(Part 2) Top products from r/pregnant

Congratulations! I'm 40 weeks pregnant right now so here's what my doctor recommended to me food and drink-wise:

Foods to Avoid:
-raw or undercooked meats and seafood (if you eat steak, better to get it medium-well or well done)
-soft cheeses like brie and goat cheese (although it's fine if it's made with pasteurized milk, so just check the package)
-deli meats and cold cuts (okay if you heat them well first, but that was never appealing to me)

• hot dogs and processed meats (they contain nitrates which can be harmful)
  
  Drinks to avoid:
  -alcohol and caffeine (some caffeine is ok but not more than a cup of coffee per day. I switched to decaf since I love coffee so I can still have a couple cups if I want)
  -herbal tea (avoid green tea, licorice root/slippery elm) This one surprised me the most, some tea is ok but do your research, a few kinds can cause contractions.
  
• unpasteurized juice, like you'd find at a fresh - pressed or cold-pressed juice place. Make sure any juice you buy is pasteurized, almost all juices at the supermarket are.
  
  Don't freak out if you slip up and accidentally eat a hot dog or have something from this list every once in a while, just cut them out as much as possible. Just eat as many fresh fruits and veggies as possible and be sure to take your prenatal vitamins (I highly recommend Nature Made prenatal +DHA
  And check with your doctor before taking any medication or supplements. Like a previous post said, stay away from anti-inflammatories like Advil and Aleve.
  It sounds like a lot but after a while you'll get used to it! You got this!

This list is awesome! I was not nearly that organized for my registry! Just a few comments from the other side (my baby is 3 months currently).


Baby nails are sharp and scary, some friends bought us this Electric Nail File and it is absolutely amazing, not painful for baby at all and much more efficient than the little files.

This butt spatula thing has been great for when we apply diaper cream! Saves us from getting it on our hands.

For me personally, I found the Boppy rather ineffective for nursing at first while we were trying to figure out nursing. Baby would kind of slide down between the Boppy and my stomach. Now at 3 months old, the Boppy is super useful for propping baby and sometimes as a nursing pillow if I decide to use one. My first few weeks of nursing I'd use the Brest Friend Nursing Pillow it was great when Baby really needed a little extra support for getting into the best position for nursing.

Breastfeeding was very painful for me the first few weeks. Our LO ended up having a bad latch due to tongue and lip ties we had to get lasered (anterior tongue tie had been clipped by Pediatrician in the hospital, she still had a posterior tie that was diagnosed later by a lactation consultant - just something to keep in mind), by the time we had the procedure done the damage was done to my nipples. These nipple shields are one of the things that really helped my nipples heal in between feedings to keep my bra/clothes off of them. I hope you don't have to use them, but something you may want to make a note of in case you have a similar experience. If you do end up having nipple pain, ask your OB (or Google how to make it yourself) for a script for "Newman's Nipple Cream", that stuff helped save our breastfeeding relationship!


Good luck, looks like you're off to a great start!

I'm glad you got the help you needed! I was actually on antidepressants years ago and they made a huge difference. Eventually I got off of them and started taking a specific combo of vitamins and supplements and felt just as great. Unfortunately, I ran out of them and simply didn't buy more because I thought I was "all better", some major life events occurred and here I am again. I stocked up on the vitamins again and hope that within the next couple of weeks I start to notice a difference again along with finding a therapist. I really didn't want to share my awful thoughts with my fiance, but I did and it definitely helped. Thankfully he didn't take any of it personally and has been my biggest cheerleader through this.
Again, I commend you for getting the help you need. There is nothing wrong with antidepressants--I know firsthand that they can be a godsend. If you are interested, though, here is the book that got me on the path to understanding why my brain works the way it does and how vitamins impact mental health. You might find it interesting, too! https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-without/dp/0738213888

My hubby is taking us out for a nice dinner (leaving our 3yo with grandma for the night). I'm so hungry all the time (5.mths along) he might save more with a buffet at this point lol

I got him this cute fill in the blank "Love journal" so I can tell him cute stuff about all the reasons I love him. It's probably 50 pages but easy to come up cute stuff to write about. (not just generic prompts).

https://www.amazon.com/Without-You-What-Would-Fill/dp/1452157669

We are trying to save too so I was torn about actually spending money but it was under $10 and I know he'll love it.

I found What To Expect When You're Expecting's chapter on diet really interesting, especially as I don't have any nausea or food aversions yet!

A quick summary is:

1. Calories - no change for your first trimester, then an extra 300 calories in the second, and an extra 500 in the third.
   
