In Tips & Tools for Pregnancy – Part I I shared more general information about what it’s like to be pregnant with fibromyalgia with a few tools that have helped me. In this post I was include some more detailed and specific tips and tools.

The Better Binder has been a blessing for me. During the middle of my pregnancy my back pain became more constant and physically limiting. Eventually I ended up with sciatica on both sides (from the pregnancy) and wearing this support belt hoped both types of pain. It’s amazing because one wouldn’t think some Velcro straps would do that much, but they do! Wearing it post-pregnancy is also supposed to be helpful for getting your abdominal muscles back to where they belong and lessening their separation.

One of the most helpful things I’ve done during this pregnancy is meeting with an OB Care Planning Nurse at the hospital where I’ll be delivering. It gave me a chance to ask any and all odd questions I had related to the delivery experience at the hospital and go over my birth plan. Even though there will be copies of my birth plan in my records the nurse writes her own version in med-speak to include as well.

She helped connect me with one of their dietitians to make sure the hospital will be able to easily accommodate my soy sensitivity for food, no matter the time/day. This was a huge relief to me since their cafeteria didn’t have easy access to any allergen information. The nurse was very good at bringing up various scenarios to see if there were any areas that might cause me to be anxious and offering suggestions of solutions the hospital could do to minimize that. I wish this type of care and attention to detail was part of everyone’s pregnancy, but for those with fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions this is gold! My own Obgyn never mentioned this service to me, but luckily my doula knew about it and suggested it.

What tips & tools have helped you in pregnancy?

*

*Image Credit: from www.flickr.com by Schwangerschaft.