My Pregnancy Must Haves

With our son still only being 11 weeks old it's not hard for me to cast my mind back to being so huge that I could barely walk and definitely couldn't see my feet but pregnant and happy!
I never thought I'd get the chance to feel all of the amazing things that I felt. I didn't feel like I deserved to feel kicks and to get a growing stomach because my body had been so reluctant to get pregnant in the first place but when we found out our IVF attempt had worked we celebrated and embraced every second.

I would genuinely admit that I loved being pregnant. Other women might say I was crazy and I know a lot of people that hate the process start to finish but for me, the good completely outweighed the bad. However, I certainly wasn't one of those 'glowing' mums-to-be. The only time you would have seen me 'glowing' as a pregnant women would be running to the nearest bathroom to throw up! I was sick almost every single day from 5 weeks to the day our baby boy was born (including during labour) but soon learnt some tricks and tips to cope with the sickness and enjoy what I could of my pregnancy. Other than the sickness I handled the rest of pregnancy symptoms fairly well. I never had the great skin or shiny hair than some women get but I didn't have hormonal acne or dry hair either so I counted my blessings.

This photo was taken the morning that I was induced with Leo of me, my husband Arron and our 39 week bulging baby belly!

So here are my Top 10 Must Haves that made my 39 weeks so much easier (I just hope that maybe they can help someone out there too!)

Top 10 Pregnancy Must Haves

1. Rich Tea Biscuits- these were my best friend during the worst of my morning (all day) sickness and often the only thing that would really settle my stomach. I always went for McVities but I don't think there's really much difference and they are a favourite that I still love now the sickness has gone!

2. Mama Mio Tummy Rub- my 'be all and end' all for the full nine months was this tummy butter by Mama Mio. It is more of a luxury item at £25 per tub but I used mine almost every day for the entirety of my pregnancy (more so toward the end) and still have a bit left in the bottom of the tub so you get plenty. It left my skin smelling amazing, soft and even though my stomach swelled to the size of a small (not so small) beach ball I came out the other side with absolutely no stretch marks thanks to this amazing product.

3. Hot water bottle- I fell pregnant with Leo in September so by the time I had reached my 2nd trimester and my body was really starting to feel the effect of it all it was winter and nothing comforted me like my hot water bottle. It is common knowledge not to over heat your body during pregnancy (or ever for that matter) and I was always careful not to put my bottle directly on my baby bump, but it was great for back pain, keeping me cosy on chilly nights and lessening my raging pregnancy hormones. 

4. NHS Pregnancy + App- I downloaded this app onto my iphone when I first found out we were expecting at 5 weeks and loved it the whole time through. It gave me daily updates on the progress of our growing baby, what size it was, it's development and much more. It also had blank pages to jot down baby names, upload bump photos and leave daily comments. 

5. Truly happy baby by Holly Willoughby- I loved reading this book throughout my pregnancy as it gave me super tips and tricks for surviving the last trimester but mainly because it helped prepare me for life with a newborn. It's easy to understand, funny and I didn't put it down start to finish! I bought my copy off Amazon.co.uk for £14.99

6. Seraphine maternity leggings- I wore my over the bump, black leggings from Seraphine from January until I delivered in May and even into life with our newborn. They were the comfiest and best quality out of all of the maternity leggings that I tried out and I ended up buying three pairs that I rotated between when I washed them! Seraphine do a huge range of really lovely maternity wear and my leggings were just £15 from their website. 

7. Pregnacare multi-vitamins + omega 3- these 'one a day' multi-vitamins were great when I was pregnant as it was an all in one tablet rather than taking every separately. Folic acid is incredibly important during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester and it's so much easier when it all comes in the one tablet. I also took the Pregnacare Conception tablets while we were trying to get pregnant.

8. Gaviscon-I suffered from terrible heart burn (and gave birth to a boy with loads of thick hair so that's an old wives tale that ran true) and all that eased my burn was gaviscon! I had both tablets and liquid but the bottled stuff worked so much quicker and better for me and I even liked the peppermint taste by the end of it all!

9. Compression stockings-these were less of a luxury and more of a essential for me as I suffered with varicose veins and swollen ankles during pregnancy so compression stockings were a literal life saver for me! Mine were prescribed but you can buy some much nicer designs online which is well worth getting as you will be wearing them every day during your nine months.

10. Pretty Little Liars-I started maternity leave at just 34 weeks pregnant as I was suffering badly with a few different problems but this meant that, alongside nesting, I had a lot of time on my hands! I got into a series on Netflix called Pretty Little Liars which is a thriller/drama set in an american high school and was hooked immediately. It has 7 seasons and around 14 episodes in each so there is plenty of material for an mummy-to-be to watch!