You might want to start doing things to prepare for your baby’s arrival, but it might feel too soon to do very much. You might have to wait a few weeks to start your prenatal care. Some people want to start telling people about the pregnancy, but others choose to wait. It’s too soon to shop for maternity clothes or baby things. It’s too soon to plan baby showers and work on the baby’s room.

When it’s too soon to do everything, you might want to start with these things instead:

Education

You can start the Healthy Pregnancy course now! It’s never too soon to start learning about your pregnancy and your health. This free self-paced online course will show you ways to stay healthy and keep you feeling good.

Your healthcare

Prenatal care is critical during pregnancy and it starts during the first trimester. Regular checkups will track your progress and your healthcare provider can watch for any concerning signs or symptoms. Prevention and early detection can help avoid bigger health issues.

You may visit with a doctor, midwife, or nurse before your first official prenatal appointment to confirm your pregnancy or your due date. Pregnancy tests that you can buy at the store tend to be very accurate, but some people want more confirmation.

If you’re unsure about your conception date, they may offer to do a dating ultrasound. Since it will likely be very early in pregnancy and the baby is very small, it will probably be a transvaginal ultrasound. They use a wand inserted vaginally to get closer to the uterus to see the baby.

Later in the first trimester, usually between 8-12 weeks, you’ll have your first prenatal care checkup. This one will usually be more comprehensive than the regular checkups after that. The first one may include:

• A thorough physical exam including:
  • Breast exam
  • Pelvic Exam – They may collect a sample for a pap test and cultures if you’re due for one.
  • Blood pressure
  • Weight
  • Urine collection – test for infections and disease indicators
  • Blood collection (CBC, Blood type and Rh Factor) – The Rh Factor test is to determine the compatibility of your blood type with your baby’s. In rare cases, they are incompatible. Finding out early means you can get medication that will prevent complications.
• Family & Health History – It’s very important to be thorough and give complete information. Your healthcare provider will not judge you, but they do need to know everything so they can best help you have a healthy pregnancy. This includes knowing about any medications or supplements you might be using
• Healthy Pregnancy Counseling – In some cases, you will get some education about how to take care of yourself best during pregnancy.
• Pregnancy Symptoms – Your provider will want to know if you are having any symptoms and may offer some help for discomforts.
• Emotional well-being – Your provider may ask about your mental health. It’s important to be open and honest. If you’re struggling with high levels of stress or any mental health conditions, it’s a good idea to get support or treatment as soon as possible. Your provider may be able to provide a referral or other resources to help you.
• Weight gain – Your provider may make suggestions about a goal for weight gain. The recommendation should be made according to your pre-pregnancy weight, your current weight, and also your other health factors. Too much or too little weight gain can impact your health, but a complete health picture is important. Weight gain that falls outside of normal ranges balanced with a healthy diet and exercise may not be as impactful as more average weight gain with an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. .
• You may get some education about the benefits of breastfeeding.

Genetic testing

You will likely be offered the option of genetic testing. Some people choose to get more detailed genetic testing during pregnancy. In the first trimester, it is more accurate to call this a screening. These screenings look for certain markers that might indicate a genetic condition. They do not necessarily mean that there is a problem, and they don’t diagnose specific conditions. If you have testing done and your results indicate that there could be a problem, it’s important to remember that very often, these don’t lead to anything. Further testing is needed to know for sure, and then to find out a specific diagnosis.

This kind of testing is optional. It’s not considered standard prenatal care. Because it is not standard prenatal care, you may not have insurance coverage for the testing. You might opt for this if you have certain risk factors including:

• Family history of certain genetic conditions
• Maternal age over 35
• Previous miscarriages or stillbirth
• An older child with a particular birth defect

It can be a difficult decision to do this even if you have risk factors. Knowing the results may or may not have an influence on how you choose to move forward in pregnancy. For some people, not knowing is very stressful. For others, knowing would be more difficult. It’s important to do some introspection and ultimately do what’s right for you. If you do decide to do the testing, you can ask for a referral for genetic counseling. This is very helpful for knowing exactly what the testing is for, how to interpret results, and also to help you manage your expectations and emotions.

