Pregnancy Advice

It's been almost three years since I've been pregnant. Boy does time fly. It feels like yesterday when I was pregnant. I'd like to share some advice, in no particular order, from my own experience with pregnancy.

1.) Be proactive about praying for your child EVERY day. Also pray about lots of things concerning being pregnant: your perfect picture of delivery day, your pregnancy road-rage, and your breastfeeding experience, etc..

2.) READ. READ. READ! Read NOW. Read all that you can. I regret not taking advantage of those nine months to read and educate myself. I had to squeeze in so many books that first year, which was not easy. Once baby arrives, whether it's your first or your third, life will get that much more busily blessed. You can never start too early Here are a few that I enjoyed to start you off: The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears, The Bradley Method (about birthing naturally), The Successful Child by Dr. Sears, The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron

3.) Learn the life-lesson of surrender NOW. Your self-esteem will plummet like that of a pubescent teenager. You thought those wars of insecurity were over with. Guess again my friend. You'll find that you will struggle more than ever with seeing these drastic changes in your body, comparing yourself with others (even other pregnant women), and feeling so insecure with who you are now and who you are becoming. Surrendering all of these fears and worries is lesson number one of being a happy, contented, confident Mama-to-be. Better learn it now. Find Biblical scriptures to help you combat this struggle victoriously.

4.) Lesson number two: find humor in everything. Really learn to laugh at yourself, your failed attempts at _?_, and things you learn along the way. It makes for an easier adjustment to motherhood and your husband will thank you.

5.) Take time to make a birth plan, where you type out what your hopes and desires are for YOUR Delivery Day Experience. So many mothers don't know about this. I learned about it in my Bradley Birthing Class. You won't have time to explain to your Doctor everything you want on that day nor will your OB remember everything from the appointment the week before. If you'd like to natural route, try googling "Bradley Birth Plans." Also, follow the link above.

6.) Steer clear of direct sun exposure to the face and always wear sunscreen on your face. I got the "Pregnancy Mask" and "Splotches" on my face when I was pregnant. (FYI: Not everyone will get it the Pregnancy Mask.) I was in the sun a few times and POP..out they all came. I wish I had stayed OUT of the sun. I STILL have them, three years later. I'll post two pictures below from THIS summer (2008) after getting some sun on my face. If you're feeling pasty in the summer and wanting a tan face, just pull up this post and let my splotches help you fight the temptation of the sun. Be sure to hone in on the forhead/temple/cheek bone area in the pictures.

Pictures of Pregnancy Mask

7.) If your morning sickness is truly in the morning, start taking your prenatals at night.

8.) Become a minimalist. Go through your house and purge unused, even nice things. Purge your heart out. Have several garage sales BEFORE Baby arrives. De clutter in a MAJOR way. I have wanted to really get rid of LOTS and LOTS of really nice stuff that I just don't use anymore, and after three terrible garage sales and the long hours of preparation with the limited time I have, I wished I had gotten rid of it all when I had more time on my hands.

9.) EAT YOUR FATS! You need WHOLE milk. You need WHOLE fats. You NEED animal fats - Take Cod Liver Oil (I'll let Krista expound on this, since she was the first who taught me about Cod Liver Oil) and coconut oil.

10.)Get a Pregnancy Photo Shoot. I had some professional pictures taken of Hugh and I two days before my c-section. I LOVE looking back at these pictures. I'm always amazed and ever grateful for such an experience. If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, Casey Chappell took my Pregnancy Pictures that you see throughout the post. Check out her site: Poiema Photograph (Be sure to click full-screen or same window first.)

11.) Buy one of those cheap asian-looking fans and carry it in your purse for those hot flashes, especially if you're pregnant in the summer. I was teaching at the time and HAD to have my hot pink fan with me to help ease the hot flashes. You could also buy the battery powered little fans you can get from Walgreens, CVS, etc..

12.) Hip Pains: I had unbelievabel hip pains from 9 weeks on. I'm not talking about a little achy here and there. No. I mean, moaning-in-my-sleep-deep-bone pains. Talk about horrible. FROM THE NINETH WEEK TO THE THIRTY-NINETH WEEK. What helped? I went to a Physical Therapist and that helped just a tinsy bit, but I was pretty disappointed in the outcome. I ended up buying a super-nice, top of the line memory foam for our bed and that made a HUGE difference. I would highly recommend one even if you don't have hip pains because it would help balance you out and cradle you as your belly gets bigger. And you can't forget the curved-c pregnancy pillow. That helped A LOT with hip pains as well. Nothing took the pain completely away, but these were extremely helpful.

Well, that's it for now friends, but I've only just begun. I will probably be posting more as I read comments and the other posts throughout this week. We would love to hear your Pregnancy Advice!