First Time Pregnancy Advice

[CCW86]

Hi! So I have just discovered that I am pregnant and would appreciate any tips or advice anyone can offer!

My Hubs and I decided I should come off the pill a few months ago, and although we weren't actively trying, we also were not actively not. At the moment I think I am just surprised it happened so quickly! I wasn't disappointed when the stick said I was pregnant, but also not over the moon. I am sure it will all sink in soon and I will be happy as kids is something we have spoken about.

Apart from booking a GP appointment and avoiding certain foods, what else do I need to do, or anything I should know? I haven't grown up around babies so have no idea what to do now, let alone what I will do when the baby actually gets here!

Any help would be great! Thanks!!

First thing is to start taking vitamin D and folic acid (both available over the counter). If you eat a balanced, generally healthy, diet you do not, at this stage, need pregnancy vitamins (as stated by my midwife).

Be prepared for constipation so ensure you increase fibre and fluids in your diet. Reduce caffeine intake below 200mg/day (switch to decaffeinated coffee/tea and watch how much chocolate etc you eat). At this point there is no need to increase your calorie intake - accepted advice is you need just 200 calories extra in the 3rd trimester and no extra in the rest of pregnancy.

Give up smoking and alcohol if you haven’t already done so.

Check the GP’s website as you may not need to see the GP to arrange your midwife referral - some areas you self refer to you local hospital or the hospital of your choice.

Above all - enjoy your pregnancy!!

Hi OP I don't think there's much more, the nhs website will tell you what foods to avoid and obviously you need to refer to a midwife.
Apart from that make sure you're taking vitamin d and folic acid daily.

Thank you so much @Rememberallball

I think I already lead a fairly healthy life so its good that I won't have to change too much now. I have never smoked and don't often drink (apart from special occasions) and eat a fairly balanced diet. Although I am going to miss having a steak every now and then!

Do you happen to know much about exercise too? I currently try and go to the gym 3 times a week doing led classes. I do combat and circuit classes. I have read to make sure I don't overheat and nothing on my back and no sit ups after 12 weeks, but what about between now and 12 weeks? I think I am currently about 6 weeks along

Thanks again!

@CCW86, sorry I can’t help with advice on exercise specifically (I declare an allergy to any form of physical activity especially organised exercise!!) but I do know that, in general, the advice is that you can carry on with exercise you usually do but do not increase you intensity or take up new high impact challenges especially in first trimester. You may find that, between early exhaustion and morning sickness, you don’t feel much like exercise over the coming weeks.

Try to go with the flow as much as you can.I obsessively worried about my unborn baby to the point where I hated being pregnant and it took all enjoyment out of it for me.

Exercise is fine as long as you feel ok. Your body will probably tell you if it wants you to slow down. You should look at rating of perceived exertion (RPE) though to monitor how hard you're working:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_of_perceived_exertion
And stay below 17 on the 20 point scale. You may want to modify some of the exercises - I've stopped doing upper abdominal crunches etc to hopefully reduce the risk of getting a diastasis.

You also may want to look at iron supplementation though - I didn't bother with Pregnacare as I was taking vitamin D and folate separately already and I really noticed feeling weak when I was trying to train - blood tests revealed my haemoglobin and haematocrit were borderline too low (and definitely lower than they should have been for me as I had a pre-pregnancy levels to compare to!). I started taking separate iron (but at the same dose as is in Pregnacare) and felt a lot better after about a fortnight.

And if you want to read a book about what to do and what not to do, I recommend Expecting Better by Emily Oster - it presents the facts so that you can make your own informed decisions 👍

Good luck OP!