How to Start a Pregnancy Journal

The journey begins the minute that pregnancy test comes back positive. From that moment on, your little passenger on board will occupy your thoughts as you plan and prepare for parenthood. Whether this is your first baby or you've been through pregnancy before, keeping a pregnancy journal can help you remember special details about your pregnancy. Start a journal early in your pregnancy and record thoughts, feelings and events during your pregnancy.

Things You'll Need

  • Word processing program or notebook
  • Digital camera
  • Color printer
  • Three-ring binder

Instructions

    • 1

      Decide whether you would rather keep your journal by writing it by hand or would rather use a word processing program on your computer. While both options will work equally well, they create vastly different journal results. A hand-written journal will likely seem more personal and old-fashioned, while a journal you print out from your computer can have a more high-tech appearance with graphics and fonts.

    • 2

      Start your journal as soon after finding out about your pregnancy as possible. Take a picture of the pregnancy test with a digital camera, if possible. Begin your first entry by writing about the details involved in taking the pregnancy test. Write about your reaction and the reaction of your partner.

    • 3

      Try to write for about 20-minute intervals at least two or three times each week to record the weekly ins and outs of the pregnancy. Include details about how your body is physically changing. Write about how you feel emotionally, if you feel like sharing this in the journal. Write about morning sickness, food cravings, wearing maternity clothes, talking about the pregnancy with friends and family and any parts of your daily life that relate to the pregnancy.

    • 4

      Take pictures every week to record the progression of your pregnancy. Stand to the side and ask someone to take a "belly shot" to show how your belly is growing from week to week. Place these photos into your journal along with your writing.

    • 5

      Record special events of the pregnancy -- doctor appointments, finding out the gender of the baby, shopping for baby items, decorating the nursery and baby showers. Take pictures of these special events and include them in the journal.

    • 6

      Write a letter to your unborn child -- share fears, hopes, wishes and thoughts about this new person you are about to meet. This can become a special treasure to your unborn baby after she grows older.

    • 7

      Finish the journal by detailing the birth. Wherever or however you deliver, make sure you write down your entire birth story. Take a final picture of you before labor gets intense and then include first pictures of the baby after he is born.

    • 8

      Print out your journal, leaving slots for the pictures, if you entered it into a word processing program. Mount the pictures onto the paper and place the journal into a three-ring binder. If you wrote it out in a notebook, attach the pictures as you write out the entries.

    • 9

      Keep the journal in a safe place and let your child read it when she is older.

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