“Oh, Mummy! You have such nice blue on your legs.”

Post from: Babylune

Jennifer, please send an email to baggyk at yahoo dot com with your full name, postal address and hose size using this sizing chart. As soon as I hear from you, I can pass your information along to our sponsor so you can get your prize.

Post from: Babylune

 

As you may or may not know, I often complain about a great big pain in the leg. I’ve often waxed poetic about my support hose. I never fly home without them.

You may also know that I’ve done time as a freelance writer and sometimes, people offer me free stuff to review. In fact, a publicist recently offered to send me a sample pair of support hose. Since I already have mine, I thought I’d share this largesse with you. Ames Walker, the company behind the sites Maternity Hosiery.com and Life of Your Legs has agreed!

Make a comment on any Babylune post that goes live between Monday, July 23, 2007 and Saturday, July 28th by 11:59 AM on  Sunday, July 29, 2007. A winner will be randomly selected to receive a pair of maternity compression hose for yourself or to give a pregnant friend from Ames Walker Maternity Hosiery. Results will be announced on Monday, July 30, 2007.

Read more to review the email I received from our sponsors about the benefits of compression hose during pregnancy and right after birth.  

Hi Kate,

You may already be aware of the benefits of wearing graduated compression hosiery during and after pregnancy, but here is some information your readers need to know to protect their legs and health.

Why Your Readers Should Be Concerned

• 70% of women develop venous problems during pregnancy
• 20% of all pregnant women develop full-blown varicose veins
• 50% of these new mothers will suffer from varicose veins and other venous maladies for the rest of their lives
• 1 in 10 mothers will suffer from varicose veins for a lifetime

Why Pregnant Women Are at Greater Risk

• Hormonal changes cause blood vein walls to relax and stretch
• Blood flow to and from the womb puts added pressure on the veins
• Baby’s weight puts more stress on leg muscles and vein walls

How Wearing Graduated Compression Hosiery Can Help

(minimum compression of 12mmHg)

• Provide needed strength for the walls of your leg veins
• Regulate the flow of blood back to the heart
• Compensate for faulty vein valves to prevent backflow of blood in the legs
• Ward off the severity and the spread of varicose veins

If you would like more information on maternity care and the benefits of compression hosiery, please visit www.maternityhosiery.com.  For more information on the latest research and news on varicose veins as well as a community forum for those affected by this ailment, please visit www.lifeofyourlegs.com. 

Support hosiery is available in all styles and colors and is no different in appearance from your everyday hosiery. 

Post from: Babylune

It could be the heat, the additional excercise, or just the extra time on my feet doing housework that I would normally avoid (truly, I miss my beloved dishwasher), but the pain is keeping me awake at night and with the baby teething and the little boy barfing everywhere, I really don’t need another reason to lose sleep.

I hope this gets better when I resume normal life because I am, frankly, scared of medical intervention for small complaints. I worry the cure would be worse than the sickness. So, last night, as I lay in bed after a dose of children’s strength Gravol (it was all I had) I told myself I would try any natural remedy first, even leeches.

Image from BBC News article referrenced.

And then, writing this entry, I did my google search and, guess what? Leeches are used in the treatment of varicose veins and their cousin, hemorroids. And when I was lying bed, considering leeches over old-fashioned vein-stripping, I realised that there are some things that just won’t recover.

I don’t blame my children, pregnancy or birth for it. I don’t blame aging or some of the less then perfect health decisions I may have made over the years. I can’t walk around with both an ache and anger, even if it is just with myself. I just have to accept that my body is different now. I have to do accept it, but I don’t want to. 

At least I don’t have to worry about treating hemorroids with leeches. 

Post from: Babylune