"MUST DO" Things Before and During Pregnancy

When I was expecting, everyone would tell me what to do and what not. While some were viable and logical suggestions, others were based on myths that have been passed down from generations.  However, there wasn't one person who told me things that are a must before and during the pregnancy phase.

The reason why I'm enlisting these here is that I would not want others to miss these later (later is when you are a mommy).

• Enjoy your baths. Soak, scrub, shampoo. ..all you like. You've no idea what a luxury it would be to have a 10 minutes non interrupted bath when you're not looking out for your baby's wailing.
  
  
• If you like it, sleep on your stomach as much as you want to. I'm one of those who'd only sleep that way, and I miss it terribly now. During pregnancy, you need to sleep on the left lateral position and once you have your baby, you can forget what sleep is like. You'll most likely learn to sleep like a horse within the first 2 weeks of motherhood. I have!!!
  
  
• This is strictly for planning/pre pregnancy stage. Enjoy your golguppas or tikki or dahi bhallas, the roadside ones. They will be barred once you conceive, for obvious reasons. It's over a year since I've had these and I mentioned this yesterday to my husband, who said I should rather eat these at a good place.  So, you see, they are still out of reach for me.
  
  
• Dress up, put on make-up and look and feel good. Wear those bling earrings a little more and that beaded necklace too. Put on that bright red lipstick often and the mascara as well. Take out the dress or skirt you've been thinking of wearing for some time now and match it up with your favourite stilletoes. Once you are a mom, you'd be dressing up your baby, rather than yourself. And of course, you'll master the art of applying kajal with one hand :)
  
  
• Go shopping.  Wherever and whenever. Call your friends over and just head out to the markets that you're yet to explore. While this is quite doable during the first two trimesters, you'd get exasperated when those with you would constantly exclaim, 'Be careful', 'Watch out', 'Walk slowly', and one of the worse ones 'Don't buy that, you might not fit into it later!'
  
  
• Enjoy your time at the parlour. I never knew getting a haircut is such a luxury, until now!
  
  
• Have long telephonic conversations, with friends, family, siblings. .. whoever. Walk around while you talk, peep out of the window, pluck the yellow leaf from the plant, sip your favourite tea or coffee or simply flip the pages of a magazine. The idea is to enjoy a long hearty conversation without any interruption.
  
  
• Watch as many movies or plays you like.  You can forget about going to a movie theatre for at least one year after you have a child. My husband and I are movie buffs and never missed any major release until you know when!
  
  
• Go out for long drives and impromptu dates with your partner. Or order your favourite cuisine at home, put on a good movie and enjoy yourselves. Hang around in coffee shops and enjoy your moments of togetherness. If possible, go for a vacation. .. just you and him. These moments are way too precious, trust me.

Most importantly, take your time off to be just with yourself.  Do what you love doing. I read as much as I could during my pregnancy and it's been over 4 months now since I picked a book. Ohh yes, it's also been over 4 months since I became a Maa :)

This is a bucket list I wished I would have made earlier. Not that I miss them as much, but I sure feel I could have done more of them. 

Life certainly changes when you have a child. In fact, it takes a beautiful turn. The fact is that you get tuned to thinking about your little one first and everything else takes a back seat. And once you have a child, you'd be wondering what you had been doing all those years! Tell me, all you Maa's reading this, isn't it true?

Will be back soon with more. Till then, take care and stay precious :)