I recognize how lucky I’ve been this entire pregnancy. The only complaint I can even muster is that I’ve had some pain in my SI joint from the way my uterus grew that doesn’t allowing me to move as much as I’d like to. (Which is resulting in a bit more weight gain than I’d like but whatever.) After about 2 miles I’m tapped out. Still have been doing yoga. @Lucyflow_Yoga has been my go to lately, not only does she specialize in prenatal yoga she is a doula herself. My dear friend recommended her and I’ve been so grateful I listened. Check out her page, I signed up for 3 months and think it was well worth it.
I’ve been reading a few books this trimester that have been immensely helpful. Real Food for Pregnancy has been my absolute favorite. I ordered it at 20 weeks and my only regret was that I didn’t order it sooner. Unfortunately the author had to take it off Amazon because of people selling fake versions, but you can still listen to the audio book. Check it out here.
Another I’ve been digging into is The Vaccine Friendly Plan. To be clear, I very much believe in vaccinating my child. Vaccines have been such a hot topic lately. I think the data out there is really interesting and more people should look into examining it all themselves. I wanted to get a better understanding of the vaccines recommended for babies and this book does just that. Paul Thomas and Jennifer Margulis do a great job at laying out the facts, and while they do have recommendations, it empowers you to make smart choices for your baby.
“Why Did No One Tell Me This” written by two doulas also offers some really great insight to the whole birth process. As someone who is planning on having a hospital birth but going as natural-ish as possible this book was great. I learned so much and there were so many things I just hadn’t thought of yet.
As we prepare for birth we are super excited to take a Hypno Birthing course taught by Nina Phelan of The Soulful Birth. Coincidentally I had already begun reading the book she’ll be using in class that highlights the Mongan Method. I’m excited to dive in more in class but I’ve heard the book is very similar to the way they teach the class.
Aside from books I’ve found a few other things to be helpful. Sleeping is getting harder (hello 3rd trimester) but luckily I had ordered so many pillows to help with the situation. Highly recommend the U shape asap. The wedge and the side sleeper were much needed closer to the end of the 2nd trimester but also well worth it.
Aside from all the Burts Bee’s Mama Bee Belly Butter and Oil that I’ve been using lately, I recently got a couple belly masks to help with stretch marks. I joked with my husband that they were for him since he’s been enjoying all the meals with me, but he didn’t find that very funny.
Aside from that, I’ve been living in mens sweats. Hanes mens 2XL sweatshirt and XL pants have really been in heavy rotation. (My husband has the same and TBH we have a weird Ben Stiller in Royal Tennenbaums thing going on over here, but no one will ever know.) Thank goodness for quarantine so I don’t really have to worry about wearing anything else. I did buy a couple pregnancy support items, leggings and a white tank, that actually really do help support my belly and take the edge off that SI pain I mentioned earlier. Highly recommend checking out Blanqi, though I bought these during Black Friday special and only spent like $30 something for each piece, otherwise they’re a little pricey.
I think that’s about all to sum up the most helpful things from this tri. Working on sharing a post about what’s in my hospital bag as we round out these last several weeks here. (How am I 31 weeks already??) Questions? Here for you always.
COLDBREWBLONDE 