In anticipation of the birth of a child what to do. Natural Childbirth - “What Helped Me Prepare for Natural Childbirth

The pace of life of a modern woman is a cycle of different events: work, study, business trips, new acquaintances, and, among other things, household chores.

As soon as you find out that you will soon become a mom, all attention and energy are switched to prepare for this role as best as possible.

Already behind such difficult first two trimesters, your colleagues managed to come to terms with your situation, and finally it's time to take out maternity leave.

To say that you are happy is to say nothing. Finally, the marathon "work - women's consultation - work" has come to an end!

But having so much free time at your disposal is somehow unusual.

We will try to figure out how to spend the most fruitful maternity leave.

Maternity leave. Health of the expectant mother and baby

The expectant mother should spend every minute of her free time with exceptional benefit. It doesn't matter whether it is passive or active recreation; exercise or, say, cleaning the house. The main thing is to enjoy every moment.

1 Healthy sleep... "Now I'll get enough sleep!" - probably the first thought that the expectant mother had at the thought of maternity leave. Indeed, a rounded tummy every week more and more interferes with finding a comfortable sleeping position. And when, after cranking for several hours, nevertheless finding the right position, you remember that you have very little sleep left - you fall asleep with a thoroughly spoiled mood.

In addition, due to the changes in the hormonal background, even the most active women notice severe drowsiness during.

But a full-fledged sleep for the expectant mother during this period is simply necessary, therefore, it is on maternity leave before childbirth that you can afford this luxury. Then other worries will begin: night feedings, early awakenings to go to the pediatrician, and in general, a double load in household chores.

A pregnant woman's night sleep should last 8-9 hours.

Try not to overuse your daytime sleep, because it can make you fall asleep worse at night. It is still better for expectant mothers to adhere to the sleep schedule of the "lark" - to go to bed no later than 22-23 pm.

2 Walks in the open air... What could be more beneficial for the expectant mother and baby than a healthy dose of ultraviolet radiation and oxygen? Now you can afford to walk not only in the direction of work, antenatal clinics or the grocery store.

Take advantage of every opportunity to be outdoors: spend at least a few hours a day in good weather with family and friends in green areas intended for walking.

At the same time, try not to move away from your settlement for a long time, especially if there is no way to get to it by personal transport. Country houses, a river, barbecue - this is certainly a very exciting outdoor activity, but it is still advisable for a future mother to be as careful as possible.

7 We are engaged in self-development... Some 10-15 years ago, the Internet was available for most of the country either only at corporate locations or at home, but with very limited traffic.

Now the whole world is literally open before us: any book, any film or other work of art is available in electronic form. Why doesn't the expectant mother take advantage of this in her free time? Explore the literature on motherhood, childcare, breastfeeding preparation.

Do not forget about fiction: a well-read mom with a well-delivered speech is a pride for every child.

Some women start learning foreign languages ​​on maternity leave. Again, through the World Wide Web, you can always find textbooks and dictionaries, even in free access, as well as get acquainted with foreign interlocutors, because live communication is the most effective method of learning a language.

8 We discover new talents in ourselves... Even if you have never noted in yourself a clear aptitude for drawing and arts and crafts, perhaps it is on maternity leave that you will be "drawn" to needlework.

There are a lot of opportunities: by watching video lessons or attending special courses, you can master various techniques, such as decoupage, oil, watercolor or acrylic painting, drawing with charcoal or pencil.

He is very interested in needlework: beading, crocheting or knitting, embroidery and sewing.

A future mother can not only create original crafts and home decorations with her own hands, but also knit or sew products for herself or a child. The kid will appreciate your work at its true worth, because the thing in which so much effort, warmth and care has been invested has a special energy.

Almost every girl, when she goes on maternity leave, thinks about what to do. All mothers and relatives say: rest and sleep a lot, then there will be no time. Doctors, on the contrary, advise to walk more. And the soul requires action. And who is there to listen to? In our selection, we have collected both banal and original tips on what to do for the expectant mother before the baby is born.

20. If you want arrange a newbourne photo shoot then look for information about photographers. On Pinterest you can find interesting ideas that you can implement together.

21. Read about HB diets if you are planning to breastfeed. Check out a few views and decide which one is closest to you.

22. Go to the pool... It is not recommended to go to the river at a later date, but if there are no contraindications, then it is the nearest pool. Thanks to the water, you will feel how the whole body relaxes and you become like a fluff.

23. Take part in a photo challenge... If you love taking pictures, then this task is for you! 30 days of daily photos.

24. More walk in the fresh air... This is good for the baby within you and will also keep you in good shape.

25. Choose a maternity hospital and conclude a contract with him. (In Belarus, the contract is concluded from 33 to 36 weeks). Or find useful contacts in medical facilities who you can turn to when the hour X comes.

