I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with my son. I was shocked and extremely happy at the same time. Shortly after I started searching Pinterest for everything pregnancy and baby related.

I was excited to start this new journey in my life being pregnant and soon to be mother, but I was also slightly overwhelmed with all the things people told me I would need. My husband is self-employed and didn’t have a whole lot of work at the time so we were pretty tight on money.

Here are some tips on how to have an awesome pregnancy that fits your budget.

Disclaimer: everyones pregnancy experience will be different. What worked for me may not work for you and vice versa. But hopefully some of these tips will be able to help you in some way. **I am not a doctor so please talk to your own doctor before taking any supplements and for any further health advice**

Supplements

When you first find out you are pregnant(congrats if you are !), the babies health is of #1 concern. You want to make sure you are taking a really good prenatal multivitamin, and folic acid which you should already be taking. A good multivitamin contributes to your overall health and growth of your baby. Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects which is a serious birth defect of the spinal cord and brain. If you are not sure which supplements you should take, ask your doctor or nutritionist, as well as any other supplements they advise. That was the first thing I made sure I had. Other than that you don’t need much to start with.

Morning Sickness

Remember to eat small amounts often. Most of the time when I got nauseous it was because I got too hungry. So remember to always have nutritious snacks around to prevent this. I didn’t take anything such as gravol because eating would always make the nausea go away.

Clothes

As the coming months go by you will start to get bigger and more uncomfortable. As this occurs you may want to invest in some good maternity clothes.

Tips for using non-maternity clothes are

• wear pants and jeans underneath your belly if you can
• use an elastic band to loop around your jeans button to add some extra room
• utilize your own closet for long flowy tops & tunics
• a belly band  – this was the best thing I could get to extend the wear of my own clothes until I neared the end of my pregnancy

Good maternity wear

Once I started growing out of my clothes, I found some good staple items I could where often.  Here is a list of what I bought:

•  1 pair of jeans
• 1 pair of stretchy pants
     
  
• 1 pair of thick leggings ( just make sure they are not see through)
• 5 tee shirts

• 2  blouses

• 2 dresses

• 1-2 comfy nursing bra’s
• 1 camisole
• 1 nursing nightgown

It’s a good idea to get some maternity clothes that are also for nursing, that way you can wear these clothes longer and get good use out of them as well as make it easier for you if you are nursing.

I also worked in healthcare so I was blessed to get some free scrubs from a lady I worked with that she was giving away. They were not maternity scrubs, just a larger size that fit well with my belly band.

Now all of this can get very expensive if you go to a special maternity store, however it doesn’t have to be. You can find some pretty nice stuff at thrift stores, garage sales and buy sell groups on Facebook or sites like kijiji.

Miscellaneous Items

Pregnancy Pillows

I was able to borrow a pregnancy pillow  for free but I actually  found it more uncomfortable to sleep with it than without it. So I am glad I did not buy this brand new. Although it did not work for me, I hear of other women loving them so its really just a personal preference. So I suggest if you are not sure if you will like it then borrow one from a friend who no longer is using it or buy used and just wash the cover or buy a  new cover for it. That way you are not wasting too much money if you don’t like it.

Antacids

You will most likely have heart burn at some point of your pregnancy therefore it’s good idea to keep some antacids on hand. I had heartburn only at night when I lied down to go to sleep,  I would take Zantac or tums before going to bed which really helped. Remember I am not a doctor so please talk to your own doctor or pharmacist before taking anything.

Also a really fun thing to have during your pregnancy is a pregnancy tracking app such as What to Expect or BabyCenter. You just put in your due date and it tells you how far along you are and what stage of development your baby is in, as well as helpful tips along the way.

So don’t stress and just enjoy your pregnancy ! You’re only pregnant a short time in your life so relax and take advantage of this precious time  🙂

Let me know in the comments below your favourite pregnancy must haves.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave