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Just found out that you are pregnant? Are you wondering what to do next? This post is a detailed guide on exactly what you need to be doing to care for your pregnancy right now.
You’ve just taken a pregnancy test and whether you planned it or not, you’re pregnant! Congratulations!
There’s probably an overwhelming amount of emotions running through your body and 1,000 thoughts running through your head, one of those thoughts being “I’m pregnant, now what?”, trust me I’ve been there, (you can read about how I found out I was pregnant here)
This can be a lot to process, your life will be different from this day forward but regardless of how you feel right now, this is a huge monumental moment in your life and a day you’ll never forget.
This is one of the best days of your life!
Let’s go over the next steps you should take after finding out that you’re pregnant!
1. Take A Prenatal Vitamin
If you’re not already taking a prenatal vitamin this the the very first thing you should do!
Prenatal vitamins help promote healthy growth and development of the baby. Specifically the bones, spine and brain. Taking a prenatal to help prevent birth defects is extremely important.
Of course picking a prenatal that is right for you is incredibly important, this is something you can talk to about your Doctor and see what they want you to be taking. But don’t wait until your first doctors appointment to start, you can always switch prenatal vitamins later.
2. Schedule Your First Prenatal Appointment
After taking a home pregnancy test (or multiple) the next thing you want to do is have a doctor confirm your pregnancy.
Call your OBGYN can schedule a prenatal appointment!
Usually doctors want to wait until around the 8 week mark to see your pregnancy on an ultrasound. Which means you’ll need to try and calculate when you got pregnant and about how far along you think you are.
Don’t worry if you’re not accurate the Doctor will be able to give you a good estimation with the first ultrasound and give you an estimated due date!
If you haven’t decided who you want as an OBGYN, do some research! This will be the person who will care for you during your entire pregnancy and the person who will delivers your baby.
As soon as you picked out the perfect doctor make an appoint as soon as possible!
3. Learn About The Things You Can't Do While Pregnant
Now that you’re pregnant you’ll need to learn about all of the things you are not allowed to do during pregnancy.
Keeping your body safe is top priority right now which means you defiantly need to know about all of the thing you CAN NOT do while pregnant.
Everything you are now putting in your body is also going into the baby. Something you need to do right away is check your medications!
Anything you were taking previously to finding out you were pregnant, needs to be evaluated to make sure it is still safe to be taking during your pregnancy.
Activities you'll want to avoid:
- heavy lifting
- hot tubs and baths
- skiing, scuba diving, horseback ridding or any other dangerous activities
If you’re ever wondering if you can or can’t do something during your pregnancy a quick google search can help you and if answers are too conflicting then just completely avoid it. After all, better safe than anything else!
4. Download A Pregnancy App
If you haven’t already, download a pregnancy app on your phone. This was always so much fun for me when I was pregnant.
You’ll be able to track your symptoms and get a weekly fruit to get an idea of the size of your baby.
You’ll also be able to read about the weight and weekly growth spurt which is just so exciting because you’ll learn about when your baby’s finger nails grow or about when they are practicing breathing just all of the things that will just get you more excited to hold your little baby.
My favorite pregnancy app is the Glow Nature App. I really loved the community on there and how easily you can connect with other Moms.
This app brought so much ease to my worries!! Especially towards the end of your pregnancy when you think you’re getting closer to labor you can ask questions and talk to other
Top-rated pregnancy apps:
5. Start Applying Stretch Mark Oils And Creams
Even though you just found out that you’re pregnant and you don’t look pregnant yet it’s import to start applying a stretch mark cream or oil daily.
Why? Because applying a moisturizer will help support your skin stretch in the months to come and help reduce the changes of stretch marks and uncomfortable itchy skin.
Plus starting now will get you in the habit of applying your daily creams and oils.
Apply stretch mark cream to your belly, butt, breast and thighs. These are the top places most women get stretch marks.
My best advice would be to apply a cream in the morning for the day or as needed (when itchy) and apply an oil AND a cream at night. I say this because a cream is much more practical on a daily basis when getting dressed and going somewhere, oils are oils and they will leave you oily which can feel uncomfortable.
