Things I Could Not Live Without This Pregnancy (So Far):

Since I have now hit my third trimester and time is flying by so fast, I thought it would be nice to document the things I just could not live without throughout the first two trimesters of this pregnancy. I am now in my third trimester and have been for a couple of weeks, so I will not include any new things that have been added to my "pregnancy must-haves." I will explain what I used each of them for and why I loved them so much.

The List:
1. My husband- Obviously, I could not have done this without him. He has been amazing through it all. I do have to add him in this list since he was the one that used this stuff (on me) just as much as I did. He has cooked me numerous meals when I have been so exhausted and starving. He makes sure I take my pills, and he always makes sure I am eating right and enough, as well as drinking plenty of water. He's pretty much awesome!

2. Bath time- This is another odd one. In the beginning of my pregnancy, I could not get enough warm baths. I absolutely loved them, and they were so relaxing. I never took them for aches and pains. I simply loved the water. It was something about laying in the water, letting my body float to the surface, and being as still as possible to not set off the automatic light that made this time a memorable and nice time. I also read my books during this time. It was nice and peaceful. Then, as I grew, showers became just as great. I just loved to be in the water. And most of the time that I felt the baby move the most was when I was in water. As I got bigger and bigger, showers were my only option since I could not pull myself up from the bath even with the handles. Mr. Man would (and still) have to come up when I was ready to get out and help me out. (Another reason why he has been absolutely amazing!)


3. One size too big boy cute undies- This was one of the very first things that I went to in the pregnancy. During the day when I was out and about, I wore my normal panties. But at night, I felt the need for granny panties. I know this kind of starts to get TMI, but it was for numerous reasons. Whenever you get a size to big, they not only grow with you, you can wear them around the house without having to put on another pair of shorts or pants. I stayed hot in the house a lot, so it was so comfy for me without having everything hanging out. At night, it was convenient because when I would grow and have leukorrhea, it made it more comfortable.

4. Hard Candies and Light Snacks- I am just going to combine these two because they basically were used for the same purpose. In the beginning, I would always get hungry while I was out and about. No matter if I ate right before I left and had only been gone for an hour. I was always needing a snack. I used the hard candies to tie me over until I could get home if I was heading home right away. I switched out the type of candies in order to not get tired of them and get sick of them, and I only would use 1 or 2 at a time. Never ever overindulged on these. I used the light snacks, which consisted of mixed nuts, crackers, trail mix, pretzels, etc. for when I knew I would not be gone long but long enough to need something. I also used them for when I would get car sick, which I did on long trips. I also used them as emergency food when we were far from a food source.

5. Lotion- I use 3 different kinds of lotions, and they all serve their own purpose. It also depends on my mood.
     Coco Butter- I used two different types of Coco Butter. I used the original, more thick version and the creamy one. I used the thick one for night time because I did not have to wait for it to dry before I put on my clothes. I could go straight to bed without feeling wet. I used the creamy version for during the day. I always would put it on and leave my shirt propped over my belly. It was more soothing because of it being creamy. It was also colder, so that added to the relaxing feeling of it on me.
      Jergens Ultra Healing- I used the Jergens whenever I had really dry skin. When I started looking scaly on my back and stomach, this is when this one came in handy. I absolutely loved it. It was soothing and definitely did it's job.
      Avon Shea Itchy Lotion- Ok, really I don't know the name of it, but I know it's from Avon and it has Shea in it. I also know it is for dry, itchy hands. I had a bottle of this because it is generally what I carry in my purse. It was used mostly for my stomach. It is travel-sized, so I could throw it in my purse or gym bag and apply it any time my back or stomach got itchy. I also used it several times at night because showers dried me out even more. Since I take showers at night before bed, this came in handy.

6. Coco Butter Body Oil- I used the Coco Butter Body Oil in the bath tub and shower. In the beginning, when I was taking lots of baths, I would put a couple of drops of this into my water when my body was dried out. I did not do this everyday because then it would have made my whole body oily. I definitely did not want that. As I started to take showers, I would just squirt a couple of drops on my stomach and rub it in, then rinse a bit off. I hate feeling icky and oily, so I always rinsed under the water. But it never took away the moisturizing affect.

