My First Trimester Essentials

Recently I’ve had people ask me how this pregnancy is going compared to my first two. Believe me when I say that this pregnancy is kicking my butt! I’ve been more exhausted, more nauseous, and more annoyed than my other pregnancies. Secretly, I’m hoping that this means I’m having a girl but I think it might be that I’ve never been pregnant with two toddlers running around. So I decided to make a post for all my other pregnant mamas and all you women trying for a baby. These are the essentials that got me through my first trimester. These are in no particular order.

*This post contains affiliated links.

1. Prenatal Vitamins

This is probably one of the most important things on my list. I know I said I made this list in no particular order but I made sure to put this one first. When I was pregnant with JT and Ted I HATED the prenatal vitamins. They are horse pills and even though I found some gummy ones, they still tasted horrible to me. Well, I’m happy to say I FINALLY found some prenatal vitamins that I enjoy taking every morning. I attached the link to the ones I take and I’m telling you these are the best tasting ones I’ve ever had.

2. Preggie Drops

Nausea this pregnancy has been A LOT worse than my other two pregnancies. I haven’t thrown up thanks to a whole lot of “mind over body” thinking and thanks to these preggie drops! These things are heaven-sent! Anytime the nausea was really getting to me I would pop one of these bad boys and most of the time I’d feel better pretty quick. I got mine at Target but I know you can order them on Amazon. Honestly, if you are having a tough time with nausea try these because it will be the first thing your doctor might suggest you try.

3. Body Pillow

Some people will tell you to get the pregnancy pillows and all that jazz. You could do that if you want or you could do what I did. I just use my body pillow from college. It was about $10 at Target and I’m still using it today! Whether you choose a body pillow or a pregnancy pillow, just tuck that pillow between your legs when you sleep to help with lower back pain.

4. Saltines

Saltines are essentials for any pregnancy especially if you are sensitive to certain smells. Saltines fill your stomach without having a strong taste or smell. I have munched on so many packages of saltines in the last couple of months! It’s not even funny how many packages I’ve bought. But it really helps! Anytime I opened my fridge in the afternoon I couldn’t take a breath or I’d start gagging! I was so sensitive to anything that smelled. So I had saltines a lot for dinner!

5. Rice in a Sock

I know what you’re thinking rice in a sock?! What is that?! When I was pregnant with Ted I used to get massive headaches. I looked up natural ways of relieving a headache without using a pain reliever. One of the things I found that actually worked is putting rice in a sock (a long sock is best. Take one of your husband’s but make sure it doesn’t smell!), tying it off, putting it in the microwave for about 45seconds, and then you lay it on your neck. It really helps! This pregnancy I’ve been experiencing some headaches so I’ve been using my rice in a sock trick and it really helps.

6. Water

This is one of the essentials that I’m sure I didn’t need to put on the list. Everyone knows how important water is and it’s VERY important while you’re pregnant. I’m not the biggest fan of plain water but I found that putting a little bit of lemon juice into my glasses of water really helps. I’ve attached a link below from Baby Center explaining just how much you should be drinking during your pregnancy: https://www.babycenter.com/404_how-much-water-should-i-drink-while-im-pregnant_5283.bc

7. Sweat Pants

I’m a huge fan of sweatpants! I know yoga pants are all the rage and people really seem to love theirs. But there’s something about the loose-fitting sweatpants that make pregnancy better. I live in my sweatpants! I’m the mom who will wear them to bed and drop her kid off at school in the same pair. Don’t judge me! I’m trying to make a human here!

8. Tylenol PM

If you read some of the other essentials in the post you know that I do get headaches. Lots of headaches. Mostly because the caffeine in coffee and pop was making me nauseous so I had to quit. I ended up getting a lot of caffeine withdrawal headaches but I would wait until bed to take medicine. I’ve asked the nurse on separate occasions if Tylenol PM is safe for the baby and both nurses have said, “yes”. It’s always best to check with the nurses before taking any medicine. The reason why I like Tylenol PM is that it will help you fall asleep. It usually takes about an hour for it to really kick in. Also, I don’t take it every night. Just on nights when I have headaches.

Final Thoughts

Everything on this list has gotten me through my first few months of pregnancy. Every one of them is important to me and I really hope they help you! But this is MY list and just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it’ll work for you. Lastly, I’m a sucker for tips and tricks so if there’s anything that worked for you, and it’s not on my list, please let me know in the comments!

If you are pregnant and you don’t know what books to read please check out my post about my top 5 pregnancy and parenting books I’ve read: https://tomorrowisamotherday.com/5-books-i-love/

Thanks for reading! Kel