Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

As soon as you find out you’re pregnant, you immediately think about all of the very teeny and very cute things you can now buy for your baby. Hold on, sister! There are still a few things that you’re going to need for yourself to survive the next nine months in relative peace and comfort.

You’ll obviously need maternity clothes – some of us will need them earlier than others. When it comes to maternity clothes, there’s never been a better time to be pregnant. The maternity fashions are really in line with current trends and great pieces can be found anywhere from Target to designer boutiques to eBay.

Maternity clothes are fun and will keep you from running around naked or in clothes that don’t fit – but the prenatal purchasing doesn’t have to stop there, ladies! There are even more pregnancy products that will help you get through this very long forty weeks. 

We’ve come up with a list of nine items that many moms found essential to a comfortable pregnancy. You may find that you need only a few of these – or you might wear out your credit card at the baby store during your first trimester by getting every single one. Whatever keeps you happy. No one wants to see the pregnant girl cry. Seriously, no crying.

Here we go!

Body pillow – There are several different brands and styles of the pregnancy body pillow on the market. As your pregnancy progresses, you will likely find it more comfortable to sleep on your side. Many women relieve the pressure that position places on their back by sleeping with a pillow between their knees. Many of the pregnancy body pillows are curved so that you can support both your burgeoning belly and your knees and your back. It’s all very complicated. Take my word for it – you’ll love a body pillow.

Belly support belt – Some pregnant women develop low back pain during their second and third trimester, related to the increasing weight of their belly. Maternity support belts slip underneath your belly and fasten to a wide panel in the back. This helps to distribute the weight a little differently and take some pressure off of your lower back. Some people swear by them. I only wore one on a few occasions during my last pregnancy when I knew I was going to be on my feet a lot. It’s quite a contraption but many moms swear by them.

Bella band – I think this is the Mimi Maternity brand name but I’m referring to the wide microfiber tubes sold at all of the maternity stores. They come in all the basic lingerie colors – white, nude and black – and look like big tube tops. I found them useful during all three trimesters. Towards the end of your first trimester (at least for most of us – skinny minnies, your time will come), even your fat jeans are going to get a little tight around the waistband. Using the microfiber band over the top of your waistband and a maternity top over the top of the band, you can get away with wearing your non-maternity pants for a little while longer. Hidden under the band, no one will know that your pants aren’t buttoned or zipped all the way up – but your pants still stay up. When you finally break down and buy some maternity clothes, the band can help keep your pants up if they’re still a little big. And finally, in the third trimester, your belly will get so big that you can’t keep even the best pair of maternity pants up. Believe me, it’s ridiculous – you will quickly understand why old men with beer guts can’t keep pants up either. Same problem. The belly bands still help keep the pants up and even serve one additional purpose in these last few weeks – to cover the belly when it tries to peek out from between the increasingly small maternity tops and the droopy maternity drawers.

Morning sickness soothers – If you’re reading this during a brutally nauseous first trimester (or like one of my friends, a brutally nauseous first, second and third trimester), don’t hate me. I never had morning sickness. Not ever. Well, I once vomited a prenatal vitamin that I took on an empty stomach. Never made that mistake again. Anyway, lots of you have or will have morning sickness. Word on the street is that Preggie Pops (there are other brands as well) are miraculous for getting through morning sickness. They come in several flavors designed to eliminate nausea. I’ve heard that the ginger and lavender flavors work the best. You can even use them during labor to cure dry mouth. They taste better than ice chips.

Sleeping bras – One of the first symptoms of pregnancy that many of us experience is sore breasts. Very, very sore breasts that hurt a lot, especially in bed (and getting out of bed). Sleeping in a good, fairly tight sports-style bra (i.e. no underwire) will help ease the soreness you’ll experience during your first trimester. The soreness eventually goes away but a good bra is still essential. Your breasts are growing (if you haven’t noticed!) and need better support than your old, now-too-small bra is providing. And you need something without underwires for comfort – especially at night. Go to the maternity store or lingerie department and invest in a good, comfortable maternity bra or two or three.

Shea butter/cocoa butter – Again, many brands to choose from. The jury is out on whether or not these body butters really prevent stretch marks – but it doesn’t hurt to try! Your pregnant skin gets stretched out and dried out. Massaging your belly, breasts and thighs with these ultra-moisturizers is also a great excuse to relax for a few minutes and take care of yourself. You deserve it!

Fetal Doppler – Every four weeks, you go to the doctor’s office and wait impatiently to hear the swish-swish sound of your baby’s heartbeat through her Doppler machine.  There are sound monitors available at the baby stores but the “industrial-strength” fetal Dopplers work best. They are available for purchase or rent on the internet. Many moms and dads relish the sense of security provided by the ability to listen for the baby’s heartbeat during those weeks between doctor’s visits.

Exercise/birth ball – You may already have one of these large inflatable exercise balls at home. This is really an all-purpose product – you can use it while pregnant, during labor and post-partum. During pregnancy, sitting on the ball instead of a regular chair can help alleviate some low back pain. I had vicious sciatica with my first two pregnancies and the ball did the trick for me. Many women use the ball during labor as well – both to alleviate back pain and to help move the baby into birthing position. Post-partum use, of course, is for exercise. Enough said.

Information – The final and most important pregnancy “product” I can recommend is information. Whether it is in the form of books like What to Expect When You’re Expecting and The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy or websites like Womb to Bloom on the internet, the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby is to arm yourself with knowledge. The more you learn, the better decisions you will make and the less stressed you will be during pregnancy, labor and delivery.

Like I said before, not all of these products are going to be right or necessary for every mom. These are the big ones, for now. Until a brilliant pregnant woman dreams up the next big thing. And then we’ll all add that one to our can’t-live-without list.