Useful things to make Pregnancy easier

 

Pregnacare (or similar!) combined pills – I am useless  at remembering to take pills and tablets, so have a combined pill that has all the right vitamins and minerals in means only having to remember to take one pill a day, and that I can just about manage. More info on the boots website here

A pregnancy pillow (or a spare normal pillow) – Some nights I toss and turn too much and end up flinging the thing out of bed, but mostly I am exhausted enough to conk out and not move till I need to go for a wee, I posted already about mine here, but you can just sleep with a regular pillow between your legs and under your bump, but it’s a good idea to not sleep on your back when the bump gets bigger, it can trap nerves and make your legs go numb!

Crackers/cereal bars/ginger hobnobs – in the first few months they help to stave off pregnancy, and in the last few months they’ve been perfect to keep at work for a quick snack (I don't take a  lunch break at work, just graze throughout the day) and for early mornings, I'll have a cereal bar on the way to work then have a bowl of cereal/porridge when I get to work (the only bonus of early starts is that I have chefs on hand at the hotel to cook, I’m just fed up of of cooked breakfasts after so many years there!)

A pregnancy app- See this post (& this week according to the app the baby is as big as the head of a cauliflower, in case you were wondering!)

Loose fitting PJs – comfort over style, primarks biggest size work wonderfully, but I have to roll them up because I am short.

Something that smells nice to slather on sore stretched skin – I have been using a multitude of things (don't want to get bored!) but most recently have been loving the Seascape Soothe range (reviewed here)

Rennies/antacid tablets – don’t leave the house without them. keep them by the bed, in your bag, on your desk, in the car, EVERYWHERE! they’re a godsend. The weird thing is that I can go a couple of days without any heartburn/acid reflux, then for a few days EVERYTHING gives it to me!

A food delivery service (or an obliging partner/friend who will do it with you) – Asda delivers my groceries, and I top up at local shops on the way home from work. If Sam and I both had time together to go to the supermarket (i.e. if we didn't work at opposite times to each other) then I would make more of an effort to go, but waddling round the supermarket with a trolley then battling the old ladies on the bus with the bags isn't my idea of fun (although it is good exercise, see next point!)

Regular exercise – I'm not saying run a marathon, but unless your Dr tells you otherwise its a really good idea to keep doing non-strenuous exercise, even if its just walking, but there are lots of yoga videos on YouTube (here are some third trimester ones, as that’s what I am now) but there are local classes in most areas I expect, definitely in Brighton anyway!

A cleaning lady/man – I don’t have one of these, but if money were no object I would get help in an instant. Cleaning bathroom/kitchen floors on my hands and knees is getting difficult and tiring, and I'm only going to get bigger. Plus I only like to clean when I'm in the right mood, and that hardly ever happens!

A comfy bra – I’m still on the lookout for one of these! I purchased some non wired bras from M&S and they were just really unflattering, and still not that comfy. Yesterday a very nice lady in La Senza measured me, but all their bra’s are of the bullet proof padding variety, with underwire. She gave me a ‘body kiss’ to try on which was so padded round the underwire that you could hardly feel it, but I didn't want all the ‘oomph’ so I didn't buy it. She did however make me try a smaller band a bigger cup, which seemed to work slightly better than what I was going for before, so the hunt continues, and in the mean time I bought a maternity bra and a nursing bra from Mothercare in their sale, which are doing for now. Needless to say the moment I shut the door behind me when I get in the bra comes off and the PJs go on.

a smaller handbag – I was carrying around all kinds of crap I didn't need, so I changed to a smaller one (slightly) and make a point of emptying out the stuff I don't need every couple of days, because dragging around all the extra weight wasn’t doing my shoulders any good at all!

Please do feel free to add your couldn't-do-withouts below!

Stuff we like: Pregnancy Apps

 

Now I never bother paying for apps, I'd rather make do with the ads/slightly less content on a free app that bother coughing up for however much it costs. Also I get bored of things very easily and end up with a phone full of crap I never look at. However, I do like to keep my apps grouped by type, and have been using the 'health' section a lot recently.

The only reason I could give the midwife an accurate (ish) date of conception was due to the period tracker lite app. It lets you note when your period starts and ends, therefore tells you when it is due, and you can keep track of symptoms, and when you 'make love' (for want of a better term!) You can also save the data or have it emailed to you, so if you change phone you have a back record (my previous years of poor diary keeping meant I genuinely had no idea when I was due on, because I had such irregular periods anyway)

Once I knew I had a bun in the oven I downloaded a couple more apps, some of which I have since deleted, but the ones I use the most are:-

'What to Expect Pregnancy' (from the same people who published the book (and subsequent spin off Hollywood blockbuster... hmmmm) my version has ads as it's the free version. You enter in your EDD (estimated due date) and when you open the app you get the screen that tells you how far you are, what size the sprog is and a countdown. Along the bottom you have the weekly and daily sections, with the weekly giving you an overview of what's happening inside overall, and each day giving you tips (varying from food, exercise, symptoms, and once a week or so a tip for the dad (my fave basically being 'ask if she wants to have sex don't assume')

It also has a pictures section, where you can store a picture for each week, but I've not bothered with that as Sam takes one every two weeks for himself (which I share on instagram and here anyway). There is also a forum, based on your expected birth month (access to other forums is possible too) and I've not really bothered with this either.

