From books and blogs to favorite websites, this post contains the resources I reference most frequently when I am looking for some pregnancy-related information or just want to read about what other women have experienced during this exciting time!
Favorite Pregnancy Websites
Below you will find a handful of my favorite pregnancy websites. Each website is a little different and I check all of them for different reasons. Big thanks to you guys for recommending Lucie’s List as a quality resource for everything related to baby gear!
Favorite Pregnancy Books
A few of the books that I’ve personally found helpful during pregnancy are listed below!
A Child Is Born is my favorite pregnancy-related book I’ve read so far! It includes in-utero pictures captured with endoscopy and three-dimensional ultrasound technology that are absolutely fascinating, especially for someone like me who is very visual. After reading so many pregnancy updates that said things like “Today your baby is the size of a radish,” I was dying for some real images and this book delivered! I also loved all of the scientific information.
Your Pregnancy Week By Week was actually sent to me by our insurance company. I love the way it breaks everything down and gives you bits of valuable information in a less overwhelming way.
Panic Free Pregnancy was a refreshing read, especially for a somewhat nervous first-time mom-to-be. The book discusses common questions about pregnancy “shoulds” and “should nots” and the why behind all of this information.
What To Expect When You’re Expecting has a ton of information… it’s actually somewhat overwhelming! I found the book very informative and enjoyed having a bunch of information ready at my fingertips during the first few weeks when I felt like I needed to read everything about pregnancy and wanted it to come from a reliable source.
Favorite Pregnancy Blogs
When I first announced I’d be sharing weekly pregnancy recaps on this blog, I said that I’d be doing so because I found pregnancy recaps from other bloggers extremely helpful… Especially during the first few weeks of pregnancy when Ryan and I were still keeping our news a secret and I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to about what I was going through.
I bought some pregnancy books, downloaded pregnancy apps and read a ton of articles about pregnancy and what to expect, but the blogs written by real women ended up being my favorite resource because they talked about pregnancy in a relatable way. They highlighted emotions and symptoms I was experiencing and I started to feel like I was having a conversation with a pregnant friend over the internet as I read all the recaps I could find!
Below you will find a small handful of my favorites. And if you are a blogger who shared (or are currently sharing!) your pregnancy journey, please drop a link to your blog in the comments section of this post. I’d love to check out your blog, too!!
- Daily Garnish – Emily Malone
I always tell Emily that Cullen, the little boy she gave birth to back in October 2011, is the first “blogger baby” I ever followed. At this time in my life, I was usually skipping pregnancy recaps if bloggers wrote about pregnancy since I was nowhere near ready for a baby yet, but for some reason, Emily’s recaps totally sucked me in. (She is a fantastic writer, so that undoubtedly helped!) Every week, Emily posted a pregnancy update and a photo of her growing bump alongside a piece of fruit or the vegetable that was supposed to represent the size of her baby. When I got pregnant, Emily’s blog was the first blog I went back to re-read. Her recaps started early at 9 weeks which was fantastic for a first-time pregnant woman like me who wanted to read about the early stages of pregnancy, too!
- Lunchbox Diaries – Colleen Nichols
Colleen was well into her pregnancy with her baby boy (she gave birth at the end of March) when I first found out I was pregnant and I found all of her pregnancy-related blog posts so refreshing. She often made me laugh out loud and didn’t shy away from blogging about some of the uncomfortable changes and emotions many pregnant women experience. With blog posts like “10 Things Not To Say To A Pregnant Woman” and “No One Talks About The Darkness,” Colleen blogs about pregnancy and life with a newborn in a way that totally draws you in.
- A Healthy Slice of Life – Brittany Dixon
Brittany is one of the most positive, thoughtful and upbeat people I’ve ever met in real life (we became fast friends when I moved to North Carolina) and I fell in love with her blog shortly after we met. Since Brittany is the mother of two adorable girls, her blog documents two pregnancies and also features lots of tips and tricks regarding motherhood and life with a newborn. She’s been a wonderful sounding board for me to chat with during pregnancy as well since she is always so open and realistic about everything.
- Sweet Tooth Sweet Life – Courtney Horan
Courtney is one of the first bloggers I connected with offline years ago since we started blogging around the same time and have so much in common. She actually told me she was pregnant with Lucas a few days after she found out and I loved checking in with her pregnancy updates throughout her journey. She has all of her pregnancy blog posts very well organized on the Pregnancy page of her blog which made it really easy for me to click her weekly recaps and check out what she was feeling each week as I was going through it, too! I’ve found Courtney’s recaps the most relatable for me personally as we seem to have experienced similar emotions and symptoms around similar times.
Currently Pregnant Bloggers
And if you’re looking for more bloggers who are documenting their pregnancies in “real time” right now, here are some blogs I love written by bloggers who are currently expecting:
- My Food and Fitness Diaries – After giving birth to a boy a couple of years ago, Ashley is pregnant with a little girl right now and her blog features triweekly updates that are so fun to read!
- The Fitnessista – Gina is currently pregnant with baby number two and touches on a variety of pregnancy-related topics, including her love for doulas, pregnancy supplements and more. She’s the blogger who introduced me to the Snoogle and I will love her forever and ever for that!
