Gardening while pregnant can be a difficult challenge, whether you’re a beginner gardener or have a few seasons under your belt.
So if you’re struggling to figure out how to grow a garden while also growing a life, here is a list of the things that made the most difference for me while navigating this season in life.
Note: this post is a part of a series for moms who garden or want to garden. I also have tips for how I learned to garden with a baby and gardening with a toddler.
Be sure to check them out and save them for later.
My gardening journey and becoming a mom
I had about four years of experience growing a backyard garden before I became pregnant with our first child.
I was in no way an expert, but I learned so much with each year. In that time we also moved to a bigger backyard just so we could grow more food.
We built out the second half of our new garden while I was about 5 months pregnant.
Gardening while pregnant was rough.
Everyone’s pregnancy experience is different. I happened to be a person that gets really sick the first trimester.
Morning sickness didn’t exist. I had “all day and all night” sickness for the first four months.
My second trimester was a little better. I was still nauseous every night for the full 9 months, and got winded just walking around and lost energy quickly.
Then my pregnancy adventure ended with extremely painful carpal tunnel in BOTH hands for the last two months.
So yeah, I was a hot mess.
I’ve heard stories even in my own friend group that were worse than mine, or others who absolutely loved being pregnant.
I share this so you know that it wasn’t easy for me, and so if it isn’t easy for you either, that’s okay.
In fact, it brings me to my first tip for growing a garden while pregnant.
1. Have grace for yourself if you’re gardening while pregnant
Gardening can be a very physical activity. The beautiful thing about it is that you get to work your muscles while enjoying fresh air and harvesting tasty food.
Gardening can be a great way to gently get your heart rate up and your lungs really working.
But the effort can be especially difficult if you’re gardening while pregnant.
You might find that simple tasks that you could do without thinking before, now leave you winded.
You might even need to take breaks more often than you’re used to. Like a LOT more often.
If this is the case for you, have grace for yourself.
Listen to your body. Take the breaks you need. Set up multiple places to sit around your garden.
Remember that so much of your body’s energy is going towards growing your baby.
It’s kinda mind-boggling to me still what our bodies can do.
I mean, you’re basically a superhero.
So maybe that means you need to sit down every 5 minutes while gardening. Or maybe 5 minutes is all the energy you’ve got.
Either way, be proud of yourself and see it as an accomplishment!
2. Avoid comparison traps
Trying to to keep your backyard vegetable garden growing while pregnant requires you to stop comparing.
It sounds so cliche but it’s true. Comparison really is the thief of joy.
The crazy thing about the comparison trap is that there are so many different levels to it.
Comparing to other gardeners online
The first challenge is to stop comparing your garden to others on the internet.
As someone who basically learned to garden on YouTube, this was difficult for me.
I was used to going online for information and inspiration.
But my reality while pregnant was so different than what I admired about those other gardens.
I got so discouraged that I didn’t want to spend time in the garden at all, which only made me feel worse about it.
It’s so important to remember that when looking at things online, you never really have the whole picture anyway.
You’re usually only seeing what’s going well. And that’s it.
Comparing yourself to other moms who garden
First, I tried to solve my comparison trap by only following people online who were also gardening while pregnant, or had a lot of kids.
This was a rude awakening too.
Because their pregnancy experiences were different than mine.
Like I mentioned earlier, I happen to be a person that gets pretty sick during pregnancy.
I just couldn’t do what I saw some of those other moms doing.
So instead of comparing and really just judging yourself for not being able to do as much as someone else is while pregnant, give yourself grace and a little bit of love if you can.
Comparing your garden to past years
The next comparison trap is judging your current gardening efforts to what you were able to do before being pregnant.
This one can be especially hard if you’ve had a garden the last couple years.
Knowing what you’ve been capable of before, but not being able to do it currently can be so frustrating.
I definitely beat myself up a lot for not being able to just “push through”.
Eventually I had to accept my current limits. Because I literally didn’t have the energy to do more.
Instead of feeling bad about yourself for what you can’t do, just focus on what you can. And appreciate yourself for putting in the effort.
It might help to remind yourself that where you’re at now is just a season and it won’t last forever. Do the best you can to embrace it for what it is.
