Any suggestions for coping with upcoming heatwave?

[MamaLaMoo]

Met Office reckons 26 deg tomorrow, 26 Deg on Tuesday and 28 deg on Wednesday. 37 weeks pg.

I have two paddling pools, one for toddler and one for me. May well spend 3 days in the bath or in the paddling pool. Just need to get a portable loo so keeping hydrated doesn't mean constant drippy visits to upstairs loo. Garden is a complete suntrap, think DH may be a bit [hmmm] if I set pool up in the front room though.

Find it hard to keep dry under huge, milky boobs , talcum powder only effective for so long!

[Poweredbypepsi]

when i was pregnanct with my third we lived in kent during one of the very hot summers. I bought a small air conditioning unit from argos. It was expensive but it was so so worth it. and it still gets dragged out years later when its hot.

[Poweredbypepsi]

oh and wash your hair alot in really hot weather when i was pregnant i washed my hair before bed and sleep on a towel because it cooled you don so much to get off to sleep!

[Helzapoppin]

I'm almost 39 weeks (and comedically huge!) and feel like such a grump for dreading the heatwave! I have two lovely cotton maternity dresses, which I plan to wear with baggy knickers and perhaps no bra. I will spend as much time as possible sitting in a chair with my feet in the paddling pool while my toddler spashes in and out and looks for potatoes in the vegetable patch (her preferred pastime at the moment).

Good luck!

[BertieBotts]

A bowl of ice under a fan is like a makeshift air conditioning unit.

Sit around the house in wet clothes!

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

I was pg in July 2006 when it was heatwave. I think I spent quite a lot of time in the house nekkid with the fan on tbh... Only went out early morning or evening when cooler (didn't have a toddler to entertain at the time tho).

Sympathies, remember feeling so hot one day on the bus that I almost cried. Hope baby arrives promptly.

[msbuggywinkle]

Also was pregnant in July 2006 (gave birth on 23rd!), my Mum came round one day having bought me a powerful fan. I made lots of ice cubes to suck, lay around like a beached whale and moaned.

[otchayaniye]

I had my first in Singapore (28-34 degrees and humid as anything) and aircon went on the blink in late pregnancy and I found wetting towels and wringing them out and lying down on the bed helped.

[CBear6]

Take a cold water bottle to bed. Basically fill an empty two litre plastic bottle with water (just over three quarters full will do) and bung it in the freezer. Come bedtime take it out, wrap in a tea towel or pillowcase, hug it just like a hot water bottle.

[CountBapula]

You can get this brilliant foot gel in Boots that has witch hazel in it. I kept it in the fridge and got DH to massage my feet and legs - they swelled up horribly in the heat!

[acatcalledfelix]

I'm 28 weeks and have managed so far. but I'm not looking forward to next week! I bought something called "Magicool" from Superdrung a few weeks ago. It's basically a cooling mist, and seems more effective than the Evian / Avene ones I've bought before. I'll be road testing it next week .

[CBear6]

Poundland do a version of the cooling mist too.

[debs39]

Currently in 50degrees celsius plus ...lowest overnight about 38....and lordy have I suffered with prickly heat.....so would love to have checked with midwife what meds us pregnant girls are allowed to take to alleviate the blotches!!! Pesky hormones!!! : )

[milkyways]

You can buy a spray from Boots in the holiday section called MAGICOOL. You can spray it on your hands/face/body or if you're getting into the car on a hot day just spray it on the dash board and it leaves you or the place around you feeling cold. It really is magic. When my sister had her baby in July 2006, there was a heatwave and I bought a bottle and dropped it in for her during her labour as it was so hot. I've been using it for hot holidays since 2004.

[milkyways]

Oh someone's already mentioned it! Scrap the above!

[MummyAbroad]

I had my first in Costa Rica, I am here again for the second but its rainy season at the mo, so much cooler thankfully! You have my sympathies!

I second going around with wet hair whenever you can. Also wet and then ring out your PJ's before going to bed. Helps get you off to sleep and you will wake up crispy dry (no need for towel on the bed)

If you have to go out anywhere take a packet of wet wipes with you and keep wiping your face and back of your neck. Even nicer if you store them in the fridge first. Last time I was in the UK I managed to get a mini fridge on sale for £12.99. It fits about a 6 pack in it (not that thats what I was using it for!) small enough to have by your bedside so you can keep your drinks/snacks/cooling gadgets cool.

[PenguinArmy]

I was in Death Valley last week. We largely stayed in the car with the AC

Everything I can think of has already been mentioned. It's odd we spent around two weeks over 100F, now we're back in mid 20's and I feel hotter than I did when travelling.

[Bunbaker]

I was in the chilly North East last week. I'm looking forward to a bit of heat.

PenguinArmy
The heat in Death Valley is very dry which is why it is easier to cope with. I remember walking around Furnace Creek in August thinking that it couldn't be as hot as it was. It is much more humid here and that makes the heat more energy sapping.

[PenguinArmy]

I'm not in the UK (yet) but it is a UK summer climate (minus the rain). It was dry where here we have morning fog. Also our motels had AC

Also apologies for the mixture of oC and oF

[tiredandgrumpy]

I was pg in heatwave of 2003. I spent a lot of time in air conditioned shopping centres. Also used a cold water bottle ( as above, except I just put cold water into a hot water bottle).

[MamaLaMoo]

Thank you for your great suggestions, I had not thought of keeping slightly damp on purpose or of having a cold water bottle. I will find a suitable bottle and stick it in the freezer this morning.

Baby wipes and flannels in the fridge. I may have to get a fan, we haven't got one at all.

[MrsSawyer]

I was also pregnant in the summer of 2006 and am 35 weeks again now, and the first time around (it was wall to wall sunshine for bleeding months though) i used to wash my clothes in the washing machine, then just put them on, sit in front of the fan and kept cool like that, only went out in the evening.

Thank god its not like that now but i find humidity worse than actual "sunshine" hot IYKWIM

[lucindapie]

I defintely recommend a fan, I don't feel hot at all when it's blowing on me. Also great for sleeping if you can deal with the noise.

[Asturimama]

I live in the south of Spain (Costa del Sol) and really can't wait for the summer to end (funny enough, my dd is the last day of summer).
If you are at home, the best thing for me is to have a cool shower a few times a day, a couple of minutes is enough. It really helps me fall asleep a lot faster at night.