16+3 - should I be doing anything?

[Rkbump]

Hi all,

I am feeling guilty. I am now 16weeks pregnant and just carrying on life as normal. I don't know whether I should have bought anything, joined anything or done anything.
Obviously I have had all my appts and first scan and all the nhs stuff. I just don't know if I should be doing anything else- preparing wise.
What and when did you start buying things?
I don't know if I am a bad person but I just feel I am so early on I can't buy anything just in case it doesn't actually happen.
Thanks, any help or advice is appreciated x

[wingcommandergallic]

Buy stuff when you're ready. It's no big deal.
I think the only thing I had to wait a little while for was my pram, so you might want to be choosing that around 6 months.

In a few weeks you should start to feel the baby move so it'll probably feel a lot more real at that point.

Congratulations and enjoy being able to get on with life as normal.

:)

[ohthegoats]

I didn't buy anything until 31 weeks! I did some research before that, but otherwise carried on as normal... went to Thailand, rode around on a moped a lot, went to festivals, did a load of diy, kept going to the gym... we didn't tell anyone until pretty much 17 weeks, so couldn't really change behaviour!

[munchkin2902]

I'm nearly thirty weeks. Have bought nothing - we are supposed to be moving and have nowhere to store it at the moment but I think that chances of us getting in the new house before she arrives are pretty minimal so I am trying to persuade dp that we at least need to think about getting the bare minimum so I can sleep a bit easier! At 16 weeks you have BAGS of time. Try making a John Lewis wish list of everything you need - you don't have to buy from there obviously but I found it made me feel a bit more organised!

[Lisad1975]

If you are feeling good just continue as normal !
I joined a pre natal yoga class about 14 weeks which was wonderful - am still going at 32 weeks!
We waited to buy anything till after 20week scan tho am only just ordering pram next week !
Enjoy the time - it really flies by!!!

[Rkbump]

Thank you. I think I knew I had heaps of time but there was that feeling that I am SUPPOSED to have done things! Elfo29 I hope your move goes well, I think we will end up moving v close to birth too so maybe that's another reason I shouldn't be buying things.
I am on the case about yoga classes at the moment!
Thank you all for your help! I don't feel so useless now!
X

[Annarose2014]

I bought a Pregnancy book. And read it. Thats about all I did at that stage.

Am 34 wks tomorrow and really have only started getting things together in the last 2 weeks.

Remember you still have 5 months of pregnancy left! No point rushing around getting stuff now.

[Bellyrub1980]

I didn't really start 'doing' anything till 20 weeks! And, to be honest, I only really started taking things seriously at 30 weeks. If you're keen on joining classes like NCT, active birthing, hypnobirthing, Pilates etc it might be worth looking into that now as they can be popular. At 20 and 30 weeks I wasn't that bothered, but with only a week left at work I'm wondering whether I should have signed up to something.

[crazykat]

I started buying the odd clothes/blanket after the 20 weeks scan. I only bought things that caught my eye. I started looking at cot/pushchair about 30 weeks though I'd started saving money after the first scan.

Start buying things when you're ready. You don't have to read books/join groups etc unless you want to. I've for four kids and never been to ante natal class or baby/toddler groups as they're not my thing.

[Topsyloulou]

I didn't buy anything until after the 20 week scan and then we bought a few bits every month to spread the cost out. We got lots off eBay so started looking at prams pretty soon after the scan so we knew what to bid on.

At 16 weeks I'd only told close friends and one or two people at work so pretty much carried on as normal. Would echo previous posts and say read a pregnancy book, sleep lots while you still can comfortably, look at nct & pregnancy classes, a lot of them get booked up far in advance. Most of all make the most of the second trimester when you still have lots of energy & no massive bump getting in the way. We went on holiday, visited friends, did DIY etc.

[Annarose2014]

Oh yes, we were glad to have booked classes early. I think we did it around 17 weeks and thought it was way too early and we got the last place!

[capecath]

I would enjoy the last few months of doing all the stuff that is harder to do with kids: Cinema! Quiet coffee reading the newspaper, exercise, weekends away/romantic break with partner... Learn about being a mum (but know that it might work out completely differently to what you imagine). Just take time out to relax, sleep in at every opportunity... It is a special time. I don't think I made the most of it!

[kitkat321]

I didn't buy anything until a couple of weeks ago - I'm coming up for 30 weeks.

I tried to keep going as normal but due to horrendous nausea it wasn't that easy as I felt like crap for the first 20 ish weeks.

Now I'm massive and everything is a chore - I'm so big and sluggish and wish I'd felt better in those early stages to allow me to carry on as normal.

If you still feel up to doing what you've always done then keep doing it. You don't need to start buying things for ages although it's maybe worth putting money away for when you do start shopping.