I’m currently in the middle of my second pregnancy, and there are a few resources that have been really, really valuable to me both times. While I know there are a million different opinions on what to do for pregnancy, how to raise kids, etc – this is just what I have found that works for me and helped me feel like I knew a little more what I was getting into before the baby arrived.
Pregnancy Resources: Baby Center
Baby Center is a website that has a ton of different info for pregnant women, and it honestly has all the medical pregnancy info you could possibly want. It’s what I used to calculate my due date both times, and after you input that data it also sends you weekly updates about how big the baby is each week, what kind of body changes you should be expecting, answers to common questions, etc.
Something that I thought was really cool is that they continue to send you emails after the baby is born and go over topics like first doctor visits, what to expect from your body after giving birth (hint: it’s a rollercoaster) and more.
Pregnancy Resources: Pregnancy Weight Gain Calculator
I wanted to do a whole section on this one feature of the Baby Center website, which was absolutely clutch for me while pregnant. I know a lot of people say to eat whatever you want while you’re pregnant and gain as much weight as you want, but to be honest that totally flies in the face of modern medical advice. While only you know what’s right for your body, I think the pregnancy weight gain tracker from Baby Center is really helpful to keep an eye on the average weight gain trajectory for a pregnancy, to help you know if you’re gaining too much or too little.
I found it to be super helpful for me to keep an eye on how much I was gaining, since in my first pregnancy I gained too much weight too fast and had to really clean up my eating during the second trimester.
Pregnancy Resources: What to Expect When You’re Expecting
This is the most cliche pregnancy book ever, but I thought it was pretty helpful in terms of knowing what to anticipate for each stage of the pregnancy, as well as signs to watch out for that might signal something is wrong. While I think it can definitely freak people out to hear all the crazy things that can happen when you’re pregnant, the odds of most of those things happening are pretty low – it just helps to know what changes to look for in your body, and what to keep an eye out for.
Pregnancy Resources: Bringing Up Bebe
Have an irrational fear of your baby not letting you have a moment to sleep/breath/be human for the first 5 years? This book talks about how French people raise their kids to be independent and respect adults – it goes over everything from how to get your body back after giving birth, how to get kids to sleep, how to get kids to eat like normal people and more, and it’s hilarious. The woman who wrote it is an American journalist living in France, and she gave amazing advice mixed with stories that were so funny I was crying laughing while reading them. It’s definitely my favorite book to recommend to people who are pregnant, and I’ve reread it several times.
Pregnancy Resources: Baby Wise
If you want to sleep during the first year after your baby is born, this book is for you. It has some intense sleep schedule ideas, but we tried them for the first few weeks and IT WORKS. Our son started sleeping through the night at 2 months, and it is literally the biggest game changer EVER. There’s a reason they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture – do yourself a favor and learn how to teach your baby to sleep sooner rather than later. We found that this was not only AMAZING for us, it also seemed to be way better for our baby, because when he slept well he seemed to be much more alert and content during his waking hours.
Are you pregnant and using any of these resources, or have you used them while pregnant? If so, please comment and let me know what you thought of them!
If you’re pregnant and still getting the hang of what to do and what not to do, you might enjoy these other posts I have on what I found worked while pregnant:
Pregnancy Beauty Tips: My Favorite Skincare
Pregnancy Safe Beauty Products: Dos and Don’ts
How to Stay in Shape While Pregnant
5 Rules of Killer Maternity Style
Losing Baby Weight: How I Lost 25lbs In 2 Weeks
Real Talk: What Life After A Baby Actually Looks Like
Also, if you’re anything like me and worrying about gaining too much weight while pregnant or having trouble losing the baby weight after giving birth – I honestly found that it’s totally doable and NOT the end of the world. A lot of it for me was about living a healthy lifestyle and not doing anything extreme – I’m a big believer in ‘everything in moderation.’
I made a free download on lifestyle changes I made a few years ago that helped me lose weight and get healthy without going to the gym or doing any crazy diets – if you want to know more and get some inspiration for losing the baby weight or healthy lifestyle changes you can make now, you can find it below!