Sea Band V. PsiBands

**Ok, this post is just my own personal experience with these two products -- this is in no way claiming some sort of "clinical trial level" of accuracy on these products. What works for me, may not work for everyone. I just thought I would share what I’ve experienced in case it is helpful.**

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant with my third. And for some reason this pregnancy has been an entirely more nauseous experience than my first two. For my first two I had the general morning-sickness-queasiness, that wasn’t fun but never made me throw up, and it went away right around the second trimester. This pregnancy has been epically-queasy (like need to lay down to help with the pain, it’s hard to think straight, it’s very hard to pick the right foods to eat, kinda of queasy), with actual throwing up, and is still hanging around good and strong at 19 weeks. 

So that said….

I’ve tried both of these natural remedies as an attempt to function.

They both work on the premise that they apply pressure on the Nei Kuan acupressure point of each  wrist, and that is supposed to help with nausea. 

And in my opinion one product is clearly superior.

Let’s take a closer look.

Here is the inside of each bracelet. The grey knitted one on the left is the sea band. The black plastic one on the right is the PsiBand.

The Sea Band’s plastic stud is much more round and protruding. It is smooth and hard.
The PsiBand has a generally larger surface area of plastic that feels like its coated in something kinda rubbery. Then it has an indent where the pressure-pusher part goes. This part is adjustable, when you twist the white top part it comes out a tiny smidgen. (It never forms the same kind if mound as the sea band.)

The PsiBands biggest attraction is that it comes in different designs and looks more like a bracelet or watch band. And that’s actually what sold me on getting that kind first. (My Vanity won out.  However, this black version wasn’t really my first choice -- it was just what was available short notice.)
Well that and they are waterproof.

So I started wearing the PsiBands and I honestly never noticed any difference in my level of nausea. Very soon I found these bracelets frustrating. The holes made for bracelet tightness are made in such a spacing, that for my wrist they felt either too loose (so that no pressure was applied) or uncomfortably tight.

I would err on the side of tight to try and make the nausea go away. But I honestly can not wear these longer than an hour without my wrists hurting too much for me to bother keeping them on.
The indent starts to feel like it’s cutting into my skin and I just can’t stand it anymore.

After one hour of wear.

That pink-white ring on my wrist is actually raised up like braille. 

It’s not like the worst pain in the world or anything. But it does have a grate on your nerves, “yeah this is pretty horribly uncomfortable” kind of pain that I just don’t feel is worth it in any way.

But in contrast the sea band is elastic, so there is no need to try and figure out how tight it needs to be. You just slide it on the right spot and it feels like a perfect amount of pressure on my wrist. The plastic stud is nearly imperceptible. And I do actually get some nausea relief from this.

Now I’m not saying my nausea goes away. But the level of it is brought down a noticeable amount. It usually can take me from "can’t function" to "functioning just enough." 

And It doesn’t hurt me one bit.

I usually put them on first thing in the morning and take them off before bed -- just to give my skin a break. After a long day my wrist has creasing. And I do look forward to giving my skin a break. But not in a “oh my gosh, get these off of me!” kind of way. 

Personally it’s not been a big deal that I can’t wear them in the shower or bath.

After an entire waking- day’s worth of wear.

So for me the very clear winner is Sea Band!

They do come in a couple colors. So maybe black would be a bit more classy looking? It’s your call.

Personally I don’t mind that it looks like I’m wearing sweat bands all day if it helps me function.

And well, lucky for me, I’m pretty much always in long sleeves (for winter) right now -- so they usually aren’t even seen. But if I am still nauseous this summer I’ll be sporting these with pride. Vanity be dammed -- you get me into too much trouble anyway. 

So I’d recommend them to a friend. I wouldn’t be selling it as a cure-all. But a nice, sort of helps, don’t hurt, kinda thing.

