Preparing for Baby

Gifts at my second baby shower.

As the pregnancy months wind down there are things that mothers should have prepared for the arrival of there baby. I would say that I was prepared up until the very end. Unlike most people I was blessed to have three first baby showers. My first baby shower was given to me by my boyfriends family, the second by my family, and the third by my friends. Unfortunately I could not find a place that was big enough for everyone to attend all at once. All three baby showers were either a week or two weeks apart from one another and 2 months before my due date. The reason why I chose to have my baby showers way in advance was to help me prepare everything and get whatever items i didn't get at the baby showers. It is important to make sure that the nursery is set up before the baby arrives and you get all of your maternity paperwork filled out before leaving for the hospital. 

Don't Forget to Register

The majority of expectant mothers take advantage of baby registry's. I chose to do my baby registry at Target and Babies R US although there are many other baby stores such as Baby Love, Buy Buy Baby and Ideal Baby for mothers to create registry's. I found that creating a baby registry made it easier for baby shower guest to choose a gift for the baby. There are people that will buy you what they want or what they can afford despite what you put on the registry but its good to give them the choice. I personally don't like it when I have to search through pages and pages of a baby registry, its aggravating and it makes me want to buy them whatever I happen to like. I made sure that i only registered for the things that were most important. Everyone is different and some mothers may not register at all but I do think making a baby registry was very convenient

Congratulations!

The thought of being a 22-year-old mother was a task that was bigger then I expected and at the worst time possible. When I found out that I was pregnant I was 21-years-old, a full time college student, working part time and interning. For most college students working and going to school was nothing new, but for me it was. Out of my now five years of college I had never worked while in school until August of 2009, I enjoyed my job until I found out that I was pregnant. Not only was I not used to working and going to school but in January of 2010 I started my 1st internship. My plate was becoming very full and then I found out the news, “congratulations you’re pregnant” is what I was told by my gynecologist. It should have been an exciting moment especially because I love kids and expected to have kids someday, but was I ready for one at that point in my life, I wasn't sure. Being a college student is hard enough but raising a baby while trying to finish school would bring even more challenges. Being a young mother causes you to give up a lot, but was it worth it; I think it was.....

The Good and the Bad

Good prenatal care is one of the most important elements in making a healthy baby. Expectant mothers should take this time to sleep as much as you can, baby yourselves, relax, eat often, go for a walk or a slow jog, stay hydrated, and keep stress to a minimum stressing yourself will only cause stress on your baby. I wouldn’t say that I had very much stress during my pregnancy, but with work four days a week, and internship and school two days a week I had no time to sleep. The first trimester was the worst trimester although the third trimester ran a very tight race. Although I had no baby bump for a few months the symptoms were there. I was always hungry but could never eat, I remember getting dinner from La Granja, and Chicken Kitchen, taking two bites and not being able to eat the rest. I stopped going out as much as I did before, I would still go to lunch and dinner with my friends as usual but I had to stay away from the night life. Although you may have to give up things that you once enjoyed, your baby makes it all worth it in the end.