First Trimester Must-Haves

First Trimester Must-Haves

Now that I’m well into my third trimester of pregnancy, I had time to reflect on what the pregnancy experience has been like for me. First of all, I just feel so extremely blessed and grateful that I get to carry and grow this baby. I never ever thought it was possible especially after I was diagnosed with cancer. It was a goal of mine to be able to be pregnant and conceive naturally, but I never thought it would happen. So I have fully embraced every aspect of my pregnancy, the good and the bad because it is an experience that I feel fortunate to have.

I’m sure anyone that has experienced pregnancy can agree how it’s a whole new chapter in a woman’s life. The body is constantly changing and seeing and hearing the baby evolve is amazing. I’ve said this before I have not had the easiest pregnancy, but it’s still a beautiful thing. There was a lot of good about it. I’m impressed seeing the strength of my body, how my mindset changed, and overall how it helped me gain more confidence in myself.

I’ve elaborated on my first trimester of pregnancy in this post, but it was the slowest trimester ever haha. With the body and hormones changing so much, there are symptoms that go along with it. Not every woman will experience this, but for those who do hopefully the products that I have used and recommend will help you out with the discomforts during this period of pregnancy.

First Trimester Must-Haves

I am only sharing products that I highly recommend and have tried and worked for me. Overall, you don’t need that much stuff in the first trimester of pregnancy. You just want things to alleviate any pregnancy side effects and generally make you feel comfortable. But keep in mind, every pregnancy is different. So you may or may not experience the same side effects.

1 Ginger Candy (Pink Stork Nausea Sweets & Natural Ginger Tummy Drops)

Throughout the day I would suck on pure ginger candy. Another thing that my OB mentioned is that there are a lot of candies out there that can help alleviate morning sickness but the amount of sugar used is so high. I’ve used these exact ones when I was going through chemo so I relied on them and I like these ones too because it has different flavors of ginger candies. During my pregnancy, I get so sick of eating the same thing over and over again, so I had to switch it up. A lot of you highly recommended I should try Preggie Pops. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it but so many of you swear by it.

2 Prenatal Vitamins

If I’m being honest, I use whatever brand is on sale. My OB says as long as I purchased it from a reputable retail store, the brand doesn’t matter. I know a lot of influencers recommend Ritual. The only specific preference I had was that I prefer the pill versus the gummy vitamins.

When you take prenatal vitamins, just make sure you don’t take any additional supplements. A lot of the prenatal vitamins already have what you need and an excess of something can be harmful. For instance, it is said that Vitamin B6 can help with morning sickness. However, you don’t want to take Vitamin B and prenatal vitamins together. It will be too much for your body. You do want to make sure your prenatal vitamins include folic acid and prenatal dha to prevent birth defects.

Please note – I am not a healthcare professional, you should always consult your healthcare provider.

3 Pipette Belly Butter

In the first trimester, I used belly butters exclusively. I was told I should start moisturizing my belly early to prevent stretch marks. That way there is elasticity in the skin as it continues to stretch throughout the pregnancy.

4 Bio-Oil

So I didn’t actually start using Belly Oil until the beginning of the 2nd trimester, but it is still wise to start using it as early as possible. I used Bio-Oil during the majority of my pregnancy and it is really worth the hype. My belly started to get really itchy and dry and a good belly oil helps a lot. You really need to only to use it twice a day (morning and night), but my skin was so dry that I applied whenever and as much as I could.

5 Hatch Belly Oil

This is another belly oil I really loved and wished I used it earlier. I didn’t use it until my third trimester (my cousin gave it to me as a Christmas gift). However, it’s amazing and absorbs so well into my skin too. It’s just as good as the Bio-Oil.

So far I don’t have any stretch marks, but I will say that stretch marks can be a genetics thing. However, my OB says it is still wise to continue to moisture your belly.