Side Note: With this pregnancy, the actual biggest help I have had with nausea has been to take half a unisom at night. I wasn’t really thrilled to veer off the natural remedy path, but this pregnancy has been too difficult to forgo using some of the bigger guns. So all this acupressure bracelet talk, in my case, has been in conjunction with unisom use. The two things combined have seemed to get me through the days. If I skip one of these helpers (particularly the unisom) I usually feel awful, and it can result in a very tear-filled day. But these sea bands are actual aids in helping with what the unisom hasn’t been able to take away for me.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional of any sort. Always consult with your provider before taking medical advice.

Postpartum Style!

So I confessed my obsession with pinning maternity looks to you a little bit ago.

While pinning to that board, I started realizing I was tempted to pin more and more things to that board that were intended to work on an after-baby body. (After-baby-body happens to the best of us --- no matter how many pins you see showing you how “fast” they got their body back. I say “fast” because no matter what, it seems like forever.)

I also started to realize I have a good number of friends who’ve recently had babies, and a couple more having babies in the upcoming months. And I’ve had a few vent they don’t know what to wear.

It’s never easy figuring out what to where in this stage of life. You are tired. You feel weird. You feel you look weird. You don’t have a lot of time to get dressed in general. But you know if this was jr high you wouldn’t be coming out of your room for an entire weekend as you work out things that you might wear throw everything you own on the floor in a rage after pulling it on and off. But you just don’t have that luxury anymore, you need to spend your time on loving someone else.

So I started a Pinterest board for Postpartum looks. Just stuff to get the mind goin in the "what to wear now” direction. I can’t promise you perfection. I can’t promise it will all be stuff you like. Or be stuff you own. Or that you’ll be able to buy any of the items on there exactly. BUT I can promise you I will pin stuff there. :) And I can promise that it will get your thoughts flowing towards stuff that might just work.

If you are expecting now, I’d highly suggest you try to find a few things you think would camouflage a 5-6month sized baby-belly as best as you can, for your postpartum belly. It’d be great to do it now, before the baby is here, making shopping difficult. Make sure the chest area in your new clothes is able to accommodate boobs you never knew you could fit on your body -- when your milk first comes in it’s outrageous -- they go down, but stay pretty big for a good while if you are nursing!

Feel free to follow my new board or just visit it from time to time if you need some inspiration on this subject.

You can find my new Pin board right here.

The Perfect Staying In Clothes

You may remember me talking about getting my act together on some stuff a while ago.

One of them was getting dressed more regularly.

I was having a really hard time changing out of pajamas since well... there are many, many, many more days, than not, where I am in the house all day long with only my girls. (I was also having a hard time figuring out when to get dressed, since so often the girls are both clamoring for part of me.)

But I wasn't feeling so great about myself walking past my mirrors, sporting bed head, no make up and pjs.

*To be clear, even though I'm writing this post I am NOT declaring I have my act together. I'm actually typing this in my pajamas next to my sick two year old, while my teething, sick baby sleeps.

I still have a hard time figuring out when to change. But its getting easier as they get a bit older.

Anyway one thing I have figured out is:

Maxi Skirts!

Um, why did I not realize this before?

Maxi skirts feel like pajamas but count as clothes!

And...um postpartum...YES!

Nothing works easier than skirts through the post baby days!

They are magical in the way they can fit through so much change!

(Some of them might even make it through pregnancy and back with you!)

And...easy nursing. (Some dresses are great for these reasons too -- but skirts are a no brainer!)

And because Maxi Skirts are long,

you can do mommy maneuvers all day long 

without exposing yourself.

What more could a young momma ask for?

Looking Good While Pregnant

Ever wonder what to wear when pregnant?
I have!

I don't claim to be a style expert, by any means.
But I do claim to have an obsession with figuring out maternity clothes.
I think its mainly due to the fact that, in comparison to the rest of life, its such a short phase. So it was really hard for me to get a handle on the whole thing before it was all over. Its especially tricky because you are constantly changing the entire time!
And, healthy or not, I have this way about me where I just want to get things right.
So I picked up a Maternity Style book at my new library (Actually I check it out electronically, even cooler!) to help me accomplish my mission of getting the most out of my new figure during this second pregnancy.

