WHAT TO BUY FIRST WHEN YOU ARE PREGNANT (these are the only true first-trimester must-haves, imo!)
Here’s the deal…I’m not a huge fan of spending a lot of money on anything for the baby until we’ve gotten out of that “danger zone” of the first trimester (also known as the first 12 weeks).
It’s exciting to start thinking about what to buy when you find out you’re pregnant, but I would wait to buy anything big for baby and stick to ONLY the items on THIS LIST of things to buy when you first find out you are pregnant – for now.
While I totally understand that excited feeling of wanting to run out the door and buy all the cute baby things when you find out you’re pregnant, it’s a really bad move, logically and financially.
This is a time to think about yourself and what you really need at that moment in time – the first-trimester must-haves for pregnancy are about MOM!
I like to save money when I can and I do this by not overspending on items that aren’t really necessary (at least in my opinion) for you or your upcoming newborn baby to have.
You really shouldn’t even worry about buying anything baby-related until you’re past the halfway mark or so of pregnancy OR unless you find an INSANE deal or sale on something that you know your baby is really going to need. (ie: crib)
You’ll probably get a LOT of baby gifts towards the end of the pregnancy – and you’ll find out you spent money needlessly. If you’re on a strict budget, one of the best ways to save money on baby prep is to take your time and look for used things over the course of your pregnancy!
It’s SO easy to get caught up in the excitement and run out and to shop – but that is NOT very practical.
Truthfully, most of the items that you’re going to want to buy during your first trimester are items that are going to be needed to take care of YOU and your health!
Related: 7 Stupid Things Pregnant Women Are Sick of Hearing
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So what should I buy if I just found out I’m pregnant?
Only things for YOU and things that celebrate your pregnancy! (Nothing for the baby just yet!) Honestly, if you don’t just loooooove shopping and planning (like me) the best thing to do is grab a pregnancy planner and a bottle of good prenatal vitamins and then sit back and relax!
This is such an exciting time in your life.
Finding out that you’re expecting is one of life’s greatest miracles. And to think that there is actually an adorable little human starting to grow right inside your belly?
Totally awesome.
Relish in that feeling and enjoy the moment. This is one of those times in life that you’re going to truly remember forever.
And while you might be tempted to run right out the door and start buying up anything and everything “baby”, just give it a bit of time to settle.
Make a plan to first put your health as a priority and talk to your doctor or OBGYN. After you get those processes out of the way, you can then pivot and start thinking about logical and potential baby items that you’re going to need.
PREGNANCY MUST HAVES FIRST TRIMESTER
Your first trimester of pregnancy can be a whirlwind of feelings and emotions.
You might be feeling happy, sad, anxious, scared, impatient….oh, and don’t forget sick. (morning sickness, anyone?!)
Related: 9 of the Best Ways to Combat Morning Sickness
With your hormones ramped up and on high alert, there’s a good reason for why you feel as though your mind and your body are constantly stuck on fast-forward mode. The good news? You can have a great first trimester as long as you mentally and physically are prepared.
Even though you might hit a few bumps in the road, there are a few must-have items for your first trimester that can really be a huge help!
These items are the products to buy when you find out you are pregnant:
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A Pregnancy Journal
I’ll be the first to admit that I love the thought of a pregnancy journal but keeping up with one is going to take some dedication- but you will want to be able to look back at this time in your life and remember your feelings and thoughts.
Having one doesn’t mean that you’re going to have to write into it every single day but if you’re wanting to remember a truly realistic picture of how your pregnancy was, you’re going to have to update it frequently and be honest.
Some pregnancies are a beautiful process that has everyone singing songs and smelling roses, and other pregnancies…aren’t quite like that.
Using a pregnancy journal is a great way to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly of your entire pregnancy from start to finish. This adorable printable pregnancy planner / journal is just 9$!
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Props for Weekly Bump Pictures
One of the most fun parts of getting pregnant is to see your tummy growing. (It’s so nice to know that it’s growing because of a baby and not because of the entire cake that you just ate!)
I missed out on taking weekly bump pictures, and I wish I had them.
Bump pictures are totally a “thing” and are something that you need to do and props for these pictures are so fun! While you might not realize how quickly your little bundle of joy is growing in your tummy, capturing photos weekly and comparing them is a fun memory to always have and look back on.
Plus, if you’re planning on having another child or two (or more!) later on down the road, it’s always fun to compare how differently you look from each pregnancy.
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Preggy Pop Drops
Hello, morning sickness. If you’ve ever had it before, you know it’s not fun. And if you haven’t had it, it’s comparable to feeling like you ate something “not good” each and every day for about 90 days straight…awesome, right?
But just when you’re ready to just call the bathroom floor your new home for the next few months, you just might find that eating some Preggy Pop drops or other hard candy might help.
They have an awesome way of calming the tummy so that nausea is gone. There’s also the option to eat anything ginger related as well as others have sworn by that simple trick, too. Here’s all my favorite morning sickness remedies.
Related: Exercise & Pregnancy – The Best Pregnancy Workouts
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Ridiculously Comfy (Stretchy) Pajamas
OK clearly this is not REALLY a need if you have some comfy pajamas. But I’m almost always on the lookout for a good excuse to buy myself a pair of pjs and the first trimester of pregnancy is one! LOL.
These Little Sleepies pjs are INSANELY soft and made out of the most stretchy material I’ve ever felt, which makes them first trimester must haves (because they will stretch through alllll the trimesters haha).
