Pregnancy hacks

[Sheilasfeels]

What amazing pregancy hacks have you discovered to make this whole body-going-crazy thing a bit easier? Mine are:

Saline nasal spray + nasal strips = the abillity to sleep and breathe at the same time.
Lactulose at night + decaffeinated coffee in the morning = a poo! Finally!

Omg my partner says my snoring has become really bad! Just feel bunged up a lot of the time! What saline spray and strips did you buy please?

Sloggie bras, maternity bras or stretchy bras help soooo much with tender/sore boots in early pregnancy I'm 7 weeks so no idea if they help for later in pregnancy but just now they are a god send. I even sleep with them on! Helps so much.

I use sterimar saline spray, they have it is boots. You can get one specifically for blocked nose which has a slightly higher salt content and works wonders. The strips I picked up from TG Hughes for much cheaper than in boots, so it might be worth having a look in there or online. Total godsend!

Ooh I need to get a maternity bra, I'm still in my normal ones but pouring out of them a bit now! I'm 6 months in and expected my boobs to have doubled in size by now but my bum and thighs seem to have done the growing instead!

Really need a comfy bra!

Probably not really a hack but my yoga ball has been a life saver for back and leg pain!

One of those whole body pregnancy pillows! I carried mine around everywhere the last month or so. I had PGP too and fou

Sorry! DS somehow pressed send in his sleep.

I found a back support belt really useful.

Also, shoes you don't have to tie or zip up. Ginger tea and little sucky sweets helped with the nausea.

I have trained my 2yo to pick things up off the floor for me and to do"important jobs" like putting clothes into the washing machine!

I'm 25 weeks today and so far these have helped from the beginning....

Separate beds
Never being hungry when having pregnancy sickness, makes it so much worse
Giving in to the exhaustion
Always having a sick bag (even now...you never know!)
Water water water (which inevitably means pee pee pee)
Refreshers for acid reflux (I'll worry about my teeth later)

I'm ten weeks now and travel bands have been my saviour with nausea. I was never sick but felt so awful and now I can actually get on with my day.

A memory foam mattress topper. We bought it when I was about 6 weeks pregnant (helped with sore boobs). I'm now 40+1 and it's been worth every single penny all the way through the pregnancy. It wasn't cheap but we're keeping it for ever. DH wouldn't do without it now either and we had a decent mattress to start with. It's breathable and quite thick. Even now I only wake up once or twice in the night as need to pee and not because I'm so uncomfortable like others I know in third trimester. Get a good quality one and you'd never look back!

Oh and practicing J-breathing on the toilet completely cured piles/constipation. (It's part of our hypnobirthing practice but works really well for that too!) In fact the calm breathing that you also learn with hypnobirthing works wonders for stressful situations and has changed my life (road accident near miss, stress at work etc all completely manageable). Wish I'd known about it years ago.

Oh and practicing J-breathing on the toilet completely cured piles/constipation. (It's part of our hypnobirthing practice but works really well for that too!) In fact the calm breathing that you also learn with hypnobirthing works wonders for stressful situations and has changed my life (road accident near miss, stress at work etc all completely manageable). Wish I'd known about it years ago.

User please could you post a link to your topper?! Thanks.

Yes to the Sterimar nasal spray! I'm 8 weeks and have a shitty cold that my in-laws kindly passed on. So grateful the pharmacist recommended this spray.

I've got a 7 month old DS and fucking hated being pregnant. I would second the advice to have slip on shoes... I couldn't reach my feet by 35 weeks and my feet were so swollen by 39 weeks that I couldn't wedge them in to anything bar flimsy new look ballet shoes anyway.

Definitely give in to the exhaustion, sleep whenever and wherever you want.

Eat little and often not everything all the time like I did

It's the best thing ever OP though, I can't wait to do it again

Having gaviscon on the bedside table and another one downstairs.

After a horrible episode the other day where I became extremely bunged up and ended up in extreme pain (worse than labour) I have now changed my diet to ensure I poop with ease.

Coccyx cushion for my chair at work (office job) was having trouble standing and sitting before I bought it (cheapo from eBay)

Orange flavour Rennie's, so much better than peppermint. Like eating sweets!

I must book into hypnobirthing. I've had a couple of poos that seemed to be training for labour so would have been useful to have a coping mechanism in place!

I also love my pillow, its in a 'c' shape and i can see myself using it after pregnancy its just so comfortable.

I'm just getting a cold. Beside paracetamol and saline spray is there anythjng else you can use? I know decongestants are out, is there a safe/natural cough medicine?

Ooh User, what is J-breathing? I'm intrigued!

See when you're early on, and too sick to eat, but being hungry makes you sick - have a nice cold can of red original coke.

Always having a plain, easy to nibble snack and a bottle of water. Especially for commuting.

Pregnany yoga - helped so much with back pain and breathing techniques.

I second having anti-acids within easy reach at all times: got some upstairs, downstairs and in my handbag!

Cooling leg gel - helps if you get cramps (sadly I do on a frequent basis).

Saying yes to help and not being afraid to ask if you're struggling. I like being independent but have realised I need to let people take control sometimes!

Here's the topper we got: www.dunelm.com/product/dorma-tencel-blend-memory-foam-mattress-topper-1000040575

And J-breathing is used in place of 'pushing' through contractions but you need to really relax. Hence why it's so good for difficult bowel movements, basically the same muscles. It's part of the hypnobirthing course to learn it.

When I had a horrific cold a few weeks ago I made hot lemon, ginger and honey in place of Lemsip. Really helped and is natural decongestant. I also wake up starving in the middle of the night so have taken to having a couple of 'bed biscuits' next to the Rennie! Flapjack style seem perfect as you don't really want chocolate at 3am but just something to keep you going and means you don't need to get out of bed.

Sucking on polos in bed to try give a bit of reprieve from heartburn!! Bit worried about my teeth but least I'm getting some sleep!!

Perineal massage and a yoga ball, saved me from an episiotomy during a fast labour.