Pregnancy is such a beautiful thing, but it can also be really hard on our bodies! This post is somewhat TMI and not for the faint of heart, but I promise all of these quick recommendations are top notch if you are expecting. And don’t think just because you’ve already had a baby that you don’t need to read this … all of these I learned AFTER having number baby #1!
Nausea
I’ve been blessed not to suffer terribly from morning (or night) sickness. I struggled a little more with the nausea at the beginning of this third pregnancy compared to my first two. Powerade was seriously my best friend! And you need Powerade – not Gatorade (which is my usual go-to) – because of the B vitamins. I didn’t have enough nausea to warrant any type of medications or major changes to my life, so Powerade was awesome to help me stave off some of those not-so-great feelings, especially when chasing around two toddlers!!
Pregnancy Acne
Pregnancy acne is real! I have struggled terribly with it this third pregnancy! Maybe that means it’s a girl, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up; we’d be just as happy with a sweet, healthy little boy. It didn’t improve much until somewhere around the 24ish week mark, and I still have some struggles here and there in the mid-30 weeks. Salicylic acid is not usable during pregnancy, so I began a quest for a good glycolic acid face wash, lotion, scrub, toner, seriously anything that would help! I hadn’t had acne like this since high school!!!! I scoured Sephora’s & Ulta’s websites, spent hours in the store with a Sephora employee, asked my esthetician (who only had something crazy expensive that was just “okay”) and just researched my heart out online. I finally found this wash on Amazon, and I am seriously so thankful for it. While my pregnancy acne never disappeared completely, this helped improve it tremendously. I even had Chance put it on my back in the shower! It says to use it 4-5 times per week, and I would say that’s pretty accurate. I basically used it every night after cleansing my face while skipping it a night or so each week. It’s organic, and also contains AHA which is super beneficial for your skin. It smells really nice and has the teeniest amount of scrub to it. The listing also says that it helps with cystic acne, and I can attest to that 100%. I probably struggle with cystic acne in the chin area the most if I’m having any sort of flare-up, pregnant or not. It’s very reasonably priced, and I’m still using the original container I ordered. I might be looking into this brand’s products more once my pregnancy is finished; that’s how pleased I am with this product. I promise you – if you are struggling with any sort of pregnancy acne – you need this in your life!
Stretch Marks
My mom gifted me this oil for my “first” Mother’s Day before Hunter was born. I was around 13 weeks pregnant at the time, and I was still so shocked to be pregnant that I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. I started using it immediately and used it religiously until Hunter was born. They say pregnancy stretch marks are mostly genetic, but my mom has some bad stretch marks and so far, I have none – at least on my belly; my thighs and butt are a different story (maybe I should have been rubbing the oil there?!?). I swear this oil was part of what really helped. It also helped with the itchiness that is common during pregnancy as your skin is stretching. I didn’t use it as frequently during my subsequent pregnancies since my skin was already fairly stretched from the first go around. I highly recommend this product, though, because it can’t hurt to try to prevent those stretch marks! I will say it’s super greasy, and I hated that feeling. I would put it on at night as the very last thing before I went to bed and then wear an oversized t-shirt to keep it all in. I wiped it off in the morning because I could still feel it there. I would just follow up after that with regular hydrating lotion.
Tearing
My next top recommendation for pregnancy is this perineal balm. I just noticed during this third pregnancy that the directions actually say it’s for use after pregnancy while healing. I didn’t know about this magical ointment during my first pregnancy, and I had second degree tearing and hurt for weeks!! My doctor had to re-thread her needle while stitching me up (TMI but it’s the truth). I knew I didn’t want to go through all of that pain again during my second birth. I was willing to do anything to try to help that. I don’t remember where I heard or read about the perineal “prepping” from, but I honestly think this was a game-changer for my second birth. Gage was 2 lbs heavier than Hunter, and I needed only 2 stitches. Sure, you’re body “knows what to do,” but still – a bigger baby is a bigger baby! I mean, compared to the first time around, I basically had no recovery time. I swear it’s because of this balm and the prepping we did for the 6 weeks leading up to Gage’s delivery. I did not use it afterwards because I honestly didn’t know you were supposed to, but I may give it a try this next time if I feel I need it. I think I just honestly felt so much better for Gage that it didn’t even cross my mind. It’s organic and smells minty; sort of gives you a little cooling sensation. I find it’s out of stock frequently (at least on Target & Amazon), so don’t wait until the last minute to buy it. It won’t go bad!
The First Poop
Another important item is a stool softener. I told y’all we were getting close in this post 😉 But for real – all of my friends who had babies before me had told me that the first poop after birth was tough. I thought I was prepared for it because they had warned me …… but y’all – I was SO NOT prepared. I was home already (after a 48 hour hospital stay) when it happened. I had to ask Chance to come hold my hand, and I just cried. I know this was made worse by all of the stitching from the tear, but it is seriously one of the most painful memories from childbirth that is forever etched into my memory. I have made it my mission to inform, but not scare, every new mom who needs to know the importance of preparing for this event ahead of time! I mean, obviously it wasn’t bad enough to keep me from having another baby, but I swore I would be more prepared the next time. For babies 2 & 3, I started taking a stool softener around week 34. Make sure to ask your own doctor if they are okay with this for you as I’m not a medical professional and what my doctor says is okay for me may not be for someone else. I never really struggled with constipation during pregnancy, but this would also help if you’re struggling from that. I start around week 34 with just 1 pill per day (and y’all – I just use the Target brand). Around week 36, I increase it to 2 per day. By week 37 or 38, I’m at the max recommendation of 3 pills per day. When I tell you I had the easiest poop a few hours after delivery with Gage, I’m not even joking. I was in the hospital bathroom thinking “that’s it?!? Man that was easy!”… so please take my advice on this if no one has mentioned this to you yet!!
I know this was short and sweet and not a lot of items, but these are just some of the products that I am so passionate about sharing with mommas! They made my pregnancies and deliveries so much easier and I want everyone to reap the benefits 🙂
