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The Complete First Trimester Pregnancy Checklist

The Complete First Trimester Pregnancy Checklist

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Congratulations on your new pregnancy! Here are the 16 things you must do now that you’re pregnant – download the complete first-trimester pregnancy checklist!


Congrats on your pregnancy! You’re probably feeling a mixture of overwhelming emotions like happiness, nervousness, anxiousness, and maybe even some shock!

The first trimester is both a trying time and a wonderful time because your body is going through some intense changes as your baby is growing and developing its major organs, limbs, and nervous system.

Now that you’ve come to the realization that you’re actually pregnant, you’re probably wondering…now what?

There are a few things you can start doing now to prep yourself for a great pregnancy experience, which this pregnancy checklist will help you with…

Downloading this checklist, or even just reading it and writing everything down (whichever is easiest for you!) is a great way to start your pregnancy off on the right foot. I’ve thought of everything, from announcing your pregnancy to finding and researching your insurance benefits.

This post contains affiliate links, however, all opinions are my own, as always.

Start Taking A Prenatal Vitamin

Ideally, you would have started taking a prenatal vitamin as soon as you started trying to conceive. BUT, if you haven’t, no need to fret!

Start taking one now that you know you are pregnant to help your baby get the necessary folate, choline, and other important vitamins and nutrients they need for healthy brain function and development, and to prevent birth defects.

Here is the one I’m taking, along with a fish oil supplement to get the right amount of DHA.

Set Up Your First Prenatal Appointment

If you don’t already have an OB, search through your insurance’s website to pick an in-network provider to be your prenatal doctor. Be sure to do your research and Google to see if there are negative reviews for the office, scheduling, billing, and what their delivery rates are (C-section versus vaginal births).

You’ll be seeing this doctor (or group of doctors) a minimum of 15 times during your pregnancy – once a month through your first two trimesters, and then more frequently during your last trimester as your due date nears.

If you happen to have complications or need further monitoring during your pregnancy, you’ll be seeing this provider even more. So picking the right doctor for you is of the utmost importance.

If you have any particular health concerns that require special attention during your pregnancy, call and see if your doctor has experience dealing with these types of conditions. You have to be your own advocate during pregnancy, and it’s a wonderful practice for being your child’s advocate, so you’ll want to pick a practice where you’ll feel comfortable and confident through the entire process.

Also, be sure to ask or research what hospital you’ll be delivering at should you choose that provider – different providers deliver at different hospitals. You’ll need to see if that hospital is also in-network with your insurance plan.

Manage Your Morning Sickness

If you’re lucky, you won’t have to experience morning sickness at all, but as many as 85% of women experience nausea and vomiting during their pregnancy, with approximately 65% of that percentage experiencing actual vomiting (source).

By now, you’ve probably heard about ginger and all the wonders it can do for providing morning sickness relief. While it may work for some, it doesn’t work for all.

Personally, the one thing that worked for my morning sickness, as my OB nurse recommended, was taking 25mg of B6 three times a day, and a Unisom at night 9whcih is basically Benadryl).

**Always consult your doctor before trying supplements or medications to help curb your morning sickness.**

Decide When To Announce Your Pregnancy

Depending on your circumstances and your home life, you may decide to either jump up and down today in front of your entire family shouting the news to you may want to wait until the end of your first trimester to announce your pregnancy.

Be sure that your partner agrees and is on the same page – one of you may feel one way while the other feels another way.

If the chance of miscarriage or loss has you second-guessing an early announcement, that’s perfectly fine. Many couples wait until week 14 to announce their pregnancy when the risk of miscarriage goes down by about 5% (source).

Eat The Right Foods

Now that you’re pregnant, your diet affects more than just you! Refrain from eating a ton of junk food, refined sugars, and sugary drinks.

Try eating healthy, good-for-you foods – here are 13 pregnancy SUPERFOODS you should be eating while expecting.

Cut Down On Your Caffeine Intake

If you can’t part with your cup of morning joe, try to stick to just the one cup. The current recommendation for caffeine during pregnancy is no more than 200mg per day, which equals to about a 12 oz. cup of coffee (source).

Keep in mind other sources of caffeine that you might not be considering in that 200mg daily limit, like soda, water flavor additives, teas, ice creams, breakfast cereals, hot cocoa, and chocolate.

Up Your Water Intake

According to Parents.com, a pregnant woman should drink about 6-8 8 oz. glasses of water per day, or 4 water bottles worth of water. Of course, this amount differs from person to person.

Water during pregnancy is needed to help maintain amniotic fluid, prevent urinary tract and bladder infections, and carry nutrients to your baby. 

If your urine looks yellow, dark, or cloudy, increase your water intake.

Note: Sometimes your urine may be yellow for a few hours after taking your prenatal supplements – this is perfectly normal and will lighten up as you drink more water!

Exercise

Hey, I get it. You’re tired. You’re nauseous. Exercising is the farthest thing from your mind. But it has its benefits, especially during pregnancy, like keeping your bowel movements more regular and reducing pain and frequency of backaches.

