Carrying very low belly

EEEEE! Great news, Shekina. Geez, it can be difficult to accept the body changes of pregnancy! You haven't had a full pregnancy before, have you?

I just googled belly supporters for pregnancy. Most seem to be heavy lycra type things, designed for post-pregnancy, so you can appear in Papparazzi pictures in women's magazines, looking like you were never pregnant. I can only assume these are designed to make your belly come in. This may have been what the midwife was talking about.

Have a look at this thread, https://wholewoman.com/forum/node/1347 . It is about Mayan massage, but mentions the faja, or faha, used mainly post pregnancy for helping to stabilise the pelvis and belly. I seem to remember talking about these on the Forums but this was the only mention I could find.

Something similar to a faja might be better than the traditional one. Because it is not stretchy you can make it as tight or as loose as you want, and put it at whatever height you want. I think you will need it much longer than the ones I could find. I seem to remember Aza posting about them. From memory it was several metres long, rather than just over 2 metres.

No doubt it is hot where you are. I am thinking 6 metres of fine cotton fabric, about 300mm wide, but that is just out of my head, rather than being an authoritative size. This would allow you to wrap it around several times and knot it where it feels best, with just a little belly support.

The midwife may be right. It might be one thing or the other, but if you are in charge of how tight or loose it is, then you can make it the size that fits you best and adjust it whenever you like for how you feel on the day. You will get bigger (Lordy, Lordy!) so get plenty of length! ;-)

Louise

Hi Shekina,
Congratulations! Great news and I'm so pleased.
I guess as you're already part of the WW community, you're living in WW posture as much as possible generally.
From a yoga point of view one of the best postures for bringing baby up and forward is on all fours in cat on fore-arms. This just brings your upper body that bit lower than your lower abdomen and bottom. It's also a good posture for slowing down the labour if you want or need it to slow down a little.
Wishing you all the best,
xwholewomanuk

I would just sit on the toilet and let the belly hang between your legs. If you shift your weight far enough forward your butt will rise and some weight will be taken off your rectum. Just doing that a few times, shifting around your belly contents, might help things to move along. You could also try hip circles while standing and pelvic rocks on all fours.

Anything to massage bowel contents along. With your pregnancy moving on your intestines are probably kind of behind your uterus. I wonder if lying down with your legs bent and feet flat, and rocking your knees from side to the other would also help move your bowel contents, kind of like a rolling pin! <:-d>

Walking is also a great way of moving your pelvic and abdominal contents around.

Louise

I noticed towards the end of pregnancy that I never did seem to have a 'complete' bowel movement all at one time, I seemed to empty out in small amounts a few times a day. (Ew, sorry). I just made sure to keep far far away from any amount - no matter how small - of white flour. I could get away with eating a tiny bit of whole wheat though.

For that pressure from carrying low (and even if you're not carrying unusually low, by the end of the day you feel as though you are anyway, at 30 weeks!), I used to find relief in the prostration position (I think it is similar to the cat and cow position but my nose and forehead are flush against the ground). I had to make sure my knees were shoulder width apart so that my belly had a place to fall into.