I wrote a full review of them here after I purchased them for my kids (I went back and bought some for myself too!)
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Pregnancy Books / Prenatal Education
Finding out your pregnant is fun and frightening all in one. It’s a combination of emotions that hit suddenly that you really might not know how to handle. But guess what? Getting some good old pregnancy books can help.
I find that reading often calms me down, as well as educates me, too. And yes, I know that I could easily Google some of this stuff and spend hours staring at a screen, but I really do prefer holding a book and turning every one of those glorious pages.
There are a lot of pregnancy books that you could invest your time and money into, but one of the best (and oldest) ones out there that still offer solid pregnancy advice is “What To Expect When You’re Expecting“. Don’t judge a book by its cover on this one and it looks extremely outdated…but somehow all that relevant information about being pregnant that are held within the front and back covers still rings true today.
I personally would rather watch videos while I’m doing the dishes than read books (I like to multi-task) so this prenatal course was perfect for me.
It was created by a wonderful labor nurse I know + trust personally, and you can use the coupon code MOP10 to get 10% off the prenatal course here, and get yourself properly prepared to do the baby having thing.
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Prenatal vitamins are really the first thing to buy when pregnant
I can’t stress these enough.
And once you see your OBGYN, they’ll be stressing it, too. Making certain that you’re getting the adequate vitamins necessary for the health of your body and your growing baby is key.
Fair warning, some of these bad boys are like horse pills. GIANT. But in my mind, I tell myself the bigger they are, the more nutrients they hold. (I don’t know if that’s true – sometimes I just tell myself things to make myself feel better.)
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Water Bottle
I know what you’re thinking…why in the world is this on the list? Your first trimester is super important for making certain that you’re staying hydrated and drinking as much water as possible. The last thing that you want or need is to end up in the hospital hooked up to an IV and feeling like you don’t have any type of energy at all.
Getting a water bottle and keeping it with you during the day and night will ensure that you’re constantly taking drinks and keeping yourself as hydrated as you possibly can.
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Pregnancy subscription box (covers you for most of the above and then some!)
These pregnancy subscription boxes are cool – for one, they are FUN – but they also save you a ton of cash on purchasing all the things I listed above.
I just got the first trimester one, and it contained:
- a SUPER CUTE pregnancy journal ($16.95)
- a set of weekly bump photo stickers ($9.95)
- a tin of preggy pop drops ($6.95)
- morning sickness pressure-point bracelets ($12.99)
- and a box of Sparkling Mama morning sickness fizzelixir ($5.99)
To purchase these things individually would cost $52.83, but the box only costs $40.00 AT MOST.
Everything in them is free from harsh chemicals and carefully selected to protect you and your baby!
Every single month of your pregnancy, you can have some of the most-needed and highest rated pregnancy items delivered right to your front door.
(And as your ankles start to swell and the thought of moving and going anywhere becomes less of a desirable thing to do, you’ll love being able to have all these great goodies at your fingertips.)
Now that you know about a few of the items in regards to what to buy first when you are pregnant, let’s talk about future purchases for later on down the road.
Related: How to Get Motivated to Clean While Pregnant
Things you don’t need to buy right away when you find out you are pregnant:
Baby things, Stretchmark cream, maternity clothes, postpartum care items, or a body pillow.
(Even if you’re not a fan of body pillows now, in just a short amount of time you will be – you can purchase this closer to the second trimester if you start to struggle with sleeping. There’s just something about the way that your belly grows that makes it harder and harder to find a comfortable position to sleep. What this means is that you can get a pregnancy pillow to help support you and your tummy.)
WHEN TO START BUYING BABY STUFF DURING PREGNANCY
Once you have yourself, your emotions, and your hormones kinda figured out, your mind is probably going to switch gears and start thinking all about what you can buy early for the baby.
And this is where I’m going to be different in what I tell you than 99.9% of the rest of the making suggestions online population:
I think that waiting until closer to delivery on buying baby items is a really good plan.
There are so many things that can happen over the course of 9 months that can change what you’re going to need when baby arrives. And in all reality, you don’t even find out if you’re having a boy or a girl at all until you’re at least 5 months along. (And that’s if you even do decide to find out the sex of the child)
Running out and buying highchairs, swinging chairs, bumbo seats, walkers, and other items that aren’t even necessary for the first 8 months – 12 months of your child’s life just isn’t important and doesn’t need to happen that early in the game.
Plus, once you start to figure out what your baby likes and loves, you can then gauge their interests and buy things that they’ll use and that you find actually helpful. (Did you know that some babies don’t even like a jumper or swing? Why waste money on it by buying it ahead of time only to have to store it until they’re ready to use it and then find out that they hate it?)
I’m also fully aware that I’m making this bold statement on the factual assumption that you’re probably going to get a lot of this bigger stuff from baby showers and other fun things like that. Bottom line: Don’t run out and buy the bigger baby stuff once you find out you’re pregnant. Instead, put the focus on your needs and your health as you’ll have plenty of time for the rest of that later.
Even though it’s fun to think about going shopping and nesting right away, trust me when I say that your wants and needs are going to change. This is just the way it is and it’s much easier to embrace that fact now rather than spend a whole bunch of money on things that you might not even like in 2-3 months. Here’s the exact timeline I’d use to know when you should start buying baby stuff.
Related: The Thing I Didn’t Do While I Was Pregnant (that I should have done)
Do you have any tips on what to buy first when you are pregnant that you’d like to share?
