During my first pregnancy, I blogged about the essentials which had got me through each trimester. This time, with a toddler to look after, as well as a family going through cancer and dementia, I admit that I haven’t really paid as much attention to the needs of my pregnant body, as I just haven’t had time to. In lots of ways, it’s been better, as the 40 weeks has flown by and I haven’t really had time to worry about all the little niggles.
But there have been a few things that I couldn’t have got through the last nine months (minus two days) without, so I thought I’d share my second pregnancy essentials with you.
- Decaf tea – the biggest injustice of pregnancy is that all of your substances are either banned or limited – no wine, gin, prosecco, limited tea and coffee. When you feel rubbish, it’s often these things you turn to, so a few cups of decaf tea in the evening have often got me through what is usually Sunny’s most brutal period of kicking.
- Pregnancy pillow – I don’t know any pregnant woman who has had regular good nights of sleep, but this time I invested in a pregnancy pillow from Mothercare and I wish I’d splashed the cash on it sooner. I don’t think past about 20 weeks, you’ll ever have an uninterrupted, restful night’s sleep, but this has made me so much more comfortable when I’m in bed.
- Anti stretch mark cream – I’m loving The Sanctuary Mum to B e Bounce Back Body Butter at the moment. It smells divine and so far *touches all wood in sight*, I’ve escaped two pregnancies with no stretch marks. Who knows if that’s genetic, or down to daily moisturising, but something has worked, so I’m not stopping slapping the cream on twice a day.
- My osteopath – I have really suffered with a back problem this pregnancy, which my amazing osteopath managed to prevent from getting worse and largely to cure. I have actually carried on seeing her every few weeks since the injury eased and she has really helped eased some nasty pelvic pain and ease the tired muscles.
- Gaviscon – In both pregnancies I’ve had ALL the heartburn. The old wives’ tale goes that it indicates a hairy baby and little Lottie was famed for her full head of hair as a newborn, so I’m guessing another hairy one is imminent. I keep Gaviscon in the kitchen, the bedroom, the car and my change bag – I panic if I’m not within ten feet of a bottle!
- Childcare – Due to distance and to illness, we have very little exterior childcare. My friend has Lottie for three hours on a Tuesday as I used to go into a client’s office before maternity leave, my sister has had her a few times and Mr M is very good at giving me a break when he is home (although he often works weekends, so this isn’t all that often). I adore my daughter and I wouldn’t change being a work-at-home mum for the world, but those few hours to myself here and there have been pure bliss and essential for my sanity as it becomes more and more difficult to haul my pregnant body and her little body around.
- My ASOS dungarees – I got big quick this time (apparently your body knows what to do and all your muscles relax more quickly – plus the fact, I was a whole lot less toned this time!) and by about 25 weeks, even maternity jeans weren’t that comfortable. But T-shirt material dungarees? No waist band? Bliss!
What have your pregnancy essentials been?
