preggy pics, doulas, and prenatal workouts

mommymanda2010

I'm not big on having pictures of me taken, and I never have been. I will probably do one set of maternity/belly pics, but otherwise I really don't have a whole lot documenting my pregnancy. Did any of y'all take pictures like every week, or did you shy away from the camera? Do you wish you *had* taken more pics?

 

Similar question about doulas. I'm not sure if I should spend the time and money and effort on a doula if, by and large, women who have used them haven't really felt any benefits. Did any of y'all use a doula for one pregnancy but not the other, and so you can compare? If you did use a doula, do you wish you hadn't? Vice versa?

 

Finally, does anyone have good recommendations for prenatal yoga or workout DVDs, and similarly do y'all have any suggestions for ones to stay away from?

 

I think, by and large, I'm realizing that I only have fifteen weeks left, I haven't had any pictures of myself during the pregnancy, I haven't worked out as much as I wanted to, I haven't found a doula yet, I didn't keep my pregnancy journal as much as I had wanted to, and now I'm realizing that I'll never get this time back and I have no documentation of it  

mrgn

I guess I was bad at being pregnant - ha. I didn't take belly pics every week or even every month. I think there might be 6 or 7 pictures of me pregnant, aside from the pictures at my shower (which there were WAY too many of). I've never really been camera shy. I'm pretty self confident and photogenic (I think, anyway). Being pregnant took a huge toll on that for me, and I'm just now started to gain that confidence back. I never really worried about what I ate or how I looked because I never had to. Well, insatiable hunger mixed with poor food choices led to some rapid weight gain. 5 months PP and I'm just starting to get back into a (somewhat) normal weight range for me... granted I'm at the very, very, very high end. So, I didn't really want pictures taken of me at month 9 when I was tipping the scales at just over 200lbs.

I didn't even consider a doula. Are you hoping to go naturally? I would think that a doula would be most helpful in that scenario. I didn't have my heart set on a natural labor, so I didn't think it would be worth the money for me. I have heard great things though. I'm sure it all depends on the doula. 

Working out? That was out of the question for me. Like I said, I never had to work for my figure before now, so anyone mentioning working out was like someone telling me a joke. But, with the weather getting nicer by the day, I imagine you could go for walks and do some prenatal yoga. I just don't have any recs. I bet achase would have some good advice. She seems to be our board's health guru!

xcjen06

I did take a picture every week to document my belly growth until the end of my pregnancy where I was so big I only took 2 pics I think for the last two months.

And I agree that a doula might really only be helpful if you are planning to go natural. My friend was there for my whole labor and my mom got there in time for the last 4 hours or so, they were plenty of support for me but I had an epidural.

When I was pregnant I did a couple workout dvd's that I got off netflix, none of them were outstanding but they were good for colder days. On warmer days I would just go for walks.

I had a pregnancy journal too and didn't stay on top of it...

meghan_marie

I take pictures of my belly all of the time! My cousin is using me as a model for her website, so I'm getting a buttload of maternity pictures for free out of the deal. Lol!!

I'm not doing a doula. To be honest, I don't see the point.

Sheiva Rae has a really good prenatal yoga video. If you've never done yoga before in your life, be prepared for a workout! I love the video though, and I think my baby likes it too.

But no.. I'm not documenting my pregnancy any other way than the pictures I take. I didn't track milestones or write in a journal to her on a daily basis. I know a bunch of women that do and it's fun for the child to come back later and look through the journals. I guess I stayed so detached from my pregnancy for so long that I don't see the point in starting now. I just now started getting excited about my pregnancy about 5 weeks ago when I started feeling the kicks.

ladyaylena

Personally, I didn't have any prego pics intentionally taken except at my shower.  I regretted that...  I DID however keep a journal.  I was just looking at it today as a matter of fact and filling in some of the blanks I missed when I was on painkillers postpartum.  I'm REALLY glad I kept one.

 I don't really see the point in a doula unless you are going natural.  I just had mom and sister for my support team and everything went great!

 Don't shy away from the camera!  Be a proud mommy and show that belly!  You'll be glad you did!! 

mommymanda2010

I think I'd feel better about my belly if I had taken pics--cause right now I kinda feel like I don't have any belly to show off