When looking for stretch mark cream there is one key ingredient to look for, hydration. Looking for hydrating ingredients is the most important thing. Those ingredients include shea butter, coconut oil, hyaluronic acid and glycerin.
Top Rated Strech Mark prevention Oils
"I was skeptical. So so skeptical... I am so unbelievably blown away by this oil. I started using it when my baby bump popped out. Twice a day, morning and night."
I love this stuff because it’s mad up of Almond Oil, Pecan Oil, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, Vitamin E. Which are all super hydrating ingredients!
"So, I wanted to wait until the very end of my pregnancy to post an honest review, and I can say I’m very pleased. I made it out stretch mark free."
I used this oil through out my whole pregnancy and LOVED it! Highly recommend it! I ever got itchy, this combined with the burts bees belly cream was the perfect recipe for my pregnancy.
Top Rated Strech Mark Creams
Made up of Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter to soften, smooth, and hydrate skin!
With Vitamin E to support moisture retention, Lutein to improve hydration and support stretching. Argan Oil, Almond Oil and Coconut Oil to deeply moisturize.
"Used this throughout my entire pregnancy (started around 8 weeks) and didn’t get one stretch mark!! "
I recommend this belly butter to any one! It’s so good! I loved using it!
It’s important to remember that there is no holy grail for stretch marks. Make sure you drink water, moisturize and try not to worry!
6. Look For Natural Alternatives
Pregnancy is the perfect time to begin switching to safer natural products! (Especially because you’ll soon have a little one around). So many of our everyday products contain toxic chemicals that can be harmful during pregnancy.
Think about it, laundry detergent, soaps, deodorant, cleaning products, candles…the list goes on and on.
Since right now is the perfect time to start looking into more natural everyday products, you can begin with checking your skin care, make up and cleaning products are safe for pregnancy use is very important.
For example a lot of anti-aging skin care products contain ingredients like retinol, retin-A, retinoic acid, and tazaratene which are not safe to use while pregnant and breastfeeding.
When it comes to cleaning products most all cleaners are toxic and unsafe especially things like aresol sprays, muisquito repellent, any kind of pestisides.
The easiest way I’ve found is to switch to using Thieves Cleaner and other Essential oil recipes to replace those toxic products with 100% natural, plant based and organic products. You can read more about how to switch HERE.
7. Healthy Diet
It’s important to have a healthy and healthy and balanced diet during your pregnancy.
The recommended pregnancy weight gain in 25-35lbs. Gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase health risks for you and your baby.
If you’re not already eating a healthy diet you can start by making small changes like drinking lots of water, eating vegetables and complex carbs (oatmeal, beans, rice) and moving your body every day.
I’m not saying that you can’t give into your pregnancy cravings every once in a while. but overall the goal is to be healthy.
During your pregnancy there are foods you can not eat because they can cause a potential risk to the development of your baby.
Foods To Avoid
- raw meat/fish/eggs
- deli meat
- fish high in mercury
- raw sprouts
- alcohol
- limit caffeine (about 2 cups of coffee a day)
- unpasteurized milk, cheese, or fruit juice
8. Try Not To Worry
Finding out you’re pregnant can cause a lot of worry and honestly it’s ok if you’re totally freaking out it’s normal. But you need to stop stressing!
Don’t worry about things you may have done that aren’t pregnancy safe right before you found out you were pregnant. Because the truth is you most likely did not cause any harm to your baby.
When expecting a baby things can tend to be more stressful but it’s important to remain calm and relaxed because studies have shown that high stress during pregnancy can cause premature labor.
In stressful situations just remember how important it is to relax and remain calm for your baby.
Do things that make you happy and help you relax! Take a nice lavender bath (not too hot of course), get a pedicure or ask your partner to give you a shoulder massage.
Just found out you're pregnnat? Do these 8 things right now!
- Take a prenatal vitamin
- Schedule your first prenatal appointment
- Learn about things you can’t do while pregnant
- Download a pregnancy app
- Start applying stretch mark oil/cream
- Look for natural alternatives for products you use on a daily basis
- Start eating a healthy diet
- Don’t stress! It’s important to relax
