Jul 14, 2010  •  In Beauty, Personal, Pregnancy

28 Weeks (And My Waxing Experience at Bliss)

Where did the 27 Weeks update go? Yeah…um…about that…

There was no 27th Week… *waves hand in an attempt to Jedi mind-trick my readers*

Did that work? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Just blame it on the fact that I can be a moron and completely forgot to take a picture, nevermind write an update, last week. Sorry about that.

There is some debate on when the third trimester officially starts — some say at the 27th week and others say the 28th. Whatever the correct answer may be, I am now officially in my third trimester and have started my seventh month of pregnancy. And as you can see below, my tummy has grown considerably in just two weeks. (Holy mirror spots, Batman! Remind me to wipe the mirror clean before taking next week’s picture!)

I managed to take a measurement of my waist and…it’s not pretty. Before pregnancy I usually hovered between 26″-27″. My waist is a whooping 40 inches now. Seeing the actual number made me feel like crap because I know women whose waists were 40″ right before delivery.

My weight gain is now at 30 lbs too. With 2.5 months left to go, I have a feeling that my total weight gain will hover around 45 lbs. Not good. However, I made a promise to myself that I will not stress too much about my weight gain and start exercising as soon as possible after birth. I’ll be returning to my trusty Jillian Michaels and will join J on the P90x.

Last Friday we had our monthly checkup and the doc reassured me that the baby is doing perfectly fine. This was also the day I took my 1-hour glucose test (the sugar drink wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be…it tasted like flat orange Fanta), and I’m assuming that I passed because they said they would call me if anything was wrong.

The best part about last week’s appointment? We found out that the baby had moved head-down! Both my mother and I had been praying that she would flip around ever since we found out she was in breech position, so we were both overjoyed at the news.

Baby girl remains very active. Sometime starting in the last week, I have been able to feel her slow movements as opposed to just her kicks and jabs. It’s a funny feeling whenever she presses up against my belly and rolls around…I’ve been starting to play the “which body part?” game in my head every day since. This is probably my favorite part about being pregnant: being able to feel my baby moving inside of me. I’m really going to miss it once she is born.

New York is having one of the hottest summers in almost a decade. As a result, I try my best to keep indoors in the A/C as much as possible. The heat certainly isn’t helping with the swelling either. I now wear flip-flops if I’ll be out during the night (when my feet swell the most and I can no longer fit comfortably into my regular shoes), and my wedding ring JUST barely fits.

Grooming myself is starting to become a hassle as well. I had stated earlier that I’m already having trouble wiping after taking a deuce. Shaving my legs is also starting to get difficult. Luckily, J has agreed to start doing that for me when the time comes. However, shaving my bikini line has become a complete freak show. And I refuse to let J shave me down there.

So I decided to get a wax.

I have never gotten a bikini wax before (I was always content with a razor), so I was a bit nervous to say the least. In addition, everyone says that it is at least 3 times as painful when you are pregnant, so I really had to question myself if I were being crazy.

However, I just didn’t feel clean anymore and it was really bugging me.

I had heard that the special strip-free wax that Bliss uses is one of the best and least painful, so I booked an appointment at Bliss Hoboken and went in today. I had explained to the receptionist that not only is it my first time, I am also pregnant so she booked me with one of their most popular waxing specialists: Jenna.

Let me just tell you — Jenna was THE BOMB. I don’t know what possessed me, but I had decided to go for the full monty and chose the brazilian…but then started to freak out about it right before we got started. However, Jenna helped me relax, kept the conversation going to keep me distracted, and really made this first-time waxer feel comfortable. As for the pain? Sure, there was some. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected and I wondered to myself several times why I had never done this before. The wax was THE perfect temperature, and what they tout is really true: their special wax only sticks to your hair (not your skin) so I barely even felt the “do-overs” that were done to catch the stubborn strays.

Jenna told me that she has pregnant women come in all the time for brazilians, up to just days before their due dates (one even came in the morning of the day she was to be induced!). I am loving the waxed feeling so much that I plan on doing the same. Seriously…why haven’t I ever done this before?

You may also like:

15 Responses to “28 Weeks (And My Waxing Experience at Bliss)”

  1. Nicole says:

    I’ve been keeping up with your blog all the time (just this morning I FBed a link from your site to all my Star Wars friends) and I just wanted to say that I’m SOO excited you posted about waxing. I need a change in my life down there and questioned trying that. I have a friend that does it (trust me if you knew this friend you’d have the same "really??" reaction I did when she told me) and she mentioned it wasn’t that bad. I’m not prego so maybe I won’t be as sensitive either.

    Thanks for the advice!

  2. Ashley says:

    I’ve gotten brazilians before, and always took 2 tylenol beforehand (about 30 minutes or so) and usually been just fine.

    For now, I haven’t gone to get one, but I fully intend on going to get one before the baby’s due – I totally understand feeling kind of "unclean" downstairs. And I wouldn’t have my husband help me try to take care of that, either (not that he would offer, haha).

    Oh, and lastly, hooray for the third trimester!

  3. Amber says:

    Ha- 40"? I was 52" around a few weeks before delivery. I think it’s because I’m short. Don’t feel too bad. 🙂 Hopefully baby girl stays down- she still has plenty of room to shift, so keep a prayin’! I know Piper went down, then up, then transverse, then down, and transverse and then down for good. Crazy babies all over the place! I was such a bad preggo, I so didn’t care if I was waxed or not. I had Paul trim me and stuff, but wax, no thanks! I don’t want to run into the horrible bumps while unable to actually see/get down there!

    You look WONDERFUL!

  4. Geek in Heels says:

    @Nicole — So glad I helped! Be sure to go to a reputable place with good reviews/recommendations, and ask for their most popular esthetician. And if you’re nervous about the pain, pop a painkiller 30 mins before going in!

