You can have a pregnancy that’s all willy nilly or you can a nice organized pregnancy. It’s best to be organized though, because once your baby arrives, you won’t have as much time. The time to get stuff done is well before your due date.

Here’s a handy little first trimester pregnancy checklist:

• Make and keep your first prenatal appointment. If you don’t like your care provider, now is the time to find someone you do like and trust.
• Because most health care providers are associated with one specific hospital or birthing center, make sure you take a little time to look into the place where you’ll be giving birth. If you want a home birth, find a care provider who provides this. If you’re looking at hospitals and birthing centers, look for a breastfeeding friendly option.
• Plan a healthy first trimester diet and a healthy exercise routine.
• Review your health insurance information - make sure you know how much of your pregnancy is covered and if you can add your baby to your insurance. If adding your new baby is not an option, start shopping for baby health insurance.
• Clear out your chemical cleaning supplies and replace them with non-chemical healthy cleaners. Have a non-toxic and safe pregnancy.
• Look into your company’s maternity leave policies and start thinking about how you can afford maternity leave.
• Start looking into birth class options. Once you find one you like, sign up for a class that starts during your second, or early part of your third trimester.
• Have your partner take a photo of your growing belly - start now, take one each month, and by the end of your pregnancy, you’ll have a cool collection of belly shots.
• Towards the end of your first trimester, choose how you will share your news with friends and family

Later today, after we see some new random baby names, we’ll look at checklists for your 2nd and 3rd trimester.