Stuff for you
1. Movies/TV shows ready for you to watch when you are at home recovering
2. New magazines
3. Snack food and lots of drinks to stay hydrated.
4. Premade meals and a list of restaurants you enjoy that deliver
5. Comfortable lounge clothes
6. Pads
7. Pain medication
8. If you wear glasses, a place to keep track of them when waking up for feedings
Services
1. A doula (birth and/or postpartum)
2. Write a birth plan and go over it with your doctor
3. Massage (pre- and post- natal)
4. A prenatal exercise class
5. A new parents group
6. Information about a local classes designed specifically for young babies and new mothers (e.g., baby massage, baby yoga, etc)
Decorating
1. If you enjoy planning a nursery, do it! If you don’t, skip it. The nursery is really a place for you to bond with baby. Keep it fun and low stress.
Mementos
1. If you enjoy it, take monthly or weekly photos of your growing belly. You can write about your pregnancy in a pregnancy book or start working on a baby book. If you don’t, I would try to get at least one nice photo of your belly around 34 weeks (When it is clear you are pregnant but you aren’t completely uncomfortable and exhausted yet).
2. Think about photos. Do you want professional pregnancy, newborn, or other baby/family photos taken? Do you want to buy a high quality camera to take photos of baby? How do you plan to organize, store and backup family photos?
3. What do you want to save from the hospital visit? Do you want to keep baby’s bracelet? What moments do you hope to capture on camera?
4. I put a bin in baby’s closet for any “special items” (take home outfit, cards from relatives, etc). That way I didn’t lose them, but I could wait until I had time to put them into a baby book.
5. Do you want to attempt to get a nice newborn stamped hand- or footprint? Do you want to take monthly or yearly photos of baby in the same spot?
Expectations
1. Think about how you want to spend your first few days/weeks/months with baby.
2. Do relatives and friends understand your expectations about visits during these first few days/weeks/months?
3. If you have friends/relatives with young kids, talk with them. Enjoy a meal together or a full afternoon. Ask questions. Ask for advice.
4. Think about who you can lean on for support when you need it. Who can you call? Who can come over and help?
5. Talk with your partner before baby is born about what you expect from him during his paternity leave.
6. When pregnant, it’s easy to read a lot of books about pregnancy, labor and delivery. Make sure to spend some time also reading about parenting and what to expect during recovery and baby’s first year.
7. You don’t need to make all parenting decisions immediately. It may be less stressful to take it one step at a time. It’s easy to buy baby items online after baby is born. And you can try out different parenting styles and, over time, figure out what fits your family best.
