Hindsight is 20/20

...."they say". And it's true! If I had known how little I would use things (or in some cases, not at all!) I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. Here is my list of maternity and post-partum things that I bought, but had no use for. Hopefully this will help mamas-to-be.

Prenatal Yoga DVD-I had full intention of staying fit while I was pregnant, so I bought a prenatal yoga DVD for all of the extra time I had. Oh wait, there was no free time! You would think that you have so much time, especially when you are anticipating never having free time when baby comes. But the truth is, you spend so much time thinking about the baby, preparing for the baby and resting from carrying the baby that you have so little time to do much else.

Maternity Belt-this was recommended to me by my doctor when I told her how much back pain I was having. She said that putting this on would support the weight of my bump and take the pressure off my back. Not so much... You need to realize when you are preggers that your body is changing and weight is shifting. Something that hurts now probably won't hurt so much in a week. Also, I have to say, it looks really dumb and is too bulky for wearing under clothes.

Maternity Clothes-Maternity clothes are great as long as you don't go overboard. Select pieces that you can use over and over again. I bought so many clothes that I think I filled 2 big storage boxes with them. And half of them I didn't even wear! The problem with maternity clothes is that it's much easier to find clothes online but you can't try them on. Returning them is a hassle. Anyway, I recommend going to stores like Kohl's and Motherhood Maternity.


Snoogle-I LOVED my Snoogle. It's a body pillow especially for preggos. It hooks around the back of your body and wedges between your legs. When you are pregnant you are only supposed to sleep your right side. Or maybe it's your left. Whatever it is, the Snoogle makes it much easier to sleep. But since this is a post about things you shouldn't get when your pregnant, let me clarify. The Snoogle is great, but once you are done with it, it's impossible to store! It's huge and you don't really want to keep it on your bed anymore because it's hideous!

Belly Bandit-The one thing a lot of pregnant women think of once the baby is born is how they are going to lose all of that baby weight. The Belly Bandit makes lofty promises that you'll drop a couple sizes if you wear this contraption all day, every day after you give birth. I tried it, but it's hard to remember to put the thing on. You are so busy with your new baby and the continuing things going on with your body, that this is the last thing on your mind. Not to mention, it's uncomfortable to wear, especially if you are nursing since it forces you to sit straight up. It's also incredibly expensive. Definitely not worth it.

Stretch Mark Cream-another product promising great results, but not really delivering. Stretch creams say that daily applications make the stretch marks fade and eventually disappear. But no, it doesn't work. You just have to give it time. They eventually fade.

Hope this list has been helpful. Don't make the same mistakes I did and save your money! Stay tuned for a list of baby things you don't really need.