Before the baby arrives

I was working a lot when I was pregnant and the nausea was pretty bad but I knew if I didn’t keep busy I would keep dwelling on it and well, feel sorry for myself.

Around that time, 3 different friends of mine went through miscarriages and that scared me. A lot. There was no connection to which trimester they were in but being in my first trimester, I became even more cautious. I wanted to celebrate my pregnancy but again I was too scared to get my hopes up in case something does happen. The moms who went through that ordeal, I can never forget their eyes and the volumes they spoke. I truly believe those moms are the strongest who have faced such a loss. Hope your angels are always looking over you and see you ever smiling.

All said in done when I was in my 7 month, I finally allowed myself to accept the fact that my little penguin is safe and sound happy in her mama and that yes I am having a baby!

So I started reading up and shopping for everything baby and boy did I get hooked. I basically work now to fund my baby habit (Ha!) And it’s amazing the products companies have come up with to help comfort a newborn, an infant, a toddler and of course panicky parents.
I wish I would have started my research earlier and that would definitely have made my pregnancy a lot easier. But hey that’s how you learn. Couple pregnancy tips that I still thought were helpful were.

Workout, walk, and wheel

That helps out so much with keeping yourself active and for me, it helped get rid of a lot of my body aches. Plus getting a maternity belt helped too. I bought the Babies R us store brand and totally swore by it.
Also people by wheel I mean a stationary bike. Duh, isn’t it obvious? 😉

Keep yourself hydrated at all times

I passed out once or twice (I know!) but learned the hard way that I need to keep myself hydrated and well fed if I am to be a responsible parent. Each ounce of your energy is being used to nurture your child and you want to make sure you have enough to keep both of you going.

Keep a liter water bottle at hand all the time and refill it each time it hits the quarter mark. Better yet pop a few cucumber slices, sliced strawberries, apples any fruit really and let it stay overnight, you get fruit-infused flavor water! Makes it yummier to down 🙂

Eat Healthy

So none of that eating for 2 stuff. That doesn’t happen since the baby is basically getting all the energy from your blood. You basically need to eat an extra 200-500 more calories. Snacking is okay but try to stay away from junk food (if you can) it’s just tougher to get rid of these junk food trips after delivery (sigh)

Read

It’s good to read up on what’s happening in your body so you understand what your doctor tells you. I’ve heard many stories on how Moms were able to tell that something was wrong before the doctor could check.
Could be a mother’s instinct (I believe in that!) or the knowledge they’ve piled on. But it definitely helps. It may freak you out to know so much but it’s better to be prepared 🙂

Stalk other Registries

Oh, I totally forgot the concept of privacy and literally stalked the baby registries of everyone I knew that had one. Then I went through a million reviews before finalizing the things that I needed. And it all worked out in the end (only a few mistakes that I’m trying to hide ;))

Save the memories

Start saving these memories and get those weekly pregnancy photos on! It will help you look back at that journey that you took and how special it felt. Plus its good practice for the baby book too.
And enjoy this time, it’s a special time for you and your partner to make the most of it. After that, it’s going to be all about this small little human who will rule your world 🙂

So good luck and lots of love!
Until next time – Mama out!