There was a time when I really disliked cold water. My teeth are sensitive and I felt like I had to be so cautious drinking it unless I had a straw, which is fine and well for restaurants but not so great for the girl who carries a Nalgene around like a security blanket. Then I got pregnant and wanted it cold. Luke warm would no longer cut it.
I actually purchased a 16 oz. insulated Kleen Kanteen with the cafe lid because of the length of time it would keep coffee warm. When you're teaching back to back English classes all morning in the fall, it's devastating to think of missing out on your cup of Joe because you're running your mouth to a partially engaged classroom of students. This thing will keep your coffee hot, no matter how sporadic the times are you have to grab a gulp. This summer I started thinking about milk storage for soon-to-be-baby-girl and found that the insulated Kleen Kanteens are equally superb for keeping liquid cold (for something like 8 hours!). I ordered one "for her" in the 20 oz. size with the standard lid and then "borrowed" it for water. It is hands down magical, I tell you, especially if you find yourself 9 months pregnant in August.
2. Lululemon Every Yogi Tee/Tank/Longsleeve
At $48 bucks, you might think I've lost my mind. That is until you're 8 and half months pregnant and even the stash of Old Navy maternity shirts you purchased a few months ago is too short to fully cover your burgeoning belly. Let's not even get into the apparel fiasco I'm currently experiencing at 41 weeks pregnant! I got 2 of the tees and 2 of the tanks and I swear, they are the only tops that have continued to fit throughout pregnancy.
3. Home/Birth by Rachel Zucker
I was somewhat familiar with Zucker's poetry from one of her previous collections of poetry, but this one was published right in the middle of my pregnancy and while I was contemplating home birth - before the state got involved with home birth midwives and I decided that trying to fight The Man just seemed too exhausting.
I took my time reading it in between the Dr. Sears's and Dr. Bradley's and La Leche League Bibles. And even though it is creative, Zucker packs it full of personal experience as a doula and legitimately researched sources. One thing it is not is unbiased. She flat out says that she can't be a part of hospital births anymore because she feels like an accomplice to crime. Nevertheless, this collection of story telling reads like she's talking to you about something she is "rabidly" passionate about, which she is, and it's so encouraging and inspiring even if your prerogative is only a natural (unmedicated) birth.
4. Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Robert Bradley
This book was suggested to me about a year before we even got pregnant. While it is clear that Dr. Bradley's personal heyday was a few decades ago, his current popularity in natural birthing circles may suggest that he was way before his time. We have found this book to be an invaluable tool for understanding the phases of labor and ways to manage a natural birth. What we really wanted to do was take a Bradley Method class, but there was a deployment right in the middle of my pregnancy and since the classes are 12 weeks long, we weren't able to commit to 3 consecutive months. The book was the best we could do for this pregnancy.
5. Body Pillow/Boppy Pregnancy Wedge Pillow
I didn't get a fancy body pillow, just the standard shape pillow that's about 4 feet long. It was the only body pillow I could find between limited retail resources, and I thought it might fix the sacroiliac joint pain I was beginning to experience as I eased into the third trimester. It didn't, but chiropractic did. It has, however, staved off some low back pain not pertaining to bones. The ever changing distribution of weight has reeked some havoc in other ways, and being able to sleep on my left side with this baby between my legs has been incredible. I keep it on the left and the Boppy Pregnancy Wedge on my right side. The wedge supports my belly when I have to turn over and keeps the belly weight from pulling on those low back muscles in my sleep, thus it helps me catch my ZZZzzz's.
6. Belly Band
I honestly can't remember what brand I ended up getting, so I'm forgoing a picture. The link will take you to Motherhood.com, which isn't where I purchased it...but anyway. It never quite fit correctly at the top, probably because I was doing something wrong or my body wasn't quite made for the one I got. At any rate, doubled over, it has worked great both with the stash of Old Navy maternity tops that got too short and the following Volcom shorts. When the shirts got too short, the band hid my belly. When the shorts laughed at me for even trying to zip or button them, the band held them up.
7. Volcom Frochickie Shorts
Very early on my shorts started betraying me. The shape of the hips wouldn't comply with my changing shape. At one point I purchased some Mossimo shorts at Target that were 3 sizes larger than my pre-pregnancy pants size just to accommodate this trial. They worked for a month or so partially zipped and held together at the waist closure with the help of a rubber band. But even they were retired. Throughout my pregnancy these Frochickie shorts were reliable, though. The zipper teeth became more and more estranged, but the shape of them was committed to evolving with the shape of me. I can still wear them with a belly band to hold them up.
8. doTerra Deep Blue Rub
This stuff is like natural Icy/Hot and has been used and reused on my achy lower back. The heavier soon-to-be-baby girl is, the more those muscles cry at night, but rubbing a dab of this on before bed has greatly increased the length of time between shutting my eyes and waking up in need of changing position.
9. A Strategically Placed Fog Resistant Shaving Mirror
I've already addressed the fact that a summer pregnancy is less than ideal for so many reasons. But for the reason of grooming, which I started to question as mobility began to wane around 7 months, I'm telling you that getting one of these in your shower can mean great things for your life.
10. MotherLove Pregnant Belly Oil
Also around 7 months my belly started itching - like ITCHING. At night it would keep me awake. I had been using a great belly rub that a friend found on Etsy and sent to me for Mother's Day, but I ran out and the itching was intense, so I wanted to see about another product that might address the itchy skin as well as stretch mark prevention. At a Cloth Diaper 101 class at my local diaper shop, I found this, which boasts the use of marshmallow extract as an anti-itch ingredient. I'm still using it every day as we impatiently await the arrival of this slow to appear baby girl, and it's still working magic both in the realms of anti-itching and stretch mark prevention.
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