    @Ashley — I actually didn’t take ANY painkillers before getting waxed today! And my husband was willing to shave me down there, but I don’t trust him to do a good job!

    @Amber — Thank you! Seriously, I must surround myself with super-skinny women who have cute basketball bumps and only gain 25 lbs for their entire pregnancies, because so many people (especially my mom’s friends) tell me that I’m so big already, how I’ve gained so much weight, etc and make me feel like a fat whale. As for the baby’s position, I’ve heard that some babies will turn just a few hours before being born, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she stays this way. She’s been breech this entire time and she ONLY just turned this past month, so I’m hoping that she stays comfy and happy where she is!

  5. stacey says:

    ok… my best friend just convinced me to go in two weeks because she didn’t want to go alone… i’ve never got a brazilian and am freaking out a bit! glad to hear it’s not that painful – that’s what she’s telling me but i wasn’t sure if she was just trying to make me feel better. 🙂

    what does the pain compare to?? like, is there something that hurts about as much?

  6. Geek in Heels says:

    @stacey — The first time WILL hurt. Regular waxers feel less pain, because the more you wax the weaker your hair follicles become (there’s also the psychological factor in that they’ve become more used to the pain). In addition, certain areas will hurt A LOT more than others. The "inside" regions are definitely more sensitive (at least for me) but I barely felt any pain on the "outside" regions.

    As for a comparative level of pain…the closest I can think of is being slapped really hard on the inside of your thigh. However, the pain only lasts a second or two. My esthetician asked me to pull on the inside of my thigh while she was waxing because a stretched skin minimizes pain. And as soon as she ripped off each strip of wax, she would place her fingers on the area for a couple of seconds which REALLY helped.

    Also, keep in mind that I’m pregnant so with the increased bloodflow down there, I am much more susceptible to pain. You may not feel much pain at all!

    I don’t know if you have a Bliss Spa in you area but if you do, I would highly recommend it for their special blue wax. If not, I’ve read that sugaring tends to be less painful than waxing. Also, see if anyone offers stripless, or hard waxes (the kind of wax that Bliss uses is a hard wax), as I’ve read that they tend to lessen the pain too. Good luck!

  7. Alecia says:

    Wow, you so took me back to a year and a half ago when I was 27 weeks pregnant with our daughter. I also tried waxing for the first time when I was just entering my third trimester. We were going to Fiji and I wanted to get cleaned up for delivery. It was painful but I kept going back. I ended up having a breech baby, therefore c-section, so when it was time for the surgery, they went to shave me and they were like, "oh she did it herself." You know, one less thing they have to worry about and you have to worry about.

    Don’t worry about the weight gain. It will come off. P90X is great for that. I have struggled getting a flat stomach again, but the 40 pounds I gained is gone. You seriously look great!

    Anyway, congrats! You are getting close.

  8. Lindsey says:

    I love waxing! I went in yesterday and the esthetician told me I’m tough and I must have a high pain tolerance. Oh, if only that were true. Watch me stub my toe or shut my finger in something. I’m such a baby! Waxing has never bothered me though, and I’ve been to many different salons.

    Also–I don’t know anyone who has only gained 25 pounds, so I wouldn’t worry about it! You look great!

  9. baeshinja says:

    yay your belly moved down a bit overall, too! or it looks that way at least. your preggo outfits are so bright, summery and colorful. you still look so small overall though.

    getting a wax down there…the full monty, is even better when pregnant. you’ll be glad you got one done RIGHT before the baby is born… it will just make everything down there more comfy during the healing process. it will help with the "airing out" process if you get what i mean 😉

  10. Emily says:

    My friend put on 50 pounds during her pregnancy, had her son 3 weeks ago, and has already dropped 35 pounds without trying. She said the last 25 are coming off with some elbow grease. So don’t stress too much if you put on 45+. She was really petite before, too (in fact, she was a pro cheerleader)! As far as everybody making you feel like a big whale, that’s so not cool. I have only met two woman in my entire life who stayed teeny tiny with the basketball belly and that’s my sister in law and my spin instructor. They are definitely far and few between.

    I agree with the waxing. Bites for a sec, then it’s gone!

  11. Carol says:

    I was also about to chime in about taking an advil or something right before! I’m not sure if it REALLY helps all that much, but mentally I definitely feel better knowing that I took something! Glad to hear it wasn’t a bad experience!

  12. Charmi says:

    i’m so glad you wrote this post – i’ve been wondering if its okay to wax when you are prego. I go now (pre-prego) and I hate when I haven’t done it in a while. and i agree with everyone, you look great. 🙂

  13. Sunny says:

    Cute 28 weeks outfit! I’m kinda on the same page as you re brazilians. The first few times, I only got one b/c I would tag along w/my friend when we were traveling – coincidentally, my first time was in Rio, Brazil, and second time in Istanbul, Turkey – it’s like dirt cheap outside of the U.S., $15 or less! Anyway, I’m starting to like it more, yes it hurts less as you get it more often, and I’m thinking it’s so nice to be completely hair-free. Shobha in NYC is $55 if you’re ever looking for cheaper options (25% off if you go with their new specialist of the moment). Oh and if you didn’t already know this tip, pop some ibuprofen before getting the wax to make it less painful!

  14. Audra says:

    Love your blog, but don’t feel crappy about a 40 inch waist. Some women have 40 inch waists or bigger and aren’t even pregnant….. 🙁

  15. Nicole says:

    SO this is a really late comment post but I wanted to let you know that this morning I went to Bliss for my first waxing experience. It was amazing! I am totally a waxer now because of your suggestion to try them!

    Thanks!

Leave a Reply to stacey Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *