Question: I wondered if you can relate to the stress and tiredness and being overwhelmed before a new baby, and if you had any tips on things that you think are the most important to focus on in those last weeks?

Answer: Yes, I can relate! Here are some tips for the end of pregnancy:

1) Listen to your body. If you are tired, rest. If you are energetic, go for it! No guilt allowed. Your body knows what you need.

2) Get the baby clothes washed and ready. Get the baby’s little station set up (changing area, etc).

3) Pack the hospital bag. Or, if planning a home birth, gather all the needed supplies.

4) If time is dragging, do what you enjoy but don’t normally have time for. I resorted to Sudoku puzzles at the tail end of some pregnancies, reading a fiction book at the end of others.

5) Buy a special nightgown or pajamas for the hospital and for postpartum. Anything to help savor the stage you are in and to give you little boost along the way.

6) Clean and organize if you feel like it, definitely! But if you don’t, it’s fine. Once baby arrives, most likely you really won’t care, because all those wonderful hormones will kick in and help you relax.

7) Think of a project that sounds enticing, something that you want to do. Designing photo books on the computer, organizing digital photos, or maybe something more active like painting a little shelf or painting the mailbox. (I did this once out of desperation when Olivia was twelve days overdue. I painted a lot of things including the mailbox, and then I gave up and finally Steve took me for a lemon drop cupcake, but that’s another story. Finally she was born, as is now evident, and I survived to tell the tale.)

8) Ask God to give you a special song, poem, or verse for this new child. (Here is the song God gave me for Ethan, who is turning 19 next week.) As you listen and read, keep note of things that jump out at you. Journal, read good books, and gear up spiritually before the “business begins” as my sister-in-law Anna said when she was on bedrest before her twins were born! (She had two very small girls already, at the time.)

9) Take daily walks if you can, or do some gentle exercises recommended for this stage of pregnancy, to stay active and help those muscles get ready for labor! And to help that baby drop down into position.

Those last days of pregnancy can drag for sure, and sometimes the discomfort can be overwhelming, but God teaches us so much through these times. You are almost to what I call “the good part,” holding that precious little one in your arms!

What tips do you have to share for final weeks of pregnancy?♥