Well I'm writing this 4 weeks late as our identical twin girls were born bang on schedule according to plan at exactly 37 weeks by c section!  Needless to say, these little bundles of joy take up a large amount of time and blog writing has been relegated behind reheating the same cup of tea many times!  

Late pregnancy woes!

To say that I was ready to meet my little girls by the 37 week date is a complete understatement.  I was "over" being pregnant!  The last couple of weeks were tough ... I found it very difficult to sleep despite having my trusty pregnancy 'sausage' pillow or "Berlin Wall" as my husband used to call it, supporting between my knees, under my bump and head. Turning over in bed was a mission and not as easy as it sounds and frequent visits to the bathroom became a real chore. My heartburn had reached epic proportions with me surviving on Ranitidine, and Gaviscon (the liquid was more effective than the pills in the end and forget using a teaspoon ... drinking out of the bottle became the norm). Sadly it was so bad that even essential oils couldn't help.

What did help to get me off to sleep (until the first bathroom trip interruption) was a lavender pillow spray.  It smelt heavenly and was incredibly relaxing so watch this space.  I may well be adding it to my range if the demand is there!

I would say that the worst symptom by far for me was the swelling. I was swollen from my toes to my thighs by the end (luckily I didn't get swollen hands).  I put on a total of 20 kilos throughout the course of the pregnancy (and I can reassure you that I lost 15 of those kilos in the first 3 weeks post pregnancy!) I know a large chunk of that weight was water.  I'm still swollen in my feet and ankles 4 weeks later and really feel it by the end of the day.  What helped?  

* Grapefruit and Juniper essential oil in a base of sweet almond oil (at 1% dilution) massaged into my legs (if I could get my husband to do it as I couldn't reach my toes!) at the start of the day,

*  My Simply Pregnancy Body lotion massaged into my feet at bedtime - it was so cooling and refreshing despite the pain of my feet being massaged, it was worth it!   I would have had a bath if I felt that I could actually get out of it (and I would have used Epsom Salts) but I wasn't confident that I would be able to despite the help of my husband (I weighed far more than him at the end!).

* Drinking large quantities of water.

* The summer heat was definitely not helping either so I would put wet flannels with a few drops of grapefruit and Juniper essential oils (essentially a cold compress) on my legs. I also used cool packs from the fridge.

* And finally I used my Youngblood minerals in the mist spray on my face which was really refreshing and really cheered me up! 

Oh and did I mention the snoring? I've never been a 'snorer' - is there such a word?  And this wasn't delicate lady like snoring - it was so bad that I even woke myself up with the noise!  

So that was a summary of my fun last few weeks. Needless to say it was all worth it!  I'm completely in love!  Read my next blog which talks about the c section and the first few days!