preparing for babypart 1first trimester preparation~

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I will confess I feel a bit silly.  Back when I was busy preparing for Grace and was talking about it I had quite a few people ask me questions or comment on what I do to get ready, but it hasn't exactly been a topic of conversation recently.  So to help me not feel quite so silly, I just want to say I decided to put all these in post form for a few different reasons.  Namely, I needed to get it off the sidebar.  I mean, talk about a neglected looking blog!  Secondly, I want to be able to reference should there be a next time.  And hopefully it will come in handy for anyone else that happens to be looking for the info; including maybe my own children one day  ;)


With that said...


Preparing for a new baby is one of my favorite things to do.  It helps the time pass by more quickly and helps you focus on something other than waiting and feeling blah.  While I do lots of nesting and preparing toward the end of my pregnancies, another super helpful thing I've found to do is to make some freezer meals as soon as you get two pink lines.  Seriously.  While meals after the birth of a baby are wonderful, having meals in that first trimester when you don't feel so hot can keep your family from eating pizza five nights a week  be such a blessing  to those around you that do feel like eating.


With the advent of early pregnancy tests, it is not uncommon for women to find out they are expecting as early as four weeks.  That gives most women, give or take, two to four weeks to do a little advance cooking to make that first trimester a bit easier.  Longer if you're lucky.


So what I do as soon as I can is plan a cooking day.  Or a couple.  This really depends on the needs of your family.  Not to mention how badly you are affected by morning sickness.  I usually spend about two full days making some freezer meals.  I plan out in advance the meals I want to prepare and make my grocery list.  I then spend all day Saturday in the kitchen.  And then I usually do it again.  But that's because I have a big family and I really enjoy having meals on hand.  


So part one is pretty straightforward.  When you find out you are pregnant, make some meals for your freezer.  Brown some ground beef and put it in bags in your freezer.  Roast a few chickens, or take the easy way out like me and buy some from Costco, pick them, and store them in your freezer.  If you're really ambitious, make broth for your freezer to have some super nutritious baby-growing food on hand for easy soups.  Stock up on some items for easy meals like noodles, frozen or canned veggies, spaghetti sauce, etc.  


The other thing I attempt to do after I stock my freezer and pantry, but before I start feeling yucky, is do a really good house clean and make sure we've got the whole kids and jobs things figured out pretty well.  No one wants to clean when they feel yucky, and no one wants to be in a messy house when they feel yucky, so if you are able to get your house in a really good order, by all means do it.


Trust me on this one.  You'll thank me for it.  I just wish I had figured it out before baby number six!


To read about my cooking day adventures when I found out I was expecting Grace, read here.