Maternity Gadgets

I've officially given up running.

For a little while longer.

I'm nearly 6 months pregnant now, (G4 food size update: she's the size of a 12-inch ear of corn) and it was getting painful. Oh how I will miss running. Running (I'm a slow runner/jogger) is such a wonderful exercise. You get your heart rate up and get a great workout in short amount of time. I'm finding other activities to keep me lean and mean (ha!) though. About once a week I swim laps and being in the water is wonderful. Too bad gravity is always there to greet me as I climb up and out of the pool. I do yoga on occasion, but I'm pretty limited with some of the moves. Now in the gym, I'm trying to get excited about the stationary bikes and elliptical machines. But in any activity, I'm slow. I was slow before pregnancy and I'm even slower now. I'm even starting to waddle (eek!).

I have to get a nap. Every day. I realize this is probably TMI* but my varicose veins are bad. They cause severe pressure all up and down my right leg. I don't do anything in the morning until I have my support stocking on, oh those heavenly contraptions. Other than veins and napping, the pregnancy is going along splendidly... G4 is kicking up a storm and I love to feel her every movement. I forget how amazing it is to have another human being growing inside me. It is truly awesome.

*TMI = too much information

Maternity clothes stink. Every shirt is as big as a tent, and I do my job and fill it. I'm 6'1" mind you so I'm a big girl already, but I'm especially big when I'm pregnant. Some dear ladies at my bible study (CBS) comment that they can't even tell that I'm pregnant (bless their hearts!) but sometimes being tall helps to hide being pregnant.

Also, I've tried very hard to stay in my non-pregnant clothes for as long as I possibly can ("Motherhood" brand jeans don't even compare to being as cool or long as my regular brand jeans) and I've done this by using some prenatal contraptions:

1. Tummy sleeve (aka Bella band) - brown T-shirt

2. Belly buckle - white elastic

I heard about these things from friends, looked them up on the Internet, and then jerry-rigged something using old T-shirts, elastic, buttons and my sewing machine to resemble these items, and I have to say they're working very well! They're very simple, but have really extended the life of my non-pregnant clothing well into the pregnancy.

My tummy sleeve is basically a tube of stretchy material (an old T-shirt that the devoted Mr. Garland donated to the worthy cause) that I wear around my waist to hide the fact that my pants are unbuttoned and unzipped. And the belly buckle is a piece of 1-inch wide elastic (about 10" long) with a button on one end and adjustable button holes on the other. The belly buckle helps provide a comfortable waistline.

My mom recently helped me morph some regular jeans over to maternity jeans and I'm so very excited. Maternity jeans are already awful, and then you throw in the fact that I'm over 6 feet tall that means that not only do the pants not fit, they're also too short. Maybe it's just me, but I've never had much luck in the maternity clothes department.

About 3 months to go... so excited!