Been pregnant during the heat of the summer something which I have had to do twice. With Jess, I was heavily pregnant as she was born in September. I also had to handle the heat of the summer with Troy he was born in December. Of course, both yeas which I was pregnant we managed to have a heatwave. Last year the temperatures got up to 30 degrees in the UK. Today I am going to be sharing with you my tips on how I coped. After all, we can hope we get another period of nice hot weather this year.
Paddling Pools
This is something which I loved more so during my pregnancy with Troy. We had a small little paddling pool which I could sit with my feet in. This is something which I did in the evenings when the back garden was not boiling hot. It would get to about 4 pm and I would be able to go and do this even after the nursery runs, I would often do this. You can purchase a small paddling pool for less than £5 usually I would highly recommend doing this.
Flip Flops
I found that during both of my pregnancies that my feet actually became swollen. Actually, when I had Jess my feet changed size and they have never shrunk back. I found flip flops to be amazing because they are barely on your feet. So, no matter how swollen your feet are you are still going to be able to wear them. You do not need to invest in an expensive pair either. A cheap pair from Primark will work wonders.
Fans
A fan was the only thing which helped me sleep last summer. Sadly, I only had a desk fan because of soon as you hit a heatwave everyone goes crazy and buys fans. I found that having it on for an hour before bed helped so much too cool the room down. You might want to purchase one before there is another period of hot weather. I have actually purchased a new one this year despite not been pregnant because it improved the quality of my sleep too.
Keeping my hair up
I do not think my hair is something which I wore down a lot. I think this is something which made me a bit cooler. My hair was often found in a messy bun. It just felt so nice to have my hair off my neck it was almost cooler. This may be because I actually have really thick hair as well which is not something which you want in the middle of the heatwave. Even now when it is a warm day, I usually can be found with my hair up.
Keep Hydrated
I would not have had a drink further than an arm’s length away from me. I did not want to become dehydrated because for a period of the time I was alone without any adults. Since Joe works away often with work. The last thing I wanted to was to be admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration. I already had a lot of water bottles and I would make sure I took them out with me. This is something which I managed to do even if it was not boiling hot. This is something I would tell anyone to do during a heatwave pregnant or not. I tried not to have too much more coffee during this time as felt like this made me feel worse as well.
Try and go out at the coolest part of the day
I know this is something which is not always possible at all. I know this is the case but try and go to the shop or do the jobs which you need to do outside the house first thing in the morning or later on when it cools down. This is something which I did with my first pregnancy with Jess because I had less commitment. I tried to do it as much as I could when I had Troy. During the hottest part of the day, I would draw the curtains and then have the fans and making sure I was not doing things which were too energy-sapping.
Stay in the shade
If you need to go out when it is really warm try and stay in the shade if this is something which you are able to do. I found myself having to walk in the shade in order to try and stay as cool as I could. If you are sitting in a garden try and sit in the shade. This is something I failed to do a few times and I ended up feeling super rough the next day. I think I had to sleep a lot more than normal.
Suncream
Something I didn’t know was your skin is more sensitive. Which means it can burn more easily. This may mean you want to up your SPF. I actually started using SPF 50 instead because I did not want to burn. This means that I did not burn as much as I have had in previous years. Sometimes I even put it on the tops of my feet so they did not burn in flip flops.
Loose /minimal clothing
This is something which I found to be super useful I would try and wear loose shorts instead of purchasing some new shorts. I decided to use Joe’s which were a little bit looser for me they were not ideal but they did. After all, I did not want to spend too much money on summer pregnancy clothing when there is so much else to buy. I would try and wear loose pyjama bottoms when could because they were so cool. I usually was found without a bra if I was not leaving the house. Vest tops were also my best friends too. I tried to wear other colours than black which if you know me is hard because I do actually love my dark colours.
Eat little and often
I know this is something which you are meant to do during pregnancy anyway. This is something which normally I struggled with. I was finding it easier to have smaller meals but eating more often. I would make meals a bit bigger and then slowly eat them during the day. Usually, it would be something like pasta which I could eat cold if this is something which means that I could pick at it throughout the day. Sometimes I would make a big salad and then snack on it during the day.
How did you cope during hot weather in pregnancy?
Charlotte
