Products I Actually Used During Pregnancy

Okay, so I know this is my music website, but y’all, I just had a baby, and I’m not about to start a whole new website for a few pregnancy and postpartum-themed blog entries. Besides, I am not a big fan of the whole niching down thing. I’m a whole-ass person with a multifaceted identity, mkay? Plus, I’m just really at that stage in life-slash-the pandemic-slash-motherhood-slash-late stage capitalism where doing things the lazy way is an act of resistance. I will not be shamed.

That said, I’ve been wanting to write blog series where I tell folks all about the products I actually used throughout my pregnancy and after delivery. For transparency’s sake, I will say that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, but I am legit only publishing these posts in hopes of helping any pregnant and birthing people who trust my opinion as they wade through the waters of “WTF is actually useful?” 

I know folks have strong feelings about shopping on the ol’ Amazon marketplace. I do as well, and they are complex – probably worthy of a whole other blog entry. But until then, this new mama is trying to help other new parents and feed her family at the same time, so feel free to kick rocks if you’re not down for those causes. Away we go:

Products I Actually Used During Pregnancy:

Prenatal Vitamins
It took us old lesbians like a billion years to get pregnant, so I was trying various prenatal vitamins for quite sometime before we finally got the BFP. At first, I took Ritual Prenatal Vitamins, which were great in terms of ingredients. But some cons: They were kinda spendy, I didn’t love the subscription model, and the hint of lemon flavor that I loved in the beginning kind of started making me feel like I was ingesting Pledge wood polisher.

From there, I moved on to SmartyPants Prenatal Formula Daily Gummies. They were tasty little gummies, and I dug the omega-3 action because mama comes from a long line of ladies with mental health issues and from what the internet tells me, fish oil is good for the brain.

I switched it up yet again when I realized that the Smarty Pants gummies didn’t include Iron. I didn’t want to have to supplement that separately, so I decided to go with Solimo Prenatal Vitamins & DHA Gummies. These are the prenatals I was taking when I found out I was pregnant, and rocked with them all the way through the first few weeks of postpartum life, until they became “currently unavailable” on the Amazon site. Rude.

Nausea Relief
Thankfully, I never had my head in a toilet bowl throughout my entire pregnancy. There were, however, a couple early months where I felt pretty dang woozy. Two things got me through: Preggie Pops and Sea-Band wristbands. The former helped for those short but intense waves of yuck, and the latter were great for all-day wear. Neither product eliminated nausea altogether, but they both smoothed out some of the rougher edges of the experience and helped me avoid a trip to Barftown, USA.

Heartburn Relief & Sleep Aid
All I have to say is: Tum-ta-tum-tum-TUUUUUUMS for the win. I went through like four bottles of extra strength Tums in my last trimester. I hope you don’t hit the level of heartburn that I experienced, but if you do, stock up on these chalky little miracles.

I think every Buy Nothing group on Facebook has one of these U Shaped Pregnancy Pillows listed on the daily, but just in case you don’t see one or don’t feel comfortable washing a stranger’s pillow case, make sure to snag one. Seriously. Sleep is soooo hard to come by in those later months, and this pillow will help you catch some crucial z’s.

​Skin-Care
I’m not someone who ever had an elaborate or regimented skincare routine to begin with, but I did try my hardest to slather on some of this Bella B lotion on my legs and baby bump after showers. Did it make all my cellulite miraculously go away? No. Did it prevent post-delivery stretch marks from forming on each hip? Also no. But I like the way it smells, I like the consistency, and who knows…maybe those stretch marks would have been a lot worse without it. And as far as I’m concerned, my stretch marks are effing awesome. I earned those suckers. But yeah, I still like and use the lotion.

Maternity Clothes
I don’t know if it was the pandemic or the popularity of online shopping or WHAT, but geez Louise, it was so hard to find maternity clothes in actual stores. I don’t know what made me think I would be this cute pregnant lady in adorable flowy maternity dresses, but that vision was squashed pretty quickly because I hated the idea of buying something fancy that I couldn’t try on in a store. I ended up just wearing a lot of sweatpants and T-shirts like every other dang day of my lesbian life. That said, I did spring for some staple items that made pregnancy just a bit more comfy - like these maternity jeans, this maternity swimsuit, and these workout-slash-pajama maternity shorts. 

Undies
As my body grew, I had no choice but to go hunting for new undergarments. These Caramel Cantina Nursing Bras were my favorite for lots of reasons: padless, wireless, soft enough to sleep in, supportive enough for light workouts, annnnnd I knew I could use them to nurse after the baby came. I ended up going back to buy another 4-pack so I could have enough to last me through one laundry cycle! For undies, I first tried the cute below-the-bump “panties,” but I did not dig them at all. Correction: all I did was dig them out of my crotch because they kept sliding down. Back to the interwebs I went, and I found these Intimate Portal Maternity Foldable Briefs which worked wayyyy better for me in terms of fit and coverage. I bought two 6-packs, and they are still essential skivvies for my postpartum comfort. 

Okay, boom, there you have it. Wishing you a happy pregnancy and hope any of these items help make your experience more comfortable! Stay tuned for a few more blogs with recommendations for postpartum life!