I would say to be patient. There is a lot of waiting around, a lot of time (sometimes weeks and weeks) between appointments, so just be patient. The time goes by really quickly.

Relax, don't worry that you're not getting the 'typical' symptoms, the stretch mark products don't work, DON'T Google.. and if your midwife is a bitch, find out if you can change to a different one!

AVOID GOOGLE LIKE THE PLAGUE!! Never google a pregnancy symptom. all it does is cause absolutely panic.

don't worry about being a bother. if you are worried then ring up the maternity ward. saying this of course, all of us in third tri are always asking whether we should ring or not, ha. but if in doubt, RING!!

oh. and if you want a nap and it's a decision between hanging the washing out and napping, have a ruddy good sleep!!

abz xx

1. Don't listen to old wives tales on how to tell gender. This is my 4th pregnancy and they have all been the same and i have had 3 boys and this is a girl. I have never had sickness.

2. Relax and don't be frightened of labour. The more relaxed you are the easier it will be. Also remember it doesn't take every woman an hour to dilate each centimitre. When i was in labour the first time i was terrified to be told i was only 3 cm, i thought i was going to be in agony all day but 2 hours later my baby was born.

trust your instincts.
if you have morning sickness-mints are a god send!
invest in a couple of hot water bottles-they are a god send too.
try rest as much as you possibly can, particularly towards the end, enjoy every bit of sleep you can get, babies are hard work
ask if you have any doubts, dont sit around panicking.
dont listen to all the guidelines on what to eat and not to eat and drink and not drink and do and not do. Some of them are aload of old tosh
keep a pack of rennies, biccies and a cup of water by your bed.
invest in soft loo rolls

ooh yes. rennies!! lots of rennies. gaviscon never did anything with me. and failing that half a teaspoon of bicarb in some water works wonders!!

and ice lollies when feeling sick always really helped me

For me, because I don't know if I'll ever have the priviledge and joy of going through pregnancy again, I'd say, treat it as though it's your last pregnancy so to speak and embrace every moment of it. Even the days where you feel like crap, it doesn't matter because it's a day closer to meeting your little boy/girl, so just enjoy and embrace and try to remember each feeling, every kick, every wriggle as much as you can, because for some people, it's a once in a life time thing and is there to be enjoyed and you want the memories captured forever! xx

Mmm I second ice loillies and ice cold water - and chomping on ice! Lol!

I completely agree about not listening to all of the rules about 'what not to eat/drink' - just be sensible and know your OWN limits. Example being that women in the Far East don't suddenly stop eating raw seafood which constitutes a main part of their diet once they become preggers. I remember reading something about the fact that there are no peanut allergies in China because they use so much of it, so babies are exposed to it in the womb iyswim? That being said, if you don't eat a lot of seafood now probably isn't the time to start!!!

I listened to the one about eggs...just because I guess you can never know. I am SO looking forward to having an egg and soldiers now, too!
I also haven't drunk at all, which was a bit annoying with Christmas but then I've never been able to handle more than one drink, so figured it was safest.
And I avoided liver, swordfish, marlin etc. because of heavy metals...I think that's all, really? Oh and nice smelly cheeses, which made me very sad but DH very happy as he hates them

Thank you all for the tips so far, there are some absolute gems!

I'd tell myself not to assume that morning sickness will be over once you're in second tri. Mine's lasted the whole journey with me so far and I pretty much wasted second tri feeling miserable about it. I wish I'd accepted it before now!

And the other bit of advice to myself would be to avoid sharing your parenting decisions, and names with family and friends. Everyone has "helpful" input and advice and I don't want to hear any of their negativity! Being open and honest has caused more stress than good.

Honestly, my sister just told me she's due in October so the first thing out of my mouth was...check out this forum & gave her the babyandbump URL as being able to read the posts of other pregnant women going through some of the same things really helped alleviate my fears & any time I was overly hormonal or emotional it was nice knowing I had a place to go where I didn't have to censor myself.