2. Protein - 3 servings daily
   
3. Calcium - 4 servings
   
4. Vitamin C - 3 servings
   
5. Green leafy and yellow vegetables and yellow fruits - 3 to 4 servings
   
6. Other fruits and vegetables - 1 to 2 servings
   
7. Whole grains - 6 or more servings
   
8. Iron-rich foods - it just says "some"
   
9. Fats and high-fat foods - about 4 servings
   
10. Omega-3 fatty acids
    
11. Fluids
    
12. Prenatal vitamins
    
    They say to be "efficient" with your choices and pick food items that each count for a couple of different categories, but the chapter is not particularly helpful for comparing those foods. Especially as the food will probably have different serving sizes to meet the requirements of each category. (For example, a slice of whole grain bread is one serving of whole grain, but you need four slices to get to a half serving of protein!)
    
    To make meal planning easier (and as I’m a massive nerd), I put everything into a spreadsheet. It should make comparing "efficient" foods a bit easier. (Summary on the first tab, the big list is on the second.)
    
    Also, I’ve been colour-coding the items I’m using for each meal, then resorting the sheet, so I can see what categories I need to bump up (like this).
    
    There will be tons of other foods that you can use to meet your servings - this is just what the book had listed.
    
    Feel free to download the sheet yourself. And please let me know if I’ve made any mistakes :)
    
    And don’t beat yourself up about meeting these guidelines – I eat like a teenager who has been left alone for the weekend, so I’m just happy to have some guidance about eating like a grown-up!

You could be pregnant if you had unprotected sex and you've missed your birth control pill three days in a row, yes.

That said, if you've just finished your period, it's unlikely because ovulation usually happens about halfway through your cycle, or about 14 days after the first day of your period.

I would advise you to inform yourself about how your body works and learn about fertility if you want to continue to have a safe and healthy sex life. I suggest [Taking Charge of Your Fertility](Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062326031/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_f08AzbRCAP7CJ) as a good place to start. Learning about your personal cycle can help you prevent pregnancy now, and perhaps help you conceive in the future if that is what you want.

For now, you can go to your local pharmacy and buy a "morning after" pill, which can help prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. This can make you feel ill, but it is a good "back up" choice when your first line of birth control fails.

Good luck to you!

The pop culture reference thing is killing me right now. I love the name Elsa for a girl, but I don't want people to think I named my kid after a Disney character... And I just know that no one will believe me when I say it had nothing to do with Frozen...

Btw, we got a book called "The Best Baby Name Book In The Whole Wide World". It has any name you could think of, the meaning behind it, what culture it came from, statistics about recent popular names and a lot of good tips for naming like syllable patterns and alliteration.

Find out what foods you need to avoid while pregnant (including how much caffeine is safe, what herbal teas are off limits, and which fish have high levels of mercury), and what drugs you should not be taking (e.g. ibuprofen is typically not baby friendly). There are different schools of thought around all of this and a lot more.

As far as books, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is a best seller and not a bad place to start. https://www.amazon.com/What-Expect-When-Youre-Expecting/dp/0761187480/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525410573&sr=8-2&keywords=maternity+book

Once you get to the buying stuff stage the book "Baby Bargains" is pretty good. https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bargains-Secrets-Saving-strollers/dp/188939257X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525410646&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+bargains+book+2018

If you're totally lost, you can always reach out and connect with a Doula (even early in pregnancy) - though this can be pricey. Doulas have a wealth of knowledge. The hospital that you will deliver at also probably has resources and links set up on their website.

I used this one and love it. I loved it so much I got the baby book version and then the birthday book now that my kid has turned one. I'm getting another Belly Book for my current pregnancy so my kids have the exact same book but different answers.

The book has a lot of joke questions, questions about the parents, pages for every week of pregnancy, charts and polls about cravings and other cliches... I'm usually very picky when choosing planners or journals and this one was just perfect for my needs. (The photos in the reviews show lots of sample pages.)

The Belly Book: A Nine-Month Journal for You and Your Growing Belly (Potter Style) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307336182/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_bm7RAb0AW0YPB

Future dad, wife is due in March, checking in. These books have helped me:

The Expectant Father

We're Pregnant!

The Birth Partner

and for a nice laugh: Man Vs Child

Also, your doctors understand that you are not an expert, and there are no such things as dumb questions at any doctor's visit. Yes, go to every visit, be in the room, take notes for your partner, and ask questions. A good rule of thumb for everything is "ask your doctor."

And... like, I understand that you don't want to stress your partner out, but at the same time open communication is really important. Take the time to listen to her concerns, make her ginger tea, and share ideas. It's OKAY to be anxious, as long as turn that anxiety into productive energy and not needless worrying.

There’s a funny cookbook my boss got for a coworker called something like “How to Boil Water” with just the basics. Might not be a bad idea to pick that up for him and have him cook 1-2 times/week with your supervision.

And this makes me so glad my DH can cook! He keeps me fed and happy with healthy meals.

