Moms: What were you glad you did/wish you did while pregnant?

supersocks117 wrote: »

I wish I had monitored my weight a little more closely, or at the very least gotten into some exercise/food routine post baby. My LO is 2 now and I am just starting to lose weight because I realized I don't want to be obese when I conceive. I plan to talk to the doctor about minimal gaining or maintaining this time around if it is feasible (since I will still be overweight). (Might not have been feasible last time, I had horrible morning sickness, only carbs sounded at all appealing, I was working a lot up until 39 weeks, we were getting ready to move...) Side note: DO NOT PLAN TO MOVE AROUND WHEN BABY IS DUE. It sucked. So. Bad.

Very glad I breastfeed. Very glad I babywear (walking wearing my 22-lb toddler burns more than pushing her in the stroller).

Sorry to hijack this thread but…

Oh man, I know exactly what you mean about not moving! My fiancé and I moved into our new house when our son was three months old and it was even hard then, after he was born! It was hard for me to get anything done (packing, cleaning, unpacking), but I have to say, my baby was my golden ticket to get out of really doing anything helpful haha!

itsfuntobenormal wrote: »

I had hyperemesis gravidarum for 7 months. My experience was bad enough to make me never want to be pregnant ever again, even though I would have liked a second child. I know this isn't the happy news you probably wanted to talk about -- but that was my reality. My advice to you would be don't worry too much about your weight. Just focus on eating well to supply you and your baby with nutrients.

QFT!!! I had HG for 9 months with all 5 of my pregnancies. It's no fun when you can't even hold down water.

I wish i would have taken pictures, or had someone take them. I have almost none of when I was pregnant, and in fact I avoided the cameras as I thought I looked fat. I wasn't fat, I was facilitating a miracle. Take pictures!

Oh, and I religiously used Neutrogena Sesame Oil on my belly and waist. No stretch marks!

I wish I had been more conscious about my cravings and what I was putting in my body. During the second trimester I basically lived off strawberry nesquik. :[ That and sticking to a regular exercise schedule (after the okay from your doctor, of course) I had people telling me left and right that I shouldn't do things, even though I could and was approved to. Lo and behold, I got preeclampsia at 34 weeks and was on bedrest until my son was born at 38 weeks 0 days. I ended up gaining 44 pounds and am nowhere near my pre-pregnancy weight (27 pounds away), even after nearly 3 years.

Basically, I just wish I was more conscious of my intake and output, rather than just being like "I'm pregnant! Eating for two! (NOT TRUE) Take it easy!" It instilled a lot of bad habits that I'm still trying to get rid of.

Stretch marks are genetic. Anything you put on your belly will help with the itching and probably feel pretty good, but it won't prevent stretch marks. Be conscious that your body is building a human and going beyond its normal boundaries. If you get them, they'll be marks of pride. At least, the ones on my hips are.

Adding that I breastfed my son for 8 months and that was the closest I was to my pre-pregnancy weight (I was 2 pounds away) and when I became overworked, I lost my supply. I gained all the weight back.

I think what worked for me was finding substitutes. Halfway through the nesquik phase I switched to nonfat milk blended with whole, fresh strawberries. (seriously, I don't know why I wanted strawberry nesquik so bad)

It's kind of just like when you have regular cravings outside of pregnancy. Find something equally satisfying but healthier for you. And also, I think I wasn't drinking enough water. That still applies as well.

Oh, also, there was something I did that is debatable and a lot of you may go against it, but I also had a bit of alcohol while I was pregnant. When I was about 28 weeks along I was so stressed out that I was having meltdowns and all I wanted was to put my feet up and have a glass of wine, but I literally had women tell me my child was going to be deformed/retarded if I did that and I would be a bad mom. I ended up being so stressed out that I called my ob/gyn to ask for her opinion and she said, "Hey, if that's something you really want and you're that stressed out, go ahead and have a serving. Your baby is big enough now and the risks you'll even remotely have from a small glass of wine are much lower than the health risks of the level of stress you're experiencing now."
I did it with that one glass of wine and one small glass of beer later at about 30 weeks. My baby has always been in the peak of health and I really do think those (very few, and moderated) glasses of wine really helped me with my stress levels overall.

Like people have said above, pregnancy is an individual thing. Everyone handles it differently, and the rule that Moderation is Key still applies.

Well I wish I would have taken out my navel ring earlier....other than that I've had three babies and each pregnancy came with different cravings and different struggles. 1st one all I wanted was bland carbs or cinnamon rolls I also had insomnia the 1st trimester, with this baby I gained 30 lbs.
2nd one I craved salt, which for me was really bad since I had suffered with Pregnancy induced hypertension in my first pregnancy (this continued through all 3 of my pregnancies). With this pregnancy I slept well and had lots of energy so I was able to exercise, still managed to gain 40 lbs.
My last pregnancy all I craved were Cheerios, fruit esp grapes and Greek salad. I had terrible insomnia throughout the entire pregnancy, I had no energy and sat around as much as I could. With that pregnancy I gained only 25 lbs.
Let me just say pregnancy cravings are like no other cravings, it's a whole other level, you may have the best intentions of eating a certain kind/amount of food and getting plenty of exercise, but you're body may have other plans.

My midwife had me have some wine near the end of my pregnancy to help me relax. It was always a small glass (4-6 oz) and less than once a week. So you're not alone, @spearmintskies

I am glad I checked out "shape of a mother" (google it) to give me a heads up on what to expect, body wise after birth. Nice dose of reality, so you dont feel lame if you end up with stretch marks or whatever post-baby. Its totally normal, totally not a big deal.

I gained a normal amount of weight, if a little on the low side with my pregnancies. I had both kids while fat, and after a long wait, because I am sub-fertile. (PCOS)

anyways, I took the prenatals, did light activity, and ate whatever felt comfortable at the time.