

I've also given up badminton as of this week. It's just getting too uncomfortable to lunge and change direction quickly. Picking up the shuttle is hard too! And my doubles partners probably feel more like they're playing singles.

On the positive side, I'm still managing to do a lot of walking, although I'm really feeling the effort when I push the stroller up-hill, espeically when it's laden with Cassie + shopping. I weigh nearly 60 kg now, about 10 kg more than usual. I can't believe how much difference this makes. I wonder if overweight people feel like this all the time, or if the pregnancy is making it worse. I hope to keep walking for the rest of the pregnancy. Actually, there should be more opportunities for walking when I go on leave in September.

Good-bye to tracky-dacks, hello e-bay bargains.

I felt a bit depressed a few weeks ago when I realised I had been wearing tracky dacks nearly every day for 2 months (since my jeans got too tight). Unfortuantely, my maternity clothes from last time aren't really suitable since they're not warm enough for this time of year and they were horrible anyway. My local Australian Breastfeeding Association runs a maternity clothing pool, but apparently their stock starts at size 14 and up...maybe that's what I would need next time, if there was a next time.

So I looked on e-bay, and picked up a bargain with 7 lovely tops and 3 pairs of trousers for $74! What a great buy. I have hardly worn my trackpants at all since these new clothes arrived, very liberating.

Unfortunately, all the buttons popped of my coat last week. My mother-in-law came to the rescue with two coats for me to borrow. It's nice to be warm again, although it is a bit strange to see myself wearing her clothes (Geoff thinks so too!)