Products you couldn’t live without in pregnancy?

[Mousefunky]

Just wondering if anyone has any ‘must have’ pregnancy products they have found invaluable?

For me so far it’s:
Maternity pillow- so comfortable I could wrap myself up in it and stay there forever .

Doppler- I know they seem controversial to own but after two missed miscarriages, mine has been invaluable at ridding me of anxiety. I only started using it at 14 weeks.

Burts bees mama bee belly butter- I don’t believe creams can stop stretch marks and already have some from DC1 but this one makes my skin so soft and stops my bump itching.

Pukka pregnancy tea- it’s just so nice and helps me relax at night.

Hot water bottle- paracetamol don’t work for me and I don’t want to pop them like sweets either so this has hugely helped my sore back/pelvis/tummy.

Deflatine rennies for trapped wind .

Anyone else?

Ondansetron for nausea - 35 weeks and still taking 1-2 daily

Gaviscon

Serola belt for SPD

Pregnancy pillow

Twice weekly Physio appointments

I'm pregnant not sick but they sure as fuck feel pretty similar. 4 weeks to go...

Oh and best money spent by far has been on the private obstetrician booking in my ELCS for 39 weeks. Hurrah for fixed end dates!!

Rennies. Tons of the fuckers.
Tea.
Body pillow for bed.
I’d like to say anti emetics but since none of the damn things worked they don’t make the essential list.

not an illness HAHAHAHAH.... at my worst I vomited SEVENTY plus times in a day. Seventy. Try that, and tell women who have HG it’s not an illness.

I was so dehydrated they had to get several different people to have a crack at getting a line in. Think it took them 12 tries. God it was miserable.

Pregnancy in and of itself isn’t an illness, but the stuff pregnancy can trigger sure as hell is. And a lot of it is life threatening - pre eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and even HG. And there’s nothing you can do to prevent things like HG, if you have it you have it.

I now have SPD and have gone from running half marathons on no training to needing help on the stairs at home. So that’s shit too.

So the ‘all natural’ brigade can have a large raspberry from me. Pregnancy can be utterly shite.

Admittedly I’ve been super lucky to have a boring, straight forward pregnancy so far!
Other than vitamins, def comfy maternity PJs are appreciated, ones with the build in extra pouch for bump. A few soft maternity / nursing bras from H&M which I can wear during the day and also sleep in, plus they wash up lovely. Pretty much living in them.
I didn’t get a maternity or full body pillow but I did buy a V pillow from Groupon which is amazing. Use that all the time and even take it with me when I sleep at someone else’s house! If I need a bit of extra hip support I just use a normal pillow between my legs but the V is amazing for back support and sleeping on. So snuggly!
Also I had a maternity massage not long ago and am booking another soon! Absolute bliss.
Plus I found a brand called Just4Mums in b&m stores who make a body cream and oil for stretch marks. They are like a £ each, plus cruelty free, so I snapped up 6 bottles of creams and oils.
Other than those bits, just endless chocolate, biscuits, bread, pasta.....basically all the carbs ever

Lactulose. So much constipation

• Pregnancy pillow
• Subscription to hypnobirthing website with downloadable MP3s - send me to sleep every single night
• Almond oil to rub on my bump. Smells divine (still got a billion stretch marks though)
• Debenhams 'full brief' underwear, two sizes up. SO comfortable
• Chewable magnesium tablets. Have really helped reduce my leg cramps at night

Peptac liquid. I have 3 bottles a week on prescription, the acid is that bad.
Iron tablets on prescription. My iron levels dropped so low I was threatened with transfusions so the tablets are a godsend.
Lactulose - because, iron tablets!
Crutches and hip support belt - SPD means that some days that’s the only way I can walk at all.

So yes, hooray if you don’t need anything and pregnancy isn’t an illness, but pregnancy can CAUSE illness and if you need help there is no shame in it.

On a more basic note, I couldn’t live without a daily hot bath and my craving satisfying pink lady apples.

Ooh come on you lot pregnancy isn't an illness you know, get on with it! Even you, Ms I've been sick seventy times a day, you're pregnant not ill.

FFS how ridiculous. Slow clap for @happymummy12345 . Aren't you lucky, and smug?

On a separate note OP please don't trust your Doppler. There's a reason they are recommended against and the Kicks Count charity are running a petition to ban them.

My must haves have been my pregnancy pillow, a cold air humidifier for at night (helps with the constant stuffy nose), comfy maternity pjs and maxi dresses in this weather. Orange squash too, and I normally hate squash!

Love my 9 foot pregnancy pillow (from Amazon). Also agree with big full briefs, and I bought some pj bottoms a couple of sizes up which are so comfortable. Antacids in my handbag and car. Coconut oil to soothe stretching skin.

Tubigrip and hip belt for SPD pain. And crutches.
Omeprazole for heartburn, and a folded blanket under the head of the mattress
Percy Pig sweets (other brands are available)

Angel delight, makes everything better!

Plus ice cold banana milk, to help with burning heart burn.