Sprout app - Very similar to the above, but gives you a creepy 3d sort of image of your unborn child, with bits to click to find out more. The next section 'doc says' also gives a weekly and daily breakdown of information, but if a certain topic interests you you can click it to add it to the 'ask your doctor' list, which appears in the organiser tab, which lists things by section (ask the doc, a to do list, a list of new-born essentials and what to pack in your hospital bag) Obviously I am too much of a list-addict to pass up on writing my own lists, and as previously mentioned I have a whole sectioned notebook for preparing for this child, BUT if you are not manual-to-do-list inclined then its a useful feature for shizzle!

The last section 'tools' has a weight tracker, so you can monitor your weight gain, a kick counter and a contraction timer (most of which are the 'paid for' features in other pregnancy apps)

Womancy - more similar to the period tracker app, it shows you a calendar and lets you put your current symptoms in, along with the option of your weight and waist size, which you can then view on a graph. However I weight myself in stones and pounds, and the idea of converting it first is too much effort so I've not bothered so far, but for a free app if you did want to keep track of these then its a decent option.

The other often used app in my health section is 'white noise' (I have two, each app has slightly different sounds) and although these days I am so tired I can fall asleep anywhere generally, pre pregnancy I used to get a few sleepless nights, particularly when I was really stressed. Basically the app plays a background noise that lulls you (hopefully) to sleep, but I have friends who say that these apps can work well with young babies too (and are a cheaper, if somewhat far more inconvenient (if you actually need to USE your phone) option that Ewan the dream sheep, for example)

Stuff we like: Summer Infant body pillow

About 5 weeks ago (week 16 ish) sleeping became a bit more of a problem for me, with lower back pain, and more annoyingly hip pain on whichever side I slept on (which for me is normally the right side, as I like to sleep facing outwards, not towards the sleeping chunk of man that is my Humongous husband)

I knew that pregnancy pillows existed purely because there is a film/tv program embedded deep in my memory where the husband is annoyed that the woman gets so attached to this pillow and sleeps hugging it every night, even after the baby comes. Anyway, I knew I wanted one so did a bit of research into them and ordered one from Argos (its an 'extra' product, but will be delivered free, or you can collect from your local store)

Basically the idea is that the pillow supports your bump/back/legs whilst sleeping. You can see a little more info about sleeping during pregnancy on the NHS website here and on the Bounty website here.

I ordered the ‘Summer Infant Body Support Pillow’ and it cost me £34.99. I chose it because it has three different uses and I thought I'd get my moneys worth! The main use is obviously as a pregnancy pillow, but also zipped together as a baby chair/support and also as a breast feeding aide.

 

(both images from SI website)

It comes with a removable cotton cover which can be washed, and a zip on/off centre section (slightly padded) which is where the baby would be placed when you use it as a seat.
The 'bump' support is more curved, and the ends tuck back round under your neck/legs to support the back, which hopefully you can see in my artfully posed picture!

  

With then without the removable support bit, and zipped together to form a ‘chair’ (With a small sized water bottle as a make shift baby)

 

Pros:

• supports the back as well as the bump, and I imagine when the bump is bigger it will stop you from rolling onto your back in your sleep, if this were to happen. (I imagine it might!?)
• fairly firm support, so a second pillow probably isn't necessary (when used in the position above)
• you can remove the cover to clean, and could make a more aesthetically pleasing cover without too much hassle, if sewing is your thing
• can be used for sleeping on either side of the body.
• It can be used as a lower back support whilst sitting up in bed (and you can balance a plate of toast on the bit that goes over your legs! It was a godsend when bedridden for a week with flu last week!)

Cons:

• Difficult to untangle yourself when you are half asleep and on a nocturnal visit to the toilet. Once or twice I have sleepily tried to get back in it after a piddle and flung it on the floor in annoyance.
• fairly firm support, some people might find it a bit TOO firm, personally for me it works, but I've read a few review sites where this has been mentioned.
• takes up a fair amount of space (the pictures above are of 5’2 me on a king size bed, for comparison)

Overall: I really like it, and think as I get bigger it will become more invaluable, and hopefully I'll get good use out of it when the sprog comes too.