I really wish I thought about what I wanted out of my time being pregnant and prepared a little more (especially numbers 7 and 8!), because I didn’t realise how things would change so quickly, and so drastically, when baby arrived. Here are 8 things I wish I did while I was pregnant (i.e. before giving birth!)
- Probably the most cliché – take bump pictures and videos
So standard I know, but it’s true! I miss my bump and I wish I had more pictures of the progress over the months, and videos of those little kicks. When baby arrives, you’re going to reminisce on your pregnancy and wish you had more photos to help remember all those precious moments.
- Early nesting
Everyone goes through that nesting phase, right? Right! BUT it mostly happens in the later stage of pregnancy. A stage, I’m sorry to say, where you can barely walk up the stairs without getting out of breath, where you can’t see your toes anymore, and when you can’t get yourself up after slumping on the floor. So even though you may not get the urge to do it, start your organising early! Clear out those things you don’t need anymore, “The Home Edit” up your kitchen, colour co-ordinate your undies. Do whatever it is you feel like you need to do to be baby ready. I wish I did this in my second trimester when I felt super energised.
- Go physical shopping
I don’t know about you, but I love food shopping! It’s one of the main things I missed during COVID lockdown. I love browsing the aisles…putting unnecessary things in the basket…opening drinks during shopping because I’ve been in the store for so long that I got thirsty! When baby comes, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be out food shopping yourself for a while, and if you do it’ll be a ‘quick dash for essentials’ jobby! Go to the supermarket, have a browse, put things in the basket, take them back out again – spend hours there, use up all the free parking to the last minute. You will thank me for it.
- Step up on date nights / evenings out
You’ll be surprised how much you miss date nights, evenings out and just dancing, after you have a new-born. If someone asks to meet, to cook you dinner or even just to come around for a coffee, don’t say no! For that limited period, be a ‘yes’ woman. I really miss just going out for dinner spontaneously, without planning and without having to pack the entire house. Go out or have candle lit dinners at home, with your partner. This is the last time you’ll be alone for a LONG time.
- Rest / sleep
It’s true that you can’t really “catch-up” on sleep. But it’ll make you feel a whole lot better that you slept and rested as much as possible while pregnant, when you’re full time responsible for a little bubba.
- Start self-care Sundays (or any day really)
Take some time out for yourself and get into a routine of doing it; something that you can continue when baby is around. Even if it’s just 5-10 minutes in the morning, or 30 minutes one day of the week. It will be a great habit to have going forward and reset you for your newfound job. Now I’ve managed to start my 10-minute morning facial routine of wash, cleanse, tone etc and then sometimes (when I’m not falling asleep standing up) I take time out to read in the evening, and that’s my me time.
- Talk to other mums or read about baby care
I was taken back by how little I knew about how to look after a baby. I mean don’t get me wrong, we’re figuring it out along the way, but it would’ve been nice to know some things beforehand or just to get some little nuggets of information before being thrown into the deep end. Chat to any Mums you know or talk to your mum. Get an idea of what they did, how they handled situations. It could be anything like routines, feeding, bathing, what to put baby to sleep in. Even if you have your own way in mind, its always good to have back up knowledge.
- Talk to other mums or read more about feeding
This is a big one for me – and you will find out why in one of my later posts. This is an area in which I think I had the least information but actually is the most important. After all, feeding baby is the number one priority. Whether your choice is to breast-feed, bottle feed or formula feed, there are things you need to know, and it will reduce the pressure by doing a bit of research before baby arrives. There are so many things that I didn’t know when baby arrived and I wish I took the time to 1) think about how I wanted to feed baby and 2) speak to other mums about what they did. I could speak forever about this topic, but as an example, I didn’t know you have to wake a new-born every 3 hours to feed them…no-one ever told me this!
Anyway, there’ll be more about number 8 soon, but for now I hope this helps you to make the most of the bump months!
~X~