There’s more than one reason why it takes ten months to develop a human being. You’re not only making a baby, you’re making yourself into a mother. Life changes like this take some time, and some getting used to. Nature has this amazing way of anticipating all these changes and introducing them to you in subtle ways, but the question is: Can you read the signs?
Deprivation Station – Having to wake in the night to go pee often will help you get used to waking all night with baby. Early in pregnancy you will experience sparse trips, and they get more frequent as you go. If you play your cards right, baby’s eating habits will be in inverse ratio.
S.F.M. – Otherwise known as Small Frequent Meals. You need them to keep from heaving, but these will also give you insight into how frequently babies actually eat, and if you’re nursing on demand that can be quite often. You may also glean ideas of what children might like to eat. See my article Let’s Talk Pregnancy – Ten Awesome, Easy Snack Options for examples.
Healthy Eating, Cont. – If you’re planning to breastfeed, it’s important to remember that you should continue to eat well and abstain from certain things while nursing as well. I can’t tell you how regretful I was after drinking a cup of regular coffee and then breastfeeding my infant. Caffeine may be an obvious one, but some babies are intolerant of many foods. Changing your diet during pregnancy helps to prime you for possibly having to do it even more while breastfeeding.
Patience = Time – As I’ve said above, becoming a parent and carrying a baby isn’t an overnight thing; it takes ten months worth of time and plenty of patience. Sometimes we have physically difficult pregnancies, or we are faced with adversity during them. While unfortunate, it’s possible to use these experiences to become stronger as a person. Also, pregnancy is a time of going with the flow, and letting things go. You are no longer in complete control. You’re pregnancy will progress how it will with the help of or despite your efforts, and so will your baby. Learn to cope with stress and develop patience now, before baby tries it.
Burn Baby, Burn If you’re anything like me, you get a bad case of heartburn that follows you around your entire pregnancy. I’ve learned long ago how to catch a decent night’s sleep while sitting quite erect. This is great practice for the late nights you’ll spend nursing baby. I can sleep and nurse all at the same time, and I owe it all to the heartburn!
Your Self (more or less)– You get used to giving up simple pleasures – alcohol, staying out late and the fast lane, to name a few. You learn quickly how much it really is worth it to give up a few things in favor of someone else’s well-being. All this “living for two” will translate when the baby is here to the fact that if you don’t play it safe and continue to take care of yourself, who will care for baby if you get yourself hurt? Oh, and the task of giving birth? That in itself is a selfless act!
Baby Makes Three – If you’re in a serious relationship during your pregnancy, you will become acutely aware of the sacrifices they won’t have to make, compared to the ones you do. Many things will be changing about your relationship beyond this pregnancy, so let this first year or so be your introduction to not we, but three.
Location, Location, Location – Are you a city slicker? Maybe you love to live in the thick of it all. As a single, childless woman you probably relished the nightlife and culture that the city has to offer. But all of a sudden, the school district isn’t good enough, the crime rates are too high, and what is that steam coming from the manholes, anyway?!
Becoming Informed – There are important parental decisions you need to make long before the baby even arrives, so not all of this is practice! For examples of specific choices to make during pregnancy, check out this article: Let’s Talk About Making Informed Parental Decisions During Pregnancy.
Price Tag Drag? – You’ve got ten months to pay off and cut up those credit cards, missy. But are babies really that much of a financial burden? How much do they really cost? Read my story here, for more: Let’s Talk About How Much Babies Really Cost.
Learn about celebrating the journey to motherhood in Let’s Talk About Having a Blessingway.
In Let’s Talk About Dads and Pregnancy we discuss how our partners may handle the onset of parenthood.
And the funnest part of becoming a new parent just may be the name game. Get tips in Let’s Talk About Naming Your Baby.