I was pregnant four times, and I recently gave birth to my 5th baby boy. In this post, you’ll read about my first trimester must haves.
Every pregnancy/labor is different. What helped with one pregnancy might not have worked for another. Overall I hope these ideas help you to survive your first trimester.
Prenatal Vitamin
#1 on my first trimester must haves a good prenatal vitamin with iron. I loved taking garden of life organic prenatal vitamins with my last pregnancy.
I made sure to take the vitamins with food, and right before I went to bed, to help with nausea.
These vitamins made a huge difference with my last pregnancy. My iron levels stayed in the normal range the whole pregnancy, which I struggled with during my first pregnancy.
Please don’t try their gummy prenatal vitamins, especially if you have nausea. In my experience, it was easier to swallow a vitamin vs. chewing a gross gummy that triggers your gag reflex and gives you a horrible after taste.
Diffuser and Essential Oils
Diffuse lemon and peppermint essential oils to help with nausea. I diffused the oils throughout the day.
Lavender Essential Oil is a great oil to help you relax, especially if you get insomnia during pregnancy.
Peppermint!
Whether it’s peppermint tea, peppermint essential oil, peppermint candy, or peppermint gum. Peppermint helps with bloating and nausea.
Ginger!
Whether it’s fresh ginger, ginger tea, ginger drops, or ginger ale.
Ginger Ale with lemon isn’t the healthiest option. But that’s how I survived my first trimester during my last pregnancy. I would lay in bed and slowly take sips from Ginger Ale to settle my stomach.
Snacks
Make sure to eat! Eating is probably the hardest thing to do during the first trimester, especially in the morning. But the longer you go without food, the worse you probably will feel, which makes it even harder to eat. It’s a vicious exhausting cycle.
Keep healthy(ish) snacks next to you at all times: trail mix, cheerios, pretzels…etc. I’ve read that protein helps with nausea, but I could never stomach eating protein in the morning whether I’m pregnant or not.
Dry snacks are what enabled me to be able to get out of bed. One pregnancy, all I could eat was dry unflavored cheerios.
I kept them by my nightstand, in my purse, and even in the car. Anytime I felt a slight amount of nausea, I would slowly eat one cheerio at a time, and a few minutes later, nausea would go away.
Sadly the cheerio trick didn’t help with my last pregnancy. So I tried pretzels/crackers instead. It made me feel a little better so I could eat a proper meal.
Find that one snack that helps you, and make sure it’s always right by you, especially in the car.
Water Bottle/Cup
Make sure you drink enough water. I loved using a Starbucks cup with a straw. It was easier to drink through a straw than a regular cup.
Body Moisturizer
I’ve been pregnant four times, and with each pregnancy, I had the weirdest skin sensitivity. I’m not sure if it’s the stretching or just an odd hormone reaction, but my skin would itch like crazy.
I hated taking showers because it would make my skin itch even worse. So I used Bio-Oil, Cocoa Butter Formula, Earth Mama Lotion…etc. With my previous pregnancies to calm the irritation.
The only lotion that helped with my 4th pregnancy was the Earth Mama Baby Lotion.
I would lather myself all over and breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully the itchy skin reaction didn’t last the whole pregnancy.
Pregnancy App + Community
I loved being a part of the expecting community on an app and Facebook groups. I used BabyCenter, but there are so many different apps/groups to choose from to connect with other expecting moms. You’ll also get a weekly update on how your baby is growing.
Pregnancy + Baby Books
One thing that I wished I’d done more is to read. I’ve done a lot of reading on pregnancy. Mama Natural Week by week is an excellent book for a weekly update, and I loved Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth book for birth stories.
But I wished I had read more on how to take care of a baby. For example, how to swaddle a baby, CPR, calm a colicky baby, starting solids…etc.
I wished I knew more about breastfeeding/pumping. That it’s possible to exclusively pump if the baby doesn’t nurse well. Overall, I just wished I had read more, especially during my 1st pregnancy.
Baby Books I’ve Read:
- The Natural Baby Sleep Solution
- The Baby Whisper Solves All of Your Problems
- What to Expect the First Year
- The Happiest Baby on the Block
First Trimester Must Haves
- Prenatal Vitamins
- Diffuser + Lemon/Peppermint Essential Oils
- Peppermint – Tea, Essential Oil, Gum, or Candy
- Ginger – Fresh Ginger, Ginger Tea, Ginger Ale
- Snacks – Trail Mix, Protein bars, Cereal, Pretzels, Crackers…etc.
- Water
- Body Moisturizer
- Pregnancy App + Groups
- Pregnancy + Baby Books
These were my first-trimester must-haves. I hope this list helps you with your first trimester. I know that it seems like time is going by so slowly, especially when you’re not feeling good. But you’ll hold your precious one(or two) soon; then, time will start flying by.
If you loved this blog post, read my second-trimester must haves here!
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