As I see more and more baby announcements on my social media literally every day, I began thinking that maybe as a third time pregnant mama, I should be sharing some thoughts on the blog in hopes that they might help even one of those newly pregnant mamas, especially those who are expecting a baby for the first time. I have always struggled to share content in this “mamahood” series because to be honest, even five and a half  years in and on my third pregnancy, I just do NOT feel like an expert of any sort on this topic, and make so many mistakes every day that it is hard to share! But I also know that as a newer mama, I was so thirsty for information from people who had been there before me, and knowing that no one has it all figured out (can I get an amen, my friends?!!!) makes it easier to share!

So today I wanted to share a few tips about being pregnant for the first time (or in general)!  I have overall considered myself lucky with my pregnancies because I have many friends who were sick or uncomfortable for 9 (which is really 10 as you know if you have been there!) full months, and that has not been my story any of my pregnancies.  That being said, I have had my fair share of less than ideal circumstances with each (I will share some of these in another post soon!) so some of this advice comes from that viewpoint. If you are one of those mamas that feels great the whole time, I am truly thrilled for you (and insanely jealous! ;-)), and some of this might not apply!  So here goes.

3 tips for the newly pregnant mama

1). Most likely, “hunger” was not really a thing until you became pregnant.  Sure, sometimes often stomach would growl.  But the privileged life most of us live (in comparison to much of the world) really doesn’t leave us being truly hungry very often– so once I was losing a lot of my nutrients to a growing baby, it was kind of shocking to realize exactly what that felt like.  A little sad, and also shocking.  That being said, even if you typically did wait until you were really hungry before eating before being pregnant, pregnancy hunger is a whole other game.  And I think that it is the reason a LOT of pregnant moms feel sick all the time.  Because for me, each time, feeling hungry (which literally happened every 2 hours for the first 22 weeks) wasn’t just a stomach growl and an “oh maybe I should have a quick snack.”.  I typically went from fine to NAUSEOUS in literally a minutes time span, and that feeling was all about hunger.  So if you find yourself feeling sick throughout the day…try to have little snacks more often. I know for some women, eating is even hard at that point because they feel so sick. But for me, if I never let it get out of control in the first place by making sure I was having something small every 2 hours, I could stop myself from getting to that nauseous-might-lose-whatever-I-have-eaten today feeling.  I also tried to eat food with staying power…apples with peanut butter, eggs, etc vs just pretzels or other snacky foods because they made me feel full longer.

2). I am a firm believer that when you find out you are pregnant, you just might have to go buy a cute little outfit or stuffed animal or SOMETHING for your new baby. The excitement just makes it hard not to. But try not to buy all the things.  Because until you decide what you want the nursery to look like (if you will have one!)  and until you have had time to really research and ask friends what they really found useful and really didn’t, it is just hard to know what to get, and therefore hard to not just waste money.  Even when it comes to registering/etc, here is a quick thing we learned…not every baby likes the same things. Both of our babies loved swings, but neither really liked those vibrating bouncing seats that sit on the floor. One loved an exersaucer to play in, and one really didn’t.  I think it’s easy to assume how your baby will prefer to sleep and play, but some things are really a trial and error sort of situation- and maybe easier to borrow from a friend in the beginning and make sure your baby likes, and then purchase if you decide they do.  And it may change throughout their first year too- but you don’t want to have asked for hundreds of dollars of swinging, moving, vibrating, singing things that in the end, your kid really doesn’t love. And a quick future note on this too? Kid toys are cute (though often annoying ;-)), but kids LOVE things you already have. Spoons, bowls, containers, etc.  So while everyone is going to get and buy a lot of baby toys…once they really start to play, think about what you have around the house they can play with and love too– and save yourself some of the “stuff”.  So many more thoughts on this, maybe for another post!

3). I could write a whole post on this too…but the power to either look pregnant or hide your pregnancy for those first 12-18 weeks (and even beyond!) is so often in your hands! Everyone’s body is different for sure, and the way you carry your baby (and each after that!) is different than anyone else.  But I learned SO MUCH when pregnant for the first time and waiting until 13 weeks to announce at my job on how to really camouflage it, and even now some people will mention I hardly look pregnant and some days people would think I was having a baby next month– and it is all about what I wear! These lessons are just for normal non pregnant life too haha!

• • Any pants with a REAL waist band that sits closer to your natural waist are going to make you look SMALLER because they are hitting and “sucking you in” at the part that is starting to grow.  So my real leggings that have a thick elastic band at my waist or all my non-maternity pants (I don’t really wear low waist pants on a regular basis either) help disguise any stomach big time because that is where they are fastening!
  • Maternity shirts are BUILT to show off a bump.  Tight clothing does the same thing. So if you want to hide your bump at first,  you can’t wear shirts with elastic right under the chest or super tight clothing. Find shirts that just flow from the top without that high waistline (they are very in style right now!) and hide without hugging.  And the opposite is true- when you are ready to show, it is much more clear with tight shirts or shirts with that high waistline!
  • Dresses have the power to go either way depending completely on how they fit. In general, I find them more forgiving even with a higher under-the-chest waistline.  Try them on and check out your profile in a mirror- you will be able to tell!
  • If you combo those 2 things together, that is where the hiding or showing comes in! So wearing maternity leggings/pants that have elastic on the belly OR low rise leggings/pants that don’t have a band across your stomach with a tight or maternity style shirt is going to really accentuate it all.  And wearing normal pants (maybe a size bigger if you need!) that fasten around your stomach and a looser more relaxed fitted shirt is going to hide it all much better. Consider which you want to do, and dress accordingly! 🙂

I was planning on 5 tips here, but this is super long already so we are going to go with 3 and do a part 2 later if needed! 🙂  Hope these are helpful for some of you recently-pregnant mamas out there (or any who might be again!), and I hope you enjoy the ride!