26. Learn a new language... Many will say that little is kept in a pregnant head. Believe me, in the one who gave birth - even less. To keep your brain working constantly, learn a new word or phrase every day.

27. Meet friends... There are definitely close and dear people in life that you rarely see. Work, fitness, some other business. Now, during the decree, it's time to visit all your close friends and chat with them enough.

28. Buy a nice notebook... Or do it yourself. With the advent of the baby, you will want to record his achievements and keep them, without fail, in a beautiful binding.

29. Learn to do makeup quickly... It just so happens that with the birth of a child, we do not always have a lot of time for ourselves. And I want to look beautiful all the time. Therefore, it is better to know in advance that by tinting your eyebrows and eyelashes (or applying bronzer on your cheekbones, or ... each has its own version), you look as if you slept all night. And as if no one was hanging on your leg while you put on your makeup.

30. Make a personalized nipple holder... If you have not decided on a name, then just buy beautiful beads and try several options for putting them on a string. Even without a name.

Now our happiness already lives in my tummy, we have already seen it and already feel it. Vacation soon, and then decree ... Even before the decree, a plan began to mature - what would I do these few months before the birth of our baby (I heard from my friends that it’s boring at home alone on maternity leave, there’s nothing to do).

Now the long-awaited time has come - now I am all for myself, my husband and the baby, and nothing tears me away from my family (I mean work). Time is short, but I want to do so much, I decided to write a list so as not to miss anything and use wonderful days to good use.

That's what I did:

* Finish the embroidery. Even before the decree, I wanted to embroider the alphabet (my mother, smiling, said that it would not be useful for us for a long time). But if I wanted something, then until I do it, I will not calm down. And I wanted not just an alphabet, but with animals for each letter. They searched for schemes with my husband for a long time and everywhere (I found something in my bins, something on the Internet, I had to invent something myself). Here's the result. I hope the baby and I will find it useful !!!

* Make lists and buy everything from these lists - everything that is necessary for the baby. Explore the specifics of buying a stroller, crib, etc. The Internet helped me with this and of course u-mama. As a result, everything was found, recorded and bought, fortunately, there is a lot of information.

* Sew the bumpers on the crib. Of course, you could just buy them, but I really wanted to do it with my own hands. Mom loving everything for her baby will do, and the kids feel everything!

* Sew the diapers and linen into the crib.

* Prepare an apartment for the baby and his little things. Wash everything, clean everything, throw away the excess, drive out all the dust, wash all the little things, iron and beautifully arrange on the shelves.

* To knit booties for a baby - all this is very cute!

* Make an educational book. This is what u-mama prompted to do. I thought for a long time how to make it, and what should be in it. Then, having come up with an idea, I began to look for material. It turned out that not all my fantasies can be realized, and everything was invented anew. Here is the result of our parental fantasy (my husband helped in inventing). It turned out 5 double-sided pages, which are fastened together in different ways, forming a clamshell book.

1 page - Day and Night. Day - you can learn the colors of the rainbow, bells ring on the rays, the cloud is made soft. Night - you can explore emotions (funny - sad) and come up with different stories.

2 page - Home and Transport. A house with three windows that you can open and see who lives there, you can change places of residents or just play with them. All windows open differently. Transport - you can study what kind of transport we have that floats on water, travels on roads and flies through the air, well, learn the names of this very transport.

3 page - Buttons and Shapes. Buttons - sewn in different colors and shapes. You can search for pairs, learn colors and shapes. Shapes - a knitted yellow square, a red circle with a cardboard inside, a green triangle filled with buckwheat, a soft blue rectangle.

4 page - Flower and Ribbons. Flower - leaves with different fillings for the development of fine motor skills and a flying butterfly (the idea was borrowed from u-mothers). Ribbons - sewn in different textures, colors and widths. You can just feel them, you can learn colors, look for wide and narrow ones.

Page 5 - Fruits, Vegetables and Locks. Fruits, Vegetables - velcro-fastened fruits, vegetables and berries that can be planted in different ways on the beds, learn what belongs to what. Clasps - to fasten, unfasten, lace, pull and touch everything.

It turned out to be unique. Made with love by mom's hands and dad's ideas!

Now we will wait for our Yaroslavchik to grow up and appreciate parental handicrafts.

* Start a diary to write all the most interesting things there. Now everything is remembered, but after about twenty years, there will be no subtleties to remember (when the first stirring was, like hiccupping in my mother's tummy).

* Start filling your baby's photo album. After all, the baby already lives with us, and we have his first photographs from an ultrasound scan.

* To visit all the friends with small children (there were a lot of them), because then it will be more difficult to get out with the baby. This case gave me a lot of positive emotions!

* Transplant and tidy all the flowers. And I have not so few of them!

