Pregnancy in this heat! Tips to survive

[Sickallday]

I know today is hopefully the last hugely hot day for a while but how is everyone surviving?

I am usually a heat lover but 30 weeks pregnant me is struggling big time.

Any tips on getting through this evening? It looks like it’s still going to be 28 at 1am

I'm in the same boat. 31 weeks.

Absolutely brutal.

Last night I did resort to sitting in the garden at 1am to cool off but I am struggling on comfy positions and desperate to get some sleep tonight

Not pregnant now, but did have an August baby a few years ago so you have my sympathies. Washing up bowl of cold water for your feet and snack on frozen grapes (for some reason I found them much more cooling than ice cream/lollies). And buy a fan for the labour ward, they're hot!

I was pregnant and facing preterm labour last summer through the heat wave. It was literal hell. The temperature in our bedroom reached 36° at one point and I remember sitting on the bed gasping for breath, thinking I’d suffocate between the heat and the baby pressing into my lungs. Thankfully, he held off until 33+1 and after the heatwave to arrive.

A couple of things helped. We bought several packs of Ice Towels. You can get them from The Range or order them online. You dampen them, whip them about a bit and they go amazingly cold. Wonderful for draping over your shoulders or bump. My husband would wrap one around his feet when we went to bed and that helped him.

I was working from home so also found wrapping freezer bag blocks in tea towels and resting one under my feet and one at the small of my back felt lovely.

Cold water in a spray bottle. Lots of ice lollies.

Finally, I had a washing up bowl with cold water that I’d rest my feet in.

It was miserable, but we got through it. Good luck.

Gel packs from the fridge for draping around your neck or on your wrists. Tower fan in the bedroom at night and all day if you need it, moving air is so much more tolerable. Ice creams. Bowl of cold water for your feet. Let your hair air dry as wet hair keeps you cooler. Go to places with aircon or buy a portable aircon unit, it's totally worth the investment as it can tricky having a newborn in the heat too so great to make sure they don't overheat at night once they arrive too.

I went overdue with my son in an August heatwave a few years ago, it's awful but doable :)

I got through the hottest day this week by going to the cinema with the kids for 3 hours of air conditioning during the midday heat! Worth every penny.