ETA here’s the link https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0696226863/ref=cm_cr_othr_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

I did temperature measurements and as long as you are consistent (setting the alarm to wake up at the same time every day and temping before getting out of bed, and using a thermometer that goes to 2 decimal places), you can get a good feel for usual monthly pattern and it gives a lot of information (i.e. for me I ovulated later than expected), so I think its a great tool.

From what I recall about it, yes, the dip on the chart on the 13th corresponds with ovulation. I used fertilityfriend website to track mine though its sometimes off on its guess of ovulation, so that's why you need a human to do the final interpretation of the graph. This book is also great for learning about charting.

I got a Medela In Style from insurance (Thanks, Obama) and ended up buying a Spectra S2 from Amazon (hospital grade and insurance wouldn't cover).

I like both, but the s2 is lighter, quieter and more comfortable to use. Glad I have both (Medela can be portable for work) but if I had to have one - would buy the Spectra, it's not as much money as I had expected.

Glad to hear you feel like it’s worth it. To get around the “won’t use it that long” argument, we registered for and just received yesterday the “summer infant comfort height bathtub” on Amazon. It turns into a step stool baby can use later!! Multipurpose!! https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Comfort-Height-Bath/dp/B01MQNKPZC

This is the one I got, it looks like there are a few different versions, but they all do the same thing and it's specifically made for putting diaper cream on baby butts. No idea if that makes the material special, but here's hoping it works well enough!

I quit cold turkey, too, and it worked well for me.

OP, please check out this book: Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Revised Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1405923318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BFHsDb0M70VWF

My husband and I both quit smoking using this book. No tricks, no coddling, just good facts that help make quitting an easy solution instead of a scary, daunting process.

I'm not sure about the insurance, but if you can't get them to pay for it the Spectra 2 is a great pump for only $120 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BLBLR1I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PSFozb0K7NDNQ

Have you heard of fertility awareness? I love this book: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Fertility-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0060881909. I got pregnant when I first started trying after having been on hormonal birth control (the pill) for ten years. I started reading it because I was just interested in how my body worked without hormones once I decided to stop taking the pill, and we decided we wanted to try for a baby shortly thereafter. What I loved most about the book is that it helps you determine if you really need (expensive!) fertility treatments or not without going to the doctor, and what kinds you might need. It is a huge learning curve, I thought, but it is so well worth it. It was really liberating to learn all of the clues about when I was fertile and when I wasn't. I feel like women should be learning this stuff in high school - knowing these things is really, really empowering.

I’ve heard it usually ends around the end of the first trimester, but I’m not 100% sure. This is my first pregnancy and the nausea is hitting me like crazy.

I’ve found relief with ginger chews, Preggie Pops (I got mine from amazon here), B6 and unisom together, and peppermint tea.

Hi!! Congratulations mama! My partner and I are TTC and I’m currently reading Like a Mother by Angela Garbes Im learning SO much about my body, pregnancy and how society’s views and reactions to pregnant women have evolved.

2020 Promoted To Grandpa - Promoted to Grandma/Coffee Mug Set/New Grandparents https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y27FQDJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_czsKDbKAR4X9K

Not sure if he's the reading type, but I'd recommend The Caveman's Guide to Pregnancy
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cavemans-Pregnancy-Companion-Expectant/dp/140273526X

Summer Infant Comfort Height Bath Tub https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQNKPZC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_i9haBbEQA343W

I'm in the UK, but just searched amazon, is it these? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Lollies-Preggie-Assorted-Sickness/dp/B005AYE8UE

I tried to journal at the beginning, and even after finding one I liked I just didn't keep up with it once the nausea and exhaustion kicked in.

That being said, the one I ended up with was The Belly Book and to my recollection it was almost enitrely guided.

The paper journals also assume that you're getting printed ultrasound pictures, but my office only emails digital copies of the images, and I never got around to printing them out in the right size.

I bought my husband this with our first child and he loved it! He learned so much in a format that didn’t make him feel like an idiot. Highly recommend this book and we buy it for all our new dad friends when they have diaper parties! Men unfortunately just do not like researching things like this publicly. We have found that when given this book as a gift they will read it but won’t seek it out on their own. My husband was SO supportive through both our pregnancies and births and I absolutely think it was because he had this book. He asked informed questions at our dr appointments and after them at home, when we had to have an emergency cesarean with our first, I was freaking out. We had had a failed 36 hour induction, and he was like the calm in the middle of a proverbial shit storm through it all. Get “dude, you’re gonna be a dad!” And I believe there’s a follow up too called,”dude, you’re a dad!”

Edit: here’s a link to the follow up. It deals with what to expect in the first year, what to look out for as signs of ppd, and the changes to expect in your relationships and how to manage them.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1440541124/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_-4t7CbJ992GAK