The most useful maternity purchase I've made

I've bought a lot of things so far during this pregnancy, including maternity clothes, new bras for my expanding ribcage, and most recently new shoes for my puffy 3rd trimester feet.

Hands down the one I am most grateful for is my boot jack.
If you haven't heard of these (and I hadn't until someone in my prenatal yoga class told me to get one), they are devices that sit on your floor near your door, and have a prong on one end that you put your heel in. You step on the other side and it helps you take your boots off.

If you are pregnant now or plan to be pregnant, especially during the winter months, GET ONE!!

There are tons of different varieties and looks that are all variations on the basic theme of "crotch to stick your heel in" so I chose to go with a cute one shaped like a cricket instead of a forked piece of plastic or wood.

$22 Minuteman Cricket Bootjack

This cast iron guy is just over $20 but you can get a boring wooden one for under $10.

Bending over my belly to reach my feet is increasingly impossible, and I am so glad to use this instead.
It is much nicer to your boots and shoes than stepping on the back of your own heel and wiggling out, and it requires a lot less balance.

Even now that boot season is hopefully ending, I am still using this to get out of my boat shoes. And since it's a cute little bug, I think I will be keeping it around near the front door post-pregnancy as well.