- Image by brungrrl via Flickr
I was reflecting the other day how much pregnancy has become a specialized industry, with its own collection of pillows, clothes, and “remedies”.
But like many things, a lot of these specialized products are not really necessary, which is why they are relatively new. So what is necessary? What should you really invest in to make pregnancy easier for you, and what can you do without?
Here’s a quick list:
1. PRENATAL VITAMINS: Good health for you and your baby is necessary. You don’t have to buy some super-fancy brand or special kind of prenatal vitamins. Just get a list from your doctor of what the latest recommendations are for what a good prenatal vitamin
should have, and stick with one that has those ingredients and amounts (they change often). My personal favorite? Since my pregnancies always come with severe morning sickness, I found the only vitamin appealing to me is the child’s Flintstones chewables I ate as a kid. I still love them, and even when sick, will take them.
2. BIGGER CLOTHES: You will need bigger clothes. You do not necessarily need maternity clothes. In fact, the style of clothes nowadays almost makes maternity wear obsolete. Wrap dresses, long shirts, big sweaters, knit and stretchy pants – all of these styles hide a pregnancy well into the last trimester. It’s a much better financial investment to buy clothes in a size or two larger than your normal size than to get something specific to pregnancy. If you work in a formal office you might have to make more changes, but unless you need a fitted pantsuit every day, you can get away with a lot of larger sizes until the very end.
3. GOOD FOOD, SMALL PORTIONS: More than belly bands or pregnancy necklaces, you need healthy, simple food that doesn’t make you sick to your stomach or uncomfortable in other ways, and you need this food in small portions. Make it easy on yourself by reevaluating the way you shop for food, and keep a list of things that start to work for you (new flavors of yogurt, cheese sticks, crackers). Also, invest in ziploc bags of several sizes and small tupperware containers. Make it easy on yourself to eat well and eat right.
4. BIGGER UNDERGARMENTS: Oh yes, such fun. Bigger bras and bigger underwear are going to be necessary at some point in your pregnancy, so prepare yourself and your budget.
5. A COMFORTABLE SLEEP: Sleep is everything when you are pregnant, if for no other reason than you won’t get any for the first three months after you stop being pregnant. Do what you have to do to make that bed comfortable. If you need extra pillows, a memory foam pillow top (can you tell, perhaps, that I have bought all of these?), a pregnancy pillow, a humidifier
, a better comforter, softer sheets… You can see where I am going with this. Don’t worry about maternity tops, worry about your bed. Make it comfortable, and make it a place where you can sleep as much as possible as long as possible.
What else? What do you think is a pregnancy must have? Let us know! We want to hear from you!!!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It seems incredible how you have listed such excellent advice in this short post. Shame my girlfriend didn’t read this before going through her pregnancy. She discovered all of the above points by going through them, and really it was going into the land of the unexpected for her. A lot of the things took her by surprise, so it would have been great to have known a few of the points you make before hand.
.-= Help with getting pregnant´s last blog ..the-pregnancy-miracle-ebook-by-lisa-olsen =-.
I think the best vitamin to take is Vitamin D while your pregnant,a heard it’s very good for you and/or is kind of essential to it or something. One way that can be obtained is from the Sun
. Anyway take care.