Time for a second trimester must-have products update! If you missed my first trimester blog post, head back to that one here. I am still using ALL of those same products, but I wanted to add in here the additional things I’ve purchased (and loved) during the second trimester! Worth noting that 95% of this list can be found all in one wonderful place — AMAZON! Enjoy!
The Biggest Winners of the Second Trimester:
C-Shaped Pregnancy Pillow:
I got this ah-mazing pregnancy pillow at the end of my first trimester and really started using it in the second trimester. It is SO comfortable — even Adam wants one. LOL. Joking, but not really… it’s cozy! It makes all the moving around while sleeping easier. As I near the end of the second trimester, it’s getting harder and harder to sleep well. But, this pillow really does help!
Pink Stork Pregnancy Flakes:
I have never been a “bath person” (is that a thing?), but I have found taking a bath at least once a week so soothing for sore muscles lately! I use these bath salts from Pink Stork and love them. They contain pure magnesium, smell great, and are so relaxing!
Favorite Maternity Fashion Finds:
I had so much fun getting some “pregnancy-friendly” dresses for the spring/summer! My goal was dresses that aren’t maternity, but work with the bump.. And would work AFTER! My favorite dresses have all been from Pink Lily. Their products are so high quality and perfect for the bump!
Here are my favorite finds at Pink Lily. I got a small in everything!:
- Waikiki Beach Floral Midi Skirt: This is from Caitlin Covington’s Pink Lily collection. It’s SO cute and will work well in spring, summer, and even early winter with a sweater.
- The Santorini Maxi Dress: Love that the straps are adjustable! This one is less bump friendly than the others due to the tiered layers. Definitely worked all of the second trimester, but might start to look weird in the third!
- Promise in My Heart White Lace Midi Dress: This is the perfect dress. It has adjustable straps and isn’t see through, even in white! I wore this for our gender reveal session and loved how the photos turned out.
- Somebody to Love Blue Floral Maxi Dress: Another perfect dress! Also wore this one for our gender reveal photos. It comes in a bunch of colors, and we got blue for announcing baby boy!
- New Beginnings Midi Sage Dress: Also has adjustable straps, and … POCKETS! Love this one so much. Super comfortable, and the shade of green is so pretty!
Denim Maternity Jeans from Amazon: These jeans are so cute (and hey! Comfortable too!). I thought it would be hard to find cute and comfortable maternity jeans without spending a fortune, but I was wrong. These jeans are just $26.99 on Amazon! I have them in color #063 blue and in a small!
White Maternity Shorts from Amazon: If you’re pregnant in the spring/summer, you definitely need some short, right? I love these pregnancy shorts! I got them in white and might get some more colors too. They are so comfortable and fit more like “normal” shorts, but made for pregnancy. These are TTS, and I ordered a small.
Black Maternity Workout/Lounge Shorts from Amazon: These shorts are SO comfy! They are cotton, so not exactly best for exercising, but I wear them for that anyway. They’re also great as loungewear. I ordered a medium!
Dresses, Shirts, Shorts… everything from Pink Blush Maternity!: I have so much from this online shop, and it’s all so high quality. My amazing in-laws actually gifted me a GIANT box of maternity clothes that they purchased from a co-worker who was done having kids and exactly my size. (And, she had great fashion sense, I’d say!) A lot of those clothes are from Pink Blush — including this dress and a BUNCH of these basic tops!
Want more outfit ideas?! See my 2nd trimester gender reveal photoshoot here, and my 3rd trimester photoshoot here. I wore some awesome dresses, mostly from Pink Blush and Pink Lily. These dresses will work during your pregnancy and after!
Supplements and Stuff for the Kitchen and Home:
Beef Liver Supplement by Enviromedica: Never thought in my life I’d be someone who eats beef liver, but here we are, haha. Funny thing… I haven’t had beef in about 15 years. No joke! But, did you know that liver is seriously a superfood. It contains high levels of every B vitamin, along with a lot of other pregnancy friendly vitamins. If you Google “beef liver during pregnancy”, you’ll see A LOT of articles saying to avoid it. However, Lily Nichols, author of Real Food for Pregnancy, says to definitely eat it. Consult your doctor or midwife regardless. For me, I’ve been including about 3 capsules, every few days in my diet. [Here’s another article about this!]
Garden of Life Prenatal Probiotics: My midwife team suggested I switch to a prenatal specific probiotic instead of what I had been taking prior to pregnancy. So, once I ran out of my other probiotics, I switched to these. I love them, and it’s nice that it’s just one pill a day.
