Image credit: Mothers Circle
Have fun during your pregnancy! It might sound counterintuitive, what with “fun” and “pregnancy” being used in the same line, but there are things that you can only experience while you’re pregnant! Make the most of your time pregnant (but in a safe way) and you’ll look back on it with fond memories.
Let us give you some ideas on the simple pleasures of pregnant life to help you feel as comfortable as possible throughout those 9 months!
1. PHOTOS!
It goes without saying in our photography obsessed world now… but take lots and lots of photos! It’ll be a bit hard when you’re not feeling your best, but trust me, your future self will be thanking you for documenting your pregnancy!
You can choose to do a weekly, monthly, or trimester-ly shoot – I suggest doing it weekly if you wish to best capture the changes you’re going through.
Here are some things to consider when doing a shoot at home:
1. Pick a pose and stick with it for consistency’s sake, plus it’ll look pretty cool when you do a timeline (here’s a cute example of a timeline) – one of the most common poses that shows off your progress is a side view
2. Look for an area in your home that’s got good natural lighting with a simple backdrop (plain walls or long curtains do well)
3. Show off your bump! Lift up that top and let your bump breathe
4. Make it a habit and routine – choose a day of the week and make it your photo day, creating a habit out of it will ensure that you’ll see this project to its end
An added bonus of doing photography is learning how to properly edit those photos that you took! Keep to a central theme for your photos, for example if you want them to be black and white, make the others be black and white too for consistency.
2. Keeping the Flame Alive
It may not be easy to bring romance to the table as you’ll be dealing with morning sickness in the first few months of pregnancy, and it’ll definitely take a lot more effort from both of you, but keeping romance going is something that’ll benefit you two in the long run!
Plan a date night with your significant other once every two weeks – get out of the house and watch a movie, have dinner alfresco style along Boat Quay, or stay home, get some microwaveable popcorn plus ice-cream, and watch some movies that you two watched way back when you started out dating (nostalgia power!).
It doesn’t even have to be a date night – a date day (afternoon?) with a picnic out at the East or West Coast beaches, or even at Sentosa, will do you wonders. Break the monotony of rigid schedules, and get to know yourselves once more.
3. Go On a Babymoon
This ties in with the above point – being parents of a newborn means that you won’t really have a lot of time to yourselves, so you should enjoy a final… CHILD-FREE holiday if you can! Try to plan your trip during your 2nd trimester, as it’s hopefully after your morning sickness and before you’re too ache-y and tired to travel during your 3rd.
Pick a place that’s nice and relaxing, one that both you and your partner are happy with visiting. Regardless of how good you feel, try not to get a flight that’s too long because you’ll definitely get uncomfortable on longer flights. On flights, make sure you move around every hour to help you with circulation and lessen the risk of getting blood clots.
Always check with your ob-gyn and get a green light from them before you go on a trip during your pregnancy.
4. Go Shopping (For Yourself)
Plan a shopping trip with your mum, your MIL (to deepen your bonds and relationship with her, throw her some compliments here and there), or your besties. Focus on yourself, get some fancy maternity wear, sexy new maternity lingerie, cosmetics that are safe for pregnant use, comfy shoes or footwear, and whatever else you need!
5. Be a Queen
Being pregnant is somewhat of a free pass on things that you can do and favours that you can ask from others, but remember: “with great power, there must also come great responsibility”.
Exercise your pregnancy powers in moderation, lest you annoy your loved ones to no end.
With that said, you can take all the guilt-free naps and eat all the ice-cream (unless you’re lactose intolerant) that you want! Visit a spa, get a pre-natal massage, give your hands and feet a treat with a manipedi, get the full royal treatment but remember to be a just and kind queen at the end of the day!
6. Bond With Your Parents
They know what you’re going through, because they’ve been through the exact same thing – and it’s great for them, and especially your mum, to share the experience that they’ve went through. It’ll definitely bring you closer, you’ll get some much needed insight as to what comes after baby is born, and it’ll allow them to reminisce about their memories when you were young.
Our parents are the ones who helped us become who we are today, in one way or another, and we’ll only learn to appreciate them more for what did for us.
7. Involve Your Partner
Sometimes, your partner wants to help out, but they don’t really know how to – so it’s up to you to help guide them along. Ask them along when you’re heading for your ob-gyn appointments, let them know what you need (regardless of whether it’s a foot or shoulder rub or some time alone), get them to attend prenatal classes with you – it’s all for helping them to get a better understanding of what you’re going through.
Let them know that you appreciate what they’ve been doing for you, because sometimes we tend to forget to let our loved ones know that; verbalise your gratitude because communication is important!
8. Be More Forgiving (Of Others and Yourself)
I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot going in your body. There’s a new life that’s growing in you, your hormones are all over the place, you’re hungry but your appetite’s being messed with by nausea, you’re getting rashes in places you never knew you could get rashes in, your growing belly needs constant moisturising and scratching, and that’s just the tip of the pregnancy iceberg.
So take it easy (yeah I know it’s easier said than done), because stress is bad for both you and baby! Look on the brighter side of things, focus on the positives that you’re going through – forgive yourself for the things you say, do, or feel, and forgive others for the things that they do to annoy you because it’s usually never on purpose.
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Copyrighted Pregnancy & Baby by Mummys Market 2019