Pregnancy: First Trimester Favorites

I had kind of a hard time coming up with this list. I felt so miserable much of the first trimester that I really didn't have any favorite snacks or remedies, I didn't need to start wearing any maternity clothes, and several of the books I read freaked me out more than anything else. But there were a few things that did help me make my way through those early weeks, so I thought I'd share them here.

Books & Pregnancy Planner

As I mentioned, some of the books I brought home from the library just stressed me out with their dire predictions. The ones I actually appreciated during those first weeks were the more matter-of-fact books with helpful updates about baby's development and the changes I could expect with my own body. 

• Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - I feel like this is chock full of useful information and helpful charts.
• Babycenter Pregnancy: From Preconception to Birth - This has really nice weekly updates about the baby's development as well as how your body is changing along the way.
• The New Pregnancy Bible - The weekly updates are shorter but I like the foldout chart of how a pregnancy progresses.
• The Natural Pregnancy Book - This is a nice resource if you prefer a more natural approach.
• Great Expectations: Pregnancy Journal and Planner - A friend of mine recently had a baby and I remembered seeing this planner in the pregnancy section way back when I was shopping for a gift for her. It was one of the first things I bought when I found out I was pregnant and I love it. I find myself using it a lot more than I even anticipated. It has room to jot down weekly notes about nutrition, exercise, symptoms, and dreams, as well as pages for writing down questions for each doctor's appointment and the doctor's answer, a section for keeping track of gifts, and lots more. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a pregnancy planner!

Apps

A friend recommended the Glow Nuture app for tracking symptoms and getting updates about the baby's development and I really like it. It's hard to remember exactly when some symptoms start and end, so I like having a handy way to keep track on my iPad. I also check out the articles on the WebMd Pregnancy App and the What to Expect App, but I only track my symptoms on Glow Nurture.

Blogs

In many ways I found blogs to be better resources than books. They're written by regular women so they tend to be more down-to-earth and realistic, plus you get a wide range of experiences depending on how many you read. I bookmarked the pregnancy pages of my favorites and each week I read their post from when they were at the same point in their pregnancy. Here are my favorites:

• Peanut Butter Fingers
• My Food & Fitness Diaries
• Sweet Tooth Sweet Life
• Meals and Miles
• Daily Garnish

Beauty Products

I've been in the process of switching over a lot of my health and beauty products to cleaner versions anyway, but there were a few things that I immediately wanted to replace when I found out I was pregnant. I mostly went with Burt's Bees products since they're available at the grocery store and I trust the brand:

• Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter
• Burt's Bees Milk and Honey Body Lotion and Burt's Bees Cocoa and Cupaucu Butters Body Lotion
• Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer (My favorite shade is Apricot! Also, just fyi, even though the shades have flavor-type names, they all taste minty.)

Belly Armor

image via Belly Armor

One of the things I researched when I first found out I was pregnant was whether wifi was safe for pregnant women. There are a lot of mixed views on this out there. I decided it was going to be pretty impossible to avoid wifi altogether, but did find a company that produces products you can wear or use to help block wifi and emf from the womb. This may be overkill, but since I spend a lot of time sitting with an ipad in my lap, I like the idea of being able to drape this Belly Blanket over my belly for some protection. (And this does block the wifi signal to my iPad--I tested it.)

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So there you have it, my First Trimester Favorites! If you're just starting out on your own pregnancy journey, I hope you find something that might help you out. You can read about my first trimester in my Recap post and more about my pregnancy by clicking here or on Pregnancy at the top of the page.

What were your first trimester must-haves? Did you use any of the same products that I did? Any suggestions for things I should check out in my second trimester?