I got a couple of comments on my last blog about my current pregnancy and I thought this might be helpful for some of you that are expecting or know someone that is expecting. I ran into a friend recently that is also having her 3rd baby and we were talking about how different this go-round was from #1 & #2. I realized that there were some things that I’ve done this pregnancy and trimester specifically that have helped me be a bit more relaxed as I go into (hopefully) the last month of this journey. I thought I would share them with you guys!
Freezer Meals
I didn’t do this with my son but when I was pregnant with my daughter, I decided to give it a go and it was SO helpful. There comes a time – maybe a week or two post-partum – where the meals start to sloooow down and you have to figure out what are you going to feed your family. This can be tough, especially if you have another child/children that are used to eating meals at a particular time.
This was my saving grace the last time and I’m sure it’ll be even more integral with a Kindergartner who I’m wanting to give somewhat healthy meals to (as well as the rest of my family of course). Most of the things that I’ve made have been freezer meals where you just pop whatever it is into the oven but the prep on those can take some time. I’m thinking of switching to crock-pot meals in my final weeks where you just add all of your ingredients to gallon freezer bags, store and then add to your crock-pot for however many hours to cook.
Here are some links to some things that I’ve made recently. I also would end up eating one of the meals that were supposed to go into the freezer because I wanted to be sure they actually tasted good.
Freezer Chicken & Rice Casserole: My 5-year-old said he would eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 😂 To make it a bit quicker to prepare, I baked my chicken and made rice in our Instant Pot.
Make Ahead Meatloaf: I haven’t eaten this particular recipe yet but I’m looking forward to it. It was pretty foolproof.
Chicken Bacon Freezer Subs: I made these with mozzarella cheese and my whole family loved it. Chicken, cheese & bacon… what could be better.😋
Enchilada Sweet Potatoes: These are actually REALLY good. They got my daughter’s 2-year-old seal of approval.
Tuscan Chicken Pasta: This link is a pain to sort through but scroll down to the Tuscan Chicken Pasta and it was well worth making. My husband and I both remembered this from last time post-partum and had it again a couple of weeks ago. It was delicious!!!
Grocery Pick-Up
I talked to a couple of mamas who recommended this and it has made life SO EASY. Obviously, you don’t need to be pregnant to take advantage but because the thought of grocery shopping is exhausting, this was especially appealing to me right now. For the last month, I’ve been using the Walmart grocery pick-up service and it is DIVINE. There is a $30 order minimum to be able to get your groceries picked-up but along with the app, it is pretty foolproof. You pretty much just pick out the items you’d like to purchase on your phone and then select a pick-up time. This is an hour-long time slot when you can get your groceries. You also aren’t charged until you sign for your groceries. You also have 24 hours to pick-up your groceries after your scheduled pick-up time. (At least that’s what the attendant at Walmart told me the last time, not that I want to test it.) I’ve never been late for pick-up and don’t plan on starting now but at least you won’t be charged. You can also add items to your grocery pick-up so many hours ahead of when you get them. When you get to the store, you can either check-in on the app or call the phone number when you pull into the selected pick-up parking spots.
I have heard plenty of good things about Instacart where you can have a third party pick-up your groceries for you from places like Aldi but I have yet to use it. One thing I have been told is that Instacart charges you more for some items than in the store. You also have to pay a delivery fee. This is enough to make my frugal self not want to try it.
Mindset
The last thing that has really helped me the most during this pregnancy and as I enter into the last month is my mindset. I think by your third kid, you kind of know what to expect. That being the unexpected. I know with my first pregnancy I was so stressed out towards the end. I had so many questions. Would my water break? What would labor be like? How would I adjust to being a parent? What about not sleeping? I calmed down a bit in my second pregnancy but I was constantly asking myself: How would this delivery compare to my last one? Would my water break? Would my daughter be early or late?
Well two kids later, I know that there is NO WAY you can predict what happens during labor. I’ve never had my water break except for the tail end of labor. And both of my birth experiences have been VERY different aside from that I went into labor on my kids’ due dates but they came the day after. Also, both of my kids weighed 7lbs 12 oz. Will we keep up the streak? Who knows or cares but I know stressing myself out won’t help at all.
For my fellow mamas, what has helped you out at the tail end of pregnancy? Tell me all your tips!
Also, shoutout to my friend Krista Willis of Krista Lynn Photography and Fine Art for these amazing pictures. We did some maternity and family photos last week and she did a wonderful job of capturing the moment. I featured her in my Women in Business series a while back. If you’re looking for a photographer, she’s your girl!