Best and worst pregnancy gear?

[Arcadia]

Best:
wedge pillow for bump
womama mat bra and matching undies (I have them on now!)
gentle birth, gentle mothering. A book by Sarah Buckley.
Baby on board. A book by dr Howard.
Metalicus!!!! Dresses, tops and skirts! I know it's expensive, but I bought it on sale and still wear all the pieces.
Country road cardigan- it was long and covered lots.
Peppermint tear
Pink kit

worst:
Up the duff. Useless and the birth story is horrendous!
Anything that looks like maternity wear.
Bonds mat bra- what was I thinking?'

[Persephone1]

Best:
gentle birth, gentle mothering. A book by Sarah Buckley.

worst:
Up the duff. Useless and the birth story is horrendous!'

Yep and yep. Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering is fantastic.

Up the Duff is insulting to intelligent women, and the birth story was completely unhelpful. I get that some births are like that, but I didn't see the point in "normalising" it rather than normalising natural vaginal positive birth stories. I also found that she adopts a rather snide tone when mentioning homebirth as an option, and she only presents traditional medical approaches to pregnancy and birth, rather than a balanced, informed approach. Anyone want to buy it off me? It's in great condition!

[mummato1]

ohh good thread!

Loved
Pink Bonds Maternity Hoodie
Maternity Jeans - cant remember the brand
K-mart maternity cargo 3/4 shorts - lived in them.. (still do post bub )
Belly Bands
Book - Birth Skills Juju Sundin
Wedge Pillow for bump
Ripe Maternity Wrap dress (still wear it!)

Hated
Up the duff - I cant see whys it so popular!!
Belly Belts.. urghh so dont work for me
Body Pillow.. too big for me
Loose tops - made me look fat not pregnant
Hot Milk PJs - looked great but not good fit for me

will have to have a think and see what else I can add

[RhiChiChi]

Loved:

Pumpkin Patch maternity tees
Target stretchy pants & linen skirt
Diana Ferrari slip on sandals

Disliked:

My bf pillow a gf gave to me. I was too hard & too small to fit around my waist.....I used it to 'prop' up DD when she was older (actually don't know where it is now)
A list of things to take to hospital also given to me by the same gf who gave me the bf pillow. Many things I bought I never used

[Winter]

Loved my pair of sensible shoes that a friend made me buy from the Nanna Shoe Shop. I lived in them all pregnancy even if they were a bit daggy. Worth. Every. Cent. Seriously!

Hated maternity jeans over the belly - yuck!

[JLeigh29]

I have Up the Duff. It wasn't too bad for the early weeks, but once you got to the important stuff it wasn't much help and quite patronizing really! I was flabbergasted at the birth story too!

Yep, Belly Belly definitely comes under The Best heading too!
And loose, non-maternity tops (thanks KMart).
And Trade Secret for cheap maternity clothes that aren't appallingly daggy.

[Cupcake]

OO my chiro gave me a book, 'Well Adjusted Babies' im loving it!

[allycat06]

gentle birth, gentle mothering. A book by Sarah Buckley.
Baby on board. A book by dr Howard.

both excellent books!

Also....
The New Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger (well anything by her)
Ina May Gaskin's guide to childbirth
Sleeping with your baby- Dr James Mc Kenna (interesting read, all the reasons why co-sleeping is good for your baby)
Sleeping like a baby/100 ways to calm the crying- Pinky McKay

I had my nose in a book all the way through my pregnancy!

I borrowed a book from the library for DH, I forget what it was called but it was written especially for men about all the things to expect post-childbirth and how to support a new mum. Very medicalised look at everything (written by a male OB) but if you knew which bits to skip over and take with a grain of salt it was pretty useful.

My mum got me Your Baby and Chil by Penelope Leach to read while pg...some parts worthwhile but overall I found it not at all in sync with my parenting values and stopped reading once I got to the bit about never letting your baby fall asleep at the breast

[Cassius2]

Best:

Metalicus!!!! Dresses, tops and skirts! I know it's expensive, but I bought it on sale and still wear all the pieces.

how could i forget my metalicus??!!!! this stuff is by far the BEST pregnancy gear and i wore it all even when non-pregnant and it is still holding strong with the second pregnancy. i just love it! easy to layer and looks stylish!!!!