Fav Five Pregnancy Must Haves

I had intended on doing one of these posts during my 1^st pregnancy but it just never happened.  My favorites this pregnancy still are my favorites from my 1^st pregnancy so here are my Fav Fives!

1) A Pill Case

Nothing fancy about this one but it might be the most important pregnancy item I have.  I cannot stress the importance of taking a prenatal vitamin.  After I had my scare with Baby C’s possibility of having an open tube defect, the little I did Google on it, I found that Mothers can prevent open tube defects by as much as 70% just by taking a prenatal vitamin!!  Although my doctor’s say there is nothing I could have done or changed to prevent my elevated AFP, I’m feel a great degree of certainty that taking my prenatals may have protected Baby C from my AFP levels.  Did you know that if you are considering pregnancy, you should start taking a prenatal vitamin before becoming pregnant?  I did with both of my pregnancies.  Because life is chaotic {2 year old tantrums, I’m talking about you!} having a pill case for my prenatals helps me to remember to take it daily.  On top of that, this time around I set an alarm on my cell phone to go off at 6 pm every night to take my prenatal.  Between the pill case and my scheduled alarm, I hardly ever miss my prenatal pill.  It’s so important you guys and by far the cheapest pregnancy tip I can give you!  This is the prenatal pill I take.  It's important to take one with DHA in it.

2) A Good Pair of Maternity Jeans

I caved early in my last pregnancy and splurged on a really good pair of maternity jeans per one of my friend’s advice.  I bought a pair of 7 for Mankind Jeggings for the ridiculous price of $250.  I had serious hesitations about spending that much money on a pair of jeans that I would only wear for 9 months but turned out to be the best purchase I ever made.  Gaining weight makes me self-conscious, I am my own worst critic but having a pair of jeans that made me feel good in helped out a lot with both pregnancies and this particular pair was super comfortable.  This brand washed up well and wore well thru both of my pregnancies from when I just showing clear up to the last day of pregnancy.  I had bought some cheaper Jessica Simpson maternity jeans for $40 and they just don’t compare.  There is something to be said about finding a really good pair of maternity jeans that you love and feel good in; whether they are a reasonable $40 or an outrageous $250… they are worth the splurge.

3) Snoogle Pillow

I HATE sleeping on my side.  I cannot wait to be able to sleep on my back again.  Having a Snoogle pillow helps out with that dreadful side sleeping.  My first pregnancy I drove Aaron nuts with building a pillow fortress all around me. “Where am I to sleep?” my husband said, um, don’t care… you don’t have to deal with restless nights like I do!  I even was told by the hospital that I had every extra pillow they had and refused to give me any more {liars!}.  This pregnancy I’ve tried to keep my pillow obsession in check, I use the Snoogle to support my back and then a smaller pillow that I wedge under my tummy.  I saw they have a much improved Snoogle on the market now, by the time I saw this new and improved Snoogle, I was too far along in pregnancy to make it worth buying it but if I had to do it again, I would suggest this one instead of the one I have.

4) Soma Nursing Bras

Note: this is NOT me pictured, I couldn't find a plain picture without a model in it

As your tummy grows, everything else tends to grow too.  I wanted a bra in my 1^st pregnancy that I could continue to wear during nursing.  Soma has bras that are extremely comfortable and perfect for nursing.  I think it’s really hard to find a bra with the proper support but yet comfortable, well this one does amazingly well at both!  Now if someone could just figure out maternity underwear, I had the worst time this pregnancy finding comfortable underwear and never did have any luck in this department. 

5) Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Massage Cream

I have successfully avoided stretch marks in both of my pregnancies, thanks to Palmer’s lotions.  I have tried several different kinds of Palmer’s and I personally prefer the cream over the lotion, I like the fact that it goes on thicker and maybe it’s a mental thing but I think the thicker the better at preventing stretch marks.  At the beginning of this pregnancy I also coupled the cream with Palmer’s Massage Oil.  I oil’d up and then put the cream over top.  I never used any of the fancier higher priced brands on the market but felt like Palmer’s does the job just fine.

There you have it!  A simple top 5 of my fav pregnancy things that held true thru both of my pregnancies. 

Almost 37 Weeks

I’m officially in countdown mode, 17days to go.  7 days of work left.  Almost 37 weeks pregnant.  I had possibly my last perinatal appointment.  Baby C is weighing in at 5 lbs 10 oz, which is awesome!  She was a week ahead of schedule the last few visits but has slowed down in growth and tracking at 35.5 weeks so nothing that is concerning since her growth is on schedule.  My weekly non-stress tests have been going great and everything has been really smooth sailing, I couldn’t be happier with how things have been going lately for Baby C.

