Pregnancy just flew by. I’m sure it mostly didn’t feel like that in the moment, but now that it’s gone, it feels like it was just a blip in time and in some ways it’s hard to imagine a life before Levi existed.

I never enjoyed hearing people tell you to “enjoy the pregnancy” or reading about people who were loving being pregnant. I didn’t identify with those women—sure I was excited to be pregnant and grateful, so grateful, but I wouldn’t say I loved the actual experience. Again, I wouldn’t change it. It was something I always knew I wanted to experience and it was and is incredible that women’s bodies can create life. But I also didn’t have an awful pregnancy. I didn’t hate it. I was somewhere in the middle. I had a relatively easy pregnancy. In the first trimester I felt carsick, disinterested in food and beyond exhausted. But I never threw up, didn’t really have food aversions and was lucky to be working from home so I could nap on the couch. Second trimester, I got some energy back. But I wasn’t suddenly working out again (mmm well honestly I fell off that track years ago so maybe I can’t blame the pregnancy on that one), traveling all over with my cute bump, doing all the “last things as a couple before baby comes”. Third trimester, some exhaustion came back and I got big and slow and swollen. I was so excited for the baby to come, but also terrified. Mostly of the delivery, but also of the unknown of what life would be. So to the people who tell you to “enjoy this special time”, I tried, but it was hard and scary, and honestly it’s not helpful to hear “enjoy this”.

But now that I’ve rambled, let’s get to what I really came on here to do. Before it really starts to fade from memory, I thought I’d share some of the pregnancy essentials that got me through that time.

Comfy Nursing Bras — Your boobs will likely change and then change again and maybe once more throughout your pregnancy and “4th trimester”. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on bras every couple months, but also quickly realized I didn’t something more comfortable than what I was wearing because nothing is worse than being in a bra that doesn’t fit. I decided to buy nursing bras, thinking that way I could use them post pregnancy also. They aren’t cute, but they weren’t expensive and they definitely did their job and continue to now.

Bio Oil — I know they say that whether or not you’ll get stretch marks is more about your genes than what you put on your skin (and I believe that), but I like to be moisturized anyway and I’m sure as your skin starts to stretch it also gets a bit itchy, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to try to use something that might prevent stretch marks too. I did a little research and came across Bio Oil. I’d never used a body oil before, but decided to give it a try and ended up really liking it. I felt like it absorbed really well and didn’t leave me feeling greasy. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t get any stretch marks. But I can’t promise that it’s because of this product. However, I would still use it in future pregnancies.

Dyson Fan — I was in my third trimester during the summer, so this might not be a must-have for others depending on when they’re pregnant, but I needed this fan pointed at me to go to sleep. Love that it’s quiet and bladeless so when baby gets a little bigger and is on the move, we can still use it and not worry about his little fingers. It also comes with a remote that I kept next to the bed so I could adjust it without having to get up!

Chewable Tums — I’ve never had heartburn in my life until I got pregnant, but I was so glad to have these. The heartburn only got worse as my pregnancy went on and by the end the novelty of these being like “candy” kind of wore off, but they still beat regular old Tums!

Ritual Vitamins — I never had any issue taking these, not upset stomach (maybe due to the slow release?) or weird after taste. They did the trick and they are on a subscription plan so they get delivered every month and I don’t have to think about it. I’m still taking these post pregnancy!

Belly Band — I’ve always had back issues so I knew that this would be a problem in pregnancy. This support band gave me a lot of relief when I was further into my pregnancy and I was walking around a lot.

Pregnancy Products

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@allisonmhutch