- Katy Widrick – You can feel Katy’s excitement surrounding her second pregnancy in every blog post she writes. Her personal/baby blog is Bug Child.
- Meals and Miles – Meghann is pregnant with her “rainbow baby” and she shares incredibly touching and emotional posts on her blog that are very raw and very real. I’m so happy for her!
Question of the Day
- Mamas/Moms-to-be: What were/are some of your favorite pregnancy resources? Favorite books? Websites? Apps? Blogs? Podcasts?
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Although none of this preggo stuff is relatable to me right now (or anytime soon…) I LOVE SEEING ALL MY FRIENDS IN ONE PLACE.
Well, not all of them. But you get it. 😉
Julie! Thank you so much for including me!
I loved all those pregnancy books you listed, but you MUST add “Happiest Baby on the Block”!! It’s saved our sanity, I’m not even kidding!
Definitely going to check it out!! Thanks, Colleen! <3
they have a DVD too, which explains everything very quickly, so it was perfect for tom to watch with me. total lifesaver!
thank you for the shout out, lovely friend 🙂 so happy to hear the snoogle is still helping you!
so so excited to meet baby peanut.
xo
I’m with you, Colleen! I remember the first night we put Hunter in his swing and it was magical… He slept 6 hours straight! 🙂 Definitely a great resource!
Lucie’s List is HILARIOUS! So is Scary Mommy. Sometimes I’m in tears laughing so hard! I’m documenting my pregnancy currently as well! 17.5 weeks as of today! sweetmiles.com
<3 <3 <3 Excited for you!!
I included bump photo updates on my blog throughout my pregnancy, you can find them here: http://elephanteats.com/life . I started my organized updates at 27 weeks, but had bump pictures from the beginning! At the end my husband made a special video of the whole 9 months of pregnancy ending with our baby’s birth and it features the growing bump which is SO cool to watch. It also makes everyone who watches it (including people who don’t know us) cry, hehe 🙂
Scary Mommy is such a fun/funny site! It totally makes me laugh and makes me feel so much better as a mother & pregnant lady.
I too immediately read bloggers’ updates once I was pregnant with L back in 2013, and so I appreciate when bloggers share their experiences & updates; I loved this roundup!
it’s kinda cool that many of us are pregnant right now! (If you’re interested in more pregnancy posts, here are my pages of updates– pregnancy #1 : http://www.enjoyyourhealthylife.com/motherhood/1st-pregnancy/ and current one– pregnancy #2 : http://www.enjoyyourhealthylife.com/motherhood/2nd-pregnancy/ ) 🙂
I loved reading along about Emily’s pregnancies too! I can’t even believe Cullen was born in 2011! That sounds like forever ago but feels like yesterday!
The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy is a pretty funny and informative book. I didn’t agree with everything she had to say but for the most part I could relate to a lot of the things she wrote about and it was an enjoyable and easy read
I’m obsessed with Scary Mommy and Babble! Haha!
You should check out Camp Patton and Little Baby Garvin too! I’ve been following both of them for a few years and love reading all of their posts!
I 2nd Camp Patton! Love love love her blog! (Julie, I’m also a big fan of all the others you listed in this post.)
I have heard so many great things about Panic-Free Pregnancy! Whenever it’s my time to have a little one I’ll definitely pick that up!
Some of the bloggers you list here I have been following, but some are new to me! Thanks for the new reads!
I love Little Baby Garvin and I am not even pregnant, but she has great style and funny stories along the way. She is pregnant with her third.
http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com
I feel so honored to be a part of your list – thanks for including me! It’s amazing to me that so many bloggers seem to be pregnant right now. Something’s in the water, eh? 😉 I have loved following along with everyone’s updates – so fun!
Several of the other resources, websites, and blogs you mentioned I’ve also found super helpful. I have a couple more now to check out too! After baby is born, we utilized a mix of Happiest Baby on the Block and Baby Wise to help with sleeping. Lack of sleep was one of the things I was most anxious about after having Hunter (I’m not a pretty person with no sleep ;)), and both of those books helped tremendously since I knew NOTHING.
you have to get Mom’s on Call. Life saver once the baby arrives!!
I have been reading your blog for a few years now and even though I am not quite ready to have children of my own yet, I am loving reading about your pregnancy journey!! Thank you for sharing such an intimate part of your life and please keep the pregnancy posts coming 🙂 Even if the readers are not in that same place as you, we all enjoy reading about it because it is a part of your life!
Thank you for sharing! I hadn’t read Food n Fitness Diaries before but it turns out that we are both due on the same day, with our second child, both having girls and our older children are pretty much the same age. Will definitely be following her now!
No way!! So fun! Congratulations to you!
Congratulations on your pregnancy Julie! I’ve been following your blog for a few years now but haven’t commented before – anyway – I have two daughters (28 months and 10 months) and one of my favorite pregnancy/parenthood online resources is Hellobee. There are several bloggers who contribute – some are pregnant and others have children that range from newborn to five years.
