UncategorizedOur Natural Life: My Top 11 Pregnancy Essentials January 21, 2015At 39 weeks and just days from my due date, I can’t help but reflect back on this pregnancy. I’ve talked a lot about the emotions and joy that I’ve felt, but I haven’t talked a ton about the physical difficulties, discomfort, and struggles of my pregnancy. Overall, this has been a great pregnancy. I’ve had my share of nausea, heartburn, and back pain, but I really have felt great for the most part and have loved being pregnant. But there are some items, my pregnancy essentials, that have really gotten me through the tough days. Some of these were recommended to me by friends, some of them I discovered myself. All 11 items below are something that I used EVERY SINGLE DAY atleast once and literally feel like I would’ve had a breakdown if someone told me I could no longer use them. They made that much of a difference for me. So I can’t not share them! 1.) Ginger Brew This stuff is AMAZING (and of course, it’s non-alcoholic) – I’ve gotten looks while drinking this stuff, haha). I had nausea like most pregnant women do in the first trimester. It lasted until around week 16, but then came back with a vengeance about a week ago. I had no idea that many women also experience first trimester-like symptoms (but often heightened) days or weeks before delivery. That’s super fun! Ginger ale is a common remedy for nausea, but I was determined not to drink a soft drink every day filled with high-fructose corn syrup. But I did need to survive those rough moments. I found this stuff at Trader Joe’s and fell in love. It’s all natural and a much better version of the typical Ginger Ale. Plus, you can get an Extra Ginger Brew that’s even stronger if you need it. Natural food stores all have it, but you can also order it online here. 2.) Sherpa Booties I have worn these things every single day. For swollen and tired feet, these extra-comfy bedroom shoes are a must. They’re warm and are completely sherpa lined, so they really ease being on your feet. This is one of the benefits of me working at home, these are almost the only shoes I’ve worn! Find them here. 3.) EOS Organic Lip Balm I use this stuff all the time even before being pregnant, but I’ve found that during pregnancy, I’ve had extra-dry lips. It’s important to me to have an organic alternative to Chap Stick and I am in love with this stuff! There are several different flavors, but I love the mint best. It’s cooling, more soothing for your lips, and that mint smell is a plus. Find it here. 4.) Comfy Maternity Pajama Pants I love, love, love these pajama pants. They’re soft and so comfortable. They have a drawstring, so they’re adjustable and fit at all different sizes as you grow and change. I think they’re going to work great after Rosie comes as well. I’m a little embarrassed to admit how many days I’ve spent working in these 🙂 There’s several different prints to choose from. Find them here. 5.) Valor Essential Oil This oil has been a life-saver during pregnancy. I’m prone to back pain normally, but it has been severe at times during pregnancy. As my belly has grown, obviously, it pulls on all of your back muscles, which in turn creates headaches. I was told by my mentor when I first started using YL Essential Oils that Valor was like a chiropractor in a bottle. That is single-handedly one of the reasons I initially tried them! She wasn’t kidding. I rub it on the exact spot where I’m having back pain (sometimes almost all over) and within minutes, it’s relieved. This one oil made my husband a believer in them. Being pregnant and having a natural, non-medicated way to relieve back pain is HUGE. To get your own oil or find our more about them, click here. 6.) Maternity Rib-Knit Tanks I have gotten these in so many different colors throughout my pregnancy. They’re so soft and comfortable and are half of my daily pregnant uniform. One of these tanks and my favorite maternity yoga pants are all I’ve worn unless I have to dress up. There are a lot of color choices and are a great price – currently on sale. They’re really long and I actually like them better than my normal tanks! I wonder how they’d look once the bump is gone? I’m definitely going to try it out! With my long torso, my tanks are never long enough. Fine them here and here. 7.) Peppermint Oil If I could only pick one item from the essential list above, I’d have to pick this one. While it would devastate me to get rid of all the others, I literally couldn’t have survived without this one. That may be dramatic, but I’ve used it so many times every day, it’s ridiculous. Peppermint Oil is great for a lot of things, but my two most annoying pregnancy ailments are totally knocked out with peppermint oil. I had heard about heartburn in pregnancy. The heartburn I’ve experienced is no joke. Most days throughout pregnancy, I’ve atleast had tinges of heartburn. But some days, it was so strong, I was literally incapacitated. It’s some of the strongest discomfort I’ve had and after rubbing Peppermint Oil on my chest, it is completely gone in a minute or less. I researched all kinds of natural heartburn cures and this is the only one that totally knocked it out. Also, I never heard about pregnant women having stuffyness and cold symptoms, but apparently a lot do. Starting at around 30 weeks, I pretty severe stuffyness, to the point it felt like my nose was just totally walled off. It made sleeping especially difficult. I started rubbing my chest, underneath my nose, and my temples with peppermint oil every night before going to bed and the strong mint scent opened me up and made it easier to breathe. I was finally able to fall asleep! To get your own or find out more about them, click here. 8.) Mama Bee’s Belly Butter I asked around a lot about stretch mark remedies when I first got pregnant. I kept hearing this one over and over and being made by Burt’s Bee’s, I loved that it’s natural. Several friends told me that they used this and got zero stretch marks. I’ve used it throughout pregnancy and so far, have no major stretch marks at all. I’ve noticed a few very fine, light ones that have already