Lighthearted to do list

[Orangessunshine]

Hi, so I’m at 11 weeks and finally that 12th week is almost here and no more secrets.

Other than the usual yet important recommendations don’t eat this or do take that what other recommendations do others have?

E.g I’m doing the pelvic floor exercises
When should I start with the bio oil?
Or yoga?

Any light hearted fun tips?

Ooh I'm interested to hear this too! Just bought a bunch of bio oil but seems silly to use before I have a bunch... when do people start buying baby stuff?

I would do as much exercise as you can as now I'm 27 weeks and starting to feel huge and getting bad pelvic pain, I wish I had done more!
Swimming is good and there's some good pregnancy yoga and pilates videos on YouTube.
Don't bother with bio oil, expensive with no evidence it works, I used an ordinary moisturiser from about 20 weeks.
Focus on keeping yourself healthy for now, eating the right things etc
Then from 20weeks is when I started thinking about stuff for baby.
Don't forget to book in for your flu jab.

I started using Neal's Yard Mother's balm as early as 12 weeks. 29+6 today and so far, no strech marks. If you use moisturiser instead, make sure it's fragrance free ( I use CeraVe on my body an it's amazing). I started to buy things early (around 16 weeks) as I got the nursery furniture and the pushchair second hand. I also bought mostly everything else on sale or as a part of a deal so keep on eye on them and start early if you like. Buying things won't make bad things happen but you can safe up a good amount of money if you start early.

I don’t think you need to do anything at all other than avoiding potentially damaging food and drink!

I second the Burts Bees mother’s range - I used the “‘Mama Oil” and had a huge bump with no stretch marks. Exercise wise, I would recommend finding a routine that works for you and keeping it up - I practiced yoga daily right up until the day I gave birth - I do think it contributed to a very positive birth and quick recovery physically.
Like a PP said, book in for flu jab.
I started buying baby bits quite early as I wanted to buy almost all of it second hand. So I used Instagram preloved pages/eBay to slowly collect things like sleepsuits and vests when I saw good deals for things in great or unworn condition. I also found that buying little and often through my pregnancy made it more fun and less of an impact financially. Babies stay in things for such a short amount of time, I really think there’s no need to buy everything new, and it’s much more environmentally friendly.
Mostly though, enjoy it! I loved being pregnant and look back so happily on that time where it really was just me and my baby. I also recommend taking lots of photos - you’ll want to remember this phase and marvel at how amazing your body is for growing your most favourite person in the entire world

I started using moisturiser on my bump quite early, but still not super consistently, my husband & I do it in the evenings in bed as a bonding thing, he talks to the baby and now it's moving and a proper bump it's sweet. (As a side note, I don't really anticipate it having much affect on whether or not I get stretch marks but the skin at 23 weeks does already feel tight so moisturising is nice anyway)
I started pelvic floor exercises as soon as I found out, just the squeezy ones, but again not very consistently, I always forget and then randomly do a whole bunch!
Would definitely agree with starting yoga early and try to be consistent, I stopped because we wanted to do lots of DIY & bits to the house before I got too big and now I'm getting back/hip pain and struggling to get back into a comfortable exercise routine.
As with pp, if you plan to buy baby stuff second hand, definitely get started early, makes it much less stressful as you can research, look for ideas of what you want and then keep an eye out online for second hand/good deals. We're getting as much as possible second hand and I feel better having lots sorted now so I can relax more in the last trimester.