For all of you lovely pregnant moms out there… here are few things I was thinking about today as I reflect on my pregnancy and the past 7 weeks with Kamea. Here are things I will do better next time around when I get pregnant and have baby #2.
1) Get as much rest as possible while pregnant. If there is such a thing… the hope is trying to store up on sleep for when baby arrives. I wish I had rested more during the last trimester, because those first 4 weeks postpartum are truly the hardest. They were for me because of breastfeeding on demand without a bottle. Sleep deprivation is a stinker and compounds everything – especially hormones! And, of course… once baby is here… sleep when baby sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2) Get as many projects done while you can, while pregnant, so you don’t have to worry about them when baby arrives. I had the hopes of getting a number of work projects done but it didn’t happen. I wish I’d been a bit more diligent in getting them done now that I think about it.
3) Don’t go crazy buying stuff and perhaps consider waiting until baby arrives to make some purchases. Then, you can see what you really think you need and don’t need. I bought a lot of stuff and found that some of it I’m not even using! Talk about spending a lot of money. Hopefully I’ll get some use out of the stuff with baby #2? And, babaies grow so fast so it’s not necessary to buy a lot of clothes. At least that is how it is for me… since we stay home, I just rotate a handful of outfits (I sometimes change Kamea 2-3 times a day because of spit up, but sometimes she goes the whole day in one outfit). Since I do laundry every couple of days, I now realize that I bought too many organic baby clothes and I could’ve saved the money for other things. But, at least I know that if we have another baby, the clothes will get use from them at that time. And… I can give them away to another family, too. Oh, and another thing… Buying online from Amazon is so simple and a real time saver for all kinds of things baby and house related (especially if you have Amazon PRIME!!!). That’s made life easier.
And, two other small things (there are actually a lot of things I could write about, but I thought a handful would be enough for now…
4) Cry if you want to… anytime you want. Just let it out. Don’t be ashamed or afraid to feel a total mix of emotions from pure joy and ecstasy to downright anxious and scared, especially if you’re a first time mommy.
5) Accept help and don’t be afraid to ask for it. Since my butt is constantly in my breastfeeding throne, I’m always asking people to bring me stuff. My hands are full with my baby, so I can’t carry things around with me. “Can you please get me this? Can you please get me that? Can you please turn the fan on? Please turn it off now. Please change the thermostat. Oh, ok, I need it changed again now. Please get me food. Can you get my cell phone please?” It goes on and on – all day long. 
