I woke up to some amazing news today- one of my good friends from home is pregnant! How exciting is that? It got me thinking of my own pregnancy and all the #preggohacks I used, the books I read, etc.. I figured I’d share in case you find them helpful.
Apps, Podcasts and Other Preggo Tech:
Apps, Podcasts and Other Preggo Tech:Before getting pregnant, (and before we even started trying!) I used the app Period Tracker to do just that- track my period. Generally, I’ve been pretty regular period-wise but just didn’t have the discipline to track it. Period Tracker does just that- you just press a button when you get your period and that it. It’s awesome and FREE! When I find myself eating too much or crying too much I just look on my phone and 90% of the times it turns out my period is around the corner. The other 10% is just me being fat and needy, what else is new?
Period Tracker is also great when you start trying to get preggo (or trying not to!) because it shows you in BRIGHT GREEN the days you’re ovulating- it’s dummy proof. Trust me, I would know- I’m a dummy and a HALF when it comes to tech.
There’s a million apps out there to track baby’s (and mama’s!!!) growth. I used this one. I liked that it was pretty (duh!) and the information was clear. It tracked baby’s growth by week as compared to fruits, veggies, desserts or even cute animals- aka, your baby is the size of a chihuahua. My favorite feature was the hand size feature. It shows your the size of baby’s hand as compared to your phone! Cutest thing ever.. They also have articles and a ‘ask the community’ feature but I didn’t really use those. If you end up using them, please let me know how they are!
You know I’m all about #REALmomlife and this Podcast shows just that, the ins and outs of pregnancy as told by real moms (who just happen to be editors at Parents mag). Each episode (weekly- starting at week 9) walks you through what your body and your baby are going through in a way that is easy to understand, with a girlfriend-to-girlfriend vibe. I can’t recommend this Podcast enough! It made my commute to work each morning MUCH better.
Mama’s Little Helpers:
Morning sickness is a VERY misleading term in my book- there’s nothing morning about preggo nausea! For me, it wasn’t an all day every day thing (thank GOD!) and I never actually threw up but I did have a weird feeling in my stomach pretty much non-stop for the first 12 weeks. Enter Preggie Pops! These lollipops really helped me with that queasy nausea feeling. Whenever my stomach started feeling weird I would suck on one- I don’t know if it’s psychological or what but they totally worked for me! If you don’t feel like sucking on a lollipop – maybe people don’t know you’re preggo yet?- they also have these lozenges (cough drops). If you try them, let me know how they are!
- Pregnancy Pillow:
It might seem inconceivable right now, but your belly will expand pretty much over night. I remember suddenly, without any real warning, being SO uncomfortable when it came time to go to sleep one night. I didn’t feel particularly big or bloated before hand- I just couldn’t go to sleep! It was like I had to re-learn how to position by body for sleeping- my dimensions had changed and I was FEELING it. Much to the #handsomehubbs’ dismay (he HATED the pillow- it’s not conducive to cuddling hahah) , I got a pregnancy pillow and it helped immensely. I went with the Snoogle but there’s a ton of other ones out there. The folks at parenting.com did a great post on the different pregnancy pillows in the market, highlighting their pros and cons. Being as I’m stuck with my Snoogle for all my future pregnancies ($$$!) I’ll leave the reviewing to the experts and just link to their post here.
Around week 12 my boobs starting getting HUGE. I’ve always been flat chested to boot so my new Pamela Anderson cleavage situation was a welcome addition in our household lol.. I literally could not fit into any of my bras! One thing I was VERY happy I did is instead of buying bigger, traditional bras for my new boob BFFS, I got nursing bras! When it was time to breast-feed baby, I was all set up with nursing bras I’d used through out my pregnancy. It was awesome!
My favorite nursing bras were by Bravado. They are supportive, soft and super comfy. I loved them! Target also has some good, cheaper options like this one by Medela. If you’re not into sporty-looking bras (for some reason those became my faves!) there’s also more traditional looking bras that are nursing friendly, like these. If you go the traditional bra route, I suggest you do wire-less ones.
- Blanqi Belly Support Leggings:
These were another pre and post baby MUST HAVE for me. We all know leggings are LIFE- its the closest thing we have to wearing P.J. bottoms out of the house while still looking semi-put together, am I right? These leggings by Blanqi are amazing and not see through at all. Pre-baby, during pregnancy, I used them a ton because of the belly support. I tried a few different ones and found that these were the BEST for my back pain- carrying around that big ol’ belly is hard work! After baby, they are AWESOME because they go up really high which lets pull your shirt up for breastfeeding WITHOUT SHOWING YOUR STOMACH! This was HUGE for me, especially when traveling with infant Chickie. My husband referred to these as my travel pants haha..
By the end of my pregnancy I was HUGE. I got asked a handful of times when “the babies” were due; meaning it looked like I was having twins haha.. Don’t believe me? This pictures was taken at week 35! Chickie didn’t come out until week 41 so you can imagine.. Despite of my massive belly, I don’t have AANNYYY stretchmarks! I credit this to my Elemis Body Oil which I used religiously through out my pregnancy. I would normally put it all over my body, every day paying particular attention to the love handle area of my back since that’s were I stretched out the most! Looking back, I wish I had payed more attention to my boobs too, so make sure to do this! As a bonus, this oil also works AMAZING as a overnight hair mark- think coconut oil on steriods! Yesssss..
35 weeks and counting.. HUUUGE!
That’s all the MUST HAVES I can think of.. If you’d like to add to our list, PLEASE do so! Comment bellow and I’ll add your suggestion! Look at us, mamas helping mamas.. you KNOW #ittakesavillage, thank you for being a part of mine!
PS- if you liked this post, you’ll be happy to know I have a Where We Shop: Pregnancy Clothes post (kinda like this one) in the works! Be sure to subscribe with your e-mail below so I can keep you in the loop. Thanks for stopping by!
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