Preggie Product Review: Kneeling office chair

I'd first heard about these kneeling chairs (aka architect's chairs) when a colleague of mine in England got one. He had back trouble and swore by them. Then I heard they're good for pregnant women as they allow more room for the belly and are better for posture and the lower back.

When my back started aching from my normal chair at work (where I spend an awful lot of time) I started Googling them. They are quite expensive, around R1000. I don't know if I've ever before gone past the first 5 pages of a Google search; luckily this time I did because on page 8 I found a junkmail advert for a second hand one for a LOT less. I went to have a look and bought it on the spot. While obviously second-hand looking, it was in perfectly fine condition and exactly what I'd had in mind.

From the Wikipedia article:
The intended purpose of a kneeling chair is to reduce lower back strain by promoting proper spinal alignment.
...
A proper kneeling chair creates the open body angle by lowering the angle of the lower body, keeping the spine in alignment and the sitter properly positioned to task.

Although one's weight still rests primarily on the bum and not on the knees or shins like you would think, it does take some getting used to. The shins do take some weight and although you get used to it quickly, at first the shins do feel slightly sore at the end of the day.

Another effect of the shin pressure is a more frequent reminder to get up and stretch, get a glass of water or go to the loo. This isn't a problem for me to do as my bladder reminds me to get up long before my legs might, but in general I think this is a good thing anyway for people who spend around eight hours a day in front of a desk.

Another thing to get used to is getting in and out of the thing. While easy once you've got the hang of it, if you don't plan your first attempt well you may well end up sprawled or chasing the chair in a circle. Skirts are also another thing to get used to when using the chair.

I do however find that the further my pregnancy progresses, the more glad I am for the chair. With Ziggy already as big as ze is, I find several things uncomfortable about sitting in the typical 90^o angle position: I find my blood circulation to my legs (and thus swelling in my feet) is better in my kneeling chair; I find my lower back is fine at the end of the day; I find my general posture is better (my shoulders are kind of forced straight and pulled back to maintain balance, but in a very natural feeling way); my belly isn't pushed against at all by the lap that forms when you sit in a normal chair which eases pressure on my stomach and lungs, a minor but growing issue with sitting normally.

If I did end up needing to have a c-section I imagine it will also be a lot easier sitting down with my thighs away from my abdomen, reducing the risk of accidentally pressing against a scar.

All in all I'm very happy with my purchase and can recommend a kneeling chair to anyone, pregnant or not; provided you get a decent deal like I did.

Preggie Product Review: The Yummy Mummy Tummy

Even though I'm not really showing, I have for a while now found my jeans can cause discomfort, especially when I'm sitting - and this is not just the same discomfort of a big belly I've been used to most of my adult life, either.

I'd seen those elastics you can attach to the buttons and button-hole of trousers to increase the space between them but it's not very discreet, especially since it doesn't do anything with the zip. I improvised this effect with hair-bands for a while but the first time someone told me my zip was undone I resolved to buy myself a Yummy Mummy Tummy.

Known by other names as well, especially in other countries, this knitted band is supposed to fit snugly but elastically around your waist so you can hide unbuttoned jeans underneath it, as pictured.





Ordering and delivery
Although the gateway the site uses for processing payment was down the first few times I tried to order, it was back within an hour or so. I found the site easy to navigate and cute to look at, and the shopping basket secure and easy to use. I chose a counter-to-counter next day delivery (counter to counter is cheaper than door to door but I still wanted it soon - I'm not a patient kind of person!).

I was impressed when the lady who presumably owns the business phoned me to say that she was going to drive past my place of work (whose address I specified as the delivery address) on her way to the post office, can she just drop it off at reception. Thus I had my package even sooner than expected - she did keep my delivery fee, but I suppose she did go very slightly out of her way.

The package was beautifully wrapped in the black and white striped pattern central to the website design, and it was lovely to get a "present" in the middle of the working day like that. The product packaging was also lovely.

Size friendly
I love that the site carries two sizes of this product:
Size 1 (pre-pregnancy dress size 28 - 36)
Size 2 (pre-pregnancy dress size 38 - 46)
(those are SA / UK sizes), and that it does so without making you feel the least bit uncomfortable about needing size 2. If you've never been a plus-sizer trying to find pretty or even just comfortable things to wear, you will never know that this is a real concern.

However, unfortunately I don't think two sizes are enough. Maybe it'll change as my belly grows, but I find the size 2 (and although I'm a fair few sizes up from the lower 38, I'm not at the top end, 46, either) is too big to effectively keep my jeans up at the moment. I'm still using my hair-band trick underneath it, or with bigger/baggier trousers I'm just buttoning them up and using the band instead of a belt.

Using the product
The other disappointment, and this is more of a problem, is the thickness of the material. I appreciate that there are probably considerations such as not causing an already warmer pregnant belly to overheat, but the material is just too thin. From the descriptions and very much from the pictures I had envisages being able to wear this sticking out under my tops like a camisole or vest top. However it's not nearly as discreet as I had hoped since the shape of a denim fly, zip and button are clearly noticeable underneath and I still need to wear tops that cover the fly region, kind of making the band obsolete. The material also looks like underwear. The black is the best one in these terms; the shape of the jean underneath is extremely noticable in the white and the beige just looks like old-fashioned underwear, it's that petticoat colour (there was a 3 for 2 offer for web orders, ok?).

I concede that most women don't prefer to wear their trousers in their waist like me but on their hips, and maybe there it's less noticeable, but I had had higher hopes for the product.

On the upside, I have gotten extremely used to the soft hugging feeling over my belly when I wear it pulled up. This might however result from a lifetime of being self conscious of my belly and the feeling I like may well be something "holding it in" by association. This is not a conscious preference, and I am not at all interested anymore in whether my belly is or looks big or small enough for other people's liking, but I am aware of the cumulative sub-conscious effect those concerns might have had in my life before being pregnant or embarking on my Body Acceptance journey.

~~~

The last concession that I must make is that I don't know how many of the issues I have with the product will disappear as my baby grows. If they do, I will post about it again.

To summarize:
✓ great idea, well presented;
✓ there are a nice amount of colour choices;
✓ catering for larger women;
x the broad size categories don't make for a great fit;
x the thin material makes it far less versatile than it can be;
✓ the physical sensation is comforting.