There are A LOT of products out there for pregnant women. But the truth is, you don’t need all that stuff. However, there are a precious few products that us pregnant ladies could not survive without. In this post I’m going to tell you about the 4 things that saved my life during my pregnancy.
4 Things that Saved my Life During my Pregnancy
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Pregnancy is amazing. Without a doubt, I’ve had an incredible experience these past nine months. I’ve loved feeling my baby move and planning for his arrival. However, at times, pregnancy isn’t totally blissful. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s confusing. And sometimes we need some help.
And there’s no shortage of help out there. Everyone wants to sell us something that will make us more comfortable, more relaxed, less stressed. But my friends, not only do we not need all that stuff, we probably won’t even use most of it!
I personally think there are just a few very special products that really make a difference. Here they are:
1. Birth Ball
A birth ball is really just a big exercise ball. If you use it while you’re pregnant it magically becomes a birth ball. 🙂
You can see what one looks like here.
Hubby and I actually had an exercise ball that we’d bought years ago, so I didn’t even have to go out and buy this one. I read about how helpful a birth ball could be early on in my pregnancy but I didn’t really think it’d make that big of a difference, so it took me a while to actually use it.
About halfway through my pregnancy, I started getting this awful sciatica back pain. It was super uncomfortable to sit, stand, lay down. I could not find a comfortable position. Sometimes it was so bad that I felt like I couldn’t walk. It was this incredible jolting pain up my back and all the way down my leg.
Out of desperation, and inability to actually sit anywhere else, I pulled out our old exercise ball and started using it as a chair. It felt pretty comfortable to sit on. And it was remarkably easy to get up from because it give you a little bounce.
Then, the next morning, I woke up without the incredible back pain that had been terrorizing me for months.
It seemed to good to be true.
But I kept sitting on it. And it kept working.
And even when my back pain would start to come back in the afternoons — after I probably tried to do too much that day– I’d sit on my birth ball and the next morning I’d wake up and the pain would be gone.
These birth balls are supposed to have a ton of other benefits as well. They can help you move your body and ease your pain during labor. I’ll totally be trying that when my baby’s birthday comes. They can help you sit up with a posture that helps your baby align with your body for birth. You can also use them for actual exercising.
But if you have felt any kind of pregnancy back pain, the relief this ball can give you blows all that other stuff out of the water. I highly recommend it.
2. Snoogle
Funny name, I know. A Snoogle is pregnancy body pillow, and basically the best one out there.
For me, a likely for you too, sleeping is the hardest part of being pregnant. It is just so hard to get comfortable. And once you finally do, you have to get up to pee. Then the cycle starts again.
A Snoogle can really help with the getting comfortable part. The bottom part of the Snoogle goes between your legs and wraps around your back. (Am I the only one who cannot stand my knees touching each other all of a sudden?) The middle of the Snoogle can go under your baby belly, which is super helpful when your belly starts getting bigger and you’re trying to fight that awful gravity feeling. And the top part wraps around your head so you can use it as a pillow.
My Snoogle gave me a few extra moments of precious sleep, for sure.
You can see exactly what a Snoogle looks like here.
3. Mama Bee Belly Butter
Gosh, there are a million things out there promising to prevent stretch marks. Some are super expensive. Some are full of nasty chemicals that you might not want to be rubbing on to the part of your body that’s holding your baby.
Then, there’s this stuff.
It’s made by Burt’s Bees. You probably already know that their stuff is good. As a bonus, Burt’s Bees is also 99% natural.
They have a whole line of Mama Bee stuff for pregnant mamas. I’ve tried a few of the other things, and yeah they’re great, but the Mama Bee Belly Butter is by far the best.
I’ve got to be honest. I don’t even remember to put this on every day. I’d say, since I started showing, I have used it every other day at most.
But there is not a single stretch mark on my stomach!
I’ve been using the same container of it throughout my entire pregnancy. At 38 weeks, I’m finally starting to run out.
And it’s pretty affordable.
I highly recommend you try it out!
4. MamaBaby Birthing
This is something that I could honestly not imagine my pregnancy without. It was such a good purchase, and I’ve gotten my money’s worth many times over.
MamaBaby Birthing is an online natural birthing class that covers everything you need to know about how to have a natural birth, and SO MUCH MORE.
Kristen, the teacher of the course, is a student midwife and mama to 8 babies of her own. She is extremely knowledgeable about all things pregnancy, birth and baby.
She walks you through in detail how to have a healthy pregnancy and exactly how to prepare your body for birth. It’s self-paced and totally online, which really worked for me because I was way too tired by 7PM to actually leave my house and go to a childbirth class.
So, in itself the course is awesome. But it also comes with something else, that I really consider priceless.
Every week, Kristen holds a live Q&A call. It’s online or you can call in from your phone. And during this call you can ask her ANYTHING YOU WANT about pregnancy or birth.
If you can’t make the live call, you can email her the questions ahead of time and listen to the recording of the call whenever you have time.
These calls were really a lifesaver for me. This is my first pregnancy. I wanted to know if all these weird symptoms were normal. I was able to ask super personal questions – without actually having to ask someone I know in real life. Let me tell you, it saved me many calls to my doctor about little things.
I recently completed the course (because self-paced for me means super slow) and I’m feeling prepared and confident for my baby’s birth. That’s something that money can’t buy.
I really cannot recommend MamaBaby Birthing enough. You can check it out here.
A final word
You’re going to need some room in your budget when baby gets here. So, don’t get excited and buy all the pregnancy junk on the market.
Stick to the things that are really going to make a big difference.
Consider the 4 things that saved my life during my pregnancy. But also, ask your friends what really worked for them. Then, try the things that you think will really work for you.
Keep Reading: 5 Easy Ways Moms Can Get Free Baby Stuff
What other products have you tried that are pregnancy lifesavers? What has been a waste of money? Let us know in the comments below.
loved these suggestions. some of them i had never heard of. it’s so fun to see what other people like! i am with you on the body pillow. i didn’t have that one but it looks awesome! two of my favorite things? treating myself to comfier shoes! and also splurging on a couple pedicures and agreeing to the upsale of the more extravagant treatment. you know. since my feet were working double time!