Time is such a strange thing. When you’re working towards a really important event it somehow manages to both fly and crawl simultaneously. As I look back on 274 days I can’t believe how quickly they’ve passed, yet at the same time I feel the weight of each of them (literally!).
I’m into the final countdown, less than a week until my due date, and everything has stopped. I’m too uncomfortable to sit, stand or walk for any length of time so I can’t do much other than lie down. And wait. And so it seems time has stopped too.
You can spend a lot of time arguing which phase of pregnancy is the hardest, but the final month has got to take the cake. The one good thing to be said for where I am now is that it will be over soon.
If you’re into the final weeks of a pregnancy and are now off work you’re also playing the waiting game. And probably finding that as games go, it’s not much fun.
So what to do with all that time on our hands? Here are five things I’ve been doing that have helped time move more quickly and made me feel more prepared and happier through these final weeks:
- get organized: those nesting instincts come in really handy getting your living space ready for baby. I found this process made me very excited and feel more prepared for my baby’s arrival. When sorting through the gifts from my baby shower I first divided them into the group that I would use in the first month or two and those that I wouldn’t. I put the second half aside to not even look at until I need them. This made a more manageable amount of things to open and wash / assemble / charge / learn how to use. Also when it comes to clothes it means I am only washing them as I need them in case some never get worn and can be returned
- give your future self a hand: I’ve been reading a lot about what to do to prepare for those first difficult months and have gotten some great tips from the internet. I’ve booked a cleaning service for the upcoming month, my freezer is full of pre-prepared meals (recipes here), my cupboard is stocked with toiletries and medicine so I don’t run out, my pantry is stocked with healthy breast-feeding snacks and I’ve made a batch of ‘padsicles’, which sound horrifying but I hear are a god-send
- pamper yourself: your body has done some amazing work over the past nine months, and it deserves a whole lot of love before it goes through the next two big challenges of labour and breast-feeding. There are the typical ways to treat yourself in the final weeks like get a mani-pedi and a haircut, but it can be even simpler than that. I am sleeping, eating and vegging out on the couch as much as I want these days, with full permission from my friends who have kids that this is exactly what I should be doing. I’m also doing yoga (which at this point means just light stretching and deep breathing) and meditating. My emotions are running at an all-time high and this helps me get through the tough days and back to a positive, relaxed frame of mind
- spend time with your partner: our social schedule is pretty empty these days, and this has been a great opportunity to just spend time together as a couple (for the last time ever, or at least for the next 18-20 years). Even if I wanted to get out and do things I can’t, but doing absolutely nothing feels like the perfect fit right now before our lives turn upside down. It’s also given us lots of time to talk and share our feelings heading into our son’s arrival so that we are on the same page and feel strong as a couple heading into it
- put together a photo book / scrap book: this last one is only if you enjoy these kind of keepsakes like I do. I have been journaling and blogging about my experience throughout my pregnancy so it was an easy task to put all my key memories into a book along with my maternity photos, ultrasound photos and other pictures I’ve been taking along the way. I figure if I don’t do it now it will never get done and I love having mementos like this to look back on. I used Blurb for this book and Artifact Uprising is another one of my favourites
In Search of Bliss 