It was a helpful read, even if I didn't really agree with all her points.
(Example, she is all about belly bands, and I am not... I think its just my shape, but they do not stay on me. I go straight into maternity pants -- why not?
Also she suggests getting "transitional pants" after the baby, where as I think its better to just wear your maternity pants till the normal ones work. I tried buying some pants in that in-between phase last time, but I just thought it looked dumb because if it fit my waist, everything else was really baggy. So I just looked dumpy.)

Anyway, I thought I would share the knowledge I just acquired with you. Because I know there are others out there hoping to accomplish this same goal: Great fashion, with the least impact on the wallet!


*As with everything in life, go with what works for you. This is just a general guideline.
**I don't claim to adhere to all of this myself. But I do find it very insightful.

Here goes!


***This post has recently gotten a ton of views after blowing up on pinterest. I had no idea anyone would find it, and as a novice blogger (basically putting this post together for my own benefit, as I really didn't know what I was doing in the pregnancy wardrobe department) I didn't cite my photos. I am currently attempting to make that right -- But I put this post together almost an entire pregnancy's length-of-time ago, so I don't remember where they all came form. If you know of any, please let me know and I will cite it. (11/12/12)

First Trimester

Pack away your skinny jeans and all your (not-stretchy) form fitting clothes.

Your main objective for these first three months is to conceal.
(Not everyone is trying to keep their pregnancy under wraps initially. But what we are concealing is the random body changes and bloat, which is just not cute yet.)

Your new clothing silhouette should be: 

Drapey, flowy and ethereal.

Time to take the focus off the midsection and attempt to elongate your figure.

Its just not time to wear your adorable clingy maternity clothes yet. Wait on those until you have a real bump. (Usually around 19 weeks or so.)

Your Current Best Bets

Wrap Dresses

(Added bonus, size is adjustable)

How to Make (AND TAILOR FIT!) Your Own Maternity Pants

Okay I know there are a number of tutorials out there on this subject already, but seriously, making your own maternity pants is such a great opportunity that I feel we should leave no stone unturned!

Why make your own?
First of all, if you are trying to save some cash on your temporary wardrobe, this is an outstanding way to do it!
Second of all, even if money is no object, making your own maternity pants allows for you to completely stay true to your unique fashion sense as you transition through this phase of life.  No more making due with what's available, or pining after the designer super-expensive maternity jeans you know would be nuts to pay for!
Third of all, if you are like most women I know, finding the perfect pair of jeans to fit your exact figure is hard enough when you're not pregnant, so it can be next to impossible at times when you are relegated to maternity sections that can be overly generic in sizing --- particularly if you are quite tall, short, curvy, not curvy.... you know, all the stuff that normally makes jean shopping trying.

That said, I think all women should have the opportunity to have custom maternity pants.  So, even if you don't sew, I bet you know someone who does!  And if you show them this tutorial, bring them your supplies, and perhaps a nice thank you gift, I bet you will find yourself in some stunning personalized attire!
{Hint: Bartering (skills, or time, or objects) with friends is such a great way to nicely, fairly, and cheaply help each other out!  For instance, I have sewn for both baked goods and couponed items --- worked out great on both ends of the deal!}

So,
How to do it.

How I Shop for Maternity Clothes

I found maternity clothes shopping overwhelming the first time around.

I didn't really know what to expect to happen to my body (other than I'd get bigger) and I didn't know where to shop.

AND the prices on those maternity items almost killed me.  I had been used to being REALLY thrifty so seeing $20--$40 price tags on stuff I had been getting for less than $10 was painful!
Actually it was worse than painful, it wasn't plausible, we couldn't afford the clothes I needed at those prices.  I needed to buy stuff on the cheap.

