Maternity Must Haves (1st Trimester)

I am now a few weeks into the second trimester , glory to God. The first was not too gentle on me…

We had an incredible December in California visiting family  in the snow and bay area, so when I started getting ill at the end of December, I figured it was from flying and changing my environment. When we returned from Florida, I couldn’t get out of bed. I was so sore and “sick” that I called into work most of that week. The moment I started feeling well enough to get out of bed, I was boarding flights to Guatemala for a mission trip… this is where the nausea started to creep in. Every second we had a break from ministry, it felt like I had eaten something bad or drank the undrinkable water. Thankfully, I was too in love with sharing the gospel, that the voices in my head saying “you should skip today” went away.  When I finally returned home mid January, I had a scheduled doctors appointment to get medicine for whatever sickness I had… this is where the doctor laughed and said, “you’re probably pregnant.”

I was over taking pregnancy tests. The last one I took was Christmas day because all I wanted was to find out when I had family around. So when it was negative (again,) I gave up on that family dream. When the doctors asked to verify my blood for pregnancy before issuing any medicine, I left before they had a chance to tell me “no.” It felt like the only thing worse than hearing it from a stick, was to hear it from a medical professional.

So, I got it my car, cried, drove home where my sister’s entire family was visiting, picked them up, and drove to Disney World. About half way to the park is when I got a phone call from those pesky medical professionals, with my family in my car, making all of my Christmas wishes to heaven come true.

I could glamorize how amazing the first trimester of growing a human inside of your body feels… but there was not an ounce of glam. Every scent in Disney World became my worst enemy, every song made me cry, and every kid made me anxious. The second I got that phone call, I began researching what the cans and can’ts are, and how the heck I was going to get through seven more months of my face being over the bathroom throne.

These are the things that have made it all better (or at least comfortable) until week 14:

Trader Joe’s Ginger Mints & Lemon Ginger Tea

I have tried to start off my mornings with a hot cup of herbal tea. The first teas I tried were just ginger, but the ginger AND lemon tastes the best to me! They make me feel at ease and refreshed. It’s also been amazing for nausea and sinus congestion. The mints I found in nearly every pinterest post, but I can only take a few a day before they’re ineffective with hunger nausea.

Room Freshener / Belly Lotion / Hand Sanitizer ?/ Fragrance Oil

 

My sensitive nose didn’t stop at just “bad smells,” it was offended by anything that didn’t smell clean. Some of our home cleaning products were too harsh smelling, but this J.R. Watkins room freshener in Coconut is gentle and natural smelling enough to use in my bedroom. One of our large dogs is sharing the bed with me, and although she is adorable, she is the cause of a lot of discomfort.

Luckily I stopped using perfumes and started using this fragrance oil from Whole Foods (thanks to the recommendation of Shay from Pretty Little Liars.) The scent she recommended was “Persian Garden,” which thankfully, I haven’t stopped loving.

As if I wasn’t already terrified of germs, learning about the pregnacy added an abundance of soaps and sanitizers in our home, cars, and pockets. My favorite travel sized ones have been the aromatherapy Stress Relief (eucalyptus spearmint) and Firework Fizz from Bath & Body Works.

I am not afraid or truly concerned about stretch marks, but I have heard of how itchy and dry your tummy can feel the second half of pregnancy. When I know change is coming, I try to change my habits immediately, instead of waiting to discipline myself later (which is also why i started sleeping with a preggo pillow on my  left side six weeks early.) The Burt’s Bee’s Belly Butter is a natural fragrance free formula containing Cocoa, Shea, and Jojoba Butters. After drying off from a shower, I apply it to all the places on my body that won’t stop growing.

Miracol Water Bottle & Zero Water Filter

 

I have had water bottles in my favorites before! Water is my favorite since it is liquid gold traveling to places that don’t have clean water sources. Not only does it save the earth having a water bottle, but you can save a lot of cash! Airports, movie theaters, and events all sell a single water bottle for basically the price of a case. We have the Zero Water filter in our fridge, and my new favorite bottle is the 32oz. Miracol bottle.

Target Maternity Leggings

 

 

Another “starting early” purchase, has been these leggings. Lets be honest, before the pregnancy I was barely fitting into my sausage casing of leggings. One of the cons of being a tall size 7: it’s either going to be perfect on the legs and tight on the hips, or perfect at the hips and huge on the legs. After buying these leggings, I may never go back to normal ones! The can be either above the belly, or folded below. [Maternity Over the Belly Legging – Liz Lange for Target $16.99]

 

I was going to share my favorite foods, but lets be real… no one wants to see or hear about food at this stage!

I hope that this was the slightest bit helpful to you or a loved one! I am excited to eventually share about remaining a vegetarian through this pregnancy, trimester favorites, the journey of basically going through it alone with my husband deployed,and all the amazing collaborations coming up!

xoxo

– Angel

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