The Countdown Pt1
As I continue my countdown towards turning the baby making machine ‘ON’ I’ve decided to up my “to do” list. Yea, some of the stuff on my bucket list I can do while pregnant or when the spawn is born, but I really want to get on as much as I can now. I feel like I’m probably able to cross a few more things off. I think I’m pretty dang good with God right now, although I really would like to have a full-month’s worth (habit forming) of nightly diligent scripture reading to feel 100% accomplished…. I’m getting there.
The food storage is coming along. I have no idea how much 3 months worth is, but I have a lot of “just add water” MREs and other crap we can use… If I get a humongous tank of water stored somewhere I’ll probably feel pretty fulfilled in that category (you know where I can get that/store that?)
I’m on and off with cooking but hubby is helping more with that lately. I joined a freezer meal group which is helping with that. I have the food in the freezer… Haven’t actually cooked the meals yet. But hey… At least they keep!
Still not forming any sort of habit of walking/running. Hubs has been taking Snoop for daily walks so it’s left me with no desire to do more, although this week I’ve already taken him twice. I plan on beginning my real tackle on that next week month. I read it’s a good idea to have a regular exercise routein BEFORE getting knocked up, that way you can keep it up while pregnant.
If you read this post, you know I’m not eating that much better yet. My trip to New York is seeming unlikely, the dance class… Even more so. *sigh* I suck.
If that wasn’t enough, I found another great article with things I want to do starting NOW to prepare.
Here’s a few things the article says are good to check out 6 months to a year before turning your Baby Making Machin’ “On”
1. Check-ups. Gotta head to the doctor, just to make sure we’re as healthy as we feel (most of the time). We have insurance but haven’t been to the doctor in AGES. Might as well take advantage of that free annual checkup! I also need to figure out if I’m healthy, in shape enough, how my blood pressure is, and just ask questions regarding pre-knocked up procedures. I’ve been researching a family doctor, I think I’ve found one I may like.
2. SPREAD ‘EM! Ladies, you know what I mean! I just had my yearly trip to my crotch doc. And all was swell then! I think I can check this off my list now ;op
3. Talk it out. I’ll talk things through with docs… Do I have the tumor I think I have? Am I on the verge of a stroke? Heart attack? Sometimes I don’t know… Sometimes I feel like I have an ulcer, a punctured uterus… (remember I’m a hypochondriac) the docs will help me know what’s real and what’s not, and hopefully give a thumbs up. Also, it’ll be a good idea to figure out what I should and shouldn’t do relating to work, fires, pig crap, molded homes, 80 pound equipment, dead bodies… I have a crazy job people!
4. Stick me! I’ve had the chickenpox already… What other things do I need to make sure I’m immune to? Rubella? Do I really need to check for that?
5. Checking my family tree. What kind of genetic problems run in my family, anything I should be aware of? I don’t think Cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia run in my family but if they do I should be aware, maybe get tested. This can be tricky cause I mean… I’ve gotta be sneaky. It’s a little obvious to ask “so mom, what kind of birth defects run in our family?”
6. Go to the dentist! I haven’t been in about 10 months and if I need any major work and main medicine I want to get it all done BEFOREHAND. I set up appointments for both of us for next week!
Hmm, this list seems to be kind of long. Anything else I may be missing? Something you with you had thought of a year or so before turning your baby makin’ machine on? Or am I just over thinking this? Better safe than sorry right?
Good idea. I didn’t go to the dentist for two years (pregnancy interfered) and I wound up with two root canals and three fillings. Bad idea. Plus, they can’t do x-rays if you’re pregnant.
Thankfully I had all my dentist/doctors visits before I found out I was pregnant. I had so much dental work done ugh…but thankfully I didn’t have to go and wait trough pregnancy š
Good idea to have everything checked š
Let’s be honest, most of those items can be completed within a few weeks. It doesn’t take 1 year to get a few Dr appt and a teeth cleaning. Assuming you are healthy, just doing it is a good thing but won’t require any follow up. Just saying…
Don’t get the Rubella one. You can’t get pregnant a year after you have it, and if you do it causes brain damage and other problems in your baby.
The dentist is a big one. You can’t go to one in the first 3 months of pregnancy, so I would go before.
And the doc would be good. You do get a pap smear when you get pregnant, so it isn’t mandatory, but if you have insurance, I would do it.
Oh, and with genetic testing… I didn’t bother with it just because if you find out you have something that will be passed down, would you still want to have a kid? I think a lot of people do the testing before they get pregnant now because they have the ‘genetic abortions’ if your child isn’t as perfect as you want…
I didn’t know that you are supposed to see a dentist before pregnancy. That’s a good tip.
Congratulations on your #1 Sits spot š
About your water thoughts: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-2-water/
Both you and DH need to get physical exams and dental checkups. That way if any additional work needs to be done you have time to do it. I also recommend starting an exercise routine because once you get pregnant you won’t start one (I know this from experience!). I wouldn’t necessarily worry about preparing and freezing meals now. You can do that whilst pregnant and it will give you something to do when that urge to nest comes on. You should also start putting more money into a savings account or something similar. Baby stuff can get expensive and it never hurts to have extra money just in case something happens like you get laid off from your job while pregnant.
