{"id":716,"date":"2016-10-13T22:59:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/?p=716"},"modified":"2019-05-15T11:34:12","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T03:34:12","slug":"my-maternity-must-haves-slash-pregnancy-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/13\/my-maternity-must-haves-slash-pregnancy-hacks\/","title":{"rendered":"MY MATERNITY MUST-HAVES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that my pregnancy is almost over, I am sharing the products that have been truly helpful in my journey to motherhood.<\/p>\n

These are products I believe are worth investing on, and in the end, I feel that they’ve done their job in helping me save more.<\/p>\n

[2019 EDIT: Some of the links mentioned here are now under my affiliate account. This means that when you purchase the product\/s using the links from my blog, I will earn credits or commission from my partner store at no extra cost to you. This is so helpful in keeping this blog alive, so if you found out about these products through me, hope you could help by purchasing from my affiliate link\/s. Thank you!]<\/em><\/p>\n

#1: BRA EXTENDERS<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Many women get excited at the thought of buying maternity bras! I know I did! But not only are they expensive, your breasts can change sizes more than once at the span of your pregnancy. While I would advise that you spend for nursing bras<\/strong>, maternity bras may not really be a need. What you can buy instead are bra extenders.<\/strong> I got mine from Sogo (a local brand available in department stores) and they cost me around PHP 300 for 9 pieces. Sports \/ soft, stretchable bras<\/strong> are big help, too. My favorite would be the bras I got from Coobie<\/a><\/strong>. I use the sports\/adjustable bras for working out, while I use the extenders for my regular t-shirt bras that work better for formal or everyday wear. You may also buy bra extenders from Amazon. You can check THIS<\/strong><\/a> or THIS<\/strong><\/a> or THIS<\/strong><\/a> to see which one suits your needs.<\/p>\n

#2: DAPPER SNAPPER ADJUSTABLE BELT<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dapper Snapper Belts<\/strong><\/a> are lifesavers during the last stretch of your pregnancy. I have a pair of maternity pants, but I don’t want to keep on using the same pants throughout this pregnancy. Dapper Snapper Belts basically help you wear your regular pants\/shorts\/skirt by helping you adjust the size with the help of their buttons. I wasn’t able to use this early in my pregnancy because my regular pants still fit me, but from my seventh or eighth month on, this belt and I have really bonded well. \ud83d\ude1b Just a warning though: you must wear long tops with your shorts\/pants\/skirt if you will use this, because your bottoms won’t fully close especially when you’re on the third trimester!<\/p>\n

I got mine from Mommy’s Little Boss<\/strong><\/a>. Price is PHP 600. You may also purchase it from Amazon<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

#3 MATERNITY SUPPORT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Maternity Support comes in many forms – so far, I have seen it in the form of leggings, bands, dresses, and belt. I got a maternity belt from Sogo for around PHP 180 if I remember correctly (or maybe less?). Maternity support will be of great help once you start feeling the weight of your baby. They say that if you have lower back pain, the fuller maternity supports help better (you can check out the ones from HERE<\/strong><\/a>; they’re more expensive but this might help you with your pain. I bought the dress type from them before for PHP 3800, but I still don’t have back pain, so I cannot vouch for that claim (many women do, though), but I like wearing it when I want to\u00a0flaunt<\/em> my belly). When I know I’ll do a lot of walking and I’m wearing a dress, I put on my maternity belt \/ support just to be sure. If you’re just getting the belt, make sure to place it under your tummy so that it helps you carry<\/em> your baby.<\/p>\n

#4 BELLY BUDS SPECIALIZED SOUND SPEAKER SYSTEM<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Belly Buds<\/a> is a specialized speaker system that gently adheres to your belly and allows you to safely play memory-shaping sound directly to the womb. They say a baby in the womb starts hearing at 20 weeks, and starts remembering at 30 weeks. From my 21st week (I think) on, I’ve been playing the same music to my baby (Mozart for Mother and Child – available at Spotify<\/em>) almost everyday plus I also recorded me reading The Runaway Bunny<\/em>, my husband talking to our baby, and me and my nephew talking to my baby. They say infants feel a lot calmer when you play something very familiar to them especially on their first few months. The music\/ conversations you played while s\/he’s in utero help him\/her transition into this world. (See my post about it HERE<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Sure, you can also just play music in your room or in the car, but here are the reasons why I prefer Belly Buds<\/em>:<\/p>\n

