How to Prepare for the First Trimester of Pregnancy

Being pregnant is a gift and a joy, but first trimester for some of us is very difficult.

We are weeks away from meeting our third little boy, and I cannot wait to hold him in my arms, finally see the face of the baby I’ve been imagining, and kiss that sweet little forehead.

If you’re anything like me, I usually find out I’m pregnant within a day or so of a missed cycle. This means I’m only about 4-5 weeks pregnant when I find out.

Not many women escape first trimester unscathed. There’s morning sickness, exhaustion, extreme hunger, exhaustion … wait, I said that already.

With two other children and a husband who works from home, I knew things would probably get a little crazy. Because I had been through first trimester twice before, I knew I had a couple of weeks before any major symptoms set in.

Therefore, when I found out I was pregnant again, I decided to be intentional and prepare for first trimester.

I want to share with you what I did because it made a huge difference for my family. Plus this was my worst first trimester yet, so I was doubly thankful that I took some time to prepare!

1. Rejoice in what the Lord has done

Before I allowed myself to start preparing for first trimester, I gave myself time to rejoice. This is an important step because it’s easy to miss the joy of just knowing you’re pregnant. The to-do list can wait a day or two, if needed. Be intentional to rejoice and give thanks!

2. Clean the house

I cleaned the house from top to bottom. Cleaning is the last thing I want to do when I’m nausea and exhausted, and I wasn’t sure when I would be able to muster the energy to clean again. So, I gave my house a good scrubbing so at least we had a nice clean start.

Some tasks I made sure to complete:

• Deep cleaned the bathrooms (no one wants to be hugging a dirty toilet – am I right?)
• Changed the sheets on everyone’s bed and made sure the second set was clean and ready to go
• Cleaned out the refrigerator and gave the drawers a good scrub
• Cleaned ceiling fans along with the regular dusting (so I had less dust dropping)
• Mopped all the floors
• Made sure all the laundry was completely caught up

I also made sure my natural cleaning basket was stocked for my husband in case he needed to help me out anywhere along the way.

3. Prepare Meals

Next I did a big batch freezer cooking day. Cooking dinner is always hard for me during first trimester, and my husband loves being able to help. To make it easier, I tried to get several meals into the freezer that we could pull out on those really hard days.

Some meals I put in the freezer:

• Homemade Frozen Pizzas
• Hamburger Vegetable Soup
• Shredded Chicken
• Plenty of Homemade Broth for quick soups
• Meat-Sauce for spaghetti
• Baked Ziti
• Taco Meat

If you want more freezer cooking inspiration, check out my Freeze Your Way to Freedom series!

4. Plan ahead for your other children

Finally, I took some time to plan ahead for my two boys.

We homeschool, and I knew that would be hard to do. So, I made sure all my lessons were planned through the end of first trimester. I pulled out all the printables and worksheets we’d need and made a list of library books to put on hold. I even put together some fresh busy bags.

In addition, I did a quick toy clean out and re-organization so that they’d be able to easily put their toys away without any extra clutter. It wasn’t anything in depth – just a declutter of sorts.

I have to say, I felt a little crazy-over-the-top for taking on so much in just a couple of weeks, but I cannot tell you how much it blessed my family. Especially me. Like I said, this was the worst first trimester I’ve had yet. Knowing that I had taken care of my family as best I could before being laid up on the couch everyday made me feel at least a little better.

My boys (husband included) would have loved me regardless, but I’m grateful that I took time to be a blessing to them when Mommy was out of commission growing a brand new baby.

What about you? Have you ever thought about being intentional to prepare for first trimester of pregnancy? What sort of things did you make sure to do?

Want more posts on pregnancy and childbirth? Check out my Grace for the Pregnant Mom Series!