6 Belly Bottle Water Bottle

Staying hydrated is extremely important throughout your pregnancy. Your baby needs and your body needs water. To make sure you are intaking enough water, this water bottle will help you stay on track. I love this specific water bottle because it helps me stay on track all day. A little caveat, before being pregnant, I loved drinking water so I’m used to drinking water. However, with nausea and vomitting throughout the day, drinking water and staying hydrated is hard.

If you follow the timestamp on this bottle you’ll only need to refill it 3 times and you will drink a total of 90 oz of water.

7 Pregnancy Pillow Body Pillow

What would I do without this body pillow? You may not exactly need it during the first trimester of pregnancy but it was nice to have it ready when I did. Your body will change so much and you just want to be prepared. This pillow made it possible for me to sleep on my side and overall just be comfortable. I like this specific one because I like that I can unzip one side and can use that pillow for however I need to use it.

As your belly gets bigger, you definitely will need to sleep on your side. I was told it is preferred to sleep on your left side because that will allow better oxygen flow for the baby. But if you wake up on your back or right side, it’s not a big deal. Just switch your position whenever you realize it.

8 Maternity Overalls

I know several people told me not to spend any money on maternity clothes, but I caved. Personally, I think they’re worth it. My all time favorite maternity clothes are my maternity overalls. I have showcased how I wore them multiple times on Instagram (and LiketoKnow.it app too). They’re just comfortable and they look super cute! You can wear them casually or easily dress them up. I have both the denim wash and black color. Plus, you can get away with wearing non-maternity tops with the maternity overalls. They provide a type of comfort that no other ‘regular’ clothing can provide.

When it comes to maternity clothes, only spend what you can afford. It’s not worth going for broke. I’m aware that I probably splurged more than an average person would, but maternity clothes have helped me function day to day and made me feel good about myself! I’ve said this before, putting on an outfit that I feel good about and comfortable in makes a BIG difference in my confidence. Hence, why spending a bit more on maternity clothes has helped me throughout my pregnancy. I didn’t officially start wearing maternity clothes until the middle of the second trimester. But if anyone is interested in maternity jeans, I did a full review here.

9 Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Nasal congestion is a pregnancy symptom I did not expect to get. But using a diffuser with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil or a shower steam bomb with eucalyptus in it helped!

10 Indie Lee I-Recover Mind & Body Gel

This body gel is heavenly and I’ve been using it for years. It helps soothe headaches, muscle aches, and swelling. It’s great for post-workouts too! It has a nice eucalyptus and menthol scent to it which I think is very calming. I was getting so many headaches in my first trimester. I try to avoid Tylenol as much as possible because of my health and these helped. You will love this throughout your pregnancy. All you do is massage it over the affected area.

11 BLANQI Maternity Leggings

I’m not an athleisure type of person but I do think having at least one pair of maternity leggings is nice to have. I love these BLANQI leggings. They are flattering and provide so much support for my lower body.

12 Nécessaire Body Lotion & Body Serum

Not only was my belly dry, but the rest of my body’s skin was extremely dry. In general, I had very dry skin before I was pregnant but being pregnant amplified it. There were days I was drinking over 100 oz of water, but my skin still stayed dry. It was so dry that it was flaky. You know how your skin peels after a sunburn? That’s how my entire body looked.

While I always thought I moisturized my body well, I wished I did an even better job in my first trimester. The only thing that worked for me was Nécessaire Body Lotion and Nécessaire Body Serum. Since I use them simultaneously, I like to buy the body lotion & serum set. I had to use them twice a day – morning and night. Occasionally I would use coconut oil for extra body hydration.

I know a lot of mama-to-bes love to document their pregnancy especially if it is their first time. So many have recommended a pregnancy journey as a first trimester must-have. I personally didn’t use it. I feel like having this blog & Instagram helped me document my pregnancy. But if that’s something you’re into, you may want to look into that!

As you can see, you really don’t need any big ticket items to get you through the first trimester. You just need things that will help you get through the pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness. If you want more details about what my first trimester was like then check out this blog post. I also shared my 2nd trimester experience as well.

Hope this helps!

xo RD