Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Pregnancy insider blog

I'm still walking to work and back each day and I've definitely noticed that I am slower than normal, but this heat has turned me into a snail. Putting one foot in front of the other is proving to be a massive effort, especially where any kind of incline is concerned. I'm not sure whether it's my imagination or not but I feel people are giving me sympathetic looks – and if they're not, they really should be! I know it's normal to feel hotter anyway during pregnancy because your core temperature rises and you have a more blood pumping round, so this melting feeling really shouldn't come as a surprise.

I was in London for a meeting a few days ago and I nearly expired on the tube. People were very kind and at every opportunity offered me a seat which I was very grateful for but I cannot imagine commuting every day in that sweltering tunnel. Phew.

I'm trying to drink lots of water

The office is super hot and heats up like a greenhouse with no air con. We have fans blasting all day but I'm still feeling very uncomfortable and am finding it hard to focus. My hands and feet have swollen up and feel very tight. Over lunch I've been lying on the sofa in the kitchen trying to raise my feet up to try and relieve some the swelling – later on in the day I found my pregnant colleague there trying to do the same thing! I've even taken my rings off as I'm worried they'll cut off my fingers soon!

I'm trying to drink a lot of water as I know that's important but I still seem to be dehydrated (according to my wee!) so I'm not sure where all the fluid is going – probably sweat! I'm thinking of bringing a paddling pool in and putting it under my desk but I think the health and safety people may have something to say about that.

It's resulted in some very sore inner thigh chafing

The other very unpleasant thing that has occurred for me during this heat is chafing thighs. I've obviously put on some weight since becoming pregnant and this coupled with the intense heat and sweat has resulted in some very sore inner thigh chafing. After doing some googling I was relieved to find that this is a pretty common  complaint amongst pregnant ladies and anyone who's not a twiglet. Thank god for Evan's comfort shorts, that's all I will say! They are super comfy, stretchy (don't need maternity ones) and not sweaty. They allow my thighs to glide past each other friction and sweat free.

So heat and pregnancy don't really marry well together and whilst that was somewhat expected, I didn't expect it to feel so unbearable and exhausting! Only consolation? Eating lots of ice cream!

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