First Trimester Pregnancy Must-Have Items
If you want to make the first trimester of your pregnancy as easy as possible, you’ve come to the right place. The first trimester is no joke for most pregnant mommas and I was in for a rude awakening when I thought I’d only have nausea to deal with.
It is important to remember, though, that every pregnancy is different. What I experienced will probably be different from your experience. Some women experience horrible nausea that lasts all 9 months, while others don’t experience any at all. My best friend is about 16 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, and she didn’t experience any symptoms in her first trimester. On the other hand, my sister in law is one week ahead of me in her pregnancy, and we can relate on a lot of the symptoms we are both experiencing.
I’m sharing what personally helped me during my first trimester of pregnancy, but please remember you may not experience the same symptoms I did. It’s pretty amazing how unique we all are, even when it comes to how we experience pregnancy.
All right, let’s get to the list!
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Must-Have Pregnancy Items for your First Trimester
Nausea
Preggie Pop Drops:
With pregnancy, you never know when nausea is going to hit. They call it “morning sickness”, but it is definitely not limited to the morning. These Preggie Pop Drops were a lifesaver for me, especially when I was teaching all day but hadn’t told my students yet that I was pregnant. The Preggie Pop Drops don’t completely take away your nausea, but they really help make it more manageable.
The trick for me was to pop one in my mouth as soon as I felt the nausea hit and it would help minimize how bad I felt. They taste really good too, which is an added bonus.
Ginger Tea:
Ginger is well-known for soothing an upset tummy and that good ol’ nauseas feeling. I purchased Ginger Tea to sip on, especially while at work, to minimize the car-sick, queazy feeling that would hit me at any time of the day. Fortunately, I didn’t have nausea as bad as some moms get it, so Ginger was really helpful for me.
Ginger Chews:
The one down side to drinking ginger tea is it makes you have to pee, even more than you already did! When teaching, I couldn’t leave to go to the restroom whenever I pleased. Because of this, Ginger Chews were a lifesaver for me. Honestly, I thought they tasted pretty disgusting, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that I hate ginger, but they did help with the nausea and didn’t make me have to pee my pants 30 minutes after my previous bathroom break. You can decide which type of ginger (or both) will be most helpful for you.
Your Beautiful Growing Body
Bigger Bras:
Your stomach is not the only thing that’s going to grow when you’re pregnant. In fact, your girls will grow a lot faster than your belly does. By the end of my first trimester of pregnancy, my bust had already increased by 2 cup sizes. Breast pain was one of the most difficult and painful symptoms for me, so buying a few larger bras was a must. I needed something supportive and comfortable.
I bought two of these maternity nursing bras from the brand Natori because I plan to also use them when I’m nursing my baby. That way, I won’t have to keep buying new bras with every new stage I enter. I also bought this comfortable bralette to wear when for lounging around the house when I don’t need as much support.
Leggings/Joggers:
Although it’s been really difficult to be pregnant during the quarantine, one huge benefit has been the ability to teach from home during the past two months of my pregnancy. With an ever bloating and growing belly, jeans are just not comfortable. I look forward to wearing dresses in the summer, but here in the Pacific Northwest dresses are a little too cool for the early spring months.
I purchased a couple pairs of maternity leggings in my regular size, as well as a pair of joggers. I didn’t quite fill out the maternity leggings in my first trimester, so I still wore my absolute favorite Live-In Zella leggings until my belly got a bit bigger. I did also purchase a pair of maternity jeans from Target, but most days I choose the leggings, and my body thanks me.
Naps! The fatigue is real:
I actually didn’t understand what the word tired meant until I became pregnant. I have never felt fatigue like I have while being pregnant. I’m now 19 weeks pregnant and in the “honeymoon phase “of pregnancy, so my fatigue has gotten so much better, but during that first trimester I truly could barely make it through each day without passing out or dreaming of passing out while at work.
The best way I can describe it is that feeling of staying up so late you literally feel sick (does that only happen to me?), when in reality, you’ve slept a full night but you just never feel well rested.
Water Bottle:
I don’t know if this happens to everybody, but I was so thirsty during my first trimester. I would guzzle water (like 32 ounce bottles of water) throughout the day and still feel like I was parched in the desert. It’s possible something was wrong and I just never knew it because the feeling went away around the 10th week of my pregnancy, but it was really frustrating.
No matter how much water I drank, I couldn’t quench my thirst. If this happens to you, I recommend having a water bottle with you at all times. Even though it’s really frustrating that you never fully stop feeling thirsty, it’s so much worse when you don’t have water available to drink. Trust me. I only made that mistake once. Having a water bottle with me at all times saved me.
