Monday, November 14, 2011

My fragile sense of vanity

I am six months pregnant. I have precious little personal vanity left to cling to at this point. I can wear only tops designed to expand to accommodate a belly the size of a Michelin all-weather tire, and my skin looks like the average junior high student before they discover the wonders of facial cleanser. I am far from the most stylish dresser around even on my best day, so while experiencing all the quirks of growing a human--including the pleasure of regularly weighing myself in front of a stranger--I claim the right to fiercely take advantage of any shred of wardrobe dignity available to me.

I had a doctor's appointment today to check Sherm's progress. I finally broke down and admitted to my doctor that, unlike when I was pregnant with Floyd, I have been experiencing a reasonably significant amount of lower abdominal pain with this pregnancy.

(This happened right after I finally broke down and admitted to myself that apparently I have issues with appearing to be anthing less than a pregnancy rockstar. Don't mind me. I'm fine! Just GROWING A BABY over here with absolutely no discomfort or unusual complaints. Carry on.)(In my defense, in my line of work I come across a lot of award winning whiners, so maybe I'm a little sensitive about becoming one.)

My doctor, who is fantastic and did not appear to immediately shun me for being less of a rockstar, suggested that perhaps a maternity support belt worn under my tummy to help heft the weight of this growing boy would help.

Long story short: a quick google search of 'maternity girdle' revealed some truly frightening options.

And that's why despite the pelvic and hip pain that has been plaguing me for the last several weeks (particularly when I have the pleasure of working all the way through the middle of the night) I have decided to eschew any product with a design structure that includes any of the following:
  • An attached panty
  • An attached bra
  • Over the shoulder straps
  • Between the leg groin/crotch support (Unfortunately for someone, this exists. I am ever so grateful that I have no idea what type of ailment might necessitate this as a solution.)
Let's pray that the simple, small band I managed to find at an extremely reasonable price is helpful. Otherwise, I might just be suffering in silence. It's like Wesley said to Princess Buttercup:

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

Like maybe a maternity groin supporter.
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3 comments:

  1. JessicaNovember 14, 2011 at 3:22 PM

    My cousin used her Moby wrap as a maternity girdle and said the actually helped quite a bit. Good luck!

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  2. katelinklugNovember 15, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    I'm not sure what it is called, but my sister in law wore a band just around her waist when she was pregnant with twins. Actually I think both my sister in laws did, anyway they say that it really helps. No straps, no bra attachment our under the business end. :)

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  3. coletteNovember 17, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    I'm so sorry you're having that pain. What really helped me was doing pelvic rocks. Here's a good video: http://www.slideshare.net/SleighChiropractic/ppt-slide-for-pelvic-rock. I can't say how much doing these helped me. It really gets the baby up and out of the pelvis so your muscles and ligaments aren't so strained. I have found it's especially helpful to do them before bed. I worked up to doing sets of 25 or so several times a day, and then 60-80 before bed. Seriously, it helps... and I got to avoid to girdle world.

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