Beach, Belly Bump and Babes and how I stayed cool on the beach

I told myself I would blog at least once a week. I told myself this, and honestly, I tried! I wrote up a blog while I was on vacation and something with the slow wifi and not being on my computer I could not get any of the photos to upload. So that blog is still in my drafts, waiting.

Until then! I wanted to share a bit about my time at the beach with my family.

Every year, or every other year, my Dad and Step Mom get a beach house for everyone. It is always a good time. We relax, swim, tan and eat. What else do you do on vacation right? Unfortunately Matthew wasn’t able to make this trip with me. ( something about saving vacation time for something in October? I don’t know. 😉 ) But it was still an awesome week with my family.

This year we went back to Hilton Head Island. We stayed in a cute little condo that was just a couple minutes walk to the beach or a few seconds drive if you have a ton of stuff and don’t want to carry it. It was located on the main drag in Hilton Head where we could eat, sight see and get whatever we needed within just a short drive. We even made a day trip to Charleston to see a plantation and tour my favorite town! It was great!

I was extremely nervous for this trip in particular. Let me explain. I do not do extreme heat well. Even before pregnancy if I was in the heat too long I would get light-headed and go into a state of “almost-passing-out”. I knew it was from not drinking enough water, and probably a few other things, but it was only on really rare occasions and I had to be REALLY hot! Once I hit my second trimester and summer set in, this became a thing that happened a little more frequently. In really inconvenient times. Like, while at a Columbus Clippers game, or while I am shooting bride and groom portraits in the middle of their wedding day. ( I ended up laying on my back on a park bench while a few groomsmen had to run and fetch me ice and water. Funny story now, not so funny then) Once, I was sitting in my office chair working in an air conditioned room and it hit. So of course I was nervous that spending a week in 98+ weather in direct sunlight would make me feel miserable. So I took a few precautions.

1. Water, water, water, water.

My step mom and I went grocery shopping our first day there. We went into the drink aisle and she picked up the largest pack of bottled water there. And then I did the same thing. She insisted that I could use from the families supply, but I insisted that I needed a large supply on demand at any moment. Matthew strongly encouraged me to take my very own cooler and pack my very own water to the beach each day so there wouldn’t even be a question of whether I would have enough water or not. It was smart, and extremely helpful. I could even pack my own snacks to keep me going, without worrying that a sibling would get to them first. 😉 Needless to say, I drank a LOT of water.

2. Dress as cooly as possible.

For me, this meant dresses. I packed any dress that fit my belly that I could. I also had a great pair of maternity shorts from Motherhood Maternity that I loved and paired those with tank-tops. If I was at the beach, I was in a swimsuit.

( I got this swim suit from Motherhood Maternity. It looks like its sold out now. I also wore one from Target that I LOVED. It was maternity and much more “on trend”. You can find this one here. I just loved the back.)

3. Find ways to keep cool on the beach.

I learned really fast that I could not spend a lot of time standing in the ocean water. Something about the waves made my belly hurt. I think it was using muscles to brace myself anytime they hit. Everytime I got out of the water I felt like I had just done 100 crunches. It wasn’t the most enjoyable. So I found other ways to stay cool. Some very obvious beach options:

• beach chair – I parked that thing right at the waters edge and let the waves roll in.
• Beach tent- Funny story. My Dad and Step Mom have no idea where this pop-up tent came from. It appeared in their crawl-space and its been on every vacation with us since. It’s heavy and clunky, but it was basically a life-saver to ALL of us on the beach. It was big enough we all could sit under, eat and lay down. It was fantastic.
• Ice- I would steal ice from my cooler and just rub my legs, arms and head.
• Spray water bottle – put some cold water in a spray bottle and mist yourself as needed.
• Sponges – So I am adding this to the list in case anyone wants to use this idea. I read this tip and thought I would try it. I bought soft sponges, wet them, and froze them with every intention of sticking them in my cooler and using them to rub me down. When I left vacation they were all still in the freezer. I never packed them so I can’t vouch for how well it works.

All in all, I ate a lot of slushies, chewed a lot of ice and drank a lot of water and it was fantastic. I do not recall any major episode. Nor did I have any “almost-passing-out” states.

It was an amazing trip and just a great week with my family. I have attached some photos ( be gentle, my main caerma was in the shop and I used my old beat-up camera) and our Go-Pro video, though, I am not sure if anyone but our family will like the video. It is basically us just doing silly things in front of the camera but I love it so much.

 

I love you all!

Ashley