My cousin is pregnant with her first baby and I’m excited to put together a gift basket for her.

Now let’s get that gift basket together for that special mom-to-be in your life.

New Mom Gift Basket | Baby Shower Gift Idea

Items needed:

• Baby Bottles
• Hand wipes (to keep moms hands clean)
• Nipple cream
• Toys
• Pregnancy book
• Books for baby
• Lotion for baby
• Nose suction
• Bibs
• Towels
• Diapers
• Prenatal vitamins
• Soft blanket
• Some sort of basket to place the items in

You can add so much more to this basket! The possibilities are endless! These are just some of the items I think every mom needs to have.

Directions:

My basket is pretty deep so I decided to fold up the towels and blanket in order to get a nice shelf to set the other items on.

After folding up the blanket and towels, I placed the books at the back of the basket. Placing the books at the back of the basket helps stabilize the other items.

Next, I put the diapers, lotions, prenatal’s and bibs in the basket.

Next, I set the bigger items in the front which was the Baby Bottles and wipes for moms hands.

Lastly, I set the toy in the very back of the basket behind the books. I thought having a toy pop out of the basket was cute and fun!

Let your creativity shine and make this basket unique to you and the mom. There is so much you could do with this idea to make it your own and unique to the mom.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to check out some of my other popular posts.

Pregnancy Nutrition Guide

Baby Shower Drink Recipes

The post New Mom Gift Basket | Baby Shower Gift Idea appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Thankfully, I was able to partner with SneakPeak to find out the sex of my baby way before the 20-week mark!

How to Know Baby Gender Without an Ultrasound

So, you’re probably wondering what SneakPeak is and how it works. Let me give you some quick background.

SneakPeek Clinical is an early gender DNA detection test offered to women as early as 9 weeks into pregnancy. The genetic test is designed to work in conjunction with an ultrasound scan for expecting mothers. An on-site phlebotomist draws a blood sample in the comfort of the ultrasound studio, and then returns the sample to SneakPeek Labs for processing.

Wondering if it’s really that easy? I can tell you first-hand that it truly is that easy. I had my blood drawn by a licenced phlebotomist. It was painless, easy and very quick. Once my blood was drawn, the phlebotomist sent my blood off to the lab and within 48-hours, I received an email with my results!

My results told me that I was having a boy and I can tell you that is accurate! I recently had my 20-week ultrasound and the technician also confirmed that I was having a boy.

SneakPeek Clinical is a concierge-style service. The package is also followed up with a 3D/4D ultrasound session where you get to view your sweet baby.

If getting your blood drawn isn’t your thing, there is another option! You can order a gender detection kit online from SneakPeek. Once you receive your at-home kit, you’ll do a simple finger prick, submit your blood to your at home kit and return it to the lab via mail. From there the lab will work its magic and notify you via email of your results.

Wondering how the accurate the results are? 99% accurate! How can you beat that?!

If you’re pregnant and want to know how to know baby gender without an ultrasound try SneakPeek, make sure to use coupon code: CLASSY20SP for the at-home gender test!

I encourage you to read over the FAQ’s on their website. There is a ton of great information! You can even read over the science behind the testing.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

The post How to Know Baby Gender Without An Ultrasound appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

I’m on my 4th pregnancy and I still love a great pregnancy book to reference during my pregnancy.

Yes, I know there are plenty of free resources and apps out there but there is just something about a book in my hand. Not to mention, it’s good to get some non-screen time in our day.

Best Books To Read While Pregnant

I’ve put together some of the best books to read while pregnant!

What to Expect When You’re Expecting this book has been around for as long as I can remember. I had my first child 21 years ago and I had this book in my hand. It’s full of awesome knowledge and thankfully it has been updated with the newest information.

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy another great book with lots of information. I really like that it’s written by a very trusted source. You can feel good referencing the information in this book.

The Expectant Father is your husband freaking out about your pregnancy? Or maybe he just needs to brush up on his daddy skills? This is a great book for dads.

He can also read my post on how to be a supportive husband during pregnancy.

[Tweet “Check out these books on #pregnancy! “]

What to Eat When You Are Pregnant we all know how important our diet is during pregnancy. Yes, you’ll probably get cravings for some things that aren’t so healthy and that’s fine. However, this book will help keep your diet on track overall. I love seeing all the recipes and ideas for things to eat. It’s been a blessing to have.

Belly Laughs what can I say this book is hilarious. Seriously, check it out! This book doesn’t hold back and tells you how pregnancy really is.

Get Fit For Your Pregnancy I will be honest here and say that I have not read this book but it gets great reviews. I’ve never been a big fitness person so this book just hasn’t been on my list.

