i promise this won't turn into a baby blog. well, maybe just a little.
but truth be told, the only thing i've wanted to eat for the past three months is pineapple, berries, and carrots. while my little nugget is slowly turning me into a vegetarian and is bound to have some killer eyesight (thanks carrots!) it leaves me with little material for this little food blog. unless you find it interesting that i can pretty much eat an entire pineapple in one day.
so instead, i bring you first trimester must-haves! otherwise known as what got me through the last three months....
1.
the body shop shea butter. every pregnant lady's biggest fear is stretch marks. and while science has proven that really, whether or not you're going to get stretch marks is pretty much whether or not you won the genetic lottery, i don't know a single preggo out there that doesn't stock up on the shea, cocoa, whatever butter in an attempt to ward off those oh-so-sexy purple lines. i happen to love the shea butter from the body shop. it's fair trade, smells awesome and isn't quite as pricey as some other lines out there. so at the end of the day, even if i end up with stretch marks, at least i smell good, right?
2.
yogi's mother to be tea. again, i'm not sure if this really works, but yogi's mother-to-be tea is said to promote a health pregnancy by preparing the uterus for child birth. it's main ingredient is raspberry leaf, which has traditionally been used by mid-wives and herbalist for centuries to prepare women for a healthy pregnancy and it also has spearmint, peppermint and fennel to help sooth any tummy aches you might have. i've been drinking this pretty much since the day we found out we were expecting and i haven't had any morning sickness. chalk that up to good luck, good fortune or this tea.
3.
basic women's stella maternity and nursing bra from target. ladies be prepared to look sexy. one of the biggest symptoms i had through out my first trimester were sore girls (dad, if you're reading this, you might want to skip this part). boy oh boy did they hurt and holy cow are they ginormous. i read somewhere that if you're going to buy a bigger bra, you might as well, just go ahead and buy nursing bras. they're more comfortable (aka no underwire) and they're practical since you can use them after the baby arrives too. that way you're not spending money on bigger bras and then even more money later on. i wish i had read this earlier, because i didn't pick one of these bad boys up until about a week ago, and it's the most comfortable bra on earth. it's also really affordable at target. now if only they could figure out how to make them slightly more attractive, right?
4.
Leachco Snoogle Total Body Pillow
i actually have a love-hate relationship with the snoogle. it really is the most comfortable pillow on earth. it's helped my back pain (due primarily to my much larger girls) and rumor has it, when the big ol' belly comes into play it gets even more helpful. there is one downside to it, for me anyways. i toss and turn. a lot. and flip back and forth between my left and right side. tossing and turning with a large body pillow is not as easy as one might think it is.
5. a pregnancy book. this seems like a given to any mom-to-be, right? well here's a little piece of advice. don't go buy every single pregnancy book out there. (i wanted to, i really did), but honestly at the end of the day, they basically all have the same information. find one, that suits you, buy it, read it and keep it as a reference guide. then move on. trust me, soon enough you'll start worrying about all the "how do i actually take care of a real live baby books" and forget all about the "what the heck is happening to my body books." (side note: do convince dad to be to buy a pregnancy book....he'll need it when you're crying for no reason and can't explain to him that all the raging hormones coursing through your body are making you a raving lunatic! husband really liked
The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be (New Father Series)
5.
my girlfriend nicole. i honestly don't know what i would have done without my girl, nicole. we only told family when we first found out, but husband quickly realized that i was going to need someone i could talk to, answer all my questions, ease all my fears, and honestly give it to me straight. one of the hardest things about being in portland during this time is that we don't have the support we would have had back in spokane. we don't have any family here and it's been much more difficult to meet people than we ever expected. i needed a support person to be there, through frankly a really emotional time for me. that was nicole. so i told her very early on and she has been my rock through the past weeks/months helping navigate all things pregnancy related. every single day, we text back and forth (she lives in LA, we're in Portland). she asks me daily, how i'm feeling, answers questions (she just had a little one last September, kaia, who is pretty much the cutest baby girl ever!) and has repeatedly told me "everything will be ok" "you'll figure it out" "trust your instincts." for some people, your "nicole" might be your mom, it might be your sister, or any other close girlfriend. it's someone, a daily presence who is there constantly reassuring you, checking in on you and making you feel special/ok/not like you're a crazy person. for that i'm forever grateful and i know she'll continue to be there for me through the next 6 months. nicole, you're a god-send!
so there you have it! my first trimester must-haves. i'm sure these vary from preggo to preggo, but this is what got me through those first 3 months.
**Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links
