Mothers Share: What I Wish I’d Known During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a short and special time in your life. So it only makes sense to celebrate and enjoy it. We asked our readers to chime in on the topic – “What I wish I’d done during pregnancy.”
They say hindsight is 20/20. We always have a different perspective after an event in our lives than we did before or as we were going through it.
If you’re currently pregnant, you might already be tired of helpful tips and “Have you thought of any names?” And no one should blame you. As one of the moms says below, people seem to consider pregnant women fair game for unsolicited advice.
Just as we like getting advice from moms who’ve actually used the products we share in our natural baby gear guides, we thought it would be helpful to share this advice from moms who recently had their babies and reflected on their pregnancies.
What I Wish I’d Known During Pregnancy
These answers are honest, thought-provoking, and I related to many of them – even though it’s been a while since I was pregnant. If you have something to add, we’re happy to include it.
Even if you’re past the pregnancy advice stage, this first tip applies to any stage of parenting.
Give Yourself Grace
“I wish I’d been more patient with myself. I was so forgetful and spacy, but the worst part was that I would berate myself for it. Now I realize how short a time it was, and I was way too hard on myself.”
“I wish I would have slowed down a little and respected the fact that my body was exerting so much energy to grow a human. I was working a full time stressful job and coming home thinking I could still make dinner and keep the house perfect. It was like doing all those things plus being on a stair machine 24/7.”
Accept Help
“I spent the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy on bed rest, and I wish I would have taken more offers for help. I didn’t want to inconvenience anybody, but it was really hard on my husband and me. We don’t have family nearby, and I think people are slower to ask if we need help now that the baby is here because we rejected their offers once already.”
“Honestly what I wish I’d done during pregnancy is ask for or hire help. Working full time after I hit the 7-month mark was so hard. I should have gotten help with the house cleaning or one of those meal prep services so I wouldn’t have felt the need to keep doing #allthethings!
Sleep More
“OMG Why didn’t I sleep more?”
“Honestly, even though I couldn’t sleep very well toward the end of my pregnancy, I wish I had tried harder. I’m at a deficit I’ll never come back from.”
“Now that I realize everything I was about to go through, I totally wish I had relaxed more instead of making the perfect Instagram-worthy nursery our son doesn’t even sleep in!”
Don’t Take Advice from Others Too Seriously
“Why do people think pregnant women are fair game for their advice? Most of the time it’s not actually advice. It’s more like a way for someone to act like they know more than you because they’ve already had a baby.”
I’m just a few weeks away from giving birth to our first child, but I feel like stopping people before they start by saying, ‘Oh, it’s our fourth – I’ve got this.'”
“I was talking to my cousins about gentle parenting and my aunt butted in telling us that the baby is a whole lot easier to discipline now than he will be when he comes out. I’m surprised our eyes aren’t all stuck in the back of our heads from rolling them so hard.”
Take the Maternity Photos
“I wish I’d taken more photos. I shied away from them then because I felt like a house, but now I look back at the few pics and really, really regret not taking more.”
“Here’s what I would tell pregnant women: take maternity photos. They don’t have to be professional or shared on social media. This is a major chapter of your life, and one day you’ll be glad you documented it. I promise.”
“Yes! Take photos! My babies are in school now, but I only have a few from my first pregnancy and really just one of my daughter next to my huge belly during my second. I actually wish I was in more pics from pregnancy through those early weeks. I didn’t feel like it then, but now I feel a slight mourning that there’s no evidence of ME during such a precious time in my life.”
Do you agree with some of these or have something to add? Tell us in the comments!
More Pregnancy Resources
The Healing Power of Rest: Lying In with Your New Baby
Restorative Soups for the Postpartum Mama