Try to go for a brisk walk during the day when you’re feeling up to it, or a quick jog around your neighborhood.

If you have other children like I do, push them around in the stroller and walk them to the neighborhood park – that still counts!

Research Your Insurance Coverage And Benefits

If you’ve done the research mentioned earlier in this post regarding finding an in-network provider, you probably already glanced at your coverage details.

When you schedule your first appointment, your doctor’s office will likely call your insurance provider for coverage details regarding your deductible, co-payment percentage or amount, and covered services. They should also have ready an estimate of what their vaginal birth services will cost you (if they’re good!).

They will not be able to provide you with the exact amount to expect for your hospital bills, however, so know that you’ll have to come out of pocket a bit depending on your coverage and whether you are in or out-of-network with that hospital.

Look Out For Warning Signs And Complications

The first trimester can be a scary, tiring, sickening time for most moms. Your body is growing another human being, for goodness sake! Talk about pressure.

There are some signs you should be on the lookout for that are definitely not normal and should be either reported to your doctor or warrant a visit to the E.R. Here are some detailed signs and symptoms of miscarriage that you can keep in mind, but if you experience bleeding (not regular spotting) during your first trimester, seek medical attention and advice ASAP.

Document Your Pregnancy In A Journal Or Pregnancy Book

Some moms like to document their pregnancy daily, weekly, or monthly in either a pregnancy journal or a book. This can become a wonderful gift to give your child one day when they are old enough to have their own children that you can fill with your hopes and dreams, appointment details, or even things like the baby’s heart rate and movements in your belly.

Download A Pregnancy App Like BabyCenter

I personally love BabyCenter’s pregnancy app because they provide us prego’s with weekly baby updates (like when your baby develops taste buds when they can squint and blink, etc), as well as community birth boards where you can connect and ask questions with a group of women who are due the same month that you are!

Take Weekly Pictures Of Your Baby Bump

This is my favorite part of pregnancy, so I had to include it in this handy pregnancy checklist!

While most of your bump will be thanks to that lovely pregnancy bloat we all get early on, it’s still fun to document your baby bump by taking weekly pictures! Involve your partner in helping you take pictures each week to either share online or to keep for yourselves to remember.

Here’s one of mine at the start of my second trimester…

View this post on Instagram

✨🌈14 WEEKS PREGNANT🌈✨🤰#bumpdate . . Our sweet little #rainbowbaby🌈 is now the size of a LEMON 🍋😱 can you believe it?! We’re having a hard time believing it ourselves… . . But we are finally in the #secondtrimester and we couldn’t be happier! . . Here’s what’s going on this week: ✨Morning sickness came back out of the blue and then vanished just as fast 🤣 so…maybe it’s finally gone for good? 🤷‍♀️ only time will tell! ✨I have my next checkup next week at 15 weeks, but the most recent heartbeat rate was 161 at our 11 week checkup 💗. ✨My belly is just now finally starting to pop, and the top of my bellybutton is starting to poke out 😳😂 (this never happened with our two boys, especially not this early🤔) ✨My hormones are out of whack this week…as a total NON-CRIER, I have to say I’ve been very emotional and cry maybe 2-3x a day over pretty much anything at completely random times. ✨I’ve been craving stir-fry with #yumyumsauce, and suddenly can’t stand the smell of garlic (and I loooove garlic with a passion 😭). . . I’m so thankful and excited to be growing this little bean – did you guys catch my stories the other day where we made our very first #babynumberthree purchase?! 😍🙌 👇

A post shared by Corinne Burghardt (@slayathomemother) on

Don’t Be Afraid To Take Naps!

Feeling really groggy and tired? You can thank hormones for that ;).

Be sure to give your body plenty of rest and take naps as often as you can while your body regulates this increase in hormones and your baby starts forming all of their vital organs from scratch!

Refrain From Lifting Or Pushing Heavy Objects

This can be hard to remember in the first trimester because you don’t have a physical baby bump staring up at you like you do in the second and third trimesters, but remember to refrain fro lifting or pushing heavy objects.

If you can, grab your partner (or even a trustworthy neighbor) to help you out if you absolutely have to move or lift something so you don’t injure yourself or your baby.

Start Budgeting For Your New Baby

The first year of raising a child costs approximately $13,000 (source).

This accounts of baby gear, diapers, formula, healthcare, and everything your baby may need during the first 12 months of its life.

Of course, things like breastfeeding and cloth diapering can help reduce these costs, but depending on your living situation and circumstances, these options may not be valid for you.

Start saving money now to pay for your hospital stay and deductible, essential baby gear, and possible childcare expenses you’ll need once your baby is born.

Related: 17 Ways To Cut Costs So You Can Afford To Be A Stay-At-Home-Mom

First Trimester Pregnancy Checklist

Be sure to pin this to your pregnancy Pinterest board for later, and print off this free pregnancy checklist below…

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