AS PART OF TheJournal.ie’s weekly Family Magazine, we wanted to create a space for parents to share their views. A place where mums and dads could share their experiences, lessons learned, and even mistakes along the way.
Pregnancy only lasts nine months, but there’s a whole lot of expense that goes with it. Separating the essentials from the ‘why on earth did I buy that?’ purchases can be a tough process, so we asked our panel of Irish parents for advice.
What one purchase made your pregnancy easier?
Here’s what they had to say…
Breathable cotton dresses for the office: The right pregnancy clothes made a huge difference for me. I had two high-street cotton dresses that were breathable and made working in a hot office bearable. I also loved my maternity leggings and jeans with the high, stretchy pull up waist. I ended up wearing them a lot post-partum as well as they helped keep my tummy covered when breastfeeding in public.
- Kait Quinn
A breastfeeding pillow: I had a large wrap-around breastfeeding pillow that I slept with between my knees at night time to take pressure off my hips. It worked an absolute treat!
- Denise
My pregnancy book and comfortable shoes: My best purchase ever was the book What To Expect When You’re Expecting. It gave a week by week account of pregnancy for both me and the baby. It helped me to know if what I was feeling was normal or not. That and my comfy shoes for swollen feet were a lifesaver.
- Denise Cumiskey
My electric heat pad for back pain: When I was pregnant I got quite bad lower back pain. I bought an electric heat pad, kind of like a small electric blanket, which was a godsend through late stage pregnancy and when I was breastfeeding. As it was flat, it moulded itself to my back, much better than a hot water bottle could have.
- Olly Keegan
A birthing ball: I loved my pregnancy ball as I had troubles with my lower back. Sitting on the ball instead of the couch really helped me.
- Marta Lisiecka
My pregnancy ‘bible’: I have read What to Expect When You’re Expecting cover to cover many times and it really was my bible during each pregnancy. I found myself referring back to it all the time whenever a new and unusual symptom made itself known. Then of course, multipacks of white-chocolate covered ice creams. I couldn’t live without them, especially for my summer babies!
- Susannah O’Brien
Acupuncture sessions: For my wife, acupuncture was a great investment, as was a belt to hold the bump up and the pelvis together. She has pubis symphysis disfunction and so was in pain throughout her pregnancies, and both of these helped enormously.
- Alan Dooley
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