Step 1:

Get a “Mum Bob”

Step 2:

Stop drinking alcohol

Step 3:

Eat healthy

Step 4:

Take your vitamins

Step 5:

Download sound clip of a baby screaming and set it as an alarm at various points through the night (just kidding… but has anyone ever tried this??)

Step 6:

I’m just gonna stop here coz this is getting out of hand (were we crazy for initially thinking there was only supposed to be 1 step??)

So at this point, at least I’ve got 1 of these steps ticked off (to all our family and friends no I haven’t stopped drinking, there’s need to get all excited. I definitely got the “mum bob” though, and for those of you who are upset about it, you need to move on, it’s not your hair).

Seriously though, it feels like there are about a thousand different sources of information telling you what you should and shouldn’t do before trying to get pregnant. We’ve decided to throw all that advice stuff out the window and do what we think is best for us.

So far, I have:

  • Upgraded our health insurance (with our fund you need to upgrade 12 months before the birth of your baby)
  • Actively reduced alcohol intake – max of 2 drinks for me on any one occasion (unless it’s my Birthday, I had a cheat day that day). Sam has said he’s going to reduce his drinking, but we’re yet to see it! ​
  • Started clean eating – making our food from scratch where possible (we haven’t gone totally nuts on this, we go clean during the week and then relax it a bit on the weekend)

So far, Sam has:

  • Done nothing!

I have noticed that most of the preparation revolves around the mum-to-be making changes. While the future dad needs to be supportive, not a lot of the preparation seems to affect him.

Next step is…Visit the Doctor – maybe we should just get all our stuff checked out before we start this thing?

What about you, did you follow any of the “take these supplements” or “stop drinking coffee” advice before starting your family (or are you doing these things right now)? Did it seem to you like only the female had to make changes? We’d love to hear your experiences!

Other than that, stay tuned for How to Make a Baby – Part 2…coming soon 😉

Dominique has a background in psychology and education and uses her knowledge to share simple and effective behaviour strategies with parents on her website Oh Beehave! created by her and her husband Sam. Dominique and Sam are recently married, so while they were working together to build their website, they decided it would be a fun side project to blog about their experience towards parenthood. Unfortunately, their journey has been more challenging than they (or anyone else) could have anticipated. Follow along to see how their journey pans out on the blog at Oh Beehave!

 

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