Sweetly Dreamin'

All I can say is praise be to the Boppy Gods!  For several weeks now, as in, since around the 18-week mark (I'm almost to 28 weeks) I've been having back achiness up and down the left side.  At first, it felt like I needed to pop my back.  When that didn't work, I figured it was pregnancy-related, but I wasn't really anxious about it because it was only the left side, only late in the evenings, and it was relieved as soon as I laid down to go to sleep.  I bought an electric heating pad, and that brought some relief while I sprawled on the couch studying for nursing school or watching TV.

Of course, this was also during the time when I was sick with a 6-week cold!  So I mentioned the pain to my doctor, who recommended some prenatal massages, which I then strongly hinted to Hubs would be a great Valentine's Day gift.  But I still had several weeks to go before V-Day, and the aches became more frequent, longer-lasting, not just in the evenings, and definitely weren't relieved by laying down.  The heating pad worked, while I used it, but the minute I shut it off, the aches were back!  So while I was at Target with my mom one day, I told her I was going to give in and buy a body pillow, since so many said it would help align my bones and get me more comfy for bedtime.  I found a long body pillow and threw it in the cart, excited that for under $20 I could possibly get some relief!  On a whim, however, we went to the baby section, to see how their prices compared to Babies R Us (FYI I found the prices to be comparable but the selection for bigger items was limited) and to check out the gender neutral clothing.  And I found this baby:

The Boppy Total Body Pillow.  It's contoured for your entire body to provide support and proper alignment for your neck, spine, belly, and hips.  It folds and bends and contorts in countless ways to making sleeping comfy for you.  It has a removable cover for easy laundering.  And it was $50.  Twice the price of the body pillow already in my cart.  But this one would replace the pillows I was currently wedging around my body (and later flinging all over the bed - and Hubs - in the middle of the night) rather than add one more pillow to the mix.  Oh yeah, and it matched my bedding!  Bonus!  So I pulled the generic body pillow out of my cart and replaced it with the Boppy version (which also folds in half to use as a back rest during in-bed feedings, or wraps around your body as you sit in bed reading, providing a "cushion" to rest your book or lap top).

So, I bought the Boppy.  And I left it in the trunk of my car, with the receipt, for weeks.  Yes, I was sucking up my poor sleeping and achy back over $50.  I kept telling myself that the longer I put off using the Boppy, the longer I could still sort of sleep on my stomach, the way I have my whole life (and, I'm convinced that a new sleeping position was what was causing my lack of sleep in the first place).  And I kept thinking, "If I can just hold out and make it through the next few weeks I'll get used to sleeping like this and I can return this pillow and get my money back."  I went for my 90-minute Valentine's Day massage (which was amazing) and decided I could benefit from having one once a month, but even that didn't seem to alleviate the back aches.  My mom kept asking how my back was feeling and if my sleep was improving and how the Boppy was working.  And I kept telling her it was still in the car.  Well, I was finally forced to bring it into the house due to a long day of running errands and filling up my trunk and back seat (remember my trip to Richmond when I bought my Travel System?  Yeah, that box is huge!)...

So, after yet another week with the huge Boppy bag sitting next to my bed taunting me, I busted it out.  Hubs was in awe of it's massive proportions, and slightly scared that there'd be no longer be room for him in our bed.  I worried about how I would roll over without waking myself - or Hubs - up to the point of not going back to sleep (I tend to flip from side to side a lot during the night, always have).  But we were both pleasantly surprised that this pillow really fits around your entire body, and by keeping one end between your knees and the other end between your head and the arm of whatever side on which you're sleeping, you really can roll over as a single unit without causing much disturbance (or rearrangement of pillows and covers).  This baby replaces not only a pillow between my hips, but also under my head, under my belly, and behind my back!

I've been using the Boppy for two nights now, and I've been sleeping Like. A. Rock.  (or a baby...or whatever).  My back is still achy, but it doesn't interfere with sleep, and I can deal with it during the day!

I didn't receive any compensation for this post, but if Boppy or Target are reading, I'll certainly take a few coupons!