How Well Are You Prepared for Your Baby's Arrival?

​Coming home with a newborn can be overwhelming. Suddenly there’s no nurse or doula around you and you have to do it all by yourself. Too often I see my clients prepare themselves for the BIG birthday but not enough for the time after their baby is born. Babies are not coming with a manual but there are definitely things you can do in advance to put your mind at ease...

WHAT TO DO?
Pack your hospital bag when you are 37 weeks pregnant.

• Wash all the new clothes of the baby already.
• Follow a newborn care & basic breastfeeding class.
• Freeze in already meals. No kidding! I can’t emphasize it enough! Last thing you want to think about is what to eat.
• If friends offer help, please say YES! Let them bring food, let them do some errands, the laundry, let them watch your baby while you take a nap.
• Ask family to help or hire a postpartum doula.
• Reach out to Prenatal & Postpartum mom groups.
• If you live in a house with different floors create different “changing stations”.
• Have a basket ready with snacks & water bottle for mom
• Bake lactation oatmeal cookies in advance. Freeze them! They contain special ingredients for a better milk supply. Recipes can be found online under: lactation oatmeal cookies.
• Although we stimulate to exclusively breastfeed for 6 weeks to start with, it will be good to have bottles and pump parts already sterilized, so if you need it, it’s ready for use.
• Don’t boil the water in the pan for sterilizing, it’s a hassle and it takes long. There are cheap and expensive bottle sterilizers to purchase. Besides that, your dishwasher might have a sanitize program too.