If you plan on breastfeeding, I highly suggest you check out this book! Nursing is hard work and this book has came in handy more times than I can count.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Do you have a favorite pregnancy book? Tell me in the comments!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to check out some of my other popular posts. 

20 Non-Alcoholic Baby Shower Drinks

Your Complete Guide to Nutrition During Pregnancy

The post Best Books To Read While Pregnant appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

One of my biggest marriage tips is to ensure your husband is supportive! However, pregnancy is also hard for our partners. Most husband just don’t know how they can support their pregnant wife. It’s not that they don’t want to, they simply don’t know how.

These pregnancy tips for men will help our partners understand how to better support us during pregnancy.

How to Be a Supportive Husband During Pregnancy

1. Get Educated! One of the best ways to better understand what your wife is going through is by reading books on pregnancy and preparing yourself for what’s ahead.

Here is a great selection of books to learn how to be a supportive husband during pregnancy: Books to read while pregnant.

2. Understand Your Sex Life Might Change. Some women lose all of their sex drive while pregnant and for other women, it goes into over-drive.

Either way, try to be understanding. If your wife isn’t feeling up to being intimate, try talking with her but not pushing her or blaming her. Remember, this stage of life won’t last forever.

3. Help to Reduce Stress. Offer to cook dinner a couple of times a week or maybe pick up her favorite takeout.

Help her around the house or if you have older children have them help, take them for an outing so your pregnant wife can get some quiet time. It’s really those little things that make a big difference.

4. Show Your Love! Even if your wife isn’t feeling intimate, you can still show your love and affection. Snuggle her on the couch, give her hugs, tell her she’s beautiful and just make her feel good about herself during this time.

5. Stay Positive. There are going to be times when your wife is worried Maybe she feels like she’s gained too much weight or maybe she’s worried about the baby.

Stay positive and realize that all of her concerns are valid no matter how trivial they might sound.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

6. Listen! Please, listen to your wife. This is a very exciting time in both of your lives. Your wife will probably want to talk you about her pregnancy concerns, something she read about online, medical decisions or just share the exciting news with you. Please don’t ignore her or act uninterested. This is your baby too so share in her excitement.

7. Get her Food! You know I can’t write a post on being a supportive husband without telling you to grab her some food. There will probably be times when she is craving ice cream, french fries, fruit or whatever it might be. Go get the lady what she wants – for god’s sake, she can’t have her wine!

If you enjoyed this post on pregnancy tips for me, make sure to check out some of my other posts. 

10 Truths About Romance After Children

20 Baby Shower Drinks

The post 7 Ways a Husband Can Support His Pregnant Wife appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

There are so many fun ideas floating around Pinterest and I’ve gathered up some of my favorites.  Make sure to bookmark this post as I’m always adding new stuff to it.

Also, if you have some suggestions for boy baby showers, make sure to leave a comment and let me know!

Baby Shower Ideas for Boys

Baby Shower Invitations for Boys

If you are going with an elephant theme, these elephant baby shower invites are perfect.

Baby Shower Food Ideas for Boys

It really doesn’t get much cuter than these white chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats! Even better? They are blue!

This Chevron Baby Elephant Cake is adorable!

These blue muddy buddies are the perfect baby shower treat.

Blue Baby Shower Drink Ideas

Isn’t this nautical drink perfect for a baby shower for a boy!?

Doesn’t this Bangin Blue Lemonade look and sound amazing!?

Another fun and tasty lemonade, this one is a mermaid lemonade recipe.

Sorry pregnant ladies, this Blue Mule Cocktail isn’t for you but your guests are sure to love it!

This Blue Raspberry Lemonade Jello Slush is for everyone and such a fun drink.

Baby Shower Decorations for a Boy

Having a vintage themed baby shower? These vintage baby boy shower ideas are so cute!

This Blue Baby Sock Bouquet is such a creative idea.

Baby Shower Game Ideas

The Price’s Right Game is a fun game that will have everyone laughing!

Baby Shower Bingo is game that is sure to be a hit at any shower.

Looking for even more baby shower ideas? Check out these posts!

Baby Shower Appetizers

Gender Reveal Party Ideas

Baby Shower Drink Ideas

The post Baby Shower Ideas for Boys appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Wondering what drinks should you serve at a baby shower?

What games should you play at a baby shower?

What type of food should you serve at a baby shower?

All logical questions!

Personally, I like a low key baby shower and I prefer to have appetizers over a full course meal.

These are some of my favorite baby shower appetizers.

