I was notoriously unprepared for our daughter’s arrival.
Now, I am normally extremely organized. I have a calendar that looks like a small army of ants ran across it and spread little annotated footprints everywhere. However, before my daughter was born, we did the usual: bought a new house, moved into my parents’ place, renovated our new home extensively, and got a chronic illness. Ok, perhaps the chronic illness part is unusual, but the rest seems to be part of the chaos of nesting.
So do what I wish I’d done, not what I did. Let me be the bad example!
What I wish I had done to prepare and to get through my daughter’s first month:
• Get lots of freezer meals and have them on hand.
While people cooked for us, it would also have been nice to have a stash of meals in the freezer to take out and cook when I needed them.
• Get healthy convenience foods that are good for lunch and snacks
Stock up with food that you can eat and feed to any other children before the baby is born!
• Use a good nursing coach
Whether this is a grandma or a La Leche League Leader, find someone you can trust to help you start nursing your baby. We had a hard time nursing at the beginning, and I had to find community resource people very quickly. I wish I’d done some looking before my daughter was born.
• Have infant essentials at your fingertips
For me, these were a swaddling blanket, a nursing pillow, a pump and milk bags (because I needed to pump at first), and nipple cream! Lots of cream. Did I mention lots of cream?
• Set limits on visiting and ask for help
This is the time to ask for the specific help that you will need. Do you want grandma to live at your house for weeks and help you with the baby? Or would you like her to help make some freezer meals and do the laundry every week? You set the limits.
• Have a baby moon
For those of us who are crazy scheduled type A people, sometimes we need a good kick in the pants to slow us down. Having a baby is such an event. Prior to having your baby, clear your schedule. Do not plan to host Christmas dinner for 20 a week after your baby is born. Give yourself some time to adjust. The end of pregnancy and childbirth are a lot of work. For at least a month, enjoy your family, get into your new routine, and let everyone take time to relax.