Second Trimester Essentials

My third trimester is creeping up on me this week. Time is flying so fast right now. There aren't enough hours in the day to prepare for our lives and the baby's life. I truly enjoy the chaos of it all.  I didn't think I would love pregnancy as much as I do right now. :)

01. Pregnancy Tea- I loved tea even before my pregnancy, but I've definitely come to love it even more now that I'm pregnant. It keeps me warm during the cold mornings at work or at home, it wakes me up and it adds to my daily water intake. I love this tea. The taste of it is amazing and not what you'd think it would be. This isn't the only tea I've been drinking, but it's definitely been one of my favorites. I finished this box of tea before  I finished any of the other teas I bought before I was pregnant :/

02. BeMaternity Beband from Target. I bought this for $20 and it was well worth it. It smoothes all the bumps that you suddenly have with your growing belly and it holds up the pants you can no longer button up. I bought my band in black so that it would match with everything and avoid the dirty factor at work.

03. Bellybelt from Motherhood. I bought this for $20 also. This was definitely one of the first things I bought for my pregnancy. I loved my regular jeans and I didn't want to have to buy expensive maternity pants ( have you seen the cost of those things?!?!?). They have different colors to match all different types of pants and they also have different attachments for almost every type of pant there is out there. The bellybelt helps you avoid spending more money then you have to. I love that!

04. Coconut/Shea Butter Body Butter by The Body Shop. I stopped using coco butter and started using these butters more. I loved the thick consistency of them and they last such a longer time ( longer than coco butter). These two types of butter helped with my dry skin all over my body and my belly.

05. Chapstick! My favorite has been the Cake Batter kind. You can really buy this anywhere. My lips were extremely chapped the last couple of months especially with the cold weather.

06. I mixed equal parts of Copperstone sunscreen and Vaseline Aloe Cucumber lotion together in an air tight container to use as my moisturizer. I'm a huge believer in protecting my skin against the sun at all times. I use this all year round. I used a lot more of it this time around since my skin was so dry all the time even my face!

07. What to Expect App for the iPhone. I loved using this app so much I basically stopped reading the book this trimester. ( Don't worry I'll catch up on my reading soon) I loved it because it would let me know what different tips I should be aware of daily as well as showing a weekly video on the baby's progress. There was little forums you would be able to participate in with expecting mothers that are due around the same month which was really nice to know that we are all going through the same thing at the same time.

08. Babybump App for the iPhone. I like this app a lot because it updates daily and weekly. It's not as "high-tech" as the What to Expect App, but it gets the job done. I enjoy reading more of what is going on with my girl. This countdown is more accurate than What to Expect too!

09. Lavender Baby Oil from Walmart. I opted that I was going to get the Equate version because it's the same as the name brand. I use this before I go to sleep at night after putting lotion on to keep the moisture in. It's worked wonders on me since now I'm getting a lot bigger than I have been. I use it for my arms and upper body since that's where it's the driest.

10. Lubriderm. This is hands down my favorite lotion. My mom use to use this on me as a kid and when H grows up I will probably use the same for her. It is a bit pricey, but completely worth it. You will stay moisturized all day with this stuff. My skin again is so ridiculously dry.

11.Aveeno Baby Lotion. This is the lotion I use at work for my belly. It's not sticky or greasy and it's perfect for a quick application if you feel like your belly is getting dry. I like to carry this in my purse too when I'm out and about during the weekends.

12. Moccasins from Old Navy. I bought this for about $14 in stores. I loveee the way they feel on my feet with or without socks. It helps a lot since I really don't like wearing regular shoes all the time while I go out. It's definitely my "go-to" pair of shoes right now.

13. Apples! I couldn't get myself to not eat apples almost everyday during my second trimester. I love them so much. It's so weird how I could eat them twice a day and not even thick twice about it. One day I remember eating even three of them in one day! GAHHH!

14. Nike Free Runs 3.0. My husband bought these for me a while back and I love them so much. They're light weight and I love wearing them at work when I don't have to necessarily dress up. I'll wear them with jeans or sweats.

15. Old Navy long sleeve tees. I know that when Fall was starting to come around these bad boys were about $9 for a shirt if you bought 2 of them. I have them in a lot of colors ( no I'm not joking). They run a little loose which was perfect for me when I was going through the awkward belly stage this trimester. Right now, they're still a little loose on me which is perfect. I got them one size up from what I usually get so that I wouldn't have to worry about it when I got bigger. They are so comfy too!

16. Yoga pants/Leggings from Target. I bought the yoga pants for about $15 and leggings for $5. Both of the latter are really comfortable and didn't overly stretch like some pants do. They both give you enough room to wiggle in. If that makes any sense at all.

17. Sweatpants by Hanes. I bought these from Walmart for less than $6. They are thee best sweats in the world. They run a little bigger which was perfect because it's still comfortable if I wear them over my belly. They're roomy and super warm.

18. Reheating Rice bag. I was given this for Christmas from a friend and I love it! All the times my back ached these past couple of months, all I wanted to do was put bengay on my back. I obviously resisted and found this as a better option. I would warm it up for a couple minutes and it would stay warm for about an hour. It relieved my temporary pain and I was able to avoid medicine... YAY!!

19. BOOTS!! I love boots during the winter. Snow hit us pretty hard for a couple weeks so boots were my go to shoes for a while. I wanted to find styles that would go with almost all of my wardrobe and be able to keep me safe when I walk through snow/ice. I wanted to be extra cautious this winter because of my pregnancy and all. I lived in boots.

20. Skinny Jean Full Panel from Old Navy. I bought these from Old Navy for $30 ( which is crazy for the price of regular maternity jeans), I used my rewards and bough them while their sale was going on. I also bought the Demi Panel too. I love the Full Panel because it smoothes all of your new curves out and covers your belly entirely. The panel itself didn't both me too much I just had to get use to having it up all the time. You could also fold it down if you didn't want it to go all the way up your torso. They ran a little big ( especially because Old Navy didn't have my actual size).  I really hated wearing the Demi Panel because it was cutting off my circulation no matter how I wore it.