You’re Pregnant Now What!? Important Tips to do Immediately 

Oh. My. Gosh. I’m Pregnant!

I bet those words have had very different meanings. Regardless of whether these words are of pure joy, excitement, fear, anxiousness, or unknown; you’re pregnant and now is the time to take action! Finding out you are expecting is immediately life changing..obviously. The moment there is the faintest little blue line or positive sign on the wonderful pee stick that determines your fate is so unforgettable. When I saw that little blue line it was not expected. Absolute SURPRISE! After I cried with happiness, and cried with fear, and the shock subsided a tad I ran and put cocoa oil on my belly. Hell NO I wasn’t going to get stretch marks. Then I laid in bed for the rest of the day in a daze and my life flashed before my eyes. A million thoughts were running through my head about what to do. Should I keep it? Should I pretend like it never happened? How was I going to tell Kevin? I know, not the blissful excitement you always hear and see. Nope Michael came a few years ahead of my travel schedule. However, what I did know is I had a LOT of things to get in order and fast. Going through this experience there are some things I did immediately and things I wish I had done immediately that are very beneficial to anyone getting started in their pregnancy journey.

1. Go Buy Cocoa Oil and Belly Butter for that Expanding Uterus You SEXY Woman! 

 Getting oil was the first thing I did.  Every morning,  afternoon and before bed this wonderful oil was lathered all over my belly,  thigh and bum area.  I was religious about putting it on at least two times a day. It worked.  I swear by it! Had I not started immediately after finding out, I could almost guarantee there would be stretch marks on my tummy. My stomach didn’t really start to show until about 18 weeks along, but applying the oil daily helped prepare my body for expanding.

 It provided elasticity, nourishment, hydration and felt so good for that itch of expansion going on. Did no one tell you yet? Your belly will itch like crazy as it grows! As my belly got bigger and I entered my third trimester I started using belly butter as well.  NUBY works great and you can find it at Babies R US. The more nourishment I could provide my growing little (HUGE) belly the better! After having Michael my body is recovering and there are no stretch marks besides a tiny (half an inch) little mommy mark by my belly button that is ever so faint.  Hallelujah👐 I started at the beginning! Now I wear that mommy mark with pride and if I ended up having more I would wear them with pride too. Why? Because I created a human with my body and gave birth to a miracle! In no way am I guaranteeing this will not give you any stretch marks.  What I am saying is it will help prevent them! If you already have stretch marks this will help them from worsening and expedite the fading process after delivery. So finish reading this post and go get you some girl!

2. Start Taking Prenatal Vitamins!

While you’re browsing for some belly butters get some prenatal with DHA to start taking immediately. Prenatal vitamins are so important not only for the baby but for you too. You are this little growning humans life source! I say to grab some with DHA because this helps support your little ones healthy brain growth. If you’re not getting all the nutrients and vitamins you need, the baby is suffering. Dramatic, but remember that! Most of the time with the things you are eating on a daily basis isn’t going to be enough which is one of the many reasons they are so important. Babies literally suck ALL the energy out of you and you NEED those supplements to help keep you at par.

3. Start a Pregnancy Journal

Not having a journal is one of the biggest things I wish I had done! Right now you’re probably thinking you will remember everything through this journey and you don’t NEED to do this.  You are wrong! I am stubborn and I  didn’t think it was necessary for me to write the millions of emotions and feelings I had every ten minutes down to look back on.  I also thought I would remember everything too. I was wrong.  If I were able to look back at each of the days,  months,  different stages of each trimester it would be wonderful! I wasn’t thinking about how beneficial to me it would be at the time because I was in a different mind frame. So to YOU who isn’t entirely sure about your next move,  start writing a journal now! This is a life changing event, it’s worth documenting every step of the process!!

4. Control Those Cravings!!!

Yea ya heard me,  control those cravings! Everything you eat,  the baby eats. Even when you’re breastfeeding, which I’ll go over in a later post, the baby eats what you do. Now I did not say don’t indulge. Absolutely do! You’re growing a baby and you of all people deserve to eat a piece of chocolate cake and chicken noodle soup (guilty)! What I am getting at is have control over your cravings.  If you want ice cream, eat ice cream! Don’t get a half gallon or a pint for one sitting,  get a single serve size. You only need 300 more calories a day your first 2 trimesters and 500 calories more in the last. You enjoy it in the moment then 35 weeks later when baby arrives compounded over doing your cravings daily and you’ve got a large number on that scale to loose. The scale isn’t the only reason I’m saying these dreadful words,  it could help preventing you from getting GD (gestational diabetes) later down the line when they test you at 28 weeks. Had I learned about controlling my carb intake earlier in my pregnancy I could have helped myself avoid certain risks and the health of little Michael. So like I said,  control those  cravings!

