Most men think that during the period when their wives are pregnant, they have nothing to do. Sometimes they think that they have done their bit for the time being and for the time when their partner is pregnant, they need do nothing after all they aren’t the one carrying the pregnancy.
However, there are a lot of things you need to do most especially during the early months of pregnancy. It is very easy to think that during the early months of pregnancy, there is nothing much going on in there, after all, there are no pregnancy bulges just yet.
This is a very wrong thought. There are lots of things going on while your partner is in her early stages of pregnancy. In fact, just around the time of your partner’s first scan which is just about 12 weeks, your baby would have formed all his/her essential body organs such as lungs. In fact, your baby would have developed his/her heart thereby earning the ability to develop a heartbeat.
While you think your life as a man must go on pretty normal because nothing is happening in your own body, your partner’s body would have turned to a pretty little garden of different emotions. Your partner’s body will also receive the physical effects of pregnancy while her mind and heart takes on different emotions at once.
No wonder some men usually complain that they can not understand a pregnant woman. Don’t blame her, her emotions are usually all over the place due to the new life that is sharing her body with her at that time.
Luckily for her, she also has you as her partner to help her through these stages. Are you wondering about what you can do to help her out? Well, there are so many things you can do or say to help her feel the tiniest bit of her former self before pregnancy came knocking.
The following things are what you can do for and with her to help her out during this period. Don’t worry, it won’t be a boring routine. You will also get to partake in carrying the baby, though not in your body but in your heart.
1. Read-up
It is simple, funny but true. When most women immediately learn that they are pregnant, they begin to read anything they can get their hands on in order to help understand what their bodies are going through.
Guess what? It is not only your partner that needs to understand what is happening in her body. You also need to understand what is going on as well.
Not only because of the physical effects but it can help you understand how she is feeling and it can also help you avoid quite a lot of unnecessary angry emotions you tend to feel when she starts being cranky or starts experiencing any other strange emotion.
At times, all that may be needed is for you to be understanding and the only way at which you can be understanding is to understand what she is passing through. How else can you do that if you don’t educate yourself?
When your partner is pregnant, there are so many things that you both may need to pay attention to. She might not even be able to remember all, but with you, she can be rest assured that you will cover some of those lapses.
Educating yourself on the little things such as clothes, food,cravings, supplements to take in or the big things such as delivery, mood swings or morning sickness can help make things go on smoothly for you both.
2. Help out when she is struggling
One of the early things a woman struggles with when she is pregnant is morning sickness. It can be very painful and disgusting for her especially if she does it alone. Most women get very exhausted quite quickly. Some even begin to feel disgusted and irritated with the changes going on in their bodies.
As a man, you need to be patient and understanding, you need to help her out during this period. You need to talk her, stay beside her, make her understand that even though she doesn’t look beautiful or exceptional at that moment, for the mere fact that she can carry your baby, she is the strongest person you ever know.
Words and actions really go a long way and she really needs those during that first few weeks of pregnancy. For a woman who are just having her first baby, it can feel tough, however, with you there, it can be a lot simpler.
3. Be patient
You will really need this a lot most especially if this is your partner’s first pregnancy. Your partner’s need to understand the changes going on in her body will lead her to go on a searching spree as well as lead her to do a lot of reading. As a man, you need to understand her during this period and be patient.
She will have lots of questions, a lot of did-you-know statements, lots of baby-related questions as well as lot of books, journals, videos and so on that gets to speak about pregnancy and kids. At this period, she may become disturbingly annoying, however, you need to be patient.
Understand that she is doing this because she doesn’t want to do anything wrong. She wants everything to go according to plan and be perfect. This phase will pass most especially when she begins to get accustomed to her body in its pregnancy state.
Remember that there are so many emotions and hormones passing through her during this phase and what she needs is not someone who will shut her down or ignore her. She needs someone who will patiently listen to all her fears and worries.
You can as well assure her that you are as well very excited concerning the baby and if possible, initiate the conversation sometimes. This would give her a sense of assurance at the fact that she can depend on you emotionally. Don’t become emotionally detached from her.
4. Help out in the house
Being pregnant itself is an extremely tiresome experience. How, you may be wondering? After all, there is no baby bump just yet? However, there are so many changes that occurs and guess what, medically speaking, pregnancy increases the level of cortisol produced in the body and cortisol is the hormone that helps keeps stress in check.
This means your wife is already stressed out and tired. Having her do all the house chores all by herself is just plain unfair. Don’t be insensitive to her current state. Most pregnant women suddenly always get tired.
They always want to nap during the day or maybe after a less stressful house chore, they suddenly feel exhausted. They are all normal and part of the process. You can help her by lending a helping hand in carrying out the house chores.
Encourage her to get plenty of rest when she wants to, help her exercise, help her get refreshed. If you notice that she is being excessively tired, you can have her report that to her physician.
5. Give her all the encouragement she needs
During this phase of her life, your partner needs all the support and encouragement from her and who better to offer it to her asides you? During this period of her life, your wife would probably need you a lot more than she needed you in the past.
Emotionally, she needs someone to rely on. If you are a partner that probably works in an office or travels a lot, it may be difficult for you to make the time but all she needs is to see you try to workout a schedule that includes her in it. Whenever you are free, make time out to be with her.
Pregnancy is a moment when she is struggling with joy and happiness at the same time fear, anxiety, and a little bit of increased blood pressure. What she most needs from you during this moment is for you to be there for her, support and give her all the encouragement and love she needs. Do that and she will be forever grateful to you.
6. Plan with Her
Once your wife gets to know she is pregnant, she begins to plan. As a responsible father-to-be, it is your duty to plan with her. Planning with her ensures that you both have the future of your child mapped out. Planning also includes choosing of baby names, determining the kinds of clothes to buy for the baby, toys and so on.
Making plans with your wife concerning your kid or kids as the case may be ensures that she knows she is not alone. It also tells of you as a responsible father. Planning with her will also give you something to look back on later in life. This act of yours also creates a bond between you, your wife as well as your little kid.
7. Go with her to the doctor
Accompanying your wife to keep the doctor’s appointment tells largely of your support for her and the baby.
You following her to visit the doctor, going for checkups and scan as well as any other doctor’s appointment will give your wife the necessary encouragement she needs. If there are any complications as well, she knows she doesn’t have to face it alone. She has you to rely on if there is any problem with the baby.
8. Make her feel special and loved
One thing that suffers during pregnancy is a woman’s self-esteem. During pregnancy she may feel bloated, fat and/or out of place due to the pregnancy bulge. At this period, you probably may be at loss of what to say to make her feel loved. It can be a confusing stage for you as well.
However, it is still your duty to make her feel appreciated so look into her eyes, tell her how much she is beautiful even in her current state and how much you love her. Be sincere with her when you say this so that she can believe it herself.
When a husband takes very good care of his wife during pregnancy, it makes a whole lot of difference and believe it or not, that difference will be noticed by all. You may not be the one carrying the pregnancy but you can be a huge support to your partner.
Your role during the nine months of pregnancy (could be more or less than that) would affect how your wife approaches the pregnancy. Guess what? It will also make a difference to your baby who is still in her womb.
