Belly Bandit

Oscar has discovered my belly.  I caught him staring at it in the strangest way yesterday, like he was trying to puzzle it out. 

"Mummy, what's happening?  Where did that thing come from?" 

Hey pal, remember that time you tried to lay your head on my midsection and your sister kicked you in the face? It's aliiiiiiiive!

It was hilarious the way he was so intent on trying to decide why I don't look the same as before, as if he suddenly noticed the change overnight.  He's got to know that something is going on with all the improvements to the nursery and the constant influx of packages that aren't for him, despite his initial reaction of "for ME?!"  He's my faithful Amazon patrol, sniffing out the shipments and determining that yes, he'd really like to rest his head upon the new nursing pillow but he doesn't much care for the temporal thermometer.  What he really wants, more than anything, is the stack of hooded baby towels but that's not happening.  Just wait till he discovers diapers...

So 32 weeks tomorrow and I feel, for the most part, no different than I did last month with one major exception: sciatica's revenge.  My belly hasn't grown all that much, even if PB is doing well, hiding beneath my scar, but I am definitely feeling the strain in my back on the lower left side.  I did my research into all the various support bands and surgical girdle situations on the market.  Luckily, I had to return the world's fuggliest nursing bras to Motherhood Maternity so I came across the Upsie Belly model of the famous brand, Belly Bandit.  It's a pre and post pregnancy support belt that Velcros under your belly and has a little pouch for a freezable/microwavable pack.  For now, the pack goes in the back for pain relief and after the c-section it can be reversed so that I can ice my incision.  Pretty nifty!  Still, I feel like I'm wearing some 19th century scaffolding under my shirt.  It will take some getting used to, for sure but whatever helps, I say bring it on.