I’m 39 weeks pregnant today! I can’t believe I’m so close to the finish line – he could be here any day now!

I’ve been reflecting on my pregnancy journey and wanted to put together a list of all the best things I’ve discovered throughout my pregnancy. Basically, this is the list I wish I had when I first found out I was pregnant and was completely overwhelmed with everything.

Feel free to follow or ignore anything you want – this is just what I personally loved and what worked for me based on my experience. If you have any questions about anything, it’s best to reach me via instagram or twitter @vasseurbeauty

Education/ apps / websites

BOOK: Brain Rules for Baby. I’ve read over 10 baby/pregnancy related books (if you know me, you know that I over research everything) and this is BY FAR the best book I’ve read. I won’t go into all the reasons I love it – we would be here all day – but it starts with pregnancy through your baby’s first 5 years. If I could recommend that you do only one thing from this entire list, it would be to read this book:
http://amzn.to/2hKWYQa

BLOG: Great mom blog with lots of pregnancy and baby product recommendations: https://www.lucieslist.com/#

WEBSITE: I randomly found this website that talks about week by week changes during pregnancy and it’s become my favorite to reference http://www.mamamaternity.co.nz/step-by-step-guide/weeks-11-13/

APP: What to Expect. Gives daily updates and articles and a weekly video showing your baby’s development.

Supplements

*If you read Brain Rules for Baby then you will learn the benefits for each of these supplements. These are the exact ones I take*

Raw Prenatal http://amzn.to/2iBA8vI

Vitamin D http://amzn.to/2iXIUkh

DHA http://amzn.to/2iXKcf2

Calcium/ Magnesium http://amzn.to/2iXD5DB

Probiotic http://amzn.to/2iXBLAy

Diet

My first trimester was pretty rough, I had strong food aversions and could pretty much only eat food that was beige in color (bread, pasta, oatmeal, etc). I wasn’t as concerned about being healthy as I was just surviving. Then in the second trimester, even though my food aversions mostly went away, I still felt terrible and was tired all the time. I found out that I was borderline gestational diabetic and I was forced to completely overhaul my diet. It ended up being the best thing that happened to me during my pregnancy – by doing this I felt 50x better, more energized and a lot less moody. So much so that I am going to stick to this type of low glycemic diet indefinitely because I love how it makes me feel.

The gist of it is

• Eat frequently (every 2-3 hours, set an alarm if you need to)
• Eat protein and a complex carb with EVERY meal and snack
  1. For protein I typically have eggs, organic/grass fed meats and protein shakes. (I try to eat 70-80g of protein a day)
  2. Complex carbs I mostly eat are brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potato, black beans & ezekiel bread. (I shoot for 20-30g of carbs with each meal)
• Lots of vegetables
• Healthy fats (peanut butter, avocado, olive oil)

I eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and snacks daily and for dinner I make a  BLue Apron or Sun Basket premade meal kit.

For my daily protein shake I use this organic protein powder (approved by my doctor and super tasty!) http://amzn.to/2iXKLp6

Body and Skin Care

When I became pregnant I had to reevaluate all of the body and skin care products I was using – and very long story short – I switched to natural products but didn’t love anything so I did my own research and created my own line products with the absolute BEST ingredients (my mother is a cosmetic chemist for over 30 years). More about my line & why I created it can be found here

BODY OIL: This is my holy grail product – it’s a 100% organic body oil and is designed to prevent stretch marks. Oils penetrate deeper into the skin and give the most effective hydration – you can read more about the specific oils used and their skin benefits here. I apply this to my belly/hips/thighs about 5x a day and so far have zero stretch marks!  https://vasseurskincare.com/collections/body-care/products/glowing-hydration-body-oil

BODY WASH

I wanted to create a multi-purpose shower/bath product to keep things simple, so this works as a face, body wash and shaving cream. It’s fortified with six super hydrating, antioxidant-rich natural oils to cleanse gently, but thoroughly while imparting essential moisture to skin. https://vasseurskincare.com/collections/body-care/products/3-in-1-body-wash

BODY LOTION In my research I found that a particular type of shea butter is best for preventing stretch marks. Mine contains whipped organic grade A shea butter and antioxidant-packed organic oils to intensely nourish and moisturize the skin. Also enriched with powerful moisturizing oils (camilla, sea buckthorn, grapeseed): https://vasseurskincare.com/collections/body-care/products/ultra-hydrating-body-lotion

*You can buy all three as a kit and save 25%* https://vasseurskincare.com/collections/body-care/products/vasseur-beauty-kit

SKIN CARE

For my skin – this has been tricky. I’ve been dealing with extreme acne throughout my entire pregnancy. It’s completely hormonal (and also genetic – FUN FACT: my mom had such bad acne with me that’s why she created her own skin care company!). This was my first pregnancy symptom and has been the most enduring, though I have mostly got things under control now thankfully.

