Hellobee Boards

@Espion: I think that everytime I look at our tree. "Oh God! The baby is going to come and people will visit and we still. have. our. tree. up." Apparently that's not even enough motivation to take it down...

@LaughLines: I'm almost 37 weeks with LO #1, but this is what I am doing/plan to do: Get car seat installation inspected, make sure bags are packed, make sure snacks are stocked up, keep groceries stocked up (so we have milk, bread, etc. at all times), keep cars full of gas.

I'm in general trying to stay on top of things! Great post, I'm following!

Organize your closet/drawers! It really frustrated me to not know where any of my clothes were and it sucked to go digging for stuff I wanted or needed!

Download a handful of kindle books you'll want to read. I didn't have the energy to research them all, but I did enjoy reading when I got tired of watching TV and having light/easy chick flicks at hand was nice

@Mrs. Coral: I'm taking all the ornaments off and calling it a houseplant. A large, dry houseplant.

Fwiw, lo came early (37.5 weeks, not that early lol) and I felt totally totally unprepared. We had a snafu with nursery furniture so it had only just arrived so that was barely set up, I had some nursing stuff (lanolin, pads, but not a nipple shield which o ended up needing at first, soothies, or nursing clothes), had washed all the clothes but didn't have nb size which we needed. I hadn't even packed my hospital bag! It all worked out, but those are the things I really wish I'd prepared-- hospital bag, nursery, nursing paraphernalia, nb clothes

Lol I watched a lot of 16 and pregnant in the last month of pregnancy. It made me feel better, like if these teenagers can do it then I can do it.

Everything else I'm a major procrastinator. So I was packing my hospital bag and DH was putting in the car seat while I was in labor.

Don't be like me lol

I was off work for 6 weeks before my due date, I didn't have much to do, except for pack my hospital bags, install the car seat base, make sure I knew how the stroller folded, etc.

@LaughLines: make sure you're stocked up on household essentials - paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates/bowls, one handed snacks, drinks because you'll probably get sick of chugging water 24/7. Also, the only thing the hospital didn't send me home with that I could have used after the baby was born was ibuprofen and stool softener. Definitely, definitely, definitely have that on hand.

Line the car with old towels in case your water leaks or you puke.

I made freezer meals but ones that were already cooked and individually portioned with a veggie and labeled them. I did this by forcing myself to cook dinner twice or three times a week during my third trimester and making a few extra options. We ended up with a TON of dinners and they have been a complete lifesaver. After about 2 months I was able to start adding back to our meal stash and we have about 12-20 in the freezer at all times.

Same with lactation cookie dough pre-scooped and frozen BUT I would skip the chocolate chips BC it turns out my son is sensitive to it! Or use butterscotch or white chocolate chips.

We stocked the house with granola bars, fig bars, toiletries, toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates and plastic silverware, and CROCKPOT LINERS to minimize running out of snacks, essentials, and doing dishes those early days.

Have lots of comfy PJs and nursing friendly tops. I wore a lot of nightgowns and my bathrobe the first few weeks BC my shoulders would get chilled nursing all the time.

Get some good water bottles or stock up on bottled water. We get a water delivery service and it's so nice to have hot and cold water on demand.

Make sure both you and your husband know how to assemble and disassemble your baby stuff, like the RNP and PNP and car seat. It's easy to bicker about stuff like that.

Get help. Meal train, housecleaner, newborn photos, whatever - line as much of it up in advance because it's overwhelming once the baby is here when people offer and you are likely to decline or put it off. If you have something set up in advance you will be more likely to accept the help.

If BFing is important to you I would set up a postpartum drop in with an LC or find your local LLL group now.

Nose Frida, saline drops, and gas drops were very useful to have on hand, as well as a temporal thermometer, a humidifier, and lamp dimmers. And a face mask for when you and your partner catch some sleep.

These tips are awesome ladies!

I had LO at 38 weeks, so i was really glad that i stayed on top of getting things done ahead of time.

In weeks 34-38:
I had hubs and my dad paint and set up the nursery,
Set up the family bassinet downstairs,
Had 2 surprise showers (family/friends, coworkers),
unpackaged gifts and figured out how everything worked,
returned/exchanged/shopped for things i didnt get at my showers (no one gifted me any baby clothes!),
hospital tour,
preadmittence paper work,
Short term disability paperwork,
decided on a daycare and put in a deposit,
Shopped for comfy clothes - robe, PJ pants, nursing tanks for myself,
set up the PnP in our bedroom,
Breastfeeding class,
Carseat inspection,
Packed hospital bags
got as far ahead at work and met with other dept members who would be taking over my tasks.
Washed baby sleepers, onesies, bedding

Things I didnt do but wish I had:
Arranged for my mom to sleep over the first night out of the hospital
purchase pads, tucks, cortisone, dermaplast ahead of time - Luckily my cousin who had just had a baby and is a nurse came through with all sorts of goodies
taken hubs food shopping a couple times so he would know what to buy each week

With dd I packed the hospital bag at 27 weeks. Kept going into preterm labor.
With DS I packed the bag the night before I had him. I was also preparing to move so I was packing boxes and stuff.
Never really nested with either pregnancy.

Just follow your instincts. Pump was a major thing for me. With both children I never packed my pump and I wished I had. I always got my milk early