BUT…on the other hand can I just say I’m WAY over being pregnant?  I remember with Annie the last month being really bad and would say maybe this one is worse because I have to parent a demanding 2 year old whereas pregnancy before I could just lay around on the couch every night, now I’m up/down off the floor, tantrums at every turn, transitioning Annie to a toddler bed has been a painful experience that is kicking our butts and then on top of it, I’m actually having REAL contractions.  Not just Braxton Hicks but some intense contractions that come and go frequently thru the week that pretty much have me out of commission when they do come on.  The lower back pain I’ve been feeling is unreal.  Aaron is wearing down because he has to pick up double duty when my unpredictable back pain or contractions kick in.  We are all exhausted and this baby isn’t even here yet… yikes!   I have a week off of work before her arrival so I’m hoping I can get caught up on some rest and relaxation then. {Stay put Baby C, Mama needs that week off!}

Since I feel pretty confident this is my last pregnancy, I’m trying to enjoy the last weeks but I have to admit, it’s hard to find that joy when I’m feeling nothing but aches, pains, and heartburn with everything I eat.  I’m just not one cut out for pregnancy, its tough stuff.  I try to be careful about my ‘complaining’ because I know there are a lot of women out there that can’t get pregnant and they would do anything to be in my shoes.  And I don’t forget that part either, trust me.  I know how precious the life that is growing in me is and I do not take it for granted, I really don’t.  But if I’m honest, pregnancy itself has its woes at times; it’s not a walk in the park.  It just really makes me realize that us woman are tough cookies! 

One thing that I would have never in a million years considered a blessing is the fact that I am having a scheduled c-section this time around.  If I had to endure what I went thru with Annie, I really think that I would be stressed out at the idea of possibility going thru another long labor.  I hate to admit this but truthfully, the week Annie was born may have been one of the worst weeks of my life sprinkled with some brief moments of the best of my life within that worst week.  Does that even make sense?  I was in a roller coaster where one minute was pure hell and the next minute was life changing joy.  I feel like this time around, there is less of a chance of yo-yo emotions.  But I have to remind myself that I can’t let myself assume it will all be smooth sailing and I know what to expect because I do think that me thinking I had it all figured out in advance last time is what made that week of my life so bad when it all got turned upside down.  I have to be prepared and open to the unexpected.  I am hopeful that given it’s a c-section, that I’m eliminating a lot of the repeat situations I had last time so I do have a better feeling about this time and I’ll actually be able to appreciate the moments much more.  And hopefully be less drugged, I was dosed up on so many drugs being induced for 50 hours the first time around, I was just mentally not all there!

I also know that having a c-section, the recovery sucks really, really bad.  The doctor thinks I’ll recover much quicker this time around since my body will not have gone thru the stress of labor prior.  Even when she looked at my notes from my last delivery, she admitted mine takes the cake for a pretty bad experience and my recovery would have been a lot more difficult last time than what is typical so she really encouraged me to think that I’ll recover at a quicker pace this time around.  Let’s hope! 

I’m not super worried about Annie being over jealous but it has been on my mind more lately and how we will curb that.  We’ve gotten advice to have small gifts for her and even say some of them are from the new baby.  It’s going to be a touchy balance of making sure she is getting the right amount of 1:1 time with each Aaron and I and we are aware of that.  Annie is completely obsessed with new babies, much to my surprise it’s actually really sweet to see how gentle she is with them.   The one thing that does concern me is how demanding Annie is, when she wants something, she wants it now.  And 9 out of 10 times, that something she wants usually is not a pressing issue.   If I’m not right there to fast forward thru a commercial of her show, she freaks out.  If she drops her water from her highchair, she freaks out.  If her waffle pops up in the toaster and I’m not right there to hand it to her, she freaks out.  I’m trying not to run to her every becking call to prepare her now in building her patience but it’s not going very well.

One thing I just really hope is that Baby C is a happier newborn than Annie was.  Aaron and I are convinced that this baby will not be colicky because who gets 2 colicky babies in their lifetime (unless you’re a Duggar who has 19 kids, then the chances are little higher, right?)  Oh my gosh, if I get a colicky baby and a demanding 2 year old, I don’t know how we will cope!  We really think Annie is just our little spit fire and Baby C is going to be our laid back easy going kid.  I don’t see anything changing with Annie, she’s just so full of attitude that I think that is just going to be what life with her is always going to be like.  I’ve accepted that she is our ‘spirited’ child and likely always will be.  I love Annie’s exhausting personality but hoping Baby C’s is much opposite of her sister’s.  We need that balance in personalities! 

One thing I hope she does have similar to her sister is being a great sleeper.  Annie as a newborn slept great, was sleeping thru the nights at 8 weeks and really always has been a great sleeper (until recently with the bed transition but that’s a blog post on its own).   We do think though, that because Annie was so extremely colicky that she just wore herself out at nights and that is partially why she was such a good sleeper so I’m not going to assume that Baby C is going to be as easy at night as Annie was.  But crossing my fingers she will be!  One can hope right?!