Congratulations, you’re pregnant! Have you been asking all your friends and family what helped them make it through their 9 months of pregnancy? Searching the internet for tips and tricks to make yours a little easier? Everyone will tell you to eat bananas to help with leg cramps and to stock up on leggings as your body changes. We surveyed a group of moms to see their Top Ten Pregnancy Hacks that you probably haven’t heard of before. Search no further, here are 10 simple and easy answers to the plights of pregnancy you have been trying to solve.
1. Maeband
The biggest (no pun intended) dilemma for expecting mothers is what clothes to wear and how to prevent spending a fortune on a whole new wardrobe. You still want to look cute and feel beautiful. As your new baby grows you will no longer fit in your pre-pregnancy jeans, that is, unless you have invested in a MAEBAND!
The Maeband is a much more stylish, functional and comfortable way to transform your regular jeans into maternity jeans by covering up the unbuttoned area and adding stretch to your waistband. It’s by far the best belly band on the market! Perfect for an expecting mother on a budget or for someone who just wants to continue wearing their favorite jeans through pregnancy AND postpartum. Lets face it, maternity jeans are awful. This is the number one pregnancy hack we can all appreciate!
Maebands are an Amazon’s Choice product and consistently a best seller with hundreds of five star reviews!
2. No-Tie Shoelaces
As your pregnancy progresses you may veto regular shoes for flip flops or slip ons. Although easier to get on our feet, we won’t receive the foot support we very much need during pregnancy. We all know that the struggles of tying your favorite tennis shoes becomes a bigger problem as YOU become bigger and bigger. Struggle no more! With no-tie laces you will never have to tie your shoelaces again. Just slip on your shoes and go. No more discarding your favorite tennis shoes or waiting for someone to tie them. There are several different types of no tie laces, so you can find the type that works best for you and your aching feet.
3. Pregnancy Pillow
This is a tip you’ve probably heard before, but we felt we needed to include it anyway. Some women choose not to purchase one and they really don’t know what they’re missing! Whether it’s for back support or if you need some stomach support and much needed relief in your hips, you need a pregnancy pillow. No matter what stage of pregnancy you’re in, it is a MUST HAVE. There are only so many positions your new bump can sleep in, you need all the help you can get. It can be so useful once your little one has arrived as well. It can help position you and baby for breastfeeding, as well as being an additional comfort for sleeping postpartum. Some even use it later for a baby that needs assistance with first sitting up. With the help of Amazon and Google you can quickly find a very affordable pillow that will meet all your needs. Who knows how long you will want to keep it!
4. Bra Extenders
Did you know this was even a thing?? It is, and there are so many different types online. Your breasts will be going through their own changes, but don’t give up on your favorite comfy bras yet. A quick search of the internet shows several different and inexpensive bra extenders. In the next year you can bet you’ll need to size up and/or down at LEAST twice! Try the extenders and see if you can save a little money till your boobs settle down.
5. Foot Soaks
Swelling and water retention can be MISERABLE, especially during the hot summer months. Your poor feet will feel the wrath of your pregnancy so remember to take care of them as well. Elevate them, regularly treat them to pedicures, or even some at-home foot soaks. Invest in some grapefruit oil (a few drops in the water with each soak) and Epsom salt, for a foot soak that will relieve those bloated feet.
6. Baby’s First Picture
We all want the cutest ultrasounds (is that even possible??) and need baby to cooperate in utero. Before your ultrasound drink a slurpee or other sugary juice to make sure you have plenty of activity and poses going on inside. A nice sugary drink will have any baby camera ready.
7. Nausea Remedies
The most common complaint in the first trimester is nausea and how to get a handle on it. The best advice is to eat bland snacks throughout the day. A hungry stomach can amplify nausea. Additionally, some moms have found that keeping hard candies/mints around (jolly ranchers, ginger altoids, ginger candy, peppermint) will help relieve any sudden nausea. Other advice included herbal tea, sucking on lemon wedges, tums and keeping saltine crackers on your nightstand. No matter what, don’t remain miserable when there are so many helpful remedies. It would also be smart to always have a bag and bucket on hand, just in case.
8. Kitchen Tongs
Keep a good pair of kitchen tongs hanging in the shower. There will be a time in your pregnancy when anything that falls to the ground will no longer be something that you care about. Kitchen tongs can at least get you through your shower.
9. Silk Sheets
During the third trimester feel no shame in kicking your significant other out of bed! Time for your pregnancy pillow to meet all its glory. As the baby grows it will be getting harder and harder for you (and the baby) to move around. Sleep will be a thing of the past. Let your pregnancy pillow find a permanent spot on the bed and invest in some silk sheets. They will allow you to move around and get up and down easier for those 300 bathroom trips during the night. Just be careful you don’t slip right off the bed!
10. Bra Tips
Pregnant during the summer? Or breastfeeding have you aching? Stick your favorite bra in the freezer and let it cool you down and hopefully relieve some sensitivity. Once the baby arrives another favorite tip is placing Crustable Sandwiches in your bra as a cooling technique. They are a pre-packaged, no crust, frozen PB&J. They are meant to slowly defrost, which is a great time to ice your tender breasts. Once they have done the trick, you’ll have a nice snack ready. Snacks and water are a must have when breastfeeding.