How to DIY Pregnancy Journal Prompts and 15 Ideas | Keepsake Guide

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Making a pregnancy journal is a fun hobby that gets you even more excited about your baby.

Another benefit is that it can double as a keepsake you can show your child in the years to come.

In this guide, we’re showing you how to make one and giving you DIY pregnancy journal ideas and prompts you can use throughout your journey.

How to DIY Pregnancy Journal: 4 Steps

There’s so many different ways to make a DIY pregnancy journal that it can be difficult to know where to start.

Step #1: Organize Layout

Before you begin working on your pregnancy journal, you need to plan it out first. Organizing the general layout of your book makes it read as a story; one that can be cherished for years to come. We recommend organizing your book into sections. You can mark each section with a colored tab. Sections can be divided how you choose, including by:

• Trimesters
• Weeks
• Months

You can estimate how much space you’ll need for each section and tab them before you start, that way you don’t run out of space.

Step #2: Pick Several Journal Ideas

Before you get supplies, which journal activities do you want to try? Although you don’t need to plan it all before you start, having an idea allows you to gather what you need. To see your options, read our “DIY Pregnancy Journal Ideas” section below.

Step #3: Gather Supplies

Once you know which journal ideas you’ll add to your book, you can start getting supplies ready. We have a general list of suggestions below, but you can alter it to fit your journaling plans.

Step #4: Get Journaling

Depending on how you divided your sections, set aside some time each day, week or month to journal. Remember that even if you don’t always feel like writing, you can contribute to it in other ways, like photos, stickers or illustrations.

DIY Pregnancy Journal Supplies

The supplies you need to make your DIY pregnancy keepsake journal depend on what you want it to look like and how creative you want to get. Here are some options:

• Blank journal or scrapbook (preferably with a hardcover)
• Pens
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Scrapbook pockets (you can get paperor clear pockets)
• Scrapbook paper (to cut out shapes or make your own pockets)
• Pregnancy stickers (you can get stickers on Amazon)
• Tape (for taping photos, ultrasound photo, paper mementos, etc.)
• Glue (for sticking photos or decorative paper pieces)

15 DIY Pregnancy Journal Ideas

You can put or write anything in your journal that you want to keep a memory of. Here are some ideas.

#1 Writing Prompts

For the journaling part of the journal, you can write whatever you feel that day. But oftentimes, it’s easier to begin with a prompt to get your brain juices flowing. We have some ideas for that in the next section.

You can simply write the answer to your prompt on the page, but there’s some more aesthetically-pleasing ways to present your journal entries. For example:

• Draw a box or design around every written entry
• Write your entries on lined scrapbook paper, then glue or tape it into your journal
• Write short memories or entries on rectangular stickers
• Get inspiration from bullet-journaling layouts

#2 Have a Pregnancy Photoshoot and Tape in Photos

Whether they’re professional or just some photos taken by a friend, plan a pregnancy photoshoot and tape or glue the pictures to the beginning of your journal/journey.

#3 Take Regular Belly Sticker Photos

Belly stickers are stickers you can place on your belly during pregnancy. Some transform your belly into a silly face and others track how far along you are. Whichever you choose, take frequent photos and tape or glue them into your journal. It’s a simple way to add some fun to your keepsake.

#4 Get an Instant/Polaroid Camera

Instant cameras print the photos out automatically, which makes them perfect to use for scrapbook keepsakes. Instead of printing it out at home or professionally, simply snap a picture whenever you want to keep a memory and it’s ready for your journal. You can tape it or insert it into a scrapbook pocket.

#5 Make Your Own Pockets

Scrapbook or journaling pockets can be used to store photos or other small mementos. As mentioned in the supplies section, you can buy clear or paper ones online. However, if you have scrapbooking paper, you can make one yourself whenever you need. This allows you to customize the shape of the pocket for your item. Here’s a YouTube tutorial on how to make paper Scrapbooking pockets.

