Keeping cool in this heat?! any ideas?

[redz]

Im 32 weeks and I am really struggling in the heat its so bad that I can barely go anywhere untill after 8pm. It really makes my feel physically ill, I start to get a headache and feel dizzy.
Any ideas on how to keep cool ive been chomping on ice like its going out of fashion!

At our £1 shop they've got battery fans with a small bottle attached you can put water in. You can spritz and the fan cools the water right down.

I make a cooling body spray out of water mixed w/witch hazel and a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin. I add a few drops of orange, lemon and lemongrass oils and bung it in the fridge in a spray bottle.

DD1 LOVES it and asks to be sprayed down often in this heat.

Another good one is to get an ice cube (the flatter ones are better) and wrap it up in a bit of kitchen roll and put it in your bra (under the middle bit). Keeps me nice and cool and it doesn't seem to melt and leave wet patches!

Also like to get home from work, sit in shade and have DH hose my feet and legs after he's watered his tomatoes!!

Thanks all, I will give them all a go.

do the dishes standing on tea towel

a wet one i meant

Run your wrists and ankles under a cold tap (or hose!) and bathe the back of your neck with a cold damp cloth. They are major pulse points and help your whole body to cool down.

Open all of the upstairs windows very early in the morning, let some cooler air in, then close them and close the blinds/curtains. Helps to keep some heat out. Then as the sun goes down, open all the windows again (and do battle with the buzzy flies!)

Wear the palest colours you have - white if possible - and all pure cotton. Looser clothes can be cooler - loose, thin cotton or linen is great.

Hope it cools down soon for you & your bump

Get your feet in cold water. I always found that the rest of me cooled down as soon as I did this.
If you are getting headaches it may be that you are getting a bit dehydrated? Make sure you drink lots of water. And believe it or not, hot drinks make you feel cooler and cold drinks make you feel warmer (there is an explanation for this to do with veins cooling the body if you drink hot, and conserving heat if you drink cold but can;t remember exactly what it is).

How about a cold wet flannel on the back of the neck. Also found cold baths and showers help and the swimming pool is bliss in this heat. Otherwise just drink plenty (you could try fridging water, or even freezing bottles of it, so its cold) and put your feet up.
I keep offering to go make coffee all day for dh (it's like November in his office apparently - grr! - ) but he's not to be persuaded yet!

Redz- snap I am also 32 weeks and can't bear the heat!
If you have a bit of extra cash I would recommend getting an aircon unit. I have one (which I aquired from an office closure) which at least means one room in the house is ok.

Other than that - cold baths are the way forward. As many as you need and definately before you go to bed.
I also have become a vampire and keep all curtains closed during the day to keep the heat out.

Lots of ice--lollies as well

Huge sympathy though - its rotten being this hot!!

when in the ast stages of pregnancy in a hot aussie summer - used to wet a face cloth/flannel and put it in the freezer and then pat it on forehead, back of neck, inside elbows and back of knees - worked wonders as did a cooling foot and leg spray. Those cooling sprays - evain and such - used them too.

lots of ice lollies, lots of swimming, lots of resting on the hammock in the shade of the back deck.

The best ting I've found is to lean your head back on a bag of frozen peas! Bliss. If it's toooo chilly, just put a tea towel over it first. It works a treat.

I find going to Sainsburys very appealing - it's air conditioned. A slow frappacino in the cafe first is good as well! Unfortunately at work, it's too hot. I'm wearing a strappy linen dress, and just about surviving.

I'm sitting here with a cold damp sarong around my tummy (36weeks)and its lovely, also you can put it round your neck too..it was a tip from a South African friend who said to wear a whole wet sarong but my sofa got too wet!!!

Best of luck I know its hard

works with a wet muslin, too (preferably dipped in iced water, but not the same one you're sipping out of). Also ice cubes chucked in bucket of water. Lovely.

lemonade sparkles....and lots of them

resting my feet in cold water, eating lots of ice lollies like you, taking loads of quick showers and drinking water with lots of ice cubes in it.
Also like others keep all curtains closed.

Get a bucket of ice cold water and stick your feet in it.

Another quick fix for cooling down is to run your wrists under a freezing cold tap too.