 I spent my first pregnancy desperately trying to figure out what I was doing and feeling very frustrated in the process.  (Of course it didn't help that I wasn't a standard size---I'm short and curvy, and ended up with an outrageous bustline that made it so that if I bought a top large enough for my chest the sleeves were often waaay too loose on me.)


This time around I am so much more prepared and I'm thrilled to have this stuff under control so I can relax and enjoy myself.  Obviously it's easier this time around because I already have clothes from last time, but I did need to do some shopping since I'm starting this pregnancy at a different size than last time.  It's not a big deal for shirts, but I did need new pants.  Lucky for you, that means a "Make Your Own Maternity Jeans Tutorial"!

Anyway, I thought I would make a post about ways I shop and what I shop for, in case it would help anyone else out in their pregnancy(ies).

To Maternity...and Beyond!!!

Did you read that in Buzz Lightyear's Voice?

Hope so. :)

Okay, last time we took half of a tank top and made a nursing shirt 

and I told you not to get rid of the rest of that tank top.  

I'm about to show you why.  

We are going to make an adorable wardrobe workhorse.  

We are going to take this skirt: 

And make it do all of this:

                           It's an Anytime-Skirt                                that jumps right on into Maternity.

And then becomes a dress ---

Loose and Beachy

And we can do another dress ---

Longer and leaner this time.  

(J's like, "How much longer do we have to do this?")  

And then we can do yet another dress ---

Shorter more draped now.  

And why not --- 

Let's wear it as a maternity dress too!  

Did you catch all that?  

Six Options from one skirt!  

Let me show you what I did.  

Easy Peasy Feeding Discreetly

I'm a puller-downer.

That sounds like some kind of dramatic life statement.

But I'm talking Nursing.

My ultimate preference in nursing-wear is anything I can pull down from the neckline, as opposed to pulling up from the waist.  

When I'm holding my baby, while I have a nursing pillow around my waist and I'm am trying to yank my shirt up from underneath that pillow --- it just feels ridiculous.  Not to mention the frustration of trying to keep that shirt from falling back down and getting in our way the whole time baby is feeding.

 So I quickly began to gravitate to any top I could just pull down below my breast.  It is a piece of cake to work with --- so fast and there is nothing getting in our way.

Knit shirts with lots of stretch are perfect for nursing this way.  That's pretty much all I wear; when I'm at the store now-a-days, I can be seen tugging at the neckline of everything on the racks. 

Crossover necklines also work well as they can be pulled to the side.  

Another benefit of this technique is that it keeps your belly covered. 

(That poor thing would like some privacy after months of hard work.)  

But what about your breast?  It's kinda just out there this way.

Here is a super easy way to nurse discreetly in public:

I'm gonna do a 'how to make a homemade nursing top' project

and you don't even have to know how to sew to do this. 

You just need some scissors.  

And a tank top.

A Standard Woven Shirt's Maternity Makeover

This came from

This:

 

I took two non-maternity shirts (both destined to be donated before the idea dawned on me) and turned them into a perfect fitting maternity shirt!

It's easy, you can do it too!

Extreme Makeover, Dress Edition

This $4 dress became a $5 dress and gained a "million bucks" in the process.

This is how I took apart a dress, and put it back together, only better...

How to Alter a Bra

Pin It
Sometimes it's tough to find a bra that fits.

So I'm going to show you something that may fix that.


Who might want to use this technique:

• Ladies who need a bra with a small band size and a large cup size but don't want to have to shop at a specialty store.
• Ladies who have a great bra, but the band has stretched out over time and has gotten too loose
• Ladies who find an awesome bra, but not in their size. (Buy a band size bigger, and a cup size smaller and use this technique to make it fit.)
• Ladies who find themselves between band sizes. 
• Ladies who have lost some weight and want to make their bras work a bit longer (as long as the cup still fits)

Who has the skills to do this:
Anyone who is brave enough to cut up something from the store. You don't even have to use a sewing machine. I have done this whole process without use of one a time or two.