Most couples trying to conceive do not have much choice in the matter, but if you live in the Netherlands and can manage the conception date of your baby, I suggest always getting pregnant at the end of September:
1. In the Netherlands, woman must take maternity leave 4 weeks before their due date (but can take up to 6 weeks), and 12 weeks after their delivery day (or 10 weeks, if you've taken 6 weeks before your due date).
2. The Netherlands only has a few public holidays a year, and most of them fall in April / May. Check your calendar and see when the last public holiday in May is for the following year, add 4 weeks (maternity leave) to it to arrive at your ideal due date, and then count back 40 weeks to see when the first day of your last period should be.
This will optimise your chances of good weather + not losing any public holidays while on maternity leave. I was, sadly, one week too early and missed Pentecost this year.
Other great advice that I was given, and really worked for my pregnancy (but find the advice that works for you and your pregnancy):
1. Pregnancy is really long. Don't talk about it, think about it, or make decisions too early. It will go on forever.
2. Slow down, but don't stop. Once you stop doing something, you often can't pick it up again (I stopped jogging for 3 weeks halfway through my pregnancy, and couldn't jog after that again. But I did cycle throughout my pregnancy and am still very mobile on my bike 5 days before my due date). Being active has been so important to me in my pregnancy. However...
3. It's not necessarily all downhill. Every time I started getting cramps at night, or exhausted for a week, I thought to myself "This is it. This is how I am going to feel for the rest of my pregnancy." But actually I felt much more comfortable and was more active and mobile from 30-40 weeks than I was around 8 weeks, 22 weeks, and 36 weeks. But everyone's different.
4. Keep planning social activities right through your due date. Life must go on. Most women are late with their first child, and thinking beyond your due date will relieve the stress and pressure mounted on that day (and may also speed things up).
5. Get maternity clothes and a body pillow as soon as you start to feel uncomfortable -- don't wait. The body pillow can be used for nursing after baby is born, and you don't need to spend a lot of money to buy a few pairs of maternity trousers and some long shirts.
6. Find what works for you. It took half my pregnancy to figure out what I needed to make my pregnancy smooth. In my case, I really needed to micromanage my liquid consumption (drinking water all day did not come naturally for me), I needed to take iron, fiber, and magnesium every day for me, and just vitamin D for the baby (and folic acid for the first 12 weeks). And I ate sushi every week (for baby's brain development, and mummy's sanity).
7. Relaxed parents make relaxed baby. The only complications I had was when I was highly stressed at work leading up to my mid-pregnancy holiday in Italy.
1. In the Netherlands, woman must take maternity leave 4 weeks before their due date (but can take up to 6 weeks), and 12 weeks after their delivery day (or 10 weeks, if you've taken 6 weeks before your due date).
2. The Netherlands only has a few public holidays a year, and most of them fall in April / May. Check your calendar and see when the last public holiday in May is for the following year, add 4 weeks (maternity leave) to it to arrive at your ideal due date, and then count back 40 weeks to see when the first day of your last period should be.
This will optimise your chances of good weather + not losing any public holidays while on maternity leave. I was, sadly, one week too early and missed Pentecost this year.
Other great advice that I was given, and really worked for my pregnancy (but find the advice that works for you and your pregnancy):
1. Pregnancy is really long. Don't talk about it, think about it, or make decisions too early. It will go on forever.
2. Slow down, but don't stop. Once you stop doing something, you often can't pick it up again (I stopped jogging for 3 weeks halfway through my pregnancy, and couldn't jog after that again. But I did cycle throughout my pregnancy and am still very mobile on my bike 5 days before my due date). Being active has been so important to me in my pregnancy. However...
3. It's not necessarily all downhill. Every time I started getting cramps at night, or exhausted for a week, I thought to myself "This is it. This is how I am going to feel for the rest of my pregnancy." But actually I felt much more comfortable and was more active and mobile from 30-40 weeks than I was around 8 weeks, 22 weeks, and 36 weeks. But everyone's different.
4. Keep planning social activities right through your due date. Life must go on. Most women are late with their first child, and thinking beyond your due date will relieve the stress and pressure mounted on that day (and may also speed things up).
5. Get maternity clothes and a body pillow as soon as you start to feel uncomfortable -- don't wait. The body pillow can be used for nursing after baby is born, and you don't need to spend a lot of money to buy a few pairs of maternity trousers and some long shirts.
6. Find what works for you. It took half my pregnancy to figure out what I needed to make my pregnancy smooth. In my case, I really needed to micromanage my liquid consumption (drinking water all day did not come naturally for me), I needed to take iron, fiber, and magnesium every day for me, and just vitamin D for the baby (and folic acid for the first 12 weeks). And I ate sushi every week (for baby's brain development, and mummy's sanity).
7. Relaxed parents make relaxed baby. The only complications I had was when I was highly stressed at work leading up to my mid-pregnancy holiday in Italy.
Advice I didn't take, but wish I had:
8. Take a prenatal yoga or other course that encourages you to embrace your pregnancy. For at least 1 hour a week you can really take the time to enjoy being pregnant. I didn't really embrace my pregnancy, I only embraced my maternity leave.
8. Take a prenatal yoga or other course that encourages you to embrace your pregnancy. For at least 1 hour a week you can really take the time to enjoy being pregnant. I didn't really embrace my pregnancy, I only embraced my maternity leave.
