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Pregnant, but Organized
- by Brandie Valenzuela |
If you are pregnant, you are now doubt thinking about
the day that your baby will be born. Or, if you are
anything like me, you are not only thinking about that
first day with your new baby, but how my first week
and so on will go!
I will admit that I am very fortunate. I have two children
already, and they are ages 10 and 8, and are fairly
self-reliant. If Mom can't make tend to the household
duties, they can help. However, with all that said, the
Mom in me still wants things to go smoothly, especially
that first week after the baby arrives. Starting with the
first month of my pregnancy, I began to prepare for our
big arrival, and I would like to share my tips with you.
~FEEDING THE CLAN THAT FIRST WEEK:
As the
woman/wife/mother of the house, I am the one who
does 99% of the cooking in my home. I also know that
in my personal situation, I will be having a scheduled
cesarean section, and I will have some extra down time,
compared to if I gave birth vaginally. I decided very early
in my pregnancy, that I would prepare meals that could
be frozen ahead of time, so that during the first week --
and maybe even the second week -- no one in my home
would have to cook much.
This idea has proven to be quite easy for me to do.
During my first and second trimester, I began to search
the internet, my cookbooks, and our everyday favorite
dinners for recipes that would freeze well. I even joined
an email list that would help me in my quest to freeze
meals for the family. I kept a list of the type of meals
that I wanted to make so that during my last trimester,
I could prepare one or two of these meals each week.
I am currently 31 weeks into my pregnancy, and I have
the following in my freezer: Mexican Lasagna, Twice
Baked Potatoes (side dish), Turkey Noodle Soup, Ham
and Potatoe Casserole, Spanish Rice (side dish), and
an Italian Lasagna. I also found that in the case of our
family favorites, Mexican Lasagna and my Italian
Lasagna, that it worked well, to plan it for dinner, but to
make an extra pan of the meal to freeze. My kitchen
only got dirty once, but I now had two dinners out of my
efforts!
~HELP FROM LOVED ONES:
If you are lucky enough
to have a support system nearby, great! During your
pregnancy, and shortly after the baby is born, sometimes
people offer to help you, but often times, we tell those
people, that we are fine, and we nicely say that we don't
think we need any help, but we'll call if we do need
something. Yet, you never call them. There is no need
to feel guilty about saying to your mother-in-law (or others
who offer), that yes, her help would be great. Let her
know what you would need. Do you need help with your
toddler at home? Would you like someone to help you
with some light housekeeping? Tell them! Those who
ask if you need help, really are asking because they
want to be of service -- if they didn't want to help you,
they wouldn't offer!
~THE LIST:
If you have many things that you want to
get done by the time the baby arrives (detail cleaning,
nursery, casseroles for freezer, etc.), take the time to
list each and every thing down on a piece of paper. This
is not the time to be a perfectionist! Only list those
things that you 1) know you can get done with the proper
planning and help, and 2) you would go crazy if it wasn't
done before the baby arrived. The fewer weeks you have
left in your pregnancy, the less time you will realistically
be able to get things done. If you just found out your
pregnant, you probably have 30-40 weeks to divide your
list up within, and you can probably accomplish more.
With your list in hand, determine the approximate
number of weeks you have left in your pregnancy, and
divide your list up according to most importance.
Depending on how big or how small your list is, and
how many weeks you have left in your pregnancy, you
may find that you can complete one item a day or maybe
two items a week. This method is especially good if
you want your home clean and organized before the baby
comes, but you don't have lots of family and friends to
ask for help.
~BIG EVENTS:
The arrival of your bundle of joy can't
always be planned perfectly, and often times, your due
date may end up around the same time as big events
in your life. For example, my baby is due December 12,
but will be born through scheduled cesarean section
about a week prior. Even though the baby will be born
a few weeks before Christmas, I have been preparing
myself during the entire pregnancy so that I am not going
crazy with the holiday rush. I decided early in my
pregnancy that I want to take it easy this December, that
I want to enjoy the new baby, my family, and the holiday
season. To accomplish this, I began Christmas shopping
and working on my Christmas cards in the summer.
Overall, planning for the big arrival day isn't hard. It just
takes some planning and some knowledge to know when
enough is enough. Remember that during that first week
of you pregnancy, your #1 concern should be your new
baby, and everything else will fall into place.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brandie Valenzuela is married and a mother of two children. She is currently expecting their third child in December of 2000. If you like these recipes, then be sure to subscribe to her FREE daily ezine called "Daily Holiday Recipe"! Visit her site:
http://members.aol.com/BMValen/index.html
OR send a blank email to:
dailyholidayrecipe-subscribe@egroups.com
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if you have any questions or comments!