7. Sugar Whipped Scrub- I used this for my chest. I had a itchy patch on one side of my side, and it would get really bad whenever my boobs would grow or get fuller. It would dry out this one little patch, and the patch would get super itchy. This happened throughout my first two trimesters fairly regularly. It happened about every 2 weeks and would last for 2 or 3 days. The sugar whipped scrub helped to exfoliate and moisturize the skin. It is an all natural scrub, too!

8. Benadryl Cream- Whenever the sugar whipped scrub did not work, I would apply a very small amount of this cream to my chest. Just enough to cover the area that was bothered with a thin layer. I used this about 5 times, but it was still a lifesaver. Whenever I would go to bed, sometimes the sugar whipped scrub with lotion was enough. But then I would wake up in the middle of the night scratching it, so that is when I realized I need to do something about it. If not, I would have scratched it until it bled. (Yes, that happens!) Thankfully, the benadryl cream saved me from it getting worse or me aggravating it.

9. Doppler- We loved the doppler. This was for sure one of our favorite things to do during this pregnancy - listen to the baby every night. We really enjoyed it, and it always brought a big smile to our faces. With this, we used KY Jelly and Baby Oil to help guide it on my stomach. The doppler in itself explains just how important it is!

10. Books- I have read so much since being pregnant. All about being pregnant, what to expect from pregnancy, birth, and the first year, and breastfeeding.
        What to Expect When You are Expecting- Of course, I love this book. I also had a week by week guide, but I prefered the What to Expect book. It was done by weeks and months, so I could sit down right before those weeks (or that month) started and read about what to expect and how to treat it or what to worry about or how I should approach things or what I should be thinking about for that month. It also showed pictures of the progression. I loved it.
        The Motherly Art of Breastfeeding- I read this book because I am dead set on breastfeeding. I am definitely being open-minded about what can happen, but overall I really want it to work out. I read this book because many people had recommended it to me, and said that it gave a subtle yet realistic approach to breastfeeding. That was very true. It explains everything. It explains the reasons behind problems, how to fix them, why you may have problems, etc. It gives great advice of who to talk to, how to help your husband understand and cope, and many other things. It also provides the changes as the baby gets older, up to a year old.
       Like I said before I read a lot of books. I will not list them all because some of them were small or I found something else to be better. But I read a week by week guide, which was neat to see what would happen that week. I read a book about why I should nurse, which was very helpful. I read books on baby products, necessities, and other things. I read a book on birthing. Another on postpartum. I felt all of them had their place for me. I was able to take something away from all of them.

11. Calendar and Journal- I used both of these to document the milestones. I am still using them obviously. The book allows for aversions and cravings along with weekly pictures. It has a section for you to document your appointments and things you were doing during that week. The calendar I used for appointments and measurements, along with milestones. I would recommend doing both. They each serve their own purpose!

12. Proactiv- This is the big one. Once I hit my second trimester, I began breaking out really bad. I tried to change my foundation and other makeup supplies. I tried changing my cleaner. I tried cleaning my face more often, then not so often. I tried cleaning my makeup brushes more often. I tried it all. I really did not want to have to resort to Proactiv, but it finally came down to that. And I am so glad I did! It is amazing. I just hope that it is not too harsh after the birth and I go back to normal (if I go back to normal). It has stopped my breakouts, and now it is removing the scarring from it. Definitely a good product for me right now.

So these are the things that I could not live without. Most of them, I would have never thought I would have needed or been interested in. Others, I sort of planned to use them or have them. Later on, I will do a list of things that people swore by that I did not find helpful. A lot of which has to do with my size, but nonetheless was pointless for me.

So far, this is where I am. I am currently 28 Weeks pregnant, and time is flying by way too fast!

I hope everyone has a great Monday and a fantastic week!