First & Second Trimester Faves :: Products I'm Loving

11.12.2014



I always love reading up on favorite products or tips people have regarding pregnancy and motherhood. With this being our last week of the second trimester, I figured I'd take some time to share my own favorite products that I've used over the past 27 weeks. Our family has definitely shifted over the years to a mindset of quality over quantity, which has fueled my desire to not waste money on things that aren't going to hold up well/be useful for a longer season. All these things have proven their worth and have been helpful through the first two trimesters.  Hopefully a few of my momma friends can make use of these little finds (or store it away for later) to have easier pregnancies of their own. I know these things certainly have made mine more enjoyable.

1. Bumped by Blanqi Support tanks- I actually had Blanqi's postpartum tanks back stateside and then forgot to bring them here. Sadness abounded. But not to fear, when I went to buy the maternity tanks from target, they were half off! So I was able to get exactly what I needed and recover my losses. Sadly, they dont appear on target.com anymore, but I know you can get them elsewhere.  I now have the maternity tank and postpartum tank in my arsenal for when the time comes. I've been loving the bit of extra support the pregnancy tank gives. Plus, I didn't have a bellyband, and it has one sewn in, which allowed my 25 week self to still wear a few pairs of my favorite jeans. All this to say I love these tanks. They're long, offer a great deal of support for my belly and have great fabric.

2. The Pregnancy Countdown-I rented this from the library stateside and really enjoyed it, so I picked it up this time around from bookdepository.com, an online bookstore that ships here free. It's been a fun read each week, even for a second time mom. Plus its got a dash of humour, which I'm always one to enjoy.

3. Unisom/B6- I'm not sure if this combo helped with the nausea as effectively as with Eowyn's pregnancy, but it did help me sleep at night through sickness. Bed time was my favorite time of day through those first three months. Unisom still makes its appearance here and there and the b6 certainly kept me from upchucking a few times. Check with your doctor obviously before taking it, but it was recommended to me by my OB back stateside.

4. Vick's Humidifier. You'd think living by the sea would make for some pretty humid homes, and in many ways it's true. But with how well insulated Finnish homes are, the air gets dry really quick. So... Bloody noses. They suck and I get them a lot when pregnant. Putting a humidifier by our bed has helped majorly with this and the sore throat. Plus we saved ourselves from having to buy one once our boy arrives.

5. AngelSounds Sonar Doppler-I read on several forums that women who had gone through miscarriages were particularly blessed with this little doppler. While it's a bit controversial, (Due to the problems that arise when untrained people use medical equipment, midwives often discourage use. It's not to be used as a diagnostic tool.) I  went ahead and bought it in hopes to get to hear our little ones heart. Before I could feel him kick, I enjoyed getting to find my little nuggets heartbeat in between appointments . We used it sparingly, just incase, but it saved Ben from hour long conversations reassuring me everything was alright. Plus, is there any better sound than that little heartbeat? I don't think so. I was able to find the heartbeat by 12 weeks, but the box says it takes till 14. (I bought ours from amazon.uk, and don't see the same one on amazon.com, but I'm sure it's available elsewhere.)

6. Doterra Deep Blue Essential Oil-This is a recent favorite. When my parents came they brought with them a Doterra Physicians Kit starter set that I bought from Amazon. Medicine here is really hard to come by (even tylenol in certain doses is prescription,) and after having so many weeks of sickness, and being limited in what I can take because of baby, I got a little desperate. So we hoped on the Essential oil bandwagon. The oil by itself seems a little pricey, and I bought the kit from one of the cheaper vendors on amazon so it was a better deal. I wasn't expecting to love this particular oil so much, but I do. It helps tremendously with the achyness, so I'm a big fan. It's like a duller version of biofreeze, if you've ever used that.

7. Peppermint Altoids. My overconsumption of these ditties through this pregnancy can be proven by my daughters habitual need to have a 'minnn?' as soon as we leave the house. For the first several months, every time I walked out of our abode, the scents of the world outside would have me digging for these sweet little spheres. Ben's mom even shipped them express when I couldn't find them here. Talk about the save of the century. I use them when I get motion sick as well.

8. BumpNest Pregnancy Pillow-I've made mention of this sweet gift from the heavens before, and I'll mention it again. I didn't have a pregnancy pillow last pregnancy, but I'm so glad I do this time around. BumpNest was one I wanted back stateside and I was able to get it here as well. I was super glad and have been loving it ever since. Apparently it makes for a great nursing pillow as well, so I look forward to testing that out.

9. LifeFactory Water Bottle- Ben, Eowyn and I kept sharing one water bottle, so during the first week of living here, we picked this up and I've been loving it.  I like it so much so that I went and bought Eowyn a sippy cup version. I don;t think I've ever gotten so many compliments on a water bottle as I do on this one. Plus its easy to clean, and my nalgenes are known to get mysterious grey matter on the bottom of them toward the end of their life, so I'm grateful to be able to have a wide mouth bottle and to be able to clean it easy.

10. MamaLicious Maternity Coat-Wasn't sure if I was going to need this...and...yes I need it. Having a summer baby has major advantages regarding saving money on buying clothing. But I'm a big fan of the coat I bought and use it everyday. Since we're outside in the elements everyday for an hour or more, I'm glad I went for it. I'm hoping I can use this coat to snuggle in our little boy in a wrap when he comes. It'll hopefully have a bit more room to accomodate.

11. MAMA Maternity Pants-First pregnancy I prided myself on how long I could go without maternity pants. This time, with bending over constantly with Eowyn and the sense of sickness when clothes are too tight,  I was trying on my maternity pants right into the transition from 1st to 2nd trimester. No need to wait till 20 some weeks and I'm never looking back. I really like H&M's maternity line and these jeans have been worn pretty much every day.

12. Vitamin Code Raw Prenatal-I started taking these after watching this video from a blogger I really like, Mama Natural. While I often just bought whatever prenatal was cheapest, I really never felt like it did anything for me. I've really liked these. While the taste is weird to me (Ben says he can't taste anything but they taste pretty earthy.) and I struggled through taking them during the first few weeks, They've got everything I need. I can notice a difference when I take them VS. not, which says something.

13. Contented Baby & Toddler- I picked this up at the library when looking for books to help with the transition from one to two littles. I actually am really loving the practical nature of this book. The author, Gina Ford even writes out routines and such for managing two littles (which all of you who know my A-type personality, know that I eat this stuff up.) Plus, I like that while she assumes common sense, she still goes into detail about things.

14. Method Cleaning Products-I found a store nearby that sells method cleaning products, and more out of my love of Target and the familiarity of them, I purchased a few. The smells however have been great, they're non-toxic and I can actually read the labels, which is more than I can say for most other products here. I'm a fan.

There you have it. Any mommas have a few more items that didn't make it to the list? I'm always excited to hear the wisdom of my pregnant comrades.

Cheers to Third Trimester!

2 comments :

  1. I will be thoroughly reading all of this once the time comes! I'm lucky I get to learn from all your mamma wisdom. :-)

    ReplyDelete