Patience is a virtue!

This is about the point in the pregnancy when you have the feeling that “enough is enough”. You are probably uncomfortable (because your have a huge basketball under your skin), tired (because you haven’t gotten a good nights sleep in the last month), anxious (unsure of what is to come with the labor and delivery) and just plain ready to hold your baby in your arms instead of your belly. Those first few weeks are going to be a whirlwind of activity. No matter how much you plan and prepare, you can not know how your baby’s sleep patterns will be (or not be, as the case maybe) or how your other children will react to the new baby, or how your own recovery will go. At that point you really just have to go with the flow and do what you can to keep your head above water. There are lots of things that you can do to hold your attention while you are waiting on that special delivery.
One great thing to do is some meal preparation. This can be anything from making entire meals and freezing them to browning ground beef and freezing it to use later. You can also choose to purchase pre-made meals and keep them ready. If your friends and family have made offers to help, take them. And always remember that a few trips through the drive thru will not be the end of the world.
Set up your baby’s room. Make sure the changing station is fully stocked. Make the crib up. Pick out the first few outfits for baby to wear. You also want to make sure that you have yourself “set-up”. Make sure that you have plenty of heavy duty menstrual pads, as the first few weeks will have a pretty heavy flow and you will be told that you cannot use tampons or any other items that are inserted in the vagina. Set up your feeding area. If you are going to nurse or bottle feed you need to have a designated area for this activity. A comfy chair with a nightstand or table next to it is a great start. The table should be stocked with burp cloths, diapers, wipes and blankets for baby, and bottles of water and a book for you. You may also want to invest in one of the very useful nursing pillows.

Word of the Week

Braxton-Hicks Contractions – noun – painless intermittent contractions of the womb that occur in pregnancy, becoming stronger towards full term (www.dictionary.com)

Buying guide

[table “65” not found /]

Previous Week  Next Week