First time Mummy guide

If you are here, Welcome and Congratulations if you have found out you are Pregnant & thank you for coming to my blog for advice. My name is Kimberly, I am a mum of two beautiful girls. One is 4 & the other is 5 weeks old born in November 24. I would like to help other expecting mums in any way I can, so I’ll do it here on my blog. My experiences this second pregnancy has been a lot different to my first pregnancy over 4 years ago & I have lots of things I can share, so be sure to stay tuned and keep any eye out for any more of my blogs. I would like to clarify that I live in Australia, any advice I give is my full Australian experience from doctor & government related advice to Branded products and any possible price quotes I may mention is Australian and if you are international please seek further advice for how certain things work for you in your country. Thanks for reading lets get into my points for today’s blog.

What to do when you find out you are pregnant:

Book in with your GP straight away. Your GP will want to send you for a dating scan and possibly a blood test to check levels. If you haven’t already, Your GP will recommend starting pregnancy vitamins. Elevit is the best possible brand I can recommend and is what my doctor recommended to me. Elevit contains 19 essential vitamins and minerals including Folic Acid, Iron and Iodine to help you meet you increased nutritional needs. You may also want to consider also taking ‘Elevit DHA & Choline Pregnancy’ to support your placenta health and your baby’s brain development and/or ‘Elevit Probiotics’.

Weeks & Trimesters:

Pregnancy is divided into 3 stages called trimesters.

• First Trimester - conception to 12 weeks.

• Second Trimester - 13 to 27 weeks.

• Third Trimester - 28 to 40 weeks (or until birth)

Source: Google Search shows this from https://www.betterhealth.vig.gov.au/health/healthyliving/pregnancy-week-by-week#

According to Elevit its:

• First Trimester - 1 to 12

• Second Trimester - 13 to 26

• Third Trimester - 27 to birth

So which ever one you want to go off, is your choice because I really don’t know.

Source: ‘The Pregnancy Checklist’ from https://www.elevit.com.au

How to manage morning sickness:

In my own recent experience, I found out via home pregnancy test that I was pregnant 2-3 weeks “it said on the clear blue digital home pregnancy test” once i saw my doctor and went to get the dating scan done i was just over 5 weeks. For those first few bliss weeks of knowing i was pregnant i felt good, not sick at all! I thought by telling hubby that I jinxed myself once my morning sickness started around 7-9 weeks “I can’t really remember which week it was, but the rest of my first trimester was horrible”. Please do not let that scare you because every mum is different and the morning sickness affects everyone differently. Here are some remedies and preventions that may help your nausea:

• Light snacking throughout the day

• Sipping ginger ale or you can purchase ginger capsules for nausea which you can ask a pharmacist about

• Not doing too much at once, have lots of breaks and rest

• No heavy lifting

• • Drink plenty of water, more then you would before. I was bad at drinking the healthy amount your body needs per day and my doctor wants me to drink 2 Litres of water each day. You can also add things to you water bottle like lemon slices and other fruits or make fruit ice cubes that will fit in your water bottle or cup.

I would like to say what I do in the mornings when I wake up and I can feel the sickness sitting there. Don’t fight the nausea, just help it come up and go about your day. For me, I get up and start drinking my water bottle, once I’ve had a decent amount like half, I feel ready to vomit so i just walk near the toilet with my water bottle, stand over it and it just comes up. I cant explain it, its like a tap. Sometimes I just cought once or twice and it usually comes straight up, and its just water so its really easy. Keep your water bottle with you if this works for you, because you’ll need to drink more to make sure you have done all your vomitting. I know its not nice to talk about, but for me, it works really well and I have done this now with both pregnancies.

Quit Smoking & Alcohol:

If you smoke and you haven’t already, stop smoking once you find out you are pregnant. Don’t stress your self out about wandering if you have caused harm. You haven’t but if you do not stop, you just might. There are so many different emotions and thoughts and feelings about how much alcohol you can consume while pregnant and breast feeding and even when you are trying to get pregnant. Just stop as early as you can, no more alcohol at all. Ever, not one glass or a sip. Every drop of alcohol you put into your body is poison and you are killing your body. Same with cigarettes. Before I was pregnant both times, I drank alcohol sometimes, and smoked cigarettes. When I found out I stopped, both times. I am finished forever now, because now I Understand just how dangerous they are and what they do to your body and even your baby’s body. If you feel you cannot live without these things, first of all i just want to say yes you can because I was the same. There are also support services you can call, social media support groups you can join, you can talk to your GP and even a family member or a close friend. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Aim for a Balanced and Nutritious Diet:

When you are pregnant, your expected nutritional needs are increased by 50%. Eat a well balanced nutritional and varied diet to help keep you and your baby health. Learn about the foods to avoid or limit drink plenty of water (like I have stated above, 2 Litres is my GP’s recommendation). You can find many healthy balanced nutritional diet lists/ blogs by doing a google search. My biggest personal tip would be to take your Elevit, stay hydrated, keep your skin & hair clean with natural products, eat fruit & vegetables daily, eat high fibre, don’t skip important meals, lightly snack throughout the day and definitely do your research on the do and do not eat lists.

