Start with the sleep plan
Set Up Newborn Sleep Before the Baby Comes
How to prepare for newborn sleep before birth: the safe sleep space, realistic expectations, a night-shift plan and tools — all done while you can think.
Forty weeks of waiting, honestly.
What these weeks actually feel like and what's genuinely worth doing before the baby comes — from a second-time mom writing mid-bump, with a toddler underfoot and zero interest in scaring you. Can you dig it?
How far along are you?
16 of the 77 posts name a week or a trimester. They sit here in week order.
weeks1–13
First trimester
3 posts
weeks14–27
Second trimester
5 posts
weeks28–40
Third trimester
8 posts
- When to Take Maternity Photos: The Weeks That Work Getting Ready
- Choosing a Pediatrician Before Birth: What to Ask Getting Ready
- The 36-Week Appointment: What Happens and What to Ask Trimester Life
The whole third trimester
- How to Actually Sleep in the Third TrimesterBump Practicalities
- Lightning Crotch: The Sudden Zap Down There, ExplainedPregnancy Questions
- Third Trimester Appointments: What Each One Is ForTrimester Life
- Third Trimester Comfort: Getting Through the Last WeeksTrimester Life
- When to Install the Car Seat Before Baby ArrivesGetting Ready
Fresh from the bump
The six newest posts, by date.
Birth Center vs Hospital: How to Decide Where to Give Birth
Birth center vs hospital: what each one offers, who a birth center is an option for, the transfer question to ask, and how to compare them on a tour.
By subject
All 77 posts, in the five sections.
Getting Ready
25 posts
Real preparation, one decision at a time: the sleep space, the pediatrician, the paperwork, and what newborn life is actually like.
- Birth Center vs Hospital: How to Decide Where to Give Birth
- Thrush While Breastfeeding: Sore Feeds and Broken Nights
- Mastitis While Breastfeeding: Getting Through the Nights
- Questions to Ask a Doula Before You Hire One
- Birthing Classes: Which Kind, When, and Are They Worth It
Second Time Around
17 posts
Pregnant again: doing it with a toddler underfoot, what’s different about round two, and getting the big kid ready.
- Sleeping in a Baby Helmet: The First Weeks, While Pregnant
- Pregnant and Nursing a 9-Month-Old Who Wakes to Feed
- Hosting an Exchange Student While Pregnant: Protect Sleep
- Toddler Bedtime the Week the New Baby Comes Home
- Sleep After a Child's Tonsillectomy: The First Two Weeks
Pregnancy Questions
14 posts
The questions you ask at 2am — when you’ll show, what movement feels like, what’s normal-ish — answered honestly, with sources.
- Pubic Bone Pain in Pregnancy (SPD): What Helps
- Vivid Dreams in Pregnancy: Why They Happen and How to Resettle
- Pregnancy Rhinitis: Sleeping Through a Stuffy Nose
- Restless Legs in Pregnancy: The Evening Urge to Move
Bump Practicalities
11 posts
The logistics of being pregnant: sleeping comfortably, working with a bump, hot-weather survival, and gear that earns its keep.
- Can You Dye Your Hair While Pregnant? What the NHS Says
- Can You Use a Heating Pad While Pregnant? Where and How
- Hot Baths and Hot Tubs While Pregnant: The Heat Rule
- Pregnant With a Cat: The Litter Box and What's Safe
Trimester Life
10 posts
What each trimester actually feels like — the honest version of the weeks, from first-trimester fog to third-trimester shuffle.
- The 36-Week Appointment: What Happens and What to Ask
- Your First Prenatal Appointment: What Actually Happens
- When to Announce Your Pregnancy (and Who to Tell First)
- The Last Month of Pregnancy: What Changes
Your bump correspondent
Sadie Brennan
I'm Sadie — 31, Columbus, Ohio, former events coordinator, mom of a two-year-old, and currently pregnant with baby number two. I've done these 40 weeks once before, which is exactly enough experience to know what I'm doing differently this time and nowhere near enough to lecture anyone. I write about what pregnancy actually feels like and the short list of things genuinely worth doing before the baby comes. Not a doctor, not a midwife — just a few weeks further along than you, probably.
More about Sadie →