Pregnancy favorites

Pregnancy often goes on for what seems like forever, but in reality its only 9 months. Here is a list of all my favorite pregnancy must have items, and a brief description of why I loved them so much.

1. Let's start off the list right! Prenatals are ESSENTIAL, and these ones are pretty delicious. They're called "Vitafusion Prenatal Gummy Vitamins" and they didn't upset my stomach like many others. The Target Up&Up brand knock off of these is pretty great too, and a bit cheaper. The only downside to this kind is they don't contain iron, but if you're not having any problems with anemia, they're great. I was anemic at the end of my pregnancy, so I just added in an iron supplement before bed. 

2. Boppy total body pregnancy pillow - This thing was a life saver. Sleep is a precious thing, and when you'r pregnant it gets more and more difficult. By about midway through my pregnancy I was starting to get really uncomfortable, and as a regular stomach sleeper, I really hated being forced to sleep on my side. Using this pillow allowed me to sleep at an angle that felt almost like I was on my stomach again. It's oddly shaped, but it allows you to use the whole pillow to go from under your head to between your knees and give your back a ton of support. I could turn back and forth from side to side with it relatively easily, and its slender enough that it didn't take up a ton of space in our already crowded small bed. An added bonus, the cover easily zips off which makes it super easy to throw in the washer too. 

3. What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff - This book is a pregnant girl's bible. I liked the way it was broken up into sections, explaining what is going on with your little growing strawberry, what you may be feeling, and what to expect in the near future. It goes on to answer dozens upon dozens of questions you can think of, and reassures you that the horrible fatigue, nausea, or forgetfulness you're experiencing is normal. It tends to be pretty to the point, and was one of the best resources for me. Saved a lot of phone calls to the OB nurse hotline for sure!

4. Ferrero Rocher Chocolates - I'm not even going to explain this, other than the fact that these little chocolate balls of glory probably saved my family from me chopping off their heads many, many, many times! 

5. Vicks Vaporub - One thing almost all pregnant women can agree on, is suddenly your sense of smell becomes superhuman. What do you do when there is something that suddenly makes your stomach turn and you want to run in the opposite direction? Rub a small dab of this around your nostrils or above your lip and your nostrils will be filled with the soothing smell of eucalyptus. I worked in a hospital during my pregnancy, and I had my fair share of stinky situations... this stuff certainly saved my lunch countless times. Another pesky pregnancy problem for many women is "pregnancy rhinitis" which is a constant feeling of a stuffy, plugged up nose. This is mostly because of high amounts of estrogen cause your mucous membranes to go into overdrive, and the blood vessels in your nose swell too. Rubbing another glob of this on my chest at night helped clear my nose and improved my sleep... and hey, who doesn't want more sleep? :)


6. Tums Smoothies- Heartburn... enough said? I probably should have bought stock in these things, I ate them around the clock. This kind was pretty good tasting, and didn't feel all gritty in my mouth like regular tums. I also took over the counter zantac daily to help with the insane fire breathing dragon problem (I've had reflux since I was a teenager, pregnancy only made it a zillion times worse!)

7. Nivea Soft - Used this stuff religiously through my whole pregnancy and avoided stretch marks until the very last week (and only a few!)  It is enriched with jojoba oil and vitamin E, and is incredibly moisturizing. My favorite part (other than the deeeeelicious smell) is that it doesn't feel oily or greasy at all, and it absorbs into my skin really quickly. Now I use it on my Squishy baby right after his baths, and its gentle enough that it doesn't aggravate his eczema (it has actually helped stop some of his bad breakouts!)

8. BeBand - This was the "Be Maternity" belly band sold at Target, and I definitely got a TON of wear out of mine. I bought a black one for around $15 and wore it with a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes. It did a great job at keeping my unbuttoned pants up, and just to add a bit of length under shirts so I didn't feel like the whole world could see my growing baby belly. It's made of a super stretchy material, and breathes really well. I'd fold mine over in half to have extra support when needed as well. It saved me money on maternity clothes, and then after my son was born it gave me a little more stomach support while my abs recovered and kept my pants up. 



There are dozens more of essential things for pregnancy  but those are my top favorite must haves. What are your favorite pregnancy items?

Growing Belly

I always knew I wanted to document my growing belly, and searched pinterest endlessly looking for good ideas. I loved the chalkboard idea, but between full time nursing school, working 12 hour shifts at the hospital, puking my guts out for weeks and studying endlessly, I just didn't have the time or energy. I decided to go a simple route, and use monthly belly stickers that my mom found on etsy. I started a little late, but to be fair at 8 and 12 weeks there was ZERO change in my belly, and no one would have ever known there was a little strawberry growing in there. I do wish I had gotten a good "before" shot though.

My biggest suggestion for documenting a growing baby belly would be to make sure you take the same kind of picture each month, that way you can really see how your stomach changes. I thought it was insane how much my belly changed between 28 and 32 weeks! I wanted all of my pictures to be very similar so it wouldn't be as distracting and you could really focus on how much things had changed. Each month I made sure to wear the same white shirt and black yoga pants, and stood infront of the dark wall in my bathroom. I was also induced a week early, so I didn't get a grand "40" week pic.

New baby blogger on the web!

Welcome to my blog! After spending a few years working at a daycare, and then working as a fulltime nanny to a newborn and toddler, I had gotten my feet a little wet before this whole motherhood thing rolled around. I have spent what seems to be endless amounts of time researching tons of things from diapers, bouncers, pacis and exclusively pumping,  I thought I'd throw all my collected knowledge in one place for my friends and future mommies. Stay tuned and I'll be sure to post all of my favorite baby gear, pregnancy stuff, and items for each month of my son's early life!