When I was pregnant with Piper one of the hardest things for me at first was realizing there wasn’t a ton I could do at the moment to prepare myself for pregnancy. I really wanted to be doing SOMETHING – I was pregnant with my first child!! I eagerly awaited my first doctor’s appointment and counted down the days until I could hear the first heartbeat. Here are a few things you can do after you have a positive test!
Schedule your first OBGYN appointment.
Most offices won’t allow you to come in for your first pregnancy appointment until you’re between 8-10 weeks along. This can seem like forever! After you take a positive pregnancy test its a good idea to find a OBGYN you’re comfortable with if you don’t already have one. Keep in mind that new patient appointments can take a while so I advise making the call as early as possible.
Survey your medicine cabinet.
Talk to your doctor about any current medications you’re taking and familiarize yourself with the pregnancy safe OTC medication you can take if needed. Most doctor’s will provide you a list but until you’ve had your first appointment I would call to double-check before you take anything.
Read up!
Take a visit to the library and check out a few pregnancy books – or order them on Amazon. Some women dislike reading too much about pregnancy (and all the possible complications) but I personally enjoyed reading about it, knowing what to expect and educating myself as much as possible. Albeit cliche, I did pick up What To Expect When You’re Expecting . Someone gave me the Mayo Clinic Guide To Healthy Pregnancy that I flipped through a bit. I also read some of my Our Bodies, Ourselves. This new book geared towards the whole family by Courtney Adamo looks really fun, too! I loved Bringing Up Bébé and I’m going to re-read it again soon since it’s really relevant for toddlers as well.
Start taking a pre-natal vitamin
There are so many prenatal vitamins on the market, talk to your OBGYN about what may be the best option for you. This is a great resource as well.
Eat a balanced & healthy diet.
Nourish that baby with the best diet you can! Be sure to check this list of foods to avoid while pregnant.
Up your water intake.
You also need to start drinking that H20 – I’ve read that you need anywhere from 10-13 cups of water a day. And I highly suggest investing in a large water bottle like this to sip out of all day.
Check your skincare products.
Be sure to check your skincare products for ingredients you should avoid during pregnancy (this is a good reference point) and consider switching to more natural products when you can.
Download an app.
I loved tracking my pregnancy week by week with an app on my phone. Sprout is our favorite program and we used it after Piper was born too to track nursing/feeding/sleep/diaper changes.
Start a pregnancy journal.
This is something I wish I had done when I was pregnant, at the very least having a notebook to jot down different symptoms, questions for your doctor, feeling that first kick and more is a wonderful idea.
Image c/o Healthfully Ever After
This is such a cute post! And it has so many good ideas. I’m not currently pregnant, but when I do have a baby, this is going to be a great post to come back to !! Thank you very much for the tips!