Maternity Monday: Anti-Radiation Pregnancy Belly Band
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Sales of note for 2/7:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
- Ann Taylor – Extra 25% off your $175+ purchase — and $30 of full-price pants and denim
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 15% off
- Boden – 15% off new season styles
- Eloquii – 60% off 100s of styles
- J.Crew – Extra 50% off all sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything including new arrivals + extra 20% off $125+
- Rothy’s – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off one item + free shipping on $150+
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
“Did you take any precautions against radiation while pregnant or nursing?”
Umm, yes. Yes I did. Want to know why? Because during my first pregnancy I lived downwind of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Reactor in spring of 2011. After the third reactor exploded, I started to worry about the effects of radiation on pregnant women.
You know what else I started to do? I started to hate–I mean really hate, with an intensity I didn’t know I had in me–all the vultures who crawled out of the woodwork that spring trying to sell useless crap to people who were scared and suffering. Masks, water filters, air filters, geiger counters, even ‘anti-radiation soap’. It was the most predatory environment I’ve ever experienced and it was disgusting.
Please don’t foster even a fraction of that ethos here.
I came across this today on The Atlantic and thought it was just really sweet in a certain way (also made me glad I didn’t have to pack my own gauze). http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/hospital-bags-around-the-world/460434/
My husband and I have been going through a rough patch that we both agree is mostly just the dual-career couple with small children minefield. We’re both trying to be more forgiving of the other person and just try to focus more on each other to the extent possible. But then he does things that make me feel like our fundamental understanding of how things should work is totally misaligned. For example, even though our jobs are very similar and are with similar employers, my boss is just a lot more flexible than his is. Because of this, I’ve wound up doing most of the kid doctor visits, working from home when we need someone at home, etc. He’s currently being recruited by another employer and two of the major perks would be that his commute would be anywhere from 50%-65% shorter (we both commute about 50-60 min each way now; the new job would be about 20-30 min each way), and that his job would be as flexible as mine now is. We were talking last night about family schedules and I said something like if he winds up at this new job, we can re-shuffle the responsibilities like taking the kids to the doctor. And he kind of paused and said “well, we’ll see.” Also, as I said, we work in very similar areas, and sometimes our respective employers put on events and invite outside people. I always invite him, and I always attend his events when he invites me. But he invites me only rarely, and attends my events even more rarely. I know he takes my work seriously. I think it’s that he really stresses about work. He has some anxiety issues and he’s always worried that he’s doing a terrible job, and he compensates by being super focused on work. But the thing is that I also feel stressed sometimes, and I resent feeling like it’s always my work and my employer that’s asked to take a backseat to family stuff. His stress about doing a bad job just makes my life harder. And it’s not that there’s any real basis to his stress. He just got the highest pay raise in his office, and his boss is putting him up for promotion a year early. Plus he’s getting courted by another company. I don’t want to be resentful and b!tchy all the time, but things like that comment just get under my skin. He says it’s not a competition and it’s not a zero sum game, but when we’re trading off chores and when we’re deciding who should take on what, it kind of is both of those.
Can anyone comment on switching schools mid-year? My oldest is in 1st grade – we’re looking to move (locally), and originally we had been planning to move over the summer, but for some practical reasons, it would make more sense to move now. We could keep him in the same school through the end of 1st grade or try to get him enrolled in the new school (which would be his permanent school) right away. Socially I don’t think it will be that big of a problem; he knows kids in both 1st grade classrooms at the desired new school, but I wonder whether it will be difficult academically (keeping in mind that it’s 1st grade, not, say, 8th grade). He is the most laid-back of my kids, FWIW (the other two will stay in their current preschool).
When I was in early labor at the hospital (water broke spontaneously, Group B strep positive so had to go hang out wayyyy earlier than I planned), I was allowed to order off the menu anything I wanted. I vaguely recall eating some super boring bagel with butter, a plain yogurt, and possibly a banana or an orange juice. And I think coffee, ha. Later I ate Cliff granola bars, which I love. Not the healthiest thing in the world but they’re yummy and easy to eat.
Fwiw I didn’t puke until I was much further along, about an hour or two before pushing, and by then whatever was coming back up in no way resembled what had gone down 7-12 hours earlier, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Do bring snacks for the partner and anyone else you have in there – we had a big stash of Kind bars on hand.
I’m just a few weeks from my due date now and starting to think about what I should have on hand to eat in early labor. I have some gatorade, mixed nuts, and cheese and crackers (all staples for me throughout this pregnancy).
What else should I plan to eat early in labor? My midwife recommended high protein, and to not eat anything I wouldn’t mind see come back up in case labor makes me sick. That’s pretty vague though – would love to hear from others who have BTDT!
Posted this late last week, and someone suggested posting it again, so here goes:
I checked into the main s!te recently and saw a long conversation between commenters who are all experiencing a feeling of “fogginess.” I’ve been struggling with this; the constant feeling that if I tried *just a little harder* or focused a little better I could probably finish up all the things that are on my to-do list, but that something is in the way of making that little extra effort.
I didn’t want to weigh in on the main board because it can be such a minefield….but I thought I’d put it out on here, which feels safer. I’ve been seeing a therapist for three years now (he tells me everything is fine, objectively, which is true maybe?). I have been on medication (Zoloft) for three years. The urgent peril I felt when I started therapy and meds has dissipated, but the fog is still there and sometimes debilitating, especially at work. I never got much sense of relief when I started meds, and my psychiatrist has upped the dose a couple times but I never felt a difference.
I’ve come to think that maybe this fog just is my normal, but….I would love to hope for better. Commiseration or anecdotes or advice appreciated. (edited to add: I have been practicing ‘mindfulness’ type meditation regularly, and the journaling is one of those items on the ‘if I could only focus a little better….’ list of undone desires).
Anyone else home again for a snow day? I know we had a mild winter in the Northeast so far but this is reminding me why I hate February…
Yeah–this is ridiculous. I was sort of concerned about radiation while pregnant because I fly a lot for work, but not enough to buy any kind of gadget. To me, a product like this is just for fear mongering and money. Ugh.
Oh goodie, something else to worry about! Honestly, I haven’t given this too much thought though when I have it’s also mostly during nursing and also because I’ve taken to sleeping with the phone more or less next to my pillow now so I can see what time it is when baby wakes up.
Unrelated, for those who have flown with babies and their accessories, is it worth getting a travel bag for the car seat/stroller? I know some like the Uppa Baby bag come with a replacement guarantee if anything should happen to your stroller while using it but I’m not sure I want to spend $100 just for that peace of mind. Is getting a cheaper airline bag maybe worth it though?