Tasty Baby Shower Appetizers

Grilled Fruit Salad from The Classy Chapter

Cucumber Sandwiches from Amanda’s Cookin

Caramelized Onion Flat Bread from Who Needs A Cape

Easy Bruschetta Recipe from The Classy Chapter

Summer Sausage Tortilla Pinwheels from Swanky Recipes

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno’s from The Classy Chapter

Easy Bacon Wrapped Bread Bites from Creations by Kara

Rosemary and Parmesan Biscuits from Oh My Creative

Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Meatballs from A Dash of Sanity

Crab Rangoon Dip from The Classy Chapter

Ricotta and Prosciutto Cracker Appetizer from Delicious Meets Healthy

Homemade Salsa from The Classy Chapter

White Pizza Dip from A Night Owl Blog

Almond & Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives from Shaken Together Life

Simple Guacamole Recipe from The Classy Chapter

For baby shower prize ideas make sure to check out this post!

Love this post? Check out some of my other popular posts!

Baby Shower Drink Ideas

Gender Reveal Party Ideas

The post Tasty Baby Shower Appetizers appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Here are some of my favorite gender reveal party ideas!

Gender Reveal Party Ideas

If you want a quick and affordable way to announce the gender of your baby then you’ll love this Hershey bar idea!

Having a party to announce the gender of your baby? Give this gender reveal party ideas a try! The balloons are perfect to announce the sex of your baby.

Have your family vote on what they think you’re having then let the balloons soar into the sky.

I almost want to have another baby just to have a gender reveal party as beautiful as this one. I love how they announced the sex of their baby!

There are so many different gender reveal party ideas floating around the internet but this one is so fun and creative.

Need a fun way to announce the gender of your baby? Give this pinata idea a try.

If you have younger children this is a fun way to get them involved in the pregnancy and announcing the gender of their brother or sister.

If you are the crafty type, you’ll love this DIY gender reveal box. So fun and you can get as creative as you’d like.

When researching gender reveal party ideas for this post, I came across a lot of ideas. This has to be the most creative one I’ve ever seen!

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Don’t forget that if you are pregnant or know someone that is pregnant, signing up for the Amazon baby registry is a must and FREE!

Non-Prime members get a 10% completion discount and Prime members get 15%. You also get a box full of awesome products to try out! Sign up below.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to check out my other popular posts!

Baby Shower Drink Ideas

Nutrition Pregnancy Guide

The post Gender Reveal Party Ideas appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Thankfully, there were some items that helped make pregnancy a little better. I sure hope this list of pregnancy must haves helps you as well.

9 Pregnancy Must Have Items

1. The Pregnancy Belt was a huge help during my pregnancy! Even though I didn’t gain much weight, this still helped give me the support I needed.

2. There are times when it just feels like you can’t be pregnant any longer. During those times, my pregnancy journal helped me! It let me write and focus on the happy moments during my pregnancy.

3. This pregnancy box has creams to help with stretch marks and some wellness tea to help you cope with morning sickness. A pregnancy must have item!

[Tweet “If you’re pregnant, you have to check out these items! #pregnancy”]

4. This pregnancy cookbook has some awesome meal ideas for those days when nothing sounds even close to appetizing.

5. I know your doctor has probably told you a million times to drink plenty of water but I’m going it say it again! Staying hydrated really does help you feel better and this bottle helped me with my daily intake.

6. The one item I could not have lived without during my pregnancy was my pregnancy pillow. Seriously, a life saver!

7. I’m a huge worry wort when I’m pregnant so this fetal doppler came in handy!

8. I think I lived in my maternity yoga pants. So comfy and could still look kind of cute.

9. When I was in that in-between stage with clothes, I loved wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans with this belly band.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Don’t forget to Create an Amazon Baby Registry ! You’ll get a completion discount emailed to you and a fun box with lots of full-sized samples!

What were your favorite items when you were pregnant? Let me know in the comments!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to check out some of my other popular posts.

Best Books to Read While Pregnant

Your Pregnancy Nutrition Guide

The post 9 Things Every Pregnant Woman Needs appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Since I’m on my fourth pregnancy I have found some solutions to get a better sleep while pregnant.

If you are struggling with getting a good night’s sleep while pregnant this is a post you need to read! Take advantage of sleeping while you can.

Before you know it baby will be here and the time of a full night’s rest will be gone.

5 Tips for Getting Better Sleep While Pregnant

Keep the House Cooler than Normal

I always feel hotter than normal while pregnant so if it’s too warm at night, I find myself struggling to get a good night’s rest. Make sure it’s cool enough in the house that you can get comfortable.

You can also try wearing lighter clothing to bed since that will help keep you cool.

Updated: I recently came across this really cool pillow that helps you stay cool!

