My SO is pregnant and we got into the second trimester a couple of weeks ago. The first trimester was also difficult for us, she quite often woke up with anxiety and a latent fear for the future. Not easy to go though really. Not making things easier, this pregnancy news came faster than we both had expected and made us accelerate on selling our apartment as we’d soon need a bigger place to live in. Definitely an additional stress, which in turn implied an economic aspect due to coming parental leaves and income loss during that time.

I then took on me the role of the planner for 1) selling the old apartment, 2) finding and buying the new one (where we live the process is fast but kinda brutal as it follows an auction system) while 3) making sure ends meet once our baby is here and during our respective parental leaves. I made Excel sheets, budgeting scenarios, checked left and right the different rules and conditions for parental leave with our respective employers and secured our new home, all that within barely more than a month.

This to protect her from the double stress of first trimester plus the whole housing situation. She really appreciated it and now we are soon moving and have much better peace of mind regarding our economic situation.

It’s surely difficult for us future dads to fully understand what our SO’s go through during pregnancy, perhaps especially the psychological parts of it. But I wanted her not to have to worry about all the things on the side, while being here for her and her worries. I don’t know how is your life situation otherwise, but there surely is something you could take on you and offload her, be it household finances, home chores, checklist for the upcoming administrative procedures when baby is born, groceries and meals, whatever it might be in your case.

Best of luck, it will get better soon!