Now that I’m in my 38th week of pregnancy (as I write this at least!), I figured now would be a great time to share what my pregnancy must haves are from the past 9 months.  These are things from personal care items, to clothing, to books, etc.  I hope you find it helpful!

Pregnancy Must Haves

Burts Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter – I tried this and their body oil to help keep my skin hydrated and prevent stretch marks.  I found the belly butter to be much more effective in this.  I didn’t personally feel like the body oil helped prevent stretch marks (I used it exclusively for a few months and got stretch marks) and then I started using the Belly Butter and not only did I feel like they prevented them but I felt like they helped take away the ones I had started to develop!

Two King Size Pillows – We have a king size bed but don’t actually sleep with king size pillows (is that weird?) so our king size pillows are just decorative basically. Well, at least they were until I started to get larger as I got further along.  I would say maybe sometime in the second trimester I started sleeping with the two king size pillows on either side of me.  I know there are tons of pregnancy pillows out there but I personally like to have my head on my normal pillow.  This way, I could put my legs up on the pillows on either side of me and push them tight up against my back and under my belly for support which I did a LOT in the last weeks of pregnancy.  So you can try the pregnancy pillows but if you have king size pillows, try those!

Brach’s Lemon Drops – I wrote in this post about how CRUCIAL these were to me surviving my constant nausea in the first trimester and into the second.  Having these things in my bag or whenever I could grab them really helped me keep the nausea under control!

Soft Sleep Shirt – At some point you just want to stop having things touch your belly, especially at night.  At least that was my experience so this sleep shirt was seriously the best thing ever.  I wore this every single night for sleep and it’s great for post-partum too because you can easily unbutton the top for nursing.  You won’t regret getting this!

Maternity Leggings – I didn’t think I would necessarily need or want these, but I’m so glad I had a couple of pairs.  I really love these and these for workouts because eventually you will want something to go over your bump and give you support rather than just sitting over top of it.  I found this especially true when I was doing squats, because your belly has to kind of go down between your legs at the bottom of the move so it helps to have a waistband that is above your belly! Just trust me.

Maternity Compression Shorts – Pictured above.  I love these things. They are really shapewear but I ended up wearing them biker shorts style with bigger t-shirts too.  They really helped support the bump and compression can aid with circulation as well, so when I was feeling swollen down there at all wearing these seemed to help!

Pregnancy Fitness Guide – Sorry about the shameless plug but you know how much I truly believe that staying active and in shape has helped me feel good and feel more “like myself” this pregnancy.  So I created this guide to help women achieve that as well, all while preparing for a strong pregnancy, labor, delivery, & into motherhood.

Beautycounter Makeup & Skincare Items – Finding pregnancy-safe products was made easy for me with Beautycounter.  Already a brand I loved and trusted, I took a deep dive to overhaul so many of the products I was using to ensure they were safe and free of harmful, toxic chemicals.  Below are the items I use everyday:

MAKEUP:

• Tint Skin Hydrating Foundation (I wear “Sand”)
• Touchup Skin Concealer Pen (I wear “Fair”)
• Color Define Brow Pencil  (I wear “Dark”)
• Volumizing Mascara
• Satin Powder Blush (I like both “Nectar” and “Melon”)
• Lip Gloss (I wear both “Bare Shimmer” and “Peony”)
• Lip Sheer (I like “Terra” and “Lily”)

SKINCARE:

• Rejuvenating Night Cream
• Countermatch Adaptive Lotion
• Charcoal Face Mask
• Overnight Resurfacing Peel
• Rejuvenating Eye Cream
• Rejuvenating Face Cleanser
• Makeup Remover Wipes

Books – Here are the books I read and enjoyed.  These are mainly geared towards a natural birth so if that’s something you are hopeful to have then you will probably like them too!  I didn’t really follow one philosophy, I more so just wanted to consume the info out there and see what I naturally connected with and take tidbits here and there from everything that I thought would help me.

• Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth
• Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way
• HypnoBirthing – The Mongan Method
• Birthing from Within
• Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering

Podcasts – I really enjoyed listening to the Birthful Podcast, Birth Kweens, and The Birth Hour podcasts.  They had so much amazing info and I learned a lot listening to them.

Courses – I took the Taking Cara Babies newborn sleep course once I got into my 3rd trimester and I’m really looking forward to putting it into practice with Emma!  It helps you create flexible routines for babies rather than strict, rigid schedules.  And aims of course to help everyone get more sleep 🙂 It was quick course to consume, easy to digest and understand, and comes with a handbook you can reference again and again.

xo,

Bess