Tips for Pregnancy - My Must Haves

I am by NO means an expert as I've only experienced one pregnancy, but these are things I found myself sharing with friends that made my day to day life somewhat normal the 9 months while everything internally and externally was changing.

I have followed several blogs for awhile - PB Fingers, PB Runner, and Simply Taralynn - and when I found out I was pregnant, I spent a lot of time reviewing their recaps to find their suggestions. I also spent time on the Subreddits like fit pregnancy and pregnant.

Here is a summary of some of some items and tips that helped me along the journey!

Guard & Grace eye patches - I keep them in the fridge and oh man, especially during the first trimester, I put them on every morning. My nausea was awful and while I never actually got sick, I was on the verge of it 24 hours a day.

Bombas Compression Socks (15-20mmHg) - I used to run in compression socks for 15+ mile runs, so I had them already, but decided to wear them around the house and at night during my pregnancy. Towards the end, I eventually wore them everyday (under pants). I really only experienced some swelling of my ankles the last week I was pregnant, which is why I started wearing them around the clock. I've struggled with leg numbness from poor circulation, so wearing the socks definitely helped me a lot. Also, the 15-20 is not super difficult to put on but provides support.

Levi Maternity Jeans - I tried various types of maternity jeans from several stores and hated/returned every single pair - annoying because you have to order everything online! I didn't want to purchase too many maternity items but being pregnant across Fall and Winter meant I needed pants. I finally tried out the Levi jeans from Amazon and loved them. They stretched perfectly so I was able to wear them 5/6 months until I delivered. Also, they are way super affordable at ~$27 a pair. I purchased 1 black and 1 blue jean to rotate every week.

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy - I asked my OB during a checkin appointment about it and she referred me to a place nearby that specialized in this type of PT. I had read about people doing pelvic floor PT to continue running and how much it helped postpartum. I started going around 27 weeks, and saw my therapist biweekly up until a week before I delivered. While I was pregnant, the exercises and stretches were very beneficial to help me continue to run (very slow by the end). I had sciatic nerve pain happen midway during a run one day and could barely walk. I had an appointment the next day and she was able to do cupping to alleviate the pain and show me ways to prevent it. I did not have the pain happen again.

Postpartum, I followed back up with my therapist once I was medically cleared to do so (around 6 weeks). At about 10 weeks postpartum the therapist cleared me to do intermittent walking/running and I started slowly building back my miles. There were some things internally we had to also work on, but by 10 sessions I had resolved any prolapse issues and nearly closed my Diastasis Recti. I am so glad I invested in this for myself (it is NOT cheap) and my insurance unfortunately did not cover this. I would see the benefit of even just doing a single appointment for an assessment, I would recommend to do so and follow your routines at home. Look online for reviews from other patients and ask your friends or doctor for their recommendations.

Prenatal Massages - I had a place near our home that we used for deep tissue massages when we were preparing for marathons, so I trusted them once I was in my second trimester for maternity massages. I am 100% team manual therapy when it comes to alleviating pain and having trigger points worked on throughout my pregnancy I believe helped me stay active.

Comfy Pajamas - I love the routine of coming home from work and putting on a pair of pajamas at night. It helps my brain transition to being relaxed. During pregnancy, that was no different and I found that any way to make myself more comfortable was appreciated because of how uncomfortable things sometimes felt (I dealt with a lot of rib pain).

Nuuly - see my review post here about the benefit of renting clothes. I started my subscription when I first became pregnant and I saved so much money renting instead of buying clothes to wear to work to fit my growing body. I still have my monthly subscription!

Align Leggings - I did a lot of reading about best workout attire when pregnant. Honestly, my Lululemon align leggings worked perfect. They had enough stretch I didn't feel like I was squeezing into them and found my normal size worked my entire pregnancy. I just rotated between the 3 pairs I have instead of buying new.

Ginger - as I mentioned above, I had crazy nausea around the clock most of my first trimester. In general, anything ginger would bring some relief. When it was at its worst, I took the ginger only version of Dramamine and if I had waves come at night, I would make a "mocktail mule" with lots of ice, fever tree ginger beer (there is no alcohol in this), and lime juice. I spoke with my doctor and followed her recommendations for the over the counter relief.

Thanks for stopping by - question to ask, what are your pregnancy must haves??