5. Start a Health Regime for Your Pregnancy

This goes right along with controlling those cravings.  Reality is they are so intense and you’ll have a REALLY hard time not giving in. You CAN do your best to not overindulge though. Setting yourself up with a healthy meal plan and eating clean will benefit you in so many ways. In the beginning I was sticking to a good healthy clean eating schedule,  6-7 meals/snacks throughout the day. Halfway through my pregnancy we moved cross country and it all went downhill from there. The quick easy meals of traveling (Whataburger, Taco Bell) and on the road and cravings (because I deserved them) started adding up. The weight went up pretty quick in California because my body adjusted to those fat foods, I mean fast foods and my desire to even get out of bed was an even bigger struggle. My energy levels were already down from growing a baby and plummeted even further with a bad diet. Before pregnancy I stuck to a low carb, high protein diet. Once becoming pregnant, OH MY GOSH was I craving every carbohydrate filled meal imaginable. From pasta (I was obsessed with spaghetti) to milkshakes and I always had to have some warm bread with my meals. I shocked my body. They say you can’t control getting gestational diabetes, however if I had known eating all these would be potentially harming Michael, I would have put a stop to it from the get-go! They don’t test you until you are 28 weeks along and everyone says go ahead you’re eating for 2 so you really aren’t thinking you’re doing anything wrong until the doctor says you have GD and those carbs you are eating turns to sugar and is going strait to your baby, essentially filling your baby with sugar instead of nutrients. Had I stuck to what I was eating before the move I would’ve avoided those extra pounds, prevented possible harm to Michael and my recovery would be much quicker.

6. Get on a Reasonable Work-Out Plan that You CAN STICK TO

Working out is a key essential to staying energized, flexible, maintaining a healthy weight gain and keeping the stress lowered. If you’re already working out, fantastic keep it up. Make sure your workout movements are safe for you and for baby, it is easy to pull or strain a muscle when you’re pregnant. Remember your belly is already being stretched to the max,  your back is holding up all the extra weight it isn’t used to and your hips are preparing themselves to push a baby out. There’s a lot going on! I bent over to pick something as simple as a file folder off the ground and strained my back from bending the wrong way. Before this happened I thought everyone was being over dramatic about lifting things and bending over while pregnant, I found out the hard way. So be careful.  If you aren’t working out, simply taking a 15-30 minute walk a day will do wonders for you. Personally doing a light dancing is a wonderful way to get cardio in, have fun and bond with baby! There are great videos you can find to do in home on YouTube or find a local mom dancing meet-up that is pregnant friendly. Dancing with your baby is a fantastic bonding experience while they’re in the womb! Whether you are doing a little cha cha cha or an evening stroll get up and get moving!

7. Buy a Belly Band 

Before I needed maternity clothes a belly band came in handy. My pants got tight quick but I wasn’t actually showing so maternity jeans were ridiculous.  The belly band came in clutch for about 3 months! What the belly band does is supports your belly as it grows, holds your pants up once you can’t fasten them and allows you to continue to wear your normal clothes. I bloated up quickly so all my bottoms became really hard to fasten and I didn’t want to put pressure on my stomach so I tried out the belly band and wow! Life and wallet saver! Thankfully it was winter season so I got away with wearing mostly leggings most of my pregnancy. But this was one of the purchases I made in the beginning that became so useful from start to finish. It may not sound essential but you’ll thank me when those pants get tight!

 

 

 

These are the absolute FIRST THINGS I would purchase or implement if you haven’t already. Starting yourself off to a mentally, physically and emotionally healthy pregnancy for you and baby will not only make you feel better about yourself but postpartum will come at an ease for you. Check out how to mentally prepare yourself for babies arrival  to see what exciting things you’re in store for postpartum. Don’t forget to subscribe on the right to stay up to date on my latest posts!