Fun Ways to Record and Remember Your Pregnancy

After weeks, months, or years of trying to get pregnant (or even if you are surprised), getting the news that you have finally succeeded and are expecting a baby can be overwhelming, exciting and scary all at the same time. You may be experiencing emotions and physical changes at such a rapid pace that you feel like you cannot keep up. Savoring these experiences, even the morning sickness and weight gain, can make your pregnancy come into focus. A few ways to record and memorialize your pregnancy include keeping a pregnancy journal, taking photos of your expanding belly, and writing a letter to your unborn baby.

Keeping a pregnancy journal can be as easy or as elaborate as you want to make it. You may just want to buy a blank journal to keep track of your prenatal appointments, the measurements of your expanding waistline, or the way that you first told your friends and parents that you were expecting a baby. Record your thoughts about your first ultrasound, the first time you felt the baby kick, and watching your toes slowly get covered by your baby belly.

If you choose to do something more elaborate and involved, you could keep a scrapbook of your journey through pregnancy. In addition to the basic journaling about your thoughts and feelings during your pregnancy, take pictures of your expanding belly - stretch marks and all - each week. Use your scrapbook to keep track of ideas that you like for the new nursery and about things you are considering registering for like strollers, car seats, and cribs. Include photos of you and your family and friends at your baby shower, and include a list of the gifts you received from whom so that you can send thank-you notes. Your scrapbook could also include information like where you and your husband met, where you went on your first date, and what your wedding was like.

Keeping the scrapbook is also a great way to begin a baby book. Have your parents, grandparents, spouse, and older children write letters to the new baby about how they felt when you announced your pregnancy. If your children are still too little to write a letter, have them create some artwork to share their feelings about your pregnancy and what they think having a new brother or sister will be like. You can also write a letter to your baby to read later in her life about how excited you are to meet her, what you want her to know about you, and what you hope to be like as a parent.

There is no wrong way to keep a pregnancy journal or scrapbook, and do not make it so difficult and time consuming that it feels like work. Just have fun and enjoy the process as much as you are enjoying being pregnant.