And Then There Were Four: Pregnancy Comfort Essentials
By now you should know two things about me, especially as it relates to this pregnancy —
I had a very uncomfortable, at best, pregnancy
I am still a comfort girly through & through
With those two things in mind, you can imagine the mind fuck that was the 30+ weeks of my pregnancy! How do you find comfort when everything you do & every move you make is, now, inherently uncomfortable (on a good day) and sometimes just straight up painful? Let me show tell you how!
Prioritizing Comfort The Second Time Around
Truth be told, comfort wasn’t a huge priority for me during my pregnancy with our first… and not because I didn’t want to be comfortable. A few things —
I focused on the baby’s health & by extension… my health, which is not synonymous with comfort
I wasn’t uncomfortable so it never really crossed my mind to intentionally find ways to be comfortable
I was constantly on the move since I was working full time outside of my home
With this pregnancy, while my baby’s health continued to be top of mind, I realized I had it backwards — I had to prioritize my wellness, which would ultimately result in a healthy baby. With a difficult pregnancy, I began to realize my mental wellness was now also linked to my comfort levels… which would then impact my eating habits, activity levels, and all the other factors that went into ensuring we were both healthy. Being home full time ended up making me hypersensitive to my comfort because it’s very easy to fall into terrible habits when you’re not leaving the house — sitting all the time, staring at multiple computer screens, just snacking & scrolling.
I had to make comfort an intentional choice.
My Pregnancy Comfort Essentials
maternity leggings & bike shorts
loose fitting house clothes
robes (so many robes)
maternity underwear
water bottles
wireless bras & bralettes
onesies & leotards
pregnancy pillow
maternity belt
comfy house slippers
Not Shown
seamless underwear
stability ball
humidifier
air purifier
heating pad (bonus points: massage heating pad)
Some of my essentials were out of necessity — water bottles because I was constantly thirty, a pregnancy pillow if I had any hope of ever having a decent night of sleep, a maternity belt because lightening crotch is exactly as painful as it sounds, and bralettes because the girlies needed all the support they could get without digging into my growing belly.
Other essentials, on the other hand, were purely for my physical comfort & self esteem, especially for the days I was feeling less than great — loose fitting clothes so stretching skin could breathe, one piece outfits to make getting dressed for appointments feel like less of a chore as my body changed, a humidifier to help with the dry winter air while trying to sleep, and a heated massager pad so make those long days in front of a computer more bearable on my back.
While I resisted them at first, my pregnancy pillow, maternity belt, stability ball, and even my cane (although not listed as a comfort essential because it was def prescribed by my physical therapist) all quickly became part of my daily survival routine. I resisted because they made me feel weak & helpless — aka my ego! — yet once I got over myself, I realized they also contributed to having more comfortable (or at least fewer uncomfortable) days. Simple tasks like lying down, sitting, standing, and walking on my own were things I could start to do again with a lil more ease versus torturing myself for, literally, no reason. Who cares that I didn’t need this things before? I needed em now.
These were the kind of intentional choices I was making this second time around, versus just “thugging it out” and trying to keep things the same… because things weren’t the same.
Wardrobe Changes: Then vs Now
Some of you may be surprised to know I also retired (temporarily) a lot of my previous loungewear because, well, they just didn’t fit in ways that made me feel good. For my clothes — and my undergarments — I only wanted to be in things that made me feel sexy & confident, and actually looked good on my new body. I didn’t wanna be bothered with constantly fussing with & tugging at everything to “make it work”.
With my first, when I wasn’t going to work, I just kept wearing my old summer maxis as house dresses, especially since they all had a lot of stretch. To work, I wore anything that stretched or was oversized to begin with… so long as my body was covered. This worked for me then so that was gonna be my plan now. That was short lived. I didn’t feel the same in those pieces & they actually began to make me feel extremely self conscious about my body, even though my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to do to grow another human life. While I had no plans to invest in an entirely new maternity wardrobe, I knew that I had to find my own comfort sweet spot.
I am fortunate to have still been a Harper Wilde ambassador during this time because by the end of my second trimester I was basically living in Harper Wilde sets… something I never did with my first. I didn’t really put much thought, for example, into my maternity undergarments so long as they still fit. Not this time. I made sure I always matched. I sized up as needed — they don’t have a dedicated maternity line… yet — and ditched all the pieces that no longer fit my new body. I began only reaching for wireless braziers, wide band bralettes, and seamless and/or high waisted underwear (usually boy shorts). Layered with a robe, this became my go to stay at home uniform.
P.S. by “ditched” I simply mean pushed to the back of my drawer.
For going out — on those rare occasions I did leave the house — you’d find me in a onesie, a leotard, or a sweater with leggings paired with a shacket. Easy. Comfortable. Attractive. My only wish is that I took my photos in those outfits. Lol.
Maternity leggings & shorts are definitely something I wish I invested in the first time around… versus getting a maternity band to try & salvage all my non pregnancy jeans. Alas… progress. I treated myself to some new lounge pieces — onesies, house dresses, and even pajamas — that felt good on my skin & didn’t give me a body complex… that is for the days I wasn’t in a Harper Wilde set & a robe. Don’t believe me?
Watch my pregnancy announcement video here.
Physical Comfort & Mental Wellness
These changes did wonders for my mental health! I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that on many days, I just felt big & ugly. Slowly, I went from feeling super bad for myself & down on my body to remembering three truths —
my body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do to bring life into this world
all of these changes are temporary however the lasting [negative] impact can be permanent if handled poorly
I am still that girl 😉
I expected that my pregnancy — antepartum — comfort essentials would differ from my postpartum comfort essentials. In the past, I would let this stop me from investing too much money in new things that would only be for a short period of time. Maybe I’ll never use my pregnancy pillow again. Maybe I’ll never use the stability ball again. Maybe the maternity shorts & leggings only get used for another month after delivery. So many maybes and you know it… that’s okay. For this period of time, however, I needed all of this to feel good now.
… and as my postpartum needs arise, I’ll address those accordingly.