Cut down on Caffeine:

The medical recommend amount of caffeine to intake per day is 200ml. Keeping in mind, Caffeine is also in chocolate, tea and some soft and energy drinks. My advice, swap out your regular coffee for decaf. I use Maccona instant coffee, so i replace my regular maccona spoon full of coffee with the decaf maccona, but just for my own enjoyment for that little bit of caffeine I just add a tiny bit of the regular maccona on my spoon its not even a quarter. Just to be safe because Caffeine can be very dangerous perhaps you should get advice from your GP on how dangerous it can be.

Keeping Active:

Stay active as much as your body will allow you to. Listen to your body and follow any signs it might give you. You can continue going on walks and going swimming. Invest in a Yoga ball for home, trust me. It will also come in handy in those last few uncomfortable weeks while your body is getting ready for labour. Pregnancy Yoga is something to consider. I have just got my qualification to teach pregnancy yoga & kids yoga, which I would like to write blogs about and start a YouTube channel to help teach it to pregnant mums while at home. I hope to start my own yoga business and teach real classes sometime after giving birth to my second child. I’m sure if you look-up on YouTube “Pregnancy Yoga” you will find some tutorials on how to do the yoga poses. Please keep in mind, if you currently have any pregnancy complications for example: Preeclampsia, High/Low Blood pressure or any other complication. You need avoid certain poses that won’t interfere with your complication. I hope to release a blog or YouTube video very soon about which poses you should avoid.

Check your Maternity Leave Entitlements:

Find out from your employer about any maternity leave & paid parental leave you may be entitled to (it’s good to re-read through your contract before contacting your employer to see if it has the information you need).

Claim Government Financial Benefits:

The Australian Government has some financial benefits that you may be eligible to receive. Check your eligibility for paid parental leave or family tax benefit with the Department of Human Services or call Centrelink on 13 61 50.

Stop Cleaning the Litter Tray:

If you have a partner or family member/friend who can change it for you seek help with that, if you really have to change it yourself, make sure to use rubber gloves and if you like, a mask.

Join a Birth Group - Social Media

I’m sure there are plenty of social media group options you can choose to join depending on your state or area. Facebook and Reddit would be a great place to start. I am creating my own in between parenting and blogging.

Should You Make a Birth Plan?:

I think yes, you should for your own enjoyment and excitement. It’s good to write it down so you’re more prepared when you are going into labour. Make it as detailed as you like, but keep in mind, when you have given birth some mums may feel as if they may as well of thrown the birth plan out the window on the way to the hospital because some times it just dosent go to plan or turns out the way you planned and that’s okay, its not always a bad thing. My best advice is to go with the flo while you are in labour, but having what you think you may need around you and I place is completely fine even if you don’t use them. Sometimes its just comforting knowing you have what you might need rather then stressing about what you didn’t organise or think about/plan.

Book Antenatal Classes:

If you like, you can book antenatal classes usually through your Hopsital or midwife when you get assigned a midwife around and after 20 weeks. These classes may be good for first time mums that don’t know what to expect. It will cover the basics like what’s to be expected during labour, pain relief choices, pregnancy excercises and basic child care like feeding and settling. It’s also a good chance to ask questions and talk to other parents to be. My first pregnancy was right during the first Covid-19 pandemic and during lockdown so these classes that were booked earlier in my pregnancy ended up cancelled because of covid. Which sucked but I just went with the flo and YouTube was my best friend during the pandemic and communicating with other parents and mums to be over social media like facebook groups. My advice about the facebook groups, especially if you do not like joining groups. If you aren’t getting the advice your seeking and its a toxic environment, just leave it. Some are good and some just aren’t. It comes down to bad admin and moderators and it wont change so its best to remove yourself for your own mental health. Don’t forget do not ask for medical advice in these groups. Always consult with your midwife or your GP with your own personal medical concerns and experiences.

Learn about Breastfeeding:

Even if you are still undecided if you are going to breastfeed your child, you should learn about breastfeeding first before saying no. You can do your own research and ask your midwife and GP or even other mums in facebook groups questions about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding your baby is the healthiest alternative. It has great health benefits for the both of you. You can even use breastmilk on your baby’s skin to help your baby heal from anything causing their skin to be irritable or in pain like a scratch, baby acne etc.

Do Your Pelvic Floor Exercises:

It is important to practice keeping your pelvic floor muscles strong because they can weaken under the strain of pregnancy and giving birth which can cause bladder leakage. Simple Exercises can help tighten your muscles.

