Finally reaching the 12 Week Milestone in pregnancy can be an amazing feeling. For many, this will be the time you choose to announce your news to family and friends, and you may even begin starting to show.
You may notice your sense of smell has heightened (it feels like you’re gaining super powers sometimes!), but thankfully if you have had a particularly nauseous first trimester, it may begin to subside soon. For those of you experiencing Hyperemis Gravidarum, we are sincerely sympathetic, and hope that reading some of our HG pregnancy stories may help you too.
We have pulled together some of our favourite blogs that you can enjoy whether this is your first pregnancy or you are expecting your second or third baby, and no matter how you are feeling.
- Mumma to be Kirsty shares her pregnancy journey after a miscarriage with her beautiful rainbow baby
- 12 Weeks, feeling anxiety and dread “My first two pregnancies were easy, I didn’t struggle much with them.
- 12 Weeks pregnant, third baby “I know it didn’t seem like it at first but mummy loves you so much!!! I wouldn’t change anything, and you were never a mistake…. you have already changed my life and its definitely for the best. Love you my little butter bean!”
- 13 Weeks Twin Pregnancy – Second Pregnancy, Non-Identical Twins, Post-Partum Depression if you’re expecting more than one baby on the way this may be particularly useful.
- 15 Weeks – Second pregnancy guilt, body hate and gender surprise. I really struggle mentally, I hate my body, but it also doesn’t mean I don’t love the babies I’ve carried. It’s all very conflicting and something I never thought I’d experience!
If now’s the time you’re also thinking about telling your employer, take a look at Paid Parental leave in New Zealand.
Now that you’ve reached this important milestone, also consider:
1. Planning on Announcing your Pregnancy?
Consider how you’d like to announce your pregnancy – whether you’d like to share on social media, or tell friends individually. Make sure both you and your partner are on the same page about how to share the news too.
If you haven’t yet told your parents that they’re expecting a grandchild, consider gifting them our ‘to my grandchild’ (or ‘to my grandchildren’ if they have one already) book – and wait to see how long it takes them to put two and two together.
2. Make a baby savings account
Baby items will quickly add up. By the time you purchase a pram, basinet and all of your other necessities like clothing it can get expensive.
If you have friends or family that have had children, you may be lucky enough to inherrit/borrow some things, but having a savings set aside doesn’t hurt.
You can even get a piggy bank and start putting any spare change in it whenever you get home from work. It will surprisingly fill up quickly if you’re one to use cash. Think of change from your morning coffees etc.
3. Keep a Pregnancy Journal
If you haven’t yet started, keeping a pregnancy journal is a beautiful way to bond with your baby, write about how you’re feeling, and record changes in your body over the next few months.
It’s also really nice to look back on in after the pregnancy, and if you decide to have more children you can also compare how you grew and were feeling.
Use it to think about your future too, here are some thoughts to get you started (every page of made with love has unique prompts – carefully crafted to suit your specific week of pregnancy, just like these emails:
- What kind of parent do you see yourself as, have you discussed your thoughts with your partner, and do you agree on everything?
- Is there anything you’d like to do before baby comes?
- Do you need to make any changes within the home for baby? Don’t leave anything too late – you need a restful third (and fourth) trimester.
- Are you considering a doula, or anybody else at the birth besides your partner and midwife?
4. Self-Care Tips
Make sure to still make yourself a priority
- Drink lots of water, remember you’re drinking for two, as well as ‘eating for two’
- Book in a pregnancy massage to ease aches and pains
- Enjoy your favourite skincare and weekly hair masks
- Remember to take your prenatal vitamins
- Buy something nice for yourself, make yourself feel special.
If you enjoyed reading this, join our village – we’ll email you stories and advice specific to the week of pregnancy you’re at click here to join. Otherwise, if you’d like to share your pregnancy journey with us leave your email here and we’ll get back to you.