* Visit and get a lot of new information in the courses for expectant mothers. I doubted for a long time whether I need it, now, after giving birth, I understand - I need it. There was a lot of useful information (and it came in handy), positive emotions too - and what else does a pregnant woman need!

* Well, and of course, do not forget to walk, walk and walk again. This was done every day and with great pleasure!

* And a couple more small matters, to which hands did not reach in any way ...

As a result, everything conceived was brought to life while waiting for the birth of our little miracle.

Now our baby has already been born and is one month old. Now he will grow and prettier, and as he grows, he will use the previously prepared parental handicrafts!

As soon as your relatives find out about your pregnancy, mothers and grandmothers immediately begin to instill various superstitions.

Someone says that at this time you cannot cut your hair, someone claims that pregnant women are not recommended to do household chores, raising their hands high ... There are countless popular signs and superstitions regarding pregnancy.

We decided to figure out which superstitions should really be avoided during pregnancy, so as not to harm the baby, and which are just a myth.

Superstition # 1: You Shouldn't Cut Your Hair During Pregnancy

Someone decided a long time ago that cutting a mother's hair during pregnancy shortens the life of her baby. There is really no relationship. And let those stupid superstitions justify themselves by those who, while waiting for the baby, start their appearance. And you should periodically visit a beauty salon. Indeed, during pregnancy, the hair suffers greatly: it splits, loses its shine and even falls out.

Superstition # 2: You Can't Knit During Pregnancy

The superstition is explained by the fact that the unborn child will be tied up in the umbilical cord. In fact, you can and even need to knit. For example, tie baby booties. But you really should not abuse this activity: during knitting, the expectant mother can sit in one position for a long time, and the baby will be uncomfortable because of this. Therefore, it is recommended to take breaks during knitting or sewing.

Superstition # 3: You can't sit cross-legged during pregnancy

Many grandmothers forbid doing this, frightening the expectant mother that the baby will be born clubfoot or with crooked legs.

But doctors think differently. In the “foot to foot” position, blood circulation deteriorates, and since during pregnancy the blood flow increases almost 6 times, the expectant mother can develop varicose veins.

Superstition # 4: Don't hang clothes and curtains during pregnancy

Sometimes expectant mothers are forbidden to do household chores, frightening them with the fact that the baby will wrap himself with an umbilical cord. Previously, it was even believed that if you raise your arms high during pregnancy, it is fraught with entanglement.

Now gynecologists are sure that this assumption is wrong, because the child is in the mother's tummy in constant motion and regularly wraps himself with the umbilical cord and unravels it.

Superstition # 5: You Can't Sleep on Your Back During Pregnancy

Superstitious mothers-to-be believe that because of this, their baby may suffocate. And again, medicine brings clarity. At the beginning of pregnancy, when the baby is still small, a woman can sleep in any position convenient for her. But the larger the stomach becomes, the more often gynecologists recommend lying on the right side, since the position on the back affects the growing uterus, which presses on the spine.

Also, in the second half of pregnancy, sleeping on your back complicates breathing and blood circulation, so there is a risk of loss of consciousness.

Superstition # 6: You Can't Prepare Baby Dowry During Pregnancy

If you follow this superstition, right after the birth of the baby, dad, grandparents will rush to the shops in search of the best stroller, crib, bedding and clothes. And mom may not like their choice, and as a result, a bad mood and a quarrel are almost guaranteed to everyone.

Therefore, without fanaticism, future parents should collect their child's first wardrobe before his birth. However, we must remember that newborns grow very quickly, so it is not recommended to buy a heap of things of the smallest size.

By the way, visiting children's stores is a powerful incentive for a successful childbirth.

Superstition # 7: You Can't Tell Anyone About Your Pregnancy

This superstition goes back to the distant past, when it was believed that the expectant mother could be jinxed and she would give birth not to a child, but to an imp. But there is a reasonable grain of truth in the recommendation not to advertise your own. The first three months are considered the most difficult, because the greatest number of miscarriage threats occurs in this trimester.

Superstition # 8: You Can't Take a Bath During Pregnancy

Superstitious mothers-to-be, while waiting for a baby, deny themselves this pleasure due to fear of premature mothers. In fact, from a medical point of view, only a hot bath is a threat. But warm water with sea salt will help relieve tension during pregnancy, especially if you already have back pain.

Superstition number 9: you can not touch the belly of a pregnant woman

When the pregnancy is already visible, many relatives and friends of the expectant mother ask permission to put their hand to her stomach. It is interesting for everyone to feel how the baby is pushing.

Superstitious people are categorically against this, believing that the child can be frightened. From the point of view of psychology, another explanation is appropriate here. Allowing a stranger to touch her growing tummy, the expectant mother lets him into her personal area with a distance of less than 50 centimeters. If a person carries a positive, then the baby is unlikely to be afraid of someone else's touch. And a negatively-minded pregnant woman is unlikely to allow violating personal space.

