My fiance and I are getting married in December and we are very excited about starting a family right away. Apart from taking pre-natal vitamins (which I am already taking), what advice would you give a first-time mother-to-be, something you wish someone had told you while you were TTC, pregnant, or after the baby was born? Thanks in advance, ladies! I need all the help I can get!
2007-08-13 07:12:32 · 18 answers · asked by ♥ 4 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
Advice I wish I had:
1. Don't believe everything everyone tells you, including "You'll never sleep," "Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks," and "I know somebody who knew somebody that had (insert whatever) happened to..."
2. EVERY pregnancy is different, and no one can predict how yours will be.
3. Don't research every possible thing on the internet--you'll scare yourself to death.
The BEST advice:
1. Treat your body as if you were already pregnant.
2. Babies aren't nearly as fragile as you imagine--they need to be treated with lots of care, but they are not made of glass.
3. Do your best and make your decisions with the best of intentions--you might not be right, but at least you'll know you have been motivated by love.
2007-08-13 07:19:43 · answer #1 · answered by Cheesy 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Sleep, my aunt told me that when I was pregnant with my first and I laughed, but she was right. She said since her oldest was born she didn't have a great night sleep until they moved out of the house and even now she worries about them. Enjoy every minute having a child is the best experience I have ever had, knowing that you can love someone without knowing anything about them when they first come out is so cool. Also I can't get over that a living baby can grow inside you, when you do get pregnant and hear that heart beat for the first time, see your baby inside at the ultrasound and then after 9 long months get to see all that hard work, it is the best feeling ever! Good Luck!
2007-08-13 07:25:00 · answer #2 · answered by lw 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't set a time frame as to when your going to start your family. The stress of wanting a child so bad can actually make it more difficult for you to actually get pregnant. So relax and enjoy being together. The best way to plan is just to have sex unprotected. Also take plenty of time for yourself as a new couple. This is extremely important because children although special as they are will add a new component into your life that can add stress as well. Once their here there's no chance to recapture time you could have had as a couple.
As far as babies go make sure you are eating well, getting plenty of sleep and exercise. These help to lower risk factors and also help in preventing things like gestational diabetes. Same goes for when the baby come and afterwards. Have your husband helping with as much as possible so you have time to rest. I highly recommend breastfeeding. It's a wonderful experience and better for your childs health. Since you typically won't do any or much pumping at first you want to take advantage of any time you can to get sleep.
2007-08-13 07:23:07 · answer #3 · answered by Orion 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go ahead and start taking prenatal vitamins now. They don't have to be prescription- you can get some good stuff at the pharmacy. :) Start exercising regularly, and change your diet so that you're eating healthier. You can even start trying to trim down your sodas, coffees, and teas now to make it easier to give up (or almost give up) when you're actually pregnant. The best advice though, is to start taking prenatal vitamins. You'll feel so much better taking them, and your body will be that much more prepared to have a baby. Best wishes!
2007-08-13 08:01:30 · answer #4 · answered by elizabeth_ashley44 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Prenatal vitamins are a good start....!
I would also go to the dentist right before starting...get any obvious dental work that needs to be done, done. Dental problems that come up in the 1st trimester end up having to wait until your second trimester.
If you color or perm your hair, schedule appts right after you get your period or on your period. Once you get pregnant, hair coloring and perming isn't advisable in the first trimester. So when you go for touch ups, do them on your period or right after, that way you know for sure you're not preggie at the time.
Remove acrylic nails if you have them once you find out. Some women believe in this and some don't. But I'll tell you why I did...because there's always a chance of getting nail infections when you have them (water gets in between your nail and the acrylic nail). And the last thing you want is to have to deal with a nail infection when pregnant.
If you're not already on an exercise routine now, start one. That way exercising when you're pregnant won't be so traumatic for you, lol. And it will help with labor and delivery to be a little toned up. Nothing fancy, even a daily walk is great.
Go for a pre-pregnancy check up before you start trying. Tell them you'll be trying to conceive soon and want to make sure everything is in working order. Believe me, trying to conceive can be a stressful and emotional time (when it gets to be 6 months or longer and nothing is happening) so you want to know ahead of time if you're going to be dealing with fertility issues as well.
Have a trial run. Just for one cycle, go out and buy an ovulation predictor kit. Follow the instructions and start testing. Getting a positive is a good sign you're ovulating. You want to work out any kinks before you start trying.
If you smoke, quit now. That way when you start trying it will be well behind you.
And most important, once you start trying start acting like you're pregnant. You never know when it's going to happen and you don't want to be plagued your whole pregnancy by something you did before you found out you were pregnant (i.e. a night or weekend of heavy drinking). If you have to take medications of any kind, always tell your doctor before you get a prescription that you're trying to conceive and may be pregnant (if you're in the second half of your cycle). Same thing with X-rays. Once you ovulate in a month, anything goes, so be sure to tell an x-ray tech if you may be pregnant.
You're smart to think of this now. I know I didn't. I didn't think I'd get pregnant right away and just kind of went about my business and got pregnant on the first try. Then all of a sudden I needed dental work, I hadn't exercised in months, and was used to skipping meals and not sleeping enough. I had to do an immediate 360, LOL. Don't do that to yourself!
Good luck!
2007-08-13 07:37:33 · answer #5 · answered by ღ†Rocker Wife†ღ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
TTC your first baby is fun--especially if you're newly weds. you could make it more special by abstaining for a month or two before the wedding. just have fun and try not to stress over the pregnancy test. wait until your period is late to test and give it 3-4 months before starting to worry. the chance of getting pregnant any given month when TTC is less than 50%. within 3 months it's like 80%. good luck.
2007-08-13 07:20:09 · answer #6 · answered by calypso_cal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're taking vitamins, good. Try to get into an exercise regime, however light it is, something that's good for you. You want to be healthy. Try to start eating right, if you don't already. Take care of yourself, in general, of course.
Most important, though, don't be trying to "make" it happen at first. You're newly married, there's no reason to rush or stress right away, just enjoy each other and try to "let" it happen, especially at first. Stressing about it will actually decrease your chances, so try to just enjoy married life, and see what it brings you!
2007-08-13 07:21:30 · answer #7 · answered by Dj 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stop anything that's not healthy for the baby, such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Depending on your beliefs, maybe cut back on caffeine (pop and coffee), eat healthier. Have your fiance take folic acid (studies say this makes a big difference with birth defects and most certainly does not harm your hubby), get him out of whitey-tighties. If you plan on doing any remodeling/painting for the nursery get it done before you are pregnant.
2007-08-13 07:27:08 · answer #8 · answered by casw1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do know trying makes it harder since you mostly have sex around your ovulation time which could be miss calculated and then you won't get pregnant. I'm sure that won't be a problem for a about to be/newly married couple snce there should be a lot of sex anyway, no matter what time of the month(except maybe your period as that gets messy and some guys don't like it).
2007-08-13 07:20:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Start developing good habits, so you're not struggling with being pregnant and changing a lifestyle.
1. quit smoking
2. reduce your drinking (you'll have to stop when you get pregnant)
3. reduce your caffiene
4. if you are overweight, lose that weight!
5. start an excercise routine
6. continue to take your prenatals
7. get a general physical if you haven't had one lately
congrats on the wedding!
2007-08-13 07:18:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