This is my pregnancy skin care routine (in order applied):
AM

• Foaming Cleanser – pH balanced cleanser https://vasseurskincare.com/products/foaming-cleanser
• Hydrogel – gentle moisturizer https://vasseurskincare.com/products/hydro-gel
• ALA cream – antioxidant that also helps minimize redness and swelling https://vasseurskincare.com/products/ala-cream
• Gold Serum – eye area hydration https://vasseurskincare.com/products/gold-serum

PM

• Foaming Cleanser – pH balanced cleanser https://vasseurskincare.com/products/foaming-cleanser
• Chamomile toner – helps to refresh and kill bacteria on the skin https://vasseurskincare.com/products/chamomile-toner
• Mandelic acid serum – pregnancy safe and gentle AHA helps to disinfect the skin and treat breakouts https://vasseurskincare.com/products/mandelic-acid-serum
• Gold Serum – eye area hydration https://vasseurskincare.com/products/gold-serum

In terms of other natural products I use

Deodorant – The best natural deodorant (I even did a natural deodorant battle on my channel and this was the CLEAR winner). I will continue to use this indefinitely http://amzn.to/2sBY7NF

Toothpaste – http://amzn.to/2iBFEyB

Comfort/ wardrobe

Pregnancy pillow – I started using this around 25 weeks and have come to really love it, it wasn’t comfortable to me at first but switching to a new pillow is always an adjustment http://amzn.to/2irjZsi

Beauty pillow – I use this in SO MANY WAYS – as a sleeping pillow on top of my pregnancy pillow to prevent sleep wrinkles, to prop up my head in bed while I’m reading, behind my back while sitting/working AND the shape fits perfectly around my belly so I use it to prop things on https://vasseurskincare.com/products/beauty-pillow

In terms of wardrobe I talk about my favorite items and show them in this video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrwSdlbUhuM

Discomforts

Back pain: Around weeks 17-20 I was dealing with severe back pain. I did a ton of research, tried everything including braces, wraps, acupuncture, massage, etc and finally figured it out – my bed was too soft!!! I had been using a down mattress pad on top of my bed (which I loved!) but the day I took it off my pain went away and has never come back.

Pelvic pain: Around week 35 I started having severe pelvic pain – it was excruciating. It got so bad that I was on crutches and couldn’t walk. Ryan even had to carry me to the bathroom!!! I figured out the #1 cause of this was stress (the pain flared up right as I was launching my product line and was working crazy hours). I also started using a warm compress and taking nightly “de-stress” warm baths and the pain has gone away almost completely.

Baby Gear / What to buy

My FULL list of my baby product essentials from 0-6 months is here: https://vasseurbeauty.com/2017/06/07/baby-product-essentials-and-must-haves/ 

Here’s Carter’s nursery tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFoHfLzCUGg

Other

The Belly Book:  http://amzn.to/2iwnOKL

I’ve never been the journal type, but I’ve been obsessed with keeping up with my belly book. You basically write your weekly pregnancy update/photo and it also asks you other questions along the way.

Instax printer: to print my weekly pregnancy photo I use this printer – it’s bluetooh and doesn’t use ink. Love this little guy http://amzn.to/2iIp25j

Pinterest: follow me on pinterst to see all the baby related articles I pin daily https://www.pinterest.com/VasseurBeauty/

Youtube: My full pregnancy related video playlist including my pregnancy morning and night routines are all here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHGmd2Hq3kj3D4cySyJPGnfA6rMjeiKU7

*check back, I may add more to this list as I think of things!*

Okay, I’m going to stop here for now – let me know if you guys found this useful and if so I will make my labor/ postpartum list and newborn essentials list in the future! Ever since becoming pregnant I feel a special connection with all other pregnant women and moms so please feel free to reach out to me for anything!

xo Brittany

PS come find me on instagram for baby updates & photos! https://www.instagram.com/vasseurbeauty