I was listening to this parenting podcast one day and the host and her guest were like “Forget a baby registry, what we really needed as new moms were a lot of emotional tools. Why isn’t there an emotional baby registry where you can get resilience and stuff?” And I thought man. That is a good idea. In that spirit, I wish for you …
Pregnancy meditation apps.
What better time to finally get around to meditating? I know, I know, it’s that thing that we all know that we are supposed to do and never get around to but this just may be the time that it really is really helpful. Maybe even a pregnancy anxiety gamechanger?
Short Reads
What to Expect Article, “Pregnancy and Meditation”
Babylist Article, “Everything to Know About Pregnancy Meditation”
Hypnobirthing International, “What is hypnobirthing?”
Do
Try out any of these meditation resources …
Expectful. A The Mental Health App for Before, During, and After Pregnancy.
Circle & Bloom. Healthy Pregnancy and Delivery.
Calm Birth App. Meditation for Pregnancy, Birth … and Beyond.
Headspace. The Pregnancy Pack.
Hypnobirthing. Meditation techniques for birthing. There are a lot of hypnobirthing courses that offer labor meditation tracks. Check out this list or this one.
Hypnobabies. Meditation & hypnosis techniques for birthing.
YouTube. So many options!
Vipassana Body Scan Meditation. 10minutes … 15minutes … 20minutes … 45minutes
Buy for Yourself or Request As A Gift
Any of the resources above that are not free … which is most of them!
An online or in-person meditation course
One heaping portion of decluttered home.
It’s time to Mari Kondo it up. Yes, again! There are a lot of reasons to declutter and generally organize now. Here are a few…(1) In the third trimester you will be more tired and may not have the energy to do it (2) When the baby comes you’ll be in the house a lot. It’ll be so much more pleasant if you’ve already spruced up a bit (3) A lot of “baby proofing” is really just decluttering. For a baby, everything is a toy and all toys go in the mouth. If you have a lot of stuff just laying around or things that don’t really have a home, ohhhhhh man good luck once they start crawling! (4) You will not have time/bandwidth to look for things and yelling to your partner “where the %*^$&! are the ^!@&$%!ing sponges?!? and the like five times a day will not be conducive to a harmonious family life. Figure out where the sponges should go now. (5) And perhaps the most obvious: babies come with stuff so get rid of some other stuff now to make room.
Short Reads
Stanford Article, “How Less Clutter Can Reduce Stress”
New York Times Article, "The Gurus of Tidiness"
Mari Kondo’s Website, About the KonMari Method
Today Article, "What is Swedish Death Cleaning and Should You Be Doing It?"
The Fly Lady Website, “How to Declutter”
Long Reads
Books by Mari Kondo, The First One, The Second One
Book by Margareta Magnusson, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Make Your Loved Ones’ Lives Easier and Your On Life More Pleasant
Book by Gretchen Rubin, Outer Order, Inner Calm
Do
Clear off one cluttered surface in your home.
If the space you’d like to declutter is feeling a bit too messy to start, that can cause overwhelm. Check out this 4-minute video.
Schedule the first decluttering day.
Invite a friend or family member over to help with one room or category.
A village.
Of course we all know that “it takes a village.” But like, um, where does the village come from if you don’t live near your family? Or don’t like them? Or just moved to a town where you haven’t made any friends yet? Or none of your friends have babies and what if they just don’t get it!?! Or maybe you are surrounded by a village already but just don’t really know how to reach out, or what’s appropriate, or or or or or or. So yeah, the village is great and necessary but it also takes some doing.
Short Reads
Today’s Parent Article, “How to build a village”
NYT Article, “How Many Friends Do You Really Need?” TLDR: 3 to 6!
Long Reads
Book & Audiobook, Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
Academic Research Article, “How many hours does it take to make a friend?”
Do
Start saying “Hello” to other parents with children that you see when walking around your neighborhood.
Map out the nearest park with a playground in your neighborhood. Start hanging out there (bring the dog, picnic, take a jog, etc.) to begin scoping out and becoming part of the scene.
Connect or reconnect with a friend, sister, cousin, etc. with young children by meeting up for lunch or coffee.
Let anyone and everyone you know with young children that you’re happy to take any hand-me-downs off their hands.
Join your local Facebook or WhatsApp mom-group and/or buy-nothing group.
If you are religious—even lapsed!—now could be a good time to connect/reconnect with your spiritual community.
Buy for Yourself or Request as a Gift
A pre-natal class, these can be a great way to meet other parents.
A pre-natal exercise (e.g. yoga) class pack.