My Top 5 Essential Items that Make Pregnancy a Breeze

Maybe I am the weird one here, but I can’t stand pregnancy pillows! It only took me one night to figure out that they are too big and bulky, and I can’t move around as much as I would like. I got a pregnancy wedge from a friend, and I just thought “what the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?”. It wasn’t long before I figured out that this little wedge is pure magic!

There are several uses I have found for the pregnancy wedge. My absolute favorite is the belly support. If you have ever been pregnant, you know there comes a point where your belly isn’t big enough to lay on the bed, but it is big enough for gravity to cause some discomfort. You can lay your belly on this pillow and feel so comfortable and supported.

Another use for it is if, like me, you enjoy sleeping on your back from time to time and found out there comes a point in pregnancy when you are no longer able to do that. Such a sad moment for me! If you lay this pillow behind your back it is able to give you enough of an angle that you shouldn’t compress your blood vessel called inferior vena cava. You can also put this pillow between your legs. The final use I have found is to put it behind your back when you are sitting up and need more support.

As you can see if you are like me and despise pregnancy pillows, this is a very worthy investment. It should be clear why this one made it into my top 5 pregnancy essentials. There are uses for it after having baby as well. This includes support while breastfeeding.

Fortunately for you all, it is not just my grandma who can make these at home heating packs. I received this heating pack a few years ago for Christmas and it has been a household favorite. These things are great when not pregnant, but I find myself using it even more when I am pregnant!

Pregnancy comes with a lot of aches and pains. These at home heating pads are safer than electric ones for pregnant women. This is because if you are not paying attention or fall asleep, the electric ones can make you too hot which can be dangerous for baby. These ones slowly lose their heat and are therefore safer. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and they are ready to go!

There are many uses for these packs. The most obvious one is putting it on a sore spot and letting it do its magic. My absolute favorite use for it is warming it up right before bed and putting it down by my feet in the wintertime. It keeps the toes nice and toasty without waking up in the middle of the night feeling like you are roasting yourself. These are super inexpensive and easy to make. You can fill them with many different things, the most common being rice. Here is a link to an article I found showing how to make one very similar to what I have. In the article she talks about putting essential oils inside of it which I think is an awesome idea!

The exercise (yoga) ball made it into my top 5 pregnancy essentials because it has so many different uses! The most obvious one is.. well, exercise. Once a certain time in pregnancy is reached, it is no longer recommended to lay on the floor. An exercise ball allows you to do a lot of the exercises without running the risk of harming yourself or your baby. There are a lot of pregnancy exercise options online, and a many of them will involve an exercise ball. Check out my article on pregnancy exercise for some ideas. The exercise ball can also be a safe place for stretching during pregnancy.

The exercise ball was a necessity after I gave birth to our first son, Leo. He had a lot of tummy issues when he was born. Because he was always uncomfortable, he was very fussy. The only thing we could do to get him to calm down is hold him and bounce on the exercise ball. He is now 19 months old, and still loves to bounce on it!

As we discussed earlier, pregnancy comes with a lot of aches and pains. Something that can help bring some comfort is baths! I never took baths during my first pregnancy. I am regretting that during my second pregnancy because it has helped me feel so much better! I have taken a few baths a week during this pregnancy. It is good for body pains, but also amazing self-care for the mind!

Although baths are great for you by themselves, adding some Epsom Salt will help your body to feel even more refreshed! If you have never heard of Epsom Salt, here is a Healthline article on what it is and how you use it. The other thing you may be asking yourself is “is it safe for pregnancy?”. It sure is! Here is a Healthline article discussing the benefits of soaking in Epsom Salt while pregnant.

Epsom Salt now has so many fun scents to add extra relaxation to your bath time. I highly recommend getting a big bag of plain (I got mine at Sams Club). The instructions say add 2 cups to your bath. I generally do about a cup and a half of the plain because it is way cheaper. Then I pick out which scent I want and do about a half a cup of that one. Pour it in your next bath and prepare for rest and relaxation!

The final item on our top 5 pregnancy essentials list is a time marker water bottle. This is especially essential for those of us who have trouble getting the recommended amount of water per day! For most of us, it’s not that we don’t enjoy drinking water, we just forget. These amazing little inventions can help keep you on track throughout the day without having to track your water intake on an app. So easy!!

Links to time marked water bottles:

Smaller (32 oz) version

Gallon version (like pictured to the right)