#6 Make Baby Checklists

If you need to make a lot of baby lists, you can make aesthetically-pleasing bullet journal-style lists. Pinterest will give you tons of ideas and templates, or you can simply pick up a fine-tip marker and let your creativity flow.

#7 Baby Size Illustrations

If you like drawing or coloring things in, here’s an idea for you: Outline squares for each week of your journey. During that week, fill the box in by drawing a vegetable or fruit that represents how big your baby is at that time. Here’s an example. For weekly drawing inspiration, you can see weekly baby growth compared to different foods here.

#8 Sonogram Photos

A pregnancy journal wouldn’t be complete without a copy of your baby’s sonogram photo. You can tape it or place it inside a pocket, but remember to date it first!

#9 Take Reaction Photos

When you tell someone (such as your parents) that you’re pregnant, you can snap a reaction photo and stick it into a scrapbook pocket in your journal. If you write about your experience telling them, you can post the photo on the opposite page.

#10 Family Illustrations

If you like to draw, even if it’s stick people, you can make some illustrations to represent you and your partner. To make it fun, add speech bubbles and get as funny or quirky as you want! Here’s an example of this idea.

#11 Weight Graph

Another way of tracking your pregnancy is to make a weight graph. You can weigh yourself every week and make a long graph stretching across 2 pages. Or you can create a smaller one by just tracking your growth every month.

#12 Baby Countdown

When you’re nearing your final days, you can create a baby countdown in your journal. Each day that passes, you can mark off with a symbol, checkmark or sticker. Another option is making a box for each day and coloring them in.

#13 The Best and Worst Advice

During pregnancy, you get a lot of advice. Some of it is great and some is hilariously bad. You can track the interesting pieces of advice you get in your journal by making a section for each. If you’re not sure how to visually organize it, take a look at these pretty journaling layouts.

#14 Baby Name Brainstorm

When your child grows up and looks at your DIY pregnancy journal keepsake, they’ll probably enjoy looking at the other names that were considered for them. As you discuss them with your partner, make a layout in your journal of all the possibilities.

#15 Get Others Involved

Just because it’s your DIY pregnancy journal doesn’t mean others can’t partake too! You can ask your partner, kids, friends or family members to write a short piece to your baby and stick it in your book. If they need prompts, check out DIY Letters to My Daughter/Son Writing Prompts: Pregnancy Keepsake.

DIY Pregnancy Journal Prompts

Choose prompts that are relevant to your current stage in your pregnancy journey.

1. What were your first thoughts when you found out you were pregnant?
2. When was the first time the doctor confirmed your pregnancy? How did you feel?
3. Who are the important people you’re announcing the pregnancy to? Journal about how you told each person and how they reacted.
4. When did you first feel your baby move or kick? Describe it.
5. Based on your intuition, do you think it’s a boy or girl? Why?
6. When did you figure out your baby’s gender? Were you surprised?
7. Who will be the most important people in your baby’s life? Write out their names and the role you think they’ll play in your baby’s life.
8. What are your biggest pregnancy cravings, month-by-month?
9. The first gift I ever received for my baby was…
10. With my morning sickness, I can no longer eat…
11. What are your biggest hopes and dreams for your baby?
12. Pregnancy feels different in these ways…
13. What pieces of advice do you have for your baby?
14. What was going on in the world while you were pregnant (news, events, etc.)?
15. I learned _________ about pregnancy/parenting today.
16. Today, the doctor gave me this advice…
17. Today was a good day because…
18. Today was challenging because…
19. I’ve taken up these new hobbies during pregnancy…
20. Today, I’m grateful for…
21. Today, these are the symptoms I’m feeling…
22. The first thing I bought for my baby was…
23. When my baby is born, I’m most excited to…
24. If I had to guess, I think my baby’s personality will be…
25. My favorite gift from my baby shower was…

P.S. Have you tried a fetal heartbeat monitor? Listen to your baby at home today!