Best Ever Pregnancy Safe "Cocktail" : (Not So) Dark and Stormy

There's a handful of us currently pregnant in my circle of friends right now. To celebrate, we threw a quickie "Cocktail" (Mocktail!) Night together and gabbed for hours on all the glories of pregnancy. It was really a lot of fun to just talk preggo talk, you know cravings, how we broke the news, choosing a name, clothing troubles, etc. 

Throughout being pregnant, especially on hot summer days, I've experimented here and there with mocktails. Usually just adding some fresh ingredients to tonic or Sprite (typically lemon slices, maybe lime or cilantro sprigs), just to give a little variety to the gallons of water I'm downing daily. 

But thanks to Ashley, I've found IT. The best ever mocktail ever. Ever, ever. 

It's called the (Not So) Dark & Stormy. Gather ginger ale, molasses, fresh lime juice & lime wedges for garnish. The original recipe (and a lot of others too!) can be found here.

8 Month Bump & My Favorite Things for Pregnancy

We are officially at the 'any day now' mark. Of course this means the wait could still be for several more weeks, but hopefully not! The most recent photos I took from a few weeks ago are below. I think my monthly count has been slighty off since technically a woman is pregnant for 10 months, but oh well! It was pretty convenient for me to just take a photo at the start of each month and count that way since Baby Boy is due in October (the 10th month!) and I found out I was one month pregnant on Feb 1st! So regardless here I am at 8 months, even though I should probably refer to it as nine months!

As I wrap up this whole pregnancy gig, I've been thinking about the things I really latched onto. Let me just say one thing: Pregnancy is hard work! I mean I knew it would be taxing on my body, but WOW. From the moment you are pregnant, you are placed on the back burner and that baby is all your body focuses on. Which considering that growing a human inside a human thing is pretty extreme, I shouldn't be surprised. But nothing I read or heard could have prepared me for the ride. Well, maybe just hearing the advice that if you're feeling sick, uncomfortable and just overall strange--that's a sign all is right in the growing of your baby! It's supposed to completely take over your life! (Obviously there are dangerous symptoms your doctor will go over with you to watch out for!!) But all in all, I'm viewing it as training for when that baby is born, because I will remain on the back burner for that little love bug his entire life!

So my favorite pregnancy things are...

Mint Tea

Mint gum

Tums (I knew I was really pregnant when I was seriouly ecstatic that the all cherry flavored bottles were on sale....!)

Ginger Gum/Ginger Candies

Seabands (you can also apply two fingers of pressure just below where you would find your wrist pulse and slightly inward, works wonders for nausea!)

A large refillable water bottle (dehydration is not an option!)

Insole shoe cushions 

Wet wipes (Especially towards the end of pregnancy, because its un-realistic to take 40 showers per day)

Palmer's Coco Butter lotion (THE BEST EVER. I think I will continue using it after pregnancy too!)

Epsom salt (for foot soaks & warmish baths)

Gel ice-packs (mold to your back, ribs or wherever else!)

There are lots and lots of pregnancy must have lists out there, but these are the things I really couldn't have survived without. And there are a whole lot of other items recommended for childbirth too, but I haven't had that experience yet!

Feel free to leave a comment with anything you loved to this during pregnancy list!

View the rest of my growing tummy here: Months 1-4, Months 5 & 6, Month 7