Pregnancy top tips based on your experiences!

[Ponocky]

I was just thinking about the oodles of information I've read since becoming pregnant and how I wished someone had summarised the best bits for me right at the start.

Would anyone care to share their wisdom and tops tips to help us all navigate the weird and wonderful world of pregnancy? Maybe show the problem in bold so we can pick out things easily .

Mine are:

Peppermint tea is a very good remedy for constipation (). One cup in the morning should see you right by the evening.

Drinking 3-4 swigs of tonic water before bed normally stops you getting painful leg cramps in your sleep. If you do get struck by a cramp though, hop out of bed and do the stretch in the picture. Bend the knee of the leg that isn't cramping and It'll go away in seconds. Never point the toe of the cramping leg because you'll prolong the agony!

[annlee3817]

A glass of prune puree every night before bed sorted out constipation for me, I used to just make up a batch to last for a few days

Orange Rennies are amazing for heartburn and indigestion (Peppermint doesn't agree with me)

Pregnancy books - Kaz Cooke Rough Guide to pregnancy, great book - has a ruler to show you the size of baby each week and a really good blog for each week plus handy information.

Pregnacare vitamins made me sick, iron content in them is really high. I switched to Sanatogen Mum to be and was fine.

Don't buy stuff you don't really need (not essential), we wasted so much money on things that weren't really essential and should have just bought as we needed things.

[ILikeSalmon]

Have small pharmacy on your bedside table. I've needed paracetamols during weeks 14-24 for horrible headaches
Gaviscon tablets from weeks 20-now for horrendous heartburn
A constant supply of water for dry mouth
ETC
saves having to go "all the way" downstairs in the middle of the night

[SummerHouse]

Yoga. I think its what got me through birth drug free.

[Z0mbieBear]

I've been suffering from exactly this for the last 2 weeks so very grateful for the leg cramp tip Ponocky! No doubt will get the opportunity to try it tonight .

• Weetabix or similar supermarket brand every morning to avoid constipation - has helped me to get to get to end of pregnancy without issues
  

• As I never eat enough vegetables due to terrible sweet tooth, discovering (1) banana, (2 handfuls) spinach & (1 cup Alpro or similar) coconut milk smoothies (& 2 ice cubes) has been a lifesaver in terms of improving diet over pregnancy

[Ponocky]

@annlee3817, yes to orange Rennie's! I ate them every night for 'dessert' in my first trimester and have had some by my bed ever since! We joked that if I were having a boy we'd call him René because of how many I ate 😂

@Z0mbieBear, sorry you're struggling with the cramps. The stretch will definitely help get rid of it there and then. The tonic water should prevent them from occurring in the first place, around 95% of the time. It tastes so bad but it's worth it!

Thanks everyone else for your tips so far!