Its too hot!!

Staying cool and hydrated

Hot, bothered, bloated, swollen and HOT. Its hard enough dealing with the heat when you're not pregnant, but any stage of pregnancy your body is working hard creating new life. So its no wonder you're more hot and bothered more than usual. Pregnancy does weird and wonderful things to our bodies, that’s what make us so amazing. During pregnancy we can have 50% more blood in our body, rushing around providing oxygen and nutrients everywhere including to baby. We have the extra weight of baby, placenta and fluid too. Our amazing bodies are working over time. When we get warm, our body tries to cool us down and this is why we sweat. Sweat is obviously water from our body, and this is why it is so important to replace it with water or fluids. Up to 60% of your body is water so why wouldn’t we want to drink more. Easier said than done right?

Have you tried?

• Water with ice?
• Water with frozen fruit?
• Cool sugar free squash?
• Fruit tea? I pop a small spoon of sugar in too and leave the bag in, usually a red fruit flavour

There are lots of different drinks you can have to try and stay cool.

Alcohol during pregnancy? Now we all know this is a huge recommended No No. Alcohol is not good for baby and their development, but alcohol also dehydrates you, which is why after a night out you always feel like Ghandis Flipflop! Have you tried non alcoholic alternatives, there are plenty on the market now, just try and avoid things with high sugar content and caffeine.

Caffeine during pregnancy? Also something to try and avoid or take in small quantities. Most professionals recommend limiting your caffeine intake to 200 mg or less if you are pregnant. It also doesn’t help with iron absorption.

So staying cool …… What have you tried? Here are some tips we’ve found really useful. Some may sound really obvious too

• Stay in the shade where possible, our skin can be sensitive too so sitting in the sun may cause your skin to burn, always use a high SPF.
• Drink plenty of cool drinks
• Freezing baby wipes and using one to wipe your face and body is really refreshing
• Get the paddling pool out, you can grab them from supermarkets from around £3-5 get your partner to fill it with some cool water and maybe even a bag of ice
• Putting a bowl of ice in front of your fan at bedtime is apparently really good too
• Cooling matts – I bought some from BNM for the clinic from the pet section. Its like a huge blanket filled with gel which stays cool, perfect for bedtime
• Cool showers
• And if all else fails get your partner to spray you down with the hose 😉

We bang on so much about drinking water, and I know myself its easier said than done, but if you can its most certainly worth investing in a decent size water bottle and get drinking. PLUS when it comes to scan day, extra fluid helps with clarity too.

So what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a glass right now

Much Love Danielle x