Nine Tips for Nine Months

There is was... The "plus sign" we'd been praying for.  I can't believe it has been three years since we first found out about our Sweet P.

With that plus sign came a whole new slew of questions... What can I eat? What positions can I sleep in safely? ... Do you mean to tell me I can't have coffee AT ALL???

And with those questions came the advice. Oh, you know what I'm talking about.  It's like now that you're pregnant, you have lost all ability to think for yourself.  Friends, family, even strangers in the grocery store parking lot feel like they need to tell you the whats, whens, whys, and hows of being pregnant.  And the "stranger in the grocery store parking lot?" That actually happened.  "You know you shouldn't eat deli meat, right?" yelled Stranger-Danger from across the aisle as I was loading my groceries into my car.  Thanks for your concern, ma'am.

But with each passing month, you become more and more aware.  You're going to be a mom. Those motherly instincts kick in way before the due date, let me tell you.  Trust your gut.  You will be fine.

But if you're like me, you're still going to scour the internet for all things pregnancy. Amid all the uncertainty, all the "new," it can be difficult to simply rest and enjoy those 40 weeks.  They may seem to be dragging by, but soon, your own little sweet one will be out in the big world.

For me, each month brought with it a new challenge. Here are my tips and tricks for staying healthy and sane for the next nine months.

Month one: Confirming the Plus Sign

Yay! We're pregnant!... Now what? First things first: call your doctor.  Actually, call your mom.  Then call your doctor.  My doctor waited to do the ultrasound until I was eight weeks along.  A friend's doctor did her ultrasound at five-six weeks along.  It's really up to the discretion of your doctor.  Be sure you love your doctor, by the way.  The two of you are about to get really close. In the few weeks before my ultrasound, I started a prenatal vitamin, watched what I ate, and counted down the minutes until I would see that tiny jellybean of a baby growing inside me. Any questions, call your nurse.  That's what she's there for!


Month two: The Reveal

This was the picture my husband and I posted to social media to announce that Sweet P was on the way.  My tip for this? Make it fun. Make it special.  You only get to announce your first pregnancy once, so go all out.  Feel like shouting it from the roof tops the second you find out? Do it! Want to wait until the first ultrasound (like me)? That's fine, too.  Or even after the first trimester.  It's whatever you choose.  I just probably wouldn't wait until delivery.  That could be a little too late ;)

Month three: Morning Sickness

Week 8

Myth: Morning sickness only happens in the morning.  Fact: Morning sickness happens in the morning... and the afternoon... and the evening... and the middle of the night.  For me, it was a constant feeling of nausea that never really went away until I was thirteen weeks along.  You know the feeling you get when you get off a really crazy roller coaster right after eating a bucket of hot wings? No? Well, imagine it.  Now imagine it lasting for three months. Boom. That's morning sickness for you. I never took an anti-nausea medication.  I didn't want to take any medication that wasn't absolutely necessary. In fact, concerns are currently being raised by American Recall Center about the drug Zofran, which is being used off-label in a way the FDA has not approved. Zofran side effects include birth defects such as cleft palate and heart defects! I was not about to take something that could harm my Sweet P. Instead, I found out what worked for me.  If I ate a few crackers and drank some water when I first woke up, I could head it off.  Also, listen to your body.  Food cravings and aversions are not just funny old-wives tales.  I couldn't stand ice cream.  Even the smell.  If I ate it, terrible things happened to me.  Just take my word for it.

Month four: Maternity Clothes

Week 15

Week 18

You know all of the gorgeous celebrity moms prancing around in their perfectly-fitting maternity dresses and four-inch heels? You are not going to look nothing like that.  Sorry to burst your bubble. Don't get me wrong; you're going to look beautiful! It's just that maternity clothes are expensive! And you're only going to be wearing them for five months. My advice? Consignment stores.  Seriously.  I never paid full-price for any of my maternity clothes. You can find some awesome brands at discounted prices by browsing through the racks.  I found GAP, Motherhood, Target maternity... all for a fraction of what I would have paid in stores. Another trick? Borrow them from a friend! Trust me, she'll be happy to have those clothes out of her closet and being put to good use.

Month five: The Gender Reveal!!!!

Week 21

 
Finally! The month you've been waiting for! At least, if you plan on finding out the gender of your baby.  For me, that was the only thing I could think of.  I HAD to know.  If there had been a pregnancy test available to buy that said "You're pregnant. It's a girl," right away, I would have paid I don't even know how much money to buy that stick. The waiting drove me insane.  And just like the pregnancy announcement, the gender announcement should be as special as you want.  If you want it to be just you and your spouse in the doctor's office, that is just as good as a color-coordinate cake or a box of balloons, which by the way is what we did.  Our ultrasound tech wrote the gender on a slip of paper in an envelope.  We gave the envelope to a friend who met us at our house with a box of either blue or pink balloons. We counted to three and opened the box...