faded and some have disappeared, but nothing major at all. A friend gave me the advice to use this stuff on your breasts, belly, lower back, butt, and upper thighs. She only used this on her belly with a first pregnancy and got no marks there, but got them on the other areas. I’ve followed her advice and obviously, don’t have anything to compare it to, but have had minimal to no stretch marks almost everywhere! You can find yours here, but Target and many stores also carry it. 9.) Maternity Yoga Pants As I said above, these are half of my daily pregnant uniform. They are so comfortable and I love them! Find yours here. 10.) EOS Organic Hand Lotion Just like my dry lips, dry skin has really been an issue for me! I keep this stuff with me and use it all the time. It’s organic, which I love, but it’s also so rich and soothing. It leaves my hands feeling refreshed and very moisturized. Love this stuff! Get yours here. Target also has this stuff right in the checkout line. I add it to my cart almost every time I go there…it’s kind of a problem. 11.) Leachco Snoogle Pillow I had always heard that sleeping during pregnancy is rough. I knew that it would be for me because I am a back-sleeper. When we got married, my husband made so much fun of me because he said I would sleep flat on my back with my hands crossed over my chest and didn’t move all night! And I slept great like that. Well, you can’t sleep on your back throughout most of pregnancy and that’s the only way I’ve ever been able to sleep. Side sleeping has been rough. Shoulder pain, hip pain….it’s not fun. This pillow is the only thing that’s made me able to sleep! It fully supports you and though sleeping is still difficult, I’m not sure I would’ve hardly slept at all without this thing! I would never go without it. Even though it’s huge, when we’ve traveled, it comes along because I know no snoogle means no sleep. Find yours here. If any of you have any other pregnancy product recommendations, please leave them in the comments! While I only have a week or so left, I know there are a lot of expectant moms reading here and I’d love for them to get all the help and recommendations they can! *** I know a lot of you have asked questions and are interested in the Young Living Essential Oils I’ve started using. I love them so much as you can see from just the two I mentioned above! I’m joining with several other Young Living lovers for a FREE Facebook Introductory Class tonight at 9pm EST. There is no commitment at all. you just logon at the designated time and go into the event. We’ll be sharing testimonials, how to use them, why we love them, etc. You can ask any questions you have, or you can just sit and read along to gain more information! Our only goal with this is to share our love of oils and band together to address a lot of the questions we’ve been receiving. We want to provide you all with the knowledge and details to see these oils make a change in your family the way it has for us! Plus, there will be some oil giveaways and prizes at the end of the class, so that’s awesome! If you’re interested in attending, e-mail me at lindsay@thewhitebuffalostylingco.com with your Facebook name. I’ll invite you and then you’ll be ready to go! You can read about my Young Living story here. There you’ll also find information on signing up, if you’re interested!
Trina @ Let's Just Build a House says January 21, 2015 at 2:02 pm Ah i think I am going to try the burt’s bees. I noticed a few teeny ones on my hips and just yesterday Adam pointed out one on my stomach then quickly told me it was really small and he could barely see it…LOL Reply
Lindsay says January 21, 2015 at 2:13 pm Trina, you really should! It has really worked for me…well at least I think it has, haha! I haven’t gotten near what I thought I might. I’ve tried to have the perspective of preventing them as best I can and then not worrying. Obviously, I’d love to not have them forever, but my husband says that they’re love marks from Rosie 🙂 So that’s how I’m going to view any that linger! But the Burt’s Bees butter came so highly recommended to me by women who’ve had multiple babies and had great success with it! Reply
amy says January 21, 2015 at 4:19 pm so random…BUT i used to be obsessed with EOS until i had an allergic reaction. i was talking to a friend about it and it happened to her as well. i’ve actually known like 6 people who used it for months and months and suddenly they started getting bumps, and burning, etc. sooooo be careful. haha. also, i LURVE peppermint oil! Reply
Jessica Jones says January 21, 2015 at 7:07 pm That EOS Lip Balm is my favorite! My kids keep stealing it out of my nightstand too…should probably stock up on a few more! Reply
Baileywife @ IrishmanAcres says January 22, 2015 at 8:11 am Love marks! Yep, I call them my tattoos lovingly given by my big ol babies! I hope your lotion works, mine, not so much!! But my husband doesn’t care, so I don’t care. He even says that I have them because of him, which always makes me smile!! ~Kim Reply
A-M says January 26, 2015 at 2:03 am Heartburn normally means lots of hair (so I’ve heard, I haven’t been blessed with a baby, despite years of trying) – waiting to see if Rosie has a full head of gorgeous dark hair! Reply
Lindsay says February 13, 2015 at 5:14 pm She’s got blond, but she does have a good bit! I had heard that too 🙂 Reply
Bethany @ Dwellings by DeVore says February 5, 2015 at 3:41 pm Love young living oils! We have used them for so many things! Reply
Shae Wrage says April 18, 2015 at 11:30 pm Young Living EO are awesome!!!! I am a faithful user of Progressence Plus and it helped us get pregnant. It’s also WONDERFUL for hormone imbalance during that time of the month!!!! I swear by these little hippie oils!!!! 😉 Reply
Rachel Winchester says December 9, 2015 at 10:24 pm I just found this post and am gonna have to get some Valor! I’m 6+ months pregnant and the back pain had kicked up a notch so I think this stuff may be my answer! Glad I found this post. 🙂 Reply
Lindsay says December 9, 2015 at 10:29 pm Yay!!! Congratulations!!! So happy for you. Yes, it’s awesome. Reply