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Hey dads, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, are you stuck on what to get your wife and the mother of your new child for Valentine’s Day this year? She just recently became the mother of your child, what can you get/do for her to make her feel really special.
I’m sure she probably hasn’t thought a lot about herself since the arrival of your little bundle of joy so a gift that makes take a little time for herself is a great idea. Here are a few gift ideas to let her know how much she means to you and to make sure she takes a little time for herself.
- Arrange for a photographer to come to your home to take some family photos. Now that your family has grown it will be nice to capture that with some lovely family photos. By bringing someone to your home you’ll be able to get some great candid, comfortable shots.
- Get your wife a gift certificate to the spa and offer to take care of the baby while she spends a couple of hours getting pampered. Or you could make a spa at home, get her a bunch of bath and beauty products, transform your bathroom into a relaxing retreat for her and take care of the little one while she goes to the “spa at home”.
- If you are ready for the whole babysitter thing you could take her out to a nice dinner so the two of you can spend sometime together. However, if you aren’t ready for the whole babysitter thing or you would rather just stay home with her make her a nice romantic dinner at home. You can light some candles, get some champagne, and even get all dressed up. The baby will still be there but it’ll be a nice chance to spend some quality time with each other and as a family.
- Get her a gift certificate to her favorite clothing store and then offer to babysit while she goes out and does a little shopping. She probably hasn’t bought herself anything since the baby was born and clothes shopping for yourself becomes impossible with a baby in tow.
- Write her a letter letting her know all the qualities you love about her, including all the qualities that make her a great mom. This one is guaranteed to bring tears to her eyes.
The idea is to do something special for her. You know your wife best and what would really make her happy and feel special. Valentine’s Day is one of those gimmicky holidays but it is also a great opportunity to do something special for the one you love. It doesn’t need to cost a thing. Have fun with your gift idea.
Life doesn’t stop when you become pregnant, the house still gets dirty, laundry still needs to be done and meals still need to be made. Cleaning is a fact of life, unfortunately it doesn’t go away when you become pregnant. Hopefully your partner is taking care of some of the chores for you, but I know that you will end up being responsible for at least some of them.
Safety is important during pregnancy both to protect the little life growing inside of you and to protect yourself. Here are a few safety tips to keep in mind as you go about your daily chores.
- Read the label. Be careful not to use any chemicals that are unsafe for your growing baby.
- When using cleaning products be sure there is adequate ventilation, open a window.
- Take care and caution when bending. As your body changes you may need to approach tasks a little differently than you did before.
- Watch how much and what you are lifting. Your doctor can advise you on how much is safe for you to lift during pregnancy. When you do lift heavier objects be sure to do so safely and bend at the knees to protect your back.
- Don’t over do it. If you are feeling tired or warn out stop, you can always go back to it later.
- Ask you doctor if there are any special restrictions you should follow during your pregnancy.
Towards the end of my pregnancy I went through the usually nesting stage where I had to clean and organize everything in sight. I had to be very careful to listen to my body and take a rest when I had done too much. As with anything during pregnancy it is important to listen to your body and do whatever necessary to protect that little life growing inside of you and to protect your own ever changing body.
So nest away, just be careful and safe about it!!
I received the January/February edition of Mothering in the mail the other day. It contains an interesting list of movies about childbirth and babies. It truly is amazing just how many different movies there are about the childbirth, motherhood, and all things baby. I thought I would share some of the list with you.
The Movies:
Baby-Led Breastfeeding: The Mother Baby Dance
There is always the usual TLC programing including A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby, but these movies seem like they would provide a little different perspective on childbirth and the whole motherhood process. I think I might need to check out a few of these films, they sound pretty interesting. If you have seen any of them please let us know what you thought.
We are currently in the midst of the Primary Election season here in the United States in which Democrats and Republicans are voting to determine who will lead their party in the upcoming Federal Election. As a mom I know that the issues I find important are those that impact my family, things like healthcare reform, education, and other issues surrounding families.
I know many of you are busy researching each of the candidates to determine who you will vote for. If you live in one of the many states having their primary on Super Tuesday, February 5th, you don't have much more time to make your decision. Below you will find each of the candidates running in this election, both democrats and republicans, along with links to information on where they stand on key issues affecting families to help in your search for the right candidate for you.
For the Democrats:
Hillary Clinton:
Family
Healthcare
Education
Women’s Issues
For the Republicans:
John McCain:
Mitt Romney:
Mike Huckabee:
In the end it doesn't matter who you vote for, it just matters that you vote. Make a difference for your family and all families by voting in the Primary election in your state and again in the Federal election.
This is also great opportunity to teach your older children about politics. Since they will be hearing about it everywhere they turn I'm sure they will be curious about what the elections are for, how they work, how voting can make a difference, etc. Talk to your children about the political system, get them interested. One day they will be in the middle of the process and will be the ones making a difference.
I have a lot of readers coming to my site in search of information on the early signs of pregnancy. Many women who suspect they may be pregnant leave comments wondering if what they are feeling are really signs of pregnancy. When I suspected that I might be pregnant one of the first things I did was go online and do some research. I already knew what many of the early signs of pregnancy were, but for some reason I needed to read it all again just to reassure myself. I was planning my pregnancy so I was beside myself with excitement at the idea but a majority of pregnancies remain unplanned and not everyone is super excited when they start feeling those early signs of pregnancy and often aren’t sure what to do next.
To help all those women who are out there researching this very topic I thought I would revisit the early signs of pregnancy with a fun post about what things may indicate that you are pregnant.
You Might Be Pregnant If….
- Your period is late or you missed a period completely. However, if you don’t have a very regular cycle you may not even notice a late or missed period so this isn’t much help as an early sign.
- You have experienced what is called implantation bleeding. This is a small amount of bleeding that can occur when the fertilized egg implants into the uterine wall, some women mistake this for a period so they don’t realize that they missed their period.
- Your breasts have become swollen and tender. This tends to happen in the first couple of weeks after fertilization. However, a lot of women also experience this symptom when their period is about to start so it often goes unnoticed as a sign of pregnancy.
- You are getting very, very sleepy. As early as one week after conception you may notice that you are exhausted all the time and can’t seem to get enough sleep (This was one of the first things I noticed).
- You seem to be suffering from that dreadful first sign of pregnancy, morning sickness. Since it is often accompanied by extreme tiredness many women mistakenly think that they are suffering from the flu when in fact they are pregnant.
- You are experiencing abdominal cramping (similar to menstrual cramps) and/or pain in your lower back.
- You are experiencing abdominal bloating (again often mistaken for a sign of an impending period).
For many women the early signs of pregnancy are often mistaken for the telltale signs that their period is about to start. Since many of the symptoms are so similar it can take a while before you realize that what you are experiencing is something different. Many women will often miss two periods before they realize that things just aren’t right and they are experiencing early signs of pregnancy.
If you think you might be pregnant take a home pregnancy test or go to your doctor to get a blood test. You can have all the signs of pregnancy without actually being pregnant. The only way to know for sure is to get tested.