{Pregnancy Week} 5 Resolutions for My Last Pregnancy

It’s Pregnancy Week here on Scottsdale Moms Blog! If you are just tuning in, be sure to read the rest of the week’s posts here.

This is my last pregnancy. I mean, technically we haven’t scheduled any irreversible procedures (yet), and of course it’s possible we could change our minds or get a big gotcha! surprise from the universe, but as far as we’re concerned, three kids sounds just right. Come January, our family will be complete: a girl, a boy, and this little one who is currently the size of a bell pepper and STILL making me nauseous at almost 19 weeks.

After this, womb closed. Out of business. Finis.

Knowing this, I find myself approaching this pregnancy differently than I did the other two. I’m not sad, necessarily, but I’m very aware that there won’t be a ‘next time’ to do and experience all the things pregnancy has to offer (needless to say, there are some upsides to this – I don’t ever want to go through morning sickness again). So to make sure I have no regrets (“gee, I wish I’d had a mold of my belly cast in 14-karat gold” – KIDDING), I’ve made a few pregnancy resolutions.

1. Write it down. I spend my non-parenting time as a blogger, blog editor and freelance writer, and yet I’m terrible about journaling the day-to-day details of life. I didn’t keep a pregnancy log or journal with my first two babies, mostly because I operate with the increasingly delusional belief that I’ll actually remember things like when my nausea started and ended, how much weight I gained in each trimester, and when I felt those first and impossibly faint flutters of fetal movement. The truth is, I’ll remember some things and forget many, many others, but if I write it down I can preserve it all – the good, the bad, the transcendent and the mundane. This time around I’ve been using Evernote (with apps for both my iPhone and laptop) to quickly save thoughts, stats, dates and images. My hope is that by documenting this last go-around, I’ll also remember – and write down – some of my memories from the first two.

2. Do all (okay some) of those cute things other pregnant people do. Pinterest wasn’t around to make me feel unoriginal and lazy during my first two pregnancies, but now there is no excuse for waddling through nine whole months without a little pomp and circumstance. Everything from gender reveal parties to personalized nursery décor to clever ways to announce your pregnancy on Facebook – the ideas are there for the taking. I’m not a super cutesy type by nature – I’m pretty practical, economical and sans-frills – but I realize that a lot of these ideas aren’t just about me, they’re a way to include my friends and family (and as Cate wrote this morning, older siblings) in the anticipation and celebration of a new little person. So this time we made sure to announce our pregnancy to family members in a more clever way, and while we didn’t do an all-out gender reveal party, the kids and I made and decorated PINK (yep, it’s a girl!) cookies yesterday to surprise our playgroup friends.

3. Say cheese. Not cheeseburger, or cheesecake, or cheese fondue – I don’t need a resolution to incorporate those into my pregnancy. I’m talking about pictures, and being in them. I don’t know about you, but while I enjoy aspects of being pregnant and don’t mind the belly or the changing shape of my body, I don’t really love seeing it in pictures. But if this is the last time I’m going to be pregnant, I want evidence to look back on. Someday I want my kids to be able to look at photos of me at three, six and nine months along – and what’s more, I want to look happy in those pictures. In addition to being in everyday snapshots and filling my Instagram stream with awkward belly shot self-portraits, I am planning to have maternity photos taken {with Anna Hollister Photography, who is hosting this week’s GIVEAWAY!} for the first (and last) time. Again, I may not enjoy it at the time, but I know I’ll be glad I did it…someday.

4. Forego the frump. Oh, the maternity clothes. They’re fun in the beginning when you have just a hint of a bump and get to change out your too-tight wardrobe for sweet empire waistlines and and blissfully forgiving maternity jeans. But after a while I just seem to loathe everything in my closet. If it doesn’t sag in the butt or pinch in the belly, it has permanent food stains or is just plain ugly. Not feeling good about my wardrobe leads to a general malaise about my appearance – it’s easy to skip make-up, accessories and all the rest (and I don’t mean once in a while, I mean more often than not). So with this pregnancy I have been intentional about looking good so that I feel good about myself. No, I’m not the most fashionable mom in Scottsdale (that would be our own Tracy Carson), but I find that some mascara, a cute necklace and a fresh coat of polish on my toes does wonders for my mood.

5. Enjoy every moment. Ha! Just kidding. Show me a woman who enjoys every minute of pregnancy and I’ll ask you for her doctor’s number – because I clearly need some of whatever she’s taking. I know it’s unrealistic not to moan and groan a little at all the discomforts of pregnancy, but since this one is my last I’m making a conscious effort to balance the complaining with a little gratitude and appreciation for the bigger picture. The nausea has been as debilitating this time around as it was the first two, but surviving it is a notch on my belt I won’t get to claim again, and the reason behind it is pretty spectacular. I’m growing a whole person from a bundle of cells to a bundle of swaddled joy, and while I might not feel all zen and grateful at every moment for the whole 40 weeks, I don’t want to regret later that I wasted all of my pregnant energy on being cranky.

So you heard it here – I don’t want to have any regrets about how I spent my final months as a pregnant person. Have you thought about your last time around? Is there anything you plan to do differently next time – if there is a next time for you?