Pregnancy Must Haves

Party over here! Whoop – Whoop! I made it to my second trimester! Bye bye nausea, hello appetite! Don’t get me wrong, I still have some days where my energy is low and this mama needs a nap! Thankfully, I am able to smell and look at food without getting that funny feeling in my tummy!

Being pregnant with TWINS is no joke! Can I get an amen sistas! When I was pregnant with my first, it was honestly a breeze and God spoiled me with an overall easy pregnancy- minus the fact there was a giant pandemic! This pregnancy has been a rollercoaster and I’m happy to have you join me on this wild ride!

My Pregnancy Journey

Okay, okay, I won’t go super into details but let me just tell you, this pregnancy was A SHOCK! In October 2021, we experienced a miscarriage and our world was turned upside down! As the new year started, my overall theme was GROWTH. Notice, I didn’t say heal because I don’t think you ever completely heal from that type of pain. I had so much resentment toward God and myself that I needed to grow in order to move forward. As my walk with God became much stronger, my mindset shifted and I am blessed God was with us through every step of our miscarriage.

After being told I wouldn’t be able to have children right away, my husband and I didn’t think twice when I skipped a period… or two. I assumed it was just my body recovering from the miscarriage. Part of me was TERRIFIED to take a pregnancy test, because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Curiosity got the best of me and our pink pregnancy test said “POSITIVE”.

Fast forward to our first appointment! My husband and were sitting and discussing with the doctor how I had been feeling and as she is doing the ultrasound she says, “Well no wonder why you’re feeling so sick- there’s two in there!” We couldn’t believe it! Seriously, my husband was HYSTERICALLY laughing his butt off. Me on the other hand, I completely stopped breathing and went pale! My husband had to remind me to breathe! We were literally just praying to God that there would be A heartbeat, turns out there was TWO. God had blessed us tenfold!

TWINS

Who would have thought-TWINS! Not me I tell ya’! Both, Ryan and I have no twins on either side of the family, so you can understand our disbelief! It took me until I was about 13 weeks to actually believe I was having twins, despite the multiple ultrasounds. This pregnancy has not been easy on me- especially in the first trimester! Let me be real and unfiltered for a minute!

Ya girl was experiencing ALL the motions of the ocean! I had nausea, food aversions to basically EVERYTHING- especially meat and fish, my sense of smell was incredibly heightened, my appetite was minuscule, all I wanted to do was hibernate, I had vertigo, not to mention the pregnancy gas!! Pregnancy gas is a thing- I pray that you never have to endure it, but if it finds you, just know it’s temporary (sort of). Thank God my husband made vows for better or worse- that gas was definitely WORSE!

Now that I’m alive and well from the “First Trimester Battle”, I’m ready to share all of my amazing resources that helped me pull through the obstacles that come with first trimester pregnancy! I’m even going to share my ABSOLUTE favorite resources that are helping me thrive through my second trimester!

Are you ready? Let’s GO!

First Trimester Necessities

• Traditional Medicinals Pregnancy Tea
  • If you didn’t know this already, I am the TEA QUEEN! I love to drink tea and I do not drink coffee. Tea is something I sip on any time of the day! Traditional medicinals has two types of tea that are STAPLES to my pregnancy journey. I drink the Pregnancy Tea to support a healthy pregnancy from the first trimester and beyond. I put a little squirt of honey and sometimes even lemon right before bed.
• Pink Stork Morning Sickness Tea
  • Fun fact about me: I LOVE tea! I am sensitive to caffeine so I stick to various herbal teas! I drank this Pink Stork tea almost daily throughout my first trimester! There are a couple flavors, but I chose the ginger peach! One cup of this in the morning and I was feeling JUST PEACHY!
  • Don’t like tea! No worries mama! Try out these Morning Sickness Sweets instead! I kept a couple of these in my pocket throughout the day as a teacher. It definitely made the day easier for me!

    

    

    

    

    

• Pink Stork Prenatal Vitamins
  • I hope you’re noticing a trend! I LOVE Pink Stork products! The quality of their products is great. Not to mention, it’s a women-owned and FAITH BASED business! I have been using their prenatal vitamins throughout both of my pregnancies. I take them at night with a glass of water. I love that I never feel sick or queasy after taking them.
  • Can’t swallow pills! Never fear! They have Pink Stork Prenatal Gummies to make it easier to go down!

