I have a few friends who are either pregnant or trying to conceive, and as I’ve recently survived a rather challenging pregnancy, I’ve been thinking about advice I could give them. Since I try not to give my unsolicited opinion about serious issues like diet, prenatal vitamins and whether to find out the sex of the baby, I think I’ll confine my advice to products that I was very grateful for during those nine months. Here’s the list of my favorite (pregnancy) things:
1. My body pillow. Such a lifesaver, it helped me sleep so much better, and now it’s become useful on the couch as an aid to nursing or snuggling the baby. I didn’t get one of those expensive ones from Babies R Us, just a cheap one from Target and an equally cheap cover. Total bargain.
2. My prenatal yoga DVD. I credit it completely with my ability to touch my toes at nine months pregnant. I also think my body bounced back fairly quickly after delivery because I kept myself in good shape as much as possible. The DVD I used was Prenatal Yoga by Shiva Rea.
I also liked the Quick Fix Prenatal Workout for maintaining muscle tone in my arms.
3. My heating pad. Completely invaluable during month eight. Weirdly, I had no back pain at all in month nine.
4. My Birkenstock sandals. Easy to slip on and yet stayed on my feet, unlike flip-flops. The only problem is, they molded to my pregnancy-weight feet, so now they’re set wrong for my normal weight. But at least I got good use out of them for one summer.
5. My iPad. When I was so sick during my first trimester, I spent hours and hours in bed, with the iPad on my lap, watching teen soaps on Netflix- Gossip Girl, Greek and many more. It was a good distraction.
6. In the same vein, my husband and I spent many hours playing gin rummy and watching either Deal or No Deal or The West Wing during my last trimester.
7. Avocados. They were my only weird craving. I ate them almost every day and freaked out when I didn’t have any in the house.
Looking over this list, I realize that it’s not all that helpful. But it was interesting for me to think back on that time and what helped get me through. I can’t say I’d ever look forward to being pregnant again, but if so, at least I’ll be more prepared. And you should all buy stock in Hass Avocados beforehand.