Comparing today to yesterday
If you’re trying to grow a garden while pregnant, you might also find that your energy levels drastically change day to day.
Yesterday might have been a “good day”. You had a bunch of energy and got a lot done.
But today, even the most basic things feel like climbing a mountain.
If you’re struggling, know that it’s okay. You’re not alone. In fact, it’s normal for a lot of people.
There are so many things that can effect energy levels normally. Quality of sleep, what you eat, feeling sick, and day to day stressors are just a few.
Now multiply each of those when your body is literally using its own available resources to create a brand new person!
Energy is a finite resource. One way to look at that might be helpful is to remember that it’s not really that you have significantly less energy, it’s just that massive amounts of it are already being used.
It’s not about being lazy or weak. Your body is incredibly strong.
Anything else you do, like growing flowers and veggies in your backyard, is a bonus!
3. Do what you can, and let it be enough
While it can feel good to challenge yourself, you want to be careful not to push your body too far if you’re trying to garden while pregnant.
It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking about the amount of energy you’re used to putting into things (again, comparing to your past self).
I had a bad habit of doing this, and I paid for it every single time.
Learning to listen to your body can take a while. But doing so is the ultimate practice of self care.
4. Grow a garden that works for you
When you first start growing a backyard garden, or any gardening while pregnant, it’s easy to take on too much.
After all, if you finally got so excited about growing food and flowers that you’re actually doing it, why not go big right?
This sounds like a great idea, but it’s usually a mistake.
Like most things, gardening has a learning curve. You can actually learn way more about how to garden well, much faster, doing it in a small space.
Our first garden was two 4×8 raised beds. I’m so glad we kept it small then as I figured things out.
When I first got pregnant , it was the same year we decided to finish expanding on our new, much bigger garden.
Boy was that year difficult! I couldn’t keep up with maintenance, weeds took over, it was a mess.
Our first baby was born right has the big harvests came in.
We were grabbing food by the wagon full when we could (in the middle of not sleeping) and trying to find people to give it to. But we didn’t have the time or energy to harvest, let alone preserve it all.
So much of it just went to our compost pile. It was heartbreaking.
While I don’t regret that garden- I’ll always remember it fondly as the garden we brought our first baby home to- I do wish we had kept things smaller.
A garden we could manage well would have been just as fulfilling, if not more so.
It definitely would have been less stressful!
For you, maybe having a garden you can manage while you’re pregnant means one raised bed.
Maybe it’s just an herb garden in pots.
Whatever it is, let it be something you can enjoy doing.
You can always make your garden bigger later.
5. Stay hydrated
It’s easy to forget to drink enough water while gardening. This becomes especially important while pregnant.
Keeping a water bottle within arms reach at all times can really help.
It might be annoying to keep moving it around with you, but it’s worth it to keep you drinking enough water.
6. Fuel your body well
One thing I’ve learned the hard way is that while I’m pregnant, eating before I go outside to work on the garden is a must.
You can also take a couple snacks out with you. However you do it, make sure your body has fuel to work with.
Taking a quick snack break while sitting in your garden and watching the bees and butterflies fly around is an amazing experience!
7. Keep things accessible
Keep any tools you might need together so you have everything you need and don’t have to go back and forth.
A garden wagon is excellent for this because you can have everything you need without carrying it. Your back will thank you!
I have a canvas wagon with storage pockets that I cart around while gardening, but really anything will do.
8. Ask for help
You don’t have to do it all yourself. Know that you can ask people to help.
Whether it’s a partner, family, or friends, people will often gladly give you a hand where you need it.
Asking for help is much more than just you needing something from them. Giving and receiving help are vital parts of relationship building.
Not only do they get to feel good by supporting you, but they get to enjoy your garden with you.
And depending on the time of year, they could also go home with a bunch of fresh, tasty produce!
How will you be gardening while pregnant?
I hope you find this list helpful. Remember as you’re trying things out, focus on what feels good.
If you try something and it doesn’t seem to fit, you can always set it aside and try something else.
It may take some creativity at first, but you will find what works for you and your family.
You’ll have a beautiful, productive garden in no time!
If you end up giving any of these a try, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment below!
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