7 Habits of Happy Pregnant Women

What are these happy pregnant women doing? What types of habits can WE be doing, and maybe more importantly WHY will they make you happier? The other good news is that some of these actually make your delivery better too — so the habits can have long-lasting effects!

Before we get going, some of these are those tips “no one talks about” — but I’m here giving the good work every day here at The Pregnancy Nurse® — let me KEEP hanging out with you:

I also have a video based on this post you might find helpful as well:

A note on happy:

I think it’s important to remember that we can’t let our circumstances define who we are as a person. As a nurse who saw thousands of patients I was always impressed by how some people could absolutely thrive in tough conditions, and some would mostly wallow (coming from a family of wallowers).

We can be happy no matter our circumstances, and I think these 7 habits can help a lot too!

Moving Their Hips

Hip pain is unusual at ALL during pregnancy, but there are things we can do to help it and maybe even make birth easier.

Although, every time I say this — it sounds “adult” — but I’m meaning that keeping our hips open and active can be a big win. Honestly, even in the adult way (more on that here) — but let me give you a few other ways:

Deep Squats: This helps both strengthen and stretch our hips to give baby their best way out of the birth canal AND decrease hip/leg pain.

Personally, I’m HORRIBLE at squats (I’m talking about the kind where your bum hovers just above the floor) — and I learned that having a wall or a steady couch behind me REALLY helped. If you don’t know how to get into this position either, please google it — there’s lots of people out there that can help!

Lateral Movement — we’re so much into “walking” type movements (moving in one plane of movement) often we don’t have the time when we’re looking to move our hips OUTSIDE that movement plane. Look for workouts that have you moving your legs laterally. They will thank you!

Stretch Them — Hip stretches can make for a MUCH happier pregnant person. Look for hip prenatal stretches and use them even daily. I’m a huge fan of mobility training where you MOVE in the stretch vs just “holding” it.

Pro Tip: If you have hip pain, ask your provider for a referal to the physical therapist. There is a chance these types of movements (especially when done wrong) can hurt rather than help. I wish I had one earlier, I think it would’ve helped a lot!

Want to know more about the pains of pregnant? — check out these posts:

• Bladder Infections in Pregnancy
• 5 Fixes for Groin Pain During Pregnancy
• Sleeping During Pregnancy: Tips by Trimester
• What Does Round Ligament Pain Feel Like
• How to Sit in an Office Chair During Pregnancy

The Due Date Is a Guess

So many people figure they’ll have the baby by the due date, or even earlier — and, as a mom who went late every time I’m telling you that type of mindset isn’t helping.

Yes, prepare — baby may well come early. You want to know preterm labor signs, and have that car seat and birth class done early — but the reality is most people, who don’t go early (meaning before 37 weeks), go past their due date.

For me, I think it’s smart to think the week after you due date, or even 2 weeks after.

For instance, my daughter was due mid April and I just told people “the end of April” (honestly, the more you say it out loud, the more you believe it) and when she came 12 days late — I wasn’t as devastated if I’d thought “early April” in my mind.

You might also find this post helpful:

Finding Gratitude

There is a lot to hate about pregnancy, I’m right there with you. So much that I wrote a post on the worst parts of pregnancy — but there is also a LOT to be grateful for every day.

• Tiny (or big) kicks
• Providers who take time to listen and care
• A partner who does the dishes (or insert whatever else they’re doing to help out)
• Feet that didn’t explode even though they felt like they would.

I have a daily habit of listing 5-10 things I’m grateful for in my planner. It really just helps me to notice all the good when my mind immediately wants to find all the bad.

Some positive affirmations can help too:

Hydrating

I don’t think it was until the day that I was very dehydrated (with the flu) and got 2 bags of IV fluids at my doctor’s office, I realized HOW. MUCH. BETTER. I could feel by being hydrated.

From that day on I worked to get much more water in to my body — and I know that I felt better because of it.

Did you know the biggest cause of contractions that go nowhere (some people call it false labor) is dehydration.

That means your uterus contracts, and can even be quite painful, but it isn’t pushing baby into the birth canal. It’s mostly just an ornery uterus. And no one wants that.

For me, I try to fill a cup a few times each day so that I have fresh, cold water near me as I work, and try to get in as many fluids before dinner time as I can. I then drank much less to hopefully have to pee less during the night — because sleep is important too!

Getting Prepared Bite-By-Bite

If you’re past 20 weeks I think now is the time to start getting prepared for your birth. From beginning to end (wondering what else you’re missing — check out my month-by-month timeline).

Now, lots of people think that is just following some people on social media — but I’m here to tell you that it is really easy to miss what you need for your birth if you do it in that haphazard way.

I recommend getting a great birth class, and just get going.

I also love online classes because you can review the info you need towards the end as well.

And, don’t worry — even if you’re past 20 weeks, getting started today is the best thing you can do. I actually don’t recommend finishing til’ closer to 32-34 weeks.

Getting prepared a few bites at a time makes it less overwhelming and it builds an inner confidence inside you that you’re going to have a great birth. It’s a big win!

And then yes, you can supplement that with some great experienced providers on social media. Here’s my favorite on Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook << be sure to give that a follow on your favorite platform!

Balancing Carbs and Proteins

Sure, no one wants to fail their glucose test, but I gotta say that people who follow the basic gestational diabetes diet tend to feel better during their pregnancy.

It’s not as hard as you think. While I think every pregnant patient deserves a nutrition consult (this one’s my favorite — and yes, she teaches a nutrition bonus video in here), if that’s not in the cards for you — you can follow this:

• Meals: Aim for under 40 g of carbohydrates (yes, you want to be looking at the nutriton labels)
• Snacks: Aim for under 20 g of carbs
• Balance it out with great protein choices like:
  • Nuts or nut butters
  • Cheese
  • Yogurt
  • Meat (remember to heat deli meat beyond steaming)
  • Beans/Legumes

When you do this, you’re just not going to have the highs and lows of blood sugar during pregnancy. Even those without diabetes will experience that more during pregnancy than when they’re NOT pregnant — so it really helps!

So, yes, sometimes I had a chicken breast and a brownie for dinner, but it still evened me out and I felt much better (although, probably less better than if I’d have a better complex carb than a brownie).

And, grab my safe eating guide here for more tips!:

Involving Their Partner

Now, you can’t control your partner (unfortunately — I’ve been married 28 years and still figuring this one out), you can be aware that they can’t read your mind.

A few tips:

Be specific about what your problem is (and try to remember the probably isn’t usually them). Aka:

• The trash is too heavy for me to take out (not “you never take out the trash“)
• My feet REALLY hurt – can you rub them for me (and you may even have to show them HOW to rub them)
• I feel really alone preparing for the baby

A good partner will help to brainstorm how you can make a change for these problems.

Sometimes you have to remind them that you’re not saying these things to hurt their feelings, but that you have changed a lot and are doing so much for this new baby you need help that you didn’t need before.

One of the biggest ones is that women feel alone in preparations for the baby. One of the best ways to start is to take a birth class with them to help them understand what’s going on and how they can help.

A REALLY love that this one is targeted for couples, and even includes questions to start conversations like this. Couples absolutely love that part!

Remember, a lot of the pregnancy battle is with being pregnant — not so much with your partner. So, remembering that you’re fighting the aches and pains pregnancy together rather than alone can help a lot.

Ok, those are the first seven I thought of. Do you have other ones you’d add? Tell me in the comments!