With girded loins...

My visit to the physiotherapist was quite productive, despite the fact that I was longer hurting the way I did when I initially made the appointment. I was loaned a wide elastic girdle to wear around my hips and pelvis when I'm expecting to go walk-about, and shown some useful ways to move without hurting myself.

Basically, whether I'm getting in and out of a car, turning over in bed, bending down to pick something off the floor or sitting in a chair, the two main things I have to do are:

1. 'hug my baby' and
2. keep my knees together

The 'hug my baby' thing is just a really cute phrase meaning, pull my abs in a little just above my pelvis.

The girdle really works too, as long as I only wear it when I'm upright. Sitting down with it on just exacerbates the feeling of breathlessness I often get when I'm sitting down anyway (ever feel like you're about to faint through lack of oxygen?).

Tonight was Antenatal Class Number Three -
We were shown videos on breastfeeding (it makes the act look even harder than the two-hundred page breastfeeding book does) and getting the baby to sleep.

There was a talk about Plunket services by a well-intentioned but monotoned woman, who also showed us how to bathe a baby doll.

We also watched a video on pain management, ranging from none whatsoever through to massage, acupuncture, pethidine and epidurals. The video included footage of a woman in real pain, which - though realistic - was not very pleasant.

At half time, I compared belly sizes with one woman and acidentally bumped bumps with another.