-After listening to the same music over and over (there’s an option to listen to it together because of it has a Y connector), I started looking for other music. So, whenever I am not in the mood or I’m busy doing other things, I just don’t use the Y connector and my baby still gets to listen to his music.
\n-I can do it anywhere, anytime. All I have to do is place the earphones (which are womb-safe, by the way!) under my pants (I don’t even use the adhesives that came with it anymore! I never used them, actually!) and the music is on. I’ve done it while waiting in line, reading, eating out, while working, while on the plane – practically everywhere.
\n-I honestly believe it is a major contributor in making my baby engage in a vertex position early (head down as compared to breech). Since I am eyeing for a normal delivery, this is important to me because a breech baby means automatic c-section. Even doctors say babies tend to follow the sound\/light. At first, I would put the earphones on my belly. But after I learned about them following the sound, I made sure to place the earphones on underwear level (and as I went closer to 37 weeks, near my birth canal) so the baby would follow it. When we had an ultrasound on my 30th week, he was already head down (I don’t know how long he’s been in that position because we get an ultrasound only when needed<\/em>)! I read many babies start going vertex at 32 weeks. While there is no scientific basis to back my claim, I really feel this tool has helped!<\/p>\n

If you have extra budget, I highly recommend this. It’s PHP 2880 and available at Hatch and Latch<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or if you are not from the Philippines you can purchase this from Amazon<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

#5: SNUG-A-HUG PILLOW<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you follow me on Instagram<\/strong><\/a>, you probably know how much I love this pillow already! This pillow (which started as a DIY project to aid personal sleeping problems like stiff neck and correct sleeping posture for mompreneur Minnie Jumaquio) has grown to become a pregnant woman’s best friend. Seriously.<\/p>\n

I think I was still in my first trimester or the beginning of my second when I first had this. My sister<\/strong><\/a> told me it’s worth having, especially when you have back problems. I have a lower back problem, so I believed her. During that time, I was not yet doing pre-natal Pilates and occasionally had back pains. When I first used it, all I said was, “Wow! My sister was right!” I had a really good sleep after a few days of a mild aching back.<\/p>\n

This pillow and I have become bedtime buddies eversince! Yes, I am guilty of keeping it in between me and my husband. Haha! And he’s guilty of taking this and using it for himself, too! I love how comfortable I feel sleeping with this. Seriously, sleeping has not been a problem for me eversince, and I partly owe it to this.<\/p>\n

When I started doing my once-a-week Pilates sessions, my back pains went away, so this doesn’t really help me with my back anymore. BUT, it serves me another purpose: it helps me keep my position throughout the night<\/em>. You see, I am one of those women who keep on moving while sleeping, and yes, I pity my husband at times for this reason. When you’re pregnant though, they advise you to sleep on your left side because it allows maximum blood flow. Plus it’s really uncomfortable to lie on your back for a long time especially on the latter part of pregnancy. THEY<\/strong><\/a> say sleeping on your left side increases the amount of blood and nutrients that reach your placenta (and your baby). They also advise to keep your legs bent, and to put a pillow in between your legs. All these can be achieved with ease just by using the Snug-A-Hug pillow! Sure, I still find myself waking up in a different position at times, but more often than not, I am able to keep the lying on the left<\/em> position, all thanks to Snug-A-Hug!<\/p>\n

My only problem with this pillow is that everyone beside me wants to use this, too! My husband steals<\/em> this when he sees that I am not using it, and so do my friends when they come over to visit. Haha!<\/p>\n

By the way, this comes in a pouch (where you fold the pillow to make it smaller) so you can bring this for your land travels, too!<\/p>\n

This pillow sells for PHP 2150 (extra pillow case sells at PHP 300) and is available at Snug-A-Hug<\/a>. <\/strong>You can find something similar from Amazon: THIS<\/a>, THIS<\/a>, THIS<\/a>, THIS<\/a>, or THIS<\/a>.<\/strong>
\n*<\/strong>photo of snug-a-hug pillow from iwaydiaries.com<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, these are my top 5. How about you? What are your maternity must-haves? Hope you can also share your finds!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that my pregnancy is almost over, I am sharing the products that have been truly helpful in my journey to motherhood. These are products I believe are worth investing on, and in the end, I feel that they’ve done their job in helping me save more. [2019 EDIT: Some of the links mentioned here are now under my affiliate account. This means that when you purchase the product\/s using the links from my blog, I will earn credits or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,21,1203],"tags":[145,142,144,148,143,141,139,140,147,138,55,146],"class_list":["post-716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finds","category-pregnancy","category-products","tag-belly-buds","tag-bra-extenders","tag-dapper-snapper","tag-earphones-for-baby","tag-maternity-belt","tag-maternity-bra","tag-maternity-must-haves","tag-maternity-pillow","tag-nursing-pillow","tag-pregnancy-hacks","tag-snug-a-hug","tag-sogo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2430,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions\/2430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}