Planning a pregnancy helps increase the chance you will have a healthy baby by making sure you are ready physically, emotionally and financially to take on the responsibilities of a baby. You must get your body ready by adopting a healthy lifestyle, get your financial affairs in order by reducing debt and ensure your relationship with your partner or spouse is strong. Bringing a baby into the world can put a stress on every part of your life, but it can also expand your joy and bring fulfillment. When you plan a pregnancy, you will decrease stress and help bring your little one into the world in the best possible environment.

A baby is a big responsibility financially, physically and emotionally. Take the following steps to prepare for your pregnancy:

1. Get your finances in order and try to build up some savings
2. Make sure you and your partner have steady jobs
3. Establish healthy eating habits with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
4. Stop Smoking, Drinking and start to cut back on your Caffeine consumption
5. Build up a Strong Relationship with your Partner

When you are planning a pregnancy, you must answer some basic questions:

1. Are you ready for a baby?
2. How do you plan to care for the baby?
   1. Do you want to continue working
   2. Do you want to place your child in Daycare?
3. Has your doctor recommended child spacing due to a prior birth, miscarriage or other medical issue?
4. How many children do you want to have?
5. Do you prefer you child to be born during a specific time of year?

Once you have optimized your situation and have made important decisions about how you will care for your child and any spacing concerns, it is time to get pregnant.

Start tracking your cycle to how to calculate ovulation find out when you are ovulate and are most fertile. If you want to have your baby in a specific time of year, time conception to be about 10 months prior to when you want your baby to arrive.

Some online tracking services include:

1. My Monthly Cycles
2. Femilia
3. Fertility Friend

Once you become pregnant, work with you doctor to schedule all medical tests and tracking that is specific for your pregnancy. Keep track of your pregnancy so you can always know what stage of your pregnancy you are passing through.

Here are some online tracking tools to make planning the steps of your pregnancy easier:

1. Pregnancy Due Date Calculator
2. iVillage Pregnancy Calendar
3. Babies Online Pregnancy Calendar
4. WebMD Pregnancy Tracking Calendar

Plan every step of your pregnancy to make sure everything is ready when your little one arrives.

Some items to plan include:

1. Nursery
2. Baby Items
3. Hospital Bag
4. Names
5. Maternity Leave
6. Financial Payments