I am by no means a pregnancy expert, and I know everyone and every pregnancy is different, but since I have now experienced over nine months of it I figured I’d share a few things that have gotten me through.

Supportive shoes

For work I wear the same Crocs that I always did and they work fine, although they’re getting a little tight now. The above Teva sandals are what I wear for practically everything else. They are cushiony and supportive, and are good for everything from wearing around the house to walking the streets of Charleston. I don’t have much swelling in my feet, but if I did I’d probably need some sandals with less straps than these.

A really good bra & bra extenders

As I’ve mentioned several times before, I’ve had terrible rib pain with this pregnancy. My old bras were killing me, so I bought a nice, stretchy nursing bra (so I can use it later). But even getting it perfectly sized, the pressure on my ribs was still too much. I didn’t even know they made bra extenders, but they have been a lifesaver. I bought some from Target to make the band of the bra bigger without increasing the cup size. It still kind of hurts to wear a bra, but without these I would be miserable.

Pillows

I’m a back sleeper, and that’s the one position that isn’t allowed during pregnancy. In order to stay propped up on my side I’ve been using a pillow like the one pictured to wrap around my whole body. It also helps a lot for comfort. I think that just having a whole bunch of pillows would work too, but my sister-in-law gave me the body pillow and I’ve been happy with it.

Clothes

I tried to spend as little money on maternity clothes as possible, so I wore a lot of items that weren’t maternity but worked. What carried me through were yoga pants and tons of long t-shirts & tank tops from Old Navy. Sundresses were great for a long time as well. One good pair of maternity jeans were essential, and the last two months I’ve been wearing a few maternity dresses, shorts, and tops.

BellaBand

I didn’t use this every day, but it’s a really good thing to have. I wore it with my regular pants when I was just starting to outgrow them, and now I’m wearing it again. My long t-shirts aren’t quite long enough to cover my massive belly, and my scrubs aren’t very comfortable when they’re tied up, so I wear the BellaBand to hold my pants up and cover my belly. It just looks like another shirt underneath.

Also recommended…

>I usually consider massages and pedicures an indulgence, but they became more of an essential when I stopped being able to reach my toes and my back was killing me.

>I’m not a bath person, but for so many of my aches and pains my doctor recommended Epsom salt baths, so I do that. I dump about two cups of salt into the tub and soak for 10-15 minutes. I can’t say that it takes away the pain, but it does relieve it for a time.

>For carpal tunnel syndrome, a pair of wrist braces are absolutely necessary. If I don’t wear these at night I will wake up in tears feeling like my hands are on fire.

>A really awesome husband and family nearby to bring me food and ice cream and help me with chores is a wonderful thing. :)