Superstition # 10: You Can't Take Photographs During Pregnancy

The origins of this superstition go back to such a distant past that it is not easy to understand its truth. However, unreasonable bans do not prevent expectant mothers from taking part in photo shoots like "Waiting for a Miracle." Pregnancy paints a woman, and 9 months of this amazing period fly by like an instant. Therefore, it is important to have time to catch every interesting moment.

As you can see, superstitions are far-fetched at the time. If they have a medical and psychological basis, then you need to listen only to the objective opinion of specialists, and not those who are trying to instill in you this or that unreasonable prohibition.

There are, of course, a million such lists: pack a bag to the hospital, buy a nursing bra, find a suitable outfit for yourself and clothes for the season for the baby for discharge, issue a birth certificate, write an application for maternity leave and other fuss. We decided that you can figure it out without us, and have prepared for you a less formal and more pleasant list of things to do before the PDA.

Go on a date

Seriously, go to the movies and then to the restaurant. Take a walk in the park or get to some exhibition. Stay together, not digging into phones and not discussing your unborn child. Pretend that now you are not interested in how he will get through such a small hole. He will get through, and you will not go on a date soon. In any case, one that does not require a complex sequence of actions from you pumping milk to finding a suitable nanny for your baby.

Sit back to your heart's content

You know, when you woke up, had breakfast, threw crumbs from cookies, waffles or bread into bed, without taking off your pajamas, wandered into the kitchen, carried the dishes, then came back, lay under the covers and turned on the movie. Spend at least one day like this on the eve of labor. It is clear that you have a lot of things to do and so much to do. But sometimes it's helpful to slow down and give a little bit of encouragement. You will iron the bodysuits on both sides tomorrow.

Invite guests

Perhaps right now, as you are anxious to finally meet your child, the idea of ​​organizing a dinner party or throwing a party does not seem exciting. A much more interesting adventure now seems to you the opportunity to sleep on your stomach or drink a bottle of champagne in one gulp. But, unfortunately, this is now impossible. But on the other hand, you can complain about your life to friends who come to you for dinner. And as we've said many times, it's not a shame to ask them to bring some food with them if you don't have the energy to cook. Pizza and a movie in the company of friends are also considered a full-fledged reception. Even if you went out to the guests in sweatpants.

Eat tasty

Yes, this item can be considered an integral part of the first and the previous one. But I want to talk about him separately. Delicious food is one of the most enjoyable joys in late pregnancy. Be sure to arrange a belly party for yourself and feed yourself what you have been thinking about for a long time (just look that your gastronomic imagination matches the menu for pregnant women - that is, you cannot eat a kilogram of raw tuna, alas).

Don't do spring cleaning

In any case, not on their own. If you have the opportunity, then order a full cleaning program at some cleaning company whose reputation you are sure of (you can ask around among your friends if you do not trust yourself and Google). If this is not possible, then call the most sympathetic friends and relatives and entrust this business to them - preparing an apartment for the appearance of a baby is not some kind of exploitation. And at this time you can take a walk or treat everyone with something that does not crumble. Crumbling loaves during this period is only your privilege.

Chat with your mom / close friend

Don't just call the phone with routine questions about your health and business, but spend time together. Go for a walk or to the theater, discuss the imminent future, tell us what kind of help you are counting on and what you definitely don’t need, remember your childhood and buy ice cream. In general, be a child for a couple of hours. If your relationship with your mom leaves a lot to be desired, beat yourself up and don't let yourself go: nerves are more expensive, in the end. Turn to a friend or friend and spend time with one of them: take a walk, have a heart-to-heart talk, eat ice cream, remember the past and thoughts, in general, take time for a relationship that you value.

Discuss the important

Before the baby is born, many couples are unaware of how much disagreement they may actually have over the methods of forgetting the baby. So it's best to talk about important things while still on shore, from how responsibilities will be assigned and what you both think about sleeping together, to partner deliveries and postpartum contraception. And discuss vaccination, or suddenly one of you turns out to be an anti-vaccine. It will be a shame to find out about this in the PDR.

Hover beauty

Perform whatever self-care ritual you feel is appropriate and important right now. And yes, you can dye your hair too.

Listen to music

If a few weeks before giving birth you get to some cool concert (just do not get into the batch, we beg you), it will be very great. But if not, then simply arrange a session of listening to your favorite music at the volume level that gives you maximum joy. Dance, sing along, have a rage. Music works wonders.

Have sex

It's not for us to tell you that it's very cool. Remember that after giving birth, you will not have time for this for quite a long time. And when the moment finally arrives, your baby will wake up for sure.

P.S.

Also, record the baby's belly movements on video. Truly, those who say that you quickly start to miss these feelings are right, but you cannot adequately reproduce them in memory. At least have a video.