Valentine's Day gift ideas for my pregnant wife.

February 12, 2011 10:52 AM

Valentine's Day gift ideas for my pregnant wife.

My wife is in her 2nd trimester, and I'd like to get her a few things to make her more comfortable as the weird alien baby growing inside her stomach gets bigger. This is our first baby. So far I have a body pillow, but that's it. What else would be a good gift? It doesn't to be something that she will use immediately. HELP.

posted by wordsmith to shopping (14 answers total)

Vouchers for pedicures! Soon trimming toe nails will be a trial.
posted by gomichild at 11:04 AM on February 12, 2011 [6 favorites]

Bio-Oil or some other purported stretch mark reducing cream. Or just a nice cocoa butter (maybe from the body shop). A gift certificate for Sephora? My skin got very bad and I bought some pretty expensive foundation as a result.
posted by kitcat at 11:12 AM on February 12, 2011

Well... my wife's in her second trimester of our second child. Today, we went and test drove a bunch of minivans.... (granted, one of our cars was in a pretty major accident a few weeks ago, but every time we get in a car I keep saying "Happy Valentines Day!" and give her a big hug.)

She keeps rolling her eyes at me. Ah, love... (oh yeah, and the whole pedi thing is spot on. There's a gift certificate waiting for her for monday. You could also look for a place that does pregnancy massages. I would get her one , but - we're getting A NEW CAR!)
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:21 AM on February 12, 2011

Don't get her specific stretch mark cream. Her hormones may tell her that the cream means you think she's getting ugly stretch marks. A gift certificate to a place that has a good selection of stuff would be better.

To go along with the body pillow: A satin lined eye mask and a fluffy robe. A couple of extra regular pillows wouldn't be bad either. When I was huge pregnant I had two pillows under my head, one body pillow in front of me, one body pillow behind me, an extra pillow under my belly, and one more wadded up at my back.

A white noise machine could be helpful.

Okay, I say go for a 'Relaxation Kit': Body pillow, fluffy robe, basket of lotions or gift certificate, white noise machine, pregnancy herbal tea, and chocolates. Bonus items: Gift certificate for pedicures, eye mask, favorite movie on DVD, homemade coupons for back rubs and foot rubs.
posted by TooFewShoes at 11:30 AM on February 12, 2011

Lush is also a place that makes really nice massage oils and "body butter" products. If they've got a store near you a nice assortment of stuff in scents she'd like can be good for belly rubdowns.
posted by jessamyn at 11:31 AM on February 12, 2011

Self-links, but as a Certified Pregnant Lady, I've been asked this question a few times and these are my suggestions.

And absolutely keep the receipt for the body pillow - if it's not one of the foo-foo preggo lady pillows, it may not accommodate the belly properly. I love and would run off and have a torrid affair with my Boppy pillow, but I've heard other pregnant women who have hated it. It's a crapshoot.

The Body Butter is definitely a winner with every pregnant lady I've ever known. Pregnancy makes your skin really damned dry.

And seriously, the pedicure. I'm going to get one tomorrow - not because it's Valentine's Day, but because I can no longer reach my own feet.
posted by sonika at 11:41 AM on February 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Burt's Bees Belly Balm! Skin gets very very itchy as it stretches. You can also promise to rub it on her every night while talking to the baby.

Does she have belly bands? For example, here. These can provide a lot of comfort.

Definitely pedicures. I miss my toes.

Also maybe something you pick out for the baby, like a stuffed animal or a onesie you think is particularly cute (maybe one that says "I love my mommy"!). It's so adorable when dads-to-be do some baby shopping and show they're excited and nesting too.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:45 PM on February 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

Gift certificates for massages!
posted by mareli at 1:45 PM on February 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

How about some "Motherhood" jewelry like the Peas in a Pod pendants, or the Mother and Child Pendant.

Haircuts! Pregnancy also made my already thick hair feel like a hedge growing out of control.

I would have loved the "I love Mommy" baby clothing when I was pregnant - but definitely coupled with another gift just for your wife.
posted by Mrs_Eep at 1:49 PM on February 12, 2011

What does she like? What is your budget?

If you have a bit of money to blow -- a featherbed or a memory foam mattress topper (though beware of too-soft bedding and young babies; featherbeds are sadly not well compatible with co-sleeping newborns). Better bedding? Really nice sheets will be a nice comfort.

+1 Sephora (or Lush) gift certificate. If she takes bath, bath/ oil is nice as moisturizing when there's a lot of you, especially if that lot of you is itchy, can be a drag. Nuxe is a really nice body oil and it comes in a spray, a boon in later months.

I would not veer too far off the usual beaten path -- I would never have a pedicure or massage and pregnancy did not change that; YWifeMV. "Stretch mark cream" would be a double offence; the implication that marks were problematic! the supporting of a nonsense industry! Yuk and yuk.
posted by kmennie at 1:56 PM on February 12, 2011

Congratulations to you and your wife! I'm a couple of days past my due date, and I have to echo the recommendations for pedicures (I can barely put on socks these days, much less clip my own toenails) and pregnancy massages (at one point, I was getting a massage once a week, which made a huge difference in comfort).
posted by snafu at 2:40 PM on February 12, 2011

If it were me, I'd have wanted flowers, some fancy decaf black loose-leaf tea, and for you to quit calling the baby an alien.
posted by milk white peacock at 8:47 PM on February 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

Back from my very first pedicure and ZOMG GET HER A GIFT CERTIFICATE DO IT NOW. That is all.
posted by sonika at 3:13 PM on February 13, 2011

My sister is in her second trimester and just received a Nintendo DS from her husband. Perhaps not terribly romantic, but they're out of state for a few more months (he's in the service) and she's home all day, so he got her several games with puzzles to solve and interesting story lines, so she has something to keep her busy besides reading pregnancy websites and freaking out about whether or not her pregnancy is normal. Said sister would hate a pedicure, as she doesn't like strangers touching her, but would like a gift certificate to pick out her own skincare stuff.
posted by SeedStitch at 6:46 AM on February 14, 2011