9 Pregnancy Must-Haves
After about 19 months of pregnancy, two babies, and lots of trial and error along the way, these are my 9 pregnancy must-haves.
1. Pregnancy & Birth Podcasts
“40 Weeks” - This podcast gives a 5 minute overview of what’s going on in your body and with your baby through all 40 weeks of pregnancy. I looked forward to this one every week!
“Pregnancy Confidential” - Another weekly podcast, but this one discusses different pregnancy topics pertaining to physical, emotional, and/or lifestyle markers for that week of pregnancy.
“Birthful” - A podcast discussing an array of topics from pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
“Down to Birth” - Evidence-based straight talk on having a safe and informed birth.
“The Birth Hour” - Inspirational birth stories of all kinds.
2. Pregnancy Apps
“The Bump” - 40 Week pregnancy tracker that shares what’s going on with your body and baby each week. Plus fun comparative “my baby is the size of a xx” each week.
“What to Expect” Very similar app but I liked to have both because they each share slightly different information and I liked to learn any and all nuggets of information!
3. Clean Protein Shake
It is very important to get lots of protein during pregnancy. In fact, the American Pregnancy Association recommends 75-100g per day during pregnancy. I drank a clean protein powder that I mixed with milk or water when I was pregnant with Wyatt but I didn’t really like it. This time, I found Orgain clean, organic (not all organic ingredients, but I liked the ingredient list in general), pre-made protein shakes sold at Costco. You can also buy them online. There’s a grass-fed, and a plant-based version and they each provide 20g of protein. They are pretty tasty, too.
4. Maternity Jeans
It was super important to me to find jeans that I felt comfortable and cute in, so I spent a lot of time (probably too much) buying, trying on, exchanging, returning and eventually keeping, some maternity jeans and jeggings. Here are my findings in a blog post, including: which pairs I kept, which are runner ups, which to pass on, and which I recommend sizing up in (even though they always say to go off your pre-pregnancy size).
5. Maternity Leggings
I also wanted nice leggings this time around. I only had one cheap pair from my first pregnancy so I did a try-on haul again for leggings. Check out my other blog post, this time for leggings — I talk about the best and worst maternity leggings after trying 10 pairs!
6. Hands-Free Shoes (also pictured above!)
Eventually during pregnancy it’s hard to bend over to get shoes on, and I found these hands-free, slip on sneakers called Kizik at just the right time! I think I’ve only tied the laces only twice since I’ve owned them! They really are hands free; the heel doesn’t get stuck when you slide them on. There are a ton of cute athletic and casual styles to choose from. I have the Vegas in white and I still wear them! Tying any other shoes feels like such a chore now :P
Ps they were so kind to give me a discount code for you to use: THECHARLESTONHOME10 for 10% off your order. FYI you can use the code more than once!
7. 8Sheep Organic Sleepy Lotion
I bought this lotion for two reasons: Sleep became a struggle for me late in the second trimester. Also because I was trying to avoid dreaded hip pain that I had during my first pregnancy. The magnesium in 8Sheep Organic Sleepy lotion is meant to help with achy muscles and work as a sleep aid. It did both!!! I applied this lotion every single night on my belly, hips and legs after I got out of the shower. I enjoyed the eucalyptus and lavender scents. Bonus that the product is all organic and uses only pure essential oils! You can totally continue to use this after pregnancy, too. I asked them for a code to share with you, so use VALERIE83505 for a $5 discount! Also, here is a post I wrote with 7 of my other favorite pregnancy sleep aids — really gotta stack ‘em up toward the end of pregnancy!!!
8. Belly Bandit “Pillow”
Personally, I didn’t like that giant tube snake pregnancy pillow and gave up on that quickly, but I needed something different than using 5 pillows every single night like I did with my first pregnancy. I decided to give the Belly Bandit a try. It’s not comfy, per se. But it did prevent me from laying on my back and gave my body something to lean against, plus it lifted my belly a little bit. I used this combined with a pillow between my legs every night and it did the trick.
9. “Shorty” Seamless Undies
I have actually been purchasing these Breathe Shorty undies to wear to bed for years before I was pregnant. I especially loved them when I was pregnant because they still fit, thanks to some stretch and the fact that they are seamless. They are also so so soft!
I hope the pregnant mamas find this blog helpful! Congratulations! XO