Finally knowing that our Sweet P was a girl was the best part.  We got to call her by her name and pick out tiny dresses.  For me, that made it even more real. My DAUGHTER was growing week by week.

Another thing that starts to happen this month... sleeping becomes a real issue.  I couldn't get comfortable.  If I laid on my back, I felt like I was suffocating. Laying on my stomach was not an option anymore.  So, side-sleeping it was.  My recommendation: get a BODY PILLOW!! Seriously, it was my best friend.  It gave my growing stomach the support it needed so I could be as comfortable as possible. 

Month six: Pregnancy Brain

Oh, its real, folks. Very real.

Week 24

Week 27

You always hear pregnant women blaming things on "pregnancy brain." Yeah, like that's even a thing. IT IS. One night, I had made a giant pot of broccoli soup (remember those cravings I was telling you about?).  I was so excited.  I was going to put it in individual containers to carry to work for lunch the rest of the week.  Did you catch that? I was going to. Instead, I left the whole darn thing sitting on the kitchen counter all night, ruining it. Combine that fact with the crazy-pregnant-lady hormones, and you have all the necessary ingredients for a meltdown that would rival 2007 Britney Spears. Advice for dealing with pregnancy brain: make lists, get organized, and learn to say "no." There are things you have to do; write those down on a list.  Meal-prepping should have gone on my list.  It did not, and there I was, soup-less.  But you do not have to do everything! Say no to the unnecessary things.  Use that time to relax.  Goodness knows, you won't get to for much longer.

Month seven: Maternity Photos

Week 30

 As a photographer and former pregnant lady, I highly recommend getting maternity photos done around the seven month mark.  Any earlier, you're likely not showing as much.  Any later, you are going to be miserably large.  Month seven is the perfect in-between stage.  Definitely, visibly pregnant; still able to move around with some sort of ease.  Also, make sure you get maternity photos.  It breaks my heart to hear clients turn down our maternity package because they "feel fat." You are not fat; you are beautiful, doing the most beautiful thing in the world.  Treasure it.  Show it off.  I felt like a supermodel at my pregnancy shoot, swollen ankles and all. If you are really concerned about it, talk with your doctor and develop a pregnancy fitness routine.  I adored prenatal yoga.  The stretches really eased my back pain and helped me feel more relaxed.  It's also great for breathing techniques to use during childbirth.

PS- I got this entire outfit at a consignment store!

Month eight: Packing the hospital bag

33 weeks

36 weeks

As if you couldn't tell from my pictures, by the eighth month, I was ready to pop.  Literally.  My doctor had said baby could come at any time, so for the next few weeks we waited for "any time" to come. We made sure hospital bags were packed and ready to go.  Looking back, there are so many things I should not have bothered packing and so many other things I wish I had. The adorable set of pajamas I bought to wear in the hospital? The magazines? They stayed in the bag.  Some things I highly recommend bringing? Two big, fluffy, dark brown towels. The white hospital towels were awful for postpartum. Not to mention scratchy and small.  Another item is toilet paper.  That one-ply nonsense the hospital supplied was not gonna cut it.

At month eight, I was so uncomfortable.  My back hurt 24/7; my ankles were a thing of the past. To help with the back pain, I would stand under the shower and let the hot water hit directly on my lower back.  It felt amazing.  For my swollen feet, I propped them up on pillows.  Not only did it make me feel like a princess, but it helped alleviate some of the swelling.  That was also the month I went for a pre-delivery pedicure.  If my feet were going to be hoisted up for all to see, I wanted my toes to at least look cute.  I got pink polish in honor of baby girl.  And the pedicurist doing it was so sweet.  She gave me an extra long leg and foot massage before painting my tootsies.  She was an angel! I highly recommend this little treat. You've earned it!

Month nine: Make Room for BABY!

Week 39

 With my daughter, I ended up needing to be induced. She was out of growing room. But that was fine with me.  My doctor and I had a plan.  I know most pregnant ladies have an idea of what they want to have done in the delivery room.  I cannot express enough how important it is to talk to your doctor about it before hand.  Waiting until you are contracting every minute and trying to squeeze out a tiny human is not going to provide you with enough time to have that conversation.  I wanted an epidural; some women do not.  I wanted just my husband to be with me; some women want more people.  It's up to you, but make sure the plan is made ahead of time.  While you are in labor, you cannot eat or drink anything, but you can have ice chips.  And you'd better eat those ice chips. With my daughter, I could not get cool enough.  They cranked the A/C down and fanned me with clip boards.  I had cool cloths on my neck and chest.  But I was so hot.  Giving birth is exhausting, and you will need the water those ice chips provide to help stay hydrated and cool. But you can do it, and you will be rewarded with the greatest gift...

 A tiny, perfect, eight-pound, 20-inch-long bundle of joy.

I hope my tips and tricks work for you and your pregnancy.  If not, you will find what does.  Trust your "mama-instincts," and enjoy every moment of those beautiful 40 weeks! Time will fly by! And, trust me, it will never slow down again...

Thanks for reading!