Go Shopping for Maternity Wear:

By now you or soon you may have noticed your clothes don’t fit they way they used to, congratulations it means its time to buy maternity clothes. A maternity bra is important as well.

Consider Childcare:

If you are planning to go back to work, you may want to consider doing your research on which child care centres you want to send your child to and find out about availability because some tend to book far in advance, so my advice would be to do some research, visit some centres, make a list from number 1 being your favourite most preferred and contact them first down the list to see which ones may have availability or when you will need your child to attend.

Buy and/or borrow Essential Baby Equipment:

Ask family members who have had children if they have what you need first, then buy what you cant borrow or buy second hand from someone you know. You’ll need nursery furniture, you’ll need a pram, baby clothes, nappies and other essential items/supplies. My advice would be to not buy any of this stuff brand new until after you’ve had a baby shower. So don’t leave the baby shower until you are full term.

Get the Car Seat Fitted:

Make sure to have your brand new car seat fitted professionally (We bought ours from Baby Bunting who has a professional worker who fits your car seat and will even show you everything about it, how to use it and how it gets installed and taken out. These are things you need to know but when you are getting the car seat installed for a new born for the first time it has to be done by them before you can travel home with your new baby. Babies under the age of 6 months need to be in a professionally fitted rear-facing car seat. Make sure to do this once you make it to your third trimester not at the end of your third trimester in case you have the baby early.

Buy another Maternity Bra:

Once you reach 27 weeks you will most likely need to purchase a new maternity bra because you will have outgrown the first one you bought from now.

Pack Hospital Bag:

You could need to get to the Hopsital quickly and earlier then expected so make sure you have your Hopsital bag packed and waiting to go. I would make another bag or baby bag for baby’s clothes, nappies etc.

Prepare the Nursery:

Set up the baby’s room so its ready to go before you give birth so you can come home to a organised ready to use nursery. As first time parents, it will be too stressful trying to find everything you need for baby if its not all set up and organised so you can find and access the things you need.

Some Helpful Tips:

Here are some helpful tips I have learnt along the way either on my own or from other mums.

• Try and use one piece suits that have the feet covers built in so you don’t have to deal with socks because socks fall off too often and you don’t want you baby’s tiny feet getting cold.

• Bonding can take time - for some parents especially the fathers, it can take a little bit of time to bond and get to know each other, which is totally okay.

• Everything is just a phase - things change all the time, nothing is set and stone. A good phase can change and a bad phase can change. It’s normal and fine, try to go with the flo don’t try and stick to a perfect/set schedule or routine.

• Your belly will be sore and tender Post Partum. Everything that stretched in your belly has to shrink back down which can be tender and when your placenta comes out, it basically leaves an open wound inside where your placenta detached. That can take weeks after birth to heal and get back to feeling normal for you. You can ask your midwife or doctor when you give birth about pain relief for that.

• When you come home from the hospital you may be tempted to lick yourself away in the house and keep most of the blinds closed because your afraid it will be too bright for the baby and disturb baby’s sleeping. Please don’t do that, open your blinds up in the morning and keep them open all day. (Unless you need to close them to get a nap in). Especially if your baby has Jaundice. If your baby has Jaundice it will need as much sunlight as it can get in the house, and lots of breastfeeding is the key.

• If you haven’t found out or been told already, after giving birth you are extremely emotional. It’s super normal to ball your eyes out when you are alone for the first time like when you have a shower for the first time when you come home. Your body has gone through some extreme emotions and changes and your body and everything in it is trying to balance back to normal, so your hormones will be hightened or “all over the place” and that’s okay, because it’s only a phase.

• If your midwife didn’t give you nipple cover/protector in a little hard case to keep its sterile, then you must get one (at least if you have smaller nipples). If you have smaller nipples it goes over your nipple and is longer then your nipple. This helps baby latch and at the same time also protects your nipples from all the painful sucking that you are due to experience. I’m not saying your nipples will not, not feel sensitive but it helps tremendously.

• Breastfeeding is not what you would expect it to be. It’s weird, beautiful, magical, painful & tiring. But you are stronger than you think, God what not have given you something you can’t handle. Remember, You are a godess with a magical body who’s body can create and build a whole human life and keep it alive. Your breasts even know when your baby is crying for breastmilk & they will react but stiffening/hardening and leaking and you will notice this. Listen to your body & have faith. You got this!!

Thank you so much again for taking the time to read my blog. Please feel free to check out my other blogs and if you like, join my new facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627236711526254/?ref=share_group_link

for the Mummy’s that read my blog so we can all connect and share tips and give each other advice. If you have any questions or just want to stay updated on baby & mum related things then you should join.

I will be continuing to write blogs about pregnancy and raising children and other women and children’s health related topics.

Congratulations & all the best with your journey!