BPA-Free Glass Storage Containers: For a LONG TIME, we’ve wanted to rid our kitchen of plastic containers and switch to glass. Last month, we bought these containers from Amazon and LOVE them. They’re leak proof, pretty, sleek, and BPA-free. We have the white lid option, but they have tons of colors to pick from!
Bai Flavored Water: I’ll say it… I miss caffeine! And, I mainly miss my wonderful, not-at-all pregnancy friendly pre workout. BUT… in the meantime, these Bai waters have taken the pre-workout place! They have just 35 grams of caffeine per bottle — perfect for pregnancy. And, they’re delicious! I’ll often have one as a “pre workout” or afternoon pick me up.
Mooka Humidifier: The amount of throat, ear and nose issues I’ve had during pregnancy is INSANE. I’ve always been prone to sore throats, especially when a lot of podcasting or course creation time is happening. But, pregnancy has made it worse. I’ve loved this humidifier for that reason!
Pregnancy Skincare:
Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil by Burt's Bees: I’ve started adding this into my skincare routine in the second trimester! I’m still using the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion, but loving this Burt Bee’s stuff too!
Collagen Peptides Powder Supplement: Although lotions and oils are supposed to be great for stretch marks prevention, a lot of the advice I see is that what you put INTO your body matters more. Collagen is apparently great for our growing and stretching skin as pregnant mams. I don’t have any proof yet that ANY of the stretch mark prevention stuff I’m doing will work. And, I am prone to stretch marks and had some prior to pregnancy. But, I love collagen and it makes a great addition to my smoothies! I've also enjoyed experimenting with homemade collagen gummies! However, I still haven't successfully made any that are gummy material!
Books, Podcasts, and Education:
The Newborn Handbook: Your Guide to Bringing Home Baby: I’ve only read some of this one. Saving the rest for when baby arrives, but MAN… it’s practical and to the point, which I so appreciate. So many pregnancy/child care books ramble on and on and ON… this one tells you just what you need to know. It’s written by a pediatrician and covers months 0 to 3 of a baby's life!
Pregnancy and Birth Made Easy Podcast by My Essential Birth: This is the podcast of all podcasts for pregnancy. No really… just listen to THIS and you’ll have all you need to know about pregnancy and birth. The hosts are amazing. They are funny, easy to listen to, and I learn so much from each episode. Adam has been listening to some of them too!
I just decided to purchase their birth course too. I'm loving it! Can’t recommend them enough!
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family: I'm only a few chapters into this book, but I'm loving it! This is not a "newborn book" by any means and is perfect for any parent!
In this trimester, I also finished Ina May's Guide to Childbirth — what a BOOK! Would highly recommend it. I'm also still reading and loving the Mama Natural week by week pregnancy book!
Exercise:
Nourish Move Love Blog: I seriously LOVE these pregnancy workouts. All free on her blog and YouTube channel. I love watching the videos, as they are super motivating and fun. My favorite so far is this advanced 30-minute pregnancy workout. So challenging, but low impact!
Prenatal Yoga Video by Diana Antholis: Been doing this video (and some of her others) multiple times a week. I usually do them while watching TV at night instead of just laying on the couch. These exercises feel so good to my achy body!
And, tune in to episode #118 of the Breakthrough Brand Podcast to hear about the "daily exercises" I've been doing to prep my body for birth. I explain it all there!
Nursery Updates?
We still haven’t really started shopping for baby’s nursery yet. We have started building out our registry some, but that’s it! As it stands, THIS WEEK (a.k.a. at 24 weeks pregnant) we are starting to move things out of the guest room to turn it into a nursery. We’re planning to do a green accent wall with a bit of a boho vibe to it. So far… Here are our nursery purchases! I’ll be sure to do a full reveal once it’s done.
- Babyletto Lolly 3-in-1 Convertible Crib — at Target; at Amazon
- Carter’s 6 Drawer Dresser (for our changing table). We will be changing out the knobs. — at Target
- Nursery Works Sleepytime Rocker in Tan Leather — from The Tot
- Pendant Lighting - Allen + Roth Adara — from Lowe's
UPDATE: Nursery is done, and here's the full reveal!
Other Pregnancy Blogs to Check Out:
- Our gender reveal party and photoshoot recap
- 1st-trimester favorite products, podcasts, and books
- 1st trimester Q&A - doulas, natural childbirth prep, and finding the gender
- Our pregnancy announcement!
- 2nd Trimester Recap (blog and podcast)
- 3rd Trimester Photoshoot at 34 weeks
- Nursery Reveal — Boho Green Nursery Design
*All opinions are my own and I am not a medical professional. This post does contain affiliate links, which means I get a kickback if you purchase through my links. However, I ONLY share products I truly use and love!*