Keep the Bedroom Comfortable and Dark

I’m the type of person who loves falling asleep to the TV but I’ve found that while pregnant it really does hinder my sleep.

The noise and the light from the TV bothers me, even though it didn’t before. Try keeping the TV off at bedtime and making sure the bedroom is nice and dark. You can also try some light white noise to help you get a better nights sleep.

Get a Pregnancy Pillow!

With my first three pregnancies, I used a body pillow to support my legs and stomach. The body pillow worked pretty good but this time, around I actually bought a pregnancy pillow, one that’s made for pregnant women.

The pregnancy pillow I purchased supports my head, legs and stomach. It’s amazing! My sleep has been so much better since I started using it. It’s a bigger investment than a standard body pillow but it’s so worth it!

Use this pillow for your body and the cooling pillow I talked about above for your head.

Instantly, getting better rest was a breeze!

Don’t Eat Late Night Snacks

I know, I know, easier said than done.

I love to eat at night and I’m always hungry but eating late at night can cause horrible heartburn that will keep you from sleeping. I get really bad heartburn and when it comes on it’s so hard to get decent sleep. Limiting my food intake before bedtime has helped with this.

If you need to snack before bed, try a banana, some crackers or something light. Stay away from spicy foods and chocolate as they seem to increase heartburn.

You can also ask your doctor what is safe to take for heartburn relief. My doctor was fine with me taking tums but again, ask your doctor!

Don’t Take Long Naps

No matter how tired you feel during the day, try to keep your naps short.

Sleeping too much during the day is going to hinder your sleep at night. Keep your daytime naps short. I like to set a timer for 45-minutes so that I don’t end up sleeping for hours.

It is important to get extra sleep while pregnant but you want to find a healthy balance to ensure you can still get good rest at night.

Do you have any tips for getting a better sleep while pregnant? I’d love you to share in the comments!

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out some of my other popular posts. 

Best Pregnancy Websites for Expecting Moms

Your Complete Nutrition Guide During Pregnant

The post 5 Tips for Getting Better Sleep While Pregnant appeared first on The Classy Chapter.

Nutrition During Pregnancy

Nutrition during pregnancy doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. Just keep in mind that you should be making the best choices possible for yourself and your baby.

Foods You Should Avoid During Pregnancy

• Unpasteurized Dairy and Juice
• Soft Cheese (Brie, Goat Cheese, Queso Fresco)
• Raw Seafood
• Lunchmeat & Hot Dogs
• Raw Sprouts
• High-mercury Fish

Foods You Should Indulge In

• Avocados
• Lean Meats (Chicken, Turkey, Lean Steaks)
• Yogurt
• Eggs
• Salmon
• Nuts
• Water
• Fruit & Vegetables
• Beans

What To Do If Your Cravings Aren’t The Best Choices?

We all crave food that isn’t good for us. It’s just part of being pregnant. So, what should you do if all you crave is chocolate or potato chips? I have some suggestions that will help you fulfill those cravings in the healthiest way possible.

If you crave chocolate try eating some chocolate covered fruit. Chocolate covered strawberries or bananas dipped in dark chocolate are so tasty! You could also try eating a granola bar. These ones are my favorite and always take care of any chocolate craving I’m having. You can also read my post on healthy options to satisfy a chocolate craving.

If you are craving salty chips try eating Pita chips with hummus or salsa. Pita chips are a healthier option than potato chips and hummus is delicious!

If you are craving cake or cupcakes try eating a muffin. Just take a look on Pinterest and you’ll find so many tasty muffins that are also healthy.

If you crave soda try having some ginger ale, sprite, water with flavoring or sparkling water. When we crave soda it’s usually the carbonation we are craving. You could also try making some homemade kiwi-strawberry lemonade or apple cider.

If you crave a sandwich try cooking up this grilled chicken sandwich. It doesn’t use lunchmeat but still satisfies the craving of having a sandwich.

Keep in mind that you should talk with your doctor about any foods you are in question about. It’s also important to discuss your nutrition during pregnancy with your doctor. Each woman starts off their pregnancy at a different weight and BMI. Your doctor will be able to tell you how much weight you should gain during your pregnancy and how many calories you should be consuming each day.

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Additional Resources:

• What to Eat When Your Pregnant
• 100 Healthiest Foods While Pregnant
• Your Guide To Getting Fit While Pregnant

If you enjoyed this post on nutrition during pregnancy, make sure to check out some of my other popular posts. 

Best Websites for Expecting Mothers

Non-Alcoholic Drinks for Baby Showers

The post Your Complete Guide to Nutrition During Pregnancy appeared first on The Classy Chapter.