1) Love yourself! (You saw this one coming). When you wake up in the morning and remember, hey, that’s right- I’m pregnant and sooo many things are different, and maybe I have to move waaayy slower to get out of bed or my hip feels really achy or I have 12 more weeks of this??? Please remind yourself what an amazing job you are doing! You are working 24/7 growing a brand new human being. You can never be as efficiently productive in life as this, even while sleeping!! Give yourself the full appreciation you deserve for the hard work and acknowledge the amazing, healthy, extraordinary goddess that you are!
2) Nourishment. Literally, good food and good water. Be sure to give yourself good quality energy so that the cells in your body feel taken care of and say thank you!
3) Rest. Especially around 30 weeks + it can be harder to get the normal stretch of sleep. Know that scheduling in extra times for catnapping and taking it easy (legs up helps with swelling too) gives our body the breaks it needs to restore energy.
For Motherly Love’s NYC clientele, this can be a super hard one. It can be frustrating to feel more tired or have to slow things down a bit, but thinking about it as building strength and energy through respecting the power of rest can help!
This is where your support team can come in to help you most. Schedule regular relaxation and energy bolstering massage and acupuncture appointments. Or get your village to help you by watching this tutorial on safe pregnancy massage at home!
https://www.facebook.com/officialgoodful/videos/1860856080651516/
4) Nesting. This is self-care brought to a practical and visual level. Getting organized now before the baby comes is taking care of your future self and family. It will be easier to rest later having channeled some of those powerful nesting surges into de-cluttering or simply organizing your old stuff and integrating the new baby stuff.
Nesting can also be taking time to daydream positive visions of how awesome your birth will be and how you might get creative with calling in extra support for when the baby arrives!
5) Bond with your village. Self-care in pregnancy is all about bonding. Bonding with yourself and your baby (see #1-4) is super empowering. So is bonding with your village. Your village is definitely your loved ones. Prioritize quality bonding time with your partner! Reach out to friends and family who would love to find a way to support and help you. This is an ideal time to find a new support group of pregnant peers going through the same types of things you are going through. This can be found in a pregnancy yoga group class, or even a childbirth education class. Getting together with other pregnant women can help build new friendships and networks of support that can nourish us well into the newborn stage which can sometimes feel isolating.
Remember: While all this growth is happening on a physical level, it's also happening on other levels. You are experiencing a rite of passage to parenthood (first time or expanding your crew). This is an opportunity to tap into your fullest potential to create your best self and your best world - and Motherly Love supports you!!