These are some of the things that helped get me through my pregnancy. I’d love to hear what you would add to this list! 

1. Mother’s Special Blend Oil – This claims to tighten skin and prevent stretch marks. I’m not sure that it truly does that, however, I didn’t get any stretch marks so…genetics or oil? Jury’s out. The biggest benefit though was that my stomach never itched like a lot of pregnant women complain about. This oil is really moisturizing without being sticky or heavy. I love it so much that I still use it now after I shower and will happily continue using it, pregnant or not.

2. Apples – Towards the end of my pregnancy, immediately after I finally stopped vomiting, I had acid reflux. It didn’t matter what foods I avoided, any time I ate, I felt miserable. My sister told me about eating apples and sure enough! An apple or two a day helped my acid reflux! (To note: it worked best as a preventer, but did still work as a treatment if the reflux had already begun.)

3. Sprout app – I purchased this app early on in my pregnancy and I absolutely loved it! I could “see” my baby’s growth each week as well as his developmental milestones. It also includes medical tips, a hospital bag checklist, a to-do list, a planner for doctor visits, a kick counter, and contraction timer. I mostly loved every week checking the newest thing happening with my baby. I think this app is probably most exciting for the first-time mom who has nothing else to do but obsess over her growing child, but I think it would also be a fun app to use with older children who can understand the concept of a growing baby.

4. Cardigans – I didn’t like spending money on maternity clothes knowing I wouldn’t be in them long. So when cold weather hit, I layered my maternity tank tops (these were my favorite) with cardigans. I tried to maximize my regular wardrobe as much as possible and now, post-baby, I’m so glad I have regular clothes to wear again…and not many maternity clothes to put away! (My favorite maternity clothing stores are ASOS, H&M, and Liz Lange for Target. Because I’m a wedding photographer, I purchased several maternity dresses to wear throughout my pregnancy, but I also milked my high-waisted skirts for as long as possible.)

5. “The Pregnancy Countdown Book” – This was–hands down–my favorite book during pregnancy. There’s a page for each day of pregnancy including tips, “advice from the trenches” (from real moms), medical information from a board-certified OB, and general things to know. During a first-time pregnancy, this was especially invaluable as there were a million things changing in my body and it was nice to hear that what was happening was normal.

6. Water – It’s hard to make yourself drink water when you’re already peeing non-stop, but water helped alleviate my headaches and neck tension. Aside from the fact that it’s healthy and necessary and blah-blah-blah, I truly felt better when I’d get my high daily intake of water. I craved a lot of ice during my pregnancy (hello anemia) so I’d fill my water bottle with ice and water and sip/chomp the days away.

7. Jolly Ranchers – I had tasted these as a kid, but completely forgotten about them until they were at a wedding reception I was shooting. These became a staple for my purse and I just sucked and sucked on these darn candies!

8. Walking – Going from 6 days a week at the gym to 1 to 2 days a week was really hard for me. I missed being able to exercise like I used to, but at the same time, I just didn’t have the energy for it anymore. Getting out and going for walks helped keep me sane. The fresh air and exercise did wonders for me mentally and physically. I had a few different loops that I would walk and they were all between 3-5 miles. I’d try to walk at least 4 times a week and usually averaged between 12-15 miles a week. Towards the end, the biggest problem was that there were no bathrooms along the way. I will admit to squatting in the woods and praying no one would come along the path.

9. Prenatal yoga – I should’ve started these classes at the beginning of my pregnancy, but I didn’t begin until I was 28 weeks along. I had to stop teaching Pilates at 20 weeks (doctor’s orders) so I was desperate for a non-cardio workout that would be feasible and safe for me to do. The things I loved most about this class: meeting other moms-to-be, commiserating and sharing our fears/anxiety/excitement, equipping myself with breathing techniques and muscle strength to use during labor, and learning some poses that would keep me comfortable during pregnancy. Was it hard to drag myself to yoga at 6:30 at night when I just wanted to go to bed? Yes. But it was absolutely worth it every single week.

10. TempurPedic mattress – Okay, I realize you probably aren’t just going to go buy a mattress. It’s a pretty big investment. We were sleeping on a mattress that I had back in high school (and it had been purchased used at that point). I graduated 10 years ago…so we guessed it was between 15-20 years old. We were definitely in need of a new one and my pregnancy insomnia and discomfort prompted us to finally make the purchase. We had long been interested in a TempurPedic, but still looked around and tested out various memory foam mattress brands. We ended up purchasing one of the TempurPedic Cloud mattresses. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive and, boy, when it did, I slept!! Let’s just say I slept better at the end of my pregnancy than I had before I was ever pregnant. It is magic.

What were some of your favorite things to get you through your pregnancy?