Your WAY over thinking this! Just get knocked up already:)
You CAN have dental work done while pregnant – I did it with no problems. Just no x-rays. And, as far as the exercise thing goes- yes, it is great to already be in a routine, BUT I guarantee when you start looking/feeling fat, you’ll be REALLY motivated to be diligent about exercising. You reminded me; I need to get to the dentist soon!
That is a great list!! Way to be prepared. I was all jump in head first. I am ready – no preparing. š
What a great list. You are way better than I was. I’m glad you put dentist there because I didn’t go and when I was 6 months pregnant with my son and got 7 cavities! It sucked!
So good for you for doing this.
ooh yeah the dentist is a great idea for the fact if you also get morning sickness and throw up a lot, then it will add to existing problems if you didn’t get them fixed before hand. You;ll still get cleanings done while preggars.
MMR, they check you for immunity while your pregnant, but good to have done prior. I just found out my Rubella titer is gone, so now I just have to cautious of sickly people, my DR said not to stress over it, but I would have to get it after the baby was born.
Genetic testing is done also while pregnant, (In CA is optional) but still talk to your OB during your annual violation if you are concerned.
Saving money… totally good idea!
Take your prenatals!!
Exercise! Labor is a process and the more fit you are, then the better it will help you. (the endurance)
Spend lots of loving hubby time too… enjoy the last alone time for a long while.
The Anonymous poster above said EXACTLY what I was going to say: Get your husband turn on some Marvin Gaye or something and GET IT ON! I think you’re over complicating things as well.
Like you said…better safe than sorry. I do think you might be going overboard but that’s only because I didn’t do all that research first. One thing I would research is food allergies in the family. We gave my son cow’s milk two weeks before his birthday and ended up in the emergency room. If we didn’t take him he probably would have died. Get your baby tested for food allergies after he/she is born if they do run in the family. It is also good to know what blood type you are. Is your blood positive or negative? With mine being negative I have to get a shot for the RH-factor around three months into the pregnancy. If the baby is born with positive blood then I have to get another shot after he/she is born. It really isn’t that big of a deal once you know that you need the shot or not. Just some things to consider ;o)
OH! I remembered more stuff last night that I thought you might want to add to your list. Pay off your debt! DH and I started working on it before we even got married but kind of gave up. You can actually do this while pregnant too. We knocked out some debt with our tax refund this year and it felt awesome. It’s just good to take care of regardless but you might as well do it now.
Honestly I think the nutrition is one of the most important things on your list–lots of things can change during pregnancy or in the early years of motherhood, but your diet before conception and during pregnancy can have lasting effects on the health of your child.
Aside from that, I agree with the sentiment to just get knocked up already. LOL!!
As a previous poster mentioned, you should not get pregnant for a year after having the rubella shot. Some drs will say 6m, but frankly they don’t know how long it stays in your system–it’s just a guess–so I felt better about the 1yr time frame. Since it is commonly vaccinated for, your chances of catching it anymore are pretty tiny, and they will test for it when you are pregnant (to see if you still have the antibodies from childhood–which you probably do). There are a few women who come up negative on that, and they just give them the shot after delivery–that’s what I did. On the other hand, I actually caught rubella from the shot and dealing with that on top of healing from delivery and juggling a newborn was NASTY. So, sure, get your titer checked now (it’s a blood draw to see if you have the antibodies) and then decide from there.
I wrote a whole post about rubella, http://brightonwoman.blogspot.com/2007/09/vaccinesmmr.html (it’s actually about the MMR, but scroll down a bit to details about rubella, both the disease, the dangers, the vaccine, and my experience with it).
I do REALLY agree with the dentist recommendation. I get a cavity now and then but have generally good teeth. I brush regularly and blah blah blah…when I was pregnant last time my teeth and gums became very sensitive and getting just a regular cleaning was pretty painful (when it’s never bothered me before). Keep in mind that if you need work done, that the pain medication can affect a fetus OR a nursing infant, so yes, do it now, not afterwards (you can pump milk for the baby and then pump & dump for 24 hrs to clear the medication out of your system so that the baby doesn’t get it, but it’s so much easier to just get it done now. š
I’m supposedly working on posting easy meals on my cooking blog this month…haven’t done much yet but I’m workin on it! (There are some in the archives too). Easy is always a nice place to start. š
As for getting good with God–I have to say, there’s nothing like having kids to get you good with God. I turn to Him SO often about my kids. LOL!
http://badladies.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-things-to-do-before-you-become.html I saw this blog post and thought of you š
but you never can prepare ENOUGH, you know? It’s like as much as you try to (cause you get into this tunnel vision “nest-zone”) you just find that after the baby gets there, you still have so much left undone! It’s so crazy how that works! You just think “I totally didn’t even think of doing that before the baby got here!”