Consider birth and find a provider

Think about your birth. What do you want it to be like? Your preferences are very important. Once you have a clear picture of what you want for your birth, you can start looking into options for your care and a location.
You might begin by checking insurance benefits and doing a little research into hospitals and birth centers in your area. Some people choose home birth and would want to start looking for a qualified midwife. It’s best to start your search as soon as possible, so you can initiate prenatal care with the provider that you will most likely be with for the rest of your pregnancy., Also some providers might book up and stop taking new patients. These are the options for birth locations:

• hospital
• hospital birth center
• free-standing birth center
• home

And these are options for prenatal care providers:

• Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor (MFM)
• Obstetrician (OB/GYN)
• Family Practice Physician
• Midwife
  • Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
  • Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
  • Certified Midwife (CM)

In some cases, people might choose to have prenatal care with one provider, but then give birth with another. An example of this might be in areas where maternity care is very limited and the nearest hospital might be very far from home.

Focus on finances

This is a good time to find out about your workplace policies for maternity leave, and then have some thoughts and conversations about your financial situation. Some people might realize they don’t have a lot of paid maternity leave, but can choose to take some unpaid maternity leave. You may understand that you will need to go back to work at some point, and you’ll need to consider the cost of child care. You might determine that you need to start saving money for unpaid maternity leave or child care.

The first trimester is not too soon to create a savings plan and start saving. It’s also a great idea to find out if you qualify for special pregnancy/early parenting programs such as WIC or the Nurse-Family Partnership. Check for national, statewide, and programs in your local area and get signed up! These programs can help you save money and stay on track financially.

To tell or not to tell

You may decide to tell everyone about your pregnancy right away. You may decide to wait until after the first trimester. Other people take a middle road and just tell a small number of people. There is not one right way to handle this. You should do what works for you. If you’re excited, it’s very reasonable to want to share that excitement with people who will share it with you. If you’re very nervous or freaked out, it’s also reasonable to want comfort from loved ones, so you’ll need to tell them. On the other hand, if you feel like telling people will cause more stress for you, it’s also OK to keep it to yourself for some time.

Your pregnancy is a special time, and only happens once per child. Even if you’re feeling overwhelmed or miserable and sick, I love to recommend commemorating this time in some way. You might want to write in a journal, or take a lot of “before” pictures. What did you look like? What did your home look like? You can make audio or video recordings talking to your baby or just recording your thoughts and feelings. Someday soon your child will be very real and with you. Someday that person will probably be interested to see what you were like then, what you were thinking and feeling.
You’ll probably be so glad that you did it.

How will I look?

You will likely not look much different during the first trimester. Most people don’t start to have a belly bump until 12 weeks or more. Your uterus is swelling, growing, and will start to move up, but it’s not quite visible on the outside yet. You may notice some breast swelling and enlargement.

Self-care

It’s never too soon in pregnancy to start taking good care of yourself. In this case, self-care just means doing things that will keep you healthy and feeling good. A lot of what happens during pregnancy is not under our control, but some things are. These are some things you can do to keep yourself feeling good and even lower your risks for complications and increase your chances for great outcomes.

• Eat well – Great pregnancy nutrition can start now. On the other hand, this might be the time when it’s most difficult to eat well. If you’re having morning sickness, it can be hard to eat much of anything. But when you can eat a mostly balanced diet focused on protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and lots of colorful fruits and veggies, you’ll probably end up feeling better during the first trimester. There is even some research to show that great nutrition can reduce your risks for certain complications. You do not have to be perfect to get lots of good nutrition.
• Sleep well – Listen to your body’s need for rest. You are not lazy if you have to take some naps. It’s best to start with your nighttime sleep. Try going to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each morning. Give yourself an 8-10 hour window for nighttime sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, maybe make that window a little on the longer side! Eventually, you will probably start to be able to sleep well during that window. It can take some adjustment though, so give it a couple of weeks before you decide it’s not working. Remember to put away all screens at least 30 minutes before getting in bed. It can be hard, but probably worth it.
• Exercise – If you can get in some exercise, it’s shown to benefit you in so many ways during pregnancy. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Even just taking a 30 minute walk is great exercise. It’s shown to lower your risks for things like preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and gestational diabetes. It’s also likely to help you feel better and sleep better. It’s best not to start a big new exercise program during pregnancy unless it’s one especially designed FOR pregnancy. Stick with things you already do unless it hurts or feels wrong in some way.

Remember that most people only realize they are pregnant halfway through the first trimester. So by the time you find out you’re pregnant, you’re halfway there! The first trimester can be a very challenging couple of months, but for most people it will change and often gets better.

If you don’t feel like you can do very much during the first trimester, keep hope that you will probably feel better and have more energy to do things later. Your body is already doing a lot. It’s very hard to see, but so much work is happening. You are growing a baby, but also a lot of energy during the first trimester is going into growing your new organ, the placenta. That needs to happen early and quickly so that your baby can start to benefit from it. Try to see the hardships as a reminder of the very hard and important work that your body is doing. Take it easy on yourself!