How to Make the End of Your Pregnancy Meaningful
Emotions run high in your last trimester. Put your anxiety aside and learn how to make the end of your pregnancy meaningful before you welcome baby.
CanCan Mom’s creative routines and schedules make motherhood easier and more fun. Interact with love and laughter more often than impatience by incorporating my unique Quick Steps into your daily family life!
-CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
Moms Crushing It with Quick Steps
The last few weeks of pregnancy can be tough, but they can also be exciting and special. Treasure this time by celebrating your body and growing family with these eight late-pregnancy must-dos.
- Get in sync with your partner
- Embrace the power nap
- Cook ahead and stock your freezer
- Simplify newborn essentials
- Feather your nest
- Surprise siblings with a gift from the new baby
- Prepare some mindless entertainment
- Take advantage of life “before baby”
Countdown to Your Due Date
The last month of pregnancy is a terrific time to get your home and emotional mindset in order.
Tip 1: Get in sync with your partner
This is a great time to get in sync with your partner so he understands your needs. Some days you may need a loving back rub or a hug and reassurance that everything will be fine. On other days, you may not want to be in the same room as your spouse—and that’s okay, too.
The key is to communicate lovingly with your partner so they will know how to comfort you and when to give you some space.
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
The popular What to Expect blog has helpful tips for dads-to-be: 5 Things Every Partner Should Do for a Mom-To-Be. Most women will appreciate their suggestions about how to pitch in:
Your partner is not only dog-tired these days, she’s emotionally vulnerable, too. So go the extra mile—pitch in more than you usually do with household chores. And by all means, tell her she looks good when she leaves in the morning, give her tummy an affectionate pat when she walks by, or offer her a shoulder massage—you’ll always get brownie points for that.
Maria Masters
If this is your first baby, this will be the last few weeks of alone time as a couple for a while. Enjoy as many quiet moments together as possible. It’s time you will never get back, so spend it bonding and connecting as you get excited about the baby’s arrival.
My husband was always supportive, fun, and extremely thoughtful during each of my pregnancies. I used some of the quiet time before the baby was born to write him a letter of appreciation. It was always a special moment for us when he would receive and read these heartfelt notes. Later, I placed each note in the child’s baby journal.
Tip 2: Embrace the power nap
Between your bulging belly, the need to urinate frequently, and the overall fatigue, it’s not easy to cozy up in bed and grab a decent night’s sleep. Every mom-to-be will navigate her sleep routine to the best of her ability.
Take advantage of other opportunities throughout your day to relax your body. Research shows that a 20- to 60-minute nap can not only boost your mood and revive your energy but can also improve your reaction time and reasoning skills.
Power naps are great for moms-to-be. They will be a valuable tool, too, once your baby arrives and you adjust to those newborn-induced sleepless nights. “Sleep when your baby sleeps” is advice every new mom should take to heart!
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
Another smart option is practicing guided meditation. There are dozens of apps available. My daughter, now a new mom, and her friends love Expectful, an app created for pregnant women, new moms, and women embarking on their fertility journeys.
Tip 3: Cook Ahead and Stock Your Freezer
Take advantage of this time in your pregnancy to stock your pantry with pasta, canned soups, and other staples that will make your life easier when you’re navigating those tiring newborn days.
I always enlisted a friend or family member to help me cook about ten meals that I could freeze during those last couple of weeks of pregnancy, and I would return the favor when needed.
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
Not only was it productive, but it was also a lot of fun, and we made some great memories using family-favorite recipes.
Tip 4: Simplify Newborn Essentials
I had dreamed of becoming a mom for over five years. Those dreams included visions of all the super-sweet baby paraphernalia I’d be purchasing. I wanted matching pastels for everything, along with gadgets and all things baby-related.
Turns out I didn’t need over half of what I thought while I was preparing excitedly for my first baby. I’ll chalk it up to not only being inexperienced but also swept away by how precious newborn baby gear is.
At this point in your pregnancy, you may have had a baby shower and received lots of fantastic gifts for your bundle of joy. If you’re still trying to fill in the gaps but need to stay on a budget, this video, Preparing for the Baby: Newborn Essentials on a Budget, is wonderful. This veteran mom of eight babies approves of these money-saving tips!
Tip 5: Feather Your Nest
Some women get a burst of third-trimester energy and the urge to clean out the fridge or organize the space under the kitchen sink right now. Nesting is common—73% of pregnant women in a babycenter.com poll experience the urge to nest in some fashion.
I also went overboard, cleaning and organizing everything from our toothbrush holders to the Christmas ornaments in storage. I always used nesting to my advantage to get things as organized and ready for the baby so everything was done by the time we came home from the hospital.
If you have the urge to cook, clean, paint, decorate, or even take on a home project you usually wouldn’t tackle—and if you don’t have any physical restrictions (other than not seeing your toes)—go for it! When you come home with baby, you’ll look around at your late-pregnancy efforts and feel content and satisfied.
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
Tips 6: Surprise Siblings with a Gift from the New Baby
When we had our second baby, I started a tradition—picking out a little surprise for the new “big brother” or “big sister,” which was a gift to them from their new baby sibling.
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
I always did this during my last month of pregnancy and brought the gift(s) to the hospital with me when I went into labor. Then, when the older siblings came to meet their new brother or sister for the first time, we would give them gifts from the baby.
My kids loved this, and it helped a small bit with sibling jealousy.
Tip 7: Prepare some mindless entertainment
Newborns are not only adorable, cuddly, precious, and sweet, they’re also hungry. Most newborns eat every 2 to 3 hours or 8 to 12 times every 24 hours. If you’re breastfeeding, it can seem like you’re nursing 24/7, especially during your baby’s first weeks.
Now is the perfect time to prepare for these endless stretches of lounging in your glider rocker. Check out Netflix to see what series you want to binge while nursing—queue up your favorite podcasts or books on tape. When you settle in for hours of relaxing feeding time, you can have entertainment at the ready.
8. Take Advantage of Life “Before Baby”
I cared for eight newborn babies over the past two decades. I can honestly tell you that every time I came home from the hospital, I was amazed at how much I had forgotten about the work and care a new baby requires during those first few weeks.
It was exhausting and sometimes even brutal to get through a stretch of weeks with little or no sleep, all while recovering physically from the stresses of labor and delivery. Never mind having to care for older siblings on top of that! Rest up now!
A Time of Wonder
I always tried to appreciate month 8 of being pregnant. The last few weeks are a time to marvel at your amazing body, enjoy feeling the baby kick and move, and relish some quiet time for yourself. (Even if you have other kids, make this a priority!) When your new baby comes, of course, it will be wonderful, but right now is also a time to celebrate your life before that change.
