13 Must Do Tips for 1st Time Pregnancies

My brother-in-law & his girlfriend are having a baby and we couldn’t be more excited for them! Watching her progress with her pregnancy brought me back to the memories of my pregnancy which now feels like forever ago. Oh, the joys of pregnancy & along with it getting to hear everyone’s tips on pregnancy, horror stories of childbirth, & opinions on child rearing! Yay! As though you were a bumbling idiot who needs assistance getting through life & wiping the drool off your chin! How on earth did you make it this far in your life without all these people telling you what to do?!? It’s a good thing they arrived just in the nick of time, with all their words of wisdom, before you give birth without a clue of what to do for you & your child!

Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad. I do have a tendency to exaggerate, or at least that’s what my hubby says. I just think I tell really good stories! Anyway, back to business. These people: friends, family, the strangers at the grocery stores & doctor’s offices; they mean well, they really do. There’s something about a pregnant woman that makes people happy & fills them with the urge to share and sometimes the urge to touch your belly & say congratulations!

Out of ALL of the advice I was given while pregnant, here are the nuggets of wisdom I feel every woman should know & take to heart. These are merely suggestions and things that worked for me. Not all of these might apply to you.

All pregnancies & deliveries are different- Just because your Aunt Hilda was in labor for 37 hours doesn’t mean you will be in labor that long & just because your mother had a super easy delivery with no epidural doesn’t mean the same will apply to you. Don’t let other people’s delivery stories scare you and don’t let them encourage you either. You are different and your delivery will be different!Nod & smile when given this advice and respond with “Thank you for the valuable information”, then do what you want with it! Some people are right on the money & know exactly what they’re talking about and other people have no idea. Learn how to filter the information.
Don’t compare yourself to other moms- Well so & so only gained five pounds during her entire pregnancy or super-stay-at-home-mommy already has junior preregistered at all the fantastic schools in the area with 3-year waiting lists! Whooptie-friggin-do! We all do the best we can. Please don’t try to keep up with the other super moms or feel bad that you can’t. If anything, try to be inspired by them but don’t let it make you feel “less-than”. Your weight will come off in due time & little junior will do just fine in whatever school you put him in. You’re a good mom. Remember that!
Don’t stress & remove stressors from your life if possible- This was a big one for me! I think I was born with anxiety! I stress over EVERYTHING but I didn’t want my baby to feel that unease so I tried to remain calm and think I did a pretty good job. I used to love to watch certain shows like The Walking Dead but realized how anxious I got when watching the show so I stopped watching it during my pregnancy.
Do your research- I can’t stress this enough! You’ll be fed so many contradictory tidbits of information by all the different people in your life that it will drive you mad! If you’re confused or unsure, look it up! Google is awesome & will generally steer you in the right direction. There are also many websites out there where you can get valuable & accurate information such as Parenting.com, BabyCenter.com & TheBump.com. Also, you can always ask your Doctor at your regular appointments. I kept a notepad in my purse & jotted down my questions so I would remember everything when I went to the Doctor. Just remember that just because your mother-in-law says so, it doesn’t make it true! Sorry!
Don’t buy ANYTHING until after your baby shower- This is SOOO hard! I know! Ok so maybe buy a few things but keep the receipts. You will get so many stuffed animals, blankets & clothes at your baby shower that you will regret buying these things ahead of time. Also how many blankets do you really need?!? Especially since you’re not supposed to put anything in the crib with baby. You’re not even supposed to use crib bumpers anymore! You can read all about that here. If you’re a new parent, try to keep receipts for things that you’re not sure if you will need or not. We wound up returning quite a few things and used the store credit for diapers and wipes, which you never seem to have enough of!
Accept hand-me-downs & shop at consignment & thrift stores- Especially if you’re on a budget this could be incredibly useful! I have two really good friends who gave us a ton of their boys’ hand-me-downs from clothes to books & toys. They also gave us a pack-n-play, diaper bags & other necessities. All of which we used and saved us a ton of money. This was such a blessing especially since my husband was laid-off when our son was 9 months old! We were so grateful to our friends and wound up with enough clothes to carry us through age 3! Used toys from consignment & thrift stores are as good as new with a little bleach and sometimes half the price as new. If I had to do it over again I would buy more “like-new” items from consignment & thrift stores.
Register at more than 1 store & update your registry often- Register at more than one store to make it more convenient for family & friends to shop at a store near them. Add everything you think you’ll need to the registry including diapers & wipes. People want to buy what you need so make it easier for them by having a lot to choose from in various price ranges. Update your registry often as you may decide you no longer need items or you may get duplicates. Not everyone remembers to scan the registry at check-out! Some people will continue to buy off your registry even after the baby is born so leave it open for a while.
Exercise & eat right- Yeah I know, you’re eating for two but you don’t want to wind-up a big fat cow looking like you’re still preggers when the kiddo is two years old. Take care of yourself! It’s important! Your body is going through so much & you need to eat right & exercise to keep it going in the right direction and to keep baby healthy. I have to admit I did not heed this advice and boy do I regret it! It’s so much harder to get the weight off than it was pre-baby! Just do yourself a favor & treat your body right. It’ll be that much easier for you afterward.
Take classes- This was so valuable for me and my husband! We already knew some of the material that was covered in class from the books we read but we still learned a lot in the classes. Not only that, we made friends in the class that we have regular play dates with to this day. We took the CPR, Breastfeeding, Childbirth and Newborn Care Classes at the hospital where we delivered. Not only did we learn even more information but we truly felt prepared for baby which put us more at ease. My husband also did a Daddy Boot Camp class.
Have the nursery ready- The sooner the better! This way you can do inventory and see what you still need or return what you don’t. Have everything washed and prepared for baby. You never know when baby will make his/her grand entrance so I feel it’s always better safe than sorry! Plus once you’re further along it’ll be harder to move around and do everything!
Have a game plan for the delivery day- Know the answers to all the delivery questions you’ll be asked. If you want drugs or not, music playing, images to look at while you’re in labor, who you want in the room with you, if you want your son circumcised, etc. Don’t try to make these decisions at the hospital. You will be too tired, busy loving on your new bundle of joy, & trying to get some rest.
Make a plan for when you come home with baby- Will your significant other be able to stay home & help you for the first few days/weeks? Do you have a mom, mother-in-law, sister, or friend who can stay with you to help out in the beginning? It will make life a lot easier on you and baby to figure it out beforehand. My husband & I had no problem the first two weeks because our little one was a great sleeper and everything went like clockwork. Sleep, diaper change, eat, diaper change, sleep, repeat. After two weeks all hell broke loose and we had our first experience with a colicky baby! Holy cow did we appreciate all the help we got! Mostly with food! That was my favorite, not only because I like food but because it was one less thing to think about. It’s nice to not have to do any meal planning during this time. Thank goodness the colic didn’t last very long!
Sleep when the baby sleeps!- Last but not least, this was the most repeated advice I got while I was pregnant and it is 100% true! DO IT! Showers are overrated, who gives a flip if the house is clean, laundry can wait, and you don’t need to eat right now as much as you need your sleep! Say it with me now SLEEP WHEN THE BABY SLEEPS! Good girl!