Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Best Maternity Gear List


Must-Haves

Pregnancy Pillow
A bit expensive but a true life-saver!
For our 1st child I used my regular pillow, another behind my back, and another between my knees/supporting my tummy. It took about 10 minutes to get all of those pillows positioned just right…and then I’d have to get up to use the bathroom…and spend another 10 minutes getting everything back into position. Ugh!
When I was pregnant with our 2nd child, my awesome husband bought be a pregnancy pillow similar to the one below. I LOVE it!!! Mine is filled with soft bean-bag type pellets and has a cover that zips off.
It’s now been through 4 pregnancies (3 of mine and 1 of my sister-in-laws), has been washed and dried many times, and still looks and feels like new. I already have a head pillow that I love, so I tend to sleep with my pregnancy pillow forming a U-shape (supporting my tummy, my knees, and my back). It does take up quite a bit of room, but I’ve used it with a double bed, queen, and a king size. My husband calls it my “nest”’.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AP6QM3S/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AP6QM3S&linkCode=as2&tag=joyfu05-20

Pants Waist Extenders
To wear my regular pants at the beginning of my pregnancies, I looped a rubber-band through the button-hole and then looped the other end around my button.
A fancier option would be something like these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OCRZO8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005OCRZO8&linkCode=as2&tag=joyfu05-20
Or these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CKOYJ6U/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CKOYJ6U&linkCode=as2&tag=joyfu05-20

Maternity Belt
LOVE this! Great support when you’re walking/standing a lot. Easy on/off. Nice and stretchy.
We bought a fairly simple one for my first two pregnancies and then I lost it in the garage somewhere. My sweet husband bought me “the ultimate maternity belt” when I was pregnant with our 3rd, and I was happily surprised to find that it worked even better than the less-expensive version.

Maternity Jeans
For my first 2 pregnancies, I loved pants where the elastic came below my belly. For my next 2, after the 1st trimester, I preferred the elastic that came up and covered my belly and back because I felt like it added additional support (for when I wasn’t wearing my maternity belt).
This is one of those things that’s a personal preference. I recommend getting 1 pair of each type, trying them out for a bit, and then buying more of what you like best.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KZIZ2W/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008KZIZ2W&linkCode=as2&tag=joyfu05-20

Seamless Leggings
We’re Church-going folk, and as such I wear a dress once a week for Church services. One day while trying on dresses at Motherhood Maternity, the saleslady suggested I try leggings under the dress. I hadn’t worn leggings since Jr. High in the 80’s and couldn’t figure out why in the world I’d want leggings again. But the saleslady was so sweet that I tried a pair on. And discovered that they were super comfy, very supportive, and nice and warm for cold Utah winters. I bought a pair of black leggings and paired them with knee-high black boots and wore them under my dresses all winter during my 4th pregnancy.

Belly Butter
As it stretched, my tummy became quite itchy. For my first 2 pregnancies I just used my regular Jergen’s lotion. For my second 2 pregnancies I tried a sample of “Blooming Beautiful” lotion at Motherhood Maternity and absolutely loved the scent. Bought it, used it, loved it!
This also seems to be a popular one:

Nice-to-Have

Fetal Doppler
I’m a bit paranoid about my babies’ health and loved being able to monitor our 4th child’s heartbeat. This monitor was fairly inexpensive and worked really well for us from about the 17th week of pregnancy.

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