My First Trimester Essentials

1. Bio-oil- I am dreading getting strecthmarks!'I am a goddess who earned her stripes' I don't think so!!! It's hard enough to accept all the changes your body goes through so there is no need to add strecthmarks on top of everything else, and yes, they may be genetic but there is no harm is trying to reduce them. I hate the feeling of cold creams, so bio-oil has been great for me. I am now 21 weeks and no stretchmarks yet (touch wood)

2. This is a great book, written for Mums by Mums. If you haven't checked out Mumsnet yet, then it's worth a look, it's great to get an idea of what baby names are popular and what peoples thoughts are. And trust me, any of those questions that you are too embarrassed to ask, someone would have asked it before and Mumsnet is the place to find it.

3. Ok, so my Husband hasn't quite got round to reading all of this yet, but I have had a little browse and it starts from conception right through to code words to getting rid of visitors who have overstayed the welcome, so if we start using words that make no sense, it's time for you to go! ;-)

Oh, and in case you were wondering the author states it's perfectly safe to continue sexual activities as long as it’s with your partner"- funny right,? Yeh, not so much.

4. If you struggle to get your daily 5 fruit and veg a day then these are great for reassurance that your body is getting all the vitamins you need. They also contain the RDA of Folic Acid.

5. I am one of the very lucky ones that found a cure to morning sickness early on. I never ate breakfast before falling pregnant but I would wake up starving, the thought of anything that early made me feel worse, but I found a cereal bar really helped to settle my stomach without having to sit down and take time out to eat. Don't just rely on this for breakfast though, once I was at work and wide awake (ish) I feel much more able to face a bowl of porridge.

Is there anything that helped you through those hard first 12 weeks? Apart from your bed.....