10 Things You Should Do When You're Pregnant

The idea for this post came to me when Ava was napping and I was enjoying a nice, long shower.  Here is a list of suggestions for those of you ladies who are pregnant for the first time (since I know some of these are not realistic for moms who already have little ones running around).

 

1.  Sleep

Even though you can't put your collected hours of sleep into a bank to pull out when you need it later, please take advantage of the time you have now.  *Side note:  get a Snoogle body pillow!  I used one almost every day I was pregnant and I slept so well that I was worried I would have to use it to sleep for the rest of my life (I don't).

 

2.  Buy maternity clothes - they are sooo comfy! 

Sometimes these can be expensive, but if you just invest in a few pairs of maternity jeans and maternity work pants (if you need them) you will be thanking me later!  With shirts, you can just wear a lot of cheap, solid-colored maternity t-shirts and your own cardigans or button-up shirts where you just leave the buttons undone.

 

3.  Have a baby shower
Some things to register for:  different kinds of bottles and pacifiers (you don't know what kind your baby will prefer until you try them), diaper bag, bottle warmer, a few bowls and spoons (for when baby starts to eat solids), burp cloths, washcloths, hooded towels, a plastic baby tub, Halo sleep sack swaddles (these saved our lives in the early days when the only way Ava would sleep was when she was swaddled), bottle brush, breastfeeding supplies (if that applies to you).  Things to NOT register for (people will buy them for you anyway):  diapers, wipes, blankets, clothes, toys, books, bibs

 

4.  Read a few baby books

Just know that it doesn't matter how many you read, or even if you memorize them, you will have to take it one day at a time once your baby arrives.  There will be things that happen that no book can prepare you for!

 

5.  Decide on a name. 

We chose Ava James long before Ava arrived.  It was something we were both set on if we had a girl and it made everything much less stressful.  You might have mixed feelings about this and that's fine.  Some people like to keep names a secret.  We're both horrible at keeping secrets, so it was nice to be able to tell people when they asked.

 

6.  Put the crib and the changing table together before the baby arrives! 

You don't want to have to mess with these big projects when you have a newborn to care for (and possibly surgery to heal from).  No, I did not put these together myself, but because some of the pieces were so large and hard to maneuver, I helped with it a lot.  We moved Ava to her crib when she was 5 weeks old.  This was pretty early, but she never slept well in her bassinet.  It was too small for her and I imagine not very comfortable.  It was also really nice to be able to use the changing table immediately after coming home.  Since I had a C-section, it was very hard to bend over and the changing table is high enough that I don't have to.

 

7.  Eat healthy for the most part, but if you want an extra roll or some more mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, go for it! 

I gained 44 pounds when I was pregnant and lost 34 pounds in the first 2 weeks after having Ava.  I was retaining a lot of water toward the end and Ava herself was nearly 10 pounds, plus I am breastfeeding.  So, it was easy to lose most of the weight in the beginning.

 

8.  Get maternity pictures taken

To save money, we had my sister-in-law take these for us with her fancy camera.  They were done outside on a beautiful day, at the park where Jimi proposed to me.  They turned out better than I could have ever imagined and we will treasure them for years to come.

 

9.  Take a birth prep class

I'm so glad Jimi and I went to this half-day class at the hospital where we were going to have Ava.  We learned a lot, even though parts were scary at times.  Let's just say I was set on having a natural birth prior to the class, and after the class I decided that it would be okay to have some pain meds.  We also learned about C-sections (which I didn't know I was going to have until 1 hour before Ava was born)!

 

10.  Enjoy your hair

After I gave birth, I thought I was so lucky because my hair was exactly the same as it had been when I was pregnant.  Then when Ava was about 5 weeks old, my hair started falling out.  It was coming out in such big chunks.  It was all over the shower, covered our floors, even on my pillow.  I'm sure there are some pictures of me around this time and it looks like the areas near my temples are bald.  Finally, it stopped.  My hair is back to it's normal full self, but wow, that was scary!

 

Here are a couple pictures of our Ava baby to remind you that it's all worth it in the end!

 

30 Weeks old - having a blast in her Jumperoo

 

7 Months old - playing with her toes as always