Hello first trimester, we meet again. The first trimester is filled with SO MANY emotions. Excitement from finding out you are pregnant, uneasiness with adjusting to life with a new baby, and the rush of hormones that are bringing fatigue, morning all day sickness, and many more daily changes to your body and lifestyle. You are not alone! I stumbled through my first pregnancy and this time around I feel like I’ve gotten some things figured out. Specifically, what you need to push through the first trimester of pregnancy. All the first trimester pregnancy essentials including: the best tasting prenatal vitamin, what you need to get more sleep, how to adjust to your changing body, and how you can already start planning for baby.
Want to see our pregnancy announcement for baby no. 2? Check it out here.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are number one of the first trimester pregnancy essentials. You have to take them and some are much much better than others. I have tried MANY prenatal vitamins in search of finding one that doesn’t taste like dirt, cough syrup, or make me even more sick than I already am. The VitaFusion Simply Good Prenatal is absolutely the best tasting prenatal vitamin. It seriously tastes like candy and you will look forward to taking them. Even more, they are a fraction of the price of other prenatal vitamins. They can be hit or miss to find in stores so I get mine on Amazon or pick them up at my local Walgreens.
Another prenatal plus that has been getting rave reviews is the Pink Stork Pro Prenatal Probiotic. Gut health is hard to maintain with so much changing and moving in your body. I can’t stress enough how important taking a probiotic is for you! Everything in your body starts in your gut so take care of it.
Curing Morning Sickness
As someone who has had nausea throughout my first (and second) trimester with both pregnancies, I know a thing or two about fighting through morning sickness. My best advice is to always be drinking cold water, avoid trigger foods and smells, and make ginger your new best friend. Having a large water bottle on hand and keeping it full is going to help you stay hydrated and ward off nausea. I personally like this Bubba or a Yeti so that it keeps it cold all day long. You’ll also want to get a bunch of these ginger drops, ginger tea, and ginger ale and use them whenever you start to feel sick.
If you don’t like ginger, they make a peppermint version or you can use peppermint candies. Canada Dry also now make a ginger ale with lemonade drink which I think is a lot tastier than regular ginger ale. Also, eat small meals or a snack every 2-3 hours so that you never get too hungry. That usually makes nausea worse. Hang in there! It gets much much better and it’s always worth it.
Getting Good Sleep
They say that you won’t get any sleep once the baby is here but let’s be honest, you don’t get any during pregnancy either. With ligament and back pain, restless legs, a baby kicking you, needing to pee three times a night, a growing stomach, and pregnancy induced insomnia, there is A LOT going on. It’s no wonder you aren’t getting any rest at night. So what can you do to improve it?
Get a pregnancy pillow. It is arguably the best first trimester pregnancy essentials item on the list. Your pregnancy will be forever changed and you won’t know how you slept without one before. I spent months wrestling 4 or 5 pillows trying to get comfortable every night. This is the one I’ll be getting for this pregnancy and it’s really affordable for the amount of comfort and relief you’ll have.
Use essential oils. If you don’t have a diffuser, you can find about a million of them on Amazon like this one. I prefer to diffuse them rather than put them on my skin since I have the nose of a bloodhound when I’m pregnant. The smell can be too strong and make me nauseous when they’re applied directly to me. My favorite scents to diffuse are peppermint, orange, lavender, and chamomile. It’s shown that a mix of oils actually is more beneficial than a single scent so don’t be afraid to mix them up and find what works best for you. I really like this Good Nite blend that already blends all the best sleepy scents for me. Whatever you get, be sure that in the ingredients it is a pure 100% oil.
There are a few other things that can help you get better sleep while you’re pregnant that won’t cost you a dime. The first is to stop drinking water two hours before you go to sleep so you aren’t making extra trips to the bathroom at 2am. Another is to spend at least 30 minutes winding down without any screens. Take some time to write down all the things that are running through your mind from the day so that you can get them out of your brain before you are trying to fall asleep. Journal a few sentences about how you’re feeling emotionally, physically, and mentally. It’s important to stay in touch with your body and your baby during pregnancy and you can take this time to slow down and connect.
Preparing for Baby
I didn’t read a lot of books throughout pregnancy, but two that I often referred to were What to Expect When You’re Expecting and the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. If you aren’t sure a symptom that you are experiencing is normal, these books are nice to have on hand.
#PregnancyProblems
Pregnancy is not always pretty. That quickly growing tummy brings stretch marks, those hormones make you go up two cup sizes overnight, and the pregnancy constipation is real. My favorite first trimester pregnancy essentials for these common problems are:
Bio oil is a really great healing and moisturizing oil that can prevent stretch marks and minimize the look of the ones already established through hydrating the skin. This is one of my favorites because you can ask your partner to rub it on your back and hips before bed – aka. you get a nightly massage.
Instead of getting all new bras, first try bra extenders. Sometimes you just need a little extra room, especially through the first trimester and it’ll save you a whole lot of money. You should also get a pair (or two) of comfy maternity sweatpants. You’ll be glad you had them especially through those postpartum months.
Lastly, the solution to the most not talked about problem: constipation tea. It happens to everyone during pregnancy and you deserve to be comfortable! Use this yummy tea whenever you need it.
That is it for my list of first trimester pregnancy essentials. Know that you are not alone in this journey. Leave a comment below about how you’re doing and how you are handling the daily struggles of growing a whole human. I promise we can get through the first trimester together. Let’s do this mamas!
