Reading.
I haven't been reading much and a lot of that is on purpose. I tend to simply access the internet when a question arises, using some websites that my GP gave me. That said I have really enjoyed reading 'Great With Child' by Beth Ann Fennelly - you can get it delivered to Australia for free if you buy it at the Book Depository.
On the more official side of pregnancy blog reading I tend to go for Babble Pregnancy, which surprises me a bit considering it's owned by Disney!
Underwear.
I think this comes first in terms of taking care of yourself. I can hardly blame anyone for 'not telling me' but I was sore up top very, very quickly. Things were (and still are) ahem, growing very fast. So buy yourself a bra, just one or two, as quickly as possible! These are my favourite, they are by a brand called Cake Lingerie.
I was a bit freaked out they are 'nursing bras' but I did like the fact they are designed to grow with you, and grow with me, they have! They also wash very well and still look new after over three months of weekly wear, so I consider it excellent value for money (even though they are around A$50 a pop!)
I also bought one of these bras by Berlei recently and hope to buy a few more - a much more traditional bra that unfortunately wont be growing with me, but they are a little more unobtrusive than the Cake bras above.
I also ended up some of these, aherm, nipple covers. I was in pain there for a few weeks, I wont say much more. If you end up pregnant, you will work it out!
Being Sick and Feeling Off.
I did feel sick, I just wasn't throwing up in public enough for anyone to care too much. I have been lucky in that when I do feel sick it's never for more than 15-20 minutes.
The main thing I needed to do was lie down and get cool (pretty hard at work!) I found ginger helped me the most. At first I was drinking ginger beer (it was convenient and available, but also very sugary) but then I started making my own drink by grating raw ginger into a cup and adding a lemon juice ice cube and some Pellegrino water. Much more healthy.
12 weeks in I also visited the wonderful Anthia Koullouros at Ovvio Organics. I had a 'Healthy Pregnancy' consultation, she really put me at ease and gave me some direction around my eating and lifestyle during pregnancy. It would be a lovely gift if you wanted to buy something meaningful for someone in early pregnancy, I considered it a little indulgent but well worth it.
I also really enjoy drinking Wort Organic soft drinks, when I am able to find them!
I am at 18 weeks now, and at this point it seems two things still make me ill: heat (as in walking around in the Sydney Summer for more than say, 20 minutes), and pure sugar (as in lollies or sweets). I still do the above if I feel that way and it seems to be what works for me. I feel tired (like 3am tired) every day or two still but again that doesn't garner much sympathy as most people feel tired these days, for one reason or another!
Clothes.
I should say straight up that I am not the 'normal body with a bump on the front' kind of pregnant lady, I look more like the Russian Doll that ate too much pudding. It's difficult not to be hard on yourself when you are pregnant but I knew from watching other members of my family with child that this was the way it was always going to be. So anyway, clothes!
I am most fortunate to have a friend living in the US who owns the 'Lil Shoppa international shipping service (you can use it too!). So far, the majority of my maternity wear has come from GAP Maternity, which is still not available in Australia - when I recently spoke to a sales consultant in the Sydney store they said it could be another 5-7 years!
Catch them during a sale and you wont be sorry - I just had 6 items delivered, including GAP maternity jeans and some leather shoes for A$115.
Some other items I really really like:
Bassike items in jersey - the T-Shirt has a longer tail and the pants (well, I never thought I'd be that attracted to the poo-catcher style!) are super for hanging out at home. It's all machine-washable and nothing seems to lose shape or colour. They are a little more expensive but I figure I'll still be wearing these items 5 years down the track regardless of the state of my body.Ripe Maternity are online as well as stocked in some Myer stores so you can go in and try things on. I particularly like their seamless tank (fancy singlet) which washes beautifully and dries so quickly! It doesn't seem to roll up over the hips either, so don't be put off by the slightly more expensive price.
I also have a few cheaper T-Shirts in fun colours from Seed Heritage and some stretchy black dresses from Blue Illusion, both brands seem to cut quite sympathetically to the pregnant form!
Queen Bee seems to be the place to shop for lovely items and if a special occasion arises I'll be shopping there.
To be truthful, besides buying some new gymwear and a few larger cardigans in the coming weeks, I will be trying to not to buy too much more in terms of maternity wear - I am already half way there, after all!
Beauty.
I'm not a make-up girl and the main reason I'm writing about this here is that strange artificial smells from various toiletries were part of my nausea, particularly earlier on in the game. I mean, I could not even wash with palmolive soap without heaving! I found natural or basic fragrance worked best for me, and I've enjoyed the change. I'm not saying it would be the same situation for anyone else out there, but it needs to be said, I had to switch things around a few times before getting it right for me. Here are some yummy items that have really helped me along:
Aesop. Aesop anything really, particularly this Coriander body cleanser that smells nice and peppery!
L'Occitane Gentle Lotion. After 12 weeks this smell was sort of fresh and like baby powder, and I didn't find it too thick or greasy (I'm not going to discuss pregnancy and sweating, but yes, it happens!)
So enough about me although I might add to this from time to time... I'm guessing the next post will be all about baby! x
