You might be thinking “Wow! It worked!” Or “Oh no! What now?” Or maybe even a bit of both.
Being pregnant is a physical process—the process of growing the baby inside of you, your body changing and preparing to give birth and lactate. But pregnancy is also an intense time psychologically and emotionally.
If you have a life-partner, the two of you change from a couple into a family. Every member of your family of origin moves on the family tree—they become grandparents and aunts and uncles, cousins and siblings. Roles and relationships shift and change.
It’s no wonder you feel overwhelmed! Here are some resources that can help you, important “to dos” to add to your list, and ideas you might like to think about and discuss with your partner, family or friends.
We are going to focus on the first trimester—the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when you are getting used to the idea of having a baby.
You might have some early symptoms of pregnancy—sore breasts, moodiness, cramping, a little spotting (implantation spotting around day 21 to 22 of your cycle is normal and nothing to worry about)—or you may have none of these.
Resources
There is a lot to know about how pregnancy affects you and how your body and your baby will grow and change. Relying on trusted sources of information is important:
• Perinatal Services BC has a lot of good, BC-specific resources and information, including a Pregnancy Passport full of tips and places to record the steps on your journey. Check out perinatalservicesbc.ca/health-info/pregnancy for more information.
• SmartParentCanada.ca is a program that sends you short text messages that are timed to your week of pregnancy. This is a great way to get information in small digestible bits!
• Health Canada offers a free booklet available online called Your Guide to a Health Pregnancy.
• If you prefer a hard-copy book, Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin is excellent, and will answer many of your questions for the next year.
• Lamaze International offers a weekly email with tips and updates based on your due date. Sign up to receive it at lamaze.org/giving-birth-with-confidence.
Now What?
• Start taking a pregnancy vitamin tablet with folic acid—talk to your pharmacist, they will help you choose.
• Find a care-provider—do you want a doctor or a midwife? Both types of care are covered by the BC Medical Services Plan.
• Find out about the family physicians in Victoria who provide maternity care at coastalmaternitycare.com
• Find out about the midwives providing care in Victoria at bcmidwives.com/find-a-midwife.html
• See your chosen care provider.
• Your care provider will probably:
• Ask about your medical history and get to know you a little
• Examine you, weigh you and measure your height
• Provide useful information about your health and safety (and those of your baby) during pregnancy
• Order medical tests (mostly blood tests)
• Offer prenatal screening for genetic abnormalities
• See you every four to six weeks until you get to 30 weeks.
• Continue your normal physical activity routine. Unless you have some special risk, there is no need to reduce your activity.
• If you are not regularly physically active, find an activity you can pursue throughout pregnancy—walk, swim, dance.
• Talk, talk, talk with your partner about your plans as co-parents. This is a good time to work on your relationship and make it as strong and harmonious as possible.
Try not to think too far ahead. Nine months is plenty of time to get everything organized for the baby. You will feel interested in different aspects of pregnancy, birth and parenting at different times, and that is normal. You don’t need to do everything at once.
Find other pregnant parents to talk to in person or online. It’s useful to hear about other people’s experiences, and to learn about local resources.
Be gentle with yourself. The first trimester is a time when you are likely to feel quite tired and overwhelmed. Nausea and vomiting are a common problem. As you move into the second trimester, you will probably feel better, and more energetic.
This is the first installment of a series about the Five Trimesters of Pregnancy. Check out an upcoming issue of Island Parent for more about how to thrive through your pregnancy and early parenting experience.
