When you first see the results of your pregnancy test, you will experience a whirlwind of emotions. Whether you are jumping in joy or completely flabbergasted, finding out you are pregnant will change your life.
You will need some time to process what is happening and what awaits you. On the other hand, don’t take too long as pregnancy has a due date and you need to start preparing for your child’s arrival as soon as possible.
There are countless things you need to do as soon as you find out you are pregnant. The following list includes some of them:
- Find Out Your Due Date
Once you find out you are pregnant, you should give yourself ample time to prepare. The best way to do that is to know when the baby will arrive so you know exactly how much planning time you have.
There are several tools online including pregnancy calculators that you can use to determine how much time you have. The calculators may have some variations so don’t expect extremely accurate and similar results.
Once you find out your due date, you have a timeline that you can use to plan for the child’s arrival. Moreover, people have different cycle lengths so don’t be alarmed if yours is longer or shorter than another’s.
- Contact Your Doctor
Once you find out you are pregnant, your next appointment should be with your GP. It is the first step of your pregnancy or antenatal care which will affect the health of your child.
The first and foremost step will be determining whether you are healthy enough to bear a child. Your doctor will conduct a full medical checkup and examine every aspect of your health. If you are not in the best of health, your doctor will advise you on which route to take to improve it. Many doctors will advise you to take a prenatal vitamin immediately when they know you are pregnant. Feeding your child the right nutrients is crucial during the first stages of development.
Your GP will also organize your midwifery team or can give you recommendations if you have other plans. There are usually different procedures depending on where you live, cost, and religious reasons.
- Read Pregnancy Guides
Once you discover that you are pregnant, it is your responsibility to educate yourself as much as you can about the topic of pregnancy. Pregnancy is an involving subject with plenty of material about it.
You should begin by picking up a pregnancy guide. If you read pregnancy guides, you will receive advice to help you along every stage of the pregnancy. You will need to do different things during those forty weeks and knowing what to do at the right time will make a tremendous difference to your pregnancy.
A pregnancy guide is not the biblical truth and you may have to make several adjustments to ensure it is applicable to your case. However, you should try and follow the guide to the best of your ability.
- Calculate the Cost
Though a child is a bundle of joy, they are also very expensive. The expenses begin way before the child is ever born. Therefore, if you find out you are pregnant, you should start calculating the cost of the pregnancy.
You should compile a list of all the expenses you can expect when preparing for a child. The pregnancy guides should significantly help with knowing what costs you will incur. These expenses will include baby clothes, medical care, and special diet requirements.
Budget
Create a budget that will guide your spending during the duration of the pregnancy. leave plenty of margin for miscellaneous expenses which will certainly be present during pregnancy.
- Document Your Pregnancy
Once you find out you are pregnant, you should start documenting your pregnancy, it is a crucial time of your life that you do need to capture. We already document a significant portion of our lives but you should do more during your pregnancy.
There are many ways through which you can document your pregnancy including a pregnancy journal. Take the time to write down what is happening with your pregnancy during various times of the day. Noting the changes occurring during pregnancy will also be very helpful in case of any issues with the pregnancy.
You can also make video blogs during your pregnancy which will capture as much of the experience as you want. Pictures are also a great way to document a pregnancy as you can take one for each day of the pregnancy. Ensure you store your videos and pictures in different locations in case of damage or theft.
- Evaluate the Maternity Policy
If you are a working mom, you should check out your organization’s maternity policy as soon as you figure out you are pregnant. Many busy moms-to-be take too long to reveal their pregnancy at work hence they aren’t able to get sufficient time for maternity leave.
Take a serious look at the employee manual, what happens, and what is required during maternity leave. Understand the terms and conditions as well as the various options you have for maternity leave.
You could also contact the company’s human resource department and find out what happens during maternity leave in more detail. You may have to do it confidentially to avoid unwanted attention.
- Share the News With Loved Ones
You will undoubtedly need some help during your pregnancy especially if you don’t have a partner. Therefore, one thing you should do once you discover you are pregnant is to let the most important people in your life know about it.
It will let them know of the coming changes instead of being shocked by the baby’s arrival. Your mother and other important female figures in your life who have given birth will have plenty of helpful advice to offer before the baby’s arrival.
You will also be giving your loved ones a chance to share in the joy of childbirth.
In conclusion, there are numerous things you have to do once you find out you are pregnant. The list above is only the tip of the iceberg. However, if you do the above, you should be in a great position to prepare adequately for the child’s arrival. Getting help is the most important aspect of pregnancy so don’t be afraid to ask for it.
