Things you wish you did in your 3rd tri?

[sewpinkgal]

I made freezer meals, which was great until I was BFing and had to stop eating dairy. :/ If you're going to stock your freezer, I'd include at least a couple dairy/soy free options just in case.

If you're a reader/coffee or tea drinker, grab a good book, park yourself at your favorite coffee/tea place and just sit back and relax. I had plans to do this, but just never made it happen. I mean, I could do it now, but it was months after having J before this felt like something I could do without feeling pulled in too many other directions.

Lastly, just enjoy this time of being a family of 2. Go out to dinner with your husband, go out to the movies, just go out. LOL

[Willis Jackson]

Go to the movies. You can take a baby to a restaurant but it's harder to take her to a movie theater.

[anna7602]

Brunch! I loved lazy weekend mornings and either going out for or making big brunches at home. We just got back into doing that when DD was about 3 or 3.5 years old.

Read if you want, but I felt like I was still able to do plenty of reading during the interminable hours in which DD was breastfeeding.

[oukapu]

Personal grooming - even if it takes an hour. lol.

People told me to sleep in. I suffered from insomnia while I was pregnant and I got so much more sleep after the baby. I hated when people told me to sleep in when I was pregnant, because I couldn't.

In the early months, I didn't have much free time in long segments. I suggest doing things you enjoy that take a long time, such as cooking, taking long showers, going to the movies. If you don't have an ipad, get one before the baby. So great for passing time when bfing or holding a sleeping baby. We did a weekend getaway when I was 8 months pregnant and had a lot of fun.

[jenny1223]

Definitely prep a bunch of freezer meals. Enjoy time with friends. Get haircut right before your due date. That moved down on my priority list after DS was born. I wish I had done more around the house - deep cleaning/organizing type stuff that take more time.

[dcrunnergirl]

I was on bedrest almost all of second and third tri, but things I wish I had done were:

--Getting a good haircut
--Gone to the movies more. I REALLY miss the movies now.
--Taken a weekend getaway with DH

Some people suggested watching lots of TV and reading lots of books b/c there would be no time for either after. However, I've found that DH and I watch way more TV now b/c it's our decompression time at night, and I have lots of time to read books, mostly when I'm working out. In fact, I feel like all I do for fun these days that doesn't include my kids is watch TV and read books.

[pugz]

I was just about to start freezer meals when baby arrived.

-date nights
-finish some little projects around the house

[Brie]

A friend of mine told me to take care of all your personal stuff before your due date, so I'm doing a dentist appointment, refilling all my prescriptions for 3 months, going to the eye doctor and getting my contacts refilled, and getting a haircut/color. DH is doing the same, and we're also taking all the pets in for their yearly checkup and shots.

[Deleted]

Errands and appointments, for sure. Although dentist can be hard if being on your back isn't comfy - I put off my longer appts until post-baby. It was my first time away!

I filled the freezer and loved it. Some of it I made, but I also just bought a "bbq pack" from our favorite meat place. DH likes to bbq.

Make sure you know where your early pg clothes are, as they'll be best for post partum.

And then eat (out), sleep (if you can), and just do anything you enjoy and are still capable of doing. You'll still do those things post-baby, but it's nice to pamper yourself a bit while big and pregnant.

[vanillacourage]

DATE NIGHT.

[karinothing]

I would have eaten out more and gone to a LOT more movies.

[anna7602]

Jul 22, 2012 12:49:57 GMT -5 Brie said:

A friend of mine told me to take care of all your personal stuff before your due date, so I'm doing a dentist appointment, refilling all my prescriptions for 3 months, going to the eye doctor and getting my contacts refilled, and getting a haircut/color. DH is doing the same, and we're also taking all the pets in for their yearly checkup and shots.

Ehhh, maybe I get bad-new-mommy-of-the-year award for this, but I made those appointments for after DD was born. It was a great way to test drive the new nanny before I went back to work and to ease into small outings away from DD. I actually really enjoyed going to the dentist as a "me time" activity when DD was about 10 weeks old.