I also love Little Baby Garvin if for no other reason than the adorable photos of her girls and all the cute clothes/accessories. 😉
And I know you’ve gotten a lot of registry suggestions but some of my favorites are the rock and play, marpac white noise machine (this is great for your own room too if someone else is watching the baby for you), video monitor, solly wrap, and breast friend pillow (if you are going to try to nurse), and also bumgenius cloth diapers. Those are just a few of my favorites – can’t wait to see what you decided on!
Becomin a mom is such a wonderfully scary and crazy experience. Like getting poop on your face crazy.
Alpha Moms is one of my favorite blogs. The pregnancy calendar is HILARIOUS and really helps me cope with some of the not so fun symptoms of pregnancy. I also re-read all of KERF’s pregnancy updates which are neatly organized on BERF. I also switched from doing a food blog to documenting pregnancy stuff on my website. I had grand plans to continue both blogs, but only had energy for one. I wanted to regularly update the baby blog since most of my family lives far away and won’t get to experience the journey with me.
http://alphamom.com/pregnancy-calendar-overview/
http://www.pbjandshay.com
I’ve heard great things about the Alpha Mom calendar — I need to check it out!
I got sucked into Emily’s weekly pregnancy recaps way before we were ready to have kids, too! She writes in such a real way that is encouraging and refreshing! When we found out we were pregnant last year, I went straight back to her blog, and I still refer to it a lot. She was part of the inspiration for me to do weekly pregnancy updates, as well as to keep my family in the loop since I live in Australia now. 🙂 My updates are all at http://www.ashleywillingham.com.
Pregnant Chicken is a hilarious (and informative) site. Run, don’t walk!, to check her out! (I especially loved “the list” section and the pregnancy calendar.
Also, I was obsessed with the Swistle names blog…and still follow it now even though I’m waaaaay done naming kiddos.
Enjoy!
I highly recommend the Pregnant Chicken website, she is hilarious!! I signed up for her week by week pregnancy updates and they always had a humorous spin. Also, her Awkward Pregnancy photo series are a must-see! 🙂 xoxo
I’m expecting as week- 17.5 weeks along!
on another note, can you do a post on your favorite mocktails/drinks? 🙂
loooove this idea!
Baby bargains!!!
As you read all the mommy material, remember this — Babies are durable. Moms make mistakes, babies survive and thrive and hopefully mom doesn’t get too caught up in perfection. It sounds like a cliche but it’s true — All babies need it love. If you love them, you’ll know what to do and any “oops” won’t be worth a moment of your memory
Sooo true! Every baby is different and there is no perfect way to raise a baby. When I had my daughter I was young (21) and I definitely struggled the first couple years trying to figure out if I was “doing it right.” I’ve finally learned to accept the fact that I’m not perfect but as long as I try my best everything in the end will be ok.
Thanks for this helpful post! I’m 18 weeks.
I thought for sure you were gonna list the Pregtastic podcasts! You may already know about them (I first read about them from KERF) but those were absolutely invaluable when I was pregnant! 🙂
While pregnant I was determined to read EVERYTHING and take every class and be prepared for life as a mom. I thought I needed to know everything about babies ahead of time. I don’t really think any of it helped much (other than happiest baby on the block) and it was all on the job training. Now I realize I don’t actually need to know anything unless it is happening. My baby is 7.5 months and I don’t have a clue what development milestones 8 or 9 months should be reaching and it doesn’t really matter anyway because he will reach them when he’s ready. The resources that I found actually helpful are: lactation consultants, friends with babies the same age, and most importantly, friends with babies just a few months older so that they aren’t too far past my current stage and still remember things. I did blog about my pregnancy/motherhood, but not the typical weekly recaps, more like just thoughts on I had on my life changes occasionally. http://chocolateismylife-us.blogspot.com/p/im-not-mommy-blogger-but-heres-bunch-of.html
I’m very early into my pregnancy (only 7 weeks) but I really enjoyed looking back at Kath’s baby blog, babykerf.com 🙂 thanks for all the great suggestions!
So many of the bloggers I’ve followed for years just happen to be pregnant at this same time as me, which is so fun for following along!
My husband and I took Bradley Method childbirth classes and that was by far the best resource we’ve come across – I can’t recommend them enough!
Any and every book from Ina May Gaskin is incredible, and I also like The Bump app on my phone for following along with the size and developments of the baby each week.
I know you will be overwhelmed with suggestions, but I really loved Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and ALL of the 411 series. I really don’t know how anyone raises a baby without Baby 411, or Toddler 411 for that matter.
It seems this has turned into a pregnancy blog!
Read “The girlfriends guide to pregnancy” hands down one of the best books and funniest ones I read when I was pregnant. It puts a light hearted spin on those crazy hormones and all of the not so cool stuff about being pregnant. There was a chapter called “I think I hate my husband” that made me crack up.
I was kinda bad about doing regular recaps during my pregnancy, but I did them occasionally and I was pretty good about my birth story. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I’m 21 weeks and also blogging about it (and running during it) at fitnessfatale.com
I also liked Emily Oster’s book Expecting Better- lots of scientific data about what you really can and can’t do during pregnancy. Now I have a stack of baby related booked and have yet to crack them!