• Water Bottle
  • It’s time to stay hydrated, Mama! It’s so hard for me to stay on top of my water intake, especially as a teacher. This water bottle gave me VISUAL friendly reminders to keep going and stay motivated to drink! You got this Mama! Keep chugging along!
• Comfy Bras
  • Alright, they might not be as cute as our lacey push ups, but it’s time for you to be as comfortable as possible. My boobies were so sore and needed some extra comfort. These bras were my absolute favorite and “my breast friends” were very happy.
    • Momcozy Bra – Wireless and seamless. Perfect for cute tops and blouses.
    • Kindered Bravely Bra– Thin, sport bra type, perfect for sleeping and lounging around the house. To be honest, I wore these the most and just didn’t care if my nips showed through my shirt in public! I’m a huge supporter of the “Free the Tatas” Movement!
• Comfy Shirts
  • Bravado Maternity Tanks
    • My absolute favorite tank tops. I used these for pregnancy and beyond! They have great support and are amazing quality. I also like that they were a little form fitting so after having my son it acted as a little tummy support.
• Orgain Protein Shakes
  • As I mentioned, I had insane food aversions through my first trimester with ZERO appetite! It was really hard for me to eat anything, so I really had to drink my nutrients. I am a HUGE fan of these plant-based protein shakes. I even would drink these on those nights I would have a craving for sweets!
  • There are so many incredible flavors! My favorites are peanut butter, chocolate, and the EXCLUSIVE cookies & cream. These are also the perfect shakes for mamas on the go! You gotta make sure to keep up with those growing babies!

• Meal Planning Ideas
  • This is more of a tip for my mamas with food aversions or reduced appetites. I noticed that as I was scrolling through Pinterest trying to meal plan for my family, everything made me sick to my stomach. I started looking up “Light and Healthy meals” and KA-CHOW! I was able to scroll and find easy meals that weren’t too heavy on my stomach and didn’t make me sick by looking at!

Second Trimester Necessities

• Frida Mom Pregnancy Pillow
  • Hands down! The best purchase for my pregnancy journey! As I have been getting bigger, my hips and back have been hurting so bad! I was constantly tossing and turning at night trying to find a comfortable position. I’ve tried body pillows from target, but they made me so hot or were just too big. This pillow is SO COOL! Literally, it has a cooling fabric with microbeads to make it breathable and bendable to fit any position your bumpin’ body finds comfortable! I plan on using this pillow for pregnancy and beyond.
  • *Disclaimer* May need to buy two because my husband is always trying to take it from me! 🙂
• Belly Band
  • As my belly has gotten bigger, my body’s center of gravity is changing. This causes a change in my posture which ultimately affects my back pain (According to my physical therapist). My PT recommended I get a belly band to help lift some of that belly weight off my lower back. Let me tell you, I put this bad boy on and I could hear the song, “I’m walking on sunshine woah, and don’t it feel good!” You can also use this postpartum to help keep everything together once baby is out and your body is recovering. This is one of those items where I didn’t think I needed it until I tried it! Don’t let miss out on this extra support! Mama, you deserve to be comfortable!
• Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk Tea
  • Have you ever heard the saying, “Save the TA-TAS!” Well Mama, it’s time to give your lady lumps up top some love. For mama’s that are planning on breastfeeding, I HIGHLY suggest you start drinking the Mother’s Milk Tea in the second trimester. The milk thistle will help increase your milk supply. I started drinking it in my second trimester when I was pregnant with Hudson and I am convinced it helped!
• Cute Pregnancy Clothes
  • Alright little Mama! That bump is growin’ and you are glowin’! It’s time to show off that bump in some cute maternity fashion!
  • SheIn Maternity has inexpensive clothes, but keep in mind they are not always the best quality and true to size. I usually have to really read the reviews of the clothes and check my measurements. Here is one of my favorite outfits!

• Pink Blush Maternity is my fav because they have beautiful trendy styles with high quality fabric!
  • • I found the cutest jumpsuit for my maternity shoot and a wedding guest outfit!
    • Want 25% off! Use my code SERENA_25OFF 

Find Your Tribe

I could keep coming up with items that I recommend but the truth is Mama, EVERY PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT! One size does not fit all which means, what I like or what I need may not be what you need. Maybe you don’t have back pain (I pray you don’t!)

However, there is ONE thing I can guarantee that we ALL need for pregnancy and beyond. You’ve got to find your tribe, sis! You need to start communicating with close friends, other moms, or reach out to get support. The first couple weeks of motherhood is exhausting, isolating, terrifying, and oh so beautiful. You will be facing a rollercoaster of emotions and have lots of questions where it helps to talk to other moms and see what they did. There are tons of Facebook groups, motherhood bloggers, or even friends from a local church you can reach out to! One of my favorite ways to get connected to other mamas was by listening to different motherhood podcasts and joining their Facebook groups. My top favorites are Risen Motherhood, Stay at Home Mom Vibes, and Emotionally Uncomfortable by Heather Chauvin.

Find your tribe of warrior moms that will not let you go through this journey alone. Find those ladies that will understand if you finally respond to a text after 3 days because you just were so overwhelmed with mom life. Find those mamas that will see you struggling at the park and lend a helping hand or just make you smile. You are never alone. I am more than happy to connect with you for support, give a listening ear, or share advice (non-medical). I know it’s cliche to say, but raising babies does take a village!

You are doing great Mama and you are beautiful!