Grocery Store (lol):
I feel sort of silly including this one, but honestly, it’s a must-have! For me, cravings change by the week. They all have the similar theme of carbs and cheese lol, but I’ve gone from craving cream cheese and bagels, to mac and cheese, to string cheese/cheddar cheese slices, to cottage cheese, with a few other random cravings mixed in (like boba tea!).
I don’t always have what I’m craving on hand at home, and when I get a pregnancy craving, it does not go away until I’ve consumed the craving. The weird thing is, once I enjoy the food for a short time, sometimes even just once, I’m over it and no longer craving it. Crazy huh? But you can see how a grocery store would be handy in helping me keep up with the ever-changing cravings.
Pregnancy-Safe Acne Treatment:
A big surprise for me that was not super exciting to say the least was acne, both on my face and on my shoulder blades. Apparently, acne is pretty common during pregnancy, but I had no idea. The hard part about acne during pregnancy is, you can’t use the same acne products that you’ve been using pre-pregnancy. Many of the ingredients and acne products are not safe for pregnancy. Fortunately, I found two acne products that have been working incredibly well with my acne that are deemed pregnancy-safe.
Glycolic Acid:
The first is a glycolic acid. I purchased mine from the brand Ordinary. I put it on every evening after my shower on both my face and my shoulder blades and it has really helped to minimize acne.
Azelaic Acid:
The second product I purchased is called azelaic acid, also from the brand Ordinary. It helps to smooth skin and reduce redness and leftover acne scars. It has really improved the look of my back after blemishes have gone away to reduce any leftover redness or discoloration.
Tea Tree Oil:
I’ve been using tea tree oil years before getting pregnant, and I love the way it works for my skin. Any time I have a bad blemish that needs healing, I dip a cue tip into my tea tree oil, dilute it with water from under the faucet, and apply it straight to my blemish. It helps reduce redness and the size of your blemish overnight. The best part is, it’s pregnancy safe! So I’ve continued to use it throughout my pregnancy.
Dry/Itchy/Stretching Skin
Moisturizing Lotion:
Hormones can do crazy things to your body, and one of the things hormones did to me was make my skin extremely dry on my body, yet more oily on my face. Does this make sense to you? Because it makes absolutely no sense to me. But he said the hormones have to make sense..
Anyway, because my skin was so dry and ashy all the time, having a good moisturizing lotion was really important to me. To be honest, this symptoms still hasn’t really gone away and I still experience it in my second trimester. Good thing I found a really good moisturizing lotion that I love. I use the Nivea 48 Hour Moisturizing Lotion all of my body, except my face, and it does the perfect job of hydrating my skin without leaving a sticky, uncomfortable feeling. It makes my skin look really healthy and glowy too which is a definite added bonus.
Itch Cream:
Once again, hormones strike again, and this time it’s an itchy back! I truly have no idea why this happens, but strangely, my mom who is going through menopause also gets a super itchy back, so we’re both pretty convinced it has to do with hormones. There’s nothing worse than having a spot in the middle of your back that itches like crazy and you can’t properly reach it. So thank goodness for my husband who can slather on itch cream for me. And a back scratcher so I can scratch the bajeebies out of my back when he isn’t home lol.
My mom introduced me to this Sarna itch cream, which has a cooling and numbing sensation to it that is absolutely to die for when your back is driving you crazy with non-stop itches. For some reason, my back gets EXTRA itchy after my shower before bed. It has been a life saver for me, especially when I’m trying to fall asleep at night.
Belly Cream:
As your belly starts to grow, it’s a good idea to start using a belly cream to minimize itching, stretch marks, and dry skin.
I’m using the Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly cream and I really love it. It soaks into my skin well and doesn’t have much of a scent which I personally like. It has great reviews from moms who have been through pregnancy and given birth. They say they didn’t get any stretch marks during their pregnancy when using this cream, so that helped me choose it for myself.
But even if I do get stretch marks, they will be well worth it!! The gift of a child is an absolute blessing no matter what it does to our bodies.
Grab your First Trimester Pregnancy Must-Haves Checklist Free Printable!
Preview:
Download the pdf here!
What Items Would You Add to the First Trimester Must-Haves List?
Those are my holy grail items that got me through the first trimester. If you’ve been pregnant and gone through your first trimester once or more, what items would you add to the list? I love to learn about new products I haven’t heard of before and I’m sure my readers would too. I hope you’ve found some helpful tips and products from my list above, and don’t forget to download and print your FREE first trimester must-have products checklist. It will be helpful for you and/or could also be a fun, helpful little addition to a gift you’re giving to celebrate a new mom in your life.
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