Chapter 3
Being Pregnant in Winter
One of my Indian friends complained that she feels really lousy being pregnant in a hot climate. When the temperature in Toronto hit 25 below freezing last week, I wished I had her problems. According to all those smart pregnancy books, frozen mother is bad for the baby. Something about decreased oxygen supply.
I am very lucky to live 15-minute walk from my office, but I still have to walk. Under normal conditions, meaning me not being pregnant, that problem would have been solved with the help of two sets of long wool underwear, aka long-johnes and a thick wool or leather pants. Unfortunately, it never occurred to the maternity clothing producers (or at least the Canadian maternity stores’ owners) that warm wool clothing might come handy in winter. All the dress pants I found so far are silk or synthetic. No warn underwear either. Considering that I am trying to find all of it in a maternity petite XXL size, you might appreciate my problem.
You would not appreciate it if you live in the US. People there do not seem to have an issue with finding their maternity clothing. The majority of people whom I asked where did they get their maternity outfits answered - Buffalo: “You order few dresses from GAP Maternity and have them delivered to the GAP store in Buffalo cause GAP Maternity does not deliver outside of the US. Then you drive there, try them on and you can return whatever does not fit right at the store.” This scheme seems awfully complicated for buying the pair of overalls, but it seems the only way. You can always have the stuff delivered to your US friends who would mail it to you. But you can forget about returns then.
Coming back to my silk-pants-in-sub-freezing-temperature predicament, I would not recommend the experience to the worst enemy. By the time I walked home from work – total of 15 min walk – I could feel the baby inside of me freezing. It is absolutely terrifying feeling. The temperature has gone up to a “warm” minus two degrees now. But it suppose to drop down to minus fifteen tomorrow. I think I am going shopping on-line ...
Getting a Cold
As another aftermath of Canadian winter I got sick. Under normal circumstances, I would have followed my traditional Russian habit of self-medication, have taken an antibiotic and have happily gone on with my business. Being pregnant, this option is out of question. I cannot even follow other traditional Russian method for cold cure – a glass of hot vodka. The only option available to me includes – hot honey-ginger-lemon water, Vicks VapoRub, Vicks Inhaler, and Vicks Throat Drops. The only medication I can take is a normal Tylenol. As far as I can remember Tylenol is useless. It had never worked on me before and it does not work now.
Now I’ve had a running nose and a sore throat for a week. My ear is also starting to hurt. I already took a day and a half off, and it seems I might end up taking more sick days. There is absolutely nothing I can do except wait and hope for the best.
It might also have not been the wisest idea of mine to go for the aqua fitness class last week. The class itself was great. I had a great time, I still feel uplifted and energetic after the exercise. But getting out of the pool and running around in freezing temperature while wet, might have contributed to my running nose. My next class is in two days and I am suffering with indecision on whether I should go or nurse my sore throat at home.
Being Pregnant in Winter
One of my Indian friends complained that she feels really lousy being pregnant in a hot climate. When the temperature in Toronto hit 25 below freezing last week, I wished I had her problems. According to all those smart pregnancy books, frozen mother is bad for the baby. Something about decreased oxygen supply.
I am very lucky to live 15-minute walk from my office, but I still have to walk. Under normal conditions, meaning me not being pregnant, that problem would have been solved with the help of two sets of long wool underwear, aka long-johnes and a thick wool or leather pants. Unfortunately, it never occurred to the maternity clothing producers (or at least the Canadian maternity stores’ owners) that warm wool clothing might come handy in winter. All the dress pants I found so far are silk or synthetic. No warn underwear either. Considering that I am trying to find all of it in a maternity petite XXL size, you might appreciate my problem.
You would not appreciate it if you live in the US. People there do not seem to have an issue with finding their maternity clothing. The majority of people whom I asked where did they get their maternity outfits answered - Buffalo: “You order few dresses from GAP Maternity and have them delivered to the GAP store in Buffalo cause GAP Maternity does not deliver outside of the US. Then you drive there, try them on and you can return whatever does not fit right at the store.” This scheme seems awfully complicated for buying the pair of overalls, but it seems the only way. You can always have the stuff delivered to your US friends who would mail it to you. But you can forget about returns then.
Coming back to my silk-pants-in-sub-freezing-temperature predicament, I would not recommend the experience to the worst enemy. By the time I walked home from work – total of 15 min walk – I could feel the baby inside of me freezing. It is absolutely terrifying feeling. The temperature has gone up to a “warm” minus two degrees now. But it suppose to drop down to minus fifteen tomorrow. I think I am going shopping on-line ...
Getting a Cold
As another aftermath of Canadian winter I got sick. Under normal circumstances, I would have followed my traditional Russian habit of self-medication, have taken an antibiotic and have happily gone on with my business. Being pregnant, this option is out of question. I cannot even follow other traditional Russian method for cold cure – a glass of hot vodka. The only option available to me includes – hot honey-ginger-lemon water, Vicks VapoRub, Vicks Inhaler, and Vicks Throat Drops. The only medication I can take is a normal Tylenol. As far as I can remember Tylenol is useless. It had never worked on me before and it does not work now.
Now I’ve had a running nose and a sore throat for a week. My ear is also starting to hurt. I already took a day and a half off, and it seems I might end up taking more sick days. There is absolutely nothing I can do except wait and hope for the best.
It might also have not been the wisest idea of mine to go for the aqua fitness class last week. The class itself was great. I had a great time, I still feel uplifted and energetic after the exercise. But getting out of the pool and running around in freezing temperature while wet, might have contributed to my running nose. My next class is in two days and I am suffering with indecision on whether I should go or nurse my sore throat at home.