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.