Step 1: Forget about IQ. Just about anything you're told about prenatal activities that can "boost IQ" are useless at best and *may cause actual harm* to your baby.
Step 2: Take care of *yourself*. The biggest dangers to your unborn child are those that are basically just abuse to your own body. Don't drink, don't smoke, and--we now know from
today's paper--avoid caffeine. Do exercise. The food cravings are strange, but you really are better off with pickles than peanut butter (that was my weakness...). Stay *healthy*.
Step 3: Realize that like everything in life, what you get is what you get, and the only thing that really counts is *what you make of it*. If you have unrealistic expectations about what you think your baby should be like, you'll be disappointed and that will have a *horrible* effect on her as she grows up.
Step 4: Love conquers all. Give them all the love you can because ultimately that's what gives them the best chance at succeeding in life!
IQ is meaningless. Success has to do with a combination of traits, many of which you can at least influence as your child grows, and that depends on the effort and patience and *forethought* that you devote to it. You shouldn't want your child to be just smart: you want them to be well-rounded, so that *they* can decide what to do with themselves as they grow up.
You cannot control everything. You cannot even set all the goals. Having a child is an *adventure* and most of the joy of it is in the experiences along the way that you have no way of predicting. Ultimately, you simply get their lives started: its not about you, its about them, and its their life to create, so letting go is the hardest and most fulfilling thing you can do.
Good luck!
Buffy