Palmers stretch mark cream (the people who make cocoa butter) - much quicker to soak in than Bio-oil and loads cheaper.

Slightly off point but raspberry leaf tea. Doesn't work for everyone but I felt it helped me last pregnancy so am starting it again this time at 32 weeks.

Agree with the Gaviscon but loads of smaller bottles - one at work, one on the dining table, one by the bed, one for the hospital bag....

Birth ball - made sitting with a transverse baby / getting baby position shifted much more comfortable but I did have to wrestle older child off it as he also loved it.

I have a pregnancy pillow but got mine 2nd hand from Facebook for £10. I couldn't justify buying one new this time.

So far the online hypnobirthing course from The Positive Birth Company and Asda over the bump jeggings for £10 a pair - managed to get black ones that looked smart enough for work too.
Bought a pregnancy pillow at a baby show but haven't really got on with it and it currently lies on the floor beside my bed!

I plan on keeping and using my maternity pillow even after pregnancy, it’s just sooo snug. DP isn’t the biggest fan of it but he’ll have to deal with it .

I don’t rely on my Doppler for reassurance and still pay attention to my body. I purely use it for the days when my anxiety is rife even though I have no real reason to be anxious as I feel fine and have felt baby kicking. It’s been helpful following missed miscarriages because I didn’t bleed or have pain so I’ve panicked throughout that, despite ‘normal’ scans, the same would happen again.

Agreed with big Bridget Jones knickers . Going to try almond oil.

I've got a V pillow from Ikea that cost a tenner for the cushion and a cover

Ginger tablets - only thing that eases the bloating for me!

Support belt and weekly chiro visits for SPD (I swear my chiro is the only reason I'm still on my feet at 33+3)

Gel ice pack - works much better on my back than heat. Bit of a revelation actually! Also ideal for this heat

old man trouser braces! I found i wanted to hitch up under the bump jeans and over the bump was just too big on the waist again, saved my sanity! I wore them under my tops so people saw minimum of them but was the best idea my DP had!

Peptac liquid. I have 3 bottles a week on prescription, the acid is that bad.
Iron tablets on prescription. My iron levels dropped so low I was threatened with transfusions so the tablets are a godsend.

Just as an FYI, the antacids do reduce the absorption of the iron quite a bit. It’s worth asking the doc if a more long lasting medblike ranitidine or olmeprazole (which still reduce absorption a bit) would be better for you.
If not, grit your teeth and take the iron with orange juice. The acid is hellish but if you can wait an hour before you take the antacids it’ll help the iron absorption a little.

Fellow alien-level acid / anaemic pregnant lady here :)

My wedge cushion. Didn't get on with giant pregnancy pillow but can't sleep without my wedge shaped one under my bump

Cushion in the car to keep my back comfy (long commute)

McDonalds

NCT class & particularly NCT friends

Birth ball

Milk & gaviscon

Dates and dried mango

Giant knickers

For me it was the Doppler and the Gaviscon! And hot milk and honey every night :-)

Prenatal vitamins and some maternity clothing. I think I've been quite lucky so far. I brought a V-shaped pillow from Ikea but it's just ended up annoying me more so than helping so I just put a cushion between my legs if I need it now while trying to get to sleep.

Placemark!!! Going to need this thread soon all things well..

Sparkling water with lots of lemon!!

M&S crisps in all different shapes- best crisps on the planet

My industrial sized fan

Prescription nausea meds 🤢it's not been a fun ride so far.

Vicks vaporub under my nose! Helps with constant nausea!

And probably most importantly my baby on board badge as I commute into London every day and it's hell on Earth feeling like you're going to puke the whole journey in! People tend to give you more space when they see the badge.

I'm only 14 weeks, so I'm sure there's more to come but so far it is:
-stretchy floaty summer shorts from fat face

• multipack massive pants from an array of supermarkets
• several sick receptacles (currently a mix of popcorn buckets and washing up bowls), left in convenient places such as cars, my desk at work, different rooms in the house. This came after several weeks of bags for life use and disposal
• a nice smelling hot wheat bag for lower back pain
• peppermint tea, mango, and salt and chilli chips from the Chinese!

Lol at pregnancy isn't an illness and everyone's comments about it 😂.
Being tired isn't an illness either, doesn't mean you shouldn't sleep to relieve it..

xx

Pregnancy’s not an illness!!
Tell that to the 3 ambulances and my poor partner giving me cpr after I have a seizure in the bath and nearly drowned at 8 weeks pregnant!
HG and severely dehydrated/ over heated in bath- yes only I could end up so I’ll from dehydration surrounded by water!

What I can’t live without;
Ondansetrin
Cyclizine
Buccastem (all for sickness)
Lactalose (constipation caused by the above)
Pregnancy pillow
Gaviscon tablets
Rennies
And bread a shit ton of plain white bread.

Some people are made for breeding and some aren’t. Left to my natural self I would have died off- natural selection and all that!
Taking this as a sign 1 baby is more than enough.

*ill