Keeping a record of your pregnancy is a great way of noting down all the details of your pregnancy - from the medical bits to all the milestones and emotional aspects. And it will make a wonderful keep sake for the future, too. It can also be useful to dip into during future pregnancies to remind yourself of how things were first time around.
To start with, you'll need a current calendar for the next nine months to help you to get your dates straight. Next, you'll need a blank book. When it comes to picking a notebook to serve for your journal, don't skimp on the number of pages: better too many than too few.
Time to start laying out your book. Using your calendar, mark out the 40 weeks (or 280 days) of your pregnancy, marking your due date as the first day of week 40. Once you have your days and weeks laid out on an actual calendar, you can use them to guide you in laying out your journal.
So now that you have your pregnancy journal laid out, what should you write? Here are some suggestions:
- Notes on what you did each day. It may seem dull to you right now, but five years down the road you just may get a kick out of how you spent your time.
- Important dates. Mark the start of your trimesters and any milestones, such as the first time you feel the baby kick, and the day you bought your first maternity clothes.
- Your symptoms. Your friends and colleagues will only be able to stand a certain amount of detail about your nausea and swollen ankles, but in your journal you'll be free to complain as much as you want.
- What you eat. Writing down what you eat is one of the easiest and best ways to make sure that your diet stays balanced. Don't forget to record your cravings and aversions, too.
- Questions to ask your midwife or health visitor. Some questions may not be serious enough to warrant a phone call, so write them down and save them until your next appointment.
- Diary of your dreams. You may have some particularly vivid or emotional dreams during pregnancy, which will be interesting to remember in later days.
- Gift lists. Record your on-going lists of the baby equipment you'll need, who gives you what and a checklist of the thank-you notes you've written.
- Your thoughts about your baby. Here’s a great place to write down your hopes and fears for your baby, and any personal stories and advice you hope to pass along...