[oukapu]

Jul 22, 2012 13:13:56 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jul 22, 2012 12:49:57 GMT -5 Brie said:

A friend of mine told me to take care of all your personal stuff before your due date, so I'm doing a dentist appointment, refilling all my prescriptions for 3 months, going to the eye doctor and getting my contacts refilled, and getting a haircut/color. DH is doing the same, and we're also taking all the pets in for their yearly checkup and shots.

Ehhh, maybe I get bad-new-mommy-of-the-year award for this, but I made those appointments for after DD was born. It was a great way to test drive the new nanny before I went back to work and to ease into small outings away from DD. I actually really enjoyed going to the dentist as a "me time" activity when DD was about 10 weeks old.

I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Nine days after she was born, I pumped some milk and went to work to get a few things I left at work. I celebrated my "freedom". The next day, I went to a friend's baby shower without LO. When she was 7 weeks old, we went to a concert and was out until 3am. Your life is not over when you have a baby. :-)

[Deleted]

Get your hair colored, cut, nails done, pedicure, etc.

Go out to dinner as much as you can and enjoy sleeping in late.

Do the oddball cleaning stuff that you never have time for: organize your closets and junk drawers, clean out your fridge, take your cars to be cleaned, etc.

Freeze a bunch of meals for after the baby arrives.

Eta: Ditto the ipad rec! It's awesome for letting you still feel connected even when you're nursing around the clock.

[atouchofklasse]

Buy noise canceling headphones for when I had a newborn.

[bunch]

Ditto everyone else. More movies, more date nights, more naps.

[mollybrown]

Ditto errands, date nights, trips, and sleeping in!

I would also do as much as possible in the baby book and/ or scrapbook. I'm always behind on those things. Fill in as much as you can (about mom and dad, pets, nursery, first house, family, popular actors/movie stars/books, cost of stamps/milk/gas, etc).

Also, set up any religious ceremonies if applicable. My children were both the oldest to be baptized in their group because the standard in our church is to schedule it before the baby is born. We always ended up scrambling.

[Deleted]

I wish I had taken my friends up on going and getting pedis. I also wish I had gotten a maternity massage.

[Ashley&Scott]

Rest, pedicures, dates with DH, freezer meals, eating out.

[galaxy8227]

Enjoy spa days--manis/pedis/massages etc

Stock up at Target/Walmart/whereever for household items and baby supplies--it was nice not to have to do these things for the first weeks since I couldn't drive (C-section)

Go to the movies and fancy restaurants that you wont' be able to take the baby too.

Enjoy being lazy in bed on teh weekends--that is what I miss the most.

[vegas]

Ditto the suggestion to go to the movies! This was a piece of advice our pediatrician gave us before we had our son and it was so true. Now we rarely go to the movies. When we do get a date night we prefer dinner and drinks and time to talk and catch up on life. The last movie we saw in the theater was Social Network when I was pregnant with DS!

I also took care of (and plan to take care of) all of my appointments like pedicures, waxing, hair cuts, dentist, etc. If you are nursing it will be tough to get away for long periods of time in the beginning so I made sure to get these out of the way.

Definitely enjoy some lazy weekends. My mom watched DS today for two hours so we could go look at a house we were interested in purchasing. On the way home we stopped for lunch and both commented about the fact that it's been a LONG time since we had a free Sunday without LO. I remember the days of sitting around, watching football, drinking a beer or two, grilling, etc. Today I spent most of my day chasing after a crazy 2 year old!

[mainelyfoolish]

I wish I'd finished up some little house projects. It's not necessarily that I can't find the time now, but I've lost all motivation. Which is why, four years later, I still have unpainted patches of wall in my upstairs bathroom that I was painting the day before I went into labor.

[mrshandy]

I agree with everything listed so far. I just wanted to add. Go to sporting events like baseball games if you enjoy those. Ditto the movies. I would also recommend going to shows like a play, musical or concerts.

[badtzmaru22]

One thing I did that I only did because a friend bought me the kit was one of those belly casts. I now recommend it to everyone! It was seriously the most fun I've ever had with DH. Also it led to the best pregnancy sex!!! Amazing!!!

[nabum]

read books, take naps, pampered myself more