I am writing this while currently 36 weeks pregnant, I can’t believe I am almost there! While pregnancy has been hard at times and even more so as the weeks go on, I have personally really loved and enjoyed pregnancy. We tried to to fall pregnant for quite some time (you can read more about our fertility journey on my instagam here) so to be pregnant in my opinion is the greatest gift in the world.
This doesn’t go without saying that I have had moments, we had quite a few complications early days. This meant I couldn't relax, or enjoy my pregnancy without worry. With this, I feel came quite a few learnings that I have tried to remind myself of throughout the weeks so here are my top tips for pregnancy:
- Try not to worry about what you can’t control: I know this is so much easier said than done, however the more you worry, the worse you are going to feel. I found myself getting so worked up about things purely because I was letting my mind go to places where it didn’t need to be. Be guided by the health professionals around you, and make sure you are doing what you can to make yourself feel better and in control. For example, I was not allowed to do any intense exercise from week 6-17 of my pregnany. I made sure that I followed these guidelines entirely. Doing so, made me feel that if anything was to happen, I knew I was doing absolutely everything in my power to do it right.
- Remember that pregnancy comes with strange and bizarre symptoms. I googled EVERYTHING, ‘out of breath, is this normal’, ‘itchy skin, is this normal’, while it’s great to be intune with your body, I was freaking myself out constantly over nothing and worrying that my baby was not okay on a daily basis because I was self diagnosing problems via google. Your body goes through so many changes during pregnancy so it’s normal to feel things you wouldn’t normally. If you are concerned about anything or if anything feels out of the ordinary, of course call your doctor or the person providing care for you but remember it’s normal not to feel ‘normal’.
- It goes QUICK! No really. I have heard people say that it drags and while I feel like I have been pregnant forever, it also feels like yesterday that we first heard the heartbeat. Try your best to enjoy it, even the difficult parts (like being up 8 times a night because your baby is kicking your bladder!)
- Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect. You dont need to be working out 7 days a week, reading 2 books a week or be completely on top of housework. I assumed I would be so organised, working out all the time etc and truth is, i’m not this person everyday. Pregnancy is HARD WORK! It’s normal to eb and flow, be kind to yourself and allow yourself time to do absolutely nothing.
- Cravings are real, somedays I make a nutritious meal for lunch and go for a big walk, others I am couch bound and eating a bad of corn chips for lunch. Of course I try to make healthy choices so I can feel my best inside and out but it’s not always the case. Eat those sour worms and maccas if you feel like them like I did. I feel I should be an ambassador for Trolli and McDonalds at this point.
- Find a pregnant/new mum buddy! I feel so lucky that my best friend and I were 10 weeks apart and also that I had Han who had just been through it all. Having people to share your bizarre symptoms with and having people to talk to that know to a degree how you are feeling has been the best support I could have asked for. I share *almost* everything with Myles, but there are just some things that need to be kept to girl chat haha.
- Have some deep and honest chats with your partner/husband/support person. Talk about what kind of parents you want to be, what’s important to each of you, how you want to be supported throughout not only pregnancy but beyond. I think each of you communicating your expectations/concerns/wants/needs is super important. Myles and I have had so many productive and great chats about things and while it’s of course far too early for me to know what I will need in those early days, knowing that we are going into all of this on the exact same page has been so reassuring.
Make sure you